Aesthetics and Ethics in Engineering: Insights from Polanyi

Polanyi insisted that scientific knowledge was intensely personal in nature, though held with universal intent. His insights regarding the personal values of beauty and morality in science are first enunciated. These are then explored for their relevance to engineering. It is shown that the practice of engineering is also governed by aesthetics and ethics. For example, Polanyi’s three spheres of morality in science—that of the individual scientist, the scientific community and the wider society—has parallel entities in engineering. The existence of shared values in engineering is also demonstrated, in aesthetics through an example that shows convergence of practitioner opinion to solutions that represent accepted models of aesthetics; and in ethics through the recognition that many professional engineering institutions hold that the safety of the public supersedes the interests of the client. Such professional consensus can be seen as justification for studying engineering aesthetics and ethics as inter-subjective disciplines.     

Learning emergent behaviours for a hierarchical Bayesian framework for active robotic perception

In this research work, we contribute with a behaviour learning process for a hierarchical Bayesian framework for multimodal active perception, devised to be emergent, scalable and adaptive. This framework is composed by models built upon a common spatial configuration for encoding perception and action that is naturally fitting for the integration of readings from multiple sensors, using a Bayesian approach devised in previous work. The proposed learning process is shown to reproduce goal-dependent human-like active perception behaviours by learning model parameters (referred to as "attentional sets") for different free-viewing and active search tasks. Learning was performed by presenting several 3D audiovisual virtual scenarios using a head-mounted display, while logging the spatial distribution of fixations of the subject (in 2D, on left and right images, and in 3D space), data which are consequently used as the training set for the framework. As a consequence, the hierarchical Bayesian framework adequately implements high-level behaviour resulting from low-level interaction of simpler building blocks by using the attentional sets learned for each task, and is able to change these attentional sets "on the fly," allowing the implementation of goal-dependent behaviours (i.e., top-down influences).     

Response of the rat brain beta-endorphin system to novelty: importance of the fornix connection

In control rats, a step-down inhibitory avoidance training trial using a 0.8 mA footshock, or simple exposure to the training apparatus without footshock, was followed by a decrease of beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity measured in the hypothalamus and ventral thalamus. The effect of inhibitory avoidance training was also measured in rats submitted to a brain sham operation, to bilateral transection of the dorsal fornix, to anterior or to posterior hypothalamic deafferentation, to adrenal medullectomy, to an adrenal sham operation, to 16 daily ip injections of 0.2 mg/kg dexamethasone, or to 16 daily ip injections of 1 ml/kg saline. The diencephalic beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity response to training was abolished by fornix transection and was unaffected by all other treatments. This suggests that the response is not mediated by anterior or posterior neural afferents to the hypothalamus, or by a hypersecretion of epinephrine by the adrenal medullae, or of ACTH by the pituitary gland. The response, instead, appears to require the integrity of the pathway that sends projections from the septo-hippocampal system to the hypothalamus. Previous evidence had suggested that the diencephalic beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity response to training is a result of novelty, and the septo-hippocampal system has been postulated to play a role in the registration of novelty.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 357 Portuguese children at five ages

Eighteen examiners, well trained in the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003), administered the Rorschach to 357 Portuguese children, in the first through fifth grades, attending schools located in Lisbon and the surrounding neighborhood. Coding was done by 5 of the examiners, each one having more than 5 years of experience with the CS. For this study, coding was reviewed by the authors. Five records were randomly selected from each age group to assess intercoder reliability. Janson and Olsson's (2004) iota was used to assess reliability of the main variable categories. Results are high, with iota ranging from 0.87 to 0.98 across the coding categories. CS variables are presented and key data were chosen and reviewed. A discussion of some data and their comparison with corresponding American data are made, permitting some interesting developmental and cross-cultural questions to be addressed.     

So hard to say goodbye? An investigation into the symbolic aspects of unintended disposition practices

Even though disposition is present in the consumer behavior research agenda, most of the studies focus mainly on intentional movements of products leaving the home. The present article describes a less conscious and co‐incidental journey of products into a liminal zone between use and disposal inside homes. A qualitative field study, based on the itinerary method, was undertaken with a group of 26 affluent women in Brazil. The findings show that consumers maintain purgatories – “forgotten” repositories of products no longer in use – as an in‐home disposition practice. The aspects and functioning of purgatory are also detailed, through a typology of purgatories and a discussion of specific strategies to deal with cluttering as a consequence of product accumulation inside homes. Finally, purgatories emerge as a contemporary consumer solution to deal not with individual products but with product collectivities' disposition. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eye remember you: the effects of gaze direction on face recognition in children and adults

Children and adults were tested on a forced‐choice face recognition task in which the direction of eye gaze was manipulated over the course of the initial presentation and subsequent test phase of the experiment. To establish the effects of gaze direction on the encoding process, participants were presented with to‐be‐studied faces displaying either direct or deviated gaze (i.e. encoding manipulation). At test, all the faces depicted persons with their eyes closed. To investigate the effects of gaze direction on the efficiency of the retrieval process, a second condition (i.e. retrieval manipulation) was run in which target faces were presented initially with eyes closed and tested with either direct or deviated gaze. The results revealed the encoding advantages enjoyed by faces with direct gaze was present for both children and adults. Faces with direct gaze were also recognized better than faces with deviated gaze at retrieval, although this effect was most pronounced for adults. Finally, the advantage for direct gaze over deviated gaze at encoding was greater than the advantage for direct gaze over deviated gaze at retrieval. We consider the theoretical implications of these findings.     

Contributions of glucocorticoid receptors in cortical astrocytes to memory recall

Dysfunctions in memory recall lead to pathological fear; a hallmark of trauma-related disorders, like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both, heightened recall of an association between a cue and trauma, as well as impoverished recall that a previously trauma-related cue is no longer a threat, result in a debilitating fear toward the cue. Glucocorticoid-mediated action via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) influences memory recall. This literature has primarily focused on GRs expressed in neurons or ignored cell-type specific contributions. To ask how GR action in nonneuronal cells influences memory recall, we combined auditory fear conditioning in mice and the knockout of GRs in astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region implicated in memory recall. We found that knocking out GRs in astrocytes of the PFC disrupted memory recall. Specifically, we found that knocking out GRs in astrocytes in the PFC (AstroGRKO) after fear conditioning resulted in higher levels of freezing to the CS+ tone when compared with controls (AstroGRintact). While we did not find any differences in extinction of fear toward the CS+ between these groups, AstroGRKO female but not male mice showed impaired recall of extinction training. These results suggest that GRs in cortical astrocytes contribute to memory recall. These data demonstrate the need to examine GR action in cortical astrocytes to elucidate the basic neurobiology underlying memory recall and potential mechanisms that underlie female-specific biases in the incidence of PTSD.

Recalling important information about salient environmental cues is an integral part of how we navigate our world. Recalling too much, or too little, information about salient environmental cues is a part of the psychopathology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Milad and Quirk 2012). More specifically, the augmented recall of an association between an environmental cue and a traumatic event results in debilitating fear toward the cue, even in the absence of any threat. In contrast, impoverished recall of information that a cue, previously associated with trauma, is no longer a threat also results in debilitating fear toward the cue after it is no longer dangerous. Therefore, one way to mitigate debilitating fear that characterizes PTSD is to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory recall.Among many mechanisms, glucocorticoid action via signaling through glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) is an important neurobiological pathway that underlies the recall of salient information. When trauma-associated cues are encountered, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is activated and GR signaling is consequently triggered (McEwen et al. 1988; McEwen 1992; Lupien et al. 2009). Existing literature demonstrates that glucocorticoids and GRs do in fact influence learning, memory, and the recall of learning (Pugh et al. 1997; de Quervain et al. 1998, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2019; Roozendaal 2002, 2003; Conrad et al. 2004; Hui et al. 2004; Donley et al. 2005; Roozendaal and de Quervain 2005; Cai et al. 2006; Soravia et al. 2006; Yang et al. 2006; Roozendaal et al. 2009; Bentz et al. 2010; Blundell et al. 2011; Clay et al. 2011; Nikzad et al. 2011; Roesler 2012; Liao et al. 2013; Wislowska-Stanek et al. 2013; Arp et al. 2016; Reis et al. 2016; Dadkhah et al. 2018; Inoue et al. 2018; Scheimann et al. 2019; Lin et al. 2020). The relationship between glucocorticoids, GRs, learning and memory is complicated and within the literature cited above, one can find examples of GR action being facilitatory as well as inhibitory to learning and memory recall. As expansive as this research is, the influence of GRs on learning, memory, and recall of learning has mostly focused only on GR action in neurons or has ignored cell type specific contributions. While glia are approximately as common as neurons in the nervous system (von Bartheld et al. 2016; von Bartheld 2018), the role of GRs in glial cells on the recall of salient environmental cues has been neglected. More specifically, while astrocytes comprise a significant proportion of the glial cell population (von Bartheld et al. 2016) and express GRs (Vielkind et al. 1990; Bohn et al. 1991), the influence of GRs in astrocytes on memory recall remains largely unappreciated (for one exception, see the Discussion).Our goal in this study was to determine the influence of GRs in astrocytes on memory recall. To do so, we combined the robust and reliable experimental framework of classical fear conditioning in rodents (Santini et al. 2008; Dias et al. 2014; Bukalo et al. 2015; Keiser et al. 2017; Giustino and Maren 2018; Greiner et al. 2019; Gunduz-Cinar et al. 2019; Venkataraman et al. 2019) with molecular genetic manipulations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region critical for the recall of memory (Morgan and LeDoux 1995; Quirk et al. 2000; Mueller et al. 2008; Quirk and Mueller 2008; Giustino and Maren 2015; Rozeske et al. 2015; Maren and Holmes 2016). We first trained mice to associate tone presentations with mild footshocks. After this auditory fear conditioning, we used a CRE-loxP strategy to specifically knock out GRs in astrocytes in the PFC (hereafter termed cortical astrocytes) of these trained mice. We then exposed animals to extinction training: 30 presentations of the tone in the absence of any footshocks. Finally, 1 d after the extinction training, we exposed animals to two presentations of the tone. This experimental timeline allowed us to ask how a lack of GRs in cortical astrocytes influences (1) the recall of the previous aversive association of the tone presentation with the footshock, (2) the extinction of fear that would typically occur during extinction training, and (3) the recall of extinction training allowing us to measure the influence of GRs in cortical astrocytes on the recall of extinction training. Broadly, our results demonstrate that knocking out GRs in cortical astrocytes disrupts fear memory recall in both male and female mice, while only disrupting extinction recall in female mice.