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Scientific Methods Must Be Public, and Descriptive Experience Sampling Qualifies
No full textHurlburt and Schwitzgebel’s groundbreaking book, Describing Inner Experience: Proponent Meets Skeptic, examines a research method called Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES). DES, which was developed by Hurlburt and collaborators, works roughly as follows. An investigator gives a subject a random beeper. During the day, as the subject hears a beep, she writes a description of her conscious experience just before the beep. The next day, the investigator interviews the subject, asks for more details, corrects any apparent mistakes made by the subject, and draws conclusions about the subject’s mind. Throughout the book, Schwitzgebel challenges some of Hurlburt’s specific conclusions. Yet both agree – and so do I – that DES is a worthy method
Do we have Independent Visual Streams for Perception and Action? a Response.
No full textSchenk and McIntosh (2009) present the thesis that most visual behaviours, especially those of any significant complexity, are likely to involve collaboration between both visual streams. While very likely true, this statement does not contradict the perception-action model as proposed by Milner and Goodale (1995, 2006). The two visual system hypothesis implies two functionally specialized systems, and not, as Schenk and McIntosh propose, two behaviourally independent systems
Do Alternative Therapies Have a Role in Autism?
No full textInterventions considered to be branches of Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) for autism are on the rise. Many new treatments have emerged & traditional beliefs of Ayurveda, Yoga, Behavioral therapy, Speech therapy and Homoeopathy have gained popularity and advocacy among parents. It is imperative that data supporting new treatments should be scrutinized for scientific study design, clinical safety, and scientific validity, before embarking on them as modes of therapy. Practitioners take care in explaining the rationale behind the various approaches that they practice, it is important to indicate possible limitations too during the initial clinical examination and interactive session. Clinicians must remember that parents may have different beliefs regarding the effectiveness of treatment since their information is derived more from the ‘hear-say’ route when they compare benefits/effects of CAM therapies on other children and often underestimate differential tolerance for treatment risks. It is thus significant that practitioners do not assume a "don't ask, don't tell" posture. The scientific validation and support for many interventions is incomplete and very different from the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement. In this article, we discuss the various modes of CAM and their utilities and limitations in relation to autism
A Comparative Study Between Alcoholics of Koraga Community, Alcoholics of General Population and Healthy Controls for Antioxidant Markers and Liver Function Parameters
No full textObjectives: It is well established that long-term alcohol consumption leads to liver cirrhosis and other related disorders. Sufficient work has been done on biochemical markers of liver damage and antioxidant status of chronic alcoholics in general population. In the current study chronic alcoholics from a community called Koraga are analysed for the same parameters in a view to assess the extent of liver damage as compared to healthy controls and other alcoholics. Methods: Serum and urine samples from Koraga alcoholics (n=28), general alcoholics (n=30) and healthy controls (n=31) were analysed for liver function parameters and antioxidant markers. Liver function parameters were determined by automated analyzer. Markers of antioxidant status were estimated spectrophotometrically. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: There was significant increase in serum AST, serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST in both general and Koraga alcoholics when compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001). Serum ALT, serum GST and urine GST activity was significantly higher in general alcoholics when compared to Koraga alcoholics (p<0.001). Serum and urine total thiol levels were significantly lower in general alcoholics when compared to healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics (p<0.0001). We have observed no difference in total thiols level between healthy controls and Koraga alcoholics, in fact, there was significant increase in urine total thiols level in Koraga alcoholics compared to healthy controls (p<0.001). On Pearson’s correlation serum AST, serum ALT correlated positively with serum and urine GST (p<0.0001) and negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Serum GST correlated negatively with serum total thiols (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Results of our study possibly indicate that the extent of alcohol induced liver damage in Koraga subjects is comparatively lower than general alcoholics, even though the alcohol consumption is found to be higher in them. There may be some mechanism that is rendering them resistant to alcoholic liver damage which needs to be explored through further studies at molecular level
Total Thiols and MDA Levels in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction Before and After Reperfusion Therapy
No full textBackground: Reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic and reperfusion injury. In the current work we have measured malondialdehyde (MDA), total thiols, total CK, CK-MB and AST in ECG proven acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients immediately after admission and 24 hours after administration of thrombolytic agent streptokinase, and in healthy controls. Methods: Blood samples from 44 AMI patients and 25 age and sex matched healthy controls were obtained and analyzed for MDA, total thiols using spectrophotometric methods and cardiac enzymes CK, CK-MB and AST using automated analyzer. Results: We have found significant increase in MDA, CPK, CK-MB, AST (p< 0.001) and significant decrease in total thiols (p<0.001) in AMI patients after thrombolytic therapy compared to values at admission, and healthy controls. MDA correlated negatively with total thiols (r = - 0.333, p<0.05) and positively with CK-MB (r = 0.491, p<0.01) in AMI patients after thrombolytic therapy. Conclusions: Reperfusion following thrombolytic therapy increases reactive oxygen species with concomitant decrease in antioxidant total thiols
TV Viewing versus Play - Trends and Impact on Obesity
No full textA cross sectional descriptive study was conducted involving 10000 students from randomly selected government and private schools of Amritsar district to identify the trends of TV viewing and playing in school children aged 5 years and above, to compare TV viewing in both sexes, different age groups and urban versus rural children and to study the impact of TV viewing and playing on obesity in children. The results showed that TV viewing has replaced outdoor playing in most children, irrespective of age, sex and residence. A positive relation between TV viewing and obesity was also documented
Mucocele of Appendix Secondary to Cystadenoma a Diagnostic Challenge
No full textMucocele of appendix is uncommon cystic lesion characterized by distension of the appendiceal lumen with mucus. Most of them are caused by mucinous cystadenomas and rarely cystadenocarcinomas. Clinical presentation is varied with more than half being asymptomatic. We report such a case where initial clinical findings and investigations suggested an ovarian cyst, and the diagnosis was only made at the time of surgery. In women presenting with a right iliac fossa mass and clinical features not indicative of gynaecological pathology, an appendiceal origin should be considered in the differential diagnosis
Role of RBC labeled 99m-Tc scan, Histopathology and Immunohistochemistry in Diagnosis of Jejunal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor presenting as obscure gastrointestinal haemorrhage
No full textGastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are relatively rare tumors of gastrointestinal (GI) tract, most commonly arise from the stomach followed by small intestine and colon, clinically GIST present with occult GI bleeding, abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction. We present a case of a jejunal GIST, which presented as an obscure GI haemorrhage. This case highlights how oesophagogastrodudenectomy and colonoscopy proved inconclusive in determining source of bleeding and the importance of RBC labeled 99m-Tc scan in detecting the source of GI bleeding and also emphasizes on histopathology and immunohistochemistry in diagnosis of GIS
Le problème des relations amour-haine-indifférence
No full textDans Franceschi (2002), j'ai présenté une théorie basée sur les matrices de concepts qui se propose de constituer une alternative à la classification proposée par Greimas, dans le domaine de l'analyse paradigmatique. Le problème de la détermination des relations existant entre les concepts d'amour, de haine et d'indifférence, se pose dans cette construction. Je m'attache ainsi à décrire le problème des relations amour-haine-indifférence de manière détaillée, ainsi que plusieurs solutions qui ont été proposées pour le résoudre. Je décris enfin une solution à ce problème, basée sur une extension de la théorie des matrices de concepts
Life is an Adventure! An agent-based reconciliation of narrative and scientific worldviews\ud
No full textThe scientific worldview is based on laws, which are supposed to be certain, objective, and independent of time and context. The narrative worldview found in literature, myth and religion, is based on stories, which relate the events experienced by a subject in a particular context with an uncertain outcome. This paper argues that the concept of “agent”, supported by the theories of evolution, cybernetics and complex adaptive systems, allows us to reconcile scientific and narrative perspectives. An agent follows a course of action through its environment with the aim of maximizing its fitness. Navigation along that course combines the strategies of regulation, exploitation and exploration, but needs to cope with often-unforeseen diversions. These can be positive (affordances, opportunities), negative (disturbances, dangers) or neutral (surprises). The resulting sequence of encounters and actions can be conceptualized as an adventure. Thus, the agent appears to play the role of the hero in a tale of challenge and mystery that is very similar to the "monomyth", the basic storyline that underlies all myths and fairy tales according to Campbell [1949]. This narrative dynamics is driven forward in particular by the alternation between prospect (the ability to foresee diversions) and mystery (the possibility of achieving an as yet absent prospect), two aspects of the environment that are particularly attractive to agents. This dynamics generalizes the scientific notion of a deterministic trajectory by introducing a variable “horizon of knowability”: the agent is never fully certain of its further course, but can anticipate depending on its degree of prospect