On Enmity, Terror and Fear

In this article, HARM presents a small excerpt from Ernst E. Boesch’s book “Von Kunst bis Terror - Über den Zwiespalt in der Kultur” [From art to terror - On the dichotomy in culture], published in 2005. The editors of HARM want to draw attention to a psychologist and social theorist who saw himself as a cultural psychologist and, as such, wanted to show how much more complex, ambivalent, opaque and unpredictable human thinking, feeling, behaviour, and actions are than mainstream psychology — which models and primarily quantifies and measures — would have us believe. This, according to one of his convictions which continues to shape modern cultural psychology, is because it recognises humans not primarily as natural creatures, but also as cultural beings who, as beings gifted with special language, are entangled in an indissoluble network of meaningful symbolic worlds and thus are capable of manifold processes of sense-making. In order to depict and reconstruct these entanglements and to understand their significance for human experience, attitudes and actions, Boesch argues that hermeneutic-interpretative procedures are required which, we are convinced, also contribute significantly to refining the depiction and analysis of phenomena that are relevant in the context of HARM. — Boesch’s text is preceded by a brief introduction to his life, his thinking and the selected text

Die Realität als Metapher

'Menschliches Handeln orientiert sich nicht an einer wie auch immer verfassten 'objektiven' Realität, sondern vielmehr an der Erfahrungsrealität, der 'erlebten' Wirklichkeit. Diese spezifisch menschliche Realität wird nicht nur auf sachbezogene Weise erlebt, sondern ebenso auf symbolische. Symbole jedoch sind polyvalent, sie verweisen als Metaphern auf unterschiedliche handlungsleitende Bedeutungen. Bedeutungen wiederum gewinnen Objekte oder Symbole erst aus kulturellen Bewertungs- und Erklärungssystemen, der persönlichen Vergangenheit des Subjekts als auch der Valenz der Situation. Damit wird hier nichts weniger als ein Entwurf einer Kultur- und Handlungspsychologie intendiert. Das Selbst und seine Identität erwachsen den symbolischen Handlungen, denn diese vereinen sich in dem, was wir sind: intentionale Subjekte.' (Autorenreferat)'Human action is not oriented towards an 'objective' reality (Realität), but rather towards its subjective interpretation, experienced reality (Wirklichkeit). This specific human reality is not only experienced in an instrumental, but also in symbolic way. But symbols are polyvalent; as metaphors they refer to different meanings of situations. However the meaning of any symbol or object is constituted in cultural systems of evaluation and explanation, the personal history of the subject as well as the valence of the situation itself. In combining these elements, Boesch outlines a concept of a cultural action theory. The self and its identity arise from symbolic action and this is what makes us intentional subjects.' (author's abstract)

Nrf2-dependent gene expression is affected by the proatherogenic apoE4 genotype-studies in targeted gene replacement mice

An apoE4 genotype is an important risk factor for cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. The higher cardiovascular disease risk of apoE4 carriers as compared to the apoE3 genotype has been mainly attributed to the differences in blood lipids between the two genotype subgroups. Recently, a potential protective role of the transcription factor Nrf2 in cardiovascular disease prevention has been suggested. In this study, we show that Nrf2-dependent gene expression is affected by the apoE genotype. ApoE4 vs. apoE3 mice exhibited lower hepatic Nrf2 nuclear protein levels. Furthermore, mRNA and protein levels of Nrf2 target genes including glutathione-S-transferase, heme oxygenase-1 and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase, quinone 1 were significantly lower in apoE4 as compared to apoE3 mice. Lower hepatic mRNA levels of phase II enzymes, as observed in apoE4 vs. apoE3 mice, were accompanied by higher mRNA levels of phase I enzymes including Cyp26a1 and Cyp3a16. Furthermore, miRNA-144, miRNA-125b, and miRNA-29a involved in Nrf2 signaling, inflammation, and regulation of phase I enzyme gene expression were affected by the apoE genotype. We provide first evidence that Nrf2 is differentially regulated in response to the apoE genotype

Diagnostic and prognostic value of cerebral 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy in neonates with perinatal asphyxia.

The impact of depressed neonatal cerebral oxidative phosphorylation for diagnosing the severity of perinatal asphyxia was estimated by correlating the concentrations of phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP as determined by magnetic resonance spectroscopy with the degree of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in 23 asphyxiated term neonates. Ten healthy age-matched neonates served as controls. In patients, the mean concentrations +/- SD of PCr and ATP were 0.99 +/- 0.46 mmol/L (1.6 +/- 0.2 mmol/L) and 0.99 +/- 0.35 mmol/L (1.7 +/- 0.2 mmol/L), respectively (normal values in parentheses). [PCr] and [ATP] correlated significantly with the severity of HIE (r = 0.85 and 0.9, respectively, p < 0.001), indicating that the neonatal encephalopathy is the clinical manifestation of a marred brain energy metabolism. Neurodevelopmental outcome was evaluated in 21 children at 3, 9, and 18 mo. Seven infants had multiple impairments, five were moderately handicapped, five had only mild symptoms, and four were normal. There was a significant correlation between the cerebral concentrations of PCr or ATP at birth and outcome (r = 0.8, p < 0.001) and between the degree of neonatal neurologic depression and outcome (r = 0.7). More important, the outcome of neonates with moderate HIE could better be predicted with information from quantitative 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy than from neurologic examinations. In general, the accuracy of outcome predictability could significantly be increased by adding results from 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy to the neonatal neurologic score, but not vice versa. No correlation with outcome was found for other perinatal risk factors, including Apgar score

Apolipoprotein E genotype affects tissue metallothionein levels: studies in targeted gene replacement mice

The apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype is an important risk factor for ageing and age-related diseases. The APOE4 genotype (in contrast to APOE3) has been shown to be associated with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Metallothioneins (MT) exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, and MT overexpression has been shown to increase lifespan in mice. Interactions between APOE and MT, however, are largely unknown. Hence, we determined the effect of the APOE4 versus APOE3 genotype on MT levels in targeted gene replacement mice. APOE4 versus APOE3 mice exhibited significantly lower hepatic MT1 and MT2 mRNA as well as lower MT protein levels. The decrease in hepatic MT protein levels in APOE4 as compared to APOE3 mice was accompanied by lower nuclear Nrf1, a protein partly controlling MT gene expression. Cell culture experiments using hepatocytes identified allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC) as a potent MT inductor in vitro. Therefore, we supplemented APOE3 and APOE4 mice with AITC. However, AITC (15 mg/kg b.w.) could only partly correct for decreased MT1 and MT2 gene expression in APOE4 mice in vivo. Furthermore, cholesterol significantly decreased both Nrf1 and MT mRNA levels in Huh7 cells indicating that differences in MT gene expression between the two genotypes could be related to differences in hepatic cholesterol concentrations. Overall, present data suggest that the APOE genotype is an important determinant of tissue MT levels in mice and that MT gene expression may be impaired by the APOE4 genotype