Jacques Lacan on love: realistic cynic or inveterate optimist

A perennial question of philosophy, literature and psychoanalysis centres on the impact of love in human living, and endeavours to offer definition and explanation of this concept. From the Pre-Socratics, through Plato and Aristotle, to Derrida and Kristeva, philosophical reflections on ‘truth’, ‘meaning’, and subjectivity inevitably involve an exploration of the centrality of love in human experience, its significance as a characteristic of being human, and its response to the question ‘how is one to live’? This essay explores, through the work of a philosopher who is considered notoriously cynical about human nature and its vicissitudes, the question of love from the perspective of its possibility in the realm of human relationships, and thereby examines the potential obstacles to its experience. Through a selected reading of the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, the possibility of love is examined with a view to confronting the impediments to its experience – evident in any analysis of the contemporary world – and simultaneously to ascertain if such obstacles are insurmountable

Fundamental movement skills in relation to weekday and weekend physical activity in preschool children.

OBJECTIVES: To examine associations between fundamental movement skills and weekday and weekend physical activity among preschool children living in deprived communities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observation study. METHODS: Six locomotor skills and 6 object-control skills were video-assessed using The Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol. Physical activity was measured via hip-mounted accelerometry. A total of 99 children (53% boys) aged 3-5 years (M 4.6, SD 0.5) completed all assessments. Multilevel mixed regression models were used to examine associations between fundamental movement skills and physical activity. Models were adjusted for clustering, age, sex, standardised body mass index and accelerometer wear time. RESULTS: Boys were more active than girls and had higher object-control skill competency. Total skill score was positively associated with weekend moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p=0.034) but not weekday physical activity categories (p>0.05). When subdomains of skills were examined, object-control skills was positively associated with light physical activity on weekdays (p=0.008) and with light (p=0.033), moderate-to-vigorous (p=0.028) and light- and moderate-to-vigorous (p=0.008) physical activity at weekends. Locomotor skill competency was positively associated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on weekdays (p=0.016) and light physical activity during the weekend (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that developing competence in both locomotor and object-control skills may be an important element in promoting an active lifestyle in young children during weekdays and at weekends

History of cigarette smoking in cognitively-normal elders is associated with elevated cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of oxidative stress

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking in adults is associated with abnormalities in brain neurobiology. Smoking-induced central nervous system oxidative stress (OxS) is a potential mechanism associated with these abnormalities. The goal of this study was to compare cognitively-normal elders on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of F(2)-isoprostane biomarkers of OxS. METHODS: Elders with a lifetime history of smoking (smokers; n=50; 75±5 years of age; 34±28 pack-years; approximately 12% were actively smoking at the time of study) were compared to never-smokers (n=61; 76±6 years of age) on CSF iPF(2α)-III and 8,12, iso-iPF(2α)-VI F(2)-isoprostanes levels. F(2)-isoprostanes levels were quantitated with HPLC-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Associations between F(2)-isoprostanes levels, hippocampal volumes, and cigarette exposure measures were also evaluated. RESULTS: Smokers showed higher iPF(2α)-III level than never-smokers. An age x smoking status interaction was observed for 8,12, iso-iPF(2α)-VI, where smokers demonstrate a significantly greater concentration with increasing age than non-smokers. In smokers only, higher 8,12, iso-iPF(2α)-VI concentration was associated with smaller hippocampal volume, and greater iPF(2α)-III level was related to greater pack years. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate that a history of cigarette smoking in cognitively-normal elders was associated with significantly elevated CSF F(2)-isoprostane levels and greater age-related increases in F(2)-isoprostane levels, and that higher F(2)-isoprostane levels in smokers were related to smaller hippocampal volume. These findings provide additional novel evidence that a history of chronic smoking during adulthood is associated with adverse effects on the human brain that are potentially persistent even with extended smoking cessation