On Suicide, Martyrdom and the Quest of Individuality

In 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army carried out a notorious suicide attack on people gathered in one of the halls of Tel Aviv airport; they killed twenty people and wounded eighty. A few days after 11 September, a Swiss man killed several members of the regional parliament of Zug and then killed himself. These two examples are given in response to those narrow explanations of the phenomena of violence, death, martyrdom and suicide that see them in the light of the 'clash of civilizations', bearing in mind that only a very short space of time separates us from the American Unabomber, the Japanese Aum sect and Timothy McVeigh, all of whom were driven, respectively, by their anti-technology delusions, their rush to reach the millennium and their hatred of the federal government, to shorten the distance that separates life from death

The Healing Process of Intracorporeally and In Situ Devitalized Distal Femur by Microwave in a Dog Model and Its Mechanical Properties In Vitro

Background: Limb-salvage surgery has been well recognized as a standard treatment and alternative to amputation for patients with malignant bone tumors. Various limb-sparing techniques have been developed including tumor prosthesis, allograft, autograft and graft-prosthesis composite. However, each of these methods has short- and long-term disadvantages such as nonunion, mechanical failures and poor limb function. The technique of intracorporeal devitalization of tumor-bearing bone segment in situ by microwave-induced hyperthermia after separating it from surrounding normal tissues with a safe margin is a promising limb-salvage method, which may avoid some shortcomings encountered by the above-mentioned conventional techniques. The purpose of this study is to assess the healing process and revitalization potential of the devitalized bone segment by this method in a dog model. In addition, the immediate effect of microwave on the biomechanical properties of bone tissue was also explored in an in vitro experiment. Methods: We applied the microwave-induced hyperthermia to devitalize the distal femurs of dogs in situ. Using a monopole microwave antenna, we could produce a necrotic bone of nearly 20 mm in length in distal femur. Radiography, bone scintigraphy, microangiography, histology and functional evaluation were performed at 2 weeks and 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months postoperatively to assess the healing process. In a biomechanical study, two kinds of bone specimens, 3 and 6 cm in length, were used for compression and three-point bending test respectively immediately after extracorporeall

On Suicide, Martyrdom and the Quest of Individuality

In 1972 three members of the Japanese Red Army carried out a notorious suicide attack on people gathered in one of the halls of Tel Aviv airport; they killed twenty people and wounded eighty. A few days after 11 September, a Swiss man killed several members of the regional parliament of Zug and then killed himself. These two examples are given in response to those narrow explanations of the phenomena of violence, death, martyrdom and suicide that see them in the light of the 'clash of civilizations', bearing in mind that only a very short space of time separates us from the American Unabomber, the Japanese Aum sect and Timothy McVeigh, all of whom were driven, respectively, by their anti-technology delusions, their rush to reach the millennium and their hatred of the federal government, to shorten the distance that separates life from death

Pottery production at Tell Arqa (Lebanon) during the 3rd millennium BC: preliminary results of petrographic analysis

International audienceStudying well-documented assemblages is key to enhancing our understanding of the long-term evolution of pottery production and distribution in Bronze Age Levant. As a contribution to this effort, this paper presents, for the first time, the results of petrographic analysis undertaken on the Early Bronze (EB) pottery assemblage from Tell Arqa (northern Lebanon). Macroscopic and thinsection analyses were performed on a large set of samples. Beyond the characterization of eight petrographic groups, the study discusses the provenance of the raw materials and, taking advantage of the precise stratigraphic and typo-chronological sequence, gives a detailed vision of temporal change in ceramic production. It highlights a disruption at the end of the EB II-Early Central Levant (ECL) 2 and then a continuous evolution towards the homogenization of production both petrographically and technicallyuntil the end of the EBA. Finally, through comparison with other evidence, it is possible to contextualize the evidence from Tell Arqa within regional Levantine pottery traditions existing during the 3rd millennium BC