Opposite Dynamics Research Articles

Quantum Cosmology and the Role of Consciousness

Neuroscience has theorized the ”two minds” model of the human brain from research on post-surgery ”dual consciousness” of split-brain patients. This article attempts to explain the functioning role of oppositional consciousness dynamics, and how it interacts with quantum mechanics. This article proposes that consciousness is an interactive process of polarizing an observed source of higher dimensional R5 space onto a (cognitively modeled) collapsed R4 space. The dynamics of this process involve escalating (reinforcement loop) interaction within the dual and opposing mind of a single observer. This polarized (collapsed space) results in a lower dimensional, yet higher domain range, and resulting increased entropy. An intuitive and familiar example of escalating tribal dispute dynamics are constructed and formulated. The subsequent entropic effects of information exchange are then calculated as transitioning from Gaussian to power-law distribution. Analogies are drawn between mapped topology, inscribed wave patterns, superposition, collapse, constructive and destructive interference, and discrete energy. This model is then generally framed within the full scope of cosmology, from Planck scale to Macro-scale, to explain the effects of accelerating expansion and galaxy rotation curves. Relativity effects are also calculated. Speculation is avoided with mathematical evidence and patterns.

Regards croisés sur les mondes de l’autoportrait : le cas des artistes d’origine marocaine Hicham Benohoud, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou et Zakaria Ramhani

This article takes a contemporary look at the practice of self-portraiture by three artists from Morocco: Hicham Benohoud, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou and Zakaria Ramhani. The career trajectories of these creators illustrate the various dynamics of institutional opposition and integration mechanisms that belong to the new geographies of art, in the era of globalization. The article's goal is to investigate the manner in which individual, local and global concerns are expressed in their understanding of an imaginary projection of corporality. The works are studied through the lens of local characteristics particular to the artist's Maghreb-Muslim culture. In the first section, the artists' careers, in relation to their training and the places where they have exhibited their work, are presented in tandem with the paradoxes of globalization. It is thus specified that if the artists were trained primarily in the West or made their careers there to achieve international success, it can be attributed to a lack of support from the Moroccan artistic scene, but also to the difficult access to the international art world for artists coming from the art scenes of the Maghreb. In the second part, we postulate that the artists' self-portraits attest to the different issues related to Maghreb-Muslim culture, such as the current socio-political situation in Morocco and the Islamic ban on representation. Lastly, we maintain that these self-portraits are a wider reflection of the varied concerns that transcend the borders of the Maghreb, as the artists reflect on the meeting of the Eastern and Western worlds.

Opposite Dynamics of GABA and Glutamate Levels in the Occipital Cortex during Visual Processing.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) measures the two most common inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters, GABA and glutamate, in the human brain. However, the role of MRS-derived GABA and glutamate signals in relation to system-level neural signaling and behavior is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated levels of GABA and glutamate in the visual cortex of healthy human participants (both genders) in three functional states with increasing visual input. Compared with a baseline state of eyes closed, GABA levels decreased after opening the eyes in darkness and Glx levels remained stable during eyes open but increased with visual stimulation. In relevant states, GABA and Glx correlated with amplitude of fMRI signal fluctuations. Furthermore, visual discriminatory performance correlated with the level of GABA, but not Glx. Our study suggests that differences in brain states can be detected through the contrasting dynamics of GABA and Glx, which has implications in interpreting MRS measurements.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT GABA and glutamate are the two most abundant neurotransmitters in human brain. Their interaction, known as inhibitory-excitatory balance, plays a crucial role in establishing spontaneous and stimulus-driven brain activity. Yet, the relationship between magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)-derived levels of both metabolites and fMRI is still a matter of dispute. In this work, we study GABA and glutamate in three states of visual processing and in relation to fMRI and visual discriminatory performance in healthy people. We found that states of visual processing can be detected through the contrasting dynamics of GABA and glutamate and their correlation with fMRI signals. We also demonstrated that GABA, but not glutamate, in the visual system predicts visual performance. Our results provide insights into MRS-derived GABA and glutamate measurements.

Agroecological and agroeconomic aspects of the grain and grain legumes (pulses) yield dynamic within the Dnipropetrovsk region (period 1966–2016)

This paper reveals the spatial and temporal patterns of grain and leguminous crops yield dynamics in Dnipropetrovsk region and evaluates the role of agro-environmental and agro-economic factors in their formation. Crop data were obtained from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. The data of the grain and grain legumes (pulses) yield during 1966–2016 on average per year in the administrative districts of Dnipropetrovsk region was analysed. The obtained data indicate that average yields of cereals and leguminous crops within Dnipropetrovsk region varies from 24.3 to 33.4 CWT/ha. The smallest interannual variability in yield is typical for Vasylkivskyi district (CV = 9.9%), and the largest is typical for Yurivskyi district (CV = 27.7%). As a result of the principal component analysis of the cereals and leguminous crops yields variability, three principal components were extracted which together explain 81.2% of the overall yield variability. Principal component 1 explains 69.4% of the total variability. It indicates the total synchronous yields variation within the area investigated as all examined variables have high loading values on principal component 1. The administrative districts that form a belt located in the direction from the north east to the south west of the region have the most coordinated variance, which is reflected by principal component 1. Principal component 2 explains 6.8% of the yield variability. This principal component is sensitive to opposite yield dynamics of central and south-western districts on the one hand and the eastern and northern districts – on the other. Principal component 3 explains 4.9% of the yield variability. This principal component reveals the opposite dynamics of productivity of the central districts on the one hand and the northern and south-eastern districts on the other. The cluster analysis of administrative districts was conducted based on the dynamics of the yield of grain and leguminous as a result of which four clusters were identified. The clusters are geographically defined administrative districts, together forming spatially connected areas. The similar temporal yield dynamics of grain and leguminous crops as a result of interaction between endogenous and exogenous ecological factors is the main principle for revealling such ecologically homogeneous territories. Spatial distribution of principal components indicates a continual pattern, but their overlapping allows one to extract spatially discrete units, which we identified as agroecological zones. Each zone is characterized by a certain character and dynamics of production capacity and has an invariant pattern of response to varying climatic, environmental, and agroeconomic factors.

Водный потенциал ассимиляционного аппарата хвойных как мера активности и состояния воды в растении

Проведено сравнительное исследование водного потенциала в дневной и сезонной динамике хвои сосны и ели, произрастающих в условиях достаточного почвенного увлажнения в средней подзоне тайги Республики Коми. Выявлены диапазоны изменчивости данного показателя в течение нескольких вегетационных периодов и получены их средние значения. Показаны изменения водного потенциала в связи с возрастом хвои и произрастанием ее в разных частях кроны. Установлены зависимости водного потенциала хвои от климатических факторов и условий среды обитания.

The Molecular and Functional Foundations of Conducive Somatic Cell Reprogramming to Ground State Pluripotency

The epigenetic dynamics of iPSC reprogramming in correctly reprogrammed cells at high resolution and throughout the entire process, remain largely undefined. This gap in understanding results from the inefficiency of conventional reprogramming methods coupled with the difficulty of prospectively isolating the rare cells that eventually correctly reprogram into iPSCs. Here we characterize cell fate conversion from fibroblast to iPSC using radically efficient murine reprogramming systems. This comprehensive characterization provides single day resolution of dynamic changes in levels of gene expression, chromatin modifications, TF binding, DNA accessibility and DNA methylation. The integrative analysis identified two transcriptional modules that dominate successful reprogramming. One consists of genes whose transcription is regulated by on/off epigenetic switching of modifications in their promoters (abbreviated as ESPGs), and the second consists of genes with promoters in a constitutively active chromatin state, but a dynamic expression pattern (abbreviated as CAPGs). ESPGs are mainly regulated by OSK, rather than Myc, and are enriched for cell fate determinants and pluripotency factors. We used the ESPG module to study the identity and temporal occurrence of activating and repressing epigenetic switching during reprogramming. Removal of repressive chromatin modifications precedes chromatin opening and binding of RNA polymerase II at enhancers and promoters, and the opposite dynamics occur during repression of enhancers and promoters. Genome wide DNA methylation analysis identified a group of super-enhancers targeted by OSK, whose early demethylation definitively marks commitment to a successful reprogramming trajectory also in inefficient conventional reprogramming systems. CAPGs are predominantly regulated by Myc rather than OSK and are enriched for cell biosynthetic regulatory functions. CAPGs are distinctively regulated by multiple synergetic ways: 1) Myc activity, delivered either endogenously or exogenously, dominates CAPG expression changes and is indispensable for induction of pluripotency in somatic cells; 2) A change in tRNA codon usage which is specific to Myc regulated CAPGs, but not ESPGs, and favors their translation. In summary, our unbiased high-resolution mapping of epigenetic changes on somatic cells that are committed to undergo successful reprogramming reveals interleaved epigenetic and Myc governed biosynthetic reconfigurations that rapidly commission and propel conducive reprogramming toward naive pluripotency.

Do Voters Affect Policies? Within-Coalition Competition in the Chilean Electoral System

It has been argued that close elections lead to policy convergence, as legislators elected by a small margin are more likely to adopt moderate policy positions (Downs 1957). However, Lee, Moretti, and Butler (2004) find that electoral competition does not affect legislators’ policy preferences in the United States, questioning the median voter paradigm. To help to discern this paradox, we estimate the effect of close elections on legislators’ subsequent policy positions under different electoral rules. With Chile's two-seat open-list proportional representation system, we exploit the dynamics of within-coalition competition to test both hypotheses. Using the margin of victory in 383 races in four different parliamentary elections and 3,741 roll-call votes for the 120-seat Chamber of Deputies from 1998 to 2014, we find that electoral competition did not lead to policy convergence under either the center-left Concertación coalition or the rightist Alianza coalition. We contend that policy convergence responds to electoral incentives but is also conditioned by the nature of the political regime (presidential or parliamentary) and government–opposition dynamics.

Targeting the government in the referendum: the aborted 2016 Italian constitutional reform

This study investigates the factors explaining voting in the 2016 Italian referendum on constitutional reform. As we show through voting alignments within the Parliament and key aspects of the electoral campaign, this was a case where the government took the leadership of the entire referendum process, transforming it into a plebiscite. Within this context, we hypothesize that key elements explaining voting choices follow a government-support vs. opposition dynamics. Employing Italian National Elections Studies Association pre/post-referendum survey, we estimate the effects of factors increasing predictability (e.g. party closeness, ideology, social cleavage) or uncertainty (e.g. government performance, the economy) of voting choices. The resulting logistic regression models show that the leading role of the government in the referendum reshapes the impact of factors explaining voting choices. While some lose significance, others follow a pro- or anti-government logic.

The Permanent Condition of War-And-Peace: From the Total Mobilization to the Absolute Construction of the Event

In the present consideration the author tries to explain on three levels a fundamental shift which occurred and changed the dynamics of the binary opposition of and peace and the globally defined area, the post-national sovereignty. Those levels are: (1) transition from the metaphysics of modern history to the production of bio-political power on a global scale between the Empires (United States, Russia and China) against rogue states which calls into question the ontological definition of the modern as a civilian, guerrilla as warfare or ethnic conflict; (2) definition of the world as a (techno-science and capital) which necessarily leads to the possibility of as the construction of events on a planetary scale; (3) review of the Enlightenment's ideas of Kant's perpetual peace in correlation with the condition of permanent state of emergency on a global level, which break up the Manichean logic “either or peace”, because we are living in an age characterized by the logic of and peace in the intervals it constructed crisis of the global security. Therefore, the question of human nature as good or bad does not make decisive philosophical meaning, and even theological problem, because the ethics of responsibility becomes only a weak appeal for the preservation of life on earth and the theology of salvation already assumed the fight against evil in the form of negative theodicy. What, then, is left of the idea of not only world history but also of the different versions of the just war at a time when terror, control and politics should decide on events in the world? The answer could not lie in the pseudo-humanization of the world and the inflation of ethical doctrine as a treatment for a technology-designed apocalypse. Instead of utopias and apocalyptic narratives, the solution lies in rethinking the constellation of techno-cybernetic thinking as the dangers that allow conditions of total mobilization and absolute construction.

Gender in cardiac resynchronisation therapy.

Introduction: Gender differences in cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) response are not clear enough. This study aimed to assess gender influence on systemic inflammation, neurohormonal activation, fibrosis in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and CRT. Methods: We compared group I (61 men) and group II (16 women) of patients undergoing CRT. Plasma levels of Nt-proBNP, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein, galectin-3 (Gal-3), metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1 and 4 (TIMP-1, TIMP-4), ratio MMP-9/TIMP-1, MMP-9/TIMP-4 were measured. According to dynamics of left ventricular end-systolic volume patients were classified into non-responders, responders, super-responders. Results: Women more likely had left bundle branch block (81.3 vs 47.5%, P = 0.016), were more super-responders (66.7 vs 30.5%). Both groups showed decrease of IL-6 (P < 0.05), TNF-α (P < 0.001; P < 0.05), NT-proBNP (P = 0.001; P < 0.05), Gal-3 (P < 0.05). In women there was decrease of IL-6 by 44.4 vs 23.5% in men (PP = 0.029), TNF-α by 41.4 vs 30.9%, NT-proBNP by 73.3 vs 46% (P = 0.002), Gal-3 by 82.3 vs 64.9% (P < 0.05). Group I also showed decrease of IL-10 by 34.2% (P < 0.05). Group dynamics of TIMP-1 was opposite: men showed tendency to reduction of TIMP-1 (P = 0.054), women showed increase of TIMP-1 (P < 0.05). Besides, men showed decrease of MMP-9 (P < 0.05) and ratio MMP-9/TIMP-4 (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The best response to CRT is associated with female gender explained by greater decrease of neurohormonal activation, systemic inflammation and fibrosis. The revealed opposite dynamics of TIMP-1 in the groups can demonstrate the existence of gender features of matrix metalloproteinase system activity and their tissue inhibitors.

Randomness in denoised stock returns: The case of Moroccan family business companies

In this paper, we scrutinize entropy in family business stocks listed on Casablanca stock exchange and market index to assess randomness in their returns. For this purpose, we adopt a novel approach based on combination of stationary wavelet transform and Tsallis entropy for empirical analysis of the return series. The obtained empirical results show strong evidence that their respective entropy functions are characterized by opposite dynamics. Indeed, the information contents of their respective dynamics are statistically and significantly different. Obviously, information on regular events carried by family business returns is more certain, whilst that carried by market returns is uncertain. Such results are definitively useful to understand the nonlinear dynamics on returns on family business companies and those of the market. Without a doubt, they could be helpful for quantitative portfolio managers and investors.

Preservation of Functional Microvascular Bed Is Vital for Long-Term Survival of Cardiac Myocytes Within Large Transmural Post-Myocardial Infarction Scar.

This study was aimed to understand the mechanism of persistent cardiac myocyte (CM) survival in myocardial infarction (MI) scars. A transmural MI was induced in 12-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats by permanent coronary artery ligation. The hearts were collected 3 days, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after MI and evaluated with histology, immunohistochemistry, and quantitative morphometry. Vasculature patency was assessed in 4-, 8-, and 12-week-old scars by infusion of 15-micron microspheres into the left ventricle before euthanasia. The infarcted/scarred area has a small continually retained population of surviving CMs in subendocardial and subepicardial regions. Surprisingly, whereas the transverse area of subepicardial CMs remained relatively preserved or even enlarged over 12 post-MI weeks, subendocardial CMs underwent progressive atrophy. Nevertheless, the fractional volume of viable CMs remained comparable in mature scars 4, 8, and 12 weeks after MI (3.6 ± 0.4%, 3.4 ± 0.5%, and 2.5 ± 0.3%, respectively). Despite the opposite dynamics of changes in size, CMs of both regions displayed sarcomeres and gap junctions. Most importantly, surviving CMs were always accompanied by patent microvessels linked to a venous network composed of Thebesian veins, intramural sinusoids, and subepicardial veins. Our findings reveal that long-term survival of CMs in transmural post-MI scars is sustained by a local microcirculatory bed.

Electoral Pluralism, Social Division and the 2016 Parliamentary Elections in Jordan

AbstractRepresenting one of the most stable regimes in the Middle East, Jordan has been undergoing a process of political liberalization since 1989. Due to the so‐called East Bank‐West Bank cleavage that followed by the influx of Palestinian migrants to Jordan, the country has also come to epitomize a divided society. Within this context, this paper aims to analyze the ongoing prospects for democratization in Jordan through an examination of four persistent debates shaping its electoral pluralism: those over social/identity division, electoral law as a regime‐survival mechanism, the role of the Ikhwan and the IAF's electoral boycotts, and electoral apathy. Finally, the impact of the Arab upheavals/revolts on restructuring the process of political reform — as well as opposition in the kingdom in the post‐2011 era — will be explored with reference to the changing dynamics of Islamist opposition.

Internal Opposition Dynamics and Restraints on Authoritarian Control

Autocrats rely on co-optation to limit opposition mobilization and remain in power. Yet not all opposition parties that pose a threat to their regime are successfully co-opted. This article provides a formal model to show that reliance on activists influences whether an opposition leader receives and accepts co-optation offers from an autocrat. Activists strengthen a party’s mobilization efforts, yet become disaffected when their leader acquiesces to the regime. This dynamic undermines the co-optation of parties with a strong activist base, particularly those with unitary leadership. Activists have less influence over elite negotiations in parties with divided leadership, which can promote collusion with the regime. The results ultimately suggest that party activism can erode authoritarian control, but may encourage wasteful conflicts with the government.

A combinatorial strategy of alternative promoter use during differentiation of a heterocystous cyanobacterium.

Heterocystous cyanobacteria such as Nostoc sp. are filamentous photosynthetic organisms that, in response to nitrogen deficiency, undergo a differentiation process transforming certain, semi-regularly spaced cells into heterocysts, devoted to nitrogen fixation. During transition to a nitrogen-fixing regime, growth of most vegetative cells in the filament is temporarily arrested due to nutritional deprivation, but developing heterocysts require intense transcriptional activity. Therefore, the coexistence of arrested vegetative cells and actively developing prospective heterocysts relies on the simultaneous operation of somewhat opposite transcriptional programs. We have identified genes with multiple nitrogen-responsive transcriptional starts appearing in seemingly paradoxical combinations. For instance, sigA, encoding the RNA polymerase housekeeping sigma factor, is transcribed from one major nitrogen stress-repressed promoter and from a second, nitrogen stress-induced promoter. Here, we show that both promoters are expressed with complementary temporal dynamics. Using a gfp reporter we also show that transcription from the inducible promoter takes place exclusively in differentiating heterocysts and is already detected before any morphological or fluorescence signature of differentiation is observed. Tandem promoters with opposite dynamics could operate a compensatory mechanism in which repression of transcription from the major promoter operative in vegetative cells is offset by transcription from a new promoter only in developing heterocyst.

Frequency Domain Updating of Thin-Walled Workpiece Dynamics Using Reduced Order Substructuring Method in Machining

The structural dynamics of thin-walled parts vary as the material is removed during machining. This paper presents a new, computationally efficient reduced order dynamic substructuring method to predict the frequency response function (FRF) of the workpiece as the material is removed along the toolpath. The contribution of the removed mass to the dynamics of the workpiece is canceled by adding a fictitious substructure having the opposite dynamics of the removed material. The equations of motion of the workpiece are updated, and workpiece FRFs are evaluated by solving the hybrid set of assembled equations of motion in frequency domain as the tool removes the material between two consecutive dynamics update steps. The orders of the initial workpiece structure and the removed substructures are reduced using a model order reduction method with a newly introduced automatic master set selection criterion. The reduced order FRF update model is validated with peripheral milling tests and FRF measurements on a plate-shaped workpiece. It is shown that the proposed model provides ∼20 times faster FRF predictions than the full order finite element (FE) model.

Reflexive strategic action to consolidate a research–NGO partnership during science–policy interactions

Ecology researchers are increasingly willing to be involved in conservation policy-making processes. However, such processes are driven by complex negotiations between numerous stakeholders. The wish to engage is therefore not enough for ecological scientists to conduct effective science–policy interactions with respect to their conservation goals. The capacity for scientists to influence such negotiations also depends on their understanding of the strategic context, which involves complex cooperation and opposition dynamics among the stakeholders. Reflexive strategic action, an approach derived from the management sciences, can help develop collaborations between social scientists and ecologists that provide both (i) prime field observations on the involvement of scientists in policy-making processes and (ii) a support to scientists in their actions, by increasing their awareness of the strategic context in which they are embedded. In this study, an action research approach was developed within the context of a partnership between an ecology research team and a conservation NGO. The partnership aimed to design a new science–management interface for Mediterranean biodiversity conservation. The action research project was based on reflexive strategic action and focused on how such a partnership could strengthen the capacity of both partners to influence biodiversity conservation policies. While the relationship between the research team and the conservation NGO seemed to be based on a tactical pragmatism, both partners identified the need for a more effective advocacy coalition. Strategic reflexivity brought a number of insights to the partners and helped them collaborate towards their conservation goals. Ultimately, the increase in reflexivity brought by the social sciences is more likely to be useful when all those involved – social scientists, ecology researchers and conservation NGOs – share the same normative perspective on conservation goals.

Reorganizing Popular Sector Incorporation

Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela are cases in which, despite of the collapse of party systems, the fragmentation of popular sectors, and the dismantling of corporatism that resulted from neoliberal reforms, a new mode of incorporation nonetheless emerged. This article argues that left government responses to the demands of heterogeneous, mobilized, popular sectors shaped a new incorporation in the political arena. In it governments deal differentially with the proliferation of politically significant popular sectors and subaltern social groups. This segmented popular interest intermediation is explained by the interaction of three broad conditions: the configuration of popular sector forces and their linkages to left parties when they took office after the crisis of neoliberalism, the ideational frames of said parties’ leadership, and the dynamics of opposition and support for the regime’s project. The new incorporation establishes a new normal in the relationship of popular sectors to politics in democratic regimes.

Opposite initialization to novel cues in dopamine signaling in ventral and posterior striatum in mice.

Dopamine neurons are thought to encode novelty in addition to reward prediction error (the discrepancy between actual and predicted values). In this study, we compared dopamine activity across the striatum using fiber fluorometry in mice. During classical conditioning, we observed opposite dynamics in dopamine axon signals in the ventral striatum ('VS dopamine') and the posterior tail of the striatum ('TS dopamine'). TS dopamine showed strong excitation to novel cues, whereas VS dopamine showed no responses to novel cues until they had been paired with a reward. TS dopamine cue responses decreased over time, depending on what the cue predicted. Additionally, TS dopamine showed excitation to several types of stimuli including rewarding, aversive, and neutral stimuli whereas VS dopamine showed excitation only to reward or reward-predicting cues. Together, these results demonstrate that dopamine novelty signals are localized in TS along with general salience signals, while VS dopamine reliably encodes reward prediction error.

Dynamics of BAF-Polycomb complex opposition on heterochromatin in normal and oncogenic states.

The opposition between polycomb repressive complexes (PRC) and BAF (mSWI/SNF) complexes plays critical roles in development and disease. Mutations in the genes encoding BAF subunits contribute to over 20% of human malignancy, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear owing largely to a lack of assays to assess BAF function in vivo. To address this, we have developed a widely applicable recruitment assay system and find that BAF opposes PRC by rapid, ATP-dependent eviction, leading to the formation of accessible chromatin. Reversing this process results in reassembly of facultative heterochromatin. Surprisingly, BAF-mediated PRC eviction occurs in the absence of PolII occupancy, transcription, and replication. Further, we find that tumor suppressor and oncogenic BAF complex mutations result in differential effects on PRC eviction. These studies define a mechanistic sequence underlying the resolution and formation of facultative heterochromatin and demonstrate that BAF opposes polycomb complexes on a minute-by-minute basis to provide epigenetic plasticity.