An examination of the sources of Plutarch's lives of Nicias % Lysander

Source-criticism of the lives of Nicia and Lysander makes it clear that Plutarch did not adopt any uniform method in the compilation of his lives, nor was he wholly dependant upon late and wothless sources. Each lie constituted a seperate problem, requiring seperate examinantion. For the nicias, in his description of the Sicilian Expedition, he made us of Timaeus' History of Sicily, thereby incorporating Thucydides and the eye-witness record of Philistus, which formed the basis of Timaeus' account; in his description of the character of Nicias to book X of the Philippica of the Theopompus. Thus, two historians supplied the biographer with the information in aneadotal form which his required for his appreciation of the Nicias, little differernt from extant writers have recorded about him. Plutarch's approach to the Lysander was different. He was aware of two traditions - one complimentary, the other wholly derogatory. The greater part of the narrative of the Lysander is encomistic and based upon the Hellenica of Theopompus, which covered the short period of Greek History monopolised by the achievements of Lysander, and was indebted to the Hellenica of Xenophon. But small section of the Lysander was based upon a 'Hostile source', which was also used to Nepos. This source, apparently a Hellenistic biography, adapted and distorted the historical facts of Ephorus, making use of the politial pamphlets of Pausanias the younger, king of Sparta, exiled in 395 B. C. The result is a curiously contradictory life, which preserves the conflicting estimate of Lysander current in the century after his demie. In addition, both lives contain Plutarch's reflexions upon his material and his sources, or digressions of a topographical and archaelogical nature, supplemented by apophthegms noted own by the biographer in the earlier reading

The essential role of physician as advocate: how and why we pass it on

There is consensus amongst regulatory and certifying associations that the role of physician as advocate is a fundamental competency for Canadian physicians. Understanding what advocacy is and looks like in daily practice is integral to achieving this competency. Identifying barriers and exploring how we as physicians acquire the skills of advocacy are discussed. The current state of advocacy in medical education is reviewed as the starting point for exploring how best to foster the skills of physician as advocate.

Specialized physiological studies in support of manned space flight

The effects of a diuretic (Lasix) induced dehydration on the cardiovascular and hematological responses to lower body negative pressure (LBNP) were analyzed and compared to previous observations on dehydration following exercise in the heat. During LBNP runs the subjects were monitored for changes in blood volume, heart rate, blood pressure, and variations in the volume of the left calf. It was concluded that Lasix dehydration produced a depletion of the body electrolytes at the expense of both the plasma and extravascular compartments. Striking differences were found between those subjects who were physically active (Runners: R) and those who did not engage in any regular physical activity (Non-runners: NR). Tolerance to LBNP (Torr x min) was significantly lower in the R's than the NR's before and after dehydration, however the R's lost more of their tolerance after dehydration with Lasix than after exercise in the heat for about the same fluid loss. The opposite was true for the NR's. Two factors appear to be responsible for the lower LBNP tolerance in R's: parasympathetic inhibition of cardiac activity during LBNP and a greater propensity to pool blood in the lower extremities

Coherent states on the circle

We present a possible construction of coherent states on the unit circle as configuration space. In our approach the phase space is the product Z x S^1. Because of the duality of canonical coordinates and momenta, i.e. the angular variable and the integers, this formulation can also be interpreted as coherent states over an infinite periodic chain. For the construction we use the analogy with our quantization over a finite periodic chain where the phase space was Z_M x Z_M. Properties of the coherent states constructed in this way are studied and the coherent states are shown to satisfy the resolution of unity.Comment: 7 pages, presented at GROUP28 - "28th International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics", Newcastle upon Tyne, July 2010. Accepted in Journal of Physics Conference Serie

Kaliopenic nephropathy revisited

In the 'older' literature, a definitive renal pathology was described in patients with long-standing hypokalaemia and depletion of the body's potassium reserves. The topic is relevant because possibly a quite cheaply reversible element in the course of chronic kidney disease progression could be addressed. Earlier, pathologists drew attention to vacuolar changes in renal tubular epithelium accompanied by inflammatory interstitial changes in patients with potassium losses. The diagnostic term 'kaliopenic nephropathy' was coined to describe such patients. Kaliopenic nephropathy now receives less emphasis than in earlier times. However, with eating disorders, laxative abuse and other potential causes, we suggest that the syndrome should be resurrected

Advancing Learning Health Systems Through Embedded Research: The 23rd Annual Conference of the Health Care Systems Research Network

The 23rd annual conference of the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN, formerly the HMO Research Network) was held in San Diego, California, March 21–23, 2017, attracting 387 attendees. As a consortium of 20 research organizations embedded in or affiliated with large health care delivery organizations, the HCSRN has held annual research conferences since 1994. The overall aim of the conferences is to bring researchers, project staff, research funders and other stakeholders together to share latest scientific findings and foster new research ideas and collaborations. The 2017 conference was hosted by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute. Each host site takes responsibility for the content and structure of the conference, and the 2017 team introduced several new features. In particular, past conferences used concurrent sessions to present research results in different topical areas, such as chronic disease, cancer, health informatics, mental health or precision medicine. This year, concurrent sessions shifted to panel discussions about how research results were achieved, including the use of methods, partnerships and analytic approaches. The 35 panels were organized into tracks such as engagement, data and informatics, partnerships and research implementation. Scientific results from HCSRN projects were presented via 120 posters in two poster sessions. Plenary sessions included a town hall-style panel with different funding agency representatives, an opening presentation on the range of opportunities and benefits to studying health systems, and a concluding presentation on how researchers can apply design thinking in their work

The use of EMDR therapy for couples considering divorce: theory and practice

Accepted author manuscriptSince its introduction in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) has gained a solid body of evidence for its efficacious use in treating trauma and its effects. The process of divorce is likely to activate what is known as “small t” trauma reactions in each individual of the couple. “Small t” traumas are responses to common life difficulties such as divorce or unemployment, and usually bring out irrational cognitions and inadequate ability to cope with certain events. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in investigating how EMDR therapy may be used for these more common traumas that can have a strong impact on individuals and couples. In particular, this article outlines the use of EMDR with an expository case of a couple considering divorce after an affair. The article presents research support for EMDR as a psychotherapy model for both “capital T” and “small t” traumas. The expository case is considered, and clinical decision-making from an EMDR-based approach integrated with body-focused interventions is delineated. Finally, a call for future research is included.Ye

Emergence and evolution of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is not the sole, but perhaps the most important volume regulator in vertebrates. To gain insights into the function and evolution of its components, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of its main related genes. We found that important parts of the system began to appear with primitive chordates and tunicates and that all major components were present at the divergence of bony fish, with the exception of the Mas receptor. The Mas receptor first appears after the bony-fish/tetrapod divergence. This phase of evolutionary innovation happened about 400 million years ago. We found solid evidence that angiotensinogen made its appearance in cartilage fish. The presence of several RAAS genes in organisms that lack all the components shows that these genes have had other ancestral functions outside of their current role. Our analysis underscores the utility of sequence comparisons in the study of evolution. Such analyses may provide new hypotheses as to how and why in today's population an increased activity of the RAAS frequently leads to faulty salt and volume regulation, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, opening up new and clinically important research areas for evolutionary medicine