Mulla Sadra and the mind-body problem: A critical assessment of Sadra’s approach to the dichotomy of soul and spirit

Abstract The presence of some ambiguity about the two terms of soul and spirit, which up until now has not been considered, has been investigated in this research. This ambiguity has created problems in different fields of study such as philosophy, psychology and commentaries of religious texts. This is because the two words are usually used synonymously. The main aim of this research is to investigate whether the human being has an independent spirit in addition to the body and the soul or not. In other words it is attempting to establish if man is a tripartite existence made of body, soul and spirit. In order to attain this aim the ideas of various philosophers are discussed on different subjects regarding the soul with particular attention to the philosophical system introduced in the seventeenth century AD by the Muslim philosopher, Sadr al-din Shirazi. This consisted of two other philosophical systems in Islamic philosophy, peripatetic (mashā‟) and illuminative („ishrāq) combined with mystical and religious teachings. His idea about the soul was set as the basis for the arguments regarding the soul and the ideas of other philosophers were compared to it. This research explores the principles that form Sadra‟s beliefs about the soul. One of Sadra‟s principles, the fundamentality of existence, is explained. This principle aims to prove the reality of the external world and the soul as one of these realities. The topics of motion and time and the views of philosophers about these are cited. In addition, another Sadra‟s important principles, trans-substantial motion, is mentioned and explained and it is suggested that the difference between Sadra‟s and other philosophers‟ ideas about the soul lies in accepting or rejecting motion in substance. According to Sadra, the soul which is material at the beginning of its creation moves towards immateriality by trans-substantial motion. Then philosophers‟ ideas about the soul are mentioned as well as their disagreements regarding different issues such as immateriality, motion, origination of the soul etc. In addition, the problem that Sadra‟s philosophical system faces in regard to the soul is discussed in particular since it is the main aim of this research. It is concluded that Sadra‟s idea is more complete than the other ideas regarding the soul. The existence of the soul found a better justification in this idea. The problem of dualism of the soul and body with which other philosophers were faced has been resolved. Meanwhile the problem of this philosophical idea which sees the soul to be the same as the spirit was investigated and it was stated that this problem has caused many diversities of opinion between philosophers in subjects related to the soul. The propounded solution for all the cases was to accept the dichotomy of the soul and spirit. Religious texts have been classified, analysed and used to support this idea and by using different evidences it was confirmed that the soul and the spirit are two independent substances and that the human being is a tripartite existence

A LabVIEW program to obtain the initiating component of a vergence eye movement in an open-loop experiment

The vergence oculomotor system is used in viewing objects moving in depth, such as when a baseball player tracks a ball moving towards him. It is composed of two components according to the Dual Mode Theory; a fast preprogrammed initiating component and a slow feedback-controlled sustaining component. The initiating component is described with open-loop control and the sustaining component is described as a closed-loop feedback control system. Previously, several languages have been utilized to develop programs to study and isolate the open-loop portion of vergence eye movements. Presenting a subject with a stimulus, which initiates an open-loop response has been speculated to adapt the vergence system more then other stimuli. This study utilizes LabVIEW 6i in developing a program capable of real time experimentation to study the open-loop portion of vergence eye movements. LabVIEW offers many options to the programmer and operator with a user-friendly interface for program development as well as an open architecture, allowing flexibility for future studies. This research validated that LabVIEW can be used for open-loop experimentation through a timing analysis and a comparison proving that responses obtained from this code are similar to data published in the literature

Seasonal distribution of CCHF vectors in Khouzistan province, Iran during 2013-2014

Background: Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a severe tick-born illness caused by the CCHFV. Herd are Playing the main host to ticks, and ticks are a vector of CCHF. Therefore, this survey on ticks of Khouzistan province carried out in 2013, in the Southwest of Iran , in order to specify tick species parasitizing livestocks and their seasonal population dynamics.Methods: During a survey for possible tick population of Khouzistan province as one of the critical epidemiologic areas in Iran, ticks were collected from the body of infested animals by a tweezer and then transported to the laboratory of Medical Entomology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and finally were identifified to genus and species level using identification key.Results: A total number of 372 hard ticks were collected randomly from 458 livestocks in 7 different cities. Shosh was the most infected city in this study. The ticks occur on sheep, goats, cow, as 84.12%, 12.69 % and 3.17%, respectively. In the study 2 genus and six species of hard ticks were identified including Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Hyalomma anatolicum, Hyalomma asiaticum, Hyalomma sp., Hyalomma marginatum and Rhipicephalus turanicus. Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the most frequent species in the study area.Conclusion: Outbreak of human cases of CCHF in parallel with ticks’ distribiution shows the importance of this survey. Despite of studies that have been done on ticks distribution and ticks infestation in Iran recently but no study has been done yet about this field in this province

Child rights in the Indian media: barriers and enablers

Working with activists, academics, NGOs and other child-rights experts in India, Kenya and Brazil, Internews Europe conducted in-depth research to assess the media’s role in protecting and promoting child rights. Some insights from the India research are presented in this blog. LSE alumna and India researcher Neeti Daftari and Shakuntala Banaji, Programme Director for the Master’s in Media, Communication and Development at LSE, summarise some of the findings of the reports produced and suggest that with training, targeted resources and ethical sensitivity, the media in India could do far more to improve and secure the rights, lives and futures of hundreds of millions of Indian children

Ab initio calculations of 13C NMR chemical shielding in some N4O2, N4S2 and N6 Schiff base ligands containing piperazine moiety

The calculation of 13C isotropic shielding constants by means of GIAO and CSGT methods of eight Schiff base ligands containing piperazine moiety at the Hartree-Fock and B3LYP levels of theory are presented. Good linear correlations between the calculated chemical shielding at gas-phase and experimental shift values in CDCl3 solution were obtained. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(2d,p) level of theory is used to optimize the geometry of ligands. Calculated nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts 13C are reported for the some N4O2, N4S2 and N6 Schiff base ligands containing piperazine moiety. In order to establish a convenient and consistent protocol to be employed for confirming the experimental 13C NMR spectra of Schiff base ligands, different combinations of models and basis sets were considered. The most reliable results were obtained at B3LYP/6-311G++ (d,p) level and CSGT method which can be used to predict 13C NMR chemical shifts with a very high accuracy for latter compounds. These results show the agreement between theoretical and experimental 13C NMR chemical shielding of mentioned ligands

The intersection of pragmatics and applied linguistics in teaching speech acts: Apologies perspective

This study dealt with the implication of the pragmatics research to EFL teaching. The study explored the effect of implicit teaching of apology speech act by native English speakers in elementary, intermediate and advanced EFL classrooms during eight successive weeks. The Discourse Completion Test (DCT) taken from Tunçel (1999) with reliability of 75% was used as pre-test, and the DCT taken from Bataineh (2006) was used as post-test. The results of the data analysis revealed that learners’ use of apology speech act improved. We also observed that intermediate and advance level EFL learners make different use of apology strategies depending on the situation

Sympathetic Blocks Provided Sustained Pain Relief in a Patient with Refractory Painful Diabetic Neuropathy

The sympathetic nervous system has been implicated in pain associated with painful diabetic neuropathy. However, therapeutic intervention targeted at the sympathetic nervous system has not been established. We thus tested the hypothesis that sympathetic nerve blocks significantly reduce pain in a patient with painful diabetic neuropathy who has failed multiple pharmacological treatments. The diagnosis of small fiber sensory neuropathy was based on clinical presentations and confirmed by skin biopsies. A series of 9 lumbar sympathetic blocks over a 26-month period provided sustained pain relief in his legs. Additional thoracic paravertebral blocks further provided control of the pain in the trunk which can occasionally be seen in severe diabetic neuropathy cases, consequent to extensive involvement of the intercostal nerves. These blocks provided sustained and significant pain relief and improvement of quality of life over a period of more than two years. We thus provided the first clinical evidence supporting the notion that sympathetic nervous system plays a critical role in painful diabetic neuropathy and sympathetic blocks can be an effective management modality of painful diabetic neuropathy. We concluded that the sympathetic nervous system is a valuable therapeutic target of pharmacological and interventional modalities of treatments in painful diabetic neuropathy patients

Initial Experience with Sildenafil, Bosentan, and Nitric Oxide for Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Patients with Elevated Pulmonary Vascular Resistance before and after Orthotopic Heart Transplantation

Background. Although pulmonary hypertension complicating dilated cardiomyopathy has been shown to be a significant risk factor for graft failure after heart transplantation, the upper limits of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) that would contraindicate pediatric heart transplantation are not known. Methods. A retrospective review of all pediatric orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) performed at our institution from 2002 to 2007 was performed. Seven patients with PVR > 6 Wood's units (WU) prior to transplant were compared pre- and postoperatively with 20 matched controls with PVR < 6 WU. All pulmonary vasodilator therapies used are described as well as outcomes during the first year posttransplant. Results. The mean PVR prior to transplantation in the 7 study cases was 11.0 ± 4.6 (range 6–22) WU, compared to mean PVR of 3.07 ± 0.9 WU (0.56–4.5) in the controls (P = .27 × 10−6). All patients with elevated PVR were treated pre-OHT with either Sildenafil or Bosentan. Post-OHT, case patients received a combination of sildenafil, iloprost, and inhaled nitric oxide. All 7 case patients survived one year post-OHT, and there was no statistical difference between cases and controls for hospital stay, rejection/readmissions, or graft right ventricular failure. Mean PVR in the cases at one and three months post-OHT was not significantly different between the two groups. Only one of the cases required prolonged treatment with iloprost after OHT. Conclusions. A PVR above 6 WU should not be an absolute contraindication to heart transplantation in children

New approach in prediction of soil liquefaction

Liquefaction is the phenomena when there is loss of strength in saturated and cohesion-less soils because of increased pore water pressures and hence reduced effective stresses due to dynamic loading. It is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. In this study, after the short review of liquefaction definition, the models of prediction and estimation of liquefaction were considered. Application of numerical modelling with two major software (FLAC & PLAXIS) for the Wildlife site liquefaction, under superstition earthquake in 1987 were compared and analysed. Third step was started with introduction of Fuzzy logic and neural network as two common intelligent mathematical methods. These two patterns for prediction of soil liquefaction were combined. The “Neural network- Fuzzy logic-Liquefaction- Prediction” (NFLP) was applied for liquefaction prediction in Wildlife site. The results show the powerful prediction of liquefaction happening with high degree of accuracy in this case

New approach in prediction of soil liquefaction

Liquefaction is the phenomena when there is loss of strength in saturated and cohesion-less soils because of increased pore water pressures and hence reduced effective stresses due to dynamic loading. It is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. In this study, after the short review of liquefaction definition, the models of prediction and estimation of liquefaction were considered. Application of numerical modelling with two major software (FLAC & PLAXIS) for the Wildlife site liquefaction, under superstition earthquake in 1987 were compared and analysed. Third step was started with introduction of Fuzzy logic and neural network as two common intelligent mathematical methods. These two patterns for prediction of soil liquefaction were combined. The “Neural network- Fuzzy logic-Liquefaction- Prediction” (NFLP) was applied for liquefaction prediction in Wildlife site. The results show the powerful prediction of liquefaction happening with high degree of accuracy in this case