9-11 and Its Anxious Phantoms

Abstract

“Metaphysical mutations – that is to say, global transformation in the values to which the majority subscribe – are rare in the history of humanity. The rise of Christianity might be cited as an example.

Once a metaphysical mutation has arisen, it tends to move inexorably toward its logical conclusion. Heedlessly, it sweeps away economic and political systems, aesthetic judgments and social hierarchies. No human agency can halt its progress – nothing except another metaphysical mutation.”     

STOCHASTIC EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS IN THE REPEATED PRISONERS' DILEMMA

This paper explores boundedly rational behavior in the infinitely repeated prisoners' dilemma. Strategy choices are modeled as finite automata, and the evolution of populations through asexual reproduction with mutation is explored. Evolutionary success is based on how well the strategy does in an infinite game against randomly matched opponents, and mutation schemes based on a stylized model of these strategies are employed. The results demonstrate when either defecting or cooperating strategies tend to evolve, depending on how important the future is. Interestingly, when the strategies are allowed to become tolerant of defections, the population cycles between defecting and cooperating strategies.     

Bear ye one another’s genetic burdens: the price of diversity and complexity

Genetic variability and diversity are the result of a mutation-selection balance that acts permanently within and between species. The presence of deleterious mutations is a necessary consequence of this process and thus “the price paid by a species for its capacity for further evolution” (Haldane 1937, Am Nat 71:337–349). Recent estimations of mutation rate in the human lineage has revived the debate as to whether the high number of deleterious mutations poses a severe problem for the future of mankind. Theoretical considerations allow a scenario in which the survival of the human race is maintained by truncation selection of deleterious mutations that removes as many mutations as appear anew in every generation. In this case our genetic burden is carried by those individuals that suffer a genetic death resulting from random distribution of deleterious alleles. Nevertheless, one has to ask whether the mutation rate may set absolute limits on the complexity of a species.     

Keep time, stay healthy

Recent studies reveal that sleep loss in humans leads to metabolic disorders. A new study reports the development of metabolic syndrome in mice with altered circadian timing brought about by a mutation in a gene that functions in the biological clock. An intriguing and unanswered question is the relation between a healthy biological clock and normal appetite and weight regulation.     

Making young tumors old: a new weapon against cancer?

As the population of industrial nations ages, the incidence of cancer and cancer mortality is increasing. Intuitively, older organisms may be less able to cope with accumulated damage and thus be more prone to develop cancer. However, so far, the links between aging and cancer have been only partially explored. Strikingly, four recent studies now indicate that premature senescence accompanied by cell cycle arrest occurs in tumors initiated by an oncogenic mutation. Thus, senescence may act as a key tumor suppressor mechanism in young tumors in vivo.     

Dieting dwarves live it up

Two longevity pathways affect growth and metabolism in similar ways, and researchers have wondered for years whether the two routes coincide. A new study hints that these roads might not even lie on the same page of the atlas. Calorie restriction further extends the lives of mice already renowned for longevity due to a mutation in the Prop-1 gene. The results, reported in the 22 November issue of Nature, suggest that the two pathways don't overlap and indicate that researchers could travel a long way before they reach the maximum life-span of mice and perhaps humans.     

How does the Huntington''s disease mutation damage cells?

Huntington's Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative condition with devastating consequences. HD is caused by the expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat stretch in the coding sequence of the HD gene that gives rise to a long polyglutamine tract in the huntingtin protein. How this mutated protein gives rise to the disease state is controversial. In this Perspective, I discuss the results of a new study on the effects of the mutated huntingtin protein in light of previous findings and suggest that the HD mutation damages cells by perturbing multiple parallel pathways by gain-of-function and possibly also dominant negative mechanisms.     

Modeling cooperation among self-interested agents: a critique

This paper reviews recent attempts to model cooperation in groups of self-interested unrelated individuals. It concludes that no empirically plausible model has been developed, and the economist's quest for an explanation of human prosociality in terms of self-interested agents has not been successful. We show that the equilibrium criteria employed in standard game-theoretic models have no attractive dynamic properties, and the mechanisms deployed in these models are not generally seen in empirical examples of cooperative groups. We also show that these models are not robust to plausible rates of signaling error and mutation. We present an alternative, involving strongly reciprocal agents, that satisfies all the requirements for a dynamically stable model of cooperation.     

The Import/Export of Police Models: Danish 19th Century Police Reform Between Elites of Revolution and Reaction

The article investigates the diffusion of police models in the 19^th century taking the Danish import of the Metropolitan Police implemented in London in 1829 as its main object of analysis. Building on the sociological framework of Pierre Bourdieu, the focal point of the analysis is how an international police model was crafted by national elites who profited from the import of a specific form of policing. In the Danish context, the import and mutation of the English role model was closely related to a transformation of the national field of power as absolutism was formally disbanded but practically folded into a new constitutional monarchy in which conservative and liberal elites coexisted.     

Of worms, flies, dwarfs, and things that go bump in the night

Studies over the past several years have found that antagonism of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway increases life-span in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila. However, a persistent problem in these studies is the fact that the genetic mutation has effects on the development of the organism as well as on reproductive function. These effects act as potential confounding variables that complicate the interpretation of results. Kenyon and colleagues circumvent these issues by suppressing the insulin/IGF-1-like daf-2 signaling pathway at specific stages in the life-span of C. elegans. The results of their investigation challenge our understanding of the evolution of aging and provide opportunities for future studies in mammalian models.     

Huntington's disease

In this case study, we describe the symptoms, neurological exam, neuropsychological test results, and brain pathology of a man who died with Huntington's disease (HD). HD is a rare neurodegenerative disease. Like other movement disorders involving the basal ganglia, HD affects motor, cognitive, and psychiatric functioning. The disease follows an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, with onset of symptoms most commonly occurring in the late 30s or early 40s, as in this patient. HD is caused by an unstable expansion of the trinucleotide CAG, coding for glutamine, on chromosome 4. Despite knowledge of the gene mutation responsible for HD, no definitive treatment is currently available to slow or halt progression of the disease. However, symptomatic treatment can significantly improve the quality of life for patients with HD.     

Where in the world does neoliberalism come from?

Neoliberalism is generally understood as a system of ideas circulated by a network of right-wing intellectuals, or as an economic system mutation resulting from crises of profitability in capitalism. Both interpretations prioritize the global North. We propose an approach to neoliberalism that prioritizes the experience of the global South, and sees neoliberalism gaining its main political strength as a development strategy displacing those hegemonic before the 1970s. From Southern perspectives, a distinct set of issues about neoliberalism becomes central: the formative role of the state, including the military; the expansion of world commodity trade, including minerals; agriculture, informality, and the transformation of rural society. Thinkers from the global South who have foregrounded these issues need close attention from the North and exemplify a new architecture of knowledge in critical social science.     

Error catastrophe in mutant mitochondria

The error catastrophe theory of aging, proposed by Orgel in 1963, predicted a decrease in the fidelity of information transfer that accelerated as aging progressed, until properly functioning macromolecules could no longer be reliably made. The theory was extensively tested by comparing DNA polymerases, transfer RNAs, and proteins derived from aging versus young animals, but it did not prove to have general applicability to the process of aging. Recently, the heritable eye disorder progressive external ophthalmoplegia has been found to result from mutation of the gene encoding DNA polymerase gamma, which replicates mitochondrial DNA. The mutant form of the polymerase replicates DNA less accurately than the wild-type enzyme, providing an explanation for the accumulation of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA of patients with this disorder. The affected mitochondria appear to exhibit an age-dependent error catastrophe. It is possible that other genetic diseases might result in error catastrophes in mitochondria as well.     

Dear old dad

The origin and frequency of spontaneous mutations that occur with age in humans have been a topic of intense discussion. The mechanisms by which spontaneous mutations arise depend on the parental germ line in which a mutation occurs. In general, paternal mutations are more likely than maternal mutations to be base substitutions. This is likely due to the larger number of germ cell divisions in spermatogenesis than in oogenesis. Maternal mutations are more often chromosomal abnormalities. Advanced parental age seems to influence some mutations, although it is not a factor in the creation of others. In this review, we focus on patterns of paternal bias and age dependence of mutations in different genetic disorders, and the various mechanisms by which these mutations arise. We also discuss recent data on age and the frequency of these mutations in the human male germ line and the impact of these data on this field of research.     

Why language is unique to human beings

There are some well-known theories about the origin of the language. The origin of the language is very mysterious. The theory of language origin can be divided into two hypotheses: continuity and discontinuity. The basic idea of the continuity hypothesis is that the language can't be suddenly formed, there must be a process from the human ancestors of the early evolution of the language system. The discontinuous hypothesis holds that language has some unique characteristics which come across in a certain period of time and relates to the human gene evolution and mutation. However, What I want to prove is neither of them, I prefer the religious views. In this thesis, I mainly talk about two aspects. Bible records the original history of human society, therefore, I'd like to find the answer of the origin of language from the Bible.     

New Public Management et professions dans l’État : au-delà des oppositions, quelles recompositions ?

More and more reforms in public administrations are being conducted that are based on the principles and instruments of “new public management”. They have set off protest and collective actions by several professional groups in various sectors (health, education, justice, social work, research…), whence questions about the future of professional groups in public services, in particular about their autonomy, which these reforms threaten. The opposition between this new public management and certain professional groups, is not the final explanation to draw from an analysis of this situation. Should these changes be seen as the decline of professional groups and of their autonomy, as a mutation of professional models, an overhaul of professionalism, etc.? These questions, which current events in France and Europe have raised, are a matter for ongoing sociological thought. They are approached empirically, from the field, using varied scales of analysis and research. Forms of tension between this new public management and professional groups are explored.     

Liberté syndicale et négociation collective dans l'économie des plateformes: de la mobilisation des travailleurs à l'approche axée sur les droits de l'homme

L'étude porte sur l'exercice de la liberté syndicale et du droit de négociation collective dans l'économie des plateformes. Après avoir commenté plusieurs exemples de mobilisation collective des travailleurs des plateformes dans le monde, l'auteur plaide pour l'adoption d'une approche axée sur les droits de l'homme de ces deux garanties, que divers instruments internationaux consacrent, et que de nombreux tribunaux nationaux et internationaux ont utilisées pour justifier leurs décisions. C'est pour lui la seule façon de protéger tous les travailleurs, indépendamment de leur situation au regard de l'emploi, dans un monde du travail en mutation.     

Ten years of Boko Haram: how transportation drives Africa’s deadliest insurgency

ABSTRACT

This article challenges the ways in which much scholarship on terrorism and insurgencies have been ‘a-mobile.’ It addresses this problem by drawing on the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ to explore analytically how the decade-long Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria have developed around the system of automobility and have simultaneously been transformed by it. The analysis extends to the impact of the violent insurgency and state regulation on populations whose livelihoods are rooted in mobility. Foregrounding automobility as a lethal weapon, an instrument of power, the article recasts the evolution and mutation of Boko Haram in light of how the group weaponizes transportation/mobility, and how it interacts with differently and differentially mobile others. This article should be seen as a first attempt to insert the subject of (auto)mobility into the rapidly growing literature on Boko Haram, contributing to our meagre understanding of how movement and stasis influences the group’s tactics and choice of targets. It brings together qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, media reports, and hours of observations at roadblocks and control posts operated by a local security assemblage of police officers, paramilitaries, and soldiers.