Main Claim Research Articles

A formalization of one of the main claims of “ALS-implicated protein TDP-43 sustains levels of STMN2, a mediator of motor neuron growth and repair” by Klim et al. 20191

Klim et al. claimed in previous work that the protein TDP-43 generally contributes to the transcription of STMN2 in human motor neurons. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “TAR DNA binding protein” that are in the context of a thing of class “human motor neuron” can generally have a relation of type “contributes to” to a thing of class “transcription of stmn2” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship” by Wilkinson et al. 20161

Wilkinson et al. claimed in previous work that Adherence of a dataset to the FAIR Guiding Principles enables its automated discovery. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “adherence to the FAIR Guiding principles” that are in the context of a thing of class “data set” can generally have a relation of type “enables” to a thing of class “automated discovery” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “‘Dunbar’s number’ deconstructed” by Lindenfors et al. 20211

Lindenfors et al. claimed in previous work that the cortex size of humans does not relate to their social group size. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “relative neocortex size” that are in the context of a thing of class “social group” never have a relation of type “affects” to a thing of class “social group size” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “OpenBiodiv: A knowledge graph for literature-extracted linked open data in biodiversity science” by Penev et al. 20191

Penev et al. claimed in previous work that triples in the OpenBiodiv knowledge graph releases are generally semantic triples extracted from biodiversity literature. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “triple in OpenBiodiv knowledge graph” that are in the context of a thing of class “release of OpenBiodiv knowledge graph” generally have a relation of type “is same as” to a thing of class “semantic triple extracted from biodiversity literature” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “FTO Obesity Variant Circuitry and Adipocyte Browning in Humans” by Claussnitzer et al. 20151

Claussnitzer et al. claimed in previous work that a regulatory element within the first intron of FTO affects IRX3 and IRX5 expression during early adipogenesis. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “early human adipogenesis” that are in the context of a thing of class “regulatory element within the first intron of FTO” generally have a relation of type “affects” to a thing of class “expression of genes IRX3 and IRX5” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “TDP-43 represses cryptic exon inclusion in FTD/ALS gene UNC13A” by Rosa Ma et al. 20211

Rosa Ma et al. claimed in previous work that the protein TDP-43 represses cryptic exon inclusion in the gene UNC13A. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “TAR DNA binding protein” that are in the context of a thing of class “UNC13A” generally have a relation of type “inhibits” to a thing of class “inclusion of cryptic exon” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “Cost-effectiveness analysis of pharmacogenomics-guided clopidogrel treatment in Spanish patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention” by Fragoulakis et al. 20191

Fragoulakis et al. claimed in previous work that pharmacogenomics-guided clopidogrel strategy represents a cost-effective treatment for patients undergoing PCI. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “pharmacogenomics guided clopidogrel therapy” that are in the context of a thing of class “patient undergoing PCI” generally have a relation of type “enables” to a thing of class “cost-effective treatment” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “Mutations in NGLY1 cause an inherited disorder of the endoplasmic reticulum–associated degradation pathway” by Enns et al. 20141

Enns et al. claimed in previous work that NGLY1 deficiency is a novel autosomal recessive disorder of the ERAD pathway. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “NGLY1 deficiency” that are in the context of a thing of class “human” always have a relation of type “is caused by” to a thing of class “dysfunction of ERAD pathway” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “Overlap of vitamin A and vitamin D target genes with CAKUT-related processes” by Ozisik et al. 20211

In a previous paper that we co-authored (Ozisik et al. 2021) we showed that in some cases Vitamin A and Vitamin D receptor binding sites are present in genes associated with Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT). From that finding we derived the statement that sometimes Vitamin A targets are the same as genes associated with CAKUT. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “genes associated with CAKUT” sometimes have a relation of type “is same as” to a thing of class “targets of vitamin A”.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “Sonic hedgehog signaling in astrocytes” by Hill et al. 20211

Hill et al. claimed in previous work that sonic hedgehog signalling pathway is an essential regulator of astrocytes development. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “smoothened signaling pathway” that are in the context of a thing of class “human” mostly have a relation of type “affects” to a thing of class “astrocyte development” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “Mutations in STX1B, encoding a presynaptic protein, cause fever-associated epilepsy syndromes” by Schubert et al. 20141

Schubert et al. claimed in previous work that mutations in STX1B are associated with epilepsy. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “STX1B mutation” that are in the context of a thing of class “human” frequently have a relation of type “co-occurs with” to a thing of class “epilepsy” in the same context.

A formalization of one of the main claims of “A linked data model for data scopes” by De Boer et al. 20211

De Boer et al. claimed in previous work that in the context of Digital Humanities research, usage of the Linked Data Scopes ontology contributes to transparency of the research. We present here a formalization of that claim, stating that all things of class “usage of Linked Data Scopes” that are in the context of a thing of class “digital humanities research” can generally have a relation of type “contributes to” to a thing of class “transparency” in the same context.

An intellectual history of the political in the educational management, administration and leadership field

Research and practice regarding politics within and for the educational management administration and leadership community are well established. The 50th anniversary issue of the journal educational management, administration and leadership is an opportunity to examine knowledge production where I have developed a new conceptual framework based on three approaches to ontology and epistemology in the social sciences. This framework presents positivist, interpretive and critical approaches to political relationality, and I deploy this conceptualisation in order to read and analyse field outputs. I present an account of each of these three approaches where I show the main authors, projects and knowledge claims that have raised awareness and established a conceptual and empirical database. I identify the resilience and dominance of positivist politics, but recognise the ongoing validity of interpretive and critical politics.

Extensive use of on-pack promotional claims on commercial baby foods in the UK

ObjectiveTo explore and categorise the nature of promotional claims on packaging of commercial baby foods (CBFs).SettingUKMethodologyAn online survey of CBFs (for infants up to 12+ months) in 7 UK supermarkets...

Rewarding More Is Better for Soliciting Help, Yet More So for Cash Than for Goods: Revisiting and Reframing the Tale of Two Markets With Replications and Extensions of Heyman and Ariely (2004)

Heyman and Ariely (2004) demonstrated that the expected effectiveness of soliciting help varied depending on the “market”, a money market represented by cash rewards versus a social market represented by goods as rewards. They showed that, as cash rewards increase, individuals expected others to be more willing to help, yet, when offering social goods as rewards such as candy, expected willingness to help was insensitive to rewards’ monetary worth. We conducted two pre-registered replication studies (total: N = 3302, MTurk/Prolific) of Study 1 in Heyman and Ariely (2004) and found support for one of their main claims that people are more sensitive to worth when the reward is cash than goods. However, the rewards’ monetary worth impacted expected willingness to help even in social markets, deviating from the original findings. Extensions further compared between-subject and within-subject designs, examined perceived affect (joy and regret), and added a new control condition. We concluded that higher compensation is generally perceived as better when soliciting help, yet more so for the money market cash rewards than for the social market goods rewards. All materials, data, and code are provided on https://osf.io/y9p7u/

Quintilian on Laughter (Inst. 6.3)

Abstract This paper presents a reading of the chapter on laughter in Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria (Inst. 6.3), the fullest treatise on ancient rhetoric extant. It argues that Inst. 6.3 can be better understood in light of the context of the treatise, and that it can be read as a little mise-en-abyme of, and reversely magnifying lens on, the whole. First, it briefly outlines Quintilian’s two main claims to originality: his aim to educate the ideal orator, who is both technically and morally outstanding, and his thorough, but practical-minded didactic method. Then, it shows how the didactic spin of the treatise can be detected in his discussion of laughter, and how his remarks on the nature of laughter (and the laughable) characterize it as problematic both from a didactic point of view and for the conception of the ideal orator. The difficulties to classify laughter make it hard to teach and control. It is attributed the potential to undermine the very social status and moral character of the orator: it is inexplicable, and potentially dangerous for anyone trying to elicit it. Nevertheless, Quintilian treats laughter as a part of the orator’s rhetorical arsenal, which shows that it is a powerful weapon the benefits of which must outweigh its risks. This raises the question wherein its utility lies exactly, which is addressed in the last section of the paper. Drawing some parallels to modern theories of laughter allows to better understand some dynamics behind laughter in a forensic context that Quintilian only implies. Overall, this paper aims to present a case study on the extent to which the Institutio is an artful and thoroughly thought-through literary construct, and to make a small contribution to recent scholarship on the literariness of ancient didactic prose.

Christian-Buddhist Intercommunication of Late Antiquity

Abstract The paper is devoted to a historical reconstruction of cultural and commercial contacts which took place between Egypt and India at the peak of the maritime Silk Road to the West in antiquity, i.e. from the first to the fifth century AD, and to how these contacts were reflected by the Roman authors of that time. It is shown that in this context the story of Siddhārtha Gautama can have been transmitted to the West from the first to the fifth century AD. This study is based on the world-systems approach to late antiquity and it has the following two complementary dimensions: (i) reconstructing archeological evidences for the contacts of that time; (ii) cross-cultural textual analysis. As a result, it was detected that almost all the main claims of late antique authors about Buddhism and the ways of its expansion are well confirmed by archeology.

Trusting scientific experts in an online world.

A perennial problem in social epistemology is the problem of expert testimony, specifically expert testimony regarding scientific issues: for example, while it is important for me to know information pertaining to anthropogenic climate change, vaccine safety, Covid-19, etc., I may lack the scientific background required to determine whether the information I come across is, in fact, true. Without being able to evaluate the science itself, then, I need to find trustworthy expert testifiers to listen to. A major project in social epistemology has thus become determining what the markers of trustworthiness are that laypersons can appeal to in order to identify and acquire information from expert testifiers. At the same time, the ways in which we acquire scientific information has changed significantly, with much of it nowadays being acquired in online environments. While much has been said about the potential pitfalls of seeking information online (e.g. the prevalence of filter bubbles, echo chambers, and the overall proliferation of “fake news”), little has been said about how the nature of seeking information online should make us think about the problem of expert testimony. Indeed, it seems to be an underlying assumption that good markers of trustworthiness apply equally well when seeking information from expert testifiers in online and offline environments alike, and that the new challenges and opportunities presented by online environments merely affects the methods by which we can acquire evidence of said trustworthiness. Here I argue that in making this assumption one risks failing to account for how unique features of the ways in which we acquire information online affect how we evaluate the trustworthiness of experts. Specifically, I argue for two main claims: first, that the nature of information-seeking online is such that the extent to which information is susceptible to manipulation is a dominant marker of trustworthiness; second, as a result, one will be more likely to seek out a particular kind of expert testifier in online environments, what I call a cooperative as opposed to preemptive expert. The result is that criteria for expert trustworthiness may look significantly different when acquiring information online as opposed to offline.

On compactness and fixed point theorems in partial metric spaces

In this paper we examine two basic topological properties of partial metric spaces, namely compactness and completeness. Our main result claims that in these spaces compactness is equivalent to sequential compactness. We also show that Hausdorff compact partial metric spaces are metrizable. In the second part of this article we discuss the significance of bottom sets of partial metric spaces in fixed point theorems for mappings acting in these spaces.

Markov blankets do not demarcate the boundaries of the mind.

We agree with Bruineberg and colleagues' main claims. However, we urge for a more forceful critique by focusing on the extended mind debate. We argue that even once the Pearl and Friston versions of the Markov blanket have been untangled, that neither is sufficient for tackling and resolving the question of demarcating the boundaries of the mind.