Seychelles warblers with silver spoons: juvenile condition is a lifelong predictor of annual survival, but not annual reproduction or senescence

1) The environment experienced during development, and its impact on intrinsic condition, can have lasting outcomes for adult phenotypes and could contribute to the individual variation in senescence trajectories. 2) However, the nature of this relationship in wild populations remains uncertain, owing to the difficulties in summarizing environmental complexity and long-term monitoring of individuals from free-roaming long-lived species. 3) In this study, we determine whether juvenile condition (derived from measures of body mass and size) is associated with senescence-related traits of a closely monitored population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis). 4) Juveniles with a higher condition index were more likely to survive to adulthood – suggesting these juveniles experienced better developmental conditions. Furthermore, these juveniles as adults were in better condition and had higher rates of annual survival, independently of age. In contrast, there was no association between juvenile condition and declines in adult telomere length (a measure of somatic stress) nor annual reproduction. 5) These results indicate that juvenile condition, while not associated with senescence trajectories, can influence the likelihood of surviving to old age due to silver-spoon effects. This study shows that measures of intrinsic condition in juveniles can provide important insights into long-term fitness of individuals in wild populations.

Personhood and care in disorders of consciousness. An ontological, patient-centred perspective

People in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome/vegetative state or minimally conscious state are characterized by the alteration – or the complete loss – of self-awareness and consciousness of the external environment. According to the functionalist and brain-centred approach, this kind of clinical situations also implies the loss of the moral status of person. This paper critically discusses this perspective and proposes an alternative paradigm of personhood concerning the disorders of consciousness (DOC). After a preliminary analysis, I will compare the function-based approach with the pragmatic perspective, arguing that the latter seems to deal better with the evaluation of the status of personhood in patients with disorders of consciousness, and specifically criticising the functionalist view from both the theoretical and ethical levels. Nevertheless, I will claim that the pragmatic view only works as a provisional approach, falling back into the functionalist perspective once the uncertainty of the clinical diagnosis is resolved or decreased. I will thus propose an ontological personalist approach that avoids the radical separation of the concepts of person and human being, considering personhood as an intrinsic condition of human existence, instead of an emerging property from certain contingent faculties or decisions made by a community of moral subjects. In this sense, the patient with DOC is understood as a human being with some damaged features (rationality, consciousness, self, etc.) but still a person worthy of care and attention precisely because of her/his human nature in a fragile and non-autonomous condition. Moreover, I will argue that such an ontological personalism could guide healthcare professionals towards a proactive attitude for the wellbeing of these patients.

VAULTED STRUCTURES IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF POMPEII: 3D SURVEY AND MONITORING

The contribution focuses on the relationship between preventive conservation and digital technologies, with particular attention to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and its masonry vaults. These fragile macro-elements, both for their intrinsic condition of ruins and for their historical vulnerability to seismic stress, were detected through a careful 3D survey, in the context of the Great Pompeii Project (GPP). The analysis was carried out in 2015 with laser-scanning technology and photogrammetry, and was aimed at the knowledge, documentation and measurement of conditions of degradation or instability. On the basis of a deep knowledge, supported by in situ investigations, it was possible to define the most appropriate conservative interventions for vaulted structures. Also, the interpretation of the vulnerabilities and of the causes of degradations phenomena allowed focusing on the program phase, in order to maintain the benefits of restoration over time. Moreover, the contribution anticipates how these surveys will be integrated by a doctoral research with industrial characterization. This research is currently being conducted in close relationship with Tecno In – a leading company in the field of knowledge and diagnostics of cultural heritage – and its object is the experimentation of innovative techniques for diagnostics, preventive conservation and restoration of the vaulted structures of Pompeii. Therefore, in the comparison with the surveys realized in 2015 lies the opportunity of deepening the understanding and of monitoring the evolution of degradation conditions of the vaulted buildings under exam.

Conditions for Rigid and Flat Foldability of Degree-n Vertices in Origami

In rigid origami, the complex folding motion arises from the rotation of strictly rigid faces around crease lines that represent perfect revolute joints. The rigid folding motion of an origami crease pattern is collectively determined by the kinematics of its individual vertices. Establishing a kinematic model and determining the conditions for the rigid foldability of a single vertex is thus important to exploit rigid origami in engineering design tasks. Today, there exists neither an efficient kinematic model to determine the unknown dihedral angles nor an intrinsic condition for the rigid foldability of arbitrarily complex vertices of degree n. In this paper, we present the principle of three units (PTU) that provides an efficient approach to modeling the kinematics of single degree-n vertices. The PTU is based on the notion that the kinematics of a vertex is determined by the behavior of a single underlying spherical triangle. The condition for the existence of this triangle leads to the condition for the rigid and flat foldability of degree-n vertices. These findings are transferred from single vertices to crease patterns, resulting in a simple rule to generate kinematically determinate crease patterns that can be designed to fold rigidly. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the PTU with respect to the global rigid foldability of a crease pattern.

Fall and Elevation

In this brief essay Stiegler synthesizes his critical approach to Simondon’s philosophy of individuation. He states his debt toward Simondon’s concept of a systemic indeterminacy in the processes of transindividual individuation, and focusses on his underdeveloped intuition concerning the role played by technics in anthropogenic processes. Situating himself in the phenomenological lineage of Husserl through Derrida, Stiegler explains his own “pharmacological” understanding of “technical individuation” as, at the same time, the intrinsic condition of individuation and the inevitable risk of disindividuation defining the political as such. On this basis he critically extends Simondon’s understanding of religion and psychanalysis. This allows him to move beyond the political optimism implicit in Simondon’s “theoretical indecision” concerning the binding power of technical individuation yet relying on his very study of the question of individuation, which “is political through and through.”

Development of Monitoring and Diagnosis System for Linear Motion Unit

In the present work, investigations by high frequency resonance technique for diagnosis of defect frequencies of linear motion unit are reported. Raw vibration signature of the moving parts at different speeds of operation has been demodulated. Envelope detected spectrum is analyzed to evaluate various defect frequencies and their energy levels. Experimentally evaluated frequencies are compared with theoretically determined defect frequencies. These frequency values and their energy levels are used to monitor intrinsic condition of linear motion unit as well as to establish severity of existing/developed defects on the LM guide and inside the LM block. Relative comparisons of linear motion units of the same type are made at various operating speeds under identical conditions of operation on the basis of identified defect frequencies and severity of defects.

Primary Coronary Embolism as an Unusual Manifestation of Nonbacterial Thrombotic Endocarditis in a Patient with Gastric Cancer

Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) is a rare clinical condition characterized by the presence of sterile vegetations on valvular leaflets Gross and Friedberg (1936). The most frequent cause of NBTE is antiphospholipid syndrome Hughson and et al. (1993); malignancy, through an intrinsic condition of hypercoagulability, is the second most common cause Thomas (2001). Systemic thromboembolic complications are frequently associated with this condition, but coronary embolism is not common. We report the case of a patient with NBTE secondary to gastric adenocarcinoma with clinical symptoms of coronary and systemic emboli.