French philosopher Gabriel Tarde is known as a philosopher who describes sociology ontologically with an integrated approach and mostly by means of metaphysical interpretations. Opposing his coeval Durkheim＇s “socia...French philosopher Gabriel Tarde is known as a philosopher who describes sociology ontologically with an integrated approach and mostly by means of metaphysical interpretations. Opposing his coeval Durkheim＇s “social fact”, Tarde claims that this notion constitutes a methodological problem and the term “social” of Durkheim＇s crowds out “variability of relations”. According to him, determinants in social relations are more general and dynamic notions, such as： “change”, “contrast”, and “adaptation”. In this respect, not quite celebrated in his era, this philosopher is widely known as a metaphysician as well as a sociologist. His metaphysical ideas are clearly visible in various sections of his works, where he described with inspirations from natural phenomenon. Descriptions and analysis on natural phenomena constitute the greater part of his works. He points out similarities between the universe and the world of men in terms of functioning. Presenting these similarities, Tarde seems to reject any division between the men and the nature built up by “positive philosophy” and modern understanding. With his natural descriptions and concepts he inferred from these descriptions, such as“contradiction” and “harmony”, he almost tries to re-establish the bonds between the nature and the social life. Tarde＇s perception of holistic being and his ideas of “contradiction” and “harmony” in nature, are very close to the most basic axioms of the traditional Chinese thought. As a matter of fact, Tarde denotes these similarities in his novella called “Fragment d＇histoire future （Underground Man）”. It is also an example to display an “East-West encounter” on a fictional plane.展开更多
A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network pers...A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network perspective. Indeed, there are numerical difficulties even for those who were determined to explore along this direction. Undeterred, seven years ago a group of Chinese scientists started a program aiming to obtain quantitative connections between tumors and network dynamics. Many interesting results have been obtained. In this paper we wish to test such idea from a different angle: the connection between a normal biological process and the network dynamics. We have taken early myelopoiesis as our biological model. A standard roadmap for the cell-fate diversification during hematopoiesis has already been well established experimentally, yet little was known for its underpinning dynamical mechanisms. Compounding this difficulty there were additional experimental challenges, such as the seemingly conflicting hematopoietic roadmaps and the cell-fate inter-conversion events. With early myeloid cell-fate determination in mind, we constructed a core molecular endogenous network from well-documented gene regulation and signal transduction knowledge. Turning the network into a set of dynamical equations, we found computationally several structurally robust states. Those states nicely correspond to known cell phenotypes. We also found the states connecting those stable states.They reveal the developmental routes—how one stable state would most likely turn into another stable state. Such interconnected network among stable states enabled a natural organization of cell-fates into a multi-stable state landscape. Accordingly, both the myeloid cell phenotypes and the standard roadmap were explained mechanistically in a straightforward manner. Furthermore,recent challenging observations were also explained naturally. Moreover, the landscape visually enables a prediction of a pool of additional cell states and developmental routes, including the non-sequential and cross-branch transitions, which are testable by future experiments. In summary, the endogenous network dynamics provide an integrated quantitative framework to understand the heterogeneity and lineage commitment in myeloid progenitors.展开更多
文摘French philosopher Gabriel Tarde is known as a philosopher who describes sociology ontologically with an integrated approach and mostly by means of metaphysical interpretations. Opposing his coeval Durkheim＇s “social fact”, Tarde claims that this notion constitutes a methodological problem and the term “social” of Durkheim＇s crowds out “variability of relations”. According to him, determinants in social relations are more general and dynamic notions, such as： “change”, “contrast”, and “adaptation”. In this respect, not quite celebrated in his era, this philosopher is widely known as a metaphysician as well as a sociologist. His metaphysical ideas are clearly visible in various sections of his works, where he described with inspirations from natural phenomenon. Descriptions and analysis on natural phenomena constitute the greater part of his works. He points out similarities between the universe and the world of men in terms of functioning. Presenting these similarities, Tarde seems to reject any division between the men and the nature built up by “positive philosophy” and modern understanding. With his natural descriptions and concepts he inferred from these descriptions, such as“contradiction” and “harmony”, he almost tries to re-establish the bonds between the nature and the social life. Tarde＇s perception of holistic being and his ideas of “contradiction” and “harmony” in nature, are very close to the most basic axioms of the traditional Chinese thought. As a matter of fact, Tarde denotes these similarities in his novella called “Fragment d＇histoire future （Underground Man）”. It is also an example to display an “East-West encounter” on a fictional plane.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(2010CB529200)National Natural Science Foundation of China(91029738)
文摘A decade ago mainstream molecular biologists regarded it impossible or biologically ill-motivated to understand the dynamics of complex biological phenomena, such as cancer genesis and progression, from a network perspective. Indeed, there are numerical difficulties even for those who were determined to explore along this direction. Undeterred, seven years ago a group of Chinese scientists started a program aiming to obtain quantitative connections between tumors and network dynamics. Many interesting results have been obtained. In this paper we wish to test such idea from a different angle: the connection between a normal biological process and the network dynamics. We have taken early myelopoiesis as our biological model. A standard roadmap for the cell-fate diversification during hematopoiesis has already been well established experimentally, yet little was known for its underpinning dynamical mechanisms. Compounding this difficulty there were additional experimental challenges, such as the seemingly conflicting hematopoietic roadmaps and the cell-fate inter-conversion events. With early myeloid cell-fate determination in mind, we constructed a core molecular endogenous network from well-documented gene regulation and signal transduction knowledge. Turning the network into a set of dynamical equations, we found computationally several structurally robust states. Those states nicely correspond to known cell phenotypes. We also found the states connecting those stable states.They reveal the developmental routes—how one stable state would most likely turn into another stable state. Such interconnected network among stable states enabled a natural organization of cell-fates into a multi-stable state landscape. Accordingly, both the myeloid cell phenotypes and the standard roadmap were explained mechanistically in a straightforward manner. Furthermore,recent challenging observations were also explained naturally. Moreover, the landscape visually enables a prediction of a pool of additional cell states and developmental routes, including the non-sequential and cross-branch transitions, which are testable by future experiments. In summary, the endogenous network dynamics provide an integrated quantitative framework to understand the heterogeneity and lineage commitment in myeloid progenitors.
