The idealism of Kant

TypescriptM.A. University of Missouri 1912The philosophy of Kant is undoubtedly one of the most stubborn and daring attempts of the mundane mind to furnish a true account of its own knowledge. This philosophy, both on account of its teachings and through its historical development, has been closely allied to idealism. Fichte, for example, who was Kant's own pupil, in spite of the protests of his master, was the first to turn it into a form of idealism, while men like Paulsen, Royce, and Perry, have classed Kant amongst idealists. And when we add to this Kant's own classification of his philosophy as critical idealism, it would seem that transcendentalism is idealism were it not, on the one hand, that Herbart and his followers have quite as well given to it a realistic interpretation, while, on the other hand, Kant himself classifies transcendental idealism as coequal with empirical realism or dualism. At the present time, when so many writings, both books and magazine articles, appear which defend or oppose the position that Kant's philosophy is idealistic, it would seem that an attempt on the part of a student of philosophy to investigate for himself this point should be highly profitable. It is with this in mind that we have undertaken the present paper, using Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" for reference, a. book of which he says: "There ought not to be a single metaphysical problem which has not been solved here, or to the solution of which the key at least has not been furnished."Includes bibliographical reference

First record of tail bifurcations in the snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron & Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) from Pastrina hill (northwestern Bulgaria)

Primer registre de bifurcació caudal en Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron (Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) del puig Pastrina (nord-oest de Bulgària) Registrem el primer cas de bifurcacions caudals en A. kitaibelii. Aquesta anomalia morfològica va ser identificada en un estudi de seguiment de quatre anys portat a terme en una zona d’elevada presència herpetològica al puig Pastrina (nord-oest de Bulgària). D’un total de 415 espècimens capturats, quatre (0,96%) van presentar una duplicació lateral simètrica o asimètrica de la cua. Només es van registrar bifurcacions de la secció caudal més distal, la qual cosa contrasta amb les registrades en altres llangardaixos  com ara Gekkonidae, Lacertidae i Teiidae, en què s’han registrat supervivències amb bifurcacions a les seccions caudals més proximals.Primer registro de bifurcación caudal en Ablepharus kitaibelii Bibron (Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1833) del monte Pastrina (noroeste de Bulgaria) Registramos el primer caso de bifurcaciones caudales en A. kitaibelii. Esta anomalía morfológica fue identificada en un estudio de seguimiento de cuatro años realizado en una zona de elevada presencia herpetológica en el monte Pastrina (noroeste de Bulgaria). De un total de 415 especímenes capturados, cuatro (0,96%) presentaron una duplicación lateral simétrica o asimétrica de la cola. Se registraron únicamente bifurcaciones de la sección caudal más distal, lo que contrasta con las registradas en otros lagartos como, por ejemplo, Gekkonidae, Lacertidae y Teiidae, en los que se han registrado supervivencias con bifurcaciones en las secciones caudales más proximales.We report for the first time on the occurrence of tail bifurcations in the snake-eyed skink (A. kitaibelii). This morphological anomaly was identified during a four-year monitoring program conducted in a herpetological hot-spot at Pastrina hill (northwestern Bulgaria). From a total of 415 captured specimens, four animals (0.96%) showed symmetrical or asymmetrical lateral duplication of the tail. Only bifurcations of the distal-most caudal section were detected in contrast to some other lizards (e.g. Gekkonidae, Lacertidae, Teiidae) that are reported to survive with bifurcations at more proximal tail sections

Funktional–morphologische Untersuchung des Fressapparates bei vier cryptodiren Schildkröten

In Gegensatz zur aquatischen Nahrungsaufnahme, deren Kinematik relativ gut untersucht ist, ist der Mechanismus des terrestrischen Fressens der Schildkröten nahezu unbekannt. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation wird eine detaillierte, vergleichend- und funktionsmorphologische Analyse des Fressvorgangs unter Wasser und an Land bei drei Arten von Geoemydidae und einer Spezies der Kinosternidae durchgeführt. Die Anatomie des Craniums und des Hyolingualkomplexes von Cuora galbinifrons, Cuors amboinensis, Cuora flavomarginata und Sternotherus odoratus werden beschrieben. Bezüglich der Kopfmorphologie der drei Geoemydidae Arten der Gattung Cuora sp., konnten einige Ungenauigkeiten der bisherigen Beschreibungen korrigiert werden. Die gewonnene Information über die Konstruktion des Neurocraniums, Kiefer- und Hyolingualapparates wird funktionell - morphologisch ausgewertet um Korrelationen zwischen „Bauplan“ und Habitatpräferenzen besser verstehen zu können. Eine vergleichend-morphologische Untersuchung beantwortet die Frage, wie die Strukturen des Fressapparates bei eng verwandten Arten mit alternierenden Habitatpräferenzen ausgebildet sind und welche Funktion sie besitzen. Die vorliegenden Studien beinhalten die erste kinematische Analyse des Fressvorganges bei Vertretern der größten rezenten Schildkrötengruppe Geoemydidae. Die vorliegende Arbeit beinhaltet auch die erste, auf high-speed Videos (500 fr/s) basierende, Untersuchung der Nahrungsaufnahme von einem Vertreter der Kinosternidae (S. odoratus). Die funktionell-morphologische Analyse bei hier untersuchten Cuora Arten demonstriert, dass relativ kleine Unterschiede in der Form des Fressapparates, fundamentale Auswirkungen auf dessen Funktion haben können. Unsere Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass terrestrische Nahrungsaufnahme mindestens dreimal „de novo“ unabhängig innerhalb der rezenten Chelonier entstanden ist. Die morphologischen und kinematischen Untersuchungen an S. odoratus demonstrieren, dass diese aquatischen Schildkröten problemlos an Land ihre Nahrung schnappen können, die kritische Fressphase ist die des erste Transportzyklus. Es ist zu erwarten, dass manche aquatische Schildkröten es im Rahmen ihrer evolutionären Entwicklung geschafft haben an Land den Fressvorgang zu vollenden. Rein terrestrische Testudiniden hingegen haben offensichtlich den "point of no return" zu einer aquatischen Lebensweise bereits überschritten. Die Evolution terrestrischer Nahrungsaufnahme ist demzufolge eine „Einbahnstrasse“

Benefits for visitors provided by protected areas in Bulgaria and willingness to become a conservation volunteer

Protected areas in Bulgaria (PAB) provide valuable ecosystem services. Maintaining of ecosystem health is of great importance for human wellbeing. The environmental volunteering is a valuable tool in solving local ecological problems. The main objective of the present research was to identify ecosystem services offered by PAB and attitude to participation in conservation volunteering using online survey and face-to-face interviews. Most respondents regularly use ecosystem services offered by PAB. Being well-informed about significance of maintaining ecosystem health, a lot of them declared willingness to become conservation volunteers. Online surveys could be used not only for data collection, but as also as a tool to involve people in environmental protection

Elimination of the color discrimination impairment along the blue–yellow axis in patients with hypothyroidism after treatment with levothyroxine as assessed by the Farnsworth–Munsell 100 hue test.

Our previous study has shown that individuals with untreated hypothyroidism display significantly higher partial error scores (√PES) along the blue–yellow axis compared to the red–green axis than normal individuals using the Farnsworth–Munsell 100 hue test [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 37, A18 (2020)]. We wished to determine how color discrimination may change when hypothyroidism has been treated to the point of euthyroidism. Color discrimination was reassessed for 17 female individuals who had undergone treatment for hypothyroidism, and the results were compared with 22 female individuals without thyroid dysfunction. No statistically significant difference was found in the total error score (√TES) for the first and second measurements for both groups (>0.45). The √PES for the hypothyroid group improved significantly in the previously impaired color regions after the treatment. Color discrimination defects found in untreated hypothyroidism can be negated with treatment of the condition over an appropriate time period

Case Report: Changes in Spatial Summation for Chromatic Stimuli in a Patient with Hypothyroidism Due to Autoimmune Thyroiditis Before and After Treatment with Levothyroxine.

Introduction: Acquired hypothyroidism is associated with a wide range of deficits including visual effects. Investigating colour vision mediated by S-cones has shown potential to detect diseases such as glaucoma or diabetes, however, studies of colour vision in hypothyroidism are scarce. Case presentation: In the present study we report spatial summation data of a patient with hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis tested with S-cone specific stimuli. The area of complete spatial summation (Ricco’s area) is believed to reflect neural convergence and has been widely used to study structural changes to compensate for cell loss. We measured Ricco’s area before and after treatment with levothyroxine. Colour contrast thresholds were measured as a function of stimulus area in the retinal periphery, under S-cone isolating conditions. Ricco’s area was determined from the Threshold vs Area curve for either blue (S-cone increments) or yellow (S-cone decrements) stimuli. The patient’s data before treatment showed enlarged Ricco’s area (3 to 10 times larger) only for yellow stimuli compared to participants without hypothyroidism. After a treatment with levothyroxine and having reached euthyroidism, Ricco’s area decreased significantly (p < 0.05) for yellow stimuli, but remained unchanged for blue stimuli (p = 0.177). A second subject without hypothyroidism, who participated in both experiments did not show any significant differences for either blue (p = 0.081) or yellow stimuli (p = 0.78). Conclusion: The observed increase in Ricco’s area in hypothyroidism may be related to increased convergence to compensate for ganglion cell dysfunction. The results suggest that this process can be reversible after treatment. Examination of the S-cone system provides the potential to monitor this condition

First record of the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi Arntzen & Wielstra, 2013) on the territory of the Nature Park “Shumensko plato”

In a four-year monitoring period, numerous permanent and temporary water basins on the territory of the Habitat Protected Site BG0000382 and the Nature Park “Shumensko Plato” (NE Bulgaria) were identified as possible habitats for amphibians. We inspected the water bodies for presence of Urodelas, included in the inventory documentation of the protected territories. Despite intense field surveys and use of traps, we were able only recently to identify one specimen of the Balkan-Anatolian crested newt. This is the first official record of the species for the protected site