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Culture and Identity

Ingela Holmstrom

The text below is based on Riley, Wikan, Feuer and Feinberg and their discussions on topics such as culture and identity.

Culture - an ambiguous term
"When a man is subject to violence, it is called torture, But when a woman is subject to violence, it is called culture."

These memorable words uttered Nasim Karim before the Norwegian Parliament, says Unni Wikan in Generous Betrayal - Politics of Culture in the New Europe (2002, p 107). Nasim Karim is a Norwegian woman of Pakistani origin who became the first woman in Norway who got her forced marriage annulled by law. She has been living under an assumed identity for years and have launched wrote a fictional book, Izzat - For the Sake of Honor (1996) about a woman named Noreen and how she, from having had a good upbringing will be forced into a marriage, which she later flees. But the fictional story of Noreen has its true counterpart in many other stories, that have taken place, and that still takes place in countries such as Norway and Sweden. Wikan talks about several women's fates in his book, forcing up our eyes to what is happening right in front of us, but excused because it's about culture. She brings up the example child welfare authorities in Norway are afraid that they will think that they do not respect immigrants' cultures and that they should be regarded as racists if they are interfering in what they perceive as anomalies in homes. Many Norwegians feel that the concept of culture is often used to label them as racists and correspondingly so is experiencing many immigrants, according to Wikan, that the concept of culture used to stereotype them and simultaneously wipe out the respect for the individual. There will also be an obstacle to achieving integration.

Norway has ruled that immigrants have a right to maintain a separate cultural identity and that they should be treated with respect for their culture, but this culture comes into conflict with Norwegian law and the core values that Norwegian society is based, so the culture must give way in favor of the law. This is provided in the "Goals and Objectives for Immigration Policy" (Stortingsmeldning 1987-88) (Wikan, p 70).

Anthropologist Paul Bohannan mean, according to Wikan, that culture today has gone astray and that the term is used a little willy-nilly to promote different kinds of special interests. As an example of this tells Wikan on how she can get calls where the caller has two entirely different purposes: The first type of call, for example from social worker who says that they are working with a family where the husband beats his wife and their children, but mentioning that it is their culture to do so, so what should they do? The second type of call comes from lawyers who want to Wikan to testify in court in favor of men who were charged with assaulting eg his wife, on the grounds that they do so because it is their culture. Wikan argues that "culture" has come to stand for the exotic and alien instead of the common among people but she emphasizes that the conflict really is not between an immigrant culture and a Western European culture, but between an urban and a rural way of life.

However, not cultures come together, writes Wikan on, "culture" is a word, a concept - and such can not be met. Instead, it is about people meet. The same thoughts are with Walter Feinberg, who in his book Common schools, uncommon identities (1998), among other things, takes it up to show each other respect. He believes that respect is something that is not given by one culture to another culture, or a culture to an individual, but rather it is something that individuals give to one another (p. 89).

Feinberg has the purpose of his book to develop a rationale for a pu education. He wants to develop a kind of educational theory that listening to parents and other community members' interest and concern when they want the schools to support the values and identity that are in the community (1), for he describes it so that many parents no matter what cultural position they have, share a desire for their own children to get an education experience that supports their common values (p. 17). It is important that schools teach children how they should choose, but not what they should choose, and it teaches them how they can improve their own ideas and how they can speak and write in an authentic and compelling way (p. 245). If children develop a more questioning attitude, so the school has done its job, says Feinberg (p. 241).

What then kultuens role in education? Feinberg believes that learning never occurs outside culture, but always within it and because of it. Culture implies conditions for learning and making learning possible (p. 63f), but nothing says that it is culture alone that determines the way one sees the world or that it does so in a way so that part of the world is not accessible to people from more than one culture (p. 72). One may ask whether it is possible to translate experience from one culture to another. Unless it is certain that one can feel or judge other cultures - how can you justify having a school for all children from many different cultures?

"Strong culturalism" believes that there is an impenetrable wall between cultures so that we can not quite understand why members of other cultural groups do what they do (p. 86), but Feinberg says that this is wrong, and gives as examples of this how parents from different cultures have a better understanding of each other based on parenting than those who are parents and those who are not within their own culture.

In his book takes Feinberg also the concepts of pluralism and multiculturalism. He argues that these two come from the same source (a liberal political and educational theory), but they lead in different directions and representing different social visions. Pluralism allows to cultural respect is part of a democratic society and are quite tolerant towards cultural affiliations in school while multiculturalism instead encourages of cultural identity and pride in their own cultural tradition.

So far I have discussed how one can look at culture and how it can be used in various environments, but what does the term "culture"? The word itself comes originally from Latin and meant there about to "work with animals or on the fields," but the concept has since been expanded through the years, so that eg in the 1200s could refer to a clog or a field that was cultivated and in the 1500s it was referring to the development of a specific mental ability. During the 1700s, was then German Romanticism inflytesrik and "cultural" fit in very well there. Just German Romanticism probably had a decisive influence on why the idea of culture was so diverse and succéartad writes Philip Riley in Language, culture and identity (2007, pp. 21ff).

Wikan argues that "culture" refers to the values, norms and skills that we associate with a group of people, but there is not a universal defintion of the term. As an example of this, she says that about 30 years ago, there were more than 156 definitions of the term in use (p. 80). Similar ideas we find at Riley, who with eg Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) points out that the term culture is very polysemisk and frustrating ambiguity. They also feel that the term is used more and more frequent and wide today (p. 21). Since the term is so ambiguous and two members of the same society can have very different culture Riley says that one can see culture as a kind of smorgasbord. Feinberg and Riley gives anyhow two different definitions of the term. Feinberg argues that culture is a network of meanings to which people have access, and from which they can communicate with and recognize others (Feinberg, p 4) and Riley explains that culture is the sum of the information, the assumptions, the values and skills a person needs to be involved in the community and in situations in private life (Riley, p 40).

Identity or identities
Identity is not something we can decide themselves, but it is something that is determined by, or constructed from, other people, writes Riley in Language, culture and identity (2007). He starts namely his book by talking about how he during a visit with his family in Hong Kong had been persuaded by her daughter to go out and eat at a restaurant that was not tourist-oriented and because they could either language or read the menu, so chose the daughter randomly anything on the menu. A moment later, the whole family served sausage, bacon and eggs. Riley says he still today do not know if that was what really stood out on the menu, or if they were served this meal just because they looked like the ones that wanted this kind of food (pp. 1f). Riley says that we are constantly surrounded by others who constantly tells us who we are - we do not do it themselves. Identities are formed not on the basis of nothing or of themselves, but they are products of social interaction between individuals in society (p. 16).

In his book focuses Riley on the different types of "us" and "we" as constructed in interaction with others, and he takes the help of two quite different traditions in this work: Knowledge Sociology and Etnolingvistiken. Knowledge Sociology examines the social factors that shape that applying the knowledge in a given society. It also explores the relationship between social structures and thinking and instead of asking questions like "is this theory true?" so ask knowledge sociologists why something was right and true for a particular person in a particular context. Etnolingvistiken is instead about the relationship between language and culture as well as between communicative practices and cognitive models of language and thought. Ethno Linguists seek to understand and describe the role of language in the formation of the ways in which a group's members relate to the world. Riley connects this to the identity: "These ways of knowing and being are the stuff Which identities are made of" (p. 10).

We change ourselves in different situations and in different roles that we have in our daily lives. In any given day, I myself can have the role of graduate students, corporate executives, friend, wife and mother. In all these different situations I think and act differently and identify myself differently. The people around me looking at me at the same time in very different ways and thus contribute to my identity in different contexts, the same way that I do it for them. Riley describes this as the identity just as much involves a consideration of others, as it is about one's own making. In social terms, the identity therefore only be treated in reference to others (p. 87), and social identity is created through a configuration of membership, a membership that is knowledge-and language-based.

Similar thoughts are highlighted by Avital Feuer in Who Does This Language Belong To? (2008), with Pavlenko and Blackledge (2004) argues that "identity is viewed as a dynamic and shifting nexus of multiple subject positions, or identity options, Such as mother, accountant, heterosexual or Latina "(p. 9). Feuer argues that begrepet "identity" is very complex and it has been studied and defined in many different academic disciplines, but there is no unified theory or definition that comprehensively addresses everything that identity entails. Feuer itself uses, with Hall (1996), the post-modern sociological definitions, presenting identity as "a fluid, fragmented, and fractured phenomenon" (p. 9). Identity is not a description of who we are or where we come from, but it is about what we will become in the future, how we prepared and how we produce ourselves, he writes (p. 10).

Feuer conducted a research study on one of the largest universities in Canada, in a class with students who had chosen to take a course in Hebrew. The university is located in one of Canada's largest cities, which is multicultural with over 100 different ethnic groups. The city has one of the largest Jewish populations in Canada and there are Jewish immigrants from countries such as Israel, the former. Soviet Union, Argentina and South Africa. The study was initiated after Feuer admitted to class after personal contact with a professor and for two months he followed since the class through participant observation and meticulous field notes. After the two months he conducted a number of interviews, both individually and in groups, where he assumed his field notes and took up discussion of the Jewish, code-switching in class, group dynamics, etc. His study focused on language, identity and code-switching, and therefore he himself was very attentive to their own linguistic choices and how they impact on students' linguistic choices. Feuer spoke himself both English and hebeiska, but always began his speaking in Hebrew. If he was spoken to in English as he exchanged to answer in English and he was very careful to tell the students that they are fully free to choose if they wanted to speak to him in English or Hebrew - or in both languages simultaneously.

In their study examined Feuer get answers to three main questions:

1. What unique frameworks of ethnic identity do students and teachers of Hebrew constructs for themselves?

2nd What is the place of Hebrew in participants' ethnic identities?

3rd How did participants' ethnic identity frameworks Affect classroom dynamics?

He found that discussions of Judaism was a natural and even expected part of the Hebrew class, and that there was both a unified "we" feeling, while there were various sub-groups within the class, including depending on the background the students had. Eg so could students who had lived in Israel speak hebeiska floating, while their Canadian classmates had to struggle to speak the language in a coherent way. Those who spoke fluent easily took over the discussions, interrupting those who could not speak so well and this affected group dynamics. Feuer considered that the Hebrew spoken so fluent in the class was a sort of "teenage Hebrew". As the students left Israel in their early teens, they had this language with them and then they lived in Canada for a few years so it seemed their language fossils have been, he says.

To give an interlocutor membership, to include or exklundera others in or from a group or to consolidate an identity code-switching may be used, Riley writes (p. 117). This we also find examples in Feuers study, in which he says that two of the students stated that they used the Hebrew as a kind of secret code, which included members of their own North American, Jewish social group and which excluded others around them. The language used as contact elements and created a sense of solidarity and exclusivity (p. 60).

This is shown in more places in Feuers study. For those students who have Israeli backgrounds were eg the Hebrew language a kind of membership card to a "true Israeli identity" and a deciding factor when it decided the membership of others, but the other students pointed out how hard it is to be admitted, for although they are, then they are in Israel, trying to keep all their conversations in Hebrew so always insist the Israelis to respond in English.

Students in Feuers study had different objectives in that they took the class, as they wanted to maintain the Hebrew language they already knew and that they wanted to pass it on to their children, but one important thing that emerged from the study was that the students really went course primarily to learn Hebrew, but because they would participate in a social group activity twice a week. The students saw simply the Hebrew language and the Hebrew class as something they had in common and that was part of their identity.

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title: Culture and Identity


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Neurosociety Media Centre/Neuroglial/Proposal

A proposal to help early career researchers to disseminate neuroscience research findings to policymakers.

Keywords
Neuroscience, policy, engagement, dissemination, Europe

Background
Begin here with strengths in European neuroscience. Emphasise the importance of research carried out by the ENSN and other Neuroscience projects, for example, those listed on this page.

Then discuss the need to strengthen links between young neuroscientists and policymakers.

Discuss the mechanisms currently used by policymakers to find out about the latest neuroscience research.

Difficulties arising because neuroscience outputs are not tailored for policy needs: they are not produced in the right format, or timeframe, for effective use by policymakers.

Give specific examples of policy need: five example organisations, and the types of scientific advice required, and over what timeframes.

Explain why the usual scientific outputs do not fit with these needs.

According to the COST Vademeceum document (Rev 210508), a COST Think Tank is a network of early stage researchers which has the aim of supporting dissemination activities. The COST Think Tank instrument offers early stage researchers with the resources to come together to create policy briefings, scientific publications and other communications, by providing travel, subsistence and dissemination grants for the Think Tank network. If funded, this Action will support the activities of a COST Think Tank which will, over a four year period, create policy briefings and other communications related to neuroscience for European and other international science policy bodies.

Then explain how the current action will enable postdocs from the partners to (i) go on short exchanges with policy bodies (ii) create policy briefings, and (iii) help research feed into European policy in other ways.

Benefits
The benefits of this Action will be a greater societal welfare through the use of leading-edge neuroscience research results in European policy development.

Objectives
COST is widely recognised as an ideal networking support mechanism to ‘tackle problems of societal importance especially in the case of delicate issues arising from new technologies’ (COST 2007; 5)

The primary objective of this Action is to enable early career researchers to disseminate neuroscience research findings to policymakers.

The secondary objective of this Action is to stimulate greater policy support for neuroscience research, through raised awareness of the importance and relevance of neuroscience by policymakers in Europe.

Deliverables
These need to be designed in response to policy user needs. They could include:

Short Term Scientific Missions
Short Term Scientific Missions are exchanges with the aim of strengthening networks by allowing scientists to go to an institution in another COST member state. COST guidelines stipulate that each Action should envisage at least 4 Short Term Scientific Missions per year (for this Action, a target of 20 Short Term Scientific Missions, particularly for Early Stage researchers has been selected).

Policy briefings
Dont forget to find out the cost of disseminating these via AlphaG

Expected Scientific Impact
The expected scientific impact will be a greater esteem of the work of our partners amongst policymakers - the ESF and COST projects which have already been found to be excellent through the ESF peer review process. There is also the potential for a greater support of neuroscience research on the part of policymakers in Europe.

Scientific Programme and Innovation
The Scientific Programme has been chosen by our policy and scientific partners: existing projects, which are funded by COST and ESF. Our scientific partners have identified scientific topics which they believe have implications for policymakers. Also, our policy partners have identified topics for which they require scientific input for policy development.

This Action’s Short Term Scientific Missions will be especially innovative, because it is envisaged that many of them will involve a multi-stage process involving policymakers, patients associations, media regulators and the COST Think Tank. An early stage researcher might, for example, visit a foreign research laboratory and a European policymaker before working as part of the COST Think Tank to produce a policy briefing.

Organisation
The Management Committee, composed of members of the COST/ESF group partners, will be elected, and will supervise and co-ordinate this COST Action as outlined in the ‘Rules and Procedures for implementing COST Actions’ document, COST 270/7.

The Advisory Board will include ESF and COST communications/policy representatives and will be composed of mostly policy and media body representatives to enhance dissemination.

Working Groups:

A: Addiction

B: to be identified by ENSN

C: to be identified by policy partner

D: to be identified by policy partner

Major Milestones

Participants
POLICY

See this page

 * International Policy Body 1 has a remit for science and technology policy advice to *****. It has received a number of requests for information on neuroscience from the ****, but many of these requests have these have fallen outside its official remit, which is ****. Its constitution prevents it to helping Parliamentarians with these requests. The unit wishes to work with our think tank to supply EPs with timely information about neuroscience from early-stage career researchers.

 * International Policy Body 2 has a remit for Bioethics, which includes issues related to neuroscience. It has identified neuroscience as an area of interest and wishes to develop links with neuroscience researchers to inform its policy work on the ethics of X, Y and Z.

 * International Policy Network 3

 * International Policy Network 4

 * National Policy Body 5

ACADEMIC

See this page.

MEDIA
 * Medpedia is a new and growing, repository of medical information, contributed and maintained by health experts around the world, in association with Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine and the Berkeley School of Public Health.

 * SISSA MediaLab

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Neurosociety Media Centre/Neuroglial/Policy units

Policy organisations with an interest in Neuroscience

UK
Academic:
 * PREST now called the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research
 * the Royal Society Science Policy Centre
 * POST Office of Science and Technology
 * SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research

Ethics:
 * Nuffield Council on Bioethics
 * Wellcome Trust

Comitato Nazionale di Bioetica
National Bioethics Committee

Conferenza delle regioni e delle province autonome
conferenza delle regioni e delle province autonome

 * Responsabile Salute e Politiche sociali: Marina Principe (Dirigente) principe@regioni.it

 * Responsabile istruzione e assistenza scolastica; lavoro e formazione; università e ricerca scientifica; comunicazione; immigrazione; beni culturali, biblioteche, spettacolo, cinema; coordinamento Conferenza Unificata: Arianna Borghetti (Dirigente) borghetti@regioni.it

Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA)
Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) aims to provide timely, informed, policy and political advice to the President and Commission Services on issues relevant to the President's agenda and the future of policies in the Union. Contact BEPA-Info@ec.europa.eu

Brain Policy Forum
The 2nd 2008.htm European Brain Policy Forum focussed on Depression and the European Society and took place at the Renaissance Brussels, Hotel, in Brussels on 25-26th February 2009.

3rd EBPF France 2010 on Alzheimer’s disease, 4th EBPF Spain 2011 on Schizophrenia.

Court of Justice
The Court of Justice has Research and Documentation Service, which has a dual task: assisting the Community Courts in the exercise of their jurisdictional function and contributing to the dissemination of Community case-law. There are around 35 lawyers in the service, covering, in principle, all Member States’ legal systems, and a multilingual secretariat which also manages a number of computer databases. Tel. Info off + 352 4303 3355 / 3366

European Brain Council
The European Brain Council (EBC) is a coordinating council formed by European organisations in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, basic brain research (neuroscience), as well as patient organisations and industry. It therefore represents a vast network of patients, doctors and scientists and works in close partnership with the European Union commissions, the European Parliament and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other decision-making bodies. The EBC was officially founded on 22 March 2002 in Brussels, and has offices in Brussels and Florence. You can read more about its political lobbying here.

European Commission

 * SANCO Health and Consumer Protection
 * EMPL Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

The European Commission will host the First meeting of the International Dialogue on Bioethics on 19 February 2009. This has video content, a brochure and a press release.

European Group on Ethics of New Science and Technologies (EGE)
European Group on Ethics of New Science and Technologies. The EGE's calendar can be found here. Meetings take place every third Tuesday (from 9:30 am) and Wednesday (until 05:00 pm) of each month till October 2009.

During its preparatory work for Opinion No. 25 the EGE will organize on 19 May 2009 a public roundtable debate on synthetic biology at the EC, Berlaymont building, Brussels.

Contact European Commission Berl 8/143 - B-1049 Brussels Fax : (32-2) 299 45 65 Email: BEPA-ETHICS-GROUP@ec.europa.eu

The EGE Secretariat within BEPA (Bureau of European Policy Advisors) is coordinating this Interservice Platform on Ethics and EU Policies which has been created in June 2006 in order to allow a better exchange of information and communication between the Commission services in the fields of ethics.

The platform on ethics and EU policies intends to achieve the following goals:

 * To coordinate actions on ethics across Commission services;
 * To allow a better exchange of information and communication between the Commission services in the fields of ethics and EU policies;
 * To facilitate interactions and links between Commission services on ethics and EU policies as well as on specific initiatives being organised;
 * To facilitate the coordination of contributions of EC Services with regard to initiatives on ethics of science carried out by International organisations, European Institutions, and relevant third parties.
 * European References on Ethics and Science
 * International References on Ethics in Science

European Parliament
The European Parliament offers traineeships and sudy visits. To find out more contact the Traineeships Office, KAD 02C008, L - 2929 LUXEMBOURG or email stages@europarl.europa.eu. The European Parliament has also established a web television channel (called "europarltv") to respond to the right of all citizens to know and understand what is happening in the institution that they have elected. The channel is designed to contribute to the democratisation of the European Union and to the development of a European public space. The respect of this charter is overseen by an Advisory Board, under the authority of the Bureau of the Parliament.

Committees
 * DROI Human Rights
 * EMPL Employment and Social Affairs
 * Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
 * JURI Legal Affairs
 * LIBE Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
 * FEMM Women's Rights and Gender Equality

Special Interest Group
 * European Parliament Special Interest Group (SIG) on Brain Disorders

Scientific and Technology Options Assessment Unit
EP Committees may request assessment projects from STOA throughout the year. See the minutes of meetings and its calendarwhich are available here. Suggestions are examined by the STOA Panel and finally approved by the Bureau of the European Parliament. MEPs may attend the STOA Panel and STOA meetings, which are also open to EP officials/political group staff and MEPs assistants, as well as representatives of other institutions. A STOA Newsletter is sent to all those who have asked to be placed on the mailing list. STOA's details and publications are available from the STOA website accessible via the Europarl site http://www.europarl.europa.eu and as a link via the website of the DG for research. STOA Final Studies can be downloaded in pdf format, along with many other items of interest. Archival materials can similarly be downloaded from this site.

The STOA Panel forms an integral part of the structure of the European Parliament. It is composed of 15 Members of the European Parliament. 14 Members of the Panel are nominated by six permanent Committees of the Parliament: ITRE, EMPL, ENVI, IMCO, TRAN and AGRI. The European Parliament Vice-President responsible for STOA is a Member of the Panel ex officio.

The STOA Bureau is comprised of the STOA Chair and the STOA Vice Chair, both elected by the STOA Panel, and the European Parliament Vice-President responsible for STOA.

The STOA Panel carries the political responsibility for STOA's work. The Panel decides on all STOA's activities. In its meetings the Panel reviews progress and hears presentations of ongoing or recently-completed projects.

The Panel meetings are public. All Members of Parliament are invited to participate, but only Panel members vote.

Operational responsibility is with the STOA team within Directorate A (Economic & Scientific Policies) of the Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union (DG IPOL). A permanent staff of three officials working in Brussels carries out STOA's programme. Additionally, visiting unpaid researchers and scholars paid under the Robert Schuman scheme work with the permanent staff on the basis of 5 month scientific scholarships.

Contact: poldep-stoa@europarl.europa.eu

European Parliaments Research Initiative
In March 1999 under the patronage of Laurent Fabius the French National Assembly organised the first European Conference of Members of Parliament on Information and Communication Technologies. Since then, parliamentarians from EU member states interested in information communication technologies (ICTs) have met in an annual sequel of EPRI conferences. The regular meetings established the European Parliaments Research Initiative as an institution.

EPRI knowledge provides a wide range of services. As an example studies carried out by the project are directly involved in the preparations of the EPRI workshops, working groups and conferences. They are one basis for organising the annual EPRI conference which facilitates access to other MPs for exchanging experiences and aims to expose its participants to general and specific IST issues and debates. The relevance of the EPRI conference is based on the combination of exchanging experiences, vision building and leadership development.

The working groups are an additional service organised by the EPRI Secretariat on inquiry of the Parliamentarians during the 7th EPRI conference 2004 in Stockholm. Although the results of the working groups will be combined with those from the workshops, the working groups are independently organised by the EPRI Secretariat. While the workshops are essentially based on the personal attendance on the workshop location, the working groups are intended to be on a virtual basis and on communication via Email.

EPRI knowledge is 36-month project funded by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION. The project consist of two partners. Teleport Sachsen- Anhalt GmbH (www.tsa.de) as project coordinator and Polpit Ltd (www.polpit.com).

EPRI Secretariat c/o Teleport Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH Steinfeldstrasse 5 D-39179 Barleben Telefon: +49 39203 8 2556 Fax: +49 39203 8 2550 E-Mail: info@epri.org www.epri.org www.tsa.de

European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network-EPTA
EPTA holds an annual conference and issues a regular Newsletter. A researcher within STOA acts as EPTA coordinator.

European Science Foundation
The European Science Foundation runs its own policy unit. Key science policy publications of ESF are Science Policy Briefings and Science Position Papers of ESF Standing Committees and Expert Boards which, after a rigorous quality control (including external peer review) are published under the responsibility of the ESF Chief Executive and Standing Committees or Expert Boards respectively.

It describes 'Corporate Science Policy Initiatives', areas of emerging science policy challenges that are likely to impact on the way science is being funded and research is conducted. ESF together with its member organisations and other key players join efforts in helping raise awareness of pressing issues providing a venue to discuss common strategies and developed adequate solutions. ESF Standing Committees and Expert Boards are key players in the development of science policy strategies in their scientific fields and research areas. They produce position papers and briefings to ensure the voice of European science is heard and plays a role in major European science policy issues.

Science Officer in the CEO Unit: Dr.Alexis-Michel Mugabushaka amugabushaka@esf.org

Forum on National Ethics Councils (NEC Forum)
The Forum on National Ethics Councils (NEC Forum) consists of the chairpersons and the secretaries of the National Ethics Councils. The President of the EGE and the President of the Bureau of COMETH (Council of Europe) are invited to the meetings.

The EGE (an independent, pluralist and multidisciplinary body which advises the European Commission on ethical aspects of science and new technologies as regards the preparation and implementation of Community legislation or policies) and the Forum "have complementary rather than competing roles". The former body is appointed to provide high-level specialist ethical advice to the European Commission, particularly in relation to the policy arena. The latter is set up under the Framework Programme as a networking activity with the aim of sharing information and exchanging best practices on issues of ethics and science. It is also clear that there is scope for the respective activities to be mutually reinforcing.

International Ethics Committees Networking Opportunities
The European Conference of National Ethics Committees (COMETH) is composed of representatives of national ethics committees (or equivalent bodies) in Member States of the Council of Europe. The purpose of the Conference is to promote co-operation between national ethics committees, help countries wishing to set up a national ethics committee and to promote public debate on ethical issues raised by progress in the fields of biology, medicine and public health. COMETH holds biennial meetings. The next one is due in May 2009.

Composition of the Bureau of the Conference Chair: Rena Petridou (Cyprus) Vice-Chair: Jean-Claude Ameisen (France) Givi Javashvili (Georgia) Rudolf Teuwsen (Germany) László Szönyi (Hungary) Paula Martinho da Silva (Portugal) Christoph Rehmann-Sutter (Switzerland)

Links to national Ethics committees can be found here

UNESCO
Bioethics Committees reinforce the role of UNESCO as an international clearing house for ethical issues. Ethics committees will furthermore be one of the most important intermediary bodies for the implementation of the normative instruments adopted by the member states. In many countries, experiences exist with bioethics committees at various levels of government.

However, in the majority of member states, such committees do not exist at the moment. UNESCO has initiated a program to support the establishment and operations of bioethics committees (ABC project – Assisting Bioethics Committees). The primary focus is on National Bioethics Committees involved in policy-advice, public debate and education.

UNESCO Bioethics Committee
UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee has just published a report and programme. It will hold its sixth session in Paris in June 2009.

WHO
WHO Ethics

Journalistic
Research Fortnight or ResearchResearch.com Nature


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title: User:Bob B. Bobby


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User talk:Bob B. Bobby

hi

title: User talk:Bob B. Bobby


text:
User talk:Hillgentleman/20090226133750

let me try - just give me some time
20090226161932
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--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 16:19, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

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--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:37, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

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text: User talk:Hillgentleman/20090223120417

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text:
User:Amalisa1

PARTICULARS
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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Synaptic Models/link between Synaptic Function and Fibril Growth

The Link Between Synaptic Function and Fibril Growth
If, as Kandel and his contemporaries are correct, there is a link between synaptic function and Fibril Growth, that turns a volatile memory, into a long-term memory. If Sisson is right, there may be many intermediate stages of memory each with its own parallel molecular trace. At first this seems to counter the first statement, until you realize, that the only way the signal can be recieved by the neuron, is if it first passes through the synapse, before the molecular traces actually start work.

The extension of the memory, in all the molecular traces therefore must depend on the function of the synapse. However since we can't trace everything that is going on in any neuron let alone the complex mammalian neurons found in the human brain, we must accept that the memory traces we can find, are those that are triggered as a result, of discrete events that we can dissociate from each other.

Kandel's work depends on the traces found in the hippocampus neurons that have NMDA synapses. Some other researchers are working on Cerebral Cortex neurons where NMDA synapses are much rarer, but where S type synapses may be found. Some scientists have shown evidence that S synapses also share both calcium ion channel activity, and cAMP secondary messenger activity, suggesting that they may also have the same type of chemical cascade reaction as the NMDA synapses produce.

If so, the trigger for the various different molecular traces, may have a common origin, in the operation of one or the other of these two synapses. Here we get into trouble, in that, the nature of the interfaces between the various different traces is hard to map. Just as in modern technology we often use the same button, to trigger multiple different functions, it seems that the same synapse triggers multiple different memory functions. Which we get, depends on how the button is pushed. Figuring out how to translate complex patterns of synapse activation, is as yet beyond us, however separating the molecular traces is getting easier with the advent of bio-molecular tools like the knock-out gene, and our current level of sophistication in blocking traces so that we can dissociate them.

The primary task we must accomplish in order to convert a synaptic weight into a longer term memory, is simply, to detect the presence of an active synapse at a sensitive point in a molecular trace. The only tool we have discovered so far, for doing so, is the sequestering of protein tags, and the most important tags for this purpose are the survivable tags.

So we might expect, that the first stage in the chemical cascade reaction would be the release of more protein tag material for synapses to sequester. It is my belief that this step is common to most other types of memory we will find.

Once we have tagged the synapse, then we can use that tag as a trigger for other chemical reactions. at this point, I suspect the traces split, and each goes on to do its own thing. Two such traces might be a trace that does synaptogenesis, and a trace that does fibril growth. Each of these would require completely different DNA, and would require complex proteins to be built, and would take different time periods to complete, but there might be simularities such as each going through a cycle where first unused elements are absorbed, and then the tags are used to find which synapses are active, and steer development towards the most productive areas. Then new elements are created, and steered during their development to keep the relative cost of connection down. As a result, by the end of the various trace cycles, new connections would form between cells that at least marginally echoed the connections made at the synapse level, but with physical rather than ion channel based reinforcements. This fusion of Kandel, and Sisson's work, suggests how both of them could be correct, how there could be parallel traces, and yet how the end result would be the conversion of synaptic weights into physical connections based on a dialogue between the synapse and the genes. It should be easily testable that blocking the sequestering of survivable tags, blocks most traces and thus long-term memory. Any traces not blocked by this means can be thought not to be connected to long-term memory and may therefore be dissociated from it.


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User:HenkvD/sandbox

actualise

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title: User:HenkvD/sandbox


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Synaptic Models/Tentative Comprehensive Model

A Tentative Comprehensive Synapse Model
A Synapse is a Chemo-Electric connection between neurons, although some purely electrical connections may be found in the early stages of development, these are thought to be attempts to keep the neurons involved from learning before their development is sufficiently advanced. Learning in a Neuron, is controlled by the synapse partially through the leverage associated with the number of ion channels that amplify the signal or inhibit it, and partially through protein tags that are sequestered in active synapses and thus indicate which synapses are more likely to be candidates for other types of learning such as conversion to long term memory.

Synapses sequester two types of tags, Ephemeral tags, which are an indication to the membrane replacement mechanism, to increase the number of ion channels in the sensitive patch of the synapse but are not replaced during membrane replacement, and Survivable tags, which are replaced during membrane replacement, and so, are not allowed to degrade as quickly as free proteins, and can act as guides to long-term processes such as the conversion to long-term memory by the production of new synapses and fibrils to connect the neurons.

The primary difference between these two types of protein tags, is a feedback connection caused by a chemical produced only during the firing of the presynaptic buds of the neuron, and pumped back into the body of the neuron where it influences protein production. Without this signal, the survivable tags would not be produced, and only ephemeral tags would be available to be sequestered.

Some synapses such as the S synapse and the NMDA synapse trigger other functions within the cell, including chemical cascades that result in the conversion of short term memories into long-term memories by the growth of new connections between cells.

Of interest is the role of Calcium in Habitutation a mechanism that causes neurons that fire too often to gradually lose their firing strength, possibly because the calcium in the presynaptic bud is used up by its role in attaching vessicles of Neuro-Transmitter to the cellular membrane, or maybe because propagation of the signal along the axon requires calcium ion channels to pump calcium out of the axon, reducing the supply of calcium and thus reducing the propagation of the signal down the axon fiber as supplies dwindle. It is interesting to note that Facilitation, the recovery from Habituation is virtually instantaneous once calcium ion channels start pumping calcium back into the cell. A role of facilitation in deciding which memories survive long enough to impinge on attention, might be indicated. It is also noteworthy that both the NMDA and S synapse are Calcium ion channels pumping calcium into the cell, and thus Facilitating the output of the neuron. The linking of Facilitation to long-term memory development might be interesting.


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User:AdaptiveCampus

My name is Keith Bourne. I am the founder of Adaptive Campus (http://www.adaptivecampus.com), so I used that as my user name. Adaptive Campus develops software applications for the higher education field, so I am very curious to see how well Wikiversity works. I will be taking courses in topics that I am interested in and comparing it to my formal education experiences. In general though, I am excited that this resource is here and look forward to using it.

I have a twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/adaptivecampus where I discuss issues related to personal learning environments issues (PLE). If that is an area of interest for you, you can join a tweet party geared towards PLEs using the hashtag #PLE - meaning if you put #PLE in your twitter post, it will be collected under that hashtag for future reference.

I also have a blog at http://www.marketingineducation.org/blog where I discuss issues related to marketing in the field of education. If that is an area of interest, please join me on the website, ask questions, post your own thoughts on the field. It is an open resource for anyone and meant to help support marketing professionals in our field.

Is it just me or does the Wikiversity logo look a lot like the MIT dome?

I am going to use my user page to document my progress in my "courses":
 * February 26, 2009 - Started "Introduction to Computer Science" - Introduction to Computers
 * If I leave work after 5pm, I like to leave my computer at the office and if I need access to it, I'll use my wife's computer to tap in using gotomypc.com's service. But when sitting at home, winding down from the day, I find that my Blackberry is sufficient to allow me to review the course "materials".  I don't take as many notes or click through as many links, but it is convenient.
 * I completed the first lesson. Took me a while and I took some liberties with the assignments.  I actually did more work on the assignments, but didn't pay particular attention to pulling it into a formal format to "turn in."  It makes sense to me, so I suppose that is what counts.  The first lesson took much longer than what I would suspect it would take me in a traditional university setting, but mainly because I clicked through many more links and probably ended up learning a great deal more than in the traditional format where the prof is leading you down a more rigid path.  I feel less directed, which I can see benefits and problems with this, but I enjoyed the information upgrade.  I enjoyed clicking the "additional" resources, such as watching the 17 minute YouTube piece that was an original promo for Univac. Even though I am missing many of the nuances and benefits of the interaction with a live professor in a traditional classroom, I find that this ability to let my curiosity lead me through the learning process has its own benefits.
 * March 2, 2009 - Just moving to the second lesson.
 * The next few lessons were relatively short. Afreidman encouraged me to contribute to the development of the courses, so I added a couple additions where they seemed to make sense.  I found this a little different from Wikipedia though, in the sense that I feel a little more obligated to maintain the course in the format that the original author intended.  Of course, I don't know exactly what that is, so I am more hesitant in this format to contribute.  For one contribution, rather than adding what I was suggesting, I posted the suggestion to the discussion page for that lesson (this is in the Algorithm section).  I did add a navigation element to that page though, without asking, as it seemed to make it more consistent with the other lessons.  I am also hesitant to contribute because I am worried about introducing my own learning biases into the lessons I am taking.  I learn in particular manner, but should I impose that on others that might learn in another way?  Of course, that is the kind of perspective that you are supposed to break down in these open communities, but it was something that made me hesitate.  I personally am finding the lessons so far to work in a way that I am comfortable, but it does tend to lean towards a one-size-fits-all learning system.  How can we remedy that?  Adaptive Campus is working on developing a PLE platform that is meant to address this very issue, so I wonder how we could develop it in a way that addresses this within Wikiversity and other similar open-learning forums.  AdaptiveCampus 19:43, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I've been digging again now that I am to the lesson on Algorithm. Even though there aren't a lot of links on the Algorithm lesson page, if you click through to the Algorithm page on Wikipedia, you can get lost for hours - control flow, imperative programming, logic programming, OOPS, self-modifying code, and so forth, all subjects that you could feel compelled to explore further.  AdaptiveCampus 19:43, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
 * March 9, 2009 - Finished the Intro to CS course, moved on to the Intro to Programming.
 * Fell behind in my "studies", but finally got back to work today. I completed the Introduction to Computer Science course.  Would be interesting to have some way to test my knowledge, if even to myself.  Perhaps a "Final" that one can self administer.  While multiple choice, T/F, and other similarly limited forms are questions have their own issues, it seems as though it would difficult to self-assess an essay in this format.  Moving on to Introduction to programming. AdaptiveCampus 19:55, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
 * March 10, 2009 - Finished the Intro to Programming Course.
 * I know most of this stuff, so I am probably proceeding faster than if I didn't. Like previous lessons/courses though, I am wandering into areas that I don't think I would have learned as much about in a more structure traditional classroom setting.  And again, this typically occurred when I was over on the Wikipedia side of the lessons.  My latest tangential learning experience focused on Rube Goldberg Machines.  Rube Goldberg machine contests are something that I've come across in recent years, so I read a lot more about that then I think I would have when I was younger and in a formal program.  I even searched the Internet to look for the latest contests that have been held.  Man, I wish I had the Internet in its current form when I was an undergrad!
 * March 11-12, 2009 - Intro to Programming in Java Course.
 * I loaded the Java Development Kit, made it through the lessons that were there. It only made it to Boolean Variables and the lessons ended.  It seemed like a good start though.  AdaptiveCampus 02:23, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * March 12, 2009 - Bounced around.
 * Much of the program falls apart at this point. I clicked around and found different pieces that seemed to go together, but it isn't quite formed yet.    AdaptiveCampus 03:11, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

title: User:AdaptiveCampus


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Biochemistry Model

The Biochemistry Model of a Neuron
I have often joked that life in general, and myself in particular, exist only to increase the partial pressure of Long Chain Molecules. While this might not be exactly true, there being other causes both before and after partial pressure, It illustrates a point that I think is important to the biochemistry of life, in general, and Neurons in particular, which is why I include it here. Life formed partially because long-chain molecules are more entropic than smaller molecules, and chemistry moves in the direction to increase entropy.

Biochemistry, (The chemistry of life) revolves around systems that developed as a result of the tendency for long-chained molecules to form. We are not sure of the exact chemical history of life, but we think that DNA formed before the cell, and that the cell formed first in vents at the ocean floor, where lipids formed into bubbles, in which other chemicals were captured. What is important about these bubbles of lipids, is that because of the mineral richness of the bubbles, they created an environment in which certain types of chemical reactions were more likely, and since those reactions resulted in long-chain molecules the result was both an increase in the partial pressure of long-chain molecules, and an increase in the entropy within the bubbles. How that resulted in the current highly complex neuron, is much too complex a story to describe here, and frankly I couldn't if I tried, if only because we don't know the story yet.

As part of my Memory Research, leading up to the writing of How Memory Might Work, I contacted a leading researcher in Memory, in the hopes I could discuss my model, before I published it. Dr. Peter Milner of McGill University in Montreal was dismissive of the concept of a Memory Model at all, and one of his comments that I considered too flip to useful at first, was that "Neurons are squishy bags of chemicals" of course he was trying to discourage me, and so the flip answer was probably meant to do just that, but there is still some wisdom to be found in his words. There is no doubt that neurons are squishy bags of chemicals, and until we can understand what those chemicals are doing, a memory model might be premature. I think that my model is timely, but accept that Dr. Milner might disagree.

If you have read the section on Synaptic Models you may have noted that the biomolecular researchers are doing wonderful things tracing out the Biomolecular traces of memory in the Neuron, Until this research is more complete we can only predict what they will find, in the hopes that our predictions will prove valuable. In any case, we can say that quite a bit more is going on in the neuron than was even hinted at by Hebbs original model, which is no great surprise. However from the work of the Neural Network Scientists we know that there is still some merit to Hebbs model even if it was a hopeless oversimplification. Neural Networks have proven capable of doing some interesting processing.

As we integrate more of the Biomolecular research into our biochemical model of the neuron we will begin to understand it even better than we do today. In the meantime it is not unreasonable to think of the neuron as being a complex environment in which many chemical processes are going on simultaneously, some of which are there because the neuron is a cell and is therefore alive, and some of which are there because the neuron is specialized to do signal propagation, memory and processing on top of its role as a separate cell in a multi-cellular being.


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User:Username222

I am Username222.

title: User:Username222


text:
Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Biological Model

The Biological Model of the Neuron
Neurons like every other cell in the human body, start out as stem cells, and differentiate according to patterns laid down in the DNA and signals that are transferred from cell to cell, and are later produced in glands that guide the general development of the body. This pattern is echoed in other multicellular animals, as well, and in fact there is some overlap between the developmental stages that such organisms go through, that suggest that there is some commonality in the development across species. We don't know all the rules for how DNA translates into the phenotype of any particular species, but this is an interesting topic for research to this day.

From the point of view of Biology, a Neuron is first of all a cell, which means that it has to do all the things that cells do, in order to stay alive. It is only once these basic cellular functions are out of the way, that energy can be spent on doing the things the cell is specialized for, propagating signals, storing memory and processing the signals. Neurons are however not alone in their need to do functions for survival first of the cell, and second of the organism, but are helped by a special type of helper cell called a Glial Cell. Probably this is because the roles of propagations of signals, storage of memory, and processing of signals require just a little more from the cell, that it would be able to achieve unassisted, at least in high demand areas such as the brain.

A Cell, must be able to protect its internal environment from attack, loss of nutrients due to diffusion, build up of wastes produced inside the cell, punctures, and damage of its external protective layer, starvation when food supplies are scarce, etc. It must, at least in a multi-cellular animal, be able to communicate with other cells in order to know what particular DNA configuration is correct for it, and be able to signal for help when it is hungry, when it is sick, or when it is dying.

Internal to the cell, there must be a structure or framework on which to attach, the parts of the cell, so that they don't damage each other, and to give it some structural strength when it is deformed. In order to digest food particles, it needs to have some way of forming vessicles, so that food can be ingested, it needs to have a chemical mechanism that breaks down food into smaller chemical structures, and rebuilds them into useful elements, including some way of efficiently turning glucose into chemical fuels such as ATP. It also needs to have some way of getting rid of larger waste particles such as viruses, or indigestible chunks it mistook for food. Mechanisms such as attaching of vessicles to the cell wall, and breaking them open to release their contents back into the extracellular fluid are important.

Although the natural shape of a cell, is spherical, some cells have to build structures within the body that hold it together, and support its weight. Other cells have to extend over distances or distribute themselves or their signals among a number of other cells. To do this they need to be able to adjust their structure, by extending some of the framework more and retracting other parts of the framework, in order to build a specific shape to the cell. Within the cell, such structures are used to separate the two halves of the cell during cell fission. Although a neuron will not have to secrete bone calcium like a bone cell, almost everything I have discussed is as true of Nerve cells as other cells in other places in the body.

Cells in general are complex, and Nerve cells are not simpler, however some of the functions that normal cells do, have been reworked in neurons, in order to allow them to do their job. Mechanisms like Ion channels that in the normal cell, are merely ways of attracting especially valuable ions from the extracellular fluid, and allowing them to penetrate the cell wall, or ways of secreting simpler Ionic wastes, take on new roles in the Neuron, pumping electrostatic charge either into or out of the cell, creating currents that develop a voltage within the cell called the Action Potential. The cell wall that was created to keep the extracellular fluid from diffusing nutrients away from the cell, has a capacitive effect that keeps the Voltage from leaking out of the cell, allowing it to build up until it finally exceeds the membranes dielectric constant, and overcomes the capacitance of the membrane, forcing it to depolarize. This in turn causes reflexive turning on of the Potassium ion channels in the cell, causing a characteristic spike that we call the firing of the neuron. In all probability this reflexive pattern exists not only in neurons but in other cells as well, as a protective mechanism to repair the polarity of the cellular membrane when it is breached, but is noticed in Neurons because the function is exercised every time the neuron fires.

The growth of extensions of the cell, becomes a mechanism whereby cells connect, the attachment of vessicles to the Cellular Membrane a method by which special Neuro-Transmitters are secreted. Some functions are new, like the complex ion channels which trigger faciliation as well as long-term memory formation, the particular permease molecules that detect specific Neuro-Transmitters etc. but many of the mechanisms that the neuron uses are reworked from normal cellular processes.

It is not what is done that is different it is when it is done, and why it is done that has changed.


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Dendrite Model

The Dendrite Model
One way of looking at a Neuron is as a data processing device. Data comes in one end, gets processed somehow in the middle and goes out the other end. While this might be a little simplistic if only because it assumes that there are not outputs in the input end of the device, or inputs on the output end of the device, both of which have been detected in neurons, it is safe to say that by and large, Neurons act in a manner similar to this model, so it has some value. Of interest to this Model, is the Input end of the Data Processing Device.

Theoretically, a number of devices can impinge on the input of a data processing device. In reality, the number may be limited by the technology used by the device. For instance in electronics it is not surprising to find that only so many devices can attach to any one input before the electrical characteristics of that input destroy the utility of the device.

Theoretically again, there is no difference between inputs to a device, they can all be modeled as being the same, in reality however, it is quite often the case that different devices require different interfaces, so not every device can connect to every other device. However theoretically we could symbolize an unknown network of connections as being a star that centers on the input of the device, and consider the differences in interface simply to be details of the connections needed to connect the devices. We call this abstraction an Instar because it is on the input side of the device.

Another way of looking at it, is that we might need a network of connections to gather signals from a number of devices, and so the Instar is a gathering network. In reality this is perhaps the better model, in that real neurons do not have infinite branching to allow large numbers of inputs to be integrated at par, and so some connections must travel longer distances to attach to the device, resulting in detectable delays in signal transfer. This is especially true because the electrical characteristics of neural processes are variable and depend on factors such as the size of the process, the capacitance of the cellular membrane, and the number of ion channels that can act to amplify the signal along the length of the process. What is known is that far from reaching the speed of light like electrical impulses through wires, electrical impulses through neural processes are slow, and must overcome significant resistance and reluctance, with the result that they need significant amplification the further they must travel.

It seems reasonable therefore that the fastest reactions are going to be between signals that travel the shortest distances, and that therefore there is likely to be a tendency for some processing to happen within the network instead of waiting for transfer to the main device. This is probably why we have detected some pre-synaptic buds within the dendritic mass of neurons, they are there simply to allow processing within the dendrite mass instead of waiting for the signals to actually propagate long enough to reach the body of the neuron.

I will discuss how this changes the basic Hebbian Model later, but for now it is enough to know that some dendrites have pre-synaptic buds as well as sensitive patches, but their role is to act as inputs to the main device or neuron. One way of looking at dendrites is as incremental processing elements associated with delay lines. The incremental processing units or Syanpses, create a signal population that travels to the soma or body of the neuron where it combines with similar signals from other dendrites to form an integration or aggregate signal. Each time a dendrite branches we can see it as forming another sub-integration of the Neurons main integration, thus the often fractal shape of the dendrite forms a calculation. The delay line aspect of the model however means that signals that are gathered from different inputs, are combined not only spatially but temporally based on the distance they have to travel, and how large the process they travel through is, the result is that depending on the structure of the dendrite, a sensitivity to spatial structure or temporal structure to a signal might develop. An example where this might be important is if the structure of the dendrite resonates at a specific frequency, in which case any signals that have that frequency, would be amplified by their relationship making the neuron exquisitely sensitive to the frequency of the signal. Another example might be a range of neurons that are each tuned to a different structural frequency, that allows the sensitivity of touch that separates texture to be possible.


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Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê

Hey everyone, I added the Value Proposition section here to get us started. Ultimately I think all of Projecto Iauaretê will need to be moved to its own section and the intro Emiliano did should get one page while all the parts of our business plan that we work on collaboratively should get their own pages. For now I did not know how to do this and do not have the time to figure it out. Hopefully someone who knows how can do it or maybe I will try to learn over the weekend.

My headings are based mainly off the "Describe Your Business Idea" sheet we were given in class. Feel free to add more or to change things as needed.

Thanks! Kifaro50 23:50, 26 February 2009 (UTC)


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Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Case Studies

So Ryan and I posted on the Community Projects page created by Dr. Buschbacher []. I'm not sure where Mira and Emiliano posted. Maybe we want to put it all in one place. What do you guys think? Brian I'm copying what you wrote there too. --Kifaro50 00:00, 27 February 2009 (UTC)


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Axon Model

The Axon Model
The Concept of a Neuron as being a processing system with inputs a process and outputs, as suggested in the previous article the Dendrite Model gives us an output role. In the neuron this role is taken by the Axon processes of the Neuron.

Theoretically every output is equivalent, however due to technological limitations different technologies have different limits on how many outputs can come from a single source. We call this Fan-out. As a result, only so many outputs can be connected to any signal directly. The Neuron has a 1 to 1 ratio between pre-synaptic buds, and post-synaptic buds on other neurons. In order to achieve this capability the neuron must distribute its signals to the other neurons. This distribution network would theoretically be equivalent to a star shaped network connecting the output of the neuron to the receiving neurons. This structure is called an Outstar.

The limits in the fan-out of the Axon, are related to the ability of the Axon to branch, Only so many branches can be made at any one hub. As a result different output connections have different distances to travel from the hub. As a result over the network of outputs, a signal may arrive at sensitive patches of different neurons at different times. Since this is expected, it is interesting to note that some signals such as the signals called Gamma Synchronized Oscillations manage somehow to synchronize despite such fan-outs.


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User:Peachrules~enwikiversity

Yo! I'm Peachrules. I get my name from Peach from Super Smash Bros! It's a pun. Peach rules in fighting, and Peach rules the Mushroom kingdom. Yeah, it's stupid, but I couldn't think of anything better.

Favorite Pages

 * Japanese stream
 * Japanese wikibook
 * My Wikipedia Pages

title: User:Peachrules~enwikiversity


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Activation Potential Model

The Action Potential Model
In the previous couple of sections we have discussed the input and output of the Data processing based model of the Neuron. In this section we need to consider the processing aspect of this model.

The Processing Element of the Data Processing model, sees each neuron as being a type of processor that conditions the data that it is presented, and outputs the conditioned result. How it processes the data, is the question that this model requires us to answer.

The action potential model, therefore describes how the voltage that is accumulated in the cell, is the result of the processing. In this model therefore it is the way that the voltage is changed that defines how the data is processed.

In the Data Processing Model, some of the processing is done in the dendritic mass, and some is done in the actual Soma of the cell where the signals are combined to form a single action potential. Once the signals have been integrated, then they are distributed by the Axon to other neurons. But what is the PROCESS that goes on within the cell?

In order to understand what processing is going on, we need to look not at the physical connections, but at the ways that the voltage is determined. The physical connections form something called a Wired OR structure, The inputs combine to form an output so every positive input adds to the output.

However the changes to the voltage of the cell are not always so simple to describe. For instance some ion channels produce negative inputs, and evidence from logic shows that negating a negative input, often results in something called DeMorganization in which a Wired OR function becomes a NAND function where a negative logic selection function becomes possible. As a result, the brain often works in a negative logic mode to select among signals.

If we however try to interpret the processing as only logical in nature, we find that our model no longer fits the reality, the function of even a three Neuro-Transmitter neuron is a super-set of logic where the function operates on a continuum between OR and NAND that includes functions that are not recognized by logic, if only because they are more inclusive or less inclusive than the classical logic functions could possibly be.

Some of the functions of ion channels are even more complex, because the ion channels themselves might be more complex. For instance some ion channels pump larger ions that have a stronger charge such as the chloride ion and have the result of blocking output of the cell, while other ion channels affect the inner function of the cell, and change the way it reacts to voltage. For instance the S synapse and the NMDA synapses both pump calcium into the cell which reduces Habituation.


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User:Thewinster/Sandbox/20090221091454

Testing Auto subpage
Add a question ]

reply test
20090227033004
 * Comments:

--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:30, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

reply 2
20090227033048
 * Comments:

--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:30, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

The following is Your request - Is it better now?
20090227034038
 * Comments:

--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:40, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

I am not sure how best I can help you organise the pages since I don't know what your subpage /Forum-Watch is for. Can you explain it?
20090227034424
 * Comments:

--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:44, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

Testing again!
20090624104130
 * Comments:

--Dharav talk 10:41, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

20090702104115 Hi there. I have just added a reply. I know I look dumb these days trying to figure out everything y just posting, but who cares? All I've done is eliminate the subst tag from /forum-watch. Let's see what it does. --Dharav talk 10:41, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Comments:

 * reply[]

What links here

--Dharav talk 18:59, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment: Finally, I get to test my own version of preload. I feel this should work, atleast!!!!
 * reply[]

What links here

 * Comment: Just checking if a line break does any good.

Is there a line break?

Yes there is one

How does it show up on the reply page?

Let's see!!!! Hello! How are! Khaana khaakey jaana hooon! --Dharav talk 19:12, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * reply[]

What links here

--Dharav talk 19:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment: Finally... wanna get over this. Giving this a shot. What is this all about?
 * reply[]

What links here

A new beginning,

 * Comment: This post here will now let me think what everything is in the working?

What I want to check is the significance of the red links below and what the category listing does. --Dharav talk 05:59, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * reply[]

What links here

A new beginning,

 * Comment: This post here will now let me think what everything is in the working?

What I want to check is the significance of the red links below and what the category listing does. --Dharav talk 06:02, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * reply[]

What links here

=Original Question by Dharav talk=
 * Some text goes here

=What's Up?=
 * Latest discussions on the forum

Organic-Chemistry-Help

Chemistry-Help

reply[]

title: User:Thewinster/Sandbox/20090221091454


text:
User:Thewinster/Sandbox/20090227033048

reply 2.1
20090227033208
 * Comments:

--Hillgentleman | //\\ |Talk 03:32, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * reply[]

What links here

title: User:Thewinster/Sandbox/20090227033048


text:
User:Nodicecp

May be referred to as nodicecp or as Chris.

title: User:Nodicecp


text:
Empathy Models/Empathy Model/Reference material

Empathy as emotional communication
Spiritual Darwinism Initiating work for this model

End of the Age of the Predator attempting to influence new policy in the US government

Learning and Therapy
Learning to learn, empathy in education for Middle School Science

Technology and the Information Society
Empathy in Technology leads into a democratic model for the Internet that distributes computing responsibilities along with capabilities

Web communities and democracy design model for communities interested in influencing wider policy

Short history of technology Nearly entirely from Mumford's Technics and Civilization

Discussions
Empathy Action discussion group where many of the ideas were developed and tested, and was the original focus for this model

Reality-based Community discussion group not focused on empathy, but operates based on emotional communication and is open to empathic debate

Annotated Bibliographies
Includes material directly relevant to the model. The desire here is to develop support for the component ideas by integrating supporting material as closely as possibly, constructing the original writing from the supporting writing. Supporting material should eventually all be contained in these bibliographies, and the bibliographies should be integrated into the model here and should contain writing that is relevant to the model. The bibliographies will cache information that may otherwise disappear from the Web.

The Carl Rogers Reader

Politics and Innocence: A Humanistic Debate by Carl Rogers

Cognitive Therapy by Aaron Beck

On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers: Dialogues with BF Skinner

Prisoners of Hate by Aaron Beck

The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham Maslow

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

The Information Society by Christoper May

Technics and Civilization by Lewis Mumford

Carl Rogers on Personal Power

B. F. Skinner by Daniel W. Bjork

The Life-Giving Sword by Yagyu Munenori

Japan, From Will Durant's Our Oriental Heritage


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Depolarization vs Partial Depolarization

Depolarization vs Partial Depolarization
Although it was originally thought that it was only when cells actually fired that they transmitted neuro-transmitter across the synaptic gap, scientists have noted that in many cases the wave-form generated at the recieving neuron is sensitive to the area under the graph, not just the number of spikes in the waveform. This approach suggests that the amount of Neuro-transmitter secreted increases with the voltage, and even partial depolarization influences the network. While early network models were satisfied with binary values that were 1 when the neuron fired, today, in order to capture things like Habitutation we need to model the neuron with at least an integer value, if not a floating point value.

If this is the correct approach, then what firing actually does is clip the high voltages off the top of the neural output, and replace them with multiple spikes that may reach a higher voltage than the graph would otherwise, but quickly drop to lower voltages keeping the net voltage within a comfortable range for the cell. In essence what this does is protect the cell membrane while expressing a range of function that exceeds the dielectric strength of the cell membrane. The net effect is to express the lower voltage, without sustaining it at a level that will damage the cell.

This means that the more often a cell fires in a set period of time, the less healthy it might be, because of loss of membrane coherence. Scientists however have noted that in some cases the cells firing is almost constant, creating a train of signals instead of a single spike. In this case it is less important that the cell fire, than that it sustain a particular voltage over time. As a result, scientists have started to suggest that in fact, the neurons seem to compete at pre-firing voltages, and only selected neurons actually are allowed to fire. When arrays of micro-contacts are embedded in the brain, it is easily seen that in fact neurons especially in the Cerebral cortex, are clustered into neural groups where one neuron tends to express the activity of the group as a whole and the other neurons in the group are suppressed. However over time, the neural group may change its active neuron without changing the actual activity of the group as a whole, this allows neurons to rest if they have become fatigued. The idea that a group of neurons might fire as a single unit is sometimes called Center Surround, in that it is assumed that the neuron that fires is the exemplar, or centroid of the group, and that the surrounding neurons are suppressed.

While we are not sure of the exact mechanism of the center surround, we suspect it has something to do with the layer six pyramidal neurons, and with cerebral columns, especially in the left hemisphere of the brain. Some scientists have noted that the right hemisphere does not act in this manner, but as yet no mechanism has been offered to explain why. It should be noted that firing is important to the production of tag proteins that are sequestered by the synapse, and therefore that limiting the number of neurons that fire at a particular point, has the effect of narrowing the number of neurons that remember a particular memory. Some have suggested that this means that the right hemisphere is better at modeling minor variations in a concept while the Left hemisphere is better at making memories seem discrete and separate. The center surround effect might make the difference between these two different operating styles.


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Hebb Neuron

The Hebb Neuron (Neural Network Model)
Although Hebb was by no means the discoverer of the Neuron, nor even the first scientist to attempt to model it, his model was easily understood, and translated well to computer programs, which made it easily used to simulate neural networks. A simple adjusted aggregation of synapses, the calculation translated out to a Weighted sum adjusted to fit the neural logarithmic curve, minus a threshold value that indicated neural sensitivity.

σΣ$$(i*w)$$j-t

In his book Perceptron Marvin Minsky however leveled the devastating criticism that Hebbs Neuron did not adequately capture second order characteristics detected in natural neurons. Neural Network theory thereafter died its first death, and Neural Network Studies have since gone through a number of periods of popularity interspersed with temporary abandonment, only to be picked up again as newer better models were discovered.

The main problem with Neural Networks is simply we don't know enough to adequately model the neuron, so our models tend to be oversimplified, and easily shot down, when compared against the natural networks. It is important to note that Neural Networks are Simulations of Neural systems, and cannot be expected to adequately model them at this early stage in their development. The capability of the network models to capture some of the function of the neuron in its network, is what keeps attracting scientists back to them, no matter how many times they have been disappointed in the models capability.


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Hopfield Neuron

The Hopfield Neuron (Neural Network Model)
The Hopfield Neuron, was an attempt to make neural networks compatible with computer systems, by creating a neural model that output in binary. Based loosely on the idea that what was important was whether or not a neuron fired, these network models used either binary, or an equivalent {1,-1} pattern as their output.

If the output was a 1 the neuron was said to have fired otherwise its value was -1 or 0.

Because the output was binary a Hopfield Neuron could be substituted for a Logic Gate in a computer system. While this was interesting to Artificial Intelligence researchers it did nothing much for Neuroscience, however research is ongoing on Hopfield Networks because they are so attractive to computer engineers.


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User:Wariola/Web Economy

WEB ECONOMY
This is Module 1 for Adempiere

Web is the computer
"The Network is the Computer" was coined by Scott McNealy, ex-CEO of Sun Microsystem.

The web was created by the TCP/IP Creator, Sir Vinton Cerf (Now works for Google). He is an American Scientist.

title: User:Wariola/Web Economy


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/HH Neuron

The HH Neuron (Neural Network Model)
Hodgkins and Huxley defined the basic Spiking Neuron Model in 1952 when they determined that it was the interaction between the Potassium current and the Sodium Current, that determined the voltage characteristics of the Giant Squid Ason. From their pioneering work, came the more comprehensive ion channel definition that makes up our current model of the Neuron. At that time, ion channels were just one of a number of possible interpretations and their work thinned down the population somewhat by elimination of some of the possibilities.

The primary difference between the HH neuron and the Hebbian Neuron, is the second order or Spiking function of the neuron. This can be expressed simply by integrating the two separate ion currents and multiplying them together before applying the adjustment for logrythmic function, and subtracting the threshold.

That it took until 1952 to isolate the formula for Axon membrane function should not be surprising, because the nature of the axon membrane is such that the technology to stabilize the currents needed to be developed, before they could be adequately measured, this required the invention of the Space clamp and voltage clamp mechanisms, and was slowed down by the involvement of scientists in the second world war.

That scientists are now wondering if they need the spiking behavior to properly model the processing functions of the neurons, simply means that we have moved on from the necessity of adequately mapping the electrical characteristics of the membrane, in order to understand what is going on in the neuron. Now that we have modelled it, we can consider it's validity as a model of neural function, out of a position of knowledge rather than ignorance. In the end we might not need a spiking neuron to simulate the brain, but we have one if we need it.


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User:God'sGirl94

This is God'sGirl94 and I love the world! I am not always pleased with it, but I can't help but love everyone. My favorite song is Dead Serious by ZoeGirl. I love pizza and ice cream and my favorite fast food place is Taco Bell. I am homeschooled. I LOVE writing and want to be an author when I grow up. I am reading the Left Behind books and am on The Remnant.

title: User:God'sGirl94


text:
User talk:God'sGirl94

Talk to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll help as best as I can!--God'sGirl94 18:26, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:God'sGirl94


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Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Multi-layer Network Model

The Multi-Layer Network Model
One way of capturing the complexity of the dendritic mass, is to develop a model, that simulates the integration that happens in the dendrites, as if it were a neuron. This technique is often called the Hidden Layer technique, in that the dendritic complexity is hidden in the physical neuron, but needs to be dealt with if we want a valid model. We build the complexity into the network by adding hidden layers to the network, to simulate the dendritic complexity of the natural neurons.

A single layer of neurons in a biological system, would therefore require a minimum of three layers in the Multi-layer Network model to simulate it. The first layer or input layer gives us the interface to the network, the hidden layer/s give us the dendritic complexity, and the output layer gives us the Neural Integration. If we base our neurons on the HH model we get the second order or spiking output.

This is all we need to simulate the Network connections that make up a neural structure, however, it is important to realize that it is not all we need to adequately simulate a real neuron. One of the most important additions to this structure, is some sort of learning rule that sets the weights for the synapses. Although early learning rules were based on the Delta rule, which required an error function to determine how to set the weights, current models tend to have both a pre-synaptic rule and a post-synaptic rule that influence the weights.

Depending on whether you want a Biological Model of the brain, or whether you want to capture the flexibility of Neural Networks for some other reason, Neural Network theory, splits at this point, into two separate families of technology. Biological Neural Networks, simulate neurons and Artificial Neural Networks are an offshoot of Artificial Intelligence.


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Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Introduction

Introduction

 CONSERVATION ISSUE Like most extant large wild cat species in the world today, jaguar (Panthera onca) survival has three major obstacles: (i) destruction/fragmentation of habitat, (ii) depletion of natural prey and (iii) direct hunting. All of which are related to human activities. These obstacles are not trivial ones because they are connected with national and local economics. At a national scale the need for ‘development’ pledged by governments calls for the expansion of cattle and soy bean plantations and the construction of all-weather highways that cut through forest. At local scale rural populations compete with jaguars for food and also kill jaguars directly. Jaguar hunting is generally retaliation by villagers to depredation of livestock by jaguars. In resume, jaguars have little to no economic value (or even a negative value in the case of the local villager who's livestock was eaten by a jaguar) to countries or communities that would justify investing in stopping these activities.

 PROJETO IAUARETÊ – An entrepreneurial model for jaguar conservation To change the scenario described above I propose an enterprise that would aggregate value to jaguar through eco-scientific tourism, making jaguars economically profitable for communities, empowering people to their local natural resources, and also providing funding to develop scientific research on the species.

Projeto Iauaretê’s main objectives are to promote jaguar conservation and social development in the Amazon Forest. Our strategy to achieve this objective has three major parts: scientific research, eco-scientific tourism, and social development. These parts complement each other and we believe that our main objective can only be achieved through the effective deployment and function of all three. Projeto Iauaretê is as a self-sustainable Social Conservationist Enterprise. It uses a specialized niche in the tourism industry, eco-scientific, to gather funds for scientific research, local social development, hence jaguar conservation.


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Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition

Value Proposition

 * Mission Statement
 * What is our product?
 * Who are our customers?
 * What needs will our product satisfy? How will it create value for the customer?
 * How we will sell our product?


text:
Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Neural Models/Tentative Neural Model

A Tentative Neural Model
A Neural model aimed at today's models of the brain, must incorporate what is known about the Molecular Traces of Memory, must deal with Habituation, Facilitation, and Long Term Potentiation, properly model the aggregation and processing within the neuron, as well as pay at least some attention to the second order aspects to neural output., It must deal well with the complexity of dendrites, and axons, and it must somehow deal with the fact that there are over 150 different types of neurons in the nervous system.

This is a complex model, if it is to be so comprehensive. Complex enough that we must understand it well before we try to build a neural network simulation out of it.

The Post-Synaptic Sensitive patch
At the heart of the Neural Model is the synapse. From our tentative model of the synapse we know that what we need is a Taggable Synapse that will sequester either ephemeral tags, or survivable tags depending on the supply at the time it is active. The synapse must be cloneable, and must be able to be pruned if its weight becomes 0.

To make the synapse work we need the equivalent of a membrane replacement mechanism that will remove ion channels as they become partially denatured, and add ion channels if there is an ephemeral tag on the synapse. It should remove ephemeral tags, and sustain survivable tags, only as long as there is a supply of survivable tag proteins.

Our synapse model must be able to implement Excitation, Inhibition, Shunting, and Moderating effects.

The Pre-Synaptic Bud
The other half of the synapse, the output half, should Habituate unless it's output ages long enough between firings. Evidence suggests that this Habituation should operate at at least two levels, the level of short term Habituation where the cell habituates if a small number of repetitions happens quickly, and long term Habituation where the cell habituates if a larger number of repetitions happens over a longer time.

To counter this, the S synapse should cause the facilitation of the cell, whenever it is fired. The NMDA synapse on the other hand, should cause the facilitation of the cell, as long as its secondary Neuro-Transmitter keeps it active, thus forming long-term facilitation. As well the NMDA synapse should modify the second order aspects of the output in order to potentiate the neuron when it is active. Both the S synapse and the NMDA synapse should trigger learning mechanisms when activated.

DNA Phenotyping
Since not every cell has either the S synapse or the NMDA synapse, we need some way to turn off and on these characteristics depending on which cell our simulation is simulating. As well we need some way of adjusting the cell for the phenotype variations that exist in normal Neurons. Examples might be the depth of the hidden network layers associated with a layer of cells, or how many synapses there are normally on a single branch of the dendrite.

Learning Mechanisms
When triggered by the proper ion channel activations, we must activate the equivalent of the chemical cascade reactions, that trigger in turn, the different types of learning mechanisms. One aspect that we need to deal with, in the simulation will be how many threads to launch within a single neuron. Since the chemical cascade reactions time the launch of the mechanisms, there will be a tendency to use too many threads per cell, thus causing synchronization problems at the network level.


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User:SwirlBoy39

Hey, I'm SwirlBoy39 on all Wikimedia wikis!

title: User:SwirlBoy39