Metaphysics, Function and the Engineering of Life: the Problem of Vitalism

Vitalism was long viewed as the most grotesque view in biological theory: appeals to a mysterious life-force, Romantic insistence on the autonomy of life, or worse, a metaphysics of an entirely living universe. In the early twentieth century, attempts were made to present a revised, lighter version that was not weighted down by revisionary metaphysics: "organicism". And mainstream philosophers of science criticized Driesch and Bergson's "neovitalism" as a too-strong ontological commitment to the existence of certain entities or "forces", over and above the system of causal relations studied by mechanistic science, rejecting the weaker form, organicism, as well. But there has been some significant scholarly "push-back" against this orthodox attitude, notably pointing to the 18th-century Montpellier vitalists to show that there are different historical forms of vitalism, including how they relate to mainstream scientific practice (Wolfe and Normandin, eds. 2013). Additionally, some trends in recent biology that run counter to genetic reductionism and the informational model of the gene present themselves as organicist (Gilbert and Sarkar 2000, Moreno and Mossio 2015). Here, we examine some cases of vitalism in the twentieth century and today, not just as a historical form but as a significant metaphysical and scientific model. We argue for vitalism's conceptual originality without either reducing it to mainstream models of science or presenting it as an alternate model of science, by focusing on historical forms of vitalism, logical empiricist critiques thereof and the impact of synthetic biology on current (re-) theorizing of vitalism

PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN 37 HUMAN RENAL HOMOTRANSPLANTS TREATED WITH IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS

Pathological changes in thirty‐seven human renal homotransplants are described. All the patients had been treated with Imuran, prednisone and actinomycin C; ten had also received local X‐irradiation to the transplant. Fifteen of the transplants were from patients in a rejection phase. Most of these kidneys were enlarged because of interstitial oedema and several were speckled with petechial hemorrhages. There was fibrinoid necrosis of afferent arterioles and interlobular arteries in twelve of the transplants, and the peritubular capillaries were disrupted in ten. Swelling of the arteriolar endothelial cells, fibrino‐platelet and fibrous intimal thickening of interlobular arteries were also common. In most of the transplants there was a light infiltration with small lymphocytes, plasma cells and a few larger pyroninophilic cells. Similar changes were present in the pelvis and ureter. Twelve of the transplants came from patients whose last rejection episode had been clinically reversed 14 to 117 days previously. AH these kidneys were enlarged because of compensatory hypertrophy. Seven showed some intimal thickening of the interlobular arteries and in three there was fibrinoid necrosis of arteriolar walls. Tubular atrophy, interstitial fibrosis and a light cellular infiltration were also common changes. Only one kidney appeared normal. Three transplants came from patients who had not experienced clinical evidence of a rejection episode. One showed acute tubular necrosis due to prolonged ischemia at the time of transplantation; one was almost normal; the third showed vascular lesions suggestive of old unrecognised rejection. Seven transplants had either not functioned or developed some complication necessitating their early removal. One of these was infarcted due to obstruction of the venous drainage; two showed massive acute tubular necrosis due to ischaemia; two, which were incompatible with their hosts on the basis of ABO blood groups, failed to excrete urine and showed distension of the arterioles and glomerular capillaries with erythrocytes; one bled uncontrollably from the pelvis; one came from a patient who died at twelve hours from hyperkalemia and hyponatremia during a massive post‐operative diuresis. This work was aided by grants A‐6283, A‐6344, HE‐07735, AM‐07772, AI‐01452, and OG‐27 from the U.S. Public Health Service, and by a grant from the Medical Research Council. The necropsies on cases described in this paper were either performed or supervised by Drs Coral Cotterall, Doris Courington, Carol Ewing, R. B. Hill, J. Jamroz, D. W. King, D. M. Lang, Martha La Via, Elizabeth Macintyre, N. McGrath, J. C. Maisel, C. G. Massion, D. R. Meekin, H. B. Neustein, S. Ryan, and D. E. Smith. We would like to thank all these pathologists for making this study possible. We are particularly grateful to Dr D. T. Rowlands, who supervised some of the necropsies, for his helpful co‐operation throughout this study. Expert assistance in preparing the sections and photomicrographs was given by Miss Jane Rendall. © 1965 BJU International Compan

Alquimia

Todos já passamos por situações que não sabíamos explicar, ou tivemos perguntas que as pessoas ao nosso redor não sabiam responder, essas dúvidas frequentemente estão relacionadas à área de exatas, muito presente em nossas vidas porém não de forma clara. Em uma busca web por esse tipo de informação é comum a pessoa se deparar com sites que usam o sistema SPR (sistema deperguntas e respostas) como por exemplo, Yahoo Respostas e o Passei Direto, contudo esses sites possuem características que podem gerar uma má experiência para o usuário. Este projeto tem como objetivo desenvolver um SPR visando a desmistificação dos fenômenos físico-químicos, utilizando de um sistema de hierarquia para garantir a confiabilidade das respostas

Lessons of organ-induced tolerance learned from historical clinical experience

Although the reductionist approach has served science well for 400 years, the accumulation of details can obscure the truth if the original premise is incorrect. One such premise has been that successful organ transplantation and bone marrow engraftment are fundamentally different outcomes involving separate and distinct mechanisms. Some historical clinical observations pointed to a different conclusion almost from the beginning and included clues about how to induce tolerance with the aid of immunosuppression