Creation and Divine Providence in Plotinus

In this paper, we argue that Plotinus denies deliberative forethought about the physical cosmos to the demiurge on the basis of certain basic and widely shared Platonic and Aristotelian assumptions about the character of divine thought. We then discuss how Plotinus can nonetheless maintain that the cosmos is «providentially» ordered

Creation and Divine Providence in Plotinus

In this paper, we argue that Plotinus denies deliberative forethought about the physical cosmos to the demiurge on the basis of certain basic and widely shared Platonic and Aristotelian assumptions about the character of divine thought. We then discuss how Plotinus can nonetheless maintain that the cosmos is «providentially» ordered

Community Change within a Caribbean Coral Reef Marine Protected Area following Two Decades of Local Management

Structural change in both the habitat and reef-associated fish assemblages within spatially managed coral reefs can provide key insights into the benefits and limitations of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). While MPA zoning effects on particular target species are well reported, we are yet to fully resolve the various affects of spatial management on the structure of coral reef communities over decadal time scales. Here, we document mixed affects of MPA zoning on fish density, biomass and species richness over the 21 years since establishment of the Saba Marine Park (SMP). Although we found significantly greater biomass and species richness of reef-associated fishes within shallow habitats (5 meters depth) closed to fishing, this did not hold for deeper (15 m) habitats, and there was a widespread decline (38% decrease) in live hard coral cover and a 68% loss of carnivorous reef fishes across all zones of the SMP from the 1990s to 2008. Given the importance of live coral for the maintenance and replenishment of reef fishes, and the likely role of chronic disturbance in driving coral decline across the region, we explore how local spatial management can help protect coral reef ecosystems within the context of large-scale environmental pressures and disturbances outside the purview of local MPA management.Funding was provided by the Saba Conservation Foundation ((SCF), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, The Australian National University and Australian Research Council. The funders had no role in study design and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Staff of the SCF were involved in data collection

Place, Space, and Motion

(a) Topics and Goals. The Junior Research Group »Place, Space and Motion« investigates the role of spatial concepts in physical theories in the millennium from Plato (4th century BCE) through Philoponus and Simplicius (6th century CE). In particular, we examine the explicit theoretical views of ancient physicists and philosophers concerning space, the spatial features of bodies, and the existence of isomorphisms among space, change, and time. Projects are devoted to issues in Plato’s Timaeus and Aristotle’s Physics, and to the interwoven reception of these texts in Middle Platonism and Late Platonism. We trace the evolving answers given to such central questions as whether space is metaphysically basic or is rather dependent upon bodies or even non-spatial entities (such as souls); the possibility of empty space; the causal role of space in nature; how spatial structures make certain kinds of change possible or necessary. The group aims to produce a series of essays and commentaries examining key texts of Plato and Aristotle and tracing the reception and transformation of their views in Middle- and Late Platonism. (b) Methods. The group engages in close reading and interpretation of ancient texts, with the aim of constructing a history of engagement with the questions indicated above. The main areas of expertise brought to bear on the relevant texts lie in classical philology, history of ideas, history of science, and systematic philosophy. In a weekly research seminar, individual research projects and results are presented in detail and discussed in the light of these varied disciplines and skill sets. (c) State of Discussion. Relevant texts are interpreted both internally and in the light of their relationships with earlier sources and later readings. In this way a narrative is emerging of development and interrelationship among ancient theories of space – a narrative with some shape and coherence, but without the suppression of details and uncertainties. The group is also beginning to pay more attention to epistemological issues, concerning the sources of theoretical knowledge about space, and the evolving standards of argument, justification, and presentation of such knowledge

The Importance of Tau Phosphorylation for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Fibrillar deposits of highly phosphorylated tau are a key pathological feature of several neurodegenerative tauopathies including Alzheimer’s disease and some frontotemporal dementias. Increasing evidence suggests that the presence of these end-stage neurofibrillary lesions do not cause neuronal loss, but rather that alterations to soluble tau proteins induce neurodegeneration. In particular, aberrant tau phosphorylation is acknowledged to be a key disease process, influencing tau structure, distribution and function in neurons. Although typically described as a cytosolic protein that associates with microtubules and regulates axonal transport, several additional functions of tau have recently been demonstrated, including roles in DNA stabilization, and synaptic function. Most recently, studies examining the trans-synaptic spread of tau pathology in disease models have suggested a potential role for extracellular tau in cell signalling pathways intrinsic to neurodegeneration. Here we review the evidence showing that tau phosphorylation plays a key role in neurodegenerative tauopathies. We also comment on the tractability of altering phosphorylation-dependent tau functions for therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders

A Collaborative Web-Based Approach to Planning Research, Integration, and Testing Using a Wiki

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Integrated Vehicle Health Management program touches on many different research areas while striving to enable the automated detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and mitigation of adverse events at the aircraft and system level. At the system level, the research focus is on the evaluation of multidisciplinary integrated methods, tools, and technologies for achieving the program goal. The participating program members form a diverse group of government, industry, and academic researchers. The program team developed the Research and Test Integration Plan in order to track significant test and evaluation activities, which are important for understanding, demonstrating, and communicating the overall project state and project direction. The Plan is a living document, which allows the project team the flexibility to construct conceptual test scenarios and to track project resources. The Plan also incorporates several desirable feature requirements for Plan users and maintainers. A wiki has proven to be the most efficient and effective means of implementing the feature requirements for the Plan. The wiki has proven very valuable as a research project management tool, and there are plans to expand its scope

Insights into the Electronic Structure of CuII Bound to an Imidazole Analogue of Westiellamide.

Three synthetic analogues of westiallamide, HL, have previously been synthesized (HL) that have a common backbone (derived from l-valine) with HL but differ in their heterocyclic rings (imidazole, oxazole, thiazole, and oxazoline). Herein we explore in detail through high-resolution pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT) the geometric and electronic structures of the mono- and dinuclear Cu complexes of these cyclic pseudo hexapeptides. Orientation-selective hyperfine sublevel correlation, electron nuclear double resonance, and three-pulse electron spin echo envelope modulation spectroscopy of [Cu(HL)(MeOH)] reveal delocalization of the unpaired electron spin onto the ligating and distal nitrogens of the coordinated heterocyclic rings and that they are magnetically inequivalent. DFT calculations confirm this and show similar spin densities on the distal heteroatoms in the heterocyclic rings coordinated to the Cu ion in the other cyclic pseudo hexapeptide [Cu(HL)(MeOH)] complexes. The magnetic inequivalencies in [Cu(HL)(MeOH)] arise from different orientations of the heterocyclic rings coordinated to the Cu ion, and the delocalization of the unpaired electron onto the distal heteroatoms within these N-methylimidazole rings depends upon their location with respect to the Cu dx-y orbital. A systematic study of DFT functionals and basis sets was undertaken to examine the ability to reproduce the experimentally determined spin Hamiltonian parameters. Inclusion of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) using MAG-ReSpect or ORCA with a BHLYP/IGLO-II Wachters setup with SOC corrections and ∼38% Hartree-Fock exchange gave the best predictions of the g and A(Cu) matrices. DFT calculations of the N hyperfine and quadrupole parameters for the distal nitrogens of the coordinated heterocyclic rings in [Cu(HL)(MeOH)] with the B1LYP functional and the SVP basis set were in excellent agreement with the experimental data, though other choices of functional and basis set also provided reasonable values. MCD, EPR, mass spectrometry, and DFT showed that preparation of the dinuclear Cu complex in a 1:1 MeOH/glycerol mixture (necessary for MCD) resulted in the exchange of the bridging methoxide ligand for glycerol with a corresponding decrease in the magnitude of the exchange coupling