The Lens of “Thingness”

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-48
Author(s):  
Manish Arora ◽  
Paul Curtin ◽  
Austen Curtin ◽  
Christine Austin ◽  
Alessandro Giuliani
Keyword(s):  
Human Physiology ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Human Organs ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Perceived Importance

Environmental medicine and related fields have developed from a structural perspective that assigns a static, anatomical “thingness” to our physiology and our environment. This viewpoint arises from a reductionist school of thought and foundational biomedical discoveries such as the discovery that human organs are made up of cells organized as tissues or that our DNA is the source “code” for the building blocks of life. As a consequence of these discoveries and their perceived importance, medical sciences have organized the study of the human body into the study of component parts. Attempts to incorporate time into existing structural perspectives have often taken the form of multiple structural analyses laced together as a circuit operating in a series of connections. Such approaches ignore that humans and their environment are temporally dynamic processes. Environmental Biodynamics argues for a functional perspective that rejects the reductionist view of human physiology and the human environment. In stark contrast to the prevalent structural paradigms, this approach places temporal dynamics at its core.

Temporal Dynamics of PERMA Building Blocks and Well-being in Daily Life: An Ecological Momentary Assessment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeideh Heshmati ◽  
Zita Oravecz
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Momentary Assessment ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dynamical Features ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Momentary Assessment

Most assessments of well-being have relied on retrospective accounts, measured by global evaluative well-being scales. Following the recent debates focused on the assessment of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being based on the elements of the PERMA theory, the current study aimed to shed further light onto the measurement of PERMA elements in daily life and their temporal dynamics. Through an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design (N=160), we examined the dynamics of change (e.g., baselines and intra-individual variability) in the PERMA elements using the mPERMA measure, which is an EMA-adapted version of the PERMA Profiler. Findings revealed that momentary experiences of well-being, quantified via PERMA elements, map onto their corresponding hedonic or eudaimonic well-being components, and its dynamical features provide novel insights into predicting global well-being. This work offers avenues for future research to assess well-being in real-time and real-world contexts in ecologically valid ways, while eliminating recall bias.

DIFFUSION-DRIVEN INSTABILITIES AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL PATTERNS IN AN AQUATIC PREDATOR–PREY SYSTEM WITH BEDDINGTON–DEANGELIS TYPE FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 663-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
RANJIT KUMAR UPADHYAY ◽  
N. K. THAKUR ◽  
V. RAI
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Collective Motion ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Aquatic System ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Predator–prey communities are building blocks of an ecosystem. Feeding rates reflect interference between predators in several situations, e.g. when predators form a dense colony or perform collective motion in a school, encounter prey in a region of limited size, etc. We perform spatio-temporal dynamics and pattern formation in a model aquatic system in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. Zooplanktons are predated by fishes and interfere with individuals of their own community. Numerical simulations are carried out to explore Turing and non-Turing spatial patterns. We also examine the effect of spatial heterogeneity on the spatio-temporal dynamics of the phytoplankton–zooplankton system. The phytoplankton specific growth rate is assumed to be a linear function of the depth of the water body. It is found that the spatio-temporal dynamics of an aquatic system is governed by three important factors: (i) intensity of interference between the zooplankton, (ii) rate of fish predation and (iii) the spatial heterogeneity. In an homogeneous environment, the temporal dynamics of prey and predator species are drastically different. While prey species density evolves chaotically, predator densities execute a regular motion irrespective of the intensity of fish predation. When the spatial heterogeneity is included, the two species oscillate in unison. It has been found that the instability observed in the model aquatic system is diffusion driven and fish predation acts as a regularizing factor. We also observed that spatial heterogeneity stabilizes the system. The idea contained in the paper provides a better understanding of the pattern formation in aquatic systems.

Environmental Biodynamics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Arora ◽  
Paul Curtin ◽  
Austen Curtin ◽  
Christine Austin ◽  
Alessandro Giuliani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Human Physiology ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Environmental Health Sciences ◽  
System Information

The book provides a new conceptual framework to explain the interaction of complex systems, specifically humans and their environment. It proposes that human physiology and the environment do not “connect” with each other in a direct, unidirectional manner, like a beaker pouring water into a cup. Rather, the authors propose the Biodynamic Interface Conjecture with the central axiom that complex systems cannot interact directly or exist in isolation due to temporally embedded functional interdependencies within and between systems. The authors propose that human physiology and the environment contribute to the formation of an interface, and by doing so they give rise to an intermediary that guides the interaction by letting some influences pass between the systems while restricting others. This proposition counters many structural approaches that assume that complex systems, such as the environment and humans, can transfer information directly between them while remaining discrete entities. Although developed for environmental health sciences, the conjecture has broader implications for the study of complex system interactions across various levels of organization, and the central role of time and temporal dynamics in system-to-system information exchange. This conjecture also argues against causal paradigms that (incorrectly) assume that systems are distinct entities interacting directly and ignore boundary conditions, and organizational levels, and complexity inherent in biological and environmental systems.

scholarly journals The same ultra-rapid parallel brain dynamics underpin the production and perception of speech

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie Fairs ◽  
Amandine Michelas ◽  
Sophie Dufour ◽  
Kristof Strijkers
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Language Models ◽  
Mixed Linear Models ◽  
Listening Task

AbstractThe temporal dynamics by which linguistic information becomes available is one of the key properties to understand how language is organised in the brain. An unresolved debate between different brain language models is whether words, the building blocks of language, are activated in a sequential or parallel manner. In this study we approached this issue from a novel perspective by directly comparing the time course of word component activation in speech production versus perception. In an overt object naming task and a passive listening task we analysed with mixed linear models at the single-trial level the event-related brain potentials elicited by the same lexico-semantic and phonological word knowledge in the two language modalities. Results revealed that both word components manifested simultaneously as early as 75 ms after stimulus onset in production and perception; differences between the language modalities only became apparent after 300 ms of processing. The data provide evidence for ultra-rapid parallel dynamics of language processing and are interpreted within a neural assembly framework where words recruit the same integrated cell assemblies across production and perception. These word assemblies ignite early on in parallel and only later on reverberate in a behaviour-specific manner.

scholarly journals The Essentiality of Dynamic Interfaces in Human-Environment Interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Arora ◽  
Alessandro Giuliani ◽  
Paul Curtin
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Human Physiology ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Brain Health ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Interacting Systems ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Relationship

The environment impacts human health in profound ways, yet few theories define the form of the relationship between human physiology and the environment. Under current epidemiological constructs of causation, it is assumed that two complex systems (environment and humans) can transfer information directly. This is the underlying structure of the relationship when studies examine, for example, air pollution and brain health. In marked contrast, we conjecture that complex systems cannot interact directly, but rather such interaction requires the formation of an “interface”. Further, we contend that this dynamic, process-based interface incorporates components from all the interacting systems but exhibits operational independence. This property has many consequences, the foremost being that characteristics of the interface cannot be fully resolved by only studying the systems involved in the interaction. The interface itself must be the subject of inquiry. Without refocusing our attention on biodynamic interfaces, we cannot discern how our environment impacts health.

scholarly journals Implementasi Metode Belajar Skematis pada Mata Kuliah Ilmu Faal Manusia (Studi Kasus di Fakultas Kedokteran UNS)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Human Physiology ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Interaction Process ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Learning Resources ◽  
Learning Method ◽  
Action Mechanism ◽  
Human Organs

Learning is an interaction process between learning resources and learners. There are much knowledge to learn but sometimes to learn something is not easy. One of them is studying human physiology. Human physiology is a knowledge that explains specific characteristics and action mechanism of human organs. In human physiology, there are many action mechanism which related each other and because of that it is very difficult to learn. Therefore, appropriate learning method needed to make human physiology understandable. The aimed of this study is to describe schematic learning method to learn the human physiology. This study uses design of exploration method by qualitative approach on college medical students in UNS who were picked by random sampling method. For collect the data, the method which used is interview. The result of this study told that schematic method is implementable to learn the human physiology.

Alternative Splicing Mediated by RNA-Binding Protein RBM24 Facilitates Cardiac Myofibrillogenesis in a Differentiation Stage-Specific Manner

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Huei-An Lu ◽  
Kang-Zheng Lee ◽  
Paul Wei-Che Hsu ◽  
Liang-Yu Su ◽  
Yu-Chen Yeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Cardiac Differentiation ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Sarcomeric Proteins ◽  
Sarcomere Assembly

Background: Mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins lead to failures in sarcomere assembly, the building blocks of contracting muscles, resulting in cardiomyopathies that are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Splicing variants of sarcomeric proteins are crucial at different stages of myofibrillogenesis, accounting for sarcomeric structural integrity. RNA-binding motif protein 24 (RBM24) is known as a tissue-specific splicing regulator that plays an essential role in cardiogenesis. However, it had been unclear if the developmental stage-specific alternative splicing facilitated by RBM24 contributes to sarcomere assembly and cardiogenesis. Our aim isto study the molecular mechanism by which RBM24 regulates cardiogenesis and sarcomere assembly in a temporal-dependent manner. Methods: We ablated RBM24 from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) using CRISPR/Cas9 techniques. Results: Although RBM24 -/- hESCs still differentiated into sarcomere-hosting cardiomyocytes, they exhibited disrupted sarcomeric structures with punctate Z-lines due to impaired myosin replacement during early myofibrillogenesis. Transcriptomics revealed >4000 genes regulated by RBM24. Among them, core myofibrillogenesis proteins (e.g. ACTN2, TTN, and MYH10) were misspliced. Consequently, MYH6 cannot replace non-muscle myosin MYH10, leading to myofibrillogenesis arrest at the early premyofibril stage and causing disrupted sarcomeres. Intriguingly, we found that the actin-binding domain (ABD; encoded by exon 6) of the Z-line anchor protein ACTN2 is predominantly excluded from early cardiac differentiation, whereas it is consistently included in human adult heart. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of exon 6 from ACTN2 in hESCs, as well as forced expression of full-length ACTN2 in RBM24 -/- hESCs, further corroborated that inclusion of exon 6 is critical for sarcomere assembly. Overall, we have demonstrated that RBM24-facilitated inclusion of exon 6 in ACTN2 at distinct stages of cardiac differentiation is evolutionarily conserved and crucial to sarcomere assembly and integrity. Conclusions: RBM24 acts as a master regulator to modulate the temporal dynamics of core myofibrillogenesis genes and thereby orchestrates sarcomere organization.

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