Thinking in Straight Lines

Philip Roth ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 331-365
Author(s):  
Ira Nadel
Keyword(s):  
Primo Levi ◽  
Literary Agent ◽  
Straight Lines ◽  
Extended Discussion

“Thinking in Straight Lines:” Roth in the 1980s was knocked about by health, and his strained relationship with Bloom, became restless with England and began to question his identity, which found expression in The Counterlife, as experimental in form as in its story. Collectively, these events prevented any “straight thinking.” The chapter also narrates the growing role of Nathan Zuckerman in his writing, plus Roth’s friendships (and then nonfriendships) with James Atlas and Ross Miller, his first official biographer (later fired), and his longtime friend Theodore Solotaroff. The centrality of The Anatomy Lesson from 1983, focusing on pain and healing, receives extended discussion. Three years later Roth, with his friend David Plante, visit Israel, an experience that reappears in Operation Shylock. During this time, Roth signs with the ambitious literary agent Andrew Wylie and through him renews several mega literary deals reestablishing Roth’s financial clout. Other topics include Roth’s meaningful friendship with Primo Levi, interviewed in 1986 (and dead the following year) and the increasing role of mortality in his writing, intensified by the death of his father in 1989 and then the publication of Patrimony in 1991.

scholarly journals Primo Levi vs. Dmitri Mendeleev

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-7
Author(s):  
Elena Ghibaudi
Keyword(s):  
Life Experiences ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
Primo Levi

AbstractA comparison between the figures of Levi and Mendeleev is proposed, based on their peculiar ways of conceiving their professional role of chemist, their life experiences, their achievements and their thought.

scholarly journals The Urothelium: Life in a Liquid Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 1621-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianela G. Dalghi ◽  
Nicolas Montalbetti ◽  
Marcelo D. Carattino ◽  
Gerard Apodaca
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Liquid Environment ◽  
Afferent Nerve Fibers ◽  
Proximal Urethra ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
And Function ◽  
Solute Composition ◽  
Extended Discussion

The urothelium, which lines the renal pelvis, ureters, urinary bladder, and proximal urethra, forms a high-resistance but adaptable barrier that surveils its mechanochemical environment and communicates changes to underlying tissues including afferent nerve fibers and the smooth muscle. The goal of this review is to summarize new insights into urothelial biology and function that have occurred in the past decade. After familiarizing the reader with key aspects of urothelial histology, we describe new insights into urothelial development and regeneration. This is followed by an extended discussion of urothelial barrier function, including information about the roles of the glycocalyx, ion and water transport, tight junctions, and the cellular and tissue shape changes and other adaptations that accompany expansion and contraction of the lower urinary tract. We also explore evidence that the urothelium can alter the water and solute composition of urine during normal physiology and in response to overdistension. We complete the review by providing an overview of our current knowledge about the urothelial environment, discussing the sensor and transducer functions of the urothelium, exploring the role of circadian rhythms in urothelial gene expression, and describing novel research tools that are likely to further advance our understanding of urothelial biology.

Lacrimal

2014 ◽  
pp. 167-176
Author(s):  
Alastair K.O. Denniston ◽  
Philip I. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Features ◽  
Practical Approach ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Extended Discussion

‘Lacrimal’ provides the reader with a practical approach to the assessment and management of nasolacrimal disease. After outlining the relevant anatomy and physiology of these structures, the chapter addresses the key ophthalmic presentations arising from nasolacrimal disease, notably ‘the watery eye’ and dacryocystitis. Using a patient-centred approach the key clinical features, investigations and treatment are described for these conditions with a special extended discussion on the role of dacryocystorhinostomy.

Graphology and psychiatric diagnosis: Is the writing on the wall?

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-54
Author(s):  
Mary Davoren ◽  
Natalie Sherrard ◽  
Eugene Breen ◽  
Brendan D. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Clinical Improvement ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Psychiatric Diagnosis ◽  
Auditory Hallucinations ◽  
Handwriting Analysis ◽  
Speech And Language ◽  
Language Difficulties ◽  
Straight Lines

AbstractObjective: To review the role of handwriting analysis in psychiatry.Method: Case-report and review of key papers.Results: M, a 27-year-old man, presented with incoherent speech, palilalia, logoclonia, incongruous affect, paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations. M was diagnosed with schizophrenia and cannabis misuse, complicated by speech and language difficulties. M spent long periods writing on pieces of paper; towards the start of his admission, his writing was unintelligible but became more intelligible as his psychosis resolved. M's handwriting demonstrates clinical features of psychosis (e.g. clang associations) and graphological abnormalities associated with schizophrenia in the literature (rigidity in letter-formation, mechanical expressions, and tendency toward over-use of straight lines).Conclusion: Analysis of handwriting is likely to play a limited role in psychiatric diagnosis but may prove useful in monitoring clinical improvement in certain patients.

The role of walking surface in enhancing the stability of the simplest passive dynamic biped

Robotica ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Tehrani Safa ◽  
Mahyar Naraghi
Keyword(s):  
Gait Stability ◽  
Loop Control ◽  
Contact Points ◽  
Closed Loop Control System ◽  
Bipedal Gait ◽  
Loop Control System ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Straight Lines ◽  
Inclined Surface

SUMMARYEmploying passive dynamics of the simplest point-foot walker, we have shown that the walking surface could have a great role in promoting the gait stability. In this regard, the stabilization of the simplest walking model,3 between the range of slopes greater than 0.0151 rad. and less than 0.26 rad., has been achieved. The walker like other passive dynamic walking models has no open or closed-loop control system; so, is only actuated by the gravity field. Moreover, no damper or spring is used. Obviously, according to the model's unstable behavior, it is unable to walk on an even flat ramp between the mentioned intervals.3 Here, instead of restraining the model, we let it explore other smooth surfaces, walking on which, will end in an equally inclined surface. To reach the objective, we employ a parallel series of fixed straight lines (local slopes) passing through contact points of an unstable cycling gait, which is generated by an ordinary ramp. To categorize, we have nicknamed those local slopes that guide the biped to a stable cyclic walking, “Ground Attractors,” and the other, leading it to a fall, “Repulsive Directions.” Our results reveal that for the slope <0.26 rad., a closed interval of ground attractors could be found. Stabilization of those unstable limit cycles by this technique makes obvious the key role of walking surface on bipedal gait. Furthermore, following our previous work,13 the results confirm that the two thoroughly similar walking trajectories can have different stability. All of these results strongly demonstrate that without considering the effects of a walking surface, we cannot establish any explicit relationship between the walker's speed and its stability.

scholarly journals Amodal Presence and the Bounce/Stream Illusion

i-Perception ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 204166951879183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Anstis
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Curved Paths ◽  
Straight Lines ◽  
As If

Ambiguous bounce/stream collision points were hidden behind an occluder so that observers had to complete them amodally. In Movie 1, straight or curved static lines were painted on the occluder. In Movie 2, dotted textures flowed in straight or curved lines across the front of the occluder. In Movie 3, moving eyes, painted on the occluder, either moved in straight lines, as if tracking streaming spots, or else followed curved paths, as if tracking bouncing spots. The straight (or curved) lines, texture flow or eye movements led to judgments of streaming (or bouncing). These effects demonstrate the role of attention and expectations in disambiguating bounce/stream stimuli.

scholarly journals Gliding movement of and bidirectional transport along single native microtubules from squid axoplasm: evidence for an active role of microtubules in cytoplasmic transport.

1985 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 1736-1752 ◽  
Author(s):  
R D Allen ◽  
D G Weiss ◽  
J H Hayden ◽  
D T Brown ◽  
H Fujiwake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forward Direction ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Axoplasmic Transport ◽  
Cytoplasmic Transport ◽  
Associated Proteins ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Bidirectional Transport ◽  
Glass Surfaces ◽  
Straight Lines

Native microtubules prepared from extruded and dissociated axoplasm have been observed to transport organelles and vesicles unidirectionally in fresh preparations and more slowly and bidirectionally in older preparations. Both endogenous and exogenous (fluorescent polystyrene) particles in rapid Brownian motion alight on and adhere to microtubules and are transported along them. Particles can switch from one intersecting microtubule to another and move in either direction. Microtubular segments 1 to 30 microns long, produced by gentle homogenization, glide over glass surfaces for hundreds of micrometers in straight lines unless acted upon by obstacles. While gliding they transport particles either in the same (forward) direction and/or in the backward direction. Particle movement and gliding of microtubule segments require ATP and are insensitive to taxol (30 microM). It appears, therefore, that the mechanisms producing the motive force are very closely associated with the native microtubule itself or with its associated proteins. Although these movements appear irreconcilable with several current theories of fast axoplasmic transport, in this article we propose two models that might explain the observed phenomena and, by extension, the process of fast axoplasmic transport itself. The findings presented and the possible mechanisms proposed for fast axoplasmic transport have potential applications across the spectrum of microtubule-based motility processes.

The Form of Evil

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-117
Author(s):  
Irit Samet
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Primo Levi ◽  
Rational Discourse ◽  
Ethical Discourse ◽  
Absolute Dependence

Upon arriving in Auschwitz Primo Levi discovered that rational discourse, in which actions are done for reasons, was left lying on the carriage floor together with his human dignity. By responding ‘Here one doesn't ask why’, the camp guard succinctly conveys the insight that evil defies reason. This paper examines two studies of evil that are predicated on that idea: Kant's and Augustine's. It argues that their theories share an underlying formation wherein evil remains incomprehensible, except in negative terms as an absence of the reasonable. This deep similarity in the structure of the concept of evil is exceptionally striking if we bear in mind the radical difference in the scope of its application: whereas for Augustine ‘evil’ is a general metaphysical concept that concerns everything that goes wrong in creation, for Kant it is limited to agents and what they do. My argument is that the privative structure which underlies their understanding of evil stems from a shared belief in the central role of rationality in ethical discourse, and in an absolute dependence of moral responsibility on free will.

scholarly journals Verbal images of evil and (in)humanity during and after the Holocaust

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Geddes
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Primo Levi ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Charlotte Delbo ◽  
Bear Witness

In this paper, I explore images of evil and (in)humanity in the works of Primo Levi and Charlotte Delbo – verbal images that they encountered within Auschwitz and those that they created afterwards to try to bear witness to what happened there. Verbal images played a crucial role for Levi and Delbo in their efforts both to maintain a sense of their own humanity during their time in the concentration camp and to depict the extent to which inmates’ humanity was diminished and degraded by the Nazis. Thus, verbal images helped them both to maintain a sense of their own humanity and to depict the effort to destroy it. This dual role of verbal images found in their testimonies suggests that there is an intimate relationship between evil, images, and (in)humanity during and after the Holocaust – one that we would do well to consider. 

Manitoba Inuit Association’s Rapid Response to Include an Inuit Identifier within Manitoba COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Wayne Clark ◽  
Josée Gabrielle Lavoie ◽  
Nathan Nickel ◽  
Rachel Dutton
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Inuit People ◽  
Indigenous Organizations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Extended Discussion

To monitor the progress of the COVID-19 outbreak, ensure equitable access to testing and treatment, and provide up-to-date information to Indigenous decision-makers engaged in setting up measures to protect their communities, the Manitoba Inuit Association (MIA) mobilized to work with the First Nation Heath and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, Ongomiizwin Research, and the Manitoba Government to identify Inuit in COVID-19 diagnostic tests, including Inuit who reside in Manitoba or those who come from Nunavut to the province to access health services. Provincial work was already underway to add Indigenous identifiers into provincial clinical health information systems; however, it was apparent early in April 2020 that reporting to Indigenous organizations on identified COVID-19 cases for First Nation, Metis, and Inuit People would be also be required in order for remedial measures to occur. This article describes the governance considerations needed to establish an information-sharing agreement with the Government of Manitoba and the role of the MIA in overseeing this process. Further background information is provided in addition to an extended discussion around the context in which Inuit are identified and receive healthcare services in Manitoba.

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