Evolutionary psychology is one of many biologically informed approaches to the study of human behavior. Along with cognitive psychologists, evolutionary psychologists propose that much, if not all, of our behavior can be explained by appeal to internal psychological mechanisms. What distinguishes evolutionary psychologists from many cognitive psychologists is the proposal that the relevant internal mechanisms are adaptations—products of natural selection—that helped our ancestors get around the world, survive and reproduce. To understand the central claims of evolutionary psychology we require an understanding of some key concepts in evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. Philosophers are interested in evolutionary psychology for a number of reasons. For philosophers of science —mostly philosophers of biology—evolutionary psychology provides a critical target. There is a broad consensus among philosophers of science that evolutionary psychology is a deeply flawed enterprise. For philosophers of mind and cognitive science evolutionary psychology has been a source of empirical hypotheses about cognitive architecture and specific components of that architecture. Philosophers of mind are also critical of evolutionary psychology but their criticisms are not as all-encompassing as those presented by philosophers of biology. Evolutionary psychology is also invoked by philosophers interested in moral psychology both as a source of empirical hypotheses and as a critical target.

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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Ethnic civil wars are burning in Bosnia, Croatia, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Sudan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Kashmir, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and are threatening to break out in dozens of other places throughout the world.1 Many of these conflicts are are so violent, with so much violence directed against unarmed civilians, and are apparently intractable, that they have provoked calls for military intervention to stop them. As yet, however, the international community has done little and achieved less. Advocates of international action seek to redress the failures of local political institutions and elites by brokering political power-sharing arrangements, by international conservatorship to rebuild a functioning state, or by reconstruction of exclusive ethnic identities into wider, inclusive civic identities.2 Pessimists doubt these remedies, arguing that ethnic wars express primordial hatreds which cannot be reduced by outside intervention because they have been ingrained by long histories of inter-communal conflict.3

http://www.rochelleterman.com/ir/sites/default/files/kaufman%201996.pdf

Possible and Impossible Solutions to Ethnic Civil Wars

Despite decades of high vaccination coverage, pertussis has remained endemic and reemerged as a public health problem in many countries in the past 2 decades. Waning of vaccine-induced immunity has been cited as one of the reasons for the observed epidemiologic trend. A review of the published data on duration of immunity reveals estimates that infection-acquired immunity against pertussis disease wanes after 4-20 years and protective immunity after vaccination wanes after 4-12 years. Further research into the rate of waning of vaccine-acquired immunity will help determine the optimal timing and frequency of booster immunizations and their role in pertussis control.

Duration of immunity against pertussis after natural infection or vaccination.

Before childhood vaccination was introduced in the 1940s, pertussis was a major cause of infant death worldwide. Widespread vaccination of children succeeded in reducing illness and death. In the 1990s, a resurgence of pertussis was observed in a number of countries with highly vaccinated populations, and pertussis has become the most prevalent vaccine-preventable disease in industrialized countries. We present evidence that in the Netherlands the dramatic increase in pertussis is temporally associated with the emergence of Bordetella pertussis strains carrying a novel allele for the pertussis toxin promoter, which confers increased pertussis toxin (Ptx) production. Epidemiologic data suggest that these strains are more virulent in humans. We discuss changes in the ecology of B. pertussis that may have driven this adaptation. Our results underline the importance of Ptx in transmission, suggest that vaccination may select for increased virulence, and indicate ways to control pertussis more effectively.

/pdf/bordetella-pertussis-strains-with-increased-toxin-production-5bvfi1zue0.pdf

Bordetella pertussis strains with increased toxin production associated with pertussis resurgence.

SUMMARY Pertussis is a severe respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis, and in 2008, pertussis was associated with an estimated 16 million cases and 195,000 deaths globally. Sizeable outbreaks of pertussis have been reported over the past 5 years, and disease reemergence has been the focus of international attention to develop a deeper understanding of pathogen virulence and genetic evolution of B. pertussis strains. During the past 20 years, the scientific community has recognized pertussis among adults as well as infants and children. Increased recognition that older children and adolescents are at risk for disease and may transmit B. pertussis to younger siblings has underscored the need to better understand the role of innate, humoral, and cell-mediated immunity, including the role of waning immunity. Although recognition of adult pertussis has increased in tandem with a better understanding of B. pertussis pathogenesis, pertussis in neonates and adults can manifest with atypical clinical presentations. Such disease patterns make pertussis recognition difficult and lead to delays in treatment. Ongoing research using newer tools for molecular analysis holds promise for improved understanding of pertussis epidemiology, bacterial pathogenesis, bioinformatics, and immunology. Together, these advances provide a foundation for the development of new-generation diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

Pertussis: Microbiology, Disease, Treatment, and Prevention

English Philanthropy, 1660-1960

English Philanthropy, 1660-1960.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. DESCARTES' NEW THEORY OF REASONING 3. LOCKE ON REASONING 4. HUME AND IDEAS: RELATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS 5. INTUITION, CERTAINTY, AND DEMONSTRATIVE REASONING 6. PROBABLE REASONING: THE NEGATIVE ARGUMENT 7. BELIEF AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUME'S ACCOUNT OF PROBABLE REASONING 8. REASONS, BELIEF, AND SCEPTICISM 9. THE LIMITS AND WARRANT OF REASON BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX.

Hume's reason

Available data sources on disease due to Bordetella pertussis, including notifications, hospital admissions, deaths, and an enhanced laboratory-based surveillance system commenced in January 1994, were reviewed for the period 1995-7. Pertussis notifications continued their approximately 3-year cycle although at historically reduced levels. A slight seasonal increase in late summer/early autumn existed over and above a relatively constant background rate. Over time, the proportion of pertussis cases in younger, unvaccinated children, and to a lesser extent, adolescents and young adults, is increasing. There is a continuing significant and underreported mortality associated with pertussis in the very young age group. Disease due to serotype 1,2 is on the increase despite persistent high vaccination levels and this serotype causes more severe disease. The provision of preventative antibiotics prior to disease onset reduced the severity of the disease but its use remains uncommon in England and Wales. While overall levels of pertussis notifications have declined in recent times, vaccination efficacy wanes with increasing age, and pertussis remains a significant cause of mortality and severe morbidity in the very young. This could be reduced by timely booster vaccination and increased recognition of mild disease in older cases followed by early antibiotic therapy for the very young household contacts.

David Owen

Papers

English Philanthropy, 1660-1960

English Philanthropy, 1660-1960.

Hume's reason

Bordetella pertussis surveillance in England and Wales: 1995-7.

British Opium Policy in China and India