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Human Life (human + life)
Terms modified by Human Life Selected AbstractsIn Defense of a Common Ideal for a Human LifeMIDWEST STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2000E. M. Adams [source] Defining the Beginning and the End of Human Life: Implications for Ethics, Policy, and LawTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 1 2006Robert M. Sade No abstract is available for this article. [source] Doctors, Borders, and Life in CrisisCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Peter Redfield The politics of life and death is explored from the perspective of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins sans frontières [MSF]), an activist nongovernmental organization explicitly founded to respond to health crises on a global scale. Following the work of Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben, I underline key intersections between MSF's operations that express concern for human life in the midst of humanitarian disaster and the group's self-proclaimed ethic of engaged refusal. Adopting the analytic frame of biopolitics, I suggest that the actual practice of medical humanitarian organizations in crisis settings presents a fragmentary and uncertain form of such power, extended beyond stable sovereignty and deployed within a restricted temporal horizon. [source] Education, Values, and Valuing in Cosmopolitan PerspectiveCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 5 2009DAVID T. HANSEN ABSTRACT In this article we describe a cosmopolitan orientation toward the place of values in human life. We argue that a cosmopolitan outlook can assist people in engaging the challenges of being thrown together with others whose roots, traditions, and inheritances differ. We show that cosmopolitanism implies neither an elite nor an aloof posture toward human affairs. On the contrary, the concept illuminates how people everywhere can retain individual and cultural integrity while also keeping themselves open to the larger world. A cosmopolitan outlook positions people to consider not just the specific values they subscribe to, but also their ways of holding and enacting them. This move provides people valuable distance from values although not a break with them. It helps people consider the value of valuing as well as the value of reflecting upon values. We examine three arts, or artful methods, that can fuel this orientation. They are hope, memory, and dialogue: three familiar concepts that we accent in a distinctive way in light of the idea of cosmopolitanism. We show how these arts can be cultivated continuously through education. [source] Suicides and suicide ideation in the Bible: an empirical surveyACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 3 2005H. J. Koch Objective:, The aim of this review is to summarize all data on suicidal behaviour reported in the Bible and to discuss basic implications for medical ethical positions. Method:, All books of the Jerusalem Bible, including the apocrypha accepted in the Catholic canon, were searched for all cases of suicide, attempted suicide and suicidal ideation clearly identifiable as such. Results:, The Bible including the apocrypha reports about 10 completed suicides and 11 cases of suicide attempt or ideation. The Bible considers human life as a divine gift but suicide per se is neither condemned nor approved. Those suffering from suicidal thoughts are treated with respect and support is offered. Conclusion:, Theological teaching on suicide was influenced for centuries by the biased negative opinion of the early fathers of the church and scholastic savants, but these opinions are not substantiated by a thorough reading of the Bible. [source] A geomatics data integration technique for coastal change monitoringEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 6 2005J. P. Mills Abstract This paper reports research carried out to develop a novel method of monitoring coastal change, using an approach based on digital elevation models (DEMs). In recent years change monitoring has become an increasingly important issue, particularly for landforms and areas that are potentially hazardous to human life and assets. The coastal zone is currently a sensitive policy area for those involved with its management, as phenomena such as erosion and landslides affect the stability of both the natural and the built environment. With legal and financial implications of failing to predict and react to such geomorphological change, the provision of accurate and effective monitoring is essential. Long coastlines and dynamic processes make the application of traditional surveying difficult, but recent advances made in the geomatics discipline allow for more effective methodologies to be investigated. A solution is presented, based on two component technologies , the Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital small format aerial photogrammetry , using data fusion to elim-inate the disadvantages associated with each technique individually. A sparse but highly accurate DEM, created using kinematic GPS, was used as control to orientate surfaces derived from the relative orientation stage of photogrammetric processing. A least squares surface matching algorithm was developed to perform the orientation, reducing the need for costly and inefficient ground control point survey. Change detection was then carried out between temporal data epochs for a rapidly eroding coastline (Filey Bay, North Yorkshire). The surface matching algorithm was employed to register the datasets and determine dif-ferences between the DEM series. Large areas of change were identified during the lifetime of the study. Results of this methodology were encouraging, the flexibility, redundancy and automation potential allowing an efficient approach to landform monitoring. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Investigating the impact of the Chi-Chi earthquake on the occurrence of debris flows using artificial neural networksHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 19 2009Fi-John Chang Abstract Debris flows have caused enormous losses of property and human life in Taiwan during the last two decades. An efficient and reliable method for predicting the occurrence of debris flows is required. The major goal of this study is to explore the impact of the Chi-Chi earthquake on the occurrence of debris flows by applying the artificial neural network (ANN) that takes both hydrological and geomorphologic influences into account. The Chen-Yu-Lan River watershed, which is located in central Taiwan, is chosen for evaluating the critical rainfall triggering debris flows. A total of 1151 data sets were collected for calibrating model parameters with two training strategies. Significant differences before and after the earthquake have been found: (1) The size of landslide area is proportioned to the occurrence of debris flows; (2) the amount of critical rainfall required for triggering debris flows has reduced significantly, about half of the original critical rainfall in the study case; and (3) the frequency of the occurrence of debris flows is largely increased. The overall accuracy of model prediction in testing phase has reached 96·5%; moreover, the accuracy of occurrence prediction is largely increased from 24 to 80% as the network trained with data from before the Chi-Chi earthquake sets and with data from the lumped before and after the earthquake sets. The results demonstrated that the ANN is capable of learning the complex mechanism of debris flows and producing satisfactory predictions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Effect of growing watershed imperviousness on hydrograph parameters and peak dischargeHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 13 2008Huang-jia Huang Abstract An increasing impervious area is quickly extending over the Wu-Tu watershed due to the endless demands of the people. Generally, impervious paving is a major result of urbanization and more recently has had the potential to produce more enormous flood disasters than those of the past. In this study, 40 available rainfall,runoff events were chosen to calibrate the applicable parameters of the models and to determine the relationships between the impervious surfaces and the calibrated parameters. Model inputs came from the outcomes of the block kriging method and the non-linear programming method. In the optimal process, the shuffled complex evolution method and three criteria were applied to compare the observed and simulated hydrographs. The tendencies of the variations of the parameters with their corresponding imperviousness were established through regression analysis. Ten cases were used to examine the established equations of the parameters and impervious covers. Finally, the design flood routines of various return periods were furnished through use of approaches containing a design storm, block kriging, the SCS model, and a rainfall-runoff model with established functional relationships. These simulated flood hydrographs were used to compare and understand the past, present, and future hydrological conditions of the watershed studied. In the research results, the time to peak of flood hydrographs for various storms was diminished approximately from 11 h to 6 h in different decrements, whereas peak flow increased respectively from 127 m3 s,1 to 629 m3 s,1 for different storm intensities. In addition, this study provides a design diagram for the peak flow ratio to help engineers and designers to construct hydraulic structures efficiently and prevent possible damage to human life and property. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Geostatistical interpolation of space,time rainfall on Tamshui River basin, TaiwanHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 23 2007Shin-Jen Cheng Abstract Taiwan suffers from heavy storm rainfall during the typhoon season. This usually causes large river runoff, overland flow, erosion, landslides, debris flows, loss of power, etc. In order to evaluate storm impacts on the downstream basin, a real-time hydrological modelling is used to estimate potential hazard areas. This can be used as a decision-support system for the Emergency Response Center, National Fire Agency Ministry, to make ,real-time' responses and minimize possible damage to human life and property. This study used 34 observed events from 14 telemetered rain-gauges in the Tamshui River basin, Taiwan, to study the spatial,temporal characteristics of typhoon rainfall. In the study, regionalized theory and cross-semi-variograms were used to identify the spatial-temporal structure of typhoon rainfall. The power form and parameters of the cross-semi-variogram were derived through analysis of the observed data. In the end, cross-validation was used to evaluate the performance of the interpolated rainfall on the river basin. The results show the derived rainfall interpolator represents the observed events well, which indicates the rainfall interpolator can be used as a spatial-temporal rainfall input for real-time hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The anthropology of dementia: a narrative perspectiveINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2009William L. Randall Abstract This article draws on recent thinking in the field of narrative gerontology to lend support to Mahnaz Hashmi's "anthropological perspective" on dementia. From a narrative perspective, the relational component of human life - and thus of dementia - is underscored. Moreover, when the narrative dimensions of memory are considered, the line between "normal" and "pathological" is revealed as finer than commonly assumed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Understanding and Modulating AgeingIUBMB LIFE, Issue 4-5 2005Suresh IS Rattan Abstract Ageing is characterized by a progressive accumulation of molecular damage in nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. The inefficiency and failure of maintenance, repair and turnover pathways is the main cause of age-related accumulation of damage. Research in molecular gerontology is aimed at understanding the genetic and epigenetic regulation of survival and maintenance mechanisms at the levels of transcription, post-transcriptional processing, post-translational modifications, and interactions among various gene products. Concurrently, several approaches are being tried and tested to modulate ageing in a wide variety of organisms. The ultimate aim of such studies is to improve the quality of human life in old age and prolong the health-span. Various gerontomodulatory approaches include gene therapy, hormonal supplementation, nutritional modulation and intervention by free radical scavengers and other molecules. A recent approach is that of applying hormesis in ageing research and therapy, which is based on the principle of stimulation of maintenance and repair pathways by repeated exposure to mild stress. A combination of molecular, physiological and psychological modulatory approaches can realize "healthy ageing" as an achievable goal in the not-so-distant future. IUBMB Life, 57: 297-304, 2005 [source] Perspectives on human stem cell researchJOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Kyu Won Jung Human stem cell research draws not only scientists' but the public's attention. Human stem cell research is considered to be able to identify the mechanism of human development and change the paradigm of medical practices. However, there are heated ethical and legal debates about human stem cell research. The core issue is that of human dignity and human life. Some prefer human adult stem cell research or iPS cell research, others hES cell research. We do not need to exclude any type of stem cell research because each has its own merits and issues, and they can facilitate the scientific revolution when working together. J. Cell. Physiol. 220: 535,537, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Microbial production, immobilization and applications of ,- D -galactosidaseJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Parmjit S Panesar Abstract ,- D -Galactosidase (,- D -galactoside galactohydrolase, E.C. 3.2.1.23), most commonly known as lactase, is one of the most important enzymes used in food processing, which catalyses the hydrolysis of lactose to its constituent monosaccharides, glucose and galactose. The enzyme has been isolated and purified from a wide range of microorganisms but most commonly used ,- D -galactosidases are derived from yeasts and fungal sources. The major difference between yeast and fungal enzyme is the optimum pH for lactose hydrolysis. The application of ,- D -galactosidase for lactose hydrolysis in milk and whey offers nutritional, technological and environmental applications to human life. In this review, the main emphasis has been given to elaborate the various techniques used in recent times for the production, purification, immobilization and applications of ,- D -galactosidase. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Tender Affective States as Predictors of Entertainment PreferenceJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 1 2008Mary Beth Oliver Four studies were conducted to explore how tender affective states (e.g., warmth, sympathy, understanding) predict attraction to entertainment that features poignant, dramatic, or tragic portrayals. Studies 1 and 2 found that tenderness was associated with greater interest in viewing sad films. Studies 3 and 4 found that tender affective states were associated with preferences for entertainment featuring not only sad portrayals but also entertainment featuring drama and human connection. Results are discussed in terms of how these forms of entertainment may provide viewers the opportunity to contemplate the poignancies of human life,an activity that may reflect motivations of media use related to meaningfulness or insight rather than only the experience of pleasure. Résumé Les états affectifs tendres comme variables explicatives des préférences de divertissement Quatre études furent menées afin d,explorer la manière dont les états affectifs tendres (par exemple la chaleur, la sympathie et la compréhension) prédisent une attirance envers un divertissement qui présente des mises en scènes poignantes, dramatiques ou tragiques. Les études 1 et 2 ont révélé que la tendresse était associée à un plus grand intérêt pour le visionnement de films tristes. Les études 3 et 4 ont révélé que les états affectifs tendres étaient associés à des préférences envers un divertissement qui non seulement présente des mises en scène tristes, mais qui présente du drame et des relations humaines. Les résultats sont commentés en lien avec la manière dont ces formes de divertissement peuvent procurer aux spectateurs l'occasion de contempler le caractère poignant de la vie humaine : une activité qui peut refléter des motivations de l'usage des médias liées à la quête de sens et la lucidité plutôt qu'à la seule expérience de plaisir. Abstract Der Zustand des Mitgefühls als Prädiktor für Unterhaltungsvorlieben In vier Studien wurde untersucht, wie mitfühlende affektive Zustände (z.B. Wärme, Sympathie, Verständnis) die Zuwendung zu Unterhaltungsinhalten mit melancholischen, dramatischen oder tragischen Darstellungen voraussagen können. Studien 1 und 2 zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen Mitgefühl und einem größerem Interesse, sich traurige Filme anzusehen. Studien 3 und 4 zeigten einen Zusammenhang zwischen mitfühlenden Gefühlszustände und Vorlieben für Unterhaltung, die sich durch Drama und menschliche Beziehungen auszeichnet, aber nicht durch traurige Darstellungen. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Blick darauf diskutiert, wie diese Formen der Unterhaltung den Zuschauer die Möglichkeit bieten, über die Melancholien des Lebens nachzudenken , eine Aktivität, die auf eine Mediennutzungsmotivation hindeutet, die mit Bedeutungszuweisung und Reflexion zusammenhängt und nicht ausschließlich mit dem Erleben von Freude. Resumen Los Estados Afectivos Tiernos Que Predicen la Preferencia hacia el Entretenimiento Cuatro estudios fueron conducidos para explorar cómo los estados afectivos tiernos (a saber, cordialidad, compasión, entendimiento) predicen la atracción hacia el entretenimiento que pone de relieve representaciones conmovedoras, dramáticas, o trágicas. Los estudios 1 y 2 encontraron que la ternura estaba asociada con un gran interés por ver películas tristes. Los estudios 3 y 4 encontraron que los estados afectivos tiernos fueron asociados con las preferencias por el entretenimiento que pone de relieve no sólo representaciones tristes, sino también entretenimiento representando drama y conexiones humanas. Los resultados fueron discutidos en términos de cómo estas formas de entretenimiento pueden proveer a los espectadores de una oportunidad para contemplar las condiciones humanas con profundidad,una actividad que puede reflejar las motivaciones del uso de los medios relacionadas con el significado ó el entendimiento más que sólo la experiencia del placer. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] Anticipating Future Vulnerability: Defining Characteristics of Increasingly Critical Infrastructure-like SystemsJOURNAL OF CONTINGENCIES AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2007Matthew Jude Egan The world's ,Critical Infrastructure' (CI) has increased in size during the three decades between 1975,2006. CIs are those systems that provide critical support services to a country, geographic area for a corporate entity; when they fail, there is potentially a large cost in human life, the environment or economic markets. This article examines the characteristics of new technologies or services that are becoming a part of the CI, but are not yet. The article attempts to systematically define the characteristics of ,criticality' in order to better anticipate the types of vulnerabilities these new technologies or services create. [source] The role of organizational cultures in information-systems security management: A goal-setting perspectiveJOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 1 2008Ioannis V. Koskosas The aim of this research is to investigate the role of strong organizational cultures in setting information-systems security goals. In doing so, we explore and discuss the concept of culture within three financial organizations with different social and organizational structures, and seek to demonstrate the importance of having a cohesive culture in efficiently setting information-security goals. The relationship between goal setting, culture strength, and performance is also discussed, as there have been studies that indirectly indicate that such a relationship may exist. The contribution of this work to interpretive information-systems research consists of its study of culture and goal setting in a security-management context, and its grounding within an interpretive epistemology. In addition, this research promotes an interdisciplinary and interorganizational theory to foster dialogue that transcends industry-specific contexts and explores different organizational practices that can improve leadership's role in human life. [source] Assessment of bruxism in the clinic,JOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 7 2008K. KOYANO Summary, Bruxism is a much-discussed clinical issue in dentistry. Although bruxism is not a life-threatening disorder, it can influence the quality of human life, especially through dental problems, such as tooth wear, frequent fractures of dental restorations and pain in the oro-facial region. Therefore, various clinical methods have been devised to assess bruxism over the last 70 years. This paper reviews the assessment of bruxism, provides information on various assessment methods which are available in clinical situations and discusses their effectiveness and usefulness. Currently, there is no definitive method for assessing bruxism clinically that has reasonable diagnostic and technical validity, affects therapeutic decisions and is cost effective. One future direction is to refine questionnaire items and clinical examination because they are the easiest to apply in everyday practice. Another possible direction is to establish a method that can measure actual bruxism activity directly using a device that can be applied to patients routinely. More clinical studies should examine the clinical impact of bruxism on oral structures, treatment success and the factors influencing the decision-making process in dental treatment. [source] Human Dignity and the Claim of Meaning: Athenian Tragic Drama and Supreme Court OpinionsJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 1 2002James Boyd White I am going to bring together what may seem at first to be two extremely different institutions for the creation of public meaning, namely classical Athenian tragedy and the Supreme Court opinion.1 My object is not so much to draw lines of similarity and distinction between them, as a cultural analyst might do, as to try to capture something of what I believe is centrally at work in both institutions, in fact essential to what each at its best achieves. I can frame it as a question: How is it that the best instances of each genre (for I will be talking only about the best) work to resist the ever,present impulse to trivialize human life and experience,certainly well known in our own era-and instead confer upon the individual, and his or her sufferings and struggles in the world, a kind of dignity? I think that something like this is in fact the core of the most important achievements of both institutions, and that in both cases it is simultaneously imaginative (or literary) and political in nature. [source] Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): the emergence of a new champion in stem cell technology-driven biomedical applicationsJOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, Issue 6 2010Anjan Kumar Das Abstract Pluripotent stem cells possess the unique property of differentiating into all other cell types of the human body. Further, the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in 2006 has opened up new avenues in clinical medicine. In simple language, iPSCs are nothing but somatic cells reprogrammed genetically to exhibit pluripotent characteristics. This process utilizes retroviruses/lentiviruses/adenovirus/plasmids to incorporate candidate genes into somatic cells isolated from any part of the human body. It is also possible to develop disease-specific iPSCs which are most likely to revolutionize research in respect to the pathophysiology of most debilitating diseases, as these can be mimicked ex vivo in the laboratory. These models can also be used to study the safety and efficacy of known drugs or potential drug candidates for a particular diseased condition, limiting the need for animal studies and considerably reducing the time and money required to develop new drugs. Recently, functional neurons, cardiomyocytes, pancreatic islet cells, hepatocytes and retinal cells have been derived from human iPSCs, thus re-confirming the pluripotency and differentiation capacity of these cells. These findings further open up the possibility of using iPSCs in cell replacement therapy for various degenerative disorders. In this review we highlight the development of iPSCs by different methods, their biological characteristics and their prospective applications in regenerative medicine and drug screening. We further discuss some practical limitations pertaining to this technology and how they can be averted for the betterment of human life. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Effects of soil degradation and management practices on the surface water dynamics in the Talgua River Watershed in HondurasLAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2004D. L. Hanson Abstract When tropical forests are felled, subsequent land uses affect surface runoff, soil erosion, and soil compaction. In some cases, they can markedly change the hydrology of a region with disastrous effects on human life. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of rainfall on stream hydrology due to conversion of primary forests to agriculture. Near surface water dynamics were compared for three land uses on the steep hillsides in the Talgua River Watershed in Honduras: degraded grass-covered field; traditional coffee plantation; and primary forest. Infiltration and surface runoff rates were measured using several methods. A clear difference was observed in hydraulic conductivity between the degraded and non-degraded lands. The degraded grass-covered hillslopes developed a surface restrictive layer with a low saturated hydraulic conductivity of 8 to 11,mm/hr, resulting in more frequent overland flow than traditional coffee plantation and primary forest. Soils under the latter two land-use types maintained high infiltration capacities and readily conducted water vertically at rates of 109 and 840,mm/hr, respectively. Dye tests confirmed that the coffee plantation and primary forest both maintained well-connected macropores through which water flowed readily. In contrast, macropores in the degraded soil profile were filled by fine soil particles. Soils in the degraded grass-covered field also showed more compaction than soils in the coffee plantation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] ETHICS AND OBSERVATION: DEWEY, THOREAU, AND HARMANMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 5 2007ANDREW WARD Abstract: In 1929, John Dewey said that "the problem of restoring integration and cooperation between man's beliefs about the world in which he lives and his beliefs about the values and purposes that should direct his conduct is the deepest problem of human life." Using this as its theme, this article begins with an examination of Gilbert Harman's reasons for denying the existence of moral facts. It then presents an alternative account of the relationship between science and ethics, making use of the writings of Dewey and Henry David Thoreau. For both Dewey and Thoreau, the dichotomy between a scientific approach to the world and an ethical approach to the world is a false one. The article explores the reasons for believing that the dichotomy is a false one, agreeing with Thoreau that there "is no exclusively moral law,there is no exclusively physical law." [source] THE TOUCH OF HUMILITY: AN INVITATION TO CREATURELINESSMODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 2 2008NORMAN WIRZBA Humility has been much maligned and misunderstood in recent thought. An authentic sense of humility, however, is borne out of a deep appreciation for human creatureliness, and is concretely worked out in the grateful acceptance of our interdependent need. The phenomenological studies of Jean-Louis Chrétien, particularly his analyses of touch and the "call-response" structure to human life, are enlisted to show our true life as lived in humble reception and responsible engagement with the gifts of God. Far from being a debasement of humanity, humility,which finds its practical patterns in the divine life,is the core of our identity and vocation. [source] Anthropological Knowledge and Native American Cultural Practice in the Liberal PolityAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2002Professor James P. Boggs U.S. Indian policy is caught between two incommensurable theories or paradigms. First, liberal theory extended the worldviewof early physical science to understand human nature. Providing the conceptual foundation for liberal polities, it largely underwrote U.S. Indian policy into the mid-20th century. Liberal theory recently has been superceded, as theory, by anthropological culture theory, which better accounts for variations between peoples and the realities of human life. The advent of culture theory marks a major paradigm shift within science and public consciousness. Liberal theory, however, remains the foundation for the powerful ideology of liberalism and the institutional practices of Western capitalism and democracy. Thus arise uncomfortable disjunctions,first, between incommensurable theories that both remain vital forces in public life, and, secondarily, between knowledge and practice. This article explores these contending theoretical formations, disjunctions between them, and illustrates how these disjunctions translate into contemporary argument in U.S. Indian policy. [source] Extra embryos: The ethics of cryopreservation in Ecuador and elsewhereAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 1 2007ELIZABETH F. S. ROBERTS Through ethnographic comparison with Ecuador, I localize North American and European ethical debates about embryos. In Ecuador, some in vitro fertilization (IVF) practitioners and patients do whatever they can to preserve the life of embryos through donation or cryopreservation. For this group, embryos are embroiled in debates about life, as they commonly are in North America. However, other Ecuadorians do not view embryos through debates about life. Instead, these IVF practitioners and patients let embryos die rather than freeze them, to regulate the legitimate bounds of kin relations. These contrasting models of life ethics and kin ethics illuminate ideologies of religion, kinship, and personhood in Ecuador. In addition, this comparison demonstrates that the location of embryos in a framework of kinship prevents their circulation and exchange, whereas the North American and European debates about the human life of embryos allow for their continued circulation in the globalized reproductive marketplace. [source] A conversation on diverse perspectives of spirituality in nursing literatureNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2008Barbara Pesut PhD RN Abstract, Spirituality has long been considered a dimension of holistic palliative care. However, conceptualizations of spirituality are in transition in the nursing literature. No longer rooted within religion, spirituality is increasingly being defined by the universal search for meaning, connectedness, energy, and transcendence. To be human is to be spiritual. Some have argued that the concept of spirituality in the nursing literature has become so generic that it is no longer meaningful. A conceptualization that attempts to be all-encompassing of what it means to live a human life has a tendency to render invisible the differences that make life meaningful. For palliative patients in particular, a generic approach may obscure and relativize the important values and beliefs that inform the critical questions that many patients grapple with at end of life. A different approach to conceptualizing spirituality can be achieved through the use of typologies. Rather than obscuring difference, categories are constructed to illuminate how spirituality is understood within a diverse society and how those understandings might influence patient,provider relationships. What follows in this article is a dialogue illustrating one typology of spirituality constructed from a review of selected nursing literature. The hypothetical narrator and three participants, representing the positions of theism, monism, and humanism, discuss their understandings of spirituality and religion, and how those understandings influence the intersections between nursing ontology, epistemology, and spiritual care. [source] Time, human being and mental health care: an introduction to Gilles DeleuzeNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2005Marc Roberts RMN DiPHE BA(Hons) PGCE PGCRM MA PhD(c) Abstract, The French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze, is emerging as one of the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th century, having published widely on philosophy, literature, language, psychoanalysis, art, politics, and cinema. However, because of the ,experimental' nature of certain works, combined with the manner in which he draws upon a variety of sources from various disciplines, his work can seem difficult, obscure, and even ,willfully obstructive'. In an attempt to resist such impressions, this paper will seek to provide an accessible introduction to Deleuze's work, and to begin to discuss how it can be employed to provide a significant critique and reconceptualization of the theoretical foundations and therapeutic practices of psychiatry, psychotherapy, and mental health nursing. In order to do this, the paper will focus upon Deleuze's masterwork, and the cornerstone to his philosophy as a whole, Difference and Repetition; in particular, it will discuss how his innovative and challenging account of time can be employed to provide a conception of human life as a ,continuity', rather than as a series of distinct ,moments' or ,events'. As well as discussing the manner in which his work can provide us with an understanding of how life is different and significant for each human being, this paper will also highlight the potential importance of Deleuze's work for logotherapy, for the recent ,turn' to ,narrative' as a psychotherapeutic approach and for contemporary mental health care's growing interest in ,social constructionism'. As such, this paper also seeks to stimulate further discussion and research into the importance and the relevance of Deleuze's work for the theory and practice of psychiatry, psychotherapy, and mental health nursing. [source] Truth and validity in grounded theory , a reconsidered realist interpretation of the criteria: fit, work, relevance and modifiabilityNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2003Kirsten Lomborg RN BA MSN Abstract Grounded theory is a frequently used approach in nursing research. Over the years the methodology has developed in different directions with ambiguous answers to questions of truth and validity. This ambiguity influences the interpretation of the criteria for quality judgement of grounded theories: fit, work, relevance and modifiability. In particular, the criterion fit seems to be caught in a vacuum between different epistemological and ontological positions. Fit can be interpreted either from a realist or from a nonrealist position but both present problems. A realist position is problematic if it insists on an immutable empirical world and ignores the social and psychological aspects of human life. A nonrealist position can either be argued to rely on hidden realist assumptions and therefore to be inconsistent, or it can be relativistic, opening up the possibility of ,anything goes' attitudes in research and solipsistic confirmations of the world view of researchers with little or misleading practical impact. A reconsideration of the realist position is suggested, in which validity is regulated by the social constructed reality ,as it really is'. From this position fit is a matter of correspondence to facts in social reality. The criteria work, relevance and modifiability are argued to support the fitness of a theory, and to be useful in the broader evaluation of the quality of grounded theories. [source] The capability theory and welfare reformPACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2001Reiko Gotoh This essay examines the foundation of welfare reform in the light of Amartya Sen's capability theory and the implications of his theory in the context of contemporary industrialized society. A method to formulate the equality of capabilities and to capture its philosophical meaning is explored from the viewpoint of a fair distributive justice; two concepts of freedom, well-being freedom and agency freedom; and the process of human life. [source] Fundamentals of neuronal apoptosis relevant to pediatric anesthesiaPEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA, Issue 5 2010MORGAN BLAYLOCK PhD Summary The programmed cell death or apoptosis is a complex biochemical process that has risen to prominence in pediatric anesthesia. Preclinical studies report a dose-dependant neuronal apoptosis during synaptogenesis following exposure to intravenous and volatile anesthetic agents. Although emerging clinical data do not universally indicate an increased neurodegenerative risk of general anesthesia in early human life, a great deal of uncertainty was created within the pediatric anesthesia community. This was at least partially caused by the demand of understanding of basic science concepts and knowledge of apoptosis frequently out of reach to the clinician. It is, however, important for the pediatric anesthesiologist to be familiar with the basic science concepts of neuronal apoptosis to be able to critically evaluate current and future preclinical data in this area and future clinical studies. This current review describes the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways involved in the cell death process and discusses techniques commonly employed to determine apoptosis. In addition, potential mechanisms of anesthesia-induced neuronal apoptosis are illustrated in this review. [source] Forms of Our Life: Wittgenstein and the Later HeideggerPHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS, Issue 3 2010Michael Weston The paper argues that an internal debate within Wittgensteinian philosophy leads to issues associated rather with the later philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Rush Rhees's identification of the limitations of the notion of a "language game" to illuminate the relation between language and reality leads to his discussion of what is involved in the "reality" of language: "anything that is said has sense-if living has sense, not otherwise." But what is it for living to have sense? Peter Winch provides an interpretation and application of Rhees's argument in his discussion of the "reality" of Zande witchcraft and magic in "Understanding a Primitive Society". There he argues that such sense is provided by a language game concerned with the ineradicable contingency of human life, such as (he claims) Zande witchcraft to be. I argue, however, that Winch's account fails to answer the question why Zande witchcraft can find no application within our lives. I suggest that answering this requires us to raise the question of why Zande witchcraft "fits" with their other practices but cannot with ours, a question of "sense" which cannot be answered by reference to another language game. I use Joseph Epes Brown's account of Native American cultures (in Epes Brown 2001) as an exemplification of a form of coherence that constitutes what we may call a "world". I then discuss what is involved in this, relating this coherence to a relation to the temporal, which provides an internal connection between the senses of the "real" embodied in the different linguistic practices of these cultures. I relate this to the later Heidegger's account of the "History of Being", of the historical worlds of Western culture and increasingly of the planet. I conclude with an indication of concerns and issues this approach raises, ones characteristic of "Continental" rather than Wittgensteinian philosophy. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||