1,720,978 research outputs found
Cognitive twists: the coevolution of learning and genes in Human Cognition
No full textIn this paper, we propose the expression cognitive twists for cognitive mechanisms that result from the coevolution of genes and learning. Evidence is available that at least some cultural learning mechanisms, such as imitation and language, have evolved genetically under the pressure produced by culture, even though they are mostly acquired through domain-general learning during development. Although the existence of these mechanisms is consistent with evolutionary theory, their importance has not been sufficiently emphasized by mind-centered accounts of human cognitive evolution, namely evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary psychology. We provide concrete examples of cognitive twists, such as vocal imitation. Genetic changes in action-perception matching circuits suggest that human imitation and perhaps language are cognitive twists, namely plastic, learnable, yet genetically evolved cognitive mechanisms. We conclude that cognitive twists depict plausible evolutionary scenarios for the evolution of cognition in Homo sapiens.1 Evolutionary Accounts of the Human Mind 2 Cognitive Gadgets Beats Instincts 3 Cognitive Gadgets in Evolutionary Theory 4 Cognitive Twist: a Category Proposal 5 Criteria for Cognitive Twists: the Case for Action‑Perception Matching 5.1 Evidence of Function 5.2 Evolutionary Changes 5.3 Theoretical Models 6 Imitation as a Cognitive Twist 7 Conclusion 7.1 Box 1. The Mirror Neuron Systems for Actions and Emotion
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Role of heat shock related genes in the physiological response of Arabidopsis thaliana to anoxia
No full textHeat shock proteins (Hsps) are involved in the physiological responses of all living organisms to a large variety of abiotic stress. Anoxic stress is charachterized by a decreasing in the energy and redox state of the cell, and in the production of oxygen reactive species. Hsps and other genes typically related to heat shock appear to be importantly expressed following oxygen deprivation % (both at the protein and at the transcript level)
and a significant overlapping between anoxic and heat shock response in the transcriptomic response exists. Upstream most of this genes heat shock transcription factor A2, an important transcription factor involved in acclimation to heat stress and in many different abiotic stress, seems to be a key regulator in the anoxic tolerance, as Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings tolerance is altered negatively or positively respectively in plants deficient or overexpressing this TF. We suggests that at least part of importance of hsfA2 and some heat shock related genes is related to the defense from oxidative damage due to the reactive oxygen species produced during anoxic or hypoxic stress
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Uncovering the dynamics of precise repair at CRISPR/Cas9-induced double-strand breaks
Full text linkAbstract CRISPR/Cas9 is widely used for precise mutagenesis through targeted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induction followed by error-prone repair. A better understanding of this process requires measuring the rates of cutting, error-prone, and precise repair, which have remained elusive so far. Here, we present a molecular and computational toolkit for multiplexed quantification of DSB intermediates and repair products by single-molecule sequencing. Using this approach, we characterize the dynamics of DSB induction, processing and repair at endogenous loci along a 72 h time-course in tomato protoplasts. Combining this data with kinetic modeling reveals that indel accumulation is determined by the combined effect of the rates of DSB induction processing of broken ends, and precise versus error repair. In this study, 64–88% of the molecules were cleaved in the three targets analyzed, while indels ranged between 15–41%. Precise repair accounts for most of the gap between cleavage and error repair, representing up to 70% of all repair events. Altogether, this system exposes flux in the DSB repair process, decoupling induction and repair dynamics, and suggesting an essential role of high-fidelity repair in limiting the efficiency of CRISPR-mediated mutagenesis
Action-Perception Matching in Human Cultural Evolution: Updates from the Cognitive Science Debate
Full text linkAnalyses of action-perception matching mechanisms, such as the Mirror Neuron
System (MNS), have been prominent in evolutionary accounts of human cognition.
Some scholars have interpreted data on the MNS to suggest that the human capacity to acquire and transmit cultural information is a learned product of cultural evolution (the Culture not Biology Account of cultural learning). Others have interpreted results related to the MNS to suggest that cultural learning in humans result
from both cultural and biological evolution (the Culture per biology Account of
cultural learning).
In this paper, we analyse action-perception matching mechanisms considering
evolutionary models and novel experimental findings about the MNS. We review
the Culture not biology account plausibility within evolutionary theory and argue
that as it stands this account is theoretically unsound. We finally argue for the plausibility of the Biology per culture account and discuss how it paves the way to further neurobiological investigations about the evolution of our capacity to learn, understand and transmit cultural information
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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