Rare copy number variants have a prominent role in the aetiology of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Substantial risk for schizophrenia is conferred by large CNVs at several loci, including microdeletions at 1q21.1, 3q29, 15q13.3 and 22q11.2 and microduplication at 16p11.2. However, these CNVs collectively account for a small fraction of cases, and the relevant genes and neurobiological mechanisms are not well understood. Here we performed a large two-stage genome-wide scan of rare CNVs and report the significant association of copy (...) number gains at chromosome 7q36.3 with schizophrenia. Microduplications with variable breakpoints occurred within a 362-kilobase region and were detected in 29 of 8,290 patients versus 2 of 7,431 controls in the combined sample. All duplications overlapped or were located within 89 kilobases upstream of the vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor gene VIPR2. VIPR2 transcription and cyclic-AMP signalling were significantly increased in cultured lymphocytes from patients with microduplications of 7q36.3. These findings implicate altered vasoactive intestinal peptide signalling in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and indicate the VPAC2 receptor as a potential target for the development of new antipsychotic drugs. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. (shrink)

Climate change confronts humanity with a challenge it has never faced before. It combines issues of global justice and intergenerational justice on an unprecedented scale. In particular, it stands to adversely affect the global poor. So far, the global community has failed to reduce emissions to levels that are necessary to avoid unacceptable risks for the future. Nor are the burdens of emission reductions and of coping with climate impacts fairly shared. The shortcomings of both political and individual climate action (...) thus seem like a paradigmatic case for non-ideal theory. Non-ideal theory can be understood as a form of political theorising that compares different responses to (i) failures of agents to comply with the demands of justice and (ii) unfavourable circumstances. Insofar as non-ideal theory also aims to be action-guiding, it asks normative theorists for a more thorough engagement with the empirical context so as to arrive at practical recommendations for the ‘here and now’. This volume examines the normative issues that become relevant when the non-ideal circumstances of the climate context are fully taken into account. It is comprised of three parts: The first collects chapters that reflect on general issues in responding to the shortcomings of current climate action. Chapters in the second part propose more specific practical reforms. The third part examines how moral values ought to be brought into the scientific, political, and public debates under the non-ideal circumstances of this world. (shrink)

Plantar un árbol dónde se necesita es un acto solidario. Investigar las características del bosque y las causas de su degradación, es una actividad de aprendizaje. Comprometerse en una campaña de reforestación aplicando y aprovechando lo estudiado, es aprendizaje-servicio.

Generalized linear mixed models estimate fixed and random effects and are especially useful when the dependent variable is binary, ordinal, count or quantitative but not normally distributed. They are also useful when the dependent variable involves repeated measures, since GLMMs can model autocorrelation. This study aimed to determine how and how often GLMMs are used in psychology and to summarize how the information about them is presented in published articles. Our focus in this respect was mainly on frequentist models. In (...) order to review studies applying GLMMs in psychology we searched the Web of Science for articles published over the period 2014–2018. A total of 316 empirical articles were selected for trend study from 2014 to 2018. We then conducted a systematic review of 118 GLMM analyses from 80 empirical articles indexed in Journal Citation Reports during 2018 in order to evaluate report quality. Results showed that the use of GLMMs increased over time and that 86.4% of articles were published in first- or second-quartile journals. Although GLMMs have, in recent years, been increasingly used in psychology, most of the important information about them was not stated in the majority of articles. Report quality needs to be improved in line with current recommendations for the use of GLMMs. (shrink)

Not all countries do their fair share in the effort of preventing dangerous climate change. This presents those who are willing to do their part with the question whether they should 'take up the slack' and try to compensate for the non-compliers' failure to reduce emissions. There is a pro tanto reason for doing so given the human rights violations associated with dangerous climate change. The article focuses on fending off two objections against a duty to take up the slack: (...) that it is unfair and ineffective. We grant that it is unfair if some have to step in for others but argue that this does not amount to a decisive objection under conditions of partial compliance. With regard to the charge of emission reductions being ineffective, we argue that the empirical case for this claim is missing and that even if it were not, there still remains the option of taking up the slack in other forms. (shrink)

Climate change can be interpreted as a unique case of historical injustice involving issues of both intergenerational and global justice. We split the issue into two separate questions. First, how should emission rights be distributed? Second, who should come up for the costs of coping with climate change? We regard the first question as being an issue of pure distributive justice and argue on prioritarian grounds that the developing world should receive higher per capita emission rights than the developed world. (...) This is justified by the fact that the latter already owns a larger share of benefits associated with emission generating activities because of its past record of industrialisation. The second question appears to be an issue of compensatory justice. After defining what we mean by compensation, we show that different kinds of compensatory principles run into problems when used to justify payments by historical emitters of the North to people suffering from climate change in the South. As an alternative, we propose to view payments from wealthy countries for adaptation to climate change in vulnerable countries rather as a measure based on concerns of global distributive justice. (shrink)

Existen dos versiones del instrumento astronómico conocido como al-sarrāŷiyya (siglo XIV). El artículo estudia la versión simple a partir de la edición y la traducción del manuscrito Cairo, Dār al-kutub, mīqāt, 291, analiza cómo y cuándo se recomienda su uso y comenta su relación con la azafea šakkāziyya del astrónomo andalusí Azarquiel (siglo XI).

Neuraths bildtheoretische Überlegungen und Wittgensteins philosophisch orientierte Verwendung von Bildern werden miteinander konfrontiert, um zu zeigen, daß beider Interpretationen der Verwendung grafischer Darstellungen geeignet sind, das Problem einer lebensformübergreifenden Sprache am Beispiel einer internationalen Bildersprache neu zu diskutieren. Wittgenstein spricht zwar nicht von „autonomen Bildern", verwendet Bilder aber auf ganz pragmatische Weise in seiner Philosophie, und eben die pragmatische Rolle des Bildes als visuellen Aufklärungsmittels bei Neurath verbindet Neuraths und Wittgensteins Bildbegriff. Die normierende Funktion von Bildern als paradigmatischen Illustrationen legt (...) eine gemeinsame Konzeption visueller Argumente bei Wittgenstein und Neurath nahe. (shrink)

Neuraths bildtheoretische Überlegungen und Wittgensteins philosophisch orientierte Verwendung von Bildern werden miteinander konfrontiert, um zu zeigen, daß beider Interpretationen der Verwendung grafischer Darstellungen geeignet sind, das Problem einer lebensformübergreifenden Sprache am Beispiel einer internationalen Bildersprache neu zu diskutieren. Wittgenstein spricht zwar nicht von „autonomen Bildern", verwendet Bilder aber auf ganz pragmatische Weise in seiner Philosophie, und eben die pragmatische Rolle des Bildes als visuellen Aufklärungsmittels bei Neurath verbindet Neuraths und Wittgensteins Bildbegriff. Die normierende Funktion von Bildern als paradigmatischen Illustrationen legt (...) eine gemeinsame Konzeption visueller Argumente bei Wittgenstein und Neurath nahe. (shrink)

Because of the interest and the new light that historical-critical reconstruction ofZubiri’s thought provides, this article expounds one of the less well-known aspects of hisbiography: the modernist crisis in which the young Zubiri was immersed, a crisis thatdeeply marked deeply the Catholic Church in the 20thcentury. First some hypotheses aresketched about how Zubiri lived, suffered and weathered this crisis, and then the articleseeks to delimit specifically Zubiri’s early modernist positions. Then their theological evolution is framed among the fathers of Vatican (...) II, and allusion is made to the impact that thisearly crisis had on the author’s whole philosophical, theological and life trajectory. It endsby outlining the question of whether today we have, from a theological perspective, an authentic surmounting of the modernist crisis, and of the role that Zubiri’s theological positions and the theologies of the cross can play in it.Ante el interés y las nuevas luces que arroja la reconstrucción histórico-crítica del pensamiento zubiriano el artículo abunda en uno de los aspectos menos conocidos de su biografía: la crisis modernista en la que se vio sumido el Zubiri joven, una crisis que marcóprofundamente a la iglesia católica en el siglo XX. En primer lugar se bosquejan algunashipótesis sobre como Zubiri vivió, sufrió y atravesó esta crisis y se intenta acotar la especificidad de sus planteamientos modernistas juveniles. Después se enmarca su evoluciónteológica entre los padres del concilio vaticano II y se alude al impacto que tuvo esta crisisjuvenil en la entera trayectoria filosófica, teológica y vital del autor, para acabar planteandola cuestión de si hoy se da, desde una perspectiva teológica, una auténtica superación de lacrisis modernista y del papel que pueden jugar en ello, los planteamientos teológicos zubirianos y las teologías de la cruz. (shrink)

Precautionary Principles are often said to be appropriate for decision-making in contexts of uncertainty such as climate policy. Contexts of uncertainty are contrasted to contexts of risk depending on whether we have probabilities or not. Against this view, I argue that the risk-uncertainty distinction is practically irrelevant. I start by noting that the history of the distinction between risk and uncertainty is more varied than is sometimes assumed. In order to examine the distinction, I unpack the idea of having probabilities, (...) in particular by distinguishing three interpretations of probability: objective, epistemic, and subjective probability. I then claim that if we are concerned with whether we have probabilities at all—regardless of how low their epistemic credentials are—then we almost always have probabilities for policy-making. The reason is that subjective and epistemic probability are the relevant interpretations of probability and we almost always have subjective and epistemic probabilities. In contrast, if we are only concerned with probabilities that have sufficiently high epistemic credentials, then we obviously do not always have probabilities. Climate policy, for example, would then be a case of decision-making under uncertainty. But, so I argue, we should not dismiss probabilities with low epistemic credentials. Rather, when they are the best available probabilities our decision principles should make use of them. And, since they are almost always available, the risk-uncertainty distinction remains irrelevant. (shrink)

El presente artículo es una presentación somera de la praxeología, un planteamiento filosófico en desarrollo iniciado por Antonio González que bebe de las fuentes de la fenomenología y que está particularmente inspirado en la filosofía zubinana de la que pretende asumir sus principales logros. La praxeología persigue permanentemente una filosofía primera radical que no sea más que un análisis, lo más riguroso posible, de lo inmediatamente dado. En diálogo con A. Pintor-Ramos se pretenden aclarar algunos malentendidos que impiden centrar el (...) debate en las cuestiones neurálgicas. Una vez precisado que la praxeología asume a cabalidad el análisis que hace del "prius" el último Zubiri y que tiene muy poco que ver con Ignacio Ellacuria y con las llamadas "filosofías de la liberación" se precisa el sentido de algunas de sus nociones básicas: acto, verdad, alteridad, se discute con Antonio González sobre la distinción entre actualización y actualidad y se retoma el análisis que hace de la co-actualidad Zubirí para tratar de responder a la cuestión de cómo accedemos primariamente al ámbito de lo personal. (shrink)

The link between justice and climate change is becoming increasingly prominent in public debates on climate policy. This clear and concise philosophical introduction to climate justice addresses the hot topic of climate change as a moral challenge. Using engaging everyday examples the authors address the core arguments by providing a comprehensive and balanced overview of this heated debate, enabling students and practitioners to think critically about the subject area and to promote discussion on questions such as: Why do anything in (...) the face of climate change? How much do we owe our descendants – a better world, or nothing at all? How should we distribute the burden of climate action between industrialized and developing countries? Should I adopt a green lifestyle even if no one else makes an effort? Which means of reducing emissions are permissible? Should we put hope in technological solutions? Should we re-design democratic institutions for more effective climate policy? With chapter summaries, illustrative examples and suggestions for further reading, this book is an ideal introduction for students in political philosophy, applied ethics and environmental ethics, as well as for practitioners working on one of the most urgent issues of our time. (shrink)

Many animals display a capacity to regenerate tissues or even a complete body. One of the main goals of regenerative biology is to identify the genes and genetic networks necessary for this process. Drosophila offers an ideal model system for such studies. The wide range of genetic and genomic approaches available for use in flies has helped in initiating the deciphering of the mechanisms underlying regeneration, and the results may be applicable to other organisms, including mammals. Moreover, most models of (...) regeneration require experimental manipulation, whereas in Drosophila discrete domains can be ablated by genetically induced methods. Here, we present a summary of current research into imaginal disc regeneration and discuss the power of this tissue as a tool for understanding the genetics of regeneration. (shrink)

Die „seelische Krankheit Friedlosigkeit“ ist der Ausgangspunkt für die psychologische Begründung einer Streitkultur, die auf Dialog und nicht auf Durchsetzung aufbaut. Intimität und intimer Dialog sind Schlüsselbegriffe zur Formulierung eines „Lernmodell Liebe“ , das einerseits die psychische Funktionalität von Streit betont und andererseits die Konfliktlogik paardynamischer Verflechtungen als Anstoß für ein sinnbezogenes dyadisches Lernen voneinander hervorhebt. C. F. v. Weizsäcker’s notion of a „mental illness of peacelessness“ is the starting point for a psychological theory of a „culture of constructive debates“ (...) based on dialogue as well as resonance instead of enforcement. Intimacy and intimate dialogue are keywords for formulating a “paradigm of love” . On the one hand this emphasises the psychological functionality of disagreements and on the other hand it highlights the logic of conflicts in relationships as an impulse for meaningful dyadic learning. (shrink)

This article studies the emergence of ambiguity in communication through the concept of logical irreversibility and within the framework of Shannon’s information theory. This leads us to a precise and general expression of the intuition behind Zipf’s vocabulary balance in terms of a symmetry equation between the complexities of the coding and the decoding processes that imposes an unavoidable amount of logical uncertainty in natural communication. Accordingly, the emergence of irreversible computations is required if the complexities of the coding and (...) the decoding processes are balanced in a symmetric scenario, which means that the emergence of ambiguous codes is a necessary condition for natural communication to succeed. (shrink)

Across normative and empirical disciplines, considerable attention has been devoted to the prevalence and ethics of the non-medical use of prescription and illegal stimulants for neuroenhancement among students. A predominant assumption is that neuroenhancement is prevalent, in demand, and calls for appropriate policy action. In this paper, we present data on the prevalence, views and knowledge from a large sample of German students in three different universities and analyze the findings from a moral pragmatics perspective. The results of our study (...) indicate that neuroenhancement is a well-known phenomenon among German students, but not prevalent. 2.2 % of our sample reported having used a prescription medication for neuroenhancement. Exams and competitive situations were predominant motivators of use. Students were unenthusiastic and critical about neuroenhancement in the academic context and disapproved of neuroenhancement for professionals. The majority of respondents agreed that neuroenhancing substances should be regulated by the state. These stances were based on strong beliefs in resisting peer pressure, avoiding the creation of injustice and valuing of hard work. From a moral pragmatics standpoint, these results challenge the assumption that policy on neuroenhancement is necessary in academic environments. (shrink)

As our experience with this special issue shows, climate change is such a multi-faceted problem that interdisciplinary research is a necessity. This is much more easily said than done. In the course of the publication of this special issue there were many lessons to be learned. First of all we saw how the exchange between our authors allowed them to expand the focus of their respective disciplines. Philosophers considered literature from various fields they would not have touched upon in their (...) usual course of inquiry. Scientists and legal scholars became more sensitive to the normative dimensions and justice-related intricacies involved in their research. This enabled all contributors to open up to different vocabularies and standards of research. At the same time, however, several obstacles to the success of this issue emerged as well. For such an endeavor it is necessary to find researchers who are ready to engage with other disciplines and to take up ideas and comments which at first sight might not seem relevant and out of place from their disciplinary perspective. Due to the special format another challenge was to communicate the interdisciplinary character of this special issue to the reviewers and to put the reviews in context accordingly without risking to diminish the disciplinary quality of contributions. For the guest editors this came with a further challenge. We not only had to become familiar with different disciplinary vocabularies and standards of research but also had to judge the quality and relevance of contributions in the light of our overall aim as well as disciplinary standards of quality. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Ethik Jahrgang: 16 Heft: 1 Seiten: 179-214.