Blood pressure and indices of glomerular filtration area in hypertensive and normotensive Prague rats

The involvement of the kidney in the pathogenesis of hypertension has long been recognised, although the specific renal mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still unknown. A current hypothesis attributes hyper tension to a reduction in glomerular filtration area by glomerular loss, The present study analyses the relationship between glomerular number and volume and conscious systolic blood pressure (SBP) in 4- to 53-week-old hypertensive (PHR) and normotensive (PNR) rats of the Prague strain. Adult PHRs had higher SEP, were larger and had larger kidneys than PNRs, but 20% fewer glomeruli, A significant negative correlation between SEP and glomerular number was found in PHR males, but not in PHR females or PNRs. There was no correlation at all between glomerular volume and SEP and, in young animals, both SEP and glomerular number were higher in PHRs than in PNRs. In addition, in adult PHRs, glomerular volume and SEP were higher in males than in females. In summary, a generally valid, causal relation-ship linking raised blood pressure to decreased glomerular number or volume could not be demonstrated in the Prague rat model of genetically determined hypertension. The nature of the renal mechanism(s) determining the hypertension in this model remains unknown. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

Rat models of autoimmune uveitis

Experimental autoimmune uveitis ( EAU) in Lewis rats is a well-established model for human uveitis. During the last years we used this model to demonstrate extraocular induction of uveitis by antigenic mimicry of environmental antigens with retinal autoantigen and investigated the migration and intraocular reactivation of autoreactive green fluorescent protein ( GFP)+ T cells. We could also elaborate several differences between EAU induced with S-antigen peptide PDSAg or R14, a peptide derived from interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein, suggesting two differently regulated diseases in the same rat strain. R14-mediated EAU in Lewis rats has been shown to relapse, thus we have a new model to test therapeutic approaches in an ongoing immune response instead of just preventing disease. Finally, we show antigenic mimicry of PDSAg and an HLA-B peptide for oral tolerance induction. After the successful first therapeutic trial this approach will now proceed with international multicenter clinical trials. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Influence of Obstacles on the Use of the Danger Zone on Railway Platforms

Growing passenger numbers and the lack of space available led to research on pedestrians’ behaviour on railway platforms in Switzerland. By using stereo sensors, pedestrians’ tracks were collected on a platform in the train station of Bern. The analysis of pedestrians stepping into the danger zone showed clearly that obstacles have a large influence on the frequencies of pedestrians using the danger zone. By presenting four hypotheses the effect of obstacles on pedestrians’ use of the danger zone on train station platforms is investigated

The Relation Between Physics and Mathematics in Thomas Aquinas\u27s Division and Methods of the Sciences

This thesis addresses the question “How can mathematics provide knowledge of physical objects?” which was provoked by Thomas Aquinas’s inclusion of “intermediate” (i.e., physicomathematical) sciences in his Division and Methods of the Sciences. In examining Aquinas’s process of division, I paid special attention to the way he distinguishes the sciences according to the formal ratio of their objects, an important development upon Boethius’s framework. This led me to discuss the modes of abstraction proper to each science and, in turn, how their distinct epistemic foundations seem to prevent one science from being meaningfully applied to the study of another. However, in the case of physics, the accident quantity is implicitly included in the definition of its objects, suggesting that mathematics can, in some way, inform their study (even though mathematical propositions themselves are neither true nor false from the standpoint of extramental reality). I concluded that the knowledge obtained through physico-mathematical sciences is conditional in an ontological sense, for the mathematical systems that these sciences employ cannot be more than hypothetical depictions of observed phenomena. Nevertheless, insofar as the conclusions of a given mathematical model are corroborated by physical data, the hypothesis of the model is validated. In fact, mathematics’ indifference to the material world is of remarkable value to the physicist. As an ordered system of the imagination, mathematics enables the physicist to reinterpret the material world according to its quantitative aspects in an idealized setting. In this way, mathematics can become an indispensable tool in the physicist’s quest to locate and abstract the universal natures of physical bodies

VHB-JOURQUAL2: Method, Results, and Implications of the German Academic Association for Business Research’s Journal Ranking

VHB-JOURQUAL represents the official journal ranking of the German Academic Association for Business Research. Since its introduction in 2003, the ranking has become the most influential journal evaluation approach in German-speaking countries, impacting several key managerial decisions of German, Austrian, and Swiss business schools. This article reports the methodological approach of the ranking’s second edition. It also presents the main results and additional analyses on the validity of the rating and the underlying decision processes of the respondents. Selected implications for researchers and higher-education institutions are discussed

The problem of well-being in a turbulent society: aspects of security

Актуальность исследования обусловлена социальными процессами и явлениями, происходящими в современном мире, а именно ростом нестабильности и неустойчивости в природе, обществе и техносфере. В этой связи возникает необходимость обновления категориального аппарата, которым оперируют исследователи современного мира. Цель исследования: анализ содержания категории «благополучие» в условиях современного мира. Для этого вводится концепт турбулентного социума, объединяющий в себе фундаментальные изменения социальной реальности, которые произошли в последние десятилетия и которые позволяют говорить о новой форме социальной организации, пришедшей на смену проекту Модерна. Методы исследования: общелогические методы (анализ, синтез, сравнение), а также методы критического, дискурсивного и исторического анализа, с помощью которых рассмотрены центральные понятия для осмысления современности (благополучие, безопасность, государство и т. д.). Результаты. Проанализированы понятия «поток» и «турбулентность», определяющие онтологическую картину современного общества. Показано, что в эпоху Нового времени основным субъектом управления благополучием становится государство. В связи с этим указывается, что аутентичное значение «благополучия», которое восходит к античной философии, было утрачено. Тенденция на ослабление национального государства негативно отражается на благополучии граждан. Сложившаяся ситуация рассматривается на примере проблемы безопасности, которая в современном обществе становится не только политической проблемой, но и социальной. В качестве альтернативы существующему подходу к решению проблемы благополучия предлагается концепция, в основе которой лежит практика «заботы о себе».Relevance of the research is caused by social processes and phenomena occurring in the modern world, namely the growing instability and imbalance in nature, society and technosphere. This raises the need for renovation of the categorical apparatus, which is operated by the researchers of the modern world. The main aim of the study is the content analysis of the category of «welfare» in the modern world. This introduces the concept of «turbulent society», combining the fundamental changes of social reality that have occurred in recent decades and which allow talking about a new form of social organization, which replaced the Modernist project. Research methods: general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison), as well as methods for critical, discursive and historical analysis, used for considering the concepts (well-being, security, government, etc.), central to the modernity discourse. Results. The author has analyzed the concept of «flow» and «turbulence» that define the ontological picture of modern society. It is shown that in the era of the New time, the state becomes the main subject of management of welfare. In this regard, it is specified that the authentic meaning of «well-being», which dates back to the ancient philosophy, has been lost. The trend in weakening the national State adversely affects the welfare of citizens. The current situation is considered on the example of security problem, which is not only a political problem but also a social one in modern society. As an alternative to the existing approach to solving the problem of well-being, the author proposes the concept based on the «self-care» practice

Русская религиозная гносеология XIX - начала XX вв.: актуальность и методы изучения

Проводится исследование гносеологических идей русских религиозных мыслителей в контексте проблемы понимания. Автор полагает, что сравнительное изучение русской и западной философии открывает перспективы не только для истолкования самой русской мысли, но также и для углубленного осмысления проблем западной философии, развития всей мировой цивилизации в целом, исходя именно из контекста русской культуры