scholarly journals The Enigmatic Metallothioneins: A Case of Upward-Looking Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5984
Author(s):  
Ahmad Yaman Abdin ◽  
Claus Jacob ◽  
Lena Kästner
Keyword(s):  
Structure Function ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Biological Function ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Yield Structure ◽  
Initial Work ◽  
Biochemical Research ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Biological Organisms

In the mid-1950s, Bert Lester Vallee and his colleague Marvin Margoshes discovered a molecule referred to today as metallothionein (MT). Meanwhile, MTs have been shown to be common in many biological organisms. Despite their prevalence, however, it remains unclear to date what exactly MTs do and how they contribute to the biological function of an organism or organ. We investigate why biochemical research has not yet been able to pinpoint the function(s) of MTs. We shall systematically examine both the discovery of and recent research on Dr. Vallee’s beloved family of MT proteins utilizing tools from philosophy of science. Our analysis highlights that Vallee’s initial work exhibited features prototypical of a developing research tradition: it was upward-looking, exploratory, and utilized mere interactions. Since the 1960s, MT research has increasingly become intervention- and hypothesis-based while it remained largely upward-looking in character. Whilst there is no reason to think that upward-looking research cannot successfully yield structure-function mappings, it has not yet been successful in the case of MTs. Thus, we suggest it might be time to change track and consider other research strategies looking into the evolution of MTs. Recent studies in mollusks render research in this direction worthy of pursuit.

scholarly journals The Enigmatic Metallothioneins: A Case of Upward-Looking Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Yaman Abdin ◽  
Claus Jacob ◽  
Lena Kästner
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Biological Function ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Biochemical Research ◽  
Biological Organisms ◽  
Function Mapping

In the mid-1950s, Bert L. Vallee and his colleague Marvin Margoshes discovered a molecule known today as metallothionein (MT). Meanwhile MTs have been shown to be common in many biological organisms. Despite their prevalence, however, it remains unclear to date what exactly MTs do and how they contribute to the biological function of an organism or organ. Honoring Dr. Vallee’s sometimes innovative approach to research, this contribution sets out to show how philosophy of science can help us gain a clearer picture of biochemical research. We shall look into both the discovery of as well as recent research on Dr. Vallee’s beloved family of MT proteins to illustrate (i) how exploratory and upward-looking research play important roles in biochemical discoveries although they do not fit the paradigmatic approach of decomposition and struc-ture-function mapping. Besides, we shall suggest (ii) that while other biochemical molecules ex-hibit a clearly identifiable function, other research hypotheses might be worthy of pursuit in the case of MTs.

scholarly journals Integrated HPS? Formal versus historical approaches to philosophy of science

Synthese ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby Vos
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Science History ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Formal Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Abstract Level ◽  
Level I ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Substantial Interest

AbstractThe project of integrated HPS (‘integrated history and philosophy of science’) has occupied philosophers of science in one form or another since at least the 1960s. Yet, despite this substantial interest in bringing together philosophical and historical reflections on the nature of science, history of science and formal philosophy of science remain as divided as ever. In this paper, I will argue that the continuing separation between historical and formal philosophy of science is ill-founded. I will argue for this in both abstract and concrete terms. At the abstract level, I reconstruct two possible arguments for the incompatibility of historical and formal philosophy of science and argue that they are both wanting. At the concrete level, I discuss how historical and formal philosophy of science have been brought together in practice, namely: in the form of a largely forgotten research tradition that I will refer to here as the study of formalized macro-units. After a brief exposition, I argue that this research tradition has been unduly overlooked by historically minded philosophers of science. Bringing together these observations, I argue that the divide between historical and formal philosophy of science is not grounded in any substantive arguments, but can be primarily attributed to disciplinary happenstance.

scholarly journals The Origins of the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Enros
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Programs Of Study ◽  
The University ◽  
Phd Programs

An effort to establish programs of study in the history of science took place at the University of Toronto in the 1960s. Initial discussions began in 1963. Four years later, the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology was created. By the end of 1969 the Institute was enrolling students in new MA and PhD programs. This activity involved the interaction of the newly emerging discipline of the history of science, the practices of the University, and the perspectives of Toronto’s faculty. The story of its origins adds to our understanding of how the discipline of the history of science was institutionalized in the 1960s, as well as how new programs were formed at that time at the University of Toronto.

scholarly journals Understanding Factors that Control the Structural (Dis)Assembly of Sulphur-Bridged Bimetallic Sites

Inorganics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riyadh Alrefai ◽  
Henri Eggenweiler ◽  
Hartmut Schubert ◽  
Andreas Berkefeld
Keyword(s):  
Cyclic Voltammetry ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
General Type ◽  
Biological Function ◽  
Mechanism Of Formation ◽  
Model Compounds ◽  
Nickel Ions ◽  
Stereoelectronic Properties ◽  
Bimetallic Structures

Bimetallic structures of the general type [M2(µ-S)2] are omnipresent in nature, for biological function [M2(µ-S)2] sites interconvert between electronically distinct, but isostructural, forms. Different from structure-function relationships, the current understanding of the mechanism of formation and persistence of [M2(µ-S)2] sites is poorly developed. This work reports on bimetallic model compounds of nickel that interconvert between functional structures [Ni2(µ-S)2]+/2+ and isomeric congeners [2{κ-S–Ni}]2+/+, S = Aryl-S−, in which the nickel ions are geometrically independent. Interconversion of the two sets of structures was studied quantitatively by UV–VIS absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Assembly of the [Ni2(µ-S)2]+ core from [2{κ-S–Ni}]+ is thermodynamically and kinetically highly preferred over the disassembly of [Ni2(µ-S)2]2+ into [2{κ-S–Ni}]2+. Labile Ni-η2/3-bonding to aromatic π-systems of the primary thiophenol ligand is critical for modeling (dis)assembly processes. A phosphine coligand mimics the role of anionic donors present in natural sites that saturate metal coordination. Three parameters have been identified as critical for structure formation and persistence. These are, first, the stereoelectronic properties of the metals ions, second, the steric demand of the coligand, and, third, the properties of the dative bond between nickel and coligand. The energies of transition states connecting functional and precursor forms have been found to depend on these parameters.

‘The line between intervention and abuse’ – autism and applied behaviour analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Kirkham
Keyword(s):  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Behaviour Analysis ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
Applied Behaviour Analysis ◽  
Psychological Harm ◽  
Initial Work ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Anglophone World ◽  
The Individual

This article outlines the emergence of ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) in the mid-20th century, and the current popularity of ABA in the anglophone world. I draw on the work of earlier historians to highlight the role of Ole Ivar Lovaas, the most influential practitioner of ABA. I argue that reception of his initial work was mainly positive, despite concerns regarding its efficacy and use of physical aversives. Lovaas’ work, however, was only cautiously accepted by medical practitioners until he published results in 1987. Many accepted the results as validation of Lovaas’ research, though both his methods and broader understanding of autism had shifted considerably since his early work in the 1960s. The article analyses the controversies surrounding ABA since the early 1990s, considering in particular criticisms made by autistic people in the ‘neurodiversity movement’. As with earlier critics, some condemn the use of painful aversives, exemplified in the campaign against the use of shock therapy at the Judge Rotenberg Center. Unlike earlier, non-autistic critics, however, many in this movement reject the ideological goals of ABA, considering autism a harmless neurological difference rather than a pathology. They argue that eliminating benign autistic behaviour through ABA is impermissible, owing to the individual psychological harm and the wider societal impact. Finally, I compare the claims made by the neurodiversity movement with those made by similar 20th- and 21st-century social movements.

Flattening and Unpacking Human Genetic Variation in Mexico, Postwar to Present

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Hugo Anaya-Muñoz ◽  
Vivette García-Deister ◽  
Edna Suárez-Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Native American ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Multidisciplinary Analysis ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Social Demographic

ArgumentThis paper analyzes the research strategies of three different cases in the study of human genetics in Mexico – the work of Rubén Lisker in the 1960s, INMEGEN's mapping of Mexican genomic diversity between 2004 and 2009, and the analysis of Native American variation by Andrés Moreno and his colleagues in contemporary research. We make a distinction between an approach that incorporates multiple disciplinary resources into sampling design and interpretation (unpacking), from one that privileges pragmatic considerations over more robust multidisciplinary analysis (flattening). These choices have consequences for social, demographic, and biomedical practices, and also for accounts of genetic variation in human populations. While the former strategyunpacksfine-grained genetic variation – favoring precision and realism, the latter tends toflattenindividual differences and historical depth in lieu of generalization.

scholarly journals Collingwood, Scientism and Historicism

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-288
Author(s):  
Giuseppina D’Oro ◽  
James Connelly
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

Abstract The philosophy of history is undergoing something of a revival. Much has happened since its heyday in the 1960s when methodological discussions concerning the structure of explanation in history and the natural sciences were central to the philosophical agenda. This introduction revisits Collingwood’s contribution to the philosophy of history, his views on the relation between science and history, and the possibility of historical knowledge suggesting his work is of enduring relevance to contemporary debates. It locates his contribution in the context of the hermeneutic tradition and locates his defence of the methodological autonomy of history in the context of recent debates concerning the relation between science and the history of the philosophy of science.

scholarly journals “A Quite Similar Enterprise … Interpreted Quite Differently”? James Buchanan, John Rawls and the Politics of the Social Contract

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Ben Jackson ◽  
Zofia Stemplowska
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
James Buchanan ◽  
The Social ◽  
Initial Work ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
The Common ◽  
The 1960S

A striking aspect of the initial reception of John Rawls is that he was embraced by leading market-liberal theorists such as Friedrich Hayek and James Buchanan. This article investigates the reasons for the free-market right's sympathetic interest in the early Rawls by providing a historical account of the dialogue between Rawls and his key neoliberal interlocutor, James Buchanan. We set out the common intellectual context, notably the influence of Frank Knight, that framed the initial work of both Buchanan and Rawls and brought them together as seeming allies during the early 1960s. We then analyze a significant theoretical divergence between the two in the 1970s related to their contrasting responses to the politics of those years and to differences over the importance of ideal theory in political thought. The exchanges between Buchanan and Rawls demonstrate that Rawlsian liberalism and neoliberalism initially emerged as entwined critiques of mid-twentieth-century political economy but could not sustain that alliance when faced by the new claims for civil and social rights that became a marked feature of politics after the 1960s.

OZONE OXIDIZES OLEIC FATTY ACID WITH THE HIGHEST RATE CONSTANT AND DOES NOT OXIDIZE PALMITIC ACID. DIFFERENT PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF SUBSTRATES AND THEIR ROLE IN PHYLOGENESIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-139
Author(s):  
Vladimir Nikolaevich Titov ◽  
N. N. Sazhina ◽  
N. M. Evteeva
Keyword(s):  
Physicochemical Parameters ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Biological Function ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Mitochondrial Matrix ◽  
Oxidation Parameters ◽  
Nonalcoholic Liver Disease ◽  
Biological Organisms

Physicochemical differences between О3 oxidation parameters for palmitic and oleic fatty acids (FA) during phylogenesis (evolution) are fundamental for а) production of palmitoleic monounsaturated fatty (MFA), b) formation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase as a FA transporter to mitochondria, and c) in vivo production of oleic MFA under humoral regulatory effect of insulin. In the strive for the best kinetic parameters of biological organisms without a possibility of modifying physicochemical and biochemical reactions in the mitochondrial matrix, the mitochondria can be provided with a substrate that increases energy production efficiency and the amount of ATP. Physicochemical parameters of oleic MFA has become the standard of an oxidation substrate for in vivo energy production; this MFA was synthesized in organisms for millions of years. Environmental influences are the second factor which determines kinetic perfection of biological organisms during phylogenesis. Are these influences always beneficial? Mostly, they are not. However, they largely stimulate adaptive functions of the organism, including the biological function of locomotion, cognitive function and the function of positioning in the environment. Biological, energy and kinetic perfection formed in vivo can be easily destroyed if phylogenetically herbivorous Homo sapiens abuses the diet of carnivorous animals (meat) which was not consumed by him and his ancestors during phylogenesis. This abuse is the major cause of metabolic pandemias in human population. They are: insulin resistance, atherosclerosis and atheromatosis, obesity and nonalcoholic liver disease. The most effective measures preventing metabolic pandemias, cardiac heart disease and myocardial infarction are extremely simple. People should remain herbivorous.

Territory, Contentious Issues, and International Relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Hensel
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Recent Effort ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Initial Work ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
The 1960S

Territorial issues have been prominent causes of armed conflict and war in the modern era. This observation has led to a rapidly growing body of academic literature on the sources, management, and consequences of such issues. Although territory has gotten most of the scholarly attention, this literature has its roots in research on contentious issues that began in the 1960s. Academic research on contentious issues began with studies on issue areas in foreign policy analysis, focusing on such questions as how the foreign policy process differs from more traditional domestic policy processes. This line of research struggled to find mainstream acceptance until scholars began adopting a more substantive conception of issues, focusing on the nature of the values at stake. General patterns of foreign policy conflict and cooperation have been found to differ substantially across different issues. Importantly, territorial issues are the most frequent and most dangerous issues in armed conflict and war, leading scholars to focus much of their issue-related research on the dynamics of territorial contention. Research on territory has stemmed from the main elements of issues theory that were developed earlier: issue salience, or the importance of the issue under contention; issue context, or recent interactions over the same issue; and institutional context, or the extent to which other actors and institutions are able to influence contention over this type of issue. Armed conflict is much more likely when the issue at stake is more salient, particularly when this salience involves intangible dimensions such as the presence of a state’s ethnic kin in the claimed territory. Greater issue salience also increases the likelihood of peaceful negotiations and nonbinding conflict management techniques like mediation. A recent history of armed conflict or failed negotiations over an issue increases the likelihood of armed conflict, bilateral negotiations, and nonbinding management. The normative and institutional context also appears to affect the likelihood of conflict and peaceful management over issues, although more remains to be done in this area. The issues literature is beginning to make important strides beyond this initial work on territorial claim management. Scholars are beginning to geocode data on international borders, raising important potential benefits for the study of territory and perhaps other issues. International legal arguments appear to affect the management of territorial claims in systematic ways, and ending territorial claims seems to produce substantial improvements in relations between the former adversaries. The same general patterns seem to hold for river and maritime issues, as well as territorial issues, and these other issue types have more promising institutional contexts. Future research could benefit from considering additional issue types (including a recent effort to collect data on identity claims), as well as studying domestic and interstate issues.

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