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Proper Method (proper + method)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The Logic of Action: Indeterminacy, Emotion, and Historical Narrative

HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2001
William M. Reddy
Modern social theory, by and large, has aimed at reducing the complexity of action situations to a set of manageable abstractions. But these abstractions, whether functionalist or linguistic, fail to grasp the indeterminacy of action situations. Action proceeds by discovery and combination. The logic of action is serendipitous and combinative. From these characteristics, a number of consequences flow: The whole field of our intentions is engaged in each action situation, and cannot really be understood apart from the situation itself. In action situations we remain aware of the problems of categorization, including the dangers of infinite regress and the difficulties of specifying borders and ranges of categories. In action situations, attention is in permanent danger of being overwhelmed. We must deal with many features of action situations outside of attention; in doing so, we must entertain simultaneously numerous possibilities of action. Emotional expression is a way of talking about the kinds of possibilities we entertain. Expression and action have a rebound effect on attention. "Effort" is required to find appropriate expressions and actions, and rebound effects play a role in such effort, making it either easier or more difficult. Recent theoretical trends have failed to capture these irreducible characteristics of action situations, and have slipped into a number of errors. Language is not rich in meanings or multivocal, except as put to use in action situations. The role of "convention" in action situations is problematic, and therefore one ought not to talk of "culture." Contrary to the assertions of certain theorists, actors do not follow strategies, except when they decide to do so. Actors do not "communicate," in the sense of exchanging information, except in specially arranged situations. More frequently, they intervene in the effortful management of attention of their interlocutors. Dialogue, that is, very commonly becomes a form of cooperative emotional effort. From these considerations, it follows that the proper method for gaining social knowledge is to examine the history of action and of emotional effort, and to report findings in the form of narrative. [source]

Cultivating Sentimental Dispositions Through Aristotelian Habituation

JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 4 2004
Jan Steutel
The beliefs both that sentimental education is a vital part of moral education and that habituation is a vital part of sentimental education can be counted as being at the ,hard core' of the Aristotelian tradition of moral thought and action. On the basis of an explanation of the defining characteristics of Aristotelian habituation, this paper explores how and why habituation may be an effective way of cultivating the sentimental dispositions that are constitutive of the moral virtues. Taking Aristotle's explicit remarks on ethismos as a starting point, we present habituation as essentially involving (i) acting as virtue requires, (ii) both frequently and consistently, and (iii) under the supervision of a virtuous tutor. If the focus is on the first two characteristics, habituation seems to be a proper method for acquiring skills or inculcating habits, rather than an effective way of cultivating virtuous sentimental dispositions. It will be argued, however, that even if only the first two characteristics are taken into account, habituation may be an efficacious means of moderating, reducing or restricting the child's affective dispositions where these are somehow excessive. But contrary to Aristotle's view, the effectiveness of processes of habituation that are directed at strengthening, deepening or broadening the child's sentimental dispositions where these are somehow deficient seems to be a function of the third characteristic, especially of the affective responses of the virtuous tutor to the child's behaviour. At the end of the paper, this predominantly non-cognitive account of the workings of Aristotelian habituation will be compared with Nancy Sherman's primarily cognitive view. [source]

Hypothermia during the infusion of cryopreserved autologous peripheral stem cell causes electrocardiographical changes: Report of two cases

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2006
Fahri Sahin
Abstract Currently, autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation used as a therapeutic modality in the treatment of various hematological malignancies is gaining more popularity day by day. In this method, the patient's own peripheral stem cells are collected by a proper method and stored at ,80°C until they are reinfused into the patient after being rewarmed in water bath at 37°C. A number of complications have been reported related to reinfusion of the cryopreserved cells into the patient. These may include noncardiovascular complications such as nausea, vomiting, flushing, abdominal pain, chest discomfort, and headache, as well as cardiovascular complications like arrhythmias, hypotension, and hypertension. Hypothermia related to rapid infusion has been reported as the main factor underlying the cardiovascular complications. Electrocardiographic findings of hypothermia include sinusal bradycardia, prolonged QT and PR intervals, widened QRS complexes, and J wave, which is a ECG abnormality characterized by supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. We here present two cases of giant J wave caused by hypothermia during infusion of cryopreserved autologous peripheral stem cell that is detected by ECG and regressed after infusion ceased. Am. J. Hematol. 81:627,630, 2006. © Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Effects of Cyclic Stretch Waveform on Endothelial Cell Morphology Using Fractal Analysis

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 6 2010
Nooshin Haghighipour
Abstract Endothelial cells are remodeled when subjected to cyclic loading. Previous in vitro studies have indicated that frequency, strain amplitude, and duration are determinants of endothelial cell morphology, when cells are subjected to cyclic strain. In addition to those parameters, the current study investigated the effects of strain waveform on morphology of cultured endothelial cells quantified by fractal and topological analyses. Cultured endothelial cells were subjected to cyclic stretch by a designed device, and cellular images before and after tests were obtained. Fractal and topological parameters were calculated by development of an image-processing code. Tests were performed for different load waveforms. Results indicated cellular alignment by application of cyclic stretch. By alteration of load waveform, statistically significant differences between cell morphology of test groups were observed. Such differences are more prominent when load cycles are elevated. The endothelial cell remodeling was optimized when the applied cyclic load waveform was similar to blood pressure waveform. Effects of load waveform on cell morphology are influenced by alterations in load amplitude and frequency. It is concluded that load waveform is a determinant of endothelial morphology in addition to amplitude and frequency, and such effect is elevated by increase of load cycles. Due to high correlation between fractal and topological analyses, it is recommended that fractal analysis can be used as a proper method for evaluation of alteration in cell morphology and tissue structure caused by application of external stimuli such as mechanical loading. [source]