Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s work of fiction can roughly be grouped into three distinct categories, each evoking a singular extraordinary state of mind. Poe-inspired tales of the macabre such as “The Tomb” (1917) and “The Statement of Randolph Carter” (1919) produce terror because of the atmosphere they convey and because of the particular end the main characters meet. Lovecraft’s later “Yog-Sothothery” or work in the Cthulhu Mythos tradition, including his signature pieces of weird fiction “The Call of Cthulhu” (1926) and “The (...) Shadow over Innsmouth” (1931), inspires ‘horror’ because the life-worlds of the protagonists in these stories are utterly destroyed. However, the gentleman of Providence is also known for a different sort of fiction. His Dunsanian tales—among them short stories such as “The White Ship” (1919), “Celephaïs” (1920), and the three works“ The Silver Key” (1926), The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926–27), and “Through the Gates of the Silver Key” (1932–33; with E. Hoffmann Price), centered on the exploits of Lovecraft’s recurring character and alter ego Randolph Carter—are epitomes to this feat. These prehistoric or dreamland tales do not inspire ‘terror’ or ‘horror’; rather, they predominately seek to evoke the extraordinary state of mind called ‘wonder. This article offers a preliminary exploration of Lovecraft’s relationship with wonder, highlights what wonder is, how Lovecraft was exposed to wonder at an early age, and argues that he developed a lifelong positive relationship with this particular state of mind. (shrink)

One of the vexed questions in the philosophy of wonder and indeed education is how to ensure that the next generation harbours a sense of wonder. Wonder is important, we think, because it encour- ages inquiry and keeps us as Albert Einstein would argue from ‘being as good as dead’ or ‘snuffed-out candles’ (Einstein 1949, 5). But how is an educator to install, bring to life, or otherwise encourage a sense of wonder in his or her stu- dents? Biologist Rachel (...) Carson suggests that exploring nature and specifically undertaking walks along the rocky coast of Maine would keep alive a person’s inborn sense of wonder (Carson 1984). Philosopher Jesse Prinz thinks that exposure to art will encourage wonderment because artworks, as he puts it, are “inventions for feeding the appetite that wonder excites in us” (Prinz 2013). Weird fiction (a subgenre of speculative fiction) – and in particular the work of one of its greatest exponents, the early-20th-century American author How- ard Phillips Lovecraft – is likewise a catalyst for wonder. The reason behind this is that Lovecraft’s ‘wonder-stories’ are densely packed with wonder per design; and in support of this claim I shall in what is to come 1) provide a brief introduction to Lovecraft and weird fiction; 2) present a working definition of wonder; and 3) clarify what is meant by something being ‘densely packed with wonder’ via bringing to the fore evidence of Lovecraft’s literary wonder- mongery. The paper ends with some reflections on the notion of ‘dark wonder’, why this peculiar label might be suitable for the kind of wonder we find in Lovecraft’s work, and why exposure to ‘dark wonder’ can be edifying, and in that sense educational. (shrink)

Wat betreft economische groei en ontwikkeling van de werkloosheid heeft de Nederlandse economie het sinds 1973 slechter gedaan dan andere OECD-landen. Op de vraag naar de oorzaken van die slechte prestatie zijn in het verleden uiteenlopende antwoorden gegeven door o.m. Bomhoff en Clavaux. Ook zijn er diverse wegen aangegeven om op te rukken naar een betere positie. In dit artikel presenteren de auteurs de resultaten van een internationale doorsnee-analyse om de verschillen in economisch succes tussen landen met behulp van een (...) eenvoudig neo-klassiek macro-economisch model te verklaren. Dit biedt de mogelijkheid om te traceren wat de rol van de exportgroei, de groei van de bevolking, de wisselkoers, de verhouding tussen de binnenlandse en de buitenlandse prijsontwikkeling en de investeringsquote voor verschillen in economische ontwikkeling is geweest. Vooral de uitvoer gecorrigeerd voor de omvang van de bevolking, de investeringsquote en de nominale wisselkoers komen als belangrijke verklarende variabelen naar voren. Op grond van hun analyse komen de auteurs tot de conclusie dat een beleid gericht op het verbeteren van de Nederlandse economische prestatie op lange termijn zich vooral zou moeten concentreren op het benutten van exportkansen en op een hoog investeringsniveau ter bevordering van technologische vernieuwing en daarmee verbetering van de concurrentiepositie. Daarbij moet worden voorkomen dat revaluatie van de gulden het exporteffect teniet doet. (shrink)

Diagnoza postaw mieszkańców Białegostoku w zakresie tolerancji Jan Poleszczuk, Katarzyna Sztop-Rutkowska, Łukasz Kiszkiel, Andrzej Klimczuk & Rafał Julian Mejsak (2013) .

Throughout the biological and biomedical sciences there is a growing need for, prescriptive ‘minimum information’ (MI) checklists specifying the key information to include when reporting experimental results are beginning to find favor with experimentalists, analysts, publishers and funders alike. Such checklists aim to ensure that methods, data, analyses and results are described to a level sufficient to support the unambiguous interpretation, sophisticated search, reanalysis and experimental corroboration and reuse of data sets, facilitating the extraction of maximum value from data sets (...) them. However, such ‘minimum information’ MI checklists are usually developed independently by groups working within representatives of particular biologically- or technologically-delineated domains. Consequently, an overview of the full range of checklists can be difficult to establish without intensive searching, and even tracking thetheir individual evolution of single checklists may be a non-trivial exercise. Checklists are also inevitably partially redundant when measured one against another, and where they overlap is far from straightforward. Furthermore, conflicts in scope and arbitrary decisions on wording and sub-structuring make integration difficult. This presents inhibit their use in combination. Overall, these issues present significant difficulties for the users of checklists, especially those in areas such as systems biology, who routinely combine information from multiple biological domains and technology platforms. To address all of the above, we present MIBBI (Minimum Information for Biological and Biomedical Investigations); a web-based communal resource for such checklists, designed to act as a ‘one-stop shop’ for those exploring the range of extant checklist projects, and to foster collaborative, integrative development and ultimately promote gradual integration of checklists. (shrink)

Badania prezentowane w niniejszej publikacji miały na celu dostarczenie danych koniecznych do prowadzenia polskiej polityki zagranicznej rozszerzonej o wymiar samorządowy i obywatelski w województwie podlaskim. Głównym celem diagnozy było zbadanie, jak jednostki samorządu terytorialnego, organizacje pozarządowe, przedsiębiorstwa oraz uczelnie wyższe nawiązywały współpracę transgraniczną z partnerami na Litwie, Białorusi, Ukrainie i w Rosji (Obwód Kaliningradzki). W publikacji wskazano miejsca największego potencjału, jak również barier na drodze do takiej współpracy w regionie. Zwrócono szczególną uwagę na kooperację tych podmiotów, łączenie swoich potencjałów i (...) tworzenie wspólnych projektów. * Studies presented in this publication were aimed at provide data necessary for the conducting of local government and citizenship dimension of the enlarged Polish foreign policy in Podlaskie region. The main objective was to investigate the diagnosis, as the local government units, non-governmental organizations, businesses and universities alluded cross-border cooperation with partners in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia (Kaliningrad). The publication indicated areas of the greatest potential, as well as barriers to such cooperation in the region. Particular attention was paid to the cooperation of these entities, combining their potentials and create joint projects. (shrink)

Celem diagnozy było: - przeprowadzenie badań dostarczających pełnej i rzetelnej wiedzy z zakresu potrzeb kulturalnych mieszkańców woj. podlaskiego; - wskazanie głównych barier uczestnictwa w kulturze wysokiej; - ilościowo-jakościowe określenie wizerunku instytucji kulturalnych, w tym Teatru Dramatycznego, i ocena ich działalności artystycznej; - zmierzenie poziomu kapitał kulturowego regionu na podstawie wskaźnika korzystania przez mieszkańców woj. podlaskiego z instytucji kulturalnych. -/- .

The Role of Negation in the Description of the World According to Aristote’s Metaphysics. The notions of ‘being’ and ‘non-being’ have entered philosophical language, forming the basis of ontology and meontology, as the counterparts of the Greek expressions to on and to me on (nominalised forms, affirmative and negative, of the participle of the verb einai). Originally, however, these expressions did not have any objectifying meaning, but played the role of meta-language names, representing the copula einai in all its forms, (...) most generally in its affirmative and negative forms. The copula itself, which in later philosophy took on the existential meaning, had functioned only as a semantically empty connective of predicates. Over time the participle on has been used as a universal name of all predicates. The above-mentioned expressions became central in Greek philosophical terminology thanks to the debates, initiated by Parmenides, on the role of negation in the description of the world. Parmenides himself proposed a complete excision of negative sentences as describing by elimination, and created a positive-monistic system which abandoned multiplicity, divisibility, and variability. Later philosophers defended negation, fighting back against the paradoxes formulated by the Eleatics and later by the Sophists. Plato observed that without negation it is impossible to describe the multiplicity of things. He also distinguished a relative negation which does not eliminate anything but makes it possible to confront some things with others. According to the atomists, the divisibility of physical things forces us to accept that they consist of a positive element in the form of an impenetrable body, and of another element lacking any characteristics, i.e. the void. Finally, Aristotle, when analysing the process of change, justified the consistency of the statement that something comes out of “not being” and “being”, under the assumption that the former is understood as being actual, and the latter as being potential. In all these conceptions there is nothing non-existent, there are only proposals of how to identify the aspects of reality whose explanation justifies the use of negation. The affirmative and negative forms of the above expressions have also provoked reflection on the problem of truth and falsity. It has been observed that they are used in everyday language not only to state an agreement or disagreement with the actual facts of the matter, but also to affirm or deny something. (shrink)

Rozwiązanie paradoksów Rossa i Priora okazało się trudnym zadaniem. Jego pierwsze dwa etapy, obejmujące identyfikację prawdziwych natur implikacji i wartości logicznych, zostały opisane w artykułach "Rozwiązanie paradoksu implikacji materialnej – 2024" i "Rozwiązanie dylematu Jörgensena – 2024". Ten artykuł opisuje trzeci etap, obejmujący odkrycie brakujących funktorów modalnych i Klasycznego Rachunku Modalności. Na zakończenie zostają podane procedury rozwiązania obu paradoksów.

Paradoks implikacji materialnej pozostawał nierozwiązany od starożytności, ponieważ uważano, że naturą implikacji jest wynikanie. Artykuł ukazuje, że tą naturą jest przeciwstawność. Zostaje podane rozwiązanie paradoksu wraz z odpowiednimi zmianami nazewnictwa, dodaniem konektywów i postulatem przejęcia roli dotychczasowej implikacji przez równoważność. Ponadto zaproponowane zostają zmiany nazewnictwa bramek logicznych, odwzorowujących kompetycję w elektronice.

This paper tries to summarize the main lines of discussion at the conference "Compatibilist Libertarianism: Advantages and Challenges" (October 29, 2021). This conference, organised by Alexander Gebharter and Maria Sekatskaya, served the discussion of Christian List's account of compatibilist libertarianism. Speakers were Taylor W. Cyr, Nadine Elzein, Alexander Gebharter, Christian List, Alfred R. Mele, Leonhard Menges, Tuomas K. Pernu, and Maria Sekatskaya.

The Polish philosophy of mathematics in the 19th century is not a well-researched topic. For this period, only five philosophers are usually mentioned, namely Jan Śniadecki, Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński, Henryk Struve, Samuel Dickstein, and Edward Stamm. This limited and incomplete perspective does not allow us to develop a well-balanced picture of the Polish philosophy of mathematics and gauge its influence on 19th- and 20th-century Polish philosophy in general. To somewhat complete our picture of the history of the Polish philosophy of (...) mathematics in those times, we here present the profiles of some lesser-known Polish Romantic philosophers of the 19th century, namely Karol Libelt, Bronisław Trentowski, and Józef Kremer. We discuss their contributions to the philosophy of mathematics and their metaphysical perspectives, and we also show how their metaphysical ideas have found some continuity in the studies of some Catholic philosophers. (shrink)

'People travelled for numerous reasons,' so J.W. Drijvers submits at the beginning of his piece on travel and pilgrimage literature. Be it ‘commerce, government affairs, religion, education, military business or migration,’ people ‘made use of the elaborate system of roads and modes of transport such as wagons, horses and boats’ to traverse the far-reaching stretches of the Roman Empire. And for 4th century Christians in particular, participating in religious festivals as well as interaction with holy sites, sacred artifacts and clergymen (...) had become greater a reason to travel still. Motivation to travel, in other words, was aplenty. But what exactly allowed for Christian religious travel in the 4th century AD to develop as quickly as it did? (shrink)

In the article I deal with some paradoxes and errors caused by improper usage of logical and philosophical terms appearing in the arguments for existence of god and other philosophical issues. I point at rst some paradoxes coming om improper usage of propositional calculus as an instrument for analysis of a natural language. this language is actually not using simple sentences but rather propositional functions, their logical connections, and some replacements for variables in them. We still have to deal with (...) so called paradox of material implication. the second paragraph provides formal and metatheoretical critics of Charles Sanders Peirce’s theory of deduction, induction and abduction. I argue that what Peirce and his followers call abduction is actually deduction or some reasoning unable to describe in terms of the logic used by them. Both syllogistic and inferential theory of abduction generate some paradoxes and contradictions. In the last paragraph also some paradoxes and contradictions resulting om the theory of causation by Jan Łukasiewicz are presented. the central issue of the article is erroneous usage of the implication: in logical paraphrases of a natural language, in description of the scienti c reasoning, and in description of causality. However, my objective is not to solve all problems mentioned above but rather to open a discussion over them. (shrink)

PETER KNAUER'S CONCEPTION OF MORAL CHOICE ON THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CREAITVENESS IN MODERN MORAL THEOLOGY Summary The author undertakes a critical analysis of the ethical views of Peter Knauer who is one of the most influential theological moralist today. The author tends to show the consequences of Knauer's theory which consequences are destructive for morality. The first part of the paper presents Knauer's standpoint in view of the conception of moral choice and shows three crucial points of his system. They are (...) the following: the definition of moral good (lightness) in its relation to physical good; the reinterpretation of the principle of double effect which reinterpretation reduces that principle to its "Ideological explanation"; and, finally, the conception of the so-called non-counterproductivity which decides whether an activity is right. That non-counterproductivity is comprehended as an all-embracing correspondence between the goals which the subject has chosen and means which the subject has taken in order to accomplish the goals. In the second critical part one finds some questions related to the immanent critique of the discussed theory and some consequences of Knauer's claims. If one applies his assumptions strictly, it turns out that in his model of morality there is no place for such an activity of man which, at the same time, would be both rational and free, i.e., sensu stricto moral. In view of Knauer's system the criteria of moral evaluation, which criteria he proposed, do not hold sense. Thus morality and ethics lose their essential normative character. Consequently, the system under scrutiny leads to an antipersonalistic vision of both an individual and society, and in terms of eternity it seems to dismiss the possibility of recognizing the existence of Absolute. The theory rejects values for the sake of which it was construed. Translated by Jan Kłos. (shrink)

I present argument for different than traditional continental classification of epistemological issues. Paper has two parts, first concerned with K. Ajdukiewicz and J. Woleński conception of epistemology and its branches and with different methods of epistemological inquiry based on different task posed for epistemology. Second part discuss main important topics of current postgettieral analytic epistemology like virtue epistemology, ethics of belief, problems of epistemic value, epistemic value monism and pluralism, metaepistemology and concludes that in traditional continental classification the issues of (...) a truth and the issues of nature of knowledge should be united in broaden set of topics concerned with valuable cognition and knowledge, which has descriptive, normative, and regulative subparts. (shrink)

Die Breslauer Sprechbühnen wiesen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus Tendenzen auf, die für das gesamte Theaterleben Deutschlands charakteristisch waren. Die politische Instrumentalisierung der dramatischen Kunst, wie des ganzen literarischen Lebens, resultierte aus dem zentralen, von dem Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda postulierten Programm, das den Theatern außcrästhetische Propaganda- und F.rziehungsaufgabcn zuschrieb. Die Hauptfrage - nach der Spielplangestaltung - traf auch für die wichtigsten Verfasser der damaligen Literatur zu, zu denen sicher der eng mit der schlesischen Provinz verbundene Gerhart Hauptmann gehörte. (...) Seine Stellung nach dem Jahre 1933 war keineswegs eideutig und sie bestätigte nur die komplizierten Verhältnisse zwischen ihm und dem Regime, das aus Propagandagründen sein Schaffen selektiv akzeptierte. In den ersten Jahren nach der Machtergreifung spielten deutsche Theater nur wenige Stückre Hauptmanns, in Breslau sogar keine. Erst 1935 brachte das Lobetheater die Aufführung der Komödie Der Biberpelz. Zwei Jahre später (anläßlich Hauptmanns 75. Geburtstages) spielte man im Breslauer Schauspielhaus, das seit 1936 die einzige Sprechbühne war, das Drama Michael Kramer. In Anwesenheit des Dichters fand hier auch die Uraufführung des Filmes Der Biberpelz statt. 1938 gastierte mit einem eigenen Ensemble der Staatsschauspieler Paul Wegener mit der Inszenierung von Kollege Crampton in Breslau. Erst zwei Jahre später (Jan. 1940) nahm das Theater in Breslau Hauptmanns Werk wieder in das Repertoire auf. Die Aufführung des Schauspiels Elga, dessen Motive aus Grillparzers Drama entnommen wurden, verursachte heftige Proteste mancher Regime-Ideologen (einschließlich Alfred Rosenbergs) wegen der polnischen Thematik des Dramas. Im Jahre 1941 inszenierte das Breslauer Schauspielhaus das Stück Der Bogen des Odysseus (die erste Aufführung war am Osternsonntag), im März 1942 die Tragödie Rose Bernd. Eine besondere Bedeutung kommt dem 80. Jubiläum des Dichters (Nov. 1942) zu. Die zentralen Feierlichkeiten dazu wurden von der Theaterabteilung des Goebbelschen Propagandaministeriums nach Breslau verlegt. Nach zahlreichen Kontroversen und Abstimmungen beschloß man im Schauspielhaus 4 Dramen zu spielen: Michael Kramer, Die Tochter der Kathedrale, Und Pippa tanzt und Der Biberpelz. Hauptmann verlieh man auch den Schliesischen Literaturpreis. Außerdem wurde er zum Ersten Ehrenbürger der Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität ernannt. Das Deutsche Institut der Breslauer Universität veröffentlichte aus diesem Anlaß ein dem Jubilar gewidmetes Gedenkblatt, das verschiedene Aspekte seines Schaffens zum Thema hatte. Auch das Reichspropagandaamt Schlesien bereitete eine Broschüre vor, die das Interesse der Partei betonen sollte. Die Krönung des Jubiläums war die Gesamtausgabe von Hauptmanns Werken, deren erstes Exemplar dem Dichter überreicht wurde. Unter den zahlreichen Wünschen, die Gerhart Hauptmann zu seinem Geburtstage bekam, befanden sich auch Telegrammme von Hitler, Goebbels und Schlösser. Das letzte in Breslau inszenierte Drama Hauptmanns war Imphigenie in Delphi, dessen Erstaufführung am 5. Dez. 1943 im Schauspielhaus stattfand. (shrink)

Holism is the notion that all the elements in a system, whether physical, biological, social or political, are interconnected and therefore should be appreciated as a whole. Consequently, the meaning or function of the total system is irreducible to the meaning or function of one or more of the system’s constituent elements. The whole is, on the holist’s account, prior to its parts. In the Metaphysics, Aristotle captures the idea of holism in his statement that “the whole is more than (...) the sum of the parts.” The term holism was coined by South African statesman and scholar Jan Smuts. Etymologically, it comes from a Greek root meaning total, whole, entire or everything. In political thought, the idea is commonly associated with organicism, the view that the state is a living whole (the so-called “body politic”) and therefore studies of the how it functions should be treated systematically rather than piecemeal (cf. Plato, G.W.F. Hegel and Henry Maine). (shrink)

Logical and philosophical literature provides different classifications of reasoning. In the Polish literature on the subject, for instance, there are three popular ones accepted by representatives of the Lvov-Warsaw School: Jan Łukasiewicz, Tadeusz Czeżowski and Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz (Ajdukiewicz in Logika pragmatyczna [Pragmatic Logic]. PWN, Warsaw (1965, 2nd ed. 1974). Translated as: Pragmatic Logic. Reidel & PWN, Dordrecht, 1975). The author of this paper, having modified those classifications, distinguished the following types of reasoning: (1) deductive and (2) non-deductive, and additionally two (...) types of them in each of the two, depending on the manner of combining their premises with the conclusion through the relation of classical logical entailment. Consequently, the four types of reasoning: unilateral deductive (incl. its sub-types: deductive inference and proof), bilateral deductive (incl. complete induction), and reductive (incl. the sub-types: explanation and verification), logically nonvaluable (incl. inference by analogy, statistic inference), correspond to four operators of derivability. They are defined formally on the ground of Tarski’s axiomatic theory of deductive systems, by means of the consequence operation _Cn_ (Tarski in Monatshefte Math Phys 37:361–404, 1930a, C R Soc Sci Lett Vars 23:22–29, 1930b). Also, certain metalogical properties of these operators are given, as well as their relations with Tarski’s consequence operations \(Cn^+\) ( \(Cn^+ = Cn\) ) and dual consequences \(Cn^{-1}\) (Słupecki in Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego Seria B Nr 3:33–40, 1959, Słupecki et al. in Stud Log 29:76–123, 1971, Wybraniec-Skardowska, in: Wybraniec-Skardowska, Bryll (eds) Z badań nad teorią zdań odrzuconych [Studies in the Theory of Rejected Propositions], Series B, Studia i Monografie, Zeszyty Naukowe Wyższej Szkoły Pedagogicznej w Opolu, Opole, 1969), and \(Cn^-\) (Wójcicki in Bull Sect Log 2(2):54–57, 1973)). (shrink)

This seventh volume of Collected Papers includes 70 papers comprising 974 pages on (theoretic and applied) neutrosophics, written between 2013-2021 by the author alone or in collaboration with the following 122 co-authors from 22 countries: Mohamed Abdel-Basset, Abdel-Nasser Hussian, C. Alexander, Mumtaz Ali, Yaman Akbulut, Amir Abdullah, Amira S. Ashour, Assia Bakali, Kousik Bhattacharya, Kainat Bibi, R. N. Boyd, Ümit Budak, Lulu Cai, Cenap Özel, Chang Su Kim, Victor Christianto, Chunlai Du, Chunxin Bo, Rituparna Chutia, Cu Nguyen Giap, Dao The (...) Son, Vinayak Devvrat, Arindam Dey, Partha Pratim Dey, Fahad Alsharari, Feng Yongfei, S. Ganesan, Shivam Ghildiyal, Bibhas C. Giri, Masooma Raza Hashmi, Ahmed Refaat Hawas, Hoang Viet Long, Le Hoang Son, Hongbo Wang, Hongnian Yu, Mihaiela Iliescu, Saeid Jafari, Temitope Gbolahan Jaiyeola, Naeem Jan, R. Jeevitha, Jun Ye, Anup Khan, Madad Khan, Salma Khan, Ilanthenral Kandasamy, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy, Darjan Karabašević, Kifayat Ullah, Kishore Kumar P.K., Sujit Kumar De, Prasun Kumar Nayak, Malayalan Lathamaheswari, Luong Thi Hong Lan, Anam Luqman, Luu Quoc Dat, Tahir Mahmood, Hafsa M. Malik, Nivetha Martin, Mai Mohamed, Parimala Mani, Mingcong Deng, Mohammed A. Al Shumrani, Mohammad Hamidi, Mohamed Talea, Kalyan Mondal, Muhammad Akram, Muhammad Gulistan, Farshid Mofidnakhaei, Muhammad Shoaib, Muhammad Riaz, Karthika Muthusamy, Nabeela Ishfaq, Deivanayagampillai Nagarajan, Sumera Naz, Nguyen Dinh Hoa, Nguyen Tho Thong, Nguyen Xuan Thao, Noor ul Amin, Dragan Pamučar, Gabrijela Popović, S. Krishna Prabha, Surapati Pramanik, Priya R, Qiaoyan Li, Yaser Saber, Said Broumi, Saima Anis, Saleem Abdullah, Ganeshsree Selvachandran, Abdulkadir Sengür, Seyed Ahmad Edalatpanah, Shahbaz Ali, Shahzaib Ashraf, Shouzhen Zeng, Shio Gai Quek, Shuangwu Zhu, Shumaiza, Sidra Sayed, Sohail Iqbal, Songtao Shao, Sundas Shahzadi, Dragiša Stanujkić, Željko Stević, Udhayakumar Ramalingam, Zunaira Rashid, Hossein Rashmanlou, Rajkumar Verma, Luige Vlădăreanu, Victor Vlădăreanu, Desmond Jun Yi Tey, Selçuk Topal, Naveed Yaqoob, Yanhui Guo, Yee Fei Gan, Yingcang Ma, Young Bae Jun, Yuping Lai, Hafiz Abdul Wahab, Wei Yang, Xiaohong Zhang, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Lemnaouar Zedam. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE OS TRANSTORNOS DO CICLO ESTRAL DE VACAS -/- Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim [email protected] ou [email protected] WhatsApp: (82)98143-8399 -/- •__6. Transtornos do ciclo estral -/- Qualquer alteração na frequência, duração ou intensidade do ciclo estral é considerada uma perturbação do ciclo, cujas origens variam etiologicamente. As perturbações do ciclo podem originar-se em qualquer das partes do eixo hipotálamo-hipófise-ovário (FRAZER, 2005; GORDON, 1996). Pode ou não ser do tipo (...) permanente e pode depender de sua origem, momento e intensidade cursar com outras alterações reprodutivas, por exemplo uma retenção do corpo lúteo, dá lugar a prolongamento da fase lútea, altos níveis de progesterona circulante e pode, finalmente, desencadear em um cisto luteal ou em uma metrite. Entre os fatores desencadeadores da falha do ciclo estral estão os fatores de origem nutricional, dentre eles: 6.1 Minerais 6.1.1 Relação Na:K (Sódio: Potássio) A deficiência de sódio pode causar distúrbios do ciclo estral, isto porque as células animais intracelularmente possuem uma alta concentração de K e uma baixa concentração de Na, esta relação pode chegar a 10:1 ou mais, em relação ao meio externo. Com esta relação, as concentrações intracelulares estão em equilíbrio com o meio externo. A absorção e secreção de cátions pela célula para conseguir o equilíbrio é simultânea, gerada por um sistema de transporte específico chamado "bomba Na-K". Se a nível celular não existe um balanço iônico de K:Na, a maior prioridade das células tubulares do rim é a de conseguir novamente um equilíbrio, o mecanismo destas células é o da reabsorção do íon que se encontre em excesso de água, diminuindo a quantidade deste no líquido para manter as funções em equilíbrio dinâmico. Os desequilíbrios não compensados a nível celular ou renal, levam a alterações na condutividade nervosa por alteração da bomba de transmissão elétrica. O ciclo estral é alterado por diminuir a expressividade dos sinais comportamentais de estro, que são produzidos por concentrações crescentes de estrogênio mas com alta necessidade de adequação nervosa para a exposição corporal do cio e a aceitação da monta. O potássio, em particular, desempenha um papel fundamental como coator em certas interações enzimáticas, incluindo a transferência de energia, a síntese de proteínas e o metabolismo de hidratos de carbono, em especial nos sistemas em que o ADP está envolvido, as hexoquinases e a anidrase carbônica. O sódio, por sua vez, é o principal cátion extracelular, regula o equilíbrio hídrico no organismo e a mecânica de fluidos, desta forma regula a pressão osmótica e a troca aquosa nos tecidos. Devido a esta função, um dos fatores importantes do fluxo Na:K é o rim, que é controlado pela aldosterona, a principal hormona reguladora da absorção de sódio e excreção de potássio. Qualquer desequilíbrio na relação Na:K, afetará o ciclo estral, de maneira direta e indireta, através da alteração na síntese de proteínas e da perda da regulação hídrica, fator importante pelas secreções que devem acompanhar as manifestações de cio/estro. 6.1.2 Relação Cobalto (Co) A deficiência de cobalto gera um efeito biológico determinado pela sua presença na molécula da vitamina B12, a qual regula a hematopoese (Ativa a síntese de protoporfirina) e afeta o metabolismo do nitrogênio e dos carboidratos. A vitamina B12 atua como uma coenzima da transmetilação (síntese do glutamato mutase, metilmalonil-CoA-Mutase, diol-dehidratase e redução dos ribonucleótidos a desoxirribonucleótidos, isomerização da a-lisina, etc.). Especialmente em ruminantes, a reação mutase da metilmalonina-CoA está relacionada com o metabolismo do ácido propiônico e, portanto, com a síntese de glicose e o equilíbrio energético. O cobalto também está envolvido na carboxilação da propionil-CoA à metilmalonil-CoA e na isomerização deste último para succinil-CoA. O metabolismo do ácido propiônico ocorre no fígado e é reduzido pelo fato do metilmalonil não poder ser convertido em succinil-CoA, impedindo a sua passagem para oxalacetato e glicose, gerando uma relação inversa entre os níveis de energia e proteína; causando uma diminuição de GnRH que afeta negativamente a liberação de LH que, por sua vez, cria um aumento na FSH. Isso produz uma anulação da ovulação e, consequentemente, ausência de um ciclo estral verdadeiro. Vale reforçar que, para prevenção da deficiência do cobalto, o criador pode optar pelo fornecimento de volumosos que dispõem de quantidades de cobalto que suprem as exigências dos animais, ou pela inserção de sais de cobalto à mistura da ração, sempre no intervalo sugerido de 0,07 e 0,11 mg/kg para cada animal, suprindo a necessidade do mesmo e garantindo assim a prevenção dos transtornos do ciclo estral ou outras afecções do sistema reprodutivo. 6.1.3 Relação Cobre (Cu) e Molibdênio (Mo) A deficiência de cobre gera, indiretamente, molibdênio, durante esse processo, tanto o macho como a fêmea são inférteis ou sub-férteis, mas, em geral, os transtornos surgem não por molibdeniose mas por hipocuprose condicionada por excesso de molibdênio nas pastagens e pelos sulfatos presentes na água de bebida (BREM, 2016). Isso leva à formação de tiomolibdato no rúmen, que por sua vez combina com o cobre para formar tiomolibdato de cobre, sal muito insolúvel. O tiomolibdato presente, formado em excesso e que não encontra cobre suficiente, contribuirá para produzir a diarreia, limitando ainda mais a absorção de cobre. A interferência mais importante do molibdênio ocorre no processo metabólico do cobre, interferindo sua atividade enzimática. O molibdênio atua sobre o complexo sulfeto-oxidase hepático. A enzima que está envolvida na oxidação de metabolitos sulfurados, reduz a sua atividade na presença de altos teores de molibdênio, especialmente quando a quantidade de cobre é baixa. Daqui resulta a formação de sulfureto de cobre, muito insolúvel e, portanto, pouco ou nada utilizável pelas células e/ou tecidos (QUIROZ-ROCHA & BOUDA, 2001). O excesso de molibdênio nas pastagens ou na água de bebida reduz a quantidade de cobre no fígado, mas para uma dada dose de molibdênio, esta redução é diretamente proporcional ao aumento dos sulfatos na ingestão, porque só na presença de sulfatos o molibdênio exerce sua ação limitante. O melhor modo de tratar o molibdênio e a ação dos sulfatos sobre o cobre, é aumentar a quantidade de cobre disponível pelos animais, seja por via bucal ou parenteral. Desta forma, há aumentos na cupremia e no ganho de peso. É conveniente, para o efeito, efetuar um controle dos resultados mediante a observação clínica, pesagem dos animais e análise de cobre no sangue. Isso permitirá estabelecer as doses ideais e adequadas para cada estabelecimento e efetuar um estudo econômico da suplementação (BAVERA, 2002). Como já foi tratado o requerimento do cobre para evitar os problemas reprodutivos das vacas, falemos do molibdênio (Mo). O Mo é um elemento primordial para bovinos leiteiros, uma vez que é componente de uma enzima presente no leite (xantina oxidasse). A deficiência de Mo a nível prático não foi relatada, porém casos podem acontecer. Para ovinos, que é uma espécie ruminante, a concentração exigida pelo animal em Mo presente na MS é de 5 a 10 mg/kg, porém deve levar em consideração a relação crítica entre o Mo e o Cu que deve ser no máximo 20 e nunca superior. O nível crítico de toxidade de Mo nos alimentos volumosos (forrageiras, gramíneas e leguminosas) não pode ultrapassar os 6% por kg de MS. Através de todos esses cuidados, o criador poderá obter sucesso tanto na prevenção contra os distúrbios do ciclo estral das vacas, quanto de outras complicações como toxidade, desnutrição, etc. 6.2 Relação energia:proteína Em relação ao aumento do consumo de proteína crua ou de deficiência de energia, aumenta-se a quantidade de ureia no sangue e produz-se uma toxicidade tecidular, afetando o endométrio e diminuindo a produção de prostaglandinas, que são as encarregadas de manter o corpo lúteo, caso não se mantenha acaba provocando um ciclo estral longo. A situação pode ser explicada a nível do eixo hipotálamo-hipófise, no qual os baixos níveis de glicose inibem a secreção de GnRH e resultam na diminuição da pulsatilidade da LH, seja por ação direta ou mediada através das ß-endorfinas. Outro fator que afeta o crescimento folicular é a nutrição, especificamente a perda da condição corporal, quando o animal não se alimenta direito ou quando se alimenta não tem uma condição balanceada que supra suas exigências nutricionais e que tenha um aceitável ganho de peso diário (GPD), acaba perdendo massa muscular ou de gordura, em outras palavras altera-se a condição corporal do mesmo, e se a perda for de 22 a 24 % de peso corporal (PC), os animais que perdem essa condição entram em anestro o que acaba tornando um animal inviável para a reprodução e também para o abate, uma vez que encontra-se fora do peso ideal. Tanto as proteínas quanto a energia foram tratados em trabalhos anteriores, porém nunca é tarde para salientar que ambas devem ser fornecidas em qualidade e quantidade que consiga favorecer ao desenvolvimento do animal e aos mecanismos fisiológicos do mesmo. 6.3 Fito-toxidade Finalmente, um fator adicional que induz a alteração da ciclicidade estral são os fitoestrógenos, plantas com altos teores de isoflavonas que possuem, no organismo animal, uma ação estrogênica. Os fitoestrógenos estão amplamente difundidos, nos trevos, alfafa, milho e nas pastagens de cultivo intensivo. Os fitoestrogênios são diferentes dos estrogênios produzidos pelo animal, mas a sua ação é idêntica nos receptores do trato reprodutivo; o seu metabolismo e excreção é diferente (por exemplo, desmetilização) e a sua excreção renal através dos glicoronosidos, assim mesmo a formação de ésteres sulfatos no tecido hepático é menor, acumulando-se em circulação e alterando a duração da fase estrogênica do ciclo, isso leva à ninfomania das vacas e com ela a perda da função reprodutiva. Deve-se estar atento ao pasto que se cultiva e ao solo em que se implanta o pasto, uma vez que o solo pode ter excessos de minerais prejudiciais ao animal e que o coloque em uma situação de toxidade, já que a planta absorve do solo o excesso e da planta vai para o animal por meio direto ou pela silagem. Um exemplo é o teor de molibdênio na planta que não pode ser maior que 6%, se for ocorrerá inúmeras transformações fisiológicas maléficas ao animal, que acabará sendo descartado do objetivo que seria a reprodução na fazenda. -/- Apoio -/- Realização -/- REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BAVERA, Guillermo Alejandro. Aguas y aguadas para el ganado. Rio Cuarto: Inter-Medica Editorial, 2009. BERCHIELLI, Telma Teresinha; PIRES, Alexandre Vaz; OLIVEIRA, SG de. Nutrição de ruminantes. Jaboticabal: funep, 2006. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. BREM, J. J. et al. Alteraciones del ciclo estral provocadas por un alto ingreso de molibdeno en vaquillonas Brangus y respuesta a la suplementación con cobre. Revista Veterinaria, v. 12, n. 1 y 2, p. 28-33, 2016. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutrición y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. FRAZER, Grant S. Bovine theriogenology. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, v. 21, n. 2, p. xiii-xiv, 2005. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. GRAHAM, Thomas W. Trace element deficiencies in cattle. Veterinary clinics of North America: food animal practice, v. 7, n. 1, p. 153-215, 1991. GUEDES, Luciana Freitas et al. A importância do cobre, molibdênio e enxofre na alimentação de ovinos. Nucleus Animalium, v. 10, n. 2, p. 7-22, 2018. HURLEY, W. L.; DOANE, R. M. Recent developments in the roles of vitamins and minerals in reproduction. Journal of Dairy Science, v. 72, n. 3, p. 784-804, 1989. KUMAR, Sudhir et al. Importance of micro minerals in reproductive performance of livestock. Veterinary world, v. 4, n. 5, p. 230, 2011. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. MILLS, C. F. Cobalt deficiency and cobalt requirements of ruminants. Recent advances in animal nutrition, p. 129-141, 1981. NICODEMO, M. L. F.; SERENO, J. R. B.; AMARAL, T. B. Minerais na eficiência reprodutiva de bovinos. Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste-Documentos (INFOTECA-E), São Carlos, 2008. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. QUIROZ-ROCHA, Gerardo F.; BOUDA, Jan. Fisiopatología de las deficiencias de cobre en rumiantes y su diagnóstico. Vet. Méx, v. 32, n. 4, p. 289, 2001. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. YASOTHAI, R. Importance of minerals on reproduction in dairy cattle. International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, v. 3, n. 6, p. 2051-2057, 2014. Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Belo Jardim, 29 de março de 2020. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE OS CIOS OU ESTROS SILENCIOSOS EM VACAS E. I. C. da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim Departamento de Zootecnia – UFRPE sede CIOS OU ESTROS SILENCIOSOS EM BOVINOS INTRODUÇÃO Um cio ou "estro silencioso" ocorre quando as mudanças ováricas são normais, mesmo com ovulação, mas não há comportamento estral. Isso não deve ser confundido com um estro não observado devido a falha na detecção do mesmo. A ocorrência do cio ou "estro (...) silencioso" é mais frequente durante o primeiro e segundo ciclo pós-parto (25 a 40 dias pós-parto). O acesso ao comportamento de atividade estral geralmente é gradual e ocorre em várias horas. Assim, a intensidade do estro e o padrão típico de comportamento em uma determinada vaca, variará do começo ao fim do mesmo. O conhecimento dessas mudanças graduais do estro servem como sinais e podem ser usados pelo produtor para indicar se uma vaca está manifestando o início ou a finalização do estro. (FRAZER, 2005; GORDON, 1996). O fracasso da detecção do estro é o problema mais sério e generalizado que afeta a eficácia do serviço nas vacas. Vários fatores de manejo contribuem para o fracasso no diagnóstico do estro, mas a incapacidade de reconhecer os sinais do estro é uma causa comum. A detecção do estro é necessária para um programa de inseminação das vacas leiteiras e é a chave do uso bem sucedido da inseminação artificial (AI) (THATCHER et al., 2006). As temperaturas ambientes quentes ou muito frias reduzem o comprimento dos períodos estrais em algumas vacas, e incrementam as dificuldades na detecção do estro. Quando a vaca manifesta o estro, exibe padrões de comportamento que são distintamente diferenciados do descanso do ciclo estral. Relaciona-se com o estro, o maior desenvolvimento folicular ovárico e a descarga reforçada de estrogênio. O estrogênio, hormônio sexual do ovário, atua na vaca causando a indução do comportamento estral. Cios/estros silenciosos podem ser difíceis de se manifestarem na vaca, uma vez que torna-se muito difícil não observar uma vaca, que mesmo tendo um cio silencioso, aceitando a monta ou montando em outras, o muco que escorre pela vulva, o comportamento de micção frequente, etc. Vários fatores podem ocasionar essa manifestação ociosa do cio, porém a mais relevante é a nutricional, em especial com a deficiência ou exagero de minerais essenciais e intimamente relacionados com a reprodução. 9.1 Minerais 9.1.1 Fósforo (P) Dentro das deficiências minerais, o baixo nível de fósforo afeta os mecanismos energéticos relacionados com as manifestações corporais do cio. Os hábitos de comportamento típico de montar e deixar-se montar, o evento de caminhadas errantes em busca de companheiros sexuais unido ao baixo consumo de alimento durante as horas de estro, leva a atentar que, sob condições de deficiência mineral de fósforo, o animal não mostre seu comportamento sexual esperado, já que outros processos fisiológicos, todos relacionados com as funções autônomas, devem ser favorecidos. Sempre enfatizando a prevenção por afecções relacionadas aos minerais que possuem relação direta com a fertilidade e reprodução dos bovinos, a suplementação do P pode ocorrer de diversas maneiras, dentre elas o fornecimento de 1,43 mg/kg de MS do mineral na dieta dos animais, tendo uma taxa percentual de 0,17 a 0,59% de P presente em kg/MS para todas as categorias animais, o que previne ou combaterá quaisquer anomalias que viera a acometer o rebanho. A administração dessa quantidade pode ocorrer em sistemas de fornecimento via SMI (suplementação mineral injetável), via água, forragens ou via ração. 9.1.2 Manganês (Mn) A maioria dos efeitos de deficiência do Mn deve-se à sua função na síntese de muco polissacarídeo, estes são imprescindíveis na matriz orgânica dos ossos e dos dentes. Outra função do Mn é a participação nos processos de oxido-redução, respiração tecidular, formação do osso, reprodução e funções endócrinas. Os bovinos que têm uma baixa ingestão de manganês nas suas dietas podem ter uma puberdade tardia, baixas porcentagens de gravidez, uma acentuada tendência aos abortos e bezerros fracos ao nascer. Como sempre falado, todos os minerais são essenciais para a manutenção e normalidade do corpo e dos mecanismos fisiológicos do mesmo, logo, como o Mn não é diferente, sua participação na dieta do animal deve obedecer os 40 mg/kg de MS e nunca superior a 1000 ppm, as concentrações desse mineral são mais abundantes em forragens e sua via de suplementação pode ser através da ração balanceada com todas as quantidades estabelecidas de macro e micro minerais ou através do sistema SMI. 9.1.3 Cobre (Cu) Outro mineral relacionado com o cio ou estro silencioso é o cobre. As vacas que consomem pastos deficientes em cobre podem apresentar uma infertilidade associada a cios atrasados ou suprimidos, falhas na nidificação, reabsorções embrionárias e transtornos na espermatogênese nos machos. Os bovinos que consomem pastagens contendo menos que 3 mg Cu/kg MS por dia apresentam sinais de deficiência. As desordens reprodutivas relacionadas com o cobre (Cu) podem estar relacionadas a uma deficiência, bem como a uma interferência na sua utilização. A disponibilidade desse elemento pode ser reduzida pelo excesso de outros, como exemplo o molibdênio, enxofre, ferro, cálcio, zinco e cádmio (QUIROZ-ROCHA & BOUDA, 2001; KINCAID, 1999). O Cu é um elemento primordial como outro qualquer, sendo assim, sua administração aos animais deve obedecer aos parâmetros estabelecidos por instituições de pesquisa agropecuária que ditam um fornecimento de Cu entre 10-18 mg/kg de MS para todas as categorias animais. A via de suplementação do cobre pode ser diversa, mas as mais aceitas são pelas forragens, pelo sistema SMI ou através do concentrado balanceado industrial. O excesso de Cu gera Mo, e a relação entre ambos não deve ser superior à 20. Por fim, em geral, cio/estro silencioso se apresentará em deficiências de energia pelos altos requerimentos desta durante o período do mesmo, e quando se apresentam os desequilíbrios eletrolíticos, uma vez que a homeostase básica faz com que os processos de regulação bioquímica sejam prioritários para o indivíduo, ainda sobrepondo suas necessidades reprodutivas. REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BARRENHO, Gonçalo José Pinheiro. Nutrição e fertilidade em bovinos de leite. 2016. Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade de Évora. BERCHIELLI, Telma Teresinha; PIRES, Alexandre Vaz; OLIVEIRA, SG de. Nutrição de ruminantes. Jaboticabal: funep, 2006. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutriión y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. DIAS, Juliano Cesar et al. Alguns aspectos da interação nutrição-reprodução em bovinos: energia, proteína, minerais e vitaminas. PUBVET, v. 4, p. Art. 738-743, 2010. FRAZER, Grant S. Bovine theriogenology. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, v. 21, n. 2, p. xiii-xiv, 2005. FUCK, E. J.; MORAES, G. V.; SANTOS, G. T. Fatores nutricionais na reprodução das vacas leiteiras. I. Energia e proteína. Rev Bras Reprod Ani, v. 24, p. 147-161, 2000. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. KINCAID, R. L. Assessment of trace mineral status of ruminants: A review. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Science. 1999. p. 1-10. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. QUIROZ-ROCHA, Gerardo F.; BOUDA, Jan. Fisiopatología de las deficiencias de cobre en rumiantes y su diagnóstico. Vet. Méx, v. 32, n. 4, p. 289, 2001. SARTORI, Roberto; GUARDIEIRO, Monique Mendes. Fatores nutricionais associados à reprodução da fêmea bovina. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, v. 39, p. 422-432, 2010. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. THATCHER, W. W. et al. Strategies for improving fertility in the modern dairy cow. Theriogenology, v. 65, n. 1, p. 30-44, 2006. TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. TEIXEIRA, J. C. Nutrição de ruminantes. Lavras: FAEPE, 1992. (shrink)

Constitutivist accounts in metaethics explain the normative standards in a domain by appealing to the constitutive features of its members. The success of these accounts turns on whether they can explain the connection between normative standards and the nature of individuals they authoritatively govern. Many such explanations presuppose that any member of a norm-governed kind must minimally satisfy the norms governing its kind. I call this the Threshold Commitment, and argue that constitutivists should reject it. First, it requires constitutivists to (...) restrict the scope of their explanatory ambitions, because it is not plausibly true of social kinds. Second, despite the frequent reliance on physical artifacts in constitutivists’ illustrations of the Threshold Commitment, it counter-intuitively entails that physical artifacts can cease to exist without being physically destroyed. Third, it misconstrues the normative force of authoritative norms on very defective kind-members because it locates this force not in the norm, but in the threat of non-existence. Fortunately, constitutivism can be decoupled from the Threshold Commitment, and I close by sketching a promising alternative account. (shrink)

RESUMO A inseminação artificial em tempo fixo (IATF) é uma das biotecnologias de reprodução mais estudadas dos últimos anos, e a busca pelo equilíbrio entre a fisiologia animal e o controle hormonal fomenta uma série de estudos. Sendo assim, o objetivo com este trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência da aplicação do hormônio liberador de gonadotrofinas (GnRH) no dia zero (D0) do protocolo de IATF, a base de estrógeno e progesterona sobre a taxa de penhez por IATF. O experimento foi desenvolvido (...) na Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), na Fazenda Experimental do Glória, localizada no município de Uberlândia, no estado de Minas Gerais. Foram avaliadas 69 inseminações de vacas leiteiras mestiças, divididas em dois grupos com diferentes protocolos; Controle: sem aplicação de GnRH e Tratamento: aplicação de GnRH no dia zero do protocolo. Todos os animais foram inseminados com sêmen previamente analisado. O diagnóstico de gestação foi realizado 32 dias após a inseminação, com aparelho de ultrassonografia equipado com probe linear transretal de 7,5 MHz. Os dados foram analisados por análise descritiva, sendo avaliado o efeito da relação protocolo e presença de corpo lúteo no início do protocolo e efeito da relação protocolo e ordem de IA Pós-Parto sobre a taxa de concepção. A taxa de concepção após a realização do Protocolo Tratamento foi de 53% (17/32) e do Protocolo Controle foi de 43% (16/37). Portanto, conclui-se que o protocolo de sincronização de vacas leiteiras mestiças com a aplicação de GnRH no dia zero do protocolo resultou em um aumento no número da taxa de concepção de vacas leiteiras mestiças. Palavras-chave: biotecnologia; bovinocultura; hormônio; ovulação; reprodução. ABSTRACT The artificial insemination at fixed time (AIFT) is one of the most studied reproduction biotechnologies in recent years, and the search for a balance between animal physiology and hormonal control fosters a series of studies. Therefore, the objective of this work was to to evaluate the efficiency of gonadotrofine hormone inducer (GnRH) on day zero (D0) of the AIFT protocol, an estrogen and progesterone base on an AIFT rate. The experiment was developed at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), at the Experimental Farm of Glória, located in the municipality of Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais. Were evaluated 69 inseminations of crossbred dairy cows divided into two groups with different protocols; Control: without application of GnRH and Treatment: application of GnRH on day zero of the protocol. All animals were inseminated with previously analyzed semen. The diagnosis of pregnancy was performed 32 days after insemination, with an ultrasound device equipped with a 7.5 MHz transrectal linear probe. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis, evaluating the effect of the protocol relationship and the presence of corpus luteum at the beginning of the protocol and the effect of the protocol relationship and postpartum AI order on the conception rate. The conception rate after performing of the Treatment Protocol was 53% (17/32) and the Control Protocol was 43% (16/37). Therefore, it is concluded that the synchronization protocol of crossbred dairy cows with the application of GnRH on day zero of the protocol resulted in an increase in the number of conception rates of crossbred dairy cows. Keywords: biotechnology; cattle breeding; hormone; ovulation; reproduction. -/- REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS ATANASOV, A. S.; DINEVA, J. D.; YOTOV, S. A. 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In recent work, Michael Smith argues that particular desires are constitutive of ideal agency and draws on his dispositional account of reasons to establish the normative significance of those desires. In a sustained critique, Michael Bukowski objects that Smith’s recent arguments that particular desires are constitutive of ideal agency rely on indefensible premises and his dispositional account of reasons is unable to establish the normative significance of such desires. On the contrary, I argue not only that Smith has the resources (...) to respond to these objections but also that the form of Smith’s constitutivist explanation has unappreciated explanatory strengths. (shrink)

Artykuł stanowi próbę artystycznej i estetycznej analizy dzieła Chrystus św. Jana od Krzyża Salvadora Dalego jako obrazu realizującego główne postulaty estetyki postmodernizmu. Zastosowana perspektywa badawcza ma na celu wyjście poza tradycyjną zależność polegającą na wskazywaniu tego, co postmodernizm przejął od wcześniejszych nurtów awangardowych, w szczególności od surrealizmu. Proponowana odwrócona perspektywa odsyła do innej, wzbogacającej relacji: wskazuje bezpośrednio na to, co surrealizm odkrył i w artystyczny sposób wykorzystał na długo przed nastaniem estetyki postmodernizmu.

In this paper, I argue that an utterance can function to conserve or maintain the truth of its asserted content, what I call conservative speech. Conservative utterances can work to preserve the truth of their asserted content in two ways. In the first, directive conservatives, the utterance serves as an indirect directive for interlocutors to act in ways that serve to maintain the asserted content. In the second, constitutive conservatives, serve to partly constitute the truth conditions of the asserted content (...) directly. Constitutive conservatives, I argue, are particularly important because they are a central tool for how social groups enforce and thereby maintain facts about group norms and values in the face of deviation. They thus have a central role to play in understanding the role of language in the abilities of social groups to create and maintain their norms and values. (shrink)

The most discussed of architectural marvels tend to be the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or the Parthenon at Athens, supposedly because they are the ones we happen to have nominated ‘world wonders’; but that doesn’t mean all the rest of temple-type sites to be found across the greater Mediterranean area have less wonder about them. On the contrary; when wanting to explore and explain the role temples played in the lives of their ‘subscribers’ and a (...) temple site’s place as often the nucleus of a community, the Serapeum at Alexandria is as excellent a piece of architecture to examine as any. (shrink)

Seeing how the idea of the ‘ruler cult’ and the necessary ‘myth-making’ to establish it exists to this day, as seen with the regime of a 21st century dictator like Kim Jong-il, it would be most interesting to see what parallels exist between cases of divine leadership and what we might learn about our contemporary cult rulers when looking at the dynamics of the two-millennia-old cult of the deified Emperor Augustus. As such, I have formulated a central question that focuses (...) on the reign of Divus Augustus, and in doing so provides opportunity to extrapolate from it new insights in similar but contemporary figures of leadership. A clear case of 'to understand motives in the present, one must look at actions in the past.'. (shrink)

If Jewish Bolsheviks could put an end to the imperial rule of the Romanovs, could they pose a threat to the vision of a Third Reigh? A question the German National Socialists are likely to have asked themselves before and on the eve of plotting the rise of the Nazi regime. After all, Europe had had a long-standing relationship with blaming the Jews for the world’s miseries. A relationship Germany was ready to refuel, as indicated by German Field Marshal Walter (...) von Reichenau, when he stated that ‘the most essential aim of war against the Jewish-bolshevistic system is a complete destruction of their means of power and the elimination of Asiatic influence from the European culture.’ But the German fears of Jewish interference with their great scheme for Europe’s future, must surely have been inspired by more than just the age-old conspiratorial allegation that Jews were the main forces behind world politics. As such, this essay will seek to inspect the apparent rise of antisemitic fears at the time, and put a case forward to show how religion played into all this. (shrink)

Dit werkstuk betrekt zich op de vraag of de de facto legitimiteit van Knoet de Grote als koning van Angelsaksisch Engeland, te verklaren is aan de hand van de theorieën over legitimiteit zoals gepostuleerd door Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (1864—1920). Bestaande literatuur over Knoet de Grote zijn troonsbestijging, zoals dat van vooraanstaand 19e-eeuws historicus Edward Augustus Freeman, zou een ‘geromantiseerd’ beeld hebben geschetst van de kwestie. Dit werkstuk zal kijken of dit beeld, aan de hand van Webers theorie over waar (...) legitimiteit in gegrond kan zijn, ten eerste terecht te noemen is en, ten tweede, of het Knoets status als legitiem vorst van het ‘Angelsaksische’ volk goed kan verklaren. (shrink)

There is a current debate about the grammar of intention: do I intend to φ, or that I φ? The equivalent question in Aristotle relates especially to choice. I argue that, in the context of practical reasoning, choice, as also wish, has as its object an act. I then explore the role that this plays within his account of the relation of thought to action. In particular, I discuss the relation of deliberation to the practical syllogism, and the thesis that (...) the conclusion of the second is an action. (shrink)

Matt King has recently argued that the manipulation argument against compatibilism does not succeed by employing a dilemma: either the argument infelicitously relies on incompatibilist sourcehood conditions, or the proponent of the argument leaves a premise of the argument undefended. This article develops a reply to King’s dilemma by showing that incompatibilists can accept its second horn. Key to King’s argument for the second horn’s being problematic is “the parallel manipulation argument.” I argue that King’s use of this argument is (...) problematic, but I suggest that a (modified) parallel manipulation argument is effective for a different, though more restricted, purpose. (shrink)

More than ever, it is in vogue to argue that no norms either play a role in or directly follow from the theory of mental content. In this paper, I present an intuitive theory of intentionality (including a theory of mental content) on which norms are constitutive of the intentional properties of attitude and content in order to show that this trend is misguided. Although this theory of intentionality—the teleological theory of intentional representation—does involve a commitment to representational norms, these (...) norms are not problematic in the way critics have suggested they would be. In particular, these norms do not guide thinking by motivating intentional agents to (intentionally) accord with them; as a result, no obvious vicious regress threatens the theory. In the final section of this paper, I argue that accepting this teleological theory of intentionality need not commit one to thinking that intentionality is the product of natural selection. (shrink)

Many authors have noted that there are types of English modal sentences cannot be formalized in the language of basic first-order modal logic. Some widely discussed examples include “There could have been things other than there actually are” and “Everyone who is actually rich could have been poor.” In response to this lack of expressive power, many authors have discussed extensions of first-order modal logic with two-dimensional operators. But claims about the relative expressive power of these extensions are often justified (...) only by example rather than by rigorous proof. In this paper, we provide proofs of many of these claims and present a more complete picture of the expressive landscape for such languages. (shrink)

This paper presents a new challenge to the thesis that moral responsibility for an omission requires the ability to do the omitted action, whereas moral responsibility for an action does not require the ability to do otherwise than that action. Call this the asymmetry thesis. The challenge arises from the possibility of cases in which an omission is identical to an action. In certain of such cases, the asymmetry thesis leads to a contradiction. The challenge is then extended to recent (...) variations of the asymmetry thesis defended by John Martin Fischer and Carolina Sartorio. Finally, a possible objection to the challenge is addressed. (shrink)

This introduction to the Journal of Business Research special issue on anti-consumption briefly defines and highlights the importance of anticonsumption research, provides an overview of the latest studies in the area, and suggests an agenda for future research on anti-consumption.

I argue that phenomenal externalism is preferable to phenomenal internalism on the basis of externalism's explanatory power with respect to qualitative character. I argue that external qualities, namely, external physical properties that are qualitative independent of consciousness, are necessary to explain qualitative character, and that phenomenal externalism is best understood as accepting external qualities while phenomenal internalism is best understood as rejecting them. I build support for the claim that external qualities are necessary to explain qualitative character on the basis (...) of a model of color perception as a certain sort of information filter by which perceivers gain access to external qualities. (shrink)

Charles Sanders Peirce famously claimed that ‘The opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed to by all who investigate is what we mean by the truth’ (W3: 273). Christopher Hookway has argued for a highly distinctive interpretation of this claim in terms of speech-acts and the normative commitments we incur in performing them. So-construed, Peirce’s conception of truth is difficult to compare with standard theories of the concept, which tend to focus instead upon some property or feature that is (...) shared by all and only true propositions, and with whether or not that property is substantive or metaphysically significant. This paper examines Hookway’s interpretation of Peirce’s conception of truth in an effort to clarify its position in logical space. It then raises some difficulties for the way Hookway tries to accommodate Peirce’s remarks about the special status of assertion and belief in science. (shrink)

How do separate brain processes bind to form unified, conscious percepts? This is the perceptual binding problem, which straddles neuroscience and psychology. In fact, two problems exist here: (1) the easy problem of how neural processes are unified, and (2) the hard problem of how this yields unified perceptual consciousness. Binding theories face familiar troubles with (1) and they do not come to grips with (2). This paper argues that neuroelectrical (electromagnetic-field) approaches may help with both problems. Concerning the easy (...) problem, standard accounts of neural binding by synchrony, attention, and convergence raise serious difficulties. These are avoided by neuroelectrical approaches in which the brain’s field binds distributed processes in myriad neurons. Concerning the hard problem, binding theories do not squarely address how to get from neural unity to unified consciousness. This raises metaphysical difficulties involving reductions, emergence, etc. Neuroelectrical (and Russellian) approaches may help avoid these difficulties too. These approaches may thus deserve further investigation as binding theories. (shrink)

In his influential book Truth, Paul Horwich deploys a philosophical method focused on linguistic usage, that is, on the function(s) the concept of truth serves in actual discourse. In doing so Horwich eschews abstract metaphysics, arguing that metaphysical or ontological conceptions of truth rest on basic misconceptions. From this description, one might reasonably expect Horwich's book to have drawn inspiration from, or even embodied philosophical pragmatism of some kind. Unfortunately Horwich relies upon Russell's tired caricature of pragmatism about truth (''p' (...) is true if and only if it is useful to believe p' (Ibid., p. 34, p. 47)), and as a result underestimates the challenge it poses to Minimalism. This paper develops a pragmatist critique of minimalism that focuses on the seemingly central, plausibly constitutive role played by the concept of truth in the speech-act of assertion. The critique suggests that Horwich's Minimalism does not and cannot accomplish its stated goal of explaining all of the facts involving truth. Indeed, the kind of thorough-going deflationism sought by Horwich and others (including pragmatist sympathizer Bob Brandom) is incompatible with an adequate account of assertion, and perhaps other concepts (like belief, judgement and inquiry) as well. (shrink)

This paper examines the intersecting of the themes of temporality and truth in Deleuze's philosophy. For the ancients, truth was something eternal: what was true was true in all times and in all places. Temporality (coming to be and passing away) was the realm of the mutable, not the eternal. In the seventeenth century, change began to be seen in a positive light (progress, evolution, and so on), but this change was seen to be possible only because of the immutable (...) laws of nature that govern change. It was not until philosophers such as Bergson, James, Whitehead – and then Deleuze – that time began to be taken seriously on its own account. On the one hand, in Deleuze, time, freed from its subordination to movement, now becomes autonomous: it is the pure form of change (continuous variation) that lies at the basis of Deleuze's metaphysics in Difference and Repetition (and is explored more thematically in The Time-Image). As a result, on the other hand, the false, freed from its subordination to the form of the true, assumes a power of its own (the power of the false), which in turn implies a new ‘analytic of the concept’ that Deleuze develops in What Is Philosophy? (shrink)

Understanding the autonomic nervous system and homeostatic changes associated with emotions remains a major challenge for neuroscientists and a fundamental prerequisite to treat anxiety, stress, and emotional disorders. Based on recent publications, the inter-relationship between respiration and emotions and the influence of respiration on autonomic changes, and subsequent widespread membrane potential changes resulting from changes in homeostasis are discussed. We hypothesize that reversing homeostatic alterations with meditation and breathing techniques rather than targeting neurotransmitters with medication may be a superior method (...) to address the whole body changes that occur in stress, anxiety, and depression. Detrimental effects of stress, negative emotions, and sympathetic dominance of the autonomic nervous system have been shown to be counteracted by different forms of meditation, relaxation, and breathing techniques. We propose that these breathing techniques could be used as firstline and supplemental treatments for stress, anxiety, depression, and some emotional disorders. (shrink)

Philosophical accounts of freedom typically fail to capture an important kind of freedom—freedom to change what one cares about—that is central to our understanding of what it is to be a person. This paper articulates this kind of freedom more clearly, distinguishing it from freedom of action and freedom of the will, and gives an account of how it is possible. Central to this account is an understanding of the role of emotions in determining what we value, thus motivating a (...) rethinking of the importance of emotions in the mental lives of persons. (shrink)

William James’s characterization of consciousness as a selecting agency can be used to develop and defend an externalist view of mind. The mind – including the content of phenomenal consciousness – is in an important sense distributed beyond the skin and skull of the subject, out into the world of people and things. Moreover, conscious experience is an action, and not simply something that happens to us. Consciousness, perception, and experience are activities – in other words, things that we do.