Martin Heidegger's account of the nature of man

This thesis is a study of some major aspects of Martin Heidegger's conception of the nature of man. Central attention is given to Heidegger's major work, Sein und Zeit (1927). In the opening chapters, the context within which the theories presented in this work are to be understood is fixed through successive examinations of some important philosophical concepts. The first chapter looks into the notion of philosophical anthropology, and analyses Heidegger's attitude towards this philosophical discipline and towards the question "What is man?". In the second chapter Heidegger's description of his philosophy as an ontology is discussed, and it is argued that he can appropriately be seen as a thinker standing in the Kantian tradition of transcendental philosophy. In the next chapter Heidegger's links with the existential philosophy of Kierkegaard are discussed, and a general perspective is suggested for an understanding of the tasks of Heidegger's theory of human existence: it is the idea that Heidegger is attempting to present a 'this-worldly' philosophy which nevertheless preserves themes originating in a dualistic and religious mode of thought. The fourth chapter treats a number of aspects of the relationship between Heidegger and his phenomenological predecessor, Edmund Husserl. The problem of reconciling the existential and the ontological aspects of Sein und Zeit is explored here. The next two chapters are designed to supply a basic outline of Heidegger's conception of human existence, setting out the possible interpretations of his notion of existential possibility, and then moving on to look into the distinction between the authentic and inauthentic modes of existence. The seventh, eighth and ninth chapters focus on particular elements within Heidegger's general theory of the human being: the notions of temporality and of Being-towardsdeath, and the question of interpersonal relations. These last two are treated as 'test cases' for judging the adequacy of the Heideggerian concept of human existence. On the one hand, it is seen that Heidegger is prevented from offering any plausible account of the interpersonal sphere by his own fundamental assumptions. On the other hand, however, his theory of Beingtowards-death is defended against the criticisms of a number of his interpreters, and it is argued that this theory provides insights which are lacking in the traditional conception of human mortality. The difference between these findings suggests that it may be impossible to construct a theory of human existence which will be equally adequate to every aspect of the human being

Estimation of pairwise sequence similarity of mammalian enhancers with word neighbourhood counts

Motivation: The identity of cells and tissues is to a large degree governed by transcriptional regulation. A major part is accomplished by the combinatorial binding of transcription factors at regulatory sequences, such as enhancers. Even though binding of transcription factors is sequence-specific, estimating the sequence similarity of two functionally similar enhancers is very difficult. However, a similarity measure for regulatory sequences is crucial to detect and understand functional similarities between two enhancers and will facilitate large-scale analyses like clustering, prediction and classification of genome-wide datasets

Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria

Eight common genetic variants associated with serum dheas levels suggest a key role in ageing mechanisms

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) is the most abundant circulating steroid secreted by adrenal glands-yet its function is unknown. Its serum concentration declines significantly with increasing age, which has led to speculation that a relative DHEAS deficiency may contribute to the development of common age-related diseases or diminished longevity. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data with 14,846 individuals and identified eight independent common SNPs associated with serum DHEAS concentrations. Genes at or near the identified loci include ZKSCAN5 (rs11761528; p = 3.15×10-36), SULT2A1 (rs2637125; p = 2.61×10-19), ARPC1A (rs740160; p = 1.56×10-16), TRIM4 (rs17277546; p = 4.50×10-11), BMF (rs7181230; p = 5.44×10-11), HHEX (rs2497306; p = 4.64×10-9), BCL2L11 (rs6738028; p = 1.72×10-8), and CYP2C9 (rs2185570; p = 2.29×10-8). These genes are associated with type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, actin filament assembly, drug and xenobiotic metabolism, and zinc finger proteins. Several SNPs were associated with changes in gene expression levels, and the related genes are connected to biological pathways linking DHEAS with ageing. This study provides much needed insight into the function of DHEAS

Prior consumption of a fat meal in healthy adults modulates the brain’s response to fat

Background: Consumption of fat is regulated by reward and homeostatic pathways, but no studies have examined the role of the intake of a high fat meal (HFM) on subsequent brain activation to oral stimuli. Objective: We evaluated how prior consumption of a HFM or water load (WL) modulates reward, homeostatic and taste brain responses to subsequent delivery of oral fat. Methods: A randomized 2-way crossover design (1-week apart) was used to compare prior consumption of a 250mL HFM (520kcal) (rapeseed oil (440kcal), emulsifier, sucrose, flavor cocktail) or non-caloric WL on brain activation to the delivery of repeated trials of an oral flavored no-fat control stimulus (CS) or flavored fat stimulus (FS) in 17 healthy adults (11 male, age=25±2 years, BMI=22.4±0.8kg/m2). Analyses tested differences in brain activation to the CS and FS, and baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF), following the HFM and WL. Individual’s plasma cholecystokinin (CCK) concentration following the HFM was correlated with their BOLD activation. Results: Prior consumption of the HFM compared to the WL led to decreased anterior insula taste activation in response to both the CS (36.3%,P<0.05) and FS (26.5%,P<0.05). The HFM caused reduced amygdala activation (25.1%,P<0.01) in response to the FS compared to the CS (fat-related satiety). Baseline CBF significantly reduced in taste (insula (5.7%,P<0.01)), homeostatic (hypothalamus (9.2%,P<0.01), thalamus (5.1%,P<0.05))), and reward areas (striatum (9.2%,P<0.01)) following the HFM. Individual’s plasma CCK concentration negatively correlated with brain activation in taste, oral somatosensory and reward areas. Conclusions: To reduce obesity, policy in industry is to lower the fat content of foods. Our results in healthy adults show that a HFM suppresses BOLD activation in taste and reward areas compared to a WL. This understanding will help inform the reformulation of reduced-fat foods that mimic the brain’s response to high fat counterparts, and guide future interventions to reduce obesity

Emergence of Increased Resistance and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Despite Treatment Adherence, South Africa

Improved infection control, rapid diagnostic tools, enhanced screening strategies, and pharmacokinetic studies are needed

Sounding Situated Knowledges - Echo in Archaeoacoustics

This article proposes that feminist epistemologies via Donna Haraway's “Situated Knowledges” can be productively brought to bear upon theories of sonic knowledge production, as “sounding situated knowledges.” Sounding situated knowledges re-reads debates around the “nature of sound” with a Harawayan notion of the “natureculture of sound.” This aims to disrupt a traditional subject-object relation which I argue has perpetuated a pervasive “sonic naturalism” in sound studies. The emerging field of archaeoacoustics (acoustic archaeology), which examines the role of sound in human behaviour in archaeology, is theorized as an opening with potentially profound consequences for sonic knowledge production which are not currently being realized. The echo is conceived as a material-semiotic articulation, which akin to Haraway's infamous cyborg, serves as a feminist figuration which enables this renegotiation. Archaeoacoustics research, read following Haraway both reflectively and diffractively, is understood as a critical juncture for sound studies which exposes the necessity of both embodiedness and situatedness for sonic knowledge production. Given the potential opened up by archaeoacoustics through the figure of echo, a critical renegotiation of the subject-object relation in sound studies is suggested as central in further developing theories of sonic knowledge production

A Review of Events That Expose Children to Elemental Mercury in the United States

Concern for children exposed to elemental mercury prompted the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the sources of elemental mercury exposures in children, describe the location and proportion of children affected, and make recommendations on how to prevent these exposures. In this review, we excluded mercury exposures from coal-burning facilities, dental amalgams, fish consumption, medical waste incinerators, or thimerosal-containing vaccines. We reviewed federal, state, and regional programs with data on mercury releases along with published reports of children exposed to elemental mercury in the United States. We selected all mercury-related events that were documented to expose (or potentially expose) children. Primary exposure locations were at home, at school, and at others such as industrial property not adequately remediated or medical facilities. Exposure to small spills from broken thermometers was the most common scenario; however, reports of such exposures are declining. The information reviewed suggests that most releases do not lead to demonstrable harm if the exposure period is short and the mercury is properly cleaned up. Primary prevention should include health education and policy initiatives

The Outcome of Phagocytic Cell Division with Infectious Cargo Depends on Single Phagosome Formation

Given that macrophages can proliferate and that certain microbes survive inside phagocytic cells, the question arises as to the post-mitotic distribution of microbial cargo. Using macrophage-like cells we evaluated the post-mitotic distribution of intracellular Cryptococcus yeasts and polystyrene beads by comparing experimental data to a stochastic model. For beads, the post-mitotic distribution was that expected from chance alone. However, for yeast cells the post-mitotic distribution was unequal, implying preferential sorting to one daughter cell. This mechanism for unequal distribution was phagosomal fusion, which effectively reduced the intracellular particle number. Hence, post-mitotic intracellular particle distribution is stochastic, unless microbial and/or host factors promote unequal distribution into daughter cells. In our system unequal cargo distribution appeared to benefit the microbe by promoting host cell exocytosis. Post-mitotic infectious cargo distribution is a new parameter to consider in the study of intracellular pathogens since it could potentially define the outcome of phagocytic-microbial interactions