This article examines the role played by E.-É. Duvillard in the formalization of the idea of mortality in modern mathematical demography. Both his published and unpublished works will be considered with a view to understand his notion of the instantaneous death rate, in terms of notions such as vital force and destructive force.
The sympatric speciation is an important phenomenon in the Evolution where a population able to express two different phenotypes gives rise to a new species without a physical separation from the initial population. Our goal is to show as simple assumptions on the initial population phenotypes and the selection process induced by a fluctuating environment allow to define a simple stochastic model that can explain the sympatric speciation via a stochastic bifurcation mechanism. We analyze the dynamical properties of the model and its possible relevance to describe the evolution of the speciation process as the result of enviromental fluctuations, highlighting the control parameters.
Atherosclerosis and diabetes are largely recognized as inflammatory disorders underlying cardiovascular disease. C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and fibrinogen constitute the most established inflammatory biomarkers in clinical practice for the characterization of individuals affected by atherosclerosis, diabetes and heart failure. In addition to their traditional role as inflammatory markers, emerging evidence suggests their role as active mediators in cardiovascular pathogenesis. The interplay between these circulating inflammatory biomarkers and established cardiovascular risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and elevated NTproBNP needs to be investigated. In this review, we aim to determine whether these biomarkers are merely hallmarks of inflammation or active factors in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases by analyzing their links with HDL/LDL, glycemia, insulin resistance and NT-pro-BNP, respectively. C-reactive protein directly promotes atherosclerosis by increasing LDL transcytosis across endothelial cells and enhancing LOX-1 expression. It provides complementary information to NT-pro-BNP for high risk of major adverse cardiac events in post-MI patients and predicts mortality in type 2 diabetic subjects. Interleukin- 6 activates hepatic LDL receptor transcription and correlates with endothelial dysfunction and carotid intima-media thickness. It is related to higher NT-pro-BNP levels and insulin resistance. Fibrinogen is independently associated with a more atherogenic lipoprotein subfraction profile in diabetic patients and insulin resistance. In these patients the fibrinogen glycation level is higher and forms fibrin clots with enhanced resistance to fibrinolysis. Finally, the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio in heart failure is positively correlated with NT-pro-BNP. In conclusion, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 and fibrinogen may emerge as active drivers and promising therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases.
This discussion note contrasts Richard Dawkins' genecentric neo-Darwinian theory of evolution with Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy to propose a philosophical critique of mechanistic evolutionary models. Dawkins' The Selfish Gene frames evolution as a struggle of selfish genes, with organisms as mere vehicles. Whitehead's process philosophy, however, reimagines evolution as a creative, relational process driven by creativity and subjective aim, where chaos fosters novelty. Drawing on the chaostability hypothesis, which posits that higher chaos enhances system stability, I argue that Whitehead's framework offers a holistic alternative to Dawkins' reductionism, emphasizing evolution as a dance of becoming. This note invites further exploration of evolution's metaphysical dimensions in the philosophy of biology.
