Justification and Anthropology

The author suggests that contemporary difficulties with respect to understanding the article of justification arise in large measure from the fact that justification has been separated from its anthropological rootage. At the same time, Dr. Lohff argues that the doctrine of justification offers great help to modern man, who often feels trapped in his very humanness. Furthermore, justification, when proclaimed properly, makes Christian unity possible. He describes justification briefly as the right and unequivocal determination of a human practice: to always live anew the life of faith in the Gospel

Die Entdeckung der Welt des Planktons

Only in the middle of the 19th century was it recognized by Johannes Müller that a specific form of life is present in the sea, which is characterized by the lack of own motion. Scientists like Thomas S. Huxley, Johann Christian Ehrenberg and, particularly, Ernst Haeckel contributed to recognition of the variety of the faunistic and floristic species belonging to plankton. Victor Hensen initiated a new period of biologicalquantitative study of the undermost level of the food chain. His concept was so successful that it became the starting point of modern plankton research

Die Josephs-Akademie im Wiener Josephinum

Unter Joseph II. wurde 1785 das Josephinum eröffnet und beheimatete die medizinisch-chirurgische Josephs-Akademie, die ausschließlich der Ausbildung für zukünftige Feldchirurgen und als Modell für mehrere Chirurgenschule in Europa diente. Im Laufe ihrer 90-jährigen Geschichte durchlief die militärärztliche Ausbildung, bedingt durch die Entwicklung in der Medizin als auch in der universitären ärztlichen Ausbildung, mehrere grundlegende Veränderungen. Diese führten zu Reformen der Studienpläne an der Akademie. Sie mussten aber zusätzlich berücksichtigen: „dass das Wesen eines wahren Feldarztes stets aus zwei Elementen bestehen müsse, nämlich aus dem ärztlichen-wissenschaftlichen und dem militärischen.“ (Ignaz Traugott Dreyer 1843). Auch wenn in der Medizin- und Militärgeschichte die Josephs-Akademie fast vergessen ist, so haben wichtige Persönlichkeiten an ihr gelehrt und bekannte Schüler ausgebildet

Die Bildlichkeit in den Romanen Ivan Aleksandrovič Gončarovs (1812-1891)

Diese Arbeit hat sich die Aufgabe gestellt, dem nachzugehen, was es mit der Trägheit eines Oblomov oder der Langeweile eines Rajskij auf sich hat und verwendet dafür die Bildlichkeit, um erneut einen Zugang zu dem Denken Gončarovs zu finden. Schon die Titel der drei Romane stecken das Arbeitsfeld ab. Der Titel "Obyknovennaja Istorija", Eine gewöhnliche Geschichte, zeigt, daß wir es mit alltäglichen Lebenserscheinungen zu tun haben, der Name "Oblomov" weist als sprechender Name auf die Zerstörung der Identität von der Person Oblomov und der Landschaft Oblomovka hin, der dritte Roman "Obryv" stellt das Symbol des Abgrunds in den Mittelpunkt des letzten Romans

Rediscovery of Otto Frank's contribution to science.

In the late 19th century, German physiologist Otto Frank (1865-1944) embarked on a near life-long research program of laying down the mathematical, methodological, and theoretical foundations in order to understand and define the performance of the heart and circulatory system in all their complexity. The existence of the 'Frank-Starling law' testifies to this. Two of his seminal publications have been translated into English previously, introducing Frank's research on the dynamics of the heart and the arterial pulse to a wider audience. It is likely that there are a host of other comparable achievements and publications of Frank that are still unknown to the international scientific (cardiological and physiological) community. However, their influence can still be felt and seen in modern cardiology and cardio-physiology, such as in the development of modern interactive simulating and teaching programs. We have translated and commented on ten of these papers, which can be read in parallel with the German originals. These publications show a wealth of theoretical assumptions and projections regarding the importance of the sarcomere, the development of models of contraction, thermo-dynamical considerations for muscular activity, differences between cardiac and skeletal muscles, problems related to methodology and measurement, and the first pressure-volume diagram (published 120 years ago). These topics were envisioned by Frank long before they became a focus of subsequent modern research. Nowadays, frequent measurements of pressure-volume relationships are made in research using the pressure-volume conductance catheter technique. In commenting Frank's scientific topics, we try to show how interconnected his thinking was, and thus how it enabled him to cover such a wide range of subjects. The authors regret that the following source was not mentioned. The portrait of the physiologist Otto Frank, shown on the front cover of JMCC volume 119 (June 2018), was kindly provided by the archive of University of Giessen/Germany copyright/permission: Universitätsarchiv Giessen/Germany Sign. HR A 114 a). The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Terrorism Preparedness in State Health Departments --- United States, 2001--2003

The anthrax attacks in fall 2001 highlighted the role of infectious disease (ID) epidemiologists in terrorism preparedness and response. Beginning in 2002, state health departments (SHDs) received approximately $1 billion in new federal funding to prepare for and respond to terrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and other public health threats and emergencies (1). This funding is being used in part to improve epidemiologic and surveillance capabilities. To determine how states have used a portion of their new funding to increase ID epidemiology capacity, the Iowa Department of Public Health\u27s Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology and the Iowa State University Department of Microbiology conducted two surveys of U.S. state epidemiologists during September 2000--August 2001 and October 2002--June 2003. This report summarizes the results of these surveys, which determined that although the number of SHD epidemiology workers assigned to ID and terrorism preparedness increased by 132%, concerns remained regarding the ability of SHDs to hire qualified personnel. These findings underscore the need to develop additional and more diverse training venues for current and future ID epidemiologists

Comparison of Skeletal Effects of Ovariectomy Versus Chemically Induced Ovarian Failure in Mice

Bone loss associated with menopause leads to an increase in skeletal fragility and fracture risk. Relevant animal models can be useful for evaluating the impact of ovarian failure on bone loss. A chemically induced model of menopause in which mice gradually undergo ovarian failure yet retain residual ovarian tissue has been developed using the chemical 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD). This study was designed to compare skeletal effects of VCD-induced ovarian failure to those associated with ovariectomy (OVX). Young (28 day) C57Bl/6Hsd female mice were dosed daily with vehicle or VCD (160 mg/kg/d, IP) for 15 days (n = 6–7/group) and monitored by vaginal cytology for ovarian failure. At the mean age of VCD-induced ovarian failure (∼6 wk after onset of dosing), a different group of mice was ovariectomized (OVX, n = 8). Spine BMD (SpBMD) was measured by DXA for 3 mo after ovarian failure and OVX. Mice were killed ∼5 mo after ovarian failure or OVX, and bone architecture was evaluated by μCT ex vivo. In OVX mice, SpBMD was lower than controls 1 mo after OVX, whereas in VCD-treated mice, SpBMD was not lower than controls until 2.9 mo after ovarian failure (p < 0.05). Both VCD-induced ovarian failure and OVX led to pronounced deterioration of trabecular bone architecture, with slightly greater effects in OVX mice. At the femoral diaphysis, cortical bone area and thickness did not differ between VCD mice and controls but were decreased in OVX compared with both groups (p < 0.05). Circulating androstenedione levels were preserved in VCD-treated mice but reduced in OVX mice relative to controls (p < 0.001). These findings support that (1) VCD-induced ovarian failure leads to trabecular bone deterioration, (2) bone loss is attenuated by residual ovarian tissue, particularly in diaphyseal cortical bone, and (3) the VCD mouse model can be a relevant model for natural menopause in the study of associated bone disorders

A connectome of the adult drosophila central brain

The neural circuits responsible for behavior remain largely unknown. Previous efforts have reconstructed the complete circuits of small animals, with hundreds of neurons, and selected circuits for larger animals. Here we (the FlyEM project at Janelia and collaborators at Google) summarize new methods and present the complete circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of a much more complex animal, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses, and proofread such large data sets; new methods that define cell types based on connectivity in addition to morphology; and new methods to simplify access to a large and evolving data set. From the resulting data we derive a better definition of computational compartments and their connections; an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel; detailed circuits for most of the central brain; and exploration of the statistics and structure of different brain compartments, and the brain as a whole. We make the data public, with a web site and resources specifically designed to make it easy to explore, for all levels of expertise from the expert to the merely curious. The public availability of these data, and the simplified means to access it, dramatically reduces the effort needed to answer typical circuit questions, such as the identity of upstream and downstream neural partners, the circuitry of brain regions, and to link the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents that can be used to study their functions. Note: In the next few weeks, we will release a series of papers with more involved discussions. One paper will detail the hemibrain reconstruction with more extensive analysis and interpretation made possible by this dense connectome. Another paper will explore the central complex, a brain region involved in navigation, motor control, and sleep. A final paper will present insights from the mushroom body, a center of multimodal associative learning in the fly brain

A connectome and analysis of the adult Drosophila central brain

The neural circuits responsible for animal behavior remain largely unknown. We summarize new methods and present the circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses in, and proofread such large data sets. We define cell types, refine computational compartments, and provide an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel. We provide detailed circuits consisting of neurons and their chemical synapses for most of the central brain. We make the data public and simplify access, reducing the effort needed to answer circuit questions, and provide procedures linking the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents. Biologically, we examine distributions of connection strengths, neural motifs on different scales, electrical consequences of compartmentalization, and evidence that maximizing packing density is an important criterion in the evolution of the fly’s brain