Schizophrenia, Paranoia as an Authentic Form of Life

My understanding of psychopathologic cases as authentic forms of life are derived from my study of the development of the Pragmatic Theory of Communication, whose background in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein is one of the main themes of my forthcoming book

Gibt es Prinzipien zwischenmenschlicher Kommunikation? Der Clou des Konstruktivismus

Die Fragestellung, ob es nicht im Felde der interpersonalen Kommunikation formale Prinzipien aufzufinden gelte, liegt nahe

Autopoïetische Konzepte des Konstruktivismus

Aufschlüsselung von VARELAs und MATURANAs Begriff der Autopoïese (lebender Systeme) nach Peter M. HEJL

Konzentration von Differenzen

Kultur entsteht, wenn man Differenzen konzentriert, sich auf Differenzen konzentriert, wenn Unterschiede einen Unterschied machen und dadurch Information entsteht, wenn Kreativität sich ausdifferenziert und aus Konzentration geboren wird. Kultur ist nicht etwas, was an sich vorliegt, was wie ein Werk gegeben ist, sondern ein von uns in Gang gesetztes Geschehen und eine Tätigkeit, die uns bestimmt und von der wir uns nicht einfach distanzieren können; Kultur ist eine soziale Konstruktion, die uns durch alle unsere Handlungen hindurch betrifft, durch die wir in der Welt sind

Stratification and Isotope Separation in CP Stars

We investigate the elemental and isotopic stratification in the atmospheres of selected chemically peculiar (CP) stars of the upper main sequence. Reconfiguration of the UVES spectrograph in 2004 has made it possible to examine all three lines of the Ca II infrared triplet. Much of the material analyzed was obtained in 2008. We support the claim of Ryabchikova, Kochukhov & Bagnulo (RKB) that the calcium isotopes have distinct stratification profiles for the stars 10 Aql, HR 1217, and HD 122970, with the heavy isotope concentrated toward the higher layers. Better observations are needed to learn the extent to which Ca-40 dominates in the deepest layers of all or most CP stars that show the presence of Ca-48. There is little evidence for Ca-40 in the spectra of some HgMn stars, and the infrared triplet in the magnetic star HD 101065 is well fit by pure Ca-48. In HR 5623 (HD 133792) and HD 217522 it is likely that the heavy isotope dominates, though models are possible where this is not the case. While elemental stratification is surely needed in many cases, we point out the importance of including adjustments in the assumed Teff and log(g) values, in attempts to model stratification. We recommend emphasis on profiles of the strongest lines, where the influence of stratification is most evident. Isotopic mixtures, involving the 4 stable calcium nuclides with masses between 40 and 48 are plausible, but are not emphasized.Comment: 16 Pages, 20 Figures, 10 Tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the RA

Some Remarks On Propositional Attitudes and Mutual Assumptions. A Re-construction of an Aphorism by Ronald D. Laing

The problem of multiple operating epistemic modalities in the interaction of propositional attitudes within mutual assumptions in communication, raised by Ronald D. Laing in an aphorism in his opus "Knots", shall be analysed in a rough symbolic notation. We shall start with looking at an aphorism by Laing that runs as: "If I don't know I don't know, I think I know. If I don't know I know, I think I don't know." The field of application for Laing's aphorism as well as for my approach is interpersonal communication and hence belongs to the realm of psychological phenomena. My philosophical contribution consists in giving my logical analysis via negationis, i.e. we shall encounter a sketch for a reductio ad absurdum. To outcome will be the refutation of certain assumptions we originally attempted to set off with. But the result is not completely negative, since it leads to a plea, firstly, for giving up a purely formal analysis of pragmatics and, secondly, for interpersonal experience as a cornerstone of pragmatic phenomena in the realm of communication between human beings

Physiological concentrations of bile acids down-regulate agonist induced secretion in colonic epithelial cells

In patients with bile acid malabsorption, high concentrations of bile acids enter the colon and stimulate Cl− and fluid secretion, thereby causing diarrhoea. However, deoxycholic acid (DCA), the predominant colonic bile acid, is normally present at lower concentrations where its role in regulating transport is unclear. Thus, the current study set out to investigate the effects of physiologically relevant DCA concentrations on colonic epithelial secretory function. Cl− secretion was measured as changes in short-circuit current across voltage-clamped T84 cell monolayers. At high concentrations (0.5–1 mM), DCA acutely stimulated Cl− secretion but this effect was associated with cell injury, as evidenced by decreased transepithelial resistance (TER) and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. In contrast, chronic (24 hrs) exposure to lower DCA concentrations (10–200 μM) inhibited responses to Ca2+ and cAMP-dependent secretagogues without altering TER, LDH release, or secretagogue-induced increases in intracellular second messengers. Other bile acids – taurodeoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid – had similar antisecretory effects. DCA (50 μM) rapidly stimulated phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) and both ERK and p38 MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases). The EGFr inhibitor, AG1478, and the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, reversed the antisecretory effects of DCA, while the MAPK inhibitors, PD98059 and SB203580, did not. In summary, our studies suggest that, in contrast to its acute prosecretory effects at pathophysiological concentrations, lower, physiologically relevant, levels of DCA chronically down-regulate colonic epithelial secretory function. On the basis of these data, we propose a novel role for bile acids as physiological regulators of colonic secretory capacity

On the Rocky Road

A polemic against managerialism in philosophy and education. Written on invitation of Prof. Ormell from the PER Group in London, UK

Non-LTE line formation for Pr II and Pr III in A and Ap stars

Non-LTE line formation for Pr II and Pr III is considered through a range of effective temperatures between 7250 K and 9500 K. A comprehensive model atom for Pr II/III is based on the measured and the predicted energy levels, in total, 6708 levels of Pr II and Pr III. We describe calculations of the Pr II energy levels and oscillator strengths for the transitions in Pr II and Pr III. The influence of departures from LTE on Pr abundance determinations is evaluated. At Teff >= 8000 K departures from LTE lead to overionization of Pr II and to systematically depleted total absorption in the line and positive abundance corrections. At the lower temperatures, different lines of Pr II may be either weakened or amplified depending on the line strength. The non-LTE effects strengthen the Pr III lines and lead to negative abundance corrections. Non-LTE corrections grow with effective temperature for the Pr II lines, and, in contrast, they decline for the Pr III lines. The Pr II/III model atom is applied to determine the Pr abundance in the atmosphere of the roAp star HD 24712 from the lines of two ionization stages. In the chemically uniform atmosphere with [Pr/H] = 3, the departures from LTE may explain only small part (0.3 dex) of the difference between the LTE abundances derived from the Pr II and Pr III lines (2 dex). We find that the lines of both ionization stages are described for the vertical distribution of the praseodymium where the Pr enriched layer with [Pr/H] > 4 exists in the outer atmosphere at log tau_5000 < -4. The departures from LTE for Pr II/III are strong in the stratified atmosphere and have the opposite sign for the Pr II and Pr III lines. Using the revised partition function of Pr II and experimental transition probabilities, we determine the solar non-LTE abundance of Pr as log (Pr/H) = -11.15\pm0.08.Comment: 17 pages, 4 tables, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&