Getting Acquainted with Kant

My question here concerns whether Kant claims that experience has nonconceptual content, or whether, on his view, experience is essentially conceptual. However there is a sense in which this debate concerning the content of intuition is ill-conceived. Part of this has to do with the terms in which the debate is set, and part to do with confusion over the connection between Kant’s own views and contemporary concerns in epistemology and the philosophy of mind. However, I think much of the substance of the debate concerning Kant’s views on the content of experience can be salvaged by reframing it in terms of a debate about the dependence relations, if any, that exist between different cognitive capacities. Below, in Section 2, I clarify the notion of ‘content’ I take to be at stake in the interpretive debate. Section 3 presents reasons for thinking that intuition cannot have content in the relevant sense. I then argue, in Section 4, that the debate be reframed in terms of dependence. We should distinguish between Intellectualism, according to which all objective representation (understood in a particular way) depends on acts of synthesis by the intellect, and Sensibilism, according to which at least some forms of objective representation are independent of any such acts (or the capacity for such acts). Finally, in Section 5, I further elucidate the cognitive role of intuition. I articulate a challenge which Kant understands alethic modal considerations to present for achieving cognition, and argue that a version of Sensibilism that construes intuition as a form of acquaintance is better positioned to answer this challenge than Intellectualism

High-molecular-weight polymers from dietary fiber drive aggregation of particulates in the murine small intestine

The lumen of the small intestine (SI) is filled with particulates: microbes, therapeutic particles, and food granules. The structure of this particulate suspension could impact uptake of drugs and nutrients and the function of microorganisms; however, little is understood about how this suspension is re-structured as it transits the gut. Here, we demonstrate that particles spontaneously aggregate in SI luminal fluid ex vivo. We find that mucins and immunoglobulins are not required for aggregation. Instead, aggregation can be controlled using polymers from dietary fiber in a manner that is qualitatively consistent with polymer-induced depletion interactions, which do not require specific chemical interactions. Furthermore, we find that aggregation is tunable; by feeding mice dietary fibers of different molecular weights, we can control aggregation in SI luminal fluid. This work suggests that the molecular weight and concentration of dietary polymers play an underappreciated role in shaping the physicochemical environment of the gut

High-molecular-weight polymers from dietary fiber drive aggregation of particulates in the murine small intestine

The lumen of the small intestine (SI) is filled with particulates: microbes, therapeutic particles, and food granules. The structure of this particulate suspension could impact uptake of drugs and nutrients and the function of microorganisms; however, little is understood about how this suspension is re-structured as it transits the gut. Here, we demonstrate that particles spontaneously aggregate in SI luminal fluid ex vivo. We find that mucins and immunoglobulins are not required for aggregation. Instead, aggregation can be controlled using polymers from dietary fiber in a manner that is qualitatively consistent with polymer-induced depletion interactions, which do not require specific chemical interactions. Furthermore, we find that aggregation is tunable; by feeding mice dietary fibers of different molecular weights, we can control aggregation in SI luminal fluid. This work suggests that the molecular weight and concentration of dietary polymers play an underappreciated role in shaping the physicochemical environment of the gut

Early Maladaptive Schemas Are Associated with Increased Suicidal Risk among Individuals with Schizophrenia

Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) are a dysfunctional cognitive pattern that can result from maladaptive functioning during childhood. EMSs are broad patterns of memories, emotions, cognitions, and bodily sensations related to the self and others. The aims of this study were to evaluate EMSs among individuals with schizophrenia and to evaluate the relations of EMSs and clinical factors (e.g., depression, positive, and negative symptoms of psychosis) to suicidal risk (e.g., current suicidal ideation, lifetime suicide attempts). Eighty-two inpatients with schizophrenia completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI), and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Individuals with schizophrenia who had attempted suicide (relative to those who had not attempted suicide) had significantly higher EMSs, current suicidal ideation, and a family history of suicide attempts. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the emotional deprivation schema, positive symptoms, and depression were significantly associated with current suicidal ideation. In addition, emotional deprivation was significantly associated with lifetime suicide attempts. These findings suggest that the emotional deprivation schema, positive symptoms, and depression may be related to suicide in individuals with schizophrenia. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Cuticular hydrocarbons and the integration of myrmecophile rove beetles into ant colonies

[no abstract

Cuticular hydrocarbons and the integration of myrmecophile rove beetles into ant colonies

[no abstract

Table S3 - source data 1

This zip archive contains the chromatography data that was used to calculate the values displayed in Table S3. “WT_USI_raw_data.xlsx” contains the data for the wild-type upper small intestine, “Rag1KO_USI_raw_data.xlsx” contains the data for the immunoglobulin-deficient (Rag1KO) upper small intestine. In both the excel files, RI = refractive index, RALS = Right-angle light scattering, LALS = low-angle light scattering, DP = differential pressure (the viscometer). All values are measured in millivolts except for retention volume, which is measured in milliliters (mL). The file “Table S3 – source data 1.OmnisecArchive” contains all this data, along with the data for the pullulan and dextran standard that were used to calibrate the instrument. This can be used in conjunction with Malvern OMNISEC v10.20 software to reproduce the calculations displayed in the table. LALS data was not used for these calculations because of the noisiness of the signal from the detector

Figure 3 - Source Data 1

This zip archive contains the original z-stacks used for Figure 3, panels B-C. These are provided as TIF files. All imaging parameters are included in the image metadata. They are labeled as follows (if multiple technical replicates were done it is indicated): A7PS263_s1_t1 = 30 µm-filtered, technical replicate #1; A7PS263_s2_t1 = 0.45 µm-filtered; A7PS263_s3_t1 = 100 kDa-filtered; A7PS263_s4_t1 = 30 kDa-filtered; A7PS263_s5_t1 = 3 kDa-filtered; A7PS284_s13_t1 = HBSS; A7PS285_s1_t1 = 30 µm-filtered, technical replicate #2; A7PS285_s2_t1 = 0.45 µm-filtered, technical replicate #2; A7PS285_s5_t1 = 30 µm-filtered, technical replicate #3; A7PS285_s6_t1 = 0.45 µm-filtered, technical replicate #3. Additionally, this file contains .csv files of all the statistics on particle sizes collected by the ImageJ macro. These are labeled in the format “zstackname_automated_counting_statistics”, where “zstackname” is the title of the associated z-stack. It also contains a .csv file of the particle # IDs of the singlet particles that were used to get the average singlet size, which was then used to normalize the ECDFs (as explained in detail in Materials and Methods). These are labeled in the format “zstackname_singlet_IDs”, where “zstackname” is the title of the associated z-stack. These .csv files were used in combination with the Jupyter notebooks (also provided with this submission) to generate Figure 3, panels B-C. If multiple technical replicates were performed on a sample, the resulting ECDFs were combined to create one master ECDF for that sample