The birth of kindness

Kin-selection is sheer nonsense, based on the false assumption that the gene for helping is a rare gene, whose chance to be shared can only be provided by kinship. The gene for helping is instead universally shared within and across species with altricial young, invented to foster the survival of offspring. As begging and helping are complementary behaviors, both triggered by oxitocin ( mesotocin for lungfishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds) begging is usually a reliable sign of the possession of the gene for helping. This is why helping is rewarding and allofeeding is widely diffused. Hence we can even see a sea gull feeding a penguin. It is not a mistake: it is the selfish gene for helping that recognizes itself in a gaping beak, not in an arbitrary tag as a green beard (Dawkins). If we have surplus of food and don't have offspring to feed, we too, as a sea gull, strive to bypass obstacles to energy flow, looking for someone else to feed, if not other humans, at least a pet.

Imagined Communities and Imaginary Plots: Nationalisms, Conspiracies, and Pandemics in the Longue Durée

The outbreaks of major pandemics have historically been associated with the proliferation of conspiracy theories. This article explores what role conspiratorial narratives have played in the development of different “imagined communities” in the premodern, modern, and contemporary worlds. I argue that premodern conspiratorial narratives were mostly focused on eschatological and theological images, aiming to blame and delegitimise the religious Other. In these imaginary plots, spread of disease was interpreted as an attack on one’s religious beliefs. The prevalence of religious conspiracies helped reinforce religiously based, yet temporary, “imagined communities.” With the rise of nation-states and the decline of empires and patrimonial kingdoms, the periodic outbursts of epidemics gradually attained more nationalist interpretations. Hence in the modern era, pandemics often triggered the growth of nationalist conspiracies. In these narratives the threatening Other was usually nationalised, and even traditional religious groups became reinterpreted as a threat to one’s national security. In recent times, new technologies and modes of communication have created space for the emergence of global conspiracy theories. The onset of Covid-19 has been associated with the dramatic expansion of such conspiracies. Some scholars have interpreted this as a reliable sign that nation-states and nationalisms have lost their dominance. However, this article shows that many global conspiracies in fact reinforce nationalist ideas and practices and, in this process, foster the perpetuation of national imagined communities.

Informativeness of bone intraoperative culture for diagnose osteomyelitis in diabetic foot patients.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of osteomyelitis in diabetic foot patients is frequently not obvious due to similar clinical and X-ray signs of bone infection and Sharcot osteopathy, but it is very important because of opposite approach to treatment of these conditions. Today we do not have reliable parameters to determine the devastation of bone infection and, therefore, the rational volume of bone resection and debridement. AIMS: To determine the diagnostic value of bone culture for osteomyelitis in diabetic foot patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 177 patients underwent surgery due to different forms of diabetic foot. In 131 of them clinical signs of osteomyelitis were revealed and this diagnosis was confirmed by histology. 46 patients with diabetes who underwent high-level amputation without bone infection formed the control group. Intraoperative bone cultures and histological samples were taken in all cases. RESULTS: We found similar microbial landscape in various forms of diabetic foot and in control group. The frequency of positive intraoperative cultures in patients without osteomyelitis was detected as 63%. The sensitivity of bone culture was counted as 86,3%, the specificity as 37%, the accuracy 73.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that bone culture is not reliable sign of bone infection in diabetic foot patients due to its low specificity. In our judgment, the only way to determine rational level of bone resection is visual intraoperative assessment and clinical signs such as development of granulation tissue and wound healing.

MIGRATION PROCESSES IN THE SOUTHERN URALS DURING THE TRANSITION TO THE LATE BRONZE AGE

The article is devoted to the problem of identifying migrations on the base of archaeological and paleogenetic data during the transition from the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) to the Late Bronze Age (LBA) in the Southern Trans-Urals. It discusses the methodological problems of detecting migrations from archaeological sources. Their most reliable sign is the appearance in some area not of separate features, but a complex of features of material culture from some remote area, as well as those features that reflect the introduction of new social relations and religious ideas. Such a complex could not be borrowed, and it is a reliable sign of migration. During the transition to the LBA in the Trans-Urals, new cultures appeared (Sintashta, Petrovka, and Alakul) and the penetration of features is recorded that had previously been formed in the Near East and Eastern Europe. These features are irregularly distributed: those from the Near East — mainly in the Sintashta culture, and Eastern European and Near Eastern features form a mixture in the Petrovka and Alakul cultures. These archaeological data correspond exactly to the results of paleogenetic studies: a significant contribution of Anatolian farmers was revealed in the genes of the Sintashta population, and it decreases in the Andronovo genes in favor of the Yamnaya-Poltavka component.

Chylous Ascites Accompanying Internal Hernia after Total Gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y Reconstruction

We report the case of a 69-year-old man with a history of esophagogastric junction cancer (Barrett’s esophageal cancer; pT1b [SM], N0, M0, pStage IA) that was surgically resected 2 years prior to the present episode. Recurrence was not observed during follow-up. Following complaints of dysphagia and abdominal pain, computed tomography revealed signs of internal hernia. Thus, laparoscopic exploration was performed. Intraoperatively, accumulation of chylous ascites accompanying the internal hernia through the jejunojejunostomy mesenteric defect was observed, which was successfully treated with laparoscopic hernia reduction and defect closure by sutures without intestinal resection. Here, we discuss the case and report that along with previous studies, our study suggests that chylous ascites might be a reliable sign of intestinal viability for herniated intestines.

Clinical and histopathological features in lepra reaction: a study of 50 cases

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Lepra reactions remain a major persistent problem in leprosy. Type 1 and type 2 (erythema nodosum leprosum-ENL) reactions are the major causes of nerve damage and permanent disabilities. Diagnosing lepra reactions correctly is important for timely institution of therapy to prevent and treat disability and morbidity. Aim and objectives<strong> </strong>of the study were<em> </em>to make detailed observations on clinical and histopathological features of type1 and type 2 lepra reactions.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> In this study we included 50 patients diagnosed during a 1-year period as lepra reactions based on clinic-histopathological corelation.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of the 50 patients, 4 were of type 1 reaction and 46 of type 2 reaction from which recurrence was more commonly seen with type 2 reactions. The most consistent histopathological findings in type1 reaction were periadnexal inflammatory infiltrates (100%) and lymphocytes in granuloma (100%), followed by papillary dermal edema and intercellular edema within granuloma (75%). Surprisingly, folliculotropism of and lymphocytic panniculitis was seen in 50% cases. In ENL, the most common histological findings were periadnexal inflammatory infiltrates (95.6%), presence of neutrophils within the granuloma (86.9%), foamy macrophages followed by papillary dermal edema (69.5%), and neutrophilic panniculitis (43.4%). Vasculitis like changes was noted in only 46% cases.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Infiltration of macrophage granulomas by neutrophils is a reliable sign of ENL. Classical signs of vasculitis are not always present in ENL. Folliculotropism and lymphocytic panniculitis are frequent in type1 reactions while neutrophilic panniculitis is common with ENL.</p>