The looking/not looking dilemma

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANK MÖLLER

AbstractWhen confronted with images of war and other forms of human suffering, not looking is not an option, not only because we are permanently exposed to images but also because it would not seem to be a morally tenable position. However, looking at images of human suffering is often said to prolong this very suffering and to fix human subjects as victims. Especially when acts of violence have been committed in order to produce images of these very acts the relationship between viewing the images and participating in the acts of violence qua viewer appears to be uncomfortably close indeed. Thus, looking is not an option, either. This article, in the first part, engages with standard criticisms of photography, especially with accusations according to which photographs aestheticise that which they depict and desensitise their viewers. In the second part it discusses Alfredo Jaar's and Jeff Wall's work in order to show possible ways to circumvent the looking/not looking dilemma.

1980 ◽  
Vol 238 (4) ◽  
pp. E313-E317 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hammer ◽  
J. Ladefoged ◽  
K. Olgaard

The relationship between plasma osmolality (pOsm) and plasma vasopressin (pAVP) was studied in 13 human subjects during dehydration. The fit of linear, log-linear, parabolic, and exponential models was tested. For all of the data, the nonlinear models had the best fit. However, when individual differences in either gain or threshold were allowed for, the linear models were better than log-linear models. Finally, analyses were made with individual data points. Linear models had the best fit in half of the subjects, whereas for the others the parabolic model gave the best fit. For those subjects investigated in the low range of the osmoregulatory curve, a linear relationship was found, whereas, for those having the most pronounced increase in pOsm, the most significant improvement was found with the parabolic model. This finding indicates that the relationship is not stable during dehydration in the whole range and that hypovolemia probably can influence the secretion rate and/or metabolic clearance rate and thereby the relationship.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo R. Nieto ◽  
Andrea Carrasco ◽  
Sebastian Corral ◽  
Rolando Castillo ◽  
Pablo A. Gaspar ◽  
...  

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has been linked to cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, which has been documented in previous reviews by several authors. However, a trend has recently emerged in this field moving from studying schizophrenia as a disease to studying psychosis as a group. This review article focuses on recent BDNF studies in relation to cognition in human subjects during different stages of the psychotic process, including subjects at high risk of developing psychosis, patients at their first episode of psychosis, and patients with chronic schizophrenia. We aim to provide an update of BDNF as a biomarker of cognitive function on human subjects with schizophrenia or earlier stages of psychosis, covering new trends, controversies, current research gaps, and suggest potential future developments in the field. We found that most of current research regarding BDNF and cognitive symptoms in psychosis is done around schizophrenia as a disease. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the study of the relationship between BDNF and cognitive symptoms to psychotic illnesses of different stages and origins.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 1095-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Dominique Gallezot ◽  
Beata Planeta ◽  
Nabeel Nabulsi ◽  
Donna Palumbo ◽  
Xiaoxi Li ◽  
...  

Measurements of drug occupancies using positron emission tomography (PET) can be biased if the radioligand concentration exceeds “tracer” levels. Negative bias would also arise in successive PET scans if clearance of the radioligand is slow, resulting in a carryover effect. We developed a method to (1) estimate the in vivo dissociation constant Kd of a radioligand from PET studies displaying a non-tracer carryover (NTCO) effect and (2) correct the NTCO bias in occupancy studies taking into account the plasma concentration of the radioligand and its in vivo Kd. This method was applied in a study of healthy human subjects with the histamine H3 receptor radioligand [11C]GSK189254 to measure the PK-occupancy relationship of the H3 antagonist PF-03654746. From three test/retest studies, [11C]GSK189254 Kd was estimated to be 9.5 ± 5.9 pM. Oral administration of 0.1 to 4 mg of PF-03654746 resulted in occupancy estimates of 71%–97% and 30%–93% at 3 and 24 h post-drug, respectively. NTCO correction adjusted the occupancy estimates by 0%–15%. Analysis of the relationship between corrected occupancies and PF-03654746 plasma levels indicated that PF-03654746 can fully occupy H3 binding sites ( ROmax = 100%), and its IC50 was estimated to be 0.144 ± 0.010 ng/mL. The uncorrected IC50 was 26% higher.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Du Rand

How can God allow it? A bibliological enrichment of the theodicy issue from a comparison between the Book of Revelation and 4 EzraIn the process of understanding and defining the relationship between God and man, the theodicy issue frequently floats to the surface. A long strand in the history of philosophy and theology has addressed itself to the task of reconciling God’s omnipotence and benevolence with human suffering and the existence of evil. Some of the philosophical and theological views are represented in this article. According to reformed scholarly presentation, theodicy should seriously take into account the soteriological and eschatological hermeneutical views. This is confirmed by the Old Testament, intertestamental literature and the New Testament. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the apocryphal 4 Ezra which puts surprising views about theodicy on the table.


1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1522-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew F. Cannestra ◽  
Nader Pouratian ◽  
Marc H. Shomer ◽  
Arthur W. Toga

Cannestra, Andrew F., Nader Pouratian, Marc H. Shomer, and Arthur W. Toga. Refractory periods observed by intrinsic signal and fluorescent dye imaging. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1522–1532, 1998. All perfusion-based imaging modalities depend on the relationship between neuronal and vascular activity. However, the relationship between stimulus and response was never fully characterized. With the use of optical imaging (intrinsic signals and intravascular fluorescent dyes) during repetitive stimulation paradigms, we observed reduced responses with temporally close stimuli. Cortical evoked potentials, however, did not produce the same reduced responsiveness. We therefore termed these intervals of reduced responsiveness “refractory periods.” During these refractory periods an ability to respond was retained, but at a near 60% reduction in the initial magnitude. Although increasing the initial stimulus duration lengthened the observed refractory periods, significantly novel or temporally spaced stimuli overcame them. We observed this phenomenon in both rodent and human subjects in somatosensory and auditory cortices. These results have significant implications for understanding the capacities, mechanisms, and distributions of neurovascular coupling and thereby possess relevance to all perfusion-dependent functional imaging techniques.


1984 ◽  
Vol 246 (5) ◽  
pp. E405-E411 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. K. Ward ◽  
J. B. Halter ◽  
J. C. Beard ◽  
D. Porte

States of insulin resistance are characterized by hyperinsulinemia that often appears to be out of proportion to the minimal degree of hyperglycemia. One possible explanation for these findings is that mild hyperglycemia per se can cause an adaptive increase in islet sensitivity to glucose, leading to increased insulin output at a given glucose level. To test this hypothesis, we compared acute insulin responses (AIR) and acute glucagon responses (AGR) to 5-g arginine injections before and after 20-h glucose infusions (200 mg X m-2 X min-1) in 11 healthy men of varying age and degree of adiposity. The 20-h glucose infusion caused an increase in fasting plasma glucose (PG) in all subjects (95 +/- 2 vs. 130 +/- 3 mg/dl). PG was clamped at three levels (approximately 95, 165, and 235 mg/dl) before and after the 20-h glucose infusion. Despite matching of PG levels, consistent increases of AIR were observed after the 20-h glucose infusion: 86 +/- 10 vs. 57 +/- 8 at PG = 95 (P = 0.002); 241 +/- 20 vs. 192 +/- 22 at PG = 165 (P = 0.02); and 508 +/- 59 vs. 380 +/- 50 microU/ml at PG = 235 mg/dl (P = 0.009). In addition, the slope of the relationship between AIR and PG level (potentiation slope), a measure of B cell sensitivity to glucose, increased consistently from 2.28 +/- 0.35 (control) to 3.07 +/- 0.45 (P = 0.004) after the 20-h infusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Picard, ◽  
Caryl Sickul, ◽  
Shannon Natale,

This paper examines the relationship of suffering, the need for care, and the healing power of aesthetics in human science. The authors live in the world of art and healing as scholars, educators, performers, and healers. In examining suffering in a cooperative mode of inquiry, the authors reflected on aesthetic works of suffering and beauty, as well as science, nursing literature, and illness narratives. Implications for nursing practice, education, and research are discussed. Recommendations for the possibilities of healing art in hospitals will be addressed as a restorative process in postmodern healthcare. The hospitals have been described as concentrated centers of human suffering, very much in need of its healing sister, art.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (4) ◽  
pp. R819-R827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry N. Thrasher

Whether arterial baroreceptors play a role in setting the long-term level of mean arterial pressure (MAP) has been debated for more than 75 years. Because baroreceptor input is reciprocally related to efferent sympathetic nerve activity (SNA), it is obvious that baroreceptor unloading would cause an increase in MAP. Experimental proof of concept is evident acutely after baroreceptor denervation. Chronically, however, baroreceptor denervation is associated with highly variable changes in MAP but not sustained hypertension. The ability of baroreceptors to buffer imposed increases in MAP appears limited by a process termed “resetting,” in which the threshold to fire shifts in the direction of the pressure change and if the pressure elevation is maintained, it leads to a rightward shift in the relationship between baroreceptor firing and MAP. The most common hypothesis linking baroreceptors to changes in MAP proposes that reduced vascular distensibility in baroreceptive areas would cause reduced firing at the same pulsatile pressure and, thus, reflexively increase SNA. This review focuses on effects of baroreceptor denervation in the regulation of MAP in human subjects compared with animal studies; the relationship between vascular compliance, MAP, and baroreceptor resetting; and, finally, the effect of chronic baroreceptor unloading on the regulation of MAP.


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