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Neglected Diseases in Monkeys: From the Monkey-Human Interface to One Health
by Lisa Jones-Engel Sascha KnaufThis book offers a valuable resource, reviewing the current state of knowledge concerning the pathology and epidemiology of infectious diseases in both captive and wild monkeys. The One Health concept forms the framework of all chapters. The multidisciplinary team of authors addresses neglected diseases caused by the three major pathogen groups - bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Moreover, the volume discusses key virulence factors such as the evolution of antibiotic resistance, and the ecological drivers of and human influence on pathogen transmission. Demonstrating how researchers working on monkeys diseases are increasingly thinking outside the box, this volume is an essential reference guide to the field of One Health and will serve as an asset for stakeholders in conservation, healthcare and research organizations that face the challenge of moving beyond classical human oriented approaches to health.
Neglected Perspectives on Science and Religion: Historical and Contemporary Relations
by Wayne Viney William Douglas WoodyNeglected Perspectives on Science and Religion explores historical and contemporary relations between science and religion, providing new perspectives on familiar topics such as evolution and the Galileo affair. The book also explores common differences in science and religion with respect to their various treatments of doubt, curiosity, and the methods by which truth claims are assessed. The book includes discussions of religious and scientific treatments of the origins of males and females, evolving views of sex and gender, and contemporary tensions about topics such as same-sex marriage. Viney and Woody also include a chapter exploring the effects of social science research on religious topics such as prayer, prejudice, and violence. The rise of social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology has resulted in discoveries that contribute to new ways of thinking about the relations of science and religion. This book is ideal for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students, as well as anyone interested in science and religion.
Neglected Plant Foods Of South Asia: Exploring and valorizing nature to feed hunger
by Tariq Ismail Saeed Akhtar Claudia E. LazarteAccording to the global hunger index, South Asia has worldwide highest rate of undernourished people. Such a burden of food insecurity and various forms of malnutrition are directly associated with the existing food production system that ignores biodiversity, food affordability, and sustainability. During the last five decades, food production system has witnessed a global shift from ethnic to mainstream staple cereals production and promotion. Such an approach has badly affected the regional genetic pool of a diverse range of nourishing, economical, and sustainable edible plant species which are now referred to as neglected or underutilized food crops. Neglected Plant Foods of South Asia collects and preserves existing knowledge of underutilized, minor, wild, neglected and traditional food plants of South Asia, and their utilization for the production of value-added food products. Aiming at introducing plant – based food solutions to address the increasing burden of food insecurity among marginalized communities of South Asia, this manuscript covers a plethora of nutrient-dense plant species including fruits, vegetables, roots, tubers, cereals, pseudo-cereals, and pulses. In addition to having an overview of each plant's origin, cultivation practices and production statistics, researchers will find comprehensive information on nutritional composition, food manufacturing properties, value-addition and traditional uses of neglected plant foods. Recent updates on strategies to combat toxicological risks associated with the consumption of neglected food plants have also been included. With this volume, researchers will have complete information on neglected, underutilized traditional edible plants of South Asia, and their potential to increase food security under the emerging challenges of climate change.
Neglected Tropical Diseases - Sub-Saharan Africa (Neglected Tropical Diseases)
by John O. Gyapong Boakye A. BoatinThis fully updated and expanded second edition provides an overview of the major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, such as leishmaniasis, buruli ulcer, schistosomiasis and many more. The well-structured chapters explore in detail the epidemiology and biology of these parasitic diseases. Diagnostic and therapeutic approaches as well as prevention strategies are also reviewed. Furthermore, the book discusses the burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa, taking into account the social and economic impact on the region and its health system.The book is aimed at researchers, advanced students and clinicians working on infectious diseases, tropical medicine and parasitology, and is a must-read for scientists specialising in the particularities of the sub-Saharan region.
Neglected Tropical Diseases and Phytochemicals in Drug Discovery
by Muhammad Akram Chukwuebuka Egbuna Jonathan Chinenye Ifemeje Samrat BhattacharyyaNEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES AND PHYTOCHEMICALS IN DRUG DISCOVERY Explore novel drug discovery updates from medicinal plants to help fight the devastating effects of neglected tropical diseases Neglected Tropical Diseases and Phytochemicals in Drug Discovery delivers a comprehensive exploration of the drug discovery process as it pertains to neglected tropical diseases. The book covers recent advancements in drug discovery, as well as druggable targets and new challenges facing the industry. It offers readers expansive discussions of specific diseases, including protozoan, helminth, bacterial, viral, fungal, and ectoparasitic infections. This book provides readers with insightful perspectives from leading industry voices on fifty years of trends and progress in the search for new, safe, and affordable therapeutic drugs in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. It includes information beneficial to researchers in a variety of fields of biology, chemistry, medicine, and pharmaceuticals. The distinguished authors cover topics including the effects of phytochemicals on the causative agent of leprosy and the potential applicability of phytochemicals in the management of Dengue fever. Readers will also enjoy the inclusion of: Thorough introductions to neglected tropical diseases, phytochemicals, protein targets, and mechanisms in drug discovery, as well as the epidemiology of neglected tropical diseases An exploration of novel bioactive lead compounds for drug discovery against neglected tropical diseases, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, trypanosomiasis, and schistosomiasis Discussions of protozoan infections, including herbal, nutritional, and traditional remedies for giardiasis and the anti-leishmanial potentials of phytochemicals Examinations of helminth infections, including the prospects of phytochemicals in the treatment of helminthiasis Perfect for medicinal chemists, drug developers, and research and development scientists, Neglected Tropical Diseases and Phytochemicals in Drug Discovery will also earn a place in the libraries of toxicologists and researchers in biology, chemistry, medicinal chemistry, ethnobotany, and bioinformatics seeking a one-stop resource for drug discovery for neglected tropical diseases.
Neglected and Underutilized Crops - Towards Nutritional Security and Sustainability
by Romesh Kumar Salgotra Antonio Masi Sajad Majeed ZargarThis book covers important topics on various neglected and underutilised crops (vegetables, cereals, fruit crops). It gives an overview of the potential, availability of genetic and genomic resources, and the future prospects of these food crops. The book presents different chapters on the importance of underutilised crops with respect to sustainable agriculture and describes the approaches that must be followed for improving the yield and production of these crops. It covers a wide range of food crops such as millet, buckwheat, underutilised spices, underutilised vegetables and underutilised fruit crops. It also provides insights on what smart foods are? And, whether these neglected crops qualify as smart foods?This up-to-date and informative book is meant for food scientists, geneticists, breeders and biotechnologists. It is of interest to students, researchers and course instructors in these fields.
Negotiating Bioethics: The Governance of UNESCO’s Bioethics Programme (Genetics and Society)
by Adèle LangloisA PDF version of this book is available for free in Open Access at www.tandfebooks.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. The sequencing of the entire human genome has opened up unprecedented possibilities for healthcare, but also ethical and social dilemmas about how these can be achieved, particularly in developing countries. UNESCO’s Bioethics Programme was established to address such issues in 1993. Since then, it has adopted three declarations on human genetics and bioethics (1997, 2003 and 2005), set up numerous training programmes around the world and debated the need for an international convention on human reproductive cloning. Negotiating Bioethics presents Langlois' research on the negotiation and implementation of the three declarations and the human cloning debate, based on fieldwork carried out in Kenya, South Africa, France and the UK, among policy-makers, geneticists, ethicists, civil society representatives and industry professionals. The book examines whether the UNESCO Bioethics Programme is an effective forum for (a) decision-making on bioethics issues and (b) ensuring ethical practice. Considering two different aspects of the UNESCO Bioethics Programme – deliberation and implementation – at international and national levels, Langlois explores: how relations between developed and developing countries can be made more equal who should be involved in global level decision-making and how this should proceed how overlap between initiatives can be avoided what can be done to improve the implementation of international norms by sovereign states how far universal norms can be contextualized what impact the efficacy of national level governance has at international level
Negotiating Climate Change Adaptation: The Common Position of the Group of 77 and China (Springer Climate)
by María del Pilar Bueno Rubial Linda SiegeleThis book discusses the history of the Group of 77 and China’s negotiating position on adaptation to climate change in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also addresses a number of questions that have arisen, such as: What was the process for constructing a collective position of the G77 and China on adaptation? Why is it worthwhile to negotiate in a group of such dimensions? What are the incentives for reaching the broadest common position on adaptation? What is the role of the leading coordinators, and how is this linked to the rotating annual Presidency of the G77 and China? And, how do the subgroups of the G77 participate in reaching this general position? Written by former and current adaptation negotiators from developing countries, the book offers various perspectives from the subgroups and leading coordinators of the G77 and China as well as other organizations. Furthermore, in contrast to previous analyses on climate change negotiations, which focus mainly on the behaviour or position of one group, it presents a unique approach based on the strength of collectivism in the G77 and China. The book appeals to practitioners and professionals as well as scientists in climate change management and policy, impacts and adaptation, international relations, as well as diplomacy and development.
Negotiating Darwin: The Vatican Confronts Evolution, 1877–1902 (Medicine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context)
by Thomas F. Glick Mariano Artigas Rafael A. MartínezDrawing on primary sources made available to scholars only after the archives of the Holy Office were unsealed in 1998, Negotiating Darwin chronicles how the Vatican reacted when six Catholics—five clerics and one layman—tried to integrate evolution and Christianity in the decades following the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species. As Mariano Artigas, Thomas F. Glick, and Rafael A. Martínez reconstruct these cases, we see who acted and why, how the events unfolded, and how decisions were put into practice. With the long shadow of Galileo's condemnation hanging over the Church as the Scientific Revolution ushered in new paradigms, the Church found it prudent to avoid publicly and directly condemning Darwinism and thus treated these cases carefully.The authors reveal the ideological and operational stance of the Vatican and describe its secret deliberations. In the process, they provide insight into current debates on evolution and religious belief.
Negotiating Darwin: The Vatican Confronts Evolution, 1877–1902 (Medicine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context)
by Thomas F. Glick Mariano Artigas Rafael A MartinezThis “well-researched and insightful study” reveals the secret deliberations that decided the Vatican’s stance on evolution (Catholic Historical Review).Drawing on primary sources made available to scholars only after the archives of the Holy Office were unsealed in 1998, Negotiating Darwin chronicles how the Vatican reacted when six Catholics—five clerics and one layman—tried to integrate evolution and Christianity in the decades following the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species.As Mariano Artigas, Thomas F. Glick, and Rafael A. Martínez reconstruct these cases, we see who acted and why, how the events unfolded, and how decisions were put into practice. With the long shadow of Galileo’s condemnation hanging over the Church as the Scientific Revolution ushered in new paradigms, the Church found it prudent to avoid publicly and directly condemning Darwinism and thus treated these cases carefully. The authors reveal the ideological and operational stance of the Vatican, providing insight into current debates on evolution and religious belief.
Negotiating the Environment: Civil Society, Globalisation and the UN (Routledge Focus on Environment and Sustainability)
by Lauren E EastwoodCivil society participants have voiced concerns that the environmental problems that were the subject of multilateral environmental agreements negotiated during the 1992 Rio processes are not serving to ameliorate global environmental problems. These concerns raise significant questions regarding the utility of negotiating agreements through the UN. This book elucidates the complexity of how participants engage in these negotiations through the various processes that take place under the auspices of the UN—primarily those related to climate and biological diversity. By taking an ethnographic approach and providing concrete examples of how it is that civil society participants engage in making policy, this book develops a robust sense of the implications of the current terrain of policy-making—both for the environment, and for the continued participation of non-state actors in multilateral environmental governance. Using data gathered at actual negotiations, the book develops concepts such as participation and governance beyond theory. The research uses participant observation ethnographic methods to tie the theoretical frameworks to people’s actual activities as policy is generated and contested. Whereas topics associated with global environmental governance are traditionally addressed in fields such as international relations and political science, this book contributes to developing a richer understanding of the theories using a sociological framework, tying individual activities into larger social relations and shedding light on critical questions associated with transnational civil society and global politics.
Negotiation Neuroscience: The Brain Science Behind Business Deals
by Federico AddimandoThe book delves into the fascinating intersection of neuroscience and negotiation, offering a groundbreaking exploration into how our brains influence and are influenced by the negotiation process. With an emphasis on practical application, this book is designed to equip readers with a deep understanding of the neurological mechanisms during negotiations, empowering them to optimize their approach and achieve better outcomes in business deals. Structured for both accessibility and depth, the book begins with an exploration of the fundamental principles of negotiation neuroscience, providing readers with a solid foundation of knowledge. It then progresses to more advanced topics, such as the role of emotions, cognitive biases, and decision-making processes in negotiations. Each chapter is rich with real-world examples, case studies, and practical tips, ensuring readers can immediately apply their newfound insights to their negotiation scenarios. In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, where successful negotiation skills are essential for navigating complex deals and relationships, understanding the neuroscience behind negotiation is more crucial than ever.
Neighborhood as Refuge
by Isabelle AnguelovskiEnvironmental justice as studied in a variety of disciplines is most often associated with redressing disproportionate exposure to pollution, contamination, and toxic sites. In Neighborhood as Refuge, Isabelle Anguelovski takes a broader view of environmental justice, examining wide-ranging comprehensive efforts at neighborhood environmental revitalization that include parks, urban agriculture, fresh food markets, playgrounds, housing, and waste management. She investigates and compares three minority, low-income neighborhoods that organized to improve environmental quality and livability: Casc Antic, in Barcelona; Dudley, in the Roxbury section of Boston; and Cayo Hueso, in Havana. Despite the differing histories and political contexts of these three communities, Anguelovski finds similar patterns of activism. She shows that behind successful revitalization efforts is what she calls "bottom to bottom" networking, powered by broad coalitions of residents, community organizations, architects, artists, funders, political leaders, and at times environmental advocacy groups. Anguelovski also describes how, over time, environmental projects provide psychological benefits, serving as a way to heal a marginalized and environmentally traumatized urban neighborhood. They encourage a sense of rootedness and of attachment to place, creating safe havens that offer residents a space for recovery. They also help to bolster residents' ability to deal with the negative dynamics of discrimination and provide spaces for broader political struggles including gentrification. Drawing on the cases of Barcelona, Boston, and Havana, Anguelovski presents a new holistic framework for understanding environmental justice action in cities, with the right to a healthy community environment at its core.
Neighborhood as Refuge: Community Reconstruction, Place Remaking, and Environmental Justice in the City (Urban and Industrial Environments)
by Isabelle AnguelovskiAn examination of environmental revitalization efforts in low-income communities in Boston, Barcelona, and Havana that help heal traumatized urban neighborhoods.Environmental justice as studied in a variety of disciplines is most often associated with redressing disproportionate exposure to pollution, contamination, and toxic sites. In Neighborhood as Refuge, Isabelle Anguelovski takes a broader view of environmental justice, examining wide-ranging comprehensive efforts at neighborhood environmental revitalization that include parks, urban agriculture, fresh food markets, playgrounds, housing, and waste management. She investigates and compares three minority, low-income neighborhoods that organized to improve environmental quality and livability: Casc Antic, in Barcelona; Dudley, in the Roxbury section of Boston; and Cayo Hueso, in Havana.Despite the differing histories and political contexts of these three communities, Anguelovski finds similar patterns of activism. She shows that behind successful revitalization efforts is what she calls “bottom to bottom” networking, powered by broad coalitions of residents, community organizations, architects, artists, funders, political leaders, and at times environmental advocacy groups. Anguelovski also describes how, over time, environmental projects provide psychological benefits, serving as a way to heal a marginalized and environmentally traumatized urban neighborhood. They encourage a sense of rootedness and of attachment to place, creating safe havens that offer residents a space for recovery. They also help to bolster residents' ability to deal with the negative dynamics of discrimination and provide spaces for broader political struggles including gentrification. Drawing on the cases of Barcelona, Boston, and Havana, Anguelovski presents a new holistic framework for understanding environmental justice action in cities, with the right to a healthy community environment at its core.
Neighbourhood Ecologies: Creative Ethnographies of Urban Environments
by Ilaria Vanni Alexandra CrosbyThis book foregrounds socioecological stewardship in urban spaces. It demonstrates how activities like gardening and participating in events that spark ecological learning foster a sense of place, social connections, and lively neighbourhoods. Offering case studies from Sydney, Australia, it presents an innovative, interdisciplinary, place-based design research methodology. This approach combines ethnography to examine people-place-environment relationships with design’s potential for creating change through artefacts and initiatives like maps, curated walks, and workshops. The book contributes to methodological debates by showcasing how visual communication and socially engaged practices strengthen ethnographic understandings of society, culture, and the environment. The authors show that these practices connect everyday environmental actions to broader contexts, such as making cities liveable during climate change, aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Neighbourhood Ecologies offers key insights for scholars and students of urban sociology, human geography, anthropology, design studies, and social movement studies interested in how critical environmental issues become grounded in local contexts.
Neighbourhoods in Transition: Brownfield Regeneration in European Metropolitan Areas (The Urban Book Series)
by Sophie Lufkin Emmanuel Rey Martine LapriseThis open access book is focused on the intersection between urban brownfields and the sustainability transitions of metreopolitan areas, cities and neighbourhoods. It provides both a theoretical and practical approach to the topic, offering a thorough introduction to urban brownfields and regeneration projects as well as an operational monitoring tool. Neighbourhoods in Transition begins with an overview of historic urban development and strategic areas in the hearts of towns to be developed. It then defines several key issues related to the topic, including urban brownfields, regeneration projects, and sustainability issues related to neighbourhood development. The second part of this book is focused on support tools, explaining the challenges faced, the steps involved in a regeneration process, and offering an operational monitoring tool. It applies the unique tool to case studies in three selected neighbourhoods and the outcomes of one case study are also presented and discussed, highlighting its benefits.The audience for this book will be both professional and academic. It will support researchers as an up-to-date reference book on urban brownfield regeneration projects, and also the work of architects, urban designers, urban planners and engineers involved in sustainability transitions of the built environment.
Neil Armstrong (History Heroes #2)
by Damian HarveyNeil Armstrong was involved in one of the most memorable events of the twentieth century - the moon landing!Find out more about how he got to become one of the first to set foot on the moon.Discover the stories of people who have helped to shape history, ranging from early explorers such as Christopher Columbus to more modern figures like Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web.These chapter books combine historical fact with engaging narrative and humourous illustration, perfect for the newly independent reader.
Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight
by Jan BarbreeMuch has been written about Neil Armstrong, America's modern hero and history's most famous space traveler. Yet shy of fame and never one to steal the spotlight Armstrong was always reluctant to discuss his personal side of events. Here for the first time is the definitive story of Neil's life of flight he shared for five decades with a trusted friend – Jay Barbree.Working from 50 years of conversations he had with Neil, from notes, interviews, NASA spaceflight transcripts, and remembrances of those Armstrong trusted, Barbree writes about Neil's three passions – flight, family, and friends. This is the inside story of Neil Armstrong from the time he flew combat missions in the Korean War and then flew a rocket plane called the X-15 to the edge of space, to when he saved his Gemini 8 by flying the first emergency return from Earth orbit and then flew Apollo-Eleven to the moon's Sea of Tranquility. Together Neil and Jay discussed everything, from his love of flying, to the war years, and of course his time in space. The book is full of never-before-seen photos and personal details written down for the first time, including what Armstrong really felt when he took that first step on the moon, what life in NASA was like, his relationships with the other astronauts, and what he felt the future of space exploration should be.As the only reporter to have covered all 166 American astronaut flights and moon landings Jay knows these events intimately. Neil Armstrong himself said, "Barbree is history's most experienced space journalist. He is exceptionally well qualified to recall and write the events and emotions of our time." Through his friendship with Neil and his dedicated research, Barbree brings us the most accurate account of his friend's life of flight, the book he planned for twenty years.
Neil Armstrong: One Giant Leap for Mankind (Sterling Biographies)
by Mike Jackson Tara Dixon EngelEven at an age when other boys were just learning to drive, Neil was training to reach the skies. He went on to study aeronautical engineering, win medals as a fighter pilot, try out the X-15 experimental rocket plane, and become one of the elite few chosen to be a NASA astronaut…where he took the test pilot’s credo of “higher, faster and farther” to thrilling heights.
Neil Armstrong: Young Flyer
by Meryl Henderson Montrew DunhamRich or poor, great American men and women lived out childhoods as vastly different as the adults they became. Here young readers will learn about the early years of the first person to step foot on the moon, a historic feat he described as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #1997)
by Myron ChristodoulidesThis detailed book addresses the continual development and application of new methods and protocols to understand the biology of the pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Beginning with gonococcus biology and antimicrobial resistance, the volume continues with areas of study such as producing major gonococcal antigens to high purity, genetic transformation of gonococci and strategies for global RNA sequencing, evaluation of potential vaccine/drug targets and the assessment of hypothetical protein function, as well as a number of methods and protocols for studying the biological interactions of the gonococcus and the host. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Methods and Protocols provides researchers with a foundation for progress toward the eventual control of this disease and a significant reduction in global case numbers of gonorrhea.
Neisseria meningitidis: Advanced Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #799)
by Myron ChristodoulidesNeisseria meningitidis is a major causative agent, worldwide, of potentially life-threatening meningitis and septicaemia, which carry with them a high mortality rate and permanent physical and neurological issues for survivors. Neisseria meningitidis: Advanced Methods and Protocols offers a collection of methods and protocols that reflect the development and refinement of several new technologies applied to the meningococcus as presented by expert researchers. Several of the chapters in this book describe methods that rely on the collection of complete sets of biological data, for example, using the genome to generate transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Neisseria meningitidis: Advanced Methods and Protocols can be readily used to study other pathogens and diseases and should have broad appeal to clinical and non-clinical scientists alike; however, there is still much to learn about the meningococcus and its complex nature, which in turn continues to reveal crucial details about human biology as well.
Neither Beast Nor God
by Gilbert MeilaenderAppeals to "human dignity" are at the core of many of the most contentious social and political issues of our time. But these appeals suggest different and at times even contradictory ways of understanding the term. Is dignity something we all share equally, and therefore the reason we all ought to be treated as equals? Or is it what distinguishes some greater and more admirable human beings from the rest? What notion of human dignity should inform our private judgments and our public life?In Neither Beast Nor God, Gilbert Meilaender elaborates the philosophical, social, theological, and political implications of the question of dignity, and suggests a path through the thicket. Meilaender, a noted theologian and a prominent voice in America's bioethics debates, traces the ways in which notions of dignity shape societies, families, and individual lives, and incisively cuts through some common confusions that cloud our thinking on key moral and ethical questions. The dignity of humanity and the dignity of the person, he argues, are distinct but deeply connected--and only by grasping them both can we find our way to a meaningful understanding of the human condition.
Neither Ghost nor Machine: The Emergence and Nature of Selves
by Jeremy ShermanIf the universe is aimless, how do selves and aims emerge? Why do living beings have aims when inanimate things do not? Current science encourages us to reject the ghost-in-the-machine explanation—that something called spirit, soul, mind, or will was somehow breathed into matter—and instead accept that selves are just matter, in aimless mechanistic motion like everything else. But what about life’s many emergent qualities, the multifarious purposes that shape actual physical behavior not just in human lives, but in all of life? Even the simplest life forms have adaptive functions, traits that accomplish goals or ends. How can we explain the nature and origin of selves and aims without resorting to supernatural forces or explaining them away as nothing but cause-and-effect mechanisms?In Neither Ghost nor Machine, Jeremy Sherman explains the emergence of selves and aims in an aimless universe. He distills for a general audience the theory developed by renowned neuroscientist Terrence Deacon, which extends the breakthrough constraint-based insight that inspired evolutionary, information, and self-organization theory. Emergent dynamics theory provides a testable hypothesis for how mattering arose from matter, function from physics, and means-to-ends behavior from cause-and-effect dynamics. It offers a physics of purpose, demonstrating that there is a strictly physical explanation for the emergence and nature of selves and aims, one that shows our existence in an otherwise inanimate universe is not absurd. Neither Ghost nor Machine bridges the gap between the hard and soft sciences, suggesting fresh and exciting solutions to philosophical mysteries that have perplexed humanity for millennia, from free will to causality to morality.
Nem todas as espécies envelhecem
by Anca IoviţăO envelhecimento é um enigma a ser solucionado. Esse processo, tradicionalmente, é estudado por meio de alguns modelos biológicos, como a mosca-das-frutas, algumas espécies de nematoides, ratos e camundongos. O que todas essas espécies têm em comum é seu rápido envelhecimento, o que é excelente em termos de orçamento para um laboratório e uma ótima estratégia a curto prazo – quem dispõe do tempo necessário para estudar espécies que vivem por décadas? Mas as diferenças de expectativa de vida de uma espécie para outra são ordens de grandeza maiores do que qualquer variação de expectativa de vida que possa ser observada em laboratório. Foi isso o que me levou a estudar incontáveis fontes de informação numa tentativa de reunir pesquisas altamente especializadas em um livro de fácil compreensão. Queria enxergar a floresta além das árvores. Queria apresentar as diferenças de expectativa de vida entre as espécies por meio de uma sequência lógica e acessível. Este livro é minha tentativa de fazer justamente isso. Quais são os mecanismos subjacentes às diferenças identificadas no processo de envelhecimento entre uma espécie e outra? Escolhi intencionalmente escrever a resposta a essa pergunta em linguagem clara. O envelhecimento é um assunto importante demais para ficar escondido atrás das portas do jargão científico formal. Este livro não existiria se o chá verde, as bibliotecas e a Internet não tivessem sido inventados. Embora a quantidade de dados que pesquisei para identificar os padrões essenciais seja enorme, este livro não é exaustivo. Não se trata de um árido livro acadêmico. Tentei dar vida a um tópico extremamente importante para a extensão da expectativa de vida humana. Apenas você pode decidir se consegui atingir esse objetivo. Índice Enxergando a floresta além das árvores Confiabilidade é importante A matemática do envelhecimento