Over the past several years, discoveries from mouse genetics have had direct impact on our understanding of vitamin A metabolism. Although the metabolism of vitamin A in the mouse does have some special features (for example very large stores of liver and pulmonary retinyl esters), the ability to construct knockout and transgenic mouse models has yielded an impressive amount of information directly relevant to understanding the general principles of vitamin A transport, storage and degradation. We discuss below (...) the metabolism of vitamin A through a number of genetically engineered mouse strains with alterations in genes that affect this metabolism. The novelty of this experimental approach is evidenced by the fact that the oldest of these strains was first reported only eight years ago.1) BioEssays 23:409–419, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

The conventional view of vitamins reflects a diverse group of small molecules that facilitate critical aspects of metabolism and prevent potentially fatal deficiency syndromes. However, vitamins also contribute to the shaping and maintenance of the human phenome over lifecycle and evolutionary timescales, enabling a degree of phenotypic plasticity that operates to allow adaptive responses that are appropriate to key periods of sensitivity (i.e., epigenetic response during prenatal development within the lifecycle or as an evolved response to environmental challenge over a (...) great many lifecycles). Individually, vitamins are important, but their effect is often based on nutrient‐nutrient (vitamin‐vitamin), nutrient‐gene (vitamin‐gene), and gene‐gene interactions, and the environmental influence of shifting geophysical cycles, as well as evolving cultural practices. These ideas will be explored within what I refer to as the “adaptive vitome (vitomics)” paradigm. (shrink)

In the 1930s Warburg's spare prose and disciplined respect for the facts set the style for a new generation of biochemists who had not known the conceptual revolutions of earlier years. Led by Warburg, they rejected the excesses of the colloid school and the false starts of the teens and twenties. Talk of active structure virtually disappeared as chemists began to identify enzymes, coenzymes, vitamins, and hormones. In the gradual transformation of the Atmungsferment from an ironcolloid complex to a specific (...) haem-protein, the roots of Warburg's inspiration were readily forgotten-the richer and more varied intellectual currents of the early decades of biochemistry. Experimental cytology and pharmacology were important strands. Most of what Warburg was doing on narcosis from 1908 to 1912 was typical of this school. He was deeply influenced by Loeb and his theory of the fertilization membrane. In the period from 1900 to 1914 the ups and down of belief in Hofmeister's enzyme theory was an important trend which helped determine the style of biochemistry in later decades. Warburg's conception of the Atmungsferment was shaped by the general reaction c. 1910 against Buchner's optimistic view. Warburg's Heidelberg lecture was framed as an answer to Hofmeister's lecture of 1901 and turned out almost as an imitation or second edition of it. It was a style that was soon out of fashion. The affinity between the early concept of enzymes and the old concept idea of “living protein” should not be neglected in discussions of Warburg's distaste for “enzymology.” The colloid school is too easily dismissed as a mere impediment to the chemical triumphs of the 1930s. Warburg's Atmungsferment was obviously colored by the colloidal cast of biochemical thought in 1912. The Atmungsferment represented, in short, a hybrid transition from the romantic biochemistry of the period 1900–1925 to the mature, classical of the 1930s. It is fascinating precisely because it reflects, and refracts through a unique and powerful mind, the varied local traditions of the early history of modern biochemistry. (shrink)

The concept of zero and no-effect plays a major role in toxicology. Issues discussed in this chapter include the nature of the adverse responses produced at the level of the organism and population. Humans and animals evolved in an environment bathed in all sorts of chemicals. Some compounds were toxic and others beneficial and even essential, serving as nutrients and medicines. Even vitamins at low doses can be severely toxic at excessive doses. The historical transition of toxicology from the science (...) of poisons to today’s focus on safety is the source of semantic confusion over interpreting terms ranging from poisonous, hazardous, having zero effect, and nothing happens. How serious must an adverse effect be to be considered toxicologically significant? The chapter follows the development of Paracelsus’ dictum “Dose makes the poison.” Different approaches to quantitating a toxicologic response are presented, paying particular attention to the difference between a no effect dose, and one that produces a mild effect that defines the metrics we use for safe limits of exposure, versus a maximum tolerable dose. Detection of a biological effect no different than seen in control animals, or the normal population, should not be of concern. Chemical exposure does not equate to toxicity. (shrink)

© 2017 Beal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Understanding dietary patterns is vital to reducing the number of people experiencing hunger, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight or obesity. We characterize global trends in dietary quality by estimating micronutrient density of the food supply, prevalence of inadequate intake of 14 micronutrients, and average (...) prevalence of inadequate intake of these micronutrients for all countries between 1961 and2011. Over this 50-year period, the estimated prevalence of inadequate intakes of micronutrients has declined in all regions due to increased total production of food and/or micronutrient density. This decline has been particularly strong in East and Southeast Asia and weaker in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where dietary micronutrient density has declined over this 50-year period. At the global level, micronutrients with the lowest levels of adequate estimated intake are calcium, iron, vitamin A, and zinc, but there are strong differences between countries and regions. Fortification has reduced the estimated prevalence of inadequate micronutrient intakes in all low-income regions, except South Asia. The food supply in many countries is still far below energy requirements, which suggests a need to increase the availability and accessibility of nutritious foods. Countries where the food energy supply is adequate show a very large variation in dietary quality, and in many of these countries people would benefit from more diverse diets with a greater proportion of micronutrient-dense foods. Dietary quality can be improved through fortification, biofortification, and agricultural diversification, as well as efforts to improve access to and use of micronutrient-dense foods and nutritional knowledge. Reducing poverty and increasing education, especially of women, are integral to sustainably addressing malnutrition. (shrink)

Recent evidence, from both epidemiological and animal experimental studies, suggest that the very first environment, the intrauterine, is extremely important in determining the future health of the individual. Genetic and ‘lifestyle’ factors impinge on, and can exacerbate, a ‘programming’ effect of an adverse fetal environment. In this review, we present compelling evidence to suggest that one of the major organs affected by an unfavourable prenatal environment is the kidney. Many of the factors that can affect fetal renal development (i.e. exposure (...) to excess glucocorticoids, insufficient vitamin A, protein/calorie malnutrition (in rats) and alterations in the intrarenal renin angiotensinogen system), also produce hypertension in the adult animal. When nephron number is compromised during kidney development, maladaptive functional changes occur and can lead, eventually, to hypertension and/or renal disease. Surprisingly, it is during the very earliest stages of kidney development that the vulnerability to these effects occurs. BioEssays 25:212–220, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Prolonging working hours and presenteeism have been conceptualized as self-endangering coping behaviors in employees, which are related to health impairment. Drawing upon the self-regulation of behavior model, the goal achievement process, and Warr's vitamin model, we examined the antecedents and moderation effects regarding quantitative demands, autonomy, emotion regulation, and self-motivation competence of university students' self-endangering coping behaviors. Results from a cross-sectional survey of 3,546 German university students indicate that quantitative demands are positively related and autonomy has a u-shape connection (...) with self-endangering coping. Emotion regulation was shown to be a protective factor for prolonging working hours. Moreover, self-motivation moderated the relationship between quantitative demands and prolonging of working hours, but not in the assumed direction. Self-motivation showed a systematic positive relationship with prolonging of working hours, but no relationship with presenteeism. Autonomy moderated the relationship of quantitative demands with both self-endangering behaviors. We found no moderating effects for emotion regulation of quantitative demands or autonomy and self-endangering behaviors. Besides further practical implications, the results suggest that lecturers should design their courses accordingly with less time pressure and university students should be trained in the use of autonomy. (shrink)

Synthetic genomics is a new field of research in which small DNA pieces are assembled in a series of steps into whole genomes. The highly reduced genomes of host‐associated bacteria are now being used as models for de novo synthesis of small genomes in the laboratory. Bacteria with the smallest genomes identified in nature provide nutrients to their hosts, such as amino acids, co‐factors and vitamins. Comparative genomics of these bacteria enables predictions to be made about the gene sets required (...) for core cellular functions and the associated metabolic network for the biosynthesis of host‐selected compounds. Synthetic biology may ultimately enable researchers to make customized cell‐specific organelles for the production and delivery of drugs to humans and domestic animals. Synthetic genomics may also become the method of choice for functional analyses of genes and genomes from bacteria that cannot be cultivated in the laboratory. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Bibliography of Resources by and about André E. Hellegers*Compiled by Doris Mueller Goldstein (bio)This bibliography is derived from the holdings of the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature and the BIOETHICSLINE© database (both of which are at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and supported by the National Library of Medicine); the archives of Lauinger Library, Georgetown University; the Medline databases of the National Library of Medicine; the WorldCat database (...) of OCLC, Dublin, Ohio, and selected Internet sites.Primarily comprised of writings by Dr. Hellegers, the list also includes interviews and media programs in which he participated, as well as writings about him that were written following his death. The arrangement within each section is by date. The 231 authored pieces reflect the transition from Dr. Hellegers’s early career as a researcher in fetal physiology at Johns Hopkins Medical School, where he published his first research report at the age of 29, to the early years of the Kennedy Institute, where he produced so many provocative columns on bioethical issues that influenced the growth of the field.Due to the diversity of sources and the 40-year time span covered, there are some variations in bibliographic style. Time and availability constraints precluded verifying all of the citations with the original documents. Any additions or corrections should be submitted to the compiler.Works Authored by André E. HellegersNo Date Ethical Issues in Sterilization of the Retarded. Unpublished paper.1956Vitamin B12 Serum Level and Pregnancy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 4: 440+, 1956. [With Bacon F. Chow and Kunio Okuda] [End Page 89]1957Vitamin B12 Absorption in Pregnancy and in the Newborn. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 5: 327+, 1957. [With Bacon F. Chow, Robert E. L. Nesbitt, Kunio Okuda, and David W. Smith]1958The Effects of Acute Hypoxia on the Osmotic Pressure of the Plasma. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 43: 197+, 1958. [With Donald H. Barron, Frederick C. Battaglia, and Giacomo Meschia]Studies on the Absorption of Vitamin B12 in Human Pregnancy with Especial Reference to the Effect of D-Sorbitol. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 76: 91+, 1958. [With Bacon F. Chow, Harry Prystowsky, and Vernon Wong]1959The Alveolar PCO2 and PO2 in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women at Altitude. Proceedings of the Society for Clinical Investigation 38: 1010+, 1959. [With Donald Barron, William Huckabee, Giacomo Meschia, James Metcalfe, and Harry Prystowsky]A Comparison of the Oxygen Dissociation Curves of the Bloods of Maternal and Fetal Goats at Various pHs. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 44: 215–21, July 1959. [With Donald Barron, Giacomo Meschia, Harry Prystowsky, and A. Stark Wolkoff]Fetal Blood Studies. XII. On the Relationship Between the Position of the Oxygen Dissociation Curve of Human Fetal Blood and Adult Fetal Hemoglobin. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 77: 585+, 1959. [With Paul D. Bruns, Julian Cotter, and Harry Prystowsky]Fetal Blood Studies. XIV. A Comparative Study of the Oxygen Dissociation Curve of Nonpregnant, Pregnant and Fetal Human Blood. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 78: 489–93, September 1959. [With Paul D. Bruns and Harry Prystowsky]Fetal Blood Studies. XVI. On the Changes in Total Osmotic Pressure and Sodium and Potassium Concentration of Amniotic Fluid During the Course of Human Gestation. Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 109: 509–12, October 1959. [With Frederick Battaglia, Paul D. Bruns, Harry Prystowsky, and Clayton Smisson]Further Observations on the Metabolism of Vitamin B12 in Human Pregnancy. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 77: 1+, 1959. [With Bacon F. Chow, Harry Prystowsky, Bruno Ranke, and Elma Ranke]The Oxygen Dissociation Curves of the Bloods of Adult and Fetal Llamas. Federation Proceedings 18, 1959. [With Donald Barron, William Huckabee, Giacomo Meschia, James Metcalfe, and Harry Prystowsky] [End Page 90]Transfer of Oxygen Across the Sheep Placenta at High Altitude. Federation Proceedings 18, 1959. [With Donald Barron, William Huckabee, Giacomo Meschia, and Harry Prystowsky]Uterine Blood Flow and Metabolism in Pregnant Sheep at High Altitude. Federation Proceedings 18, 1959. [With Donald Barron, William Huckabee, Giacomo Meschia, James Metcalfe, and Harry Prystowsky]Uterine Blood Flow and Metabolism in Unanesthetized Pregnant Sheep. Federation Proceedings 18, 1959. [With Donald Barron, William Huckabee, Giacomo... (shrink)

Well-planned vegetarian diets can meet nutritional requirements and provide health benefits. However, critical nutrients such as iron, calcium, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin B12 require special attention due to their lower bioavailability or absence of exclusively plant-based foods. This study aimed to review national and international consensus statements and guidelines directed at the adult vegetarian population, identifying recommendations regarding the intake and supplementation of these nutrients. An integrative literature review was conducted using the databases LILACS, COCHRANE, PUBMED, SCOPUS, (...) Web of Science, CINHAL, and EMBASE, including guidelines and consensus documents for vegetarian adults. The Brazilian Vegetarian Society guide (2012) was considered for comparative purposes. Five international and one national document were selected. A consensus was observed regarding the need for iron intake 80% higher than the DRIs, with emphasis on dietary factors that modulate absorption. For zinc, no specific numeric values were established, but attention to bioavailability is recommended, particularly in diets rich in phytates. Calcium recommendations are similar to those for the general population, with emphasis on the intake of low-oxalate vegetables and fortified foods. For omega-3 fatty acids, regular intake of alpha-linolenic acid sources is recommended, with possible supplementation of microalgae-derived DHA in specific situations. Vitamin B12 supplementation is unanimously recommended across all guidelines, being mandatory for vegans and also indicated for lacto-ovo-vegetarians. In conclusion, the analysedguidelines converge on practical recommendations that may support professional practice with adult vegetarians. Individualized counselling, grounded in updated evidence, is essential for health promotion and the prevention of nutritional deficiencies, while the strengthening of national guidelines may contribute to more consistent clinical practices in the care of this population. (shrink)

Despite the practical knowledge throughout the nineteenth century that citrus fruit cured scurvy, and that rickets and beriberi were diseases caused by poor diet, it was not until 1901 that animal feeding experiments led one investigator to propose the existence of 'accessory food factors,' a lack of which was determined to be the cause of some illnesses (Hopkins, 1949. In Joseph Needham and E. Baldwin (eds.), Hopkins and Biochemistry, 1861-1947: Papers Concerning Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, O.M., P.R.S., with a Selection (...) of His Addresses and a Bibliography of His Publications. Cambridge: W. Heifer and Sons Ltd). The discovery of vitamins has long been considered as a delayed discovery. This delay has been attributed to the power of the germ theory in physiology at the time. While the germ theory and theories of autointoxication certainly played a role in delaying the discovery of vitamins, I argue further that it is important to consider the difference made to physiology by understanding the vitamins’ catalytic function. The profound difference made to physiology by the vitamins’ catalytic function suggests that a vitamin concept had previously been systematically inaccessible to researchers working within the conceptual framework of Bernardian physiology. (shrink)

Alzheimer's disease remains the most common form of dementia. Dementia symptoms vary depending on individual personality, life experience, and social and cultural influences. As dementia progresses, involvement of multi-disciplinary health care professionals is needed to manage the disease. Alzheimer research is progressing rapidly. While 5% of all Alzheimer's disease may be genetically determined, the majority is not. Susceptibility genes can reveal the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease. Early life risk factors such as education, nutrition, and vascular disease may increase the (...) likelihood of dementia in later life. In the United States, two acetylcholinesterase inhibitors have been approved as cognitive enhancers. Possible prevention and symptomatic treatment interventions have focused on estrogen replacement therapy, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory medications. Research advances have improved the clinical management of dementia. Ethical implications to the patient, family, and society are multiple and remain challenging. (shrink)

This chapter explores a Latin American paradox: there are countries like Argentina or Brazil where enough food is being produced to feed 3.5 and 2.5 times their population yet hunger and food insecurity are on the rise. It does so by tracking the production, distribution, access to a diet of quality in Argentina and the measures used to track progress. The chapter is developed in five parts: a) a description of long-term political, economic, and cultural processes and paradoxes that frame (...) the advancement of food insecurity in Argentina; b) a critique of the main agro-industrial and food policies and their failure to articulate a sound and stable food environment thus moving the country further away from SDG Target 2.1; c) features of a healthy diet that includes vitamins, minerals, and measures of health with consideration of critical life stages; d) an assessment of how the weaknesses and poor validity and reliability of prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) and Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) compels a transition toward measuring diet quality instead, and; e) recommendations in four levels: politics, policies, access to a diet of quality, and measurements that better capture food security.One of the main conclusions is that changes within the existing system will not work and an overall change of system is long due. (shrink)

Oxidised bases, such as 8-oxo-guanine, occur in cellular DNA as a result of attack by oxygen free radicals. The cancer-protective effect of vegetables and fruit is attributed to the ability of antioxidants in them to scavenge free radicals, preventing DNA damage and subsequent mutation. Antioxidant supplements (e.g., β-carotene, vitamin C) increase the resistance of lymphocytes to oxidative damage, and a negative correlation is seen between antioxidant concentrations in tissues and oxidised bases in DNA. Large-scale intervention trials with β-carotene have, (...) however, led to increases in cancer. Recent measurements of the frequency of oxidised DNA bases indicate that earlier estimates were greatly exaggerated; there may be only a few thousand 8-oxo-guanines per cell. Convincing evidence for mutations resulting from oxidative damage, in tumours or cultured cells, is lacking. It seems that efficient antioxidant defences together with DNA repair maintain a steady-state level of damage representing minimal risk to cell or organism. BioEssays 21:238–246, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:diacritics 33.2 (2005) 42-70 [Access article in PDF] "O Happy Living Things" Frankenfoods and the Bounds of Wordsworthian Natural Piety Anne-Lise François With all the flowers Fancy e'er could feignWho breeding flowers will never breed the same. —John Keats, "Ode to Psyche" And I could wish my days to beBound each to each in natural piety. —William Wordsworth, "My heart leaps up" O happy living things! no tongue Their (...) beauty might declare:A spring of love gusht from my heart, And I bless'd them unaware!Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I bless'd them unaware. —Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" "O happy living things!"—vitamin-enriched grains; potatoes equipped to kill their predators; silk-producing goats; fast-growing salmon that hardly require feeding. Is it possible to predicate the breathless exclamation that escapes Coleridge's mariner, unaware not of water snakes but of the fantastic array of genetically modified creatures—animals and plants—currently under design or production by biotech industries? Already in May 2000 a New York Times article was announcing the imminent arrival of "fast-growing trout and catfish, oysters that can withstand viruses, and an 'Enviropig,' whose feces are less harmful to the environment because they contain less phosphorus." An article inset describes the emergent production of "pharm-animals":These domesticated beasts—cows, pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens—have been given the ability to produce pharmaceuticals and other valuable substances in their milk, eggs or semen. Endowed by scientists with foreign genes, often taken from humans, these animals, or bioreactors, as they are also known, earn their keep as living chemical factories. Two companies, the Genzyme Corporation of Cambridge, Mass., and PPL Therapeutics, a Scottish company, already have products from pharm animals being tested in clinical trials supervised by the Food and Drug Administration. Many other animals are [End Page 42] still in the development stage. For example, Nexia Biotechnologies in Canada is working on a goat that carries a gene from spiders allowing it to produce spider silk in its milk. When the spider silk, which consists of extremely strong, light proteins, is extracted from the goat's milk, the substance, potentially, can be used in applications like bulletproof vests. [Yoon] This last sentence is intriguing. The genetic revolution often bills itself as a second green revolution that will prevent starvation and alleviate disease, promising to feed the world's growing population in terms that tend to essentialize poverty and hunger as inevitable symptoms of a human condition, rather than understand them through the lens of specific colonial and postcolonial histories. But bulletproof vests? The indignant leftist response here would be to deride the collusion between biotechnology and the military-industrial complex—bulletproof vests leaving little doubt as to whose desires count as universal, timeless needs. Yet such a response is perhaps too quick to attribute reason to these genetic experiments in cross-species breeding, and too quick to accept the terms in which biotechnicians present themselves—as the instruments of reason, whether of global capitalism or universal human progress. Part of what this essay wishes to suggest is that to dream up such things and to think of wanting to do them—make a goat produce spider silk in its milk—involve particular fantasies, fantasies not simply about recreating the world in one's image, but about learning to desire the world again, to be excited by it or "surprised" by its existence, to borrow a phrase from Stanley Cavell. The journalist's parenthetical "potentially" indicates that no use has yet been determined, no burning need fuels such experiments, and hints at the boredom behind them—what William Wordsworth might have called the "state of almost savage torpor" in which desire itself has to be invented.As the New York Times writer's double metaphor of animal as laborer- and factory-in-one suggests—"these animals, or bioreactors, as they are also known, earn their keep as living chemical factories"—the binaries animal-human, machine-animal... (shrink)

Despite efforts from regulatory agencies (e.g. NIH, FDA), recent systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) show that top medical journals continue to publish trials without requiring authors to report details for readers to evaluate early stopping decisions carefully. This article presents a systematic way of modelling and simulating interim monitoring decisions of RCTs. By taking an approach that is both general and rigorous, the proposed framework models and evaluates early stopping decisions of RCTs based on a clear and consistent (...) set of criteria. The framework allows decision analysts to generate and quickly answer ‘what-if’ questions by simulating alternate trial scenarios. I illustrate the framework with a case study of an RCT that was stopped early due to harm. This was a trial of vitamin A supplement in relation to HIV transmission from mother-to-child through breastfeeding. (shrink)

Epidemiological evidence supports a health‐promoting effect of the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet), especially in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. These cardiovascular benefits have been attributed to a number of components of the MedDiet such as monounsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant vitamins and phytochemicals. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Likewise, little is known about the genes that define inter‐individual variation in response to the MedDiet, although the TCF7L2 gene is emerging as an illustrative candidate for determining relative risk of cardiovascular events in (...) response to the MedDiet. Moreover, omics technologies are providing evidence supporting potential mechanisms, some of them implicating epigenetics (i.e. microRNAs, methylation), and certain data suggest that some traditional foods could contribute via microRNAs possibly acting as exogenous regulators of gene expression. Future research should aim at increasing and consolidating the nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic knowledge of the MedDiet in order to provide sound, personalized and optimized nutritional recommendations. (shrink)

Mange-t-on pour vivre ou vit-on pour manger? La question est peut-être mal posée. Car ce qu'il faudrait affirmer : c'est que le vivant mange la vie à pleines dents, et que vivre n'est qu'une métonymie de "vivres". Voilà l'hypothèse de cet essai. La vie doit dès lors être pensée à partir d'un certain régime d'alimentation. Traduire Freud, pour aujourd'hui, c'est sans doute soutenir que le malaise dans notre culture est désormais alimentaire. Dégoût pour la vie, manque d'appétit pour elle, quand (...) le vivant a en assez "soupé" et trinqué, il lui faut retrouver le goût de vivre. Comment réalimenter la vie? Comment la vitaminer? Comment, encore, lui donner envie de vivre, alors même que tout concourt à l'en dégoûter (terrorisme, catastrophes écologiques, famine, dépressions en tous genres)? Cela engage l'écologie, et l'économie libidinale. Une diététhique reste donc à penser. Car vivre ne se peut sans quelque envie de vivre(s). Voilà pourquoi le vivant n'est que ce qu'il mange. Ce livre essaye d'interroger l'histoire de la philosophie, de Platon jusqu'à Levinas, afin de nourrir notre appétit et notre soif de vivre(s), et de nous libérer de l'ascétisme morbide, dont le nom le plus récent fut : Heidegger. (shrink)

Alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP)AFP, alpha‐fetoprotein; T3R, thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine) receptor; RAR, retionic acid receptor; erbA, putative thyroid hormone receptor proto‐oncogene products; VDR, vitamin D receptor; MR, mineralocorticoid receptor; GR, glucocorticoid receptor; PR, progesterone receptor; AR, androgen receptor; HRE, hormone response element on DNA; RXR, retionic‐X‐receptor; RAP, receptor auxiliary (accessory) proteins; E, estrogen. is a tumor‐associated fetal marker, associated both with tumor growth and with birth defects. AFP, whose precise function is unknown, has been classified as belonging to a protein superfamily together (...) with albumin and vitamin D‐binding (Gc) protein. AFP has been shown to bind various ligands in vitro including fatty acids, estrogens, thyroid hormones and retinoic acids. The steroid/thyroid nuclear receptor superfamily of proteins has recently become a major focus of biomedical investigation regarding regulation of gene expression. These receptors are thought to bind to DNA‐hormone response elements (HRE) that affect growth, development, differentiation, reproduction and homeostasis. The HREs are known to share DNA sequences with the various members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. In the present report, the possibility of a leucine‐zipper dimerization (heptad) motif in the carboxy‐terminal third domain of both rodent and human AFP is postulated. The presence of nine such hydrophobic repeats in the third domain of the AFP molecule mimics the heptad dimerization repeats found in the retinoic acid, thyroid, e‐erbA and other members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Computer analysis revealed that the most conservative matching occurred between AFP and the retinoic acid class of receptors. However, other superfamily members displayed 40–60% homology with 5 of 9 AFP heptads. These findings could provide a possible mechanism for explaining the growth‐regulatory properties (both inhibition and enhancement) that have been ascribed to AFP in the last decade. (shrink)

This paper presents an analysis of the issue that as yet not been extensively researched in the doctrine of Lithuanian and foreign law: the issue of legal distinguishing between medicinal products and food supplements. In order to analyze the problems of theory and practice, the structure of the paper is divided into two parts. The first part concentrates on the main features of medicinal products and food supplements in accordance with the case law of the Court of Justice of the (...) European Union (CJEU). It is established that medicinal products must comply with one of these descriptions: be made and aimed towards healing and preventing sicknesses; cause serious threats to health or have health-hazardous secondary effects; and have very intense effects on physiological features of human organisms. Food supplements in theory should not have these features. However, sometimes in practice preparations identified as food supplements have large doses of certain medicinal substances or other ingredients (e.g. alcohol, plant extracts, vitamins, amino acids, and etc.) that present threats to human health. The practice of the CJEU shows that counterbalancing free movement and public health protection interests is problematic in this area. (shrink)

General knowledge of the role of vitamin D3 in human physiology has been shaped by its discovery as a preventive agent of nutritional rickets, a defect in bone development due to inadequate uptake of dietary calcium. Studies on the function of the hormonal form of vitamin D3, 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3, have been greatly accelerated by the molecular cloning and structural analysis of the vitamin D3 receptor, which is a ligand‐activated regulator of gene transcription. Molecular genetic techniques including genomics (...) have helped reveal that 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 can control more than calcium homeostasis. It has widespread effects on cellular differentiation and proliferation, and can modulate immune responsiveness, and central nervous system function. Moreover, accumulating epidemiological and molecular evidence suggests that 1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 acts as a chemopreventive agent against several malignancies including cancers of the prostate and colon. Here, we survey the most‐recent findings and discuss their implications for the potential therapeutic uses of vitamin D analogues. BioEssays 26:21–28, 2004. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Introduction: Globally, vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common deficiencies, affecting nearly half the world's population. The objective of this survey was to assess and compare the knowledge about vitamin D and the perceived state of health in Emirati and international tourist female students in Dubai, UAE. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that took place in universities in Dubai, UAE. This survey consisted of 17 multiple choice questions. The first part of the survey assessed levels (...) of supplementation, diet and UV exposure. Another section evaluated the participants’ self-assessed state of health regarding vitamin D testing, symptoms related to vitamin D deficiency and general welbeing. The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS statistics for windows version 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: 105 respondents were Emiratis and 65 were international students. The average age was 21, with an average BMI 23.3. Almost one-third of each group reported using Vitamin D supplements once weekly. The majority of both groups reported rarely getting tanned. Almost all participants reported regular consumption of Vitamin-D rich foods. In both groups, more than half reported consuming milk and cheese regularly and up to one-third reported consuming fish in a regular manner. Although more than half of the students rated their health as good; more than two-thirds reported experiencing muscle pain; only half reported having their blood Vitamin D levels measured once; half reported experiencing problems with concentration and more than three-quarters reported experiencing bad mood in the past month. The prevalence of these symptoms was almost similar across different categories of vitamin D supplementation, tanning habits, dietary intake, or nationality. No statistically significant differences were noted between the 2 groups. Conclusion: more Emirati students were aware of the association between vitamin D and osteoporosis than International tourist students (40% vs. 21.9%, respectively; p<0.05). On the other hand, both groups had lower knowledge about the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and depression, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hypertension, and the optimal vitamin D level; however, no statistically significant differences were noted regarding this knowledge of Emiratis and international students. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to provide all people, from small children to aged persons, with a computational environment for everyday language communication. In order to achieve this, we propose a framework for a language-based operating system. In this paper, we explain our approach to dealing with the meaning of language, the architecture of the language operating system and its components. In particular, we describe the notion of language protocol and its resource representation, compared to the other protocols and (...) their resource representations. We argue that by processing meaning of language rather than processing information, we attempt to provide a more human-like computer system and an intelligent computational environment to all people. (shrink)

When we humans receive uncertain information, we interpret it properly, so we can expand the conversation, and take the proper actions. This is possible because we have “common sense” concerning the basic word concept, which is built up from long time experience storing knowledge of our language. Of the common sense we use in our every day lives we think that there are; common sense concerning quantity such as size, weight, speed, time, or place; common sense concerning sense or feeling (...) such as hot, beautiful, or loud; and moreover common sense concerning emotion such as happy or sad. In order to make computers closer to human beings, we think that the construction of a “Common Sense Judgment System” which deals with these kinds of common sense is necessary. When aiming to realize this “Common Sense Judgment System” and trying to make a computer have the same common sense knowledge and judgment ability as human beings, a very important factor is the handling of unknown words. Judgment concerning words which were given to the computer as knowledge before hand, it can refer to that knowledge, and the process will have no problem at all. But when an unknown word, which is not registered as knowledge, is inputted, how to process that word is a very difficult problem. In this paper, by using a concept base, which is made from several electric dictionaries; the degree of association, which is done based on the concept base; neural network, putting the closeness of meaning in consideration, we propose a method of unknown word processing, which connects an inputted unknown word to a representing word that is registered in the judgment knowledge base, and we will verify its effectiveness by experiment applied to the emotional judgment subsystem. (shrink)

There have been several previous studies on measuring the semantic similarity between words whose concepts are represented as points in a multi-dimensional vector space acquired from text data such as electronic dictionaries or text corpora. A central problem in these studies is how to select orthonormal basis vectors for the space which represents attributes of the words. We propose a method of building the space by combining two representative methods, one using singular value decomposition and the other using the contents (...) of a thesaurus. The proposed method was evaluated both for the purposes of similar word retrieval and for document retrieval. The evaluations showed that the proposed combination is more effective than either of the original methods alone for both of these tasks. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is development of a supporting system for teacher's design of lesson plan. Especially design of lesson plan which relates to the new subject "Information Study" is supported. In this study, we developed a system which generates teaching and learning activity sequences by interlinking lesson's activities corresponding to the various conditions according to the user's input. Because user's input is multiple information, there will be caused contradiction which the system should solve. This multiobjective optimization problem is (...) resolved by Distributed Genetic Algorithms, in which some fitness functions are defined with reference models on lesson, thinking and teaching style. From results of various experiments, effectivity and validity of the proposed methods and reference models were verified; on the other hand, some future works on reference models and evaluation functions were also pointed out. (shrink)

It is important to increase computation efficiency of a system at a low cost while holding the system correct. For this realization, addition of new and efficient equivalent transformation rules, whose correctness is assured, is useful. As long as correct ET rules are added to a correct system, the computation result of the system is always correct. Improvement of rules is promoted further by improvement of data structure.In this paper, we improve data structure by introducing interval variables into the usual (...) term domain and add two correct and efficient ET rules, which are promoted by introduction of interval variables, for member constraints on interval variables. These rules are the candidate elimination rule and the common pattern specialization rule. We show by an experiment that computation efficiency is increased by using these rules. (shrink)

In this paper, we perform a worst-case analysis of rule discovery based on generality and accuracy. A rule is defined as a probabilistic constraint of true assignment to the class attribute for corresponding examples. In data mining, a rule can be considered as representing an important class of discovered patterns. We accomplish the aforementioned objective by extending a preliminary version of PAC learning, which represents a worst-case analysis for classification. Our analysis consists of two cases: the case in which we (...) try to avoid finding a bad rule, and the case in which we try to avoid overlooking a good rule. Discussions on related work are also provided for PAC learning, multiple comparison, analysis of association rule discovery, and simultaneous reliability evaluation of a discovered rule. (shrink)

We think that a Micro-World should have learner model in order to guide a learner who is in impasse. In other words, the system should infer which knowledge is not understood by learner. In our previous works, we proposed a planning and plan recognition approach to generate advice appropriately by observing learner’s actions in Micro-World for high school chemistry. The system can infer doubtfulness of only a type of knowledge on the relation between goal and it’s means. However, it is (...) not enough to guide a learner appropriately. We propose the method to infer doubtfulness of the other types of knowledge, in order to construct a useful learner model for helping the learner in impasse. We take two approach to infer the doubtfulness of knowledge. One is to show a learner a final goal with condition which the learner must achieve, because when the learner can keep the condition, we can think that the learner must have the knowledge necessary to keep the condition. Another is comparing learner’s faulty actions with correct actions, because difference of them are caused by learner’s lack of knowledge. In addition, we report on our experimental system which is a Micro-World for high school chemistry. (shrink)

In the facial retrieval, it is necessary to cope with the change of expression and consider the personal subjectivity. Generally, the matching by using linguistic keywords or image has been used in the conventional image retrieval. Therefore, this method isn’t suitable for the facial image retrieval. Recently, a method treating the user’s subjectivity is researched. In the method, the user evaluates facial images presented by the system, and the system retrieves new candidacies according to the evaluation. One of such method (...) is the simulated breeding. However, this method gives heavier work to the user than the conventional method does. In this paper, we propose the facial image retrieval system united the retrieval by using linguistic keywords with the simulated breeding in order to decrease user’s work. The proposed system performs the retrieval by using the impressive adjective first, and the retrieval by using the simulated breeding. We evaluate the system through the experiment using the subjects and comparing with the prior art. (shrink)

Cost-based abduction, which is a technique for identifying the best explanation for a given observation based on the assumption of a set of hypothesis, is a useful knowledge processing framework for practical problems such as diagnosis, design and planning. However, the speed of reasoning of this approach is often slow. To overcome this problem, Kato et al. previously presented a more efficient cost-based abduction system, that utilized the A * search technique, however, the time and space complexities in this technique (...) are exponential, so the identification of the optimal solution is difficult in practical applications. In this paper, we present three new systems in which the user can define the computational complexity, for identification of a near-optimal solution. First, we introduce two search control techniques; a real-time A * search approach in which the user can define the look-ahead depth or space, and the multi-agent real-time A * approach in which the user can define the number of real-time A * agents used in the search. We describe the implementation of three cost-based abduction reasoning systems for predicate logic knowledge bases and test the proposed systems using a diagnostic logic circuit problem. The results show that proposed systems can identify a near-optimal solution according to the predefined polynomial order of complexity, including the selection of either linear or exponential computational complexity. It is also shown that inference time and success rate are dependent on the user-defined parameters, that the three proposed systems exhibit similar performance characteristics, and that they all offer significant speed advantages over the previously described technique. (shrink)

Vitamin D deficiency and its effect have attracted considerable research interest due to its relation to glucose homeostasis, insulin secretion, sensitivity and synthesis. This study aimed to evaluate vitamin D levels in patients with type II diabetes mellitus aged between 35-65 years and investigate their relations with glycemic control and obesity. The study included 74 Libyan patients with a known history of type II diabetes mellitus (33 males and 41 females). Serum glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and vitamin (...) D levels were biochemically estimated in these patients. Further, body mass index (BMI) was calculated for all diabetic patients (weight in kilogram per height in meter square). The mean level of plasma glucose level was 150.58±63.82 mg/dl (mean±SD). The mean of HbA1c level was 7.90±8.48% (mean±SD). The mean level of vitamin D was 22.75±14.97 ng/ml. The mean of BMI was 26.55±4.10 Kg per m2. The findings showed that 58.10% of the cases had vitamin D deficiency (Out of which 24.24% were males and 85.36% were females). This study showed significant differences in glucose, HbA1c, vitamin D and BMI between male and female patients. Moreover, elderly ages for both sexes had adverse effects on vitamin D status. Vitamin D levels have negatively been correlated with levels of glucose, HbA1c and BMI. It is concluded that vitamin D deficiency has an adverse effect on glucose homeostasis in patients with type II diabetes mellitus and this can be a contributing risk factor in complications of type II diabetes mellitus development in Libyan patients. (shrink)

The US FDA currently encourages the addition of vitamin D to milk and cereals, with the aim of reducing rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. However, vitamin D not only regulates the expression of genes associated with calcium homeostasis, but also genes associated with cancers, autoimmune disease, and infection. It does this by controlling the activation of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), a type 1 nuclear receptor and DNA transcription factor. Molecular biology is rapidly coming to (...) an understanding of the multiplicity of roles played by the VDR, but clinical medicine is having difficulty keeping up with the pace of change. For example, the FDA recently proposed a rule change that will encourage high levels of vitamin D to be added to even more foods, so that the manufacturers can claim those foods “reduce the risk of osteoporosis”. The FDA docket does not review one single paper detailing the transcriptional activity of vitamin D, even though, on average, one new paper a day is being published on that topic. Nor do they review whether widespread supplementation with vitamin D, an immunomodulatory secosteroid, might predispose the population to immune dysfunction. This BioEssay explores how lifelong supplementation of the food chain with vitamin D might well be contributing to the current epidemics of obesity and chronic disease. BioEssays 30:173–182, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Analysis of a diverse cross‐sample of plant‐insect interactions suggests that the abundance of vitamin C (L‐ascorbic acid, ascorbate or AsA) in plants influences their susceptibility to insect feeding. These effects may be mediated by AsAs roles as an essential dietary nutrient, as an antioxidant in the insect midgut, or as a substrate for plant‐derived ascorbate oxidase, which can lead to generation of toxic reactive oxygen species. Ascorbate can also influence the efficacy of plant defenses such as myrosinases and tannins, (...) and alter insects' susceptibility to natural enemies. Conversely, herbivores appear to influence both de novo synthesis and redox cycling of AsA in their host plants, thereby potentially altering the nutritional value of crops and their susceptibility to pests. The recent development of genetically modified crops with enhanced AsA content provides both an impetus and a tool set for further studies on the role of AsA in plant‐insect interactions. (shrink)

Over the past two decades, the understanding of the roles of vitamin D has expanded to include many nonskeletal effects such as reduced risk of acute respiratory tract infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, neurological diseases, and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. The role of vitamin D for optimal health is well known in Western developed countries but less so in Central Asian countries. This narrative review compares the status of vitamin D between Central Asian (...) countries and Northern European countries. The analysis also summarizes the evidence for the beneficial effects of vitamin D and recommendations for Central Asian countries. (shrink)

Avi Shulman has taught thousands of people how to look at life and see positive ways to make everything better. In this precious collection of his astute observations, he shares a wealth of wisdom in his concise and simple manner that always hits the target and makes the reader ask himself, why didn't I think of that? With lessons on assuming responsibility, setting attainable goals, creating a warm atmosphere at home, and avoiding the feeling of burnout, Vitamins for the Spirit (...) is a joy to read and an incredible investment in your future happiness and success. (shrink)

Vitamins are important scientific categories in different contexts. This article argues that vitamins are investigative kinds in middle-range ontologies: Categories subject to open-ended investigation and that track features of the world. Section 2 presents the history of vitamin discovery to illustrate how the introduction of the “vitamin” category and subsequent research led to the identification of many different vitamins. Section 3 explores whether vitamins can be considered natural or conventional kinds. Section 4 argues that vitamins are investigative kinds. (...) Section 5 considers the ontology of vitamins as investigative kinds in a middle-range ontology. (shrink)

본 논문은 조선 중기의 문인이자 의병장인 중봉 조헌(重峯 趙憲, 1544-1592)의 시문학을맹자의 항심(恒心) 개념을 중심으로 분석하였다. 그의 문학이 단순한 충절의 표현을 넘어 도덕적 신념과 윤리적 실천을 담고 있음을 탐색하였다. 지금까지의 선행연구가 조헌의 의병 활동과 충절에 초점을 맞춘 데 반해 본 논문에서는항심의 개념을 군주적 항심, 군자적 항심, 개인적 항심으로 설명하고 이를 통해 조헌의 시문학에서 개인의 항심이자 군자의 항심에서 발현되는 도덕적 원칙과 가치관의 지속성을 조명하였다. 특히 조헌의 시문학은 가난과 현실적 고난 속에서도 도덕적 신념을 견지하는 모습을 담고 있으며 자연 속에서의 자족적 삶을 드러냈다. 이는 (...) 부귀에 흔들리지 않는 청빈한 태도를 말해주는 것이다. 즉 사사로운 안위보다는 충절과 의리의 실천 등을 통해 유가적 가치관과 군자의 항심을 형상화한 것으로 이해하였다. 이러한 시적 요소들이 맹자의 항심 개념과 어떻게 연계되는지를 면밀하게 살펴보았으며, 이는 조헌의 문학이 개인의 윤리적 실천을 넘어 사회적 책임과 국가적 역할과도 밀접하게 연관되어 있음을 확인하였다. 결론적으로 조헌의 시문학을 항심의 관점에서 재해석함으로써 그의 문학이 단순한 시대적 기록이 아니라 보편적 도덕성과 신념의 상징으로 평가될 수 있는 계기가 될 것이다. (shrink)

Em artigo inédito, Franklin Leopoldo e Silva desenvolve os sentidos da memória na produção da identidade, destacando as relações significativas do presente com o passado e o futuro na construção da história. Desse ponto, o autor acentua o papel das instituições nesse processo – um processo de exercício de poder, no qual se tem, na verdade, a institucionalização do poder – e, dentre elas, em particular a instituição universitária.

이 글은 경을 일종의 명상으로 보고 그 특징을 탐구한 것이다. 경은 여타의 명상들과 마찬가지로 특정 마음상태를 추구하며, 그에 도달하기 위한 방법을 갖추고 있다. 집중과 자각이라는 마음상태와 정좌와 정제엄숙이라는 방법이 그것이다. 명상은 크게 집중명상과 통찰명상으로 분류되는데, 경은 집중(주일무적)을 중시하기도 하지만, 일상생활 속에서의 자각(깨어있음, 상성성)을 아울러 중시한다는 점에서 통찰명상(마음챙김 명상, mindfulness)으로 분류할 수 있을 것이다. 그렇지만 경은 정좌와 호흡에의 의존도가 약하고, 집중과 자각을 목적이 아니라 도덕적 이해와 실천을 위한 수단으로 본다는 점, 그리고 잡념과 망상의 폐해를 지적하면서도 도덕적 사고는 중시한다는 점 등에서 불교명상과 (...) 차별성을 지닌다. 이를 고려하여 이 글에서는 경을 도덕적 마음챙김 명상(moral mindfulness)으로 규정하였다. 이는 다른 명상들에 비해 첫째, 생활과 밀착된 도덕적 문제의 해결을 목적으로 하기 때문에 접근하기가 쉽고, 둘째, 종교 중립적으로 받아들여지기 때문에 한국과 같은 다종교사회에서 공교육에 적용할 때 거부감이 덜할 수 있다는 이점을 지닌다. (shrink)

비판적 사고 교과는 논리 교과목에 속하는가? 그렇다면 왜 그러한가? 이에 답하려면 무엇보다도 ‘논리’의 의미를 따져 보아야 한다. 이 논문에서 필자는 다음을 주장한다. 첫째, ‘논리’가 무엇인지는 ‘추론’ 개념으로써 이해하고 설명하는 것이 가장 바람직하다. 둘째, 비판적 사고 교과만이 다루는 제3의 논리는 없다. 셋째. 국내의 비판적 사고 교과는 적어도 연역과 귀납의 표준적인 추론 사례들과 그 형식을 다루어야 한다.