Some philosophers hold that it would be impossible for us to do something actively if the physical world were causally closed, i.e., if in the physical world all events were caused by other physical events if they are caused at all. The reason for this view is that these philosophers adhere to what I call the traditional picture of action. Recently, Martine Nida-Rümelin tried to defend this picture by phenomenological considerations. According to the traditional picture a behavior can only count as something an agent does actively if it is ultimately caused by the agent in an agent-causal way. In this paper I adduce three arguments against agent causation: (1) We do not really understand what agent causation is. (2) If agent causation were real, we would be confronted with the strange fact that human agents can only cause certain tiny events in the brain. (3) There is no empirical evidence that agent causation is real. In the last part of my paper I present an alternative account of the difference between what agents do actively and what is done to them., Někteří filosofové se domnívají, že by bylo pro nás nemožné něco aktivně činit, kdyby byl fyzický svět kauzálně uzavřen, tj. Kdyby byly všechny události způsobeny jinými fyzickými událostmi, kdyby byly ve fyzickém světě způsobeny vůbec. Důvodem tohoto názoru je, že tito filozofové dodržují to, čemu říkám tradiční obraz jednání. Nedávno se Martine Nida-Rümelin pokusila tento obraz obhájit fenomenologickými úvahami. Podle tradičního obrazu se chování může počítat pouze jako něco, co agent dělá aktivně, pokud je nakonec způsobeno agentem v kauzálním způsobu. V tomto příspěvku uvádím tři argumenty proti příčinám agenta: (1) Opravdu nechápeme, co je to příčina agenta. (2) Pokud byla příčinná souvislost agenta skutečná, byli bychom konfrontováni s podivnou skutečností, že lidští agenti mohou v mozku způsobit jen určité drobné události. (3) Neexistují žádné empirické důkazy, že příčinná souvislost agentů je skutečná. V poslední části mé práce uvádím alternativní popis rozdílu mezi tím, co agenti aktivně dělají a co se s nimi děje., and Ansgar Beckermann
I review some aspects of recent studies of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and their environments. My approach is from the hypothesis that a single AGN phenomenon includes the plethora of object classes whose acronyms pervade the literature. Particular attention is given to the mechanisms of interaction between the cetral engine and its environment, both with regard to the ways in which the observed radiation is produced on a range of spatial scales and to the ways in which the activity is related to outside influences.
This paper examines the results of fault microdisplacement analyses obtained from sites located both at the surface and underground in western Slovakia. The results of surface monitoring showed significant annual climatic effects on the various displacement components. In contrast, the results of underground monitoring in caves showed minimal climatic effects. It is seen that the influence of climate decreases markedly with depth. The yearly peak-to-peak amplitude of climatic variations may be as high as 1 mm at the surface but only 0.1 mm underground. The amount of tectonic displacement can be determined once such climatic considerations have been taken into account. Our fault displacement measurements show horizontal strike-slip rates of tenths of mm or hundredths of mm per year. In addition, vertical displacements have been recorded at Prekážka Quarry, Driny Cave, and Slopy Cave. The network is sufficiently dense to identify changes in displacement activity recorded during recent, significant, earthquake events. Furthermore, three gauges have also helped to determine the local stress orientation in Driny Cave., Miloš Briestenský, Blahoslav Košťák, Josef Stemberk, Ľubomír Petro, Jozef Vozár and Lucia Fojtíková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
One of the leaved out fault active systems at Southern Moravian can be considered the so called Diendorf - Čebín tectonic zone (DCTZ), that is seismically active in its southern segment (in Austrian). The Waitzendorf fault is a part of the DCTZ, with intensive morphological signs. The terrain recognizance along the eastern margin of the Dyje Dome confirmed many indi cations showing evidence of geodynamic activity. The facets, old land slides and rock falls indicate recent activity in the environs of Znojmo area. The paper offers interpretation of the geodetic results (GPS) using morphological and geophysical data from all area of the DCTZ ., Lubomil Pospíšil, Pavel Roštínský, Otakar Švábenský, Josef Weigel and Michal Witiska., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The effect of 30 % defoliation of shaded leaves in lower layers of plant was studied on activities of carbonic anhydrase (CA) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC), leaf dry mass per unit leaf area, and plant dry mass of mustard (Brassica juncea). Removal of 30 % of leaves resulted in increased CA and RuBPC activities of leaves, and leaf and plant dry masses.
In order to study photosynthetic characteristics, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBPCO) activities as well as soluble protein and chlorophyll contents were determined in leaf and fruit pericarp samples from diverse coffee genotypes (Coffea arabica cv. Colombia, Caturra, Caturra Erecta, San Pacho, Tipica, C. stenophylla, C. eugenioides, C. congensis, C. canephora, C. canephora cv. Arabusta, C. arabica cv. Caturra×C. canephora and Hibrido de Timor. We found a slightly higher PEPC activity in fruit pericarp than in leaves, while RuBPCO activity was much lower in pericarp than leaf tissue. Partial purification of PEPC and RuBPCO was carried out from leaves of C. arabica cv. Caturra and Michaelis-Menten kinetics for RuBPCO (Km CO2 = 5.34 µM), (Km RuBP = 9.09 µM) and PEPC (Km PEP = 19.5 µM) were determined. Leaf tissues of Colombia, Hibrido de Timor, and Caturra consistently showed higher content of protein [55.4-64.4 g kg-1 (f.m.)] than San Pacho, C. stenophylla, Tipica, Caturra Erecta, and Caturra×C. canephora [25.6-36.9 g kg-1 (f.m.)] and C. canephora cv. Arabusta, Borbon, C. congensis, C. eugenioides, and C. canephora [16.1-21.1 g kg-1 (f.m.)]. and Y. Lopez ... [et al.].
Four groups of goldfish were exposed to cadmium in a concentration of 20 mg Cd/l water under aquarium conditions. The duration of exposure was 1, 4, 7 and 15 days. It was shown that the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the red blood cells (RBC) significantly decreased after the first day of cadmium exposure. However, the SOD activity increased after 7 and 15 days of cadmium treatment. Elevated activity of catalase (CAT) was found in erythrocytes of cadmium-treated fishes after 15 days, whereas plasma GOT levels was increased after 7 and 15 days and GPT levels after 1, 4, 7 and 15 days of cadmium treatment. This was accompanied by a significant decrease of blood hemoglobin concentrations (after 15 days) and hematocrit values (after 7 and 15 days). However, the concentration of blood glucose significantly increased after 1, 4, 7 and 15 days of cadmium exposure. These results indicate that cadmium causes oxidative stress and tissue damage in the exposed fishes., R.V. Žikić, A. Š. Štajn, S. Z. Pavlović, B. I. Ognjanović, Z. S. Saičić., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus laevis (Müller, 1776) uses freshwater amphipods as its intermediate host. In order to complete the life cycle, the infected amphipod must be consumed by a fish, where the acanthocephalan will mature and reproduce. Parasite transmission, and therefore fitness, could be enhanced if infected amphipods fail to detect or avoid predatory fish. We compared the activity levels of infected and non-infected amphipods, Echinogammarus stammeri (Karaman, 1931), in both the presence and absence of odours from its natural, definitive host, the fish Leuciscus cephalus (L.). Throughout the experiment, infected amphipods were more active than were non-infected individuals. The non-infected amphipods reduced their activity after the addition of fish odours, but the infected amphipods failed to show a significant decrease. The failure of infected amphipods to reduce activity levels in the presence of fish odour may reflect a parasite strategy to increase its chances of transmission by making its amphipod host more vulnerable to predation by fish.
The pattern of activity of 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid synthase (ACS) was similar to photosynthetic and growth traits observed at 30, 45, and 60 d after sowing in mustard (Brassica juncea L.) cultivars Varuna and RH 30 differing in photosynthetic capacity. Higher activity of ACS and therefore ethylene release in Varuna than RH 30 increased stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, carboxylation rate (carbonic anhydrase and intrinsic water use efficiency), and thus net photosynthetic rate (PN) and leaf and plant dry masses (DM) at all sampling times. Moreover, Varuna also had larger leaf area which contributed to higher PN and DM. A positive correlation between ACS activity and PN and leaf area was found in both the cultivars. Thus ACS activity may affect PN through ethylene-induced changes on foliar gas exchange and leaf growth.