How can you patent genes?

What accounts for the continued lack of clarity over the legal procedures for the patenting of DNA sequences? The patenting system was built for a "bricks-and-mortar" world rather than an information economy. The fact that genes are both material molecules and informational systems helps explain the difficulty that the patent system is going to continue to have.     

Disorders of the neurotransmitter system in multiple sclerosis--possibilities for a therapeutic approach?

The type and extent of neurological deficits in multiple sclerosis depends on the localisation and size of the lesion and the type of neuropathological pattern of the lesion. The elective demyelinating process (loss of myeline sheath without axonal damage) brings, about a showing and faulty conduction of impulses and thereby a disturbed processing of information. It can finally come to a total (functional, reversible) conduction blockage. Additionally also disturbances in the synaptic transmission may be involved. The occurrence and extent of these disturbances in conduction and transmission depend on definite paristatic factors. Our presented concepts of the "therapeutic model" based on pathophysiological investigations in multiple sclerosis show the tendency towards a "marked symptomatic therapy", which does not however, influence the basis of the disease processes, but rather represents an extremely helpful suppression of symptoms for the patients concerned.     

A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?

Mengzi believed that tyrannical rulers can be justifiably deposed, and many contemporary scholars see this as grounding a right of popular rebellion. I argue that the text of the Mengzi reveals a more mixed view, and does so in two respects. First, it suggests that the people are sometimes permitted to participate in a rebellion but not permitted to decide for themselves when rebellion is warranted. Second, it gives appropriate moral weight not to the people’s judgments about the justifiability of rebelling, but rather to certain affections and behaviors that closely track their life satisfaction. I contend that in both respects the permissions Mengzi grants the people fall short of a proper right of rebellion. I conclude that the more historical account of Mengzi’s “just revolt theory” suggests an intriguing division of deliberative labor, and note some of the advantages of this account.     

What's in a Name? A Multiracial Investigation of the Role of Occupational Stereotypes in Selection Decisions

Bertrand & Mullainathan (2002) found evidence that race-typed names can have a significant influence on the evaluation of résumés. The current study expanded on their research by manipulating both the race (Asian American, Black, Hispanic, White) and quality of the résumé (high, low), and by considering occupational stereotypes as an explanatory mechanism. White male participants ( N =155) read a fictitious résumé, evaluated the applicant, and judged his suitability for jobs. The results revealed that Asian American individuals were evaluated highly for high-status jobs, regardless of their résumé quality. White and Hispanic applicants both benefited from a high-quality résumé, but Black applicants were evaluated negatively, even with strong credentials. Results of mediation analyses demonstrated that occupational stereotypes accounted for the relationship between race and evaluations of applicants.     

Pygmalion in the genes? On the potentially negative impacts of polygenic scores for educational attainment

Social Psychology of Education - Polygenic scores for educational attainment and related variables, such as IQ and “mathematical ability” are now readily available via...     

What makes a saint? A Lincoln case study in the communion of the local and the universal Church

Within the curtilage of Lincoln Cathedral lie buried the remains of three very different people to whom sainthood has been attributed: Saint Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (d.1200); 'Little Saint Hugh' (d.1255), a child maliciously alleged to have been murdered by the local Jewish community; and Edward King (d.1910), Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Hugh is a saint of the Catholic Church, commemorated by Catholics and Anglicans; 'Little Saint Hugh' was for a short while acclaimed by local people as a saint but never officially recognised as one; Edward King is commemorated by Anglicans but not formally recognised as a saint. The marked difference of approach to the attribution of sainthood between local Christians and Catholic Church authorities, as well as between Catholics and Anglicans, is illustrated by this case study, which raises important ecumenical questions: 'What makes a saint?’, ‘How are non-Catholics to regard the Roman Catholic procedure for beatification and canonisation?’, ‘To what extent can there be fully ecumenical calendars of local saints?’, ‘Does beatification offer a way forward by which Catholics may recognise the holiness of non-Catholic Christians?’     

Is Humility a Virtue in the Context of Sport?

I define humility as a virtue that includes both proper self‐assessment and a self‐lowering other‐centeredness. I then argue that humility, so understood, is a virtue in the context of sport, for several reasons. Humility is a component of sportspersonship, deters egoism in sport, fuels athletic aspiration and risk‐taking, fosters athletic forms of self‐knowledge, decreases the likelihood of an athlete seeking to strongly humiliate her opponents or be weakly humiliated by them, and can motivate an athlete to achieve greater levels of excellence in her sport. In the context of team sports, humility can contribute to an athlete being a better teammate, foster unity amidst diversity within a team, and contribute to the overall moral and athletic excellence of a team. I also argue that an individual who is truly the world's greatest athlete can know and communicate this truth, while remaining humble.     

What is perseverated in schizophrenia? Evidence of abnormal response plasticity in the saccadic system

Although perseveration is sometimes attributed to defective set switching, the authors have recently shown that set-switching is normal in schizophrenia. In this article, the authors tested for persistent states of the saccadic response system, rather than set perseveration. Schizophrenic and healthy subjects performed antisaccades and prosaccades. The authors analyzed for 3 carry-over effects. First, whereas the latency of the current saccade correlated with that of the prior saccade in both groups, the correlations under mixed-task conditions declined in healthy but not in schizophrenic subjects. Second, antisaccades in penultimate trials delayed upcoming saccades in schizophrenic but not in healthy subjects. Third, schizophrenic subjects were more likely to erroneously perseverate the direction of a prior antisaccade but not a prior prosaccade. The authors concluded that, in schizophrenia, the effects of correct antisaccades are persistent not weak. Saccades in schizophrenia are characterized by perseveration of antisaccade-induced changes in the saccadic response system rather than failures to switch task set.     

Sex differences in intellectual functioning: How much of a difference do genes make?

An X-linkage theory of inheritance of genes controlling sex differences in major intellectual traits is critically examined. A review of the research suggests that the mechanism of inheritance of differences in spatial visualization ability is X-linked recessive and its expression is probably testosterone-limited. However, the evidence concerning inheritance of differences in IQ does not support an X-linkage theory. Several characteristics of heritability estimates are discussed, including their specificity to a particular population at a certain point in time, their fluctuation with changes in amount of environmental variation, and the necessity of unconfounding sex and treatment in order to better determine the relationship between heritability and changeability of sex differences in specific intellectual trait expression.Parts of this paper were presented at the Western Psychological Association Convention, 1974.     

What is special about the index finger?: The index finger advantage in manipulating reflexive attentional shift1

Pointing with the index finger is a universal behavior. However, the functional significance of indexical pointing has not been examined empirically. We examined the efficacy of various pointing gestures in evoking viewer's attentional shifts. After viewing the gesture cue, observers quickly reported the location of a visual target. With a short cue‐target delay, reaction times were generally shorter for the target at the location where gesture cues pointed, but not with a long cue‐target delay. Moreover, the indexical pointing gesture produced a significantly larger cueing effect than the other gestures. Our control experiments indicated that the index‐finger advantage is tightly linked to the proper morphological shape (i.e. length and position of the index finger) of the indexical pointing and is not explained by the directional discriminability of the gesture. The visual system seems to use mechanisms that are partially independent of the directional discrimination of gestures, in order to quickly modulate the viewer's attention.     

Is there a role of depressive symptoms in the fear-avoidance model? A structural equation approach

The fear-avoidance (FA) model has gained widespread acceptance as a conceptual framework for investigating psychological factors such as FA beliefs and avoidance behavior, which contribute to chronic back pain and reduced functioning. Depressive symptoms are supposed to be related to FA beliefs and to foster avoidance behavior. This study aims to investigate the multivariate assumptions of the FA model with a focus on the role of depressive symptoms. A total of N = 360 patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain at admission of inpatient orthopedic rehabilitation participated in the survey. Measures included a numeric pain rating scale, Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale, Hannover Functional Ability Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we construed a basic FA model and subsequently extended it by adding symptoms of depression as a covariate. The results of SEM indicated a good model fit for a basic FA model (χ²(263) = 431.069, p < .001, RMSEA = .042, CFI = .964, WRMR = .986). They confirmed the hypothesized relations and supported single mediations of the relationship between pain and functioning by FA beliefs and avoidance behavior. A second model including symptoms of depression as additional covariate (χ²(511) = 722.761, p < .001, RMSEA = .034, CFI = .956, WRMR = .949) showed a high impact of depressive symptoms on all FA model variables leading to a decrease of the FA mediations. The findings provide empirical support for the multivariate FA model and underline the importance of considering depressive symptoms in a multiple-target approach to understand the mechanisms of chronic pain.     

Who is called to be a bishop? A study in psychological type profiling of bishops in the Church of England

A sample of 168 bishops, serving or retired, in the Church of England completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The psychological type profile of these bishops was compared with that of 626 Anglican clergymen. The bishops differed significantly from the clergymen on three of the four aspects of psychological type. The bishops were more likely to prefer extraversion (53% compared with 43%), more likely to prefer sensing (49% compared with 38%), and more likely to prefer judging (88% compared with 68%). Overall the SJ temperament was preferred by 47% of the bishops compared with 31% of the clergymen. Moreover, there was a significant difference between diocesan bishops and suffragan bishops in terms of the judging process. While 37% of the suffragan bishops preferred thinking, the proportion rose to 56% among the diocesan bishops. These findings are discussed in light of the Anglican ordinal and in light of the strengths brought to ministry by different psychological types.     

Peas in a pod: biases in the measurement of sibling temperament?

The authors of the present study addressed the measurement of temperament by examining the convergence between observational and questionnaire measures and the occurrence of contrast effects in parental ratings of non-twin siblings on the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Fathers', mothers', and observers' ratings of 94 early-school-age sibling pairs were obtained longitudinally such that siblings were rated at the same time and when they were the same ages. Convergence between laboratory observations and questionnaires was generally modest to moderate for shyness and activity level; low to modest for positive emotionality, fear, and interest; and low for anger and sadness. We found some evidence of contrast effects for activity level and fathers' ratings of shyness and of assimilation effects for anger and sadness. The results highlight the complexity of measuring temperament and suggest that rater biases should be evaluated according to the measurement instrument used.