Graphical AbstractBy now it is well known that the SARS-COV-2 virus can affect and harm various organs of the body. However, the exact mechanisms for this phenomenon are still unknown. In article 2000198 Fatemeh Aliabadi et al. hypothesize that the body's secretion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a molecule that is involved in several inflammation and immunity pathways, may lead to a cytokine storm causing a variety of side effects.

The outbreak of a new, potentially fatal virus, SARS‐COV‐2, which started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and since developed into a pandemic has stimulated research for an effective treatment and vaccine. For this research to be successful, it is necessary to understand the pathology of the virus. So far, we know that this virus can harm different organs of the body. Although the exact mechanisms are still unknown, this phenomenon may result from the body's secretion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), (...) which is involved in several inflammation and immunity pathways. Noticeably, the expression of this molecule can lead to a cytokine storm causing a variety of side effects. In this paper, we discuss those side effects in SARS‐COV‐2 infection separately to determine whether PGE2 is, indeed, an important causative factor. Lastly, we propose a mechanism by which PGE2 production increases in response to COVID‐19 disease and suggest the possible direct relation between PGE2 levels and the severity of this disease. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/SnPFAcjxxKw. (shrink)

Source: Author: Marjan Khodamoradpour, Alireza Anushiravani Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has been adapted many times by different directors. However, the two prominent adaptations standing out throughout history are Jay Clayton’s 1974 adaptation as the most sincere rendering of the book, and the recently adapted movie by the Broadway director, Baz Luhrmann. The latter adaptation is important in that it has been accomplished in the age of technology, in 3D format, and at the time of the new readings, i.e. (...) cultural or new historical readings, of the novel. This paper is an endeavor to analyze the movie through John Fiske’s theory on media studies. Also, an effort has been made to see whether in this new adaptation, the idea of the new studies of the novel have been shown by the director, or else the movie is a mere representation of struggle for money discussed by the traditional Marxist scholars, metaphorically playing the old tunes. ]]>. (shrink)

Philosophy and peace is a subject uncommonly rich and diverse in the problems it involves. Here I want to deal with three questions that appear to me to be particularly significant and intimately interrelated. I will briefly consider the current understanding of questions of war and peace and peaceful coexistence; I will attempt to provide a concise analysis of the philosophical category "change" and point to some practical conclusions that derive from it; and I will touch on the question of (...) the mutual connection between science and politics in the era of the revolution in science and technology. (shrink)

Our visual systems account for stimulus context in brightness perception, but whether such adjustments occur for stimuli that we are unaware of has not been established. We therefore assessed whether stimulus context influences brightness processing by measuring unconscious priming with metacontrast masking. When a middle-gray disk was presented on a darker background, such that it could be consciously perceived as brighter via simultaneous brightness contrast , reaction times were significantly faster to a bright annulus than to a dark annulus. We (...) further show that context-dependent brightness priming does not correlate with visibility using an objective measure of awareness and that context-dependent, but not context-independent brightness priming, occurs equally strongly for stimuli below or above the subjective threshold for awareness . These results suggest that SBC occurs at early levels of visual input and is not influenced by conscious perception. (shrink)

Working memory, an important posit in cognitive science, allows one to temporarily store and manipulate information in the service of ongoing tasks. Working memory has been traditionally classified as an explicit memory system – that is, as operating on and maintaining only consciously perceived information. Recently, however, several studies have questioned this assumption, purporting to provide evidence for unconscious working memory. In this paper, we focus on visual working memory and critically examine these studies as well as studies of unconscious (...) perception that seem to provide indirect evidence for unconscious working memory. Our analysis indicates that current evidence does not support an unconscious working memory store, though we offer independent reasons to think that working memory may operate on unconsciously perceived information. (shrink)

SummaryThis article analyses the viewpoints of doctors, patients and the state of the phenomenon of unconventional methods of treatment/alternative medicine in Slovenia. The doctors’ viewpoints are taken from the official documents of the Medical Chamber of Slovenia and the Slovene Medical Association. The patients’ viewpoints are established on the basis of public opinion and epidemiological research, carried out in 1994 and 1996 on two representative samples of the Slovene population from the Celje area. The estimation of the attitude of the (...) state is based on legislation and other regulations connected with alternative medicine. The findings of our analysis show a strongly negative attitude of doctors to any form of alternative medicine. In contrast, as many as half the patients express a favourable opinion on alternative methods of treatment, and more than a third of them actually make use of them. From existing laws it is evident that the state in general does not deal with alternative medicine, except for possibilities in such cases when a doctor or some other healthcare professional uses alternative methods of treatment. Alternative medicine is, from the point of view of social medicine, a phenomenon that should be followed, analysed and controlled. Dangerous as well as protective factors which accompany the exceution of alternative methods should be recognised so as to be able to inform the public of the results in a timely and accurate manner. Because of the need for the legal and healthcare security of Slovene citizens, the state should regulate existing unconventional treatments. (shrink)

This article analyses the viewpoints of doctors, patients and the state of the phenomenon of unconventional methods of treatment/alternative medicine in Slovenia. The doctors’ viewpoints are taken from the official documents of the Medical Chamber of Slovenia and the Slovene Medical Association. The patients’ viewpoints are established on the basis of public opinion and epidemiological research, carried out in 1994 and 1996 on two representative samples of the Slovene population from the Celje area. The estimation of the attitude of the (...) state is based on legislation and other regulations connected with alternative medicine. The findings of our analysis show a strongly negative attitude of doctors to any form of alternative medicine. In contrast, as many as half the patients express a favourable opinion on alternative methods of treatment, and more than a third of them actually make use of them. From existing laws it is evident that the state in general does not deal with alternative medicine, except for possibilities in such cases when a doctor or some other healthcare professional uses alternative (non-verified) methods of treatment. Alternative medicine is, from the point of view of social medicine, a phenomenon that should be followed, analysed and controlled. Dangerous as well as protective factors which accompany the exceution of alternative methods should be recognised so as to be able to inform the public of the results in a timely and accurate manner. Because of the need for the legal and healthcare security of Slovene citizens, the state should regulate existing unconventional treatments. (shrink)

Theoretical arguments and empirical investigations indicate that a high proportion of published findings do not replicate and are likely false. The current position paper provides a broad perspective on scientific error, which may lead to replication failures. This broad perspective focuses on reform history and on opportunities for future reform. We organize our perspective along four main themes: institutional reform, methodological reform, statistical reform and publishing reform. For each theme, we illustrate potential errors by narrating the story of a fictional (...) researcher during the research cycle. We discuss future opportunities for reform. The resulting agenda provides a resource to usher in an era that is marked by a research culture that is less error-prone and a scientific publication landscape with fewer spurious findings. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

يضم هذا الكتاب الأعمال الكاملة لندوة" نحو فلسفة إسلامية معاصرة"، والتي انعقدت لاستجلاء كيفية توظيف الفلسفة الإسلامية فكراً ونظريات ومبادئ ومقاصد في عملية إعادة تشكيل العقل المسلم، ومعالجة الأزمة الفكرية الراهنة لدى المسلمين، وإعادة بناء النسيج الثقافي الإسلامي- لعل هذه الأمة تستعد عافيتها وتسترد قدرتها- فإن هذه الأمة قد تخلفها وفي ابتلائها بالأزمة الفكرية لم يكن وحدها الخاسرة- لكن العالم قد خسر بانحطاطها الكثير.. فأمام علماء المسلمين كمية هائلة من تساؤلات العقل المسلم المعاصر، ومشكلات عويصة بعضها ذات جذور تاريخية ضاربة (...) في القدم تحتاج إلى دراسة وتحليل ولا بد من إعادة تقسيمها وطرحها.. وهذه البحوث والدراسات وإن صدرت متأخرة عن موعد انعقاد الندوة كل هذه الفترة، فإننا نأمل أن تكون قد أسهمت في إيجاد حل لجزء من هذه التساؤلات والمشكلات.. (shrink)

For parents wanting their children to get a head start in reading, it can be a challenge to find something that will maintain their attention. Now, learning to read can become a fun and enter- taining thing to do with the help of an extraordinary cat. Join Cleo-cat-tra as she brings reading to life in the charming picture book Rhymes and Times with Cleo-cat-tra by Lucy T. Geringer and illustrated by Bernardita Cox Kollock. Rhymes and Times of Cleo-cat-tra is a (...) picture book about a special cat named Cleo-cat-tra. She is not an ordinary cat, as she cleverly rhymes about animals, people, and things she encounters inside and outside her house. The rhymes are silly which make learning a fun and creative pro- cess for kids and for parents to share. This delightful story makes use of colorful illustrations to heighten a child's imagination. Its simple text and brief sentences make reading easy for the early reader. It is also a great book for children who are learning English and can be enjoyed both at home and in school through lively interactive discussions between students and teachers. It is a book for all ages. (shrink)

This article assesses the relationship between propaganda and nationalism as an ideology in the Serbian massmedia. Serious analysis of contemporary propaganda is a complex discipline, primarily because of the use of the mass media. The issue is further complicated by the fact that the introduction of ever new technologies results in new channels of public media, which demand specific and new methods of propaganda and manipulation. In the study of propaganda in Serbian media as it affects the war in Bosnia (...) Herzegovina, the following elements were found to be of particular interest : propaganda and ideology ; the use of language for propaganda purposes; the context of propaganda; propaganda organization and propagandists; the public; the level of source criticism; and the iconography. (shrink)

The text questions the idea of transgenderism, or more specifically, the positioning of the androgynous paradigm that is ecological , as a possible Utopian projection into the future; as a radical NO to the present that still has not, regardless of whether we like it or not, fulfilled the possibility of legal and political status for all forms of life.Naturally enough, apart from an interpretation of the androgyne as the archetype of the unity of oppossing energies , I also take (...) into account Kari Weil’s interpretation of the androgyne,according to whose unmasking the androgyne also figures as the misogynous ideal, a construct of the patriarchal ideosphere. Or, as Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar have proposed – the alternative term gynandrous , since the very structure of the lexeme androgyny reflects the power of the male symbolic vision over the female view of the Universe.Considering the circumstances in Croatia, transgenderism is perceived in the text as an ignored state of affairs, since intersexuals are not categorised in the »Statute on the Structure and Method of Work of the Expert Opinion Component in Implementing Rights from Social Welfare and Other Rights According to Specific Regulations«, which simply means that they have no specific rights under the present social welfare system.By way of the identity of the androgyne as a third gender, which unifies the categories of masculinity and femininity, or, more specifically, by the ecological androgynous paradigm, I consider the attempt to delete the dichotomy of neglected Nature versus culture, as explicated, for example,by the feminist biologist Lynda Birke, and the attempt to achieve a bioethical encounter between the human animal and the ‘nonhuman’ animal, which I define conditionally with the term transspeciesism, which covers the ethical negation of speciesism.Namely, within the framework of eco/feminist theory, the socio-cultural anthropologist Barbara Noske was one of the first to put forward the question of the human relation towards other animals, demanding the establishment of an anthropology of animals, since – even now – only an anthropology of humans exists in relation to animals. (shrink)

Alessandro Ferrara, Rousseau and Critical Theory, Leiden, Brill, 2017 Marjan Ivković.

Der Artikel greift verschiedenartige Rollen der Identität im Philosophieunterricht auf. Der erste Teil der Diskussion fokussiert sich auf ein zu lehrendes Fach, d. h. auf die Identität als den Stoff der in der Schule unterrichteten philosophischen Theorien. Der zweite Teil befasst sich mit der Identität als dem Gegenstand der Untersuchung, der zuvorderst zum alltäglichen Schülerleben dazugehört, sowie zu den von den Schülern angenommenen oder ihnen zugeschriebenen Identitäten. Der dritte Passus nimmt die Identität in Augenschein, die es nicht gibt – eine (...) abwesende Identität, die eine noch zu füllende Leere hinterlässt. Alle erwähnten unterschiedlichen Aspekte heben die multifacettierte Natur des Identitätskonzepts heraus, demgemäß heißt eines der Ziele dieser Auseinandersetzung, eine Antwort auf die Frage zu besorgen, ob die Identität heutzutage immer noch als eines der Schlüsselkonzepte der Philosophie berücksichtigt werden kann, oder sie zum Marginalaspekt in der Erfassung der gegenwärtigen menschlichen Umstände herabgesetzt wurde. (shrink)

L’article traite des différents rôles de l’identité dans l’enseignement de la philosophie. La première partie de l’examen se concentre sur l’identité en tant que matière à apprendre, c’est-àdire l’identité en tant que contenu des théories philosophiques enseignées à l’école. La deuxième partie traite de l’identité en tant qu’objet de recherches, ce qui a trait avant tout au quotidien des élèves et aux identités qu’ils s’assignent ou qu’on leur assigne. La troisième partie examine l’identité qui n’est pas là – une identité (...) absente, qui laisse un vide à combler. Tous ces différents aspects soulignent une nature à multiples facettes du concept d’identité ; c’est pourquoi l’un des objectifs de cet examen est d’offrir une réponse à la question de savoir si l’identité peut encore être considérée aujourd’hui comme l’un des concepts clés de la philosophie ou s’il a été réduit à un aspect marginal de la compréhension de la condition humaine actuelle. (shrink)

The article deals with different roles of identity in teaching philosophy. The first part of the discussion focuses on identity as a subject to be taught, i.e. identity as the content of philosophical theories that are taught at school. The second deals with identity as a subject of investigation, which pertains foremost to the students’ everyday lives and the identities they take on or are ascribed to them. The third part concerns an identity that is not there – an identity (...) that is absent, leaving a void that is yet to be filled. All these different aspects highlight the multi-faceted nature of the concept of identity, so one of the aims of this discussion is to provide an answer to the question whether identity can nowadays still be considered one of the key concepts of philosophy or has it been reduced to a marginal aspect in understanding the human condition today. (shrink)

The paper considers the possibility of detecting points of contact between Michel Foucault’s theory of power and the theory of communicative agency formed by Jurgen Habermas. In the beginning, the development of the philosophical discourse of modernity, which Habermas analyzes in his work bearing the same title, is laid out, with the aim to gain insight into the nature of Habermas’s critique of Foucault. After having reviewed some of the basis of Foucault’s theory, the author points out Habermas’s depiction of (...) the theory of power as the pinnacle of Nietzschean, anti - modernist stream of the philosophical discourse. The critique is based on Habermas’s assumption that Foucault’s analyses of power fails to comprehend the complexity of modernity. Foucault, according to Habermas, over - emphasizes one dimension of the process of modernization - gradual strengthening of the disciplinatory power based on the "control of the spirit". The author, however, wishes to point out the importance the theory of power ascribes to the preservation of insight into the complexity of history. Through the insight into multiple and divergent nature of historical processes that are responsible for the formation of modern society, the individual becomes historically self - conscious and able to step out of the paradigm of self - relating subject. As the theory of communicative agency also tends to transcend the "limits of the subject - philosophy", the author concludes that Foucault’s work is, to the same extent as Habermas’s, imbued with the idea of "modernity as an unrealized undertaking". Towards the end of the paper the author analyzes Foucault’s relation to Enlightenment, in order to show the essentially modern nature of his thought. (shrink)