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Evolutionary Psychology
No full textEvolutionary psychology (EP) is an approach to the study of the mind that is founded on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. It assumes that our mental abilities, emotions and preferences are adapted specifically for solving problems of survival and reproduction in humanity’s ancestral environment, and derives testable predictions from this assumption. This has important implications for our understanding of the conditions for human well-being
Middleware Design Framework for Mobile Computing
No full textMobile computing is one of the recent growing fields in the area of wireless networking. The recent standardization efforts accomplished in Web services, with their XML-based formats for registration/discovery, service description, and service access, respectively UDDI, WSDL, and SOAP, certainly represent an interesting first step towards open service composition, which MA supports for mobile computing are expected to integrate within their frameworks soon. A middle-ware that can work even if the network parameters are changed can be a better solution for successful mobile computing. A middle-ware is proposed for handling the entire existing problem in distributed environment. Middleware is about integration and interoperability of applications and services running on heterogeneous computing and communication devices. The services it provides - including identification, authentication, authorization, soft-switching, certification and security - are used in a vast range of global appliances and systems, from smart cards and wireless devices to mobile services and e-Commerce
Prevention of endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits by Triphala, an Ayurvedic formulation
No full textPurpose: Triphala (TA) is an Ayurvedic formulation used to treat various disorders. The present study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of TA aqueous extract on experimental uveitis in the rabbit. Methods: Anterior uveitis was induced in rabbits by intravitreal injection of lipopolysaccharide from Eschericha coli after pretreatment with TA aqueous extract. Subsequently the anti-inflammatory activity of TA was evaluated by grading the clinical signs and estimating the inflammatory cell count, protein, and TNF-α level in the aqueous humour. Results: The anterior segment inflammation in the control group was significantly higher than in TA and prednisolone treated groups, as observed by clinical grading. The inflammatory cell count in the control group was 31.23 ± 0.80 × 105cells/ml, whereas it was 3.29 ± 0.47 × 105cells/ml (P < 0.0001 vs. control) and 1.31 ± 0.31 × 105 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) cells/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. The protein content of the aqueous humour was 15.43 ± 0.54, 3.13 ± 0.35 (P < 0.0001 vs. control), and 1.96 ± 0.39 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) mg/ml in the control, TA and prednisolone treated groups respectively. The aqueous TNF- α level in the control group was 942.20 ± 6.46 pg/ml and was 261.30 ± 13.60 (P < 0.001 vs. control) and 104.00 ± 4.50 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) pg/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. \ud
Conclusions: Topical administration of aqueous extract of TA prevented uveitis in endotoxin-induced experimental rabbits.\u
Role of immunoturbidimetric plasma fibrin D-dimer test in patients with coronary artery disease as well as ischemic heart disease in emergency medicine
No full textThe aim of the present was to assess the value of the ELISA D-dimer (hemostatic marker) assay in patients with coronary artery disease as well as ischemic heart disease presenting to the emergency department with chest pain syndrome. Methods: We measured levels of D-dimers (µg/ml by immunoturbidimetric assay) in 120 patients with angiographically proved CAD, consecutive outpatients with chest pain, arterial fibrillation, acute coronary syndromes and 240 age and sex matched healthy controls. Demographic characteristics were assessed by a standardized questionnaire, and a complete lipid profile was performed for all subjects. In addition to this inflammatory marker C- reactive protein was also measured. Result: The distribution of D-dimer levels skewed to the right, and plasma mean levels were higher in cases than in control (mean: 2.51±3.60 vs .41±.59 µg/ml; p<0.001). In contrast, correlation of D-dimer was found with C-reactive protein (p<0.001) and is higher in cases than controls. Conclusion: Plasma D-dimer levels are strongly and independently associated with the presence of CAD in patients with stable angina. These results support the concept of a contribution of intravascular fibrin to atherothrombogenesis
A Framework for Designing 3d Virtual Environments
No full textThe process of design and development of virtual environments can be supported by tools and frameworks, to save time in technical aspects and focusing on the content. In this paper we present an academic framework which provides several levels of abstraction to ease this work. It includes state-of-the-art components we devised or integrated adopting open-source solutions in order to face specific problems. Its architecture is modular and customizable, the code is open-source.\u
A Framework for Designing 3d Virtual Environments
No full textThe process of design and development of virtual environments can be supported by tools and frameworks, to save time in technical aspects and focusing on the content. In this paper we present an academic framework which provides several levels of abstraction to ease this work. It includes state-of-the-art components we devised or integrated adopting open-source solutions in order to face specific problems. Its architecture is modular and customizable, the code is open-source.\u
Can Internalism and Externalism be Reconciled in a Biological Epistemology of Language?
No full textThis paper is an attempt at exploring the possibility of reconciling the two interpretations of biolinguistics which have been recently projected by Koster(Biolinguistics 3(1):61–92, 2009). The two interpretations—trivial and nontrivial—can be roughly construed as non-internalist and internalist conceptions of biolinguistics respectively. The internalist approach boils down to a conception of language where language as a mental grammar in the form of I-language grows and functions like a biological organ. On the other hand, under such a construal consistent with Koster’s (Biolinguistics 3(1):61-92, 2009), the non-internalist version does not necessarily have to be externalist in nature; rather it is a matter of mutual reinforcement of biology and culture under the rubric of a co-evolutionary dynamics. Here it will be argued that the apparent dichotomy between these two conceptions of biolinguistics can perhaps be resolved if we have a richer synthesis that accounts for both internalism and non-internalism
Can Evolutionary Theory Explain the Existence of Consciousness? A Review of Humphrey, N. (2010) Soul Dust: The Magic of Consciousness. London: Quercus, ISBN 9781849162371
No full textThis review summarises why it is difficult for Darwinian evolutionary theory to explain the existence and function of consciousness. It then evaluates whether Humphrey's book Soul Dust overcomes these problems. According to Humphrey, consciousness is an illusion constructed by the brain to enhance reproductive fitness by motivating creatures that have it to stay alive. Although the review entirely accepts that consciousness gives a first-person meaning to existence, it concludes that Humphrey does not give a convincing account of how this can arise from random variations in the genome. Nor does he demonstrate how first-person experiences might enter into or be reducable to third-person functioning. The review concludes that Humphrey's case is unconvincing, and goes on to suggest that an entirely different, non-reductive approach may be required to understand consciousness
Decompression of inferior alveolar nerve: case report comment
No full textParesthesia as a result of mechanical trauma is one of the most frequent sensory disturbances of the inferior alveolar nerve. This case report describes surgical treatment for paresthesia caused by a compressive phenomenon within the mandibular canal. The cause of the compression, a broken instrument left in the patient's mouth during previous endodontic therapy, was identified during routine radiography and computed tomography. Once the foreign object was removed by surgery, the paresthesia resolved quickly. This case highlights the potential for an iatrogenic mechanical cause of paresthesia. Comment : The article by Marques and Gomes (J Can Dent Assoc 2011;77:b34) caught my attention. For your information, there is almost an almost similar case reported recently, but with dysesthesia.1 It is fortunate that the patient in the current case has less severe symptoms (occasional numbness of her left lip and a small part of her chin, and a tingling sensation in the vestibular gingival). What I can deduce from the radiographs shown is that the file was actually lodged onto the wall of the periapical defect and the mandibular canal, and because of this the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) was spared direct injury. Ikeda et al.2 had shown that there is room between the IAN and the canal. However, as reported by the Marques and Gomes, her symptoms were more aggravated in the morning and during stressful situations. This may be a result of fluid accumulation in the morning, or during any sympathetic (stressful) event, that may result in vasodilatation, and hence compression within the narrow mandibular canal that usually average 3.4 + 0.5 mm in diameter. 2,3 I hope this opinion is of help. Thank you
Third Party Punishment\ud La punizione altruistica nell’incontro fra culture
No full textStudiosi di varie discipline hanno finora cercato di comprendere i processi decisionali sottostanti le scelte in\ud
ambito economico degli esseri umani. Perché a volte le persone agiscono comportamenti che vanno contro il proprio interesse\ud
personale? Al fine di esplorare questo complesso ambito abbiamo focalizzato la nostra attenzione sul concetto di punizione\ud
altruistica, indagata attraverso il gioco del Third Party Punishment (TPP). Il TPP prevede l’attuazione di una sanzione di\ud
tipo economico a proprio costo da parte di un osservatore non coinvolto nel gioco, che può punire o meno chi viola le norme\ud
di cooperazione, senza alcun beneficio personale. Questo comportamento sanzionatorio si può declinare in modo diverso a\ud
seconda della cultura di appartenenza: una cultura collettivista, come ad esempio quella cinese, ha come priorità la\ud
salvaguardia del gruppo rispetto al singolo, al contrario delle culture individualiste, come ad esempio quella italiana, che\ud
promuovono l’indipendenza del singolo, anche a discapito del gruppo di riferimento. Abbiamo integrato quindi conoscenze\ud
del campo economico e delle scienze cognitive con una variabile antropologica: il confronto tra culture diverse, i.e. cinese e\ud
italiana. Lo studio propone un'analisi sia intragruppo - dove tutti i partecipanti al gioco appartengono alla stessa cultura,\ud
italiana o cinese - sia intergruppo - dove uno dei partecipanti appartiene ad una cultura diversa, italiana o cinese, rispetto a\ud
quella degli altri due giocatori. I risultati preliminari confermano l’emergere del comportamento di punizione altruistica, in\ud
conformità ad una norma implicita che garantisce la cooperazione tra persone, sia nei soggetti italiani che nei soggetti cinesi.\ud
Non risultano invece per ora differenze statisticamente significative rispetto alla variabile interculturale, ma prospettiamo a\ud
tal fine un ampliamento del campione