Motivations for Pursuing Radical Life Extension

<p>In bio-ethics, the potential practical and ethical implications of radical life extension are being seriously debated. However, the role of motivation in relation to dramatically increasing the human life span has been largely overlooked. I propose that motivation is a crucial aspect to consider within the radical life extension discourse by conjecturing about why it might appeal and the possible ways it could impact outcomes where it is successfully developed and implemented. I do not thereby present an argument that supports or opposes radical life extension technology. This is ultimately a speculative piece. In exploring the relationship between motivation and radical life extension, I present a conceptual framework called the Thanatophobic and Romantic Motivational Spectrum (TRM Spectrum) designed to assist deeper examination on the subject. It captures what I suggest are two key motivators related to life and death, that is, the fear of death (Thanatophobia) and the “love” of life (Romanticism). The motivational spectrum is then applied to the death penalty versus life imprisonment, and euthanasia and suicide debates to demonstrate how it can be used for analysis of ethical issues in relation to the potential introduction of radical life extension technology.</p>

Motivations for Pursuing Radical Life Extension

<p>In bio-ethics, the potential practical and ethical implications of radical life extension are being seriously debated. However, the role of motivation in relation to dramatically increasing the human life span has been largely overlooked. I propose that motivation is a crucial aspect to consider within the radical life extension discourse by conjecturing about why it might appeal and the possible ways it could impact outcomes where it is successfully developed and implemented. I do not thereby present an argument that supports or opposes radical life extension technology. This is ultimately a speculative piece. In exploring the relationship between motivation and radical life extension, I present a conceptual framework called the Thanatophobic and Romantic Motivational Spectrum (TRM Spectrum) designed to assist deeper examination on the subject. It captures what I suggest are two key motivators related to life and death, that is, the fear of death (Thanatophobia) and the “love” of life (Romanticism). The motivational spectrum is then applied to the death penalty versus life imprisonment, and euthanasia and suicide debates to demonstrate how it can be used for analysis of ethical issues in relation to the potential introduction of radical life extension technology.</p>

Is There a Cap on Longevity? A Statistical Review

There is sustained and widespread interest in understanding the limit, if there is any, to the human life span. Apart from its intrinsic and biological interest, changes in survival in old age have implications for the sustainability of social security systems. A central question is whether the endpoint of the underlying lifetime distribution is finite. Recent analyses of data on the oldest human lifetimes have led to competing claims about survival and to some controversy, due in part to incorrect statistical analysis. This article discusses the particularities of such data, outlines correct ways of handling them, and presents suitable models and methods for their analysis. We provide a critical assessment of some earlier work and illustrate the ideas through reanalysis of semisupercentenarian lifetime data. Our analysis suggests that remaining life length after age 109 is exponentially distributed and that any upper limit lies well beyond the highest lifetime yet reliably recorded. Lower limits to 95% confidence intervals for the human life span are about 130 years, and point estimates typically indicate no upper limit at all. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application, Volume 9 is March 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

CHOP TMC Single Cell Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression v1

The human heart is vital for our survival and health, and it presents remarkable anatomical, cellular and functional heterogeneity. The four chambers of the heart, together with specialized arteries, veins, valves and conduction cells, perform distinct yet essential physiological functions. A significant gap of knowledge is that different cell's molecular signature, spatial distribution and interactions, and functional state remain little understood at the single-cell level. The goal of the heart Organ-Specific Project (OSP) is to address this knowledge gap and generate high quality, single-cell resolution, longitudinal imaging and multiomics data of normal human hearts across the entire human lifespan. To achieve this goal, we propose the following three specific aims: 1) To refine protocols of biospecimen processing, multiomics and imaging assays and define inter-individual variability using our existing banked normal human hearts. 2) To procure, archive and annotate high-quality normal heart samples across the entire human life span. We have established a streamlined procurement and biorepository infrastructure to support our heart OSP. We will procure normal heart and bone from the same donor of 5 different age groups across the entire human life span. 3) To spatially and quantitatively profile normal heart specimens across the entire human lifespan using a set of robust and scalable imaging and single-cell omics assays. In summary, the heart OSP will broadly impact the entire research community and jumpstart basic-science and medical discoveries based on a sophisticated understanding of the key molecular circuits underlying the development and aging of human heart.

Is Financial Inclusion a Determinant of Life Expectancy? Evidence from West African Region

This study is a contribution to the debate on the significance of financial inclusion with much emphasis on its impacts on human life span. The sample used for the analyses consisted of 14 West African countries over the period 2010 and 2018. The study employed a dynamic 2-Step System GMM approach, and under different model specifications, control for public and private health expenditure, food production quality, population, access to electricity, and the number of people practicing open defecation. The estimated results, among others, showed considerable evidence of positive feedback of financial inclusion on human life span. As such, substantial improvement in the access to and use of financial services is key to a high life expectancy in the region.

Social-behavioral development

The early child period is considered to be the crucial in the human life-span development. Healthy and normal early development of a child, including his/her physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development, strongly influences the subsequent personal and social functioning, well-being and life success. Behavioral development, and in particular social/behavioral development, is a crucial tool for survival and adaptation. In this article, three mechanisms that work in an interrelated and cooperative way in determining behavioral development will be discussed in more detail. Given the purpose and design of this paper, we will focus on some of the latest studies of the environmental factors considered to have the power to influence ontogenetic behavioral development and in particular, social/behavioral development.

A study of prevalence of urogenital problem among menopausal women attending the OPD at tertiary care hospital in Bhopal

Background: The interest in menopausal problems has increased in recent years, due to the expansion of human life span. Women are spending more than one-third of their lives in menopausal period. Due to this fact, estrogen deprivation can cause vaginal atrophy symptoms and vasomotor symptoms, which critically diminish quality of life (QOL) in postmenopausal women.Methods: This study is a retrospective observational/analytical study conducted in the menopausal specialty clinic in J. K. Hospital, L. N. Medical College, Bhopal over a period of 1 year. All the women who attained menopause either naturally or surgically who presented first time to the clinic for any complaints were evaluated for the UG symptoms with the help of face to face interview.Results: Out of the 300 women with menopausal symptoms, 182 i.e. 60.6% were married and 52% (156) were illiterate. The most prevalent menopausal symptom in present study was vaginal dryness 240 (80%).Conclusions: There is association with lower educational levels. Hence efforts should be made educate women about the symptoms and provide care at all the levels of health care delivery.

Pseudogenes in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the main disease that affects human life span. In recent years, the disease has been increasingly addressed at the molecular levels, for example, pseudogenes are now known to be involved in the pathogenesis and development of cardiovascular diseases. Pseudogenes are non-coding homologs of protein-coding genes and were once called “junk gene.” Since they are highly homologous to their functional parental genes, it is somewhat difficult to distinguish them. With the development of sequencing technology and bioinformatics, pseudogenes have become readily identifiable. Recent studies indicate that pseudogenes are closely related to cardiovascular diseases. This review provides an overview of pseudogenes and their roles in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. This new knowledge adds to our understanding of cardiovascular disease at the molecular level and will help develop new biomarkers and therapeutic approaches designed to prevent and treat the disease.