IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT TIME-SCALES IN NONEQUILIBRIUM COMMUNITY DYNAMICS - CONCLUSIONS FROM PHYTOPLANKTON SURVEYS

This paper is a reflection on J.B. Wilson's (1990) publication which presents an attempt to understand the development of terrestrial plant communities of New Zealand against twelve different explanations of Hutchinson's Paradox. I make a rough comparison between terrestrial and planktonic communities; then I briefly review Hutchinson's Paradox and some of the later relevant phytoplankton results. I summarize the relevance of the IDH in phytoplankton dynamics, assessing its strengths and weaknesses; and finally, try to project our conclusions to terrestrial plant communities; this concerns chiefly the need for appropriate spatial and temporal scaling

“It is only extra information…”: Social representation and value preferences of gay men in Hungary

Nowadays the grounds for existence of homosexual identities can be questioned: in an increasing number of societies we can witness that homosexuality loses its identity constructing capacity. In these places homosexuality is not a focal point of social attention any longer, and while same-sex attraction can remain an important factor in organising one’s individual life, it will not hinder the social integration of individuals. Thus if homosexuality still has a strong identity constructing capacity in a society, it can suggest that the given society is dominated by exclusive monolithic homosexual and heterosexual identity patterns which can threaten the successful social integration of people. The presupposition of my research is that the salience of homosexual identities—attributed by outgroups, and internalised by ingroup members— is a social symptom. The (potentially unifying) concept and the practical realisation of homosexual identity can be seen as the product of social stigmatisation and discrimination: the greater the proportion of signs of rejecting individual difference, the more widespread personal and group identities are organised by and around these differences. This type of stigmatisation can be interpreted in general as a social symptom reflecting the rejection of the right to be different. This paper presents findings of empirical research conducted between 1998 and 2000 in Hungary on the social representation and the value preferences of Hungarian men identifying themselves as gays.1 In the first part of the paper I will present quantitative research findings on the specific value preferences of Hungarian gay men that could be interpreted as indicators of the existence of homosexual identities. In the second part I will present qualitative findings focusing on the connection between social representation of homosexuality and the development of threatened identities

Toward Integration of Religion and Medical Ethics

Having practiced neuropsychiatry in communist East-Central Europe for sixteen years, and now studying theology and ethics, the author argues for the necessity of medical praxis that integrates theological thinking. She uses illustrations from her cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural experience to suggest an integrative model. She encounters the dilemma of facing two radically different interpretative models, the cognitive scientific and the theological; and she concludes that she need not choose between them

Difference bodies in complex vector spaces

A complete classification is obtained of continuous, translation invariant, Minkowski valuations on an m-dimensional complex vector space which are covariant under the complex special linear group.Comment: 17 page

Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Moschcowitz Syndrome

The authors present a case of a 16-year-old boy, who was referred to the hospital due to thrombocytopenia, anemia, proteinuria and hyperbilirubinemia. Based on the clinical picture and the laboratory data, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) was diagnosed. The adequate therapy was immediately started. TTP is quite a rare entity. The etiology and the pathogenesis are not well defined. The authors summarize the different pathomechanisms, which may play a role in the development of TTP. Similarity to the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), therapeutic possibilities, prognosis and the outcome are also discussed. The importance of the early diagnosis of TTP in childhood, and life-saving effect of the adequate treatment are emphasized