docmarcell

THE AUTODESTRUCTION OF PEPSIN IN RELATION TO ITS IONIZATION

2011-05-10T00:08:00.002+02:00

Arthur M. Goulding, Henry Borsook, and Hardolph Wasteneys
From the Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Accepted September 30, 1926.

1. Evidence is presented that pepsin is a univalent acid with a value for pK of 6.85 (or a base, with pK 7.39). 2. The autodestruction of the pepsin is shown to be dependent in part upon an instantaneous irreversible change occurring in the ionized form of the enzyme (if it be an acid) or in the unionized form (if it be a base). 3. A further progressive autodestruction of pepsin at any given hydrogen ion concentration and temperature is defined by the mass law equation for a monomolecular reaction 4. The velocity of autodestruction of pepsin is directly proportional to the hydroxyl ion concentration. It is much less in the range of hydroxyl ion concentration from pOH 9.89-7.7, than in the range greater than pOH 7.7. In both of these ranges variations in pK with pOH may be represented by straight lines.

DocMarCell’s laboratory

2011-05-09T23:52:00.000+02:00

DocMarCell’s laboratory, containing his archive of texts and images, reveals a distorted vision on ordinary, harmless objects. It is a space defined by all the fears of the contemporary man, obsessed with hygiene and aseptic environment, living in the presence of genetic experiments and fatal germs.

DocMarCell is first of all a witness; but at the same time, through analysis and his fake constructs related to the collective "virused" subconsciusness, he becomes a valve for letting off steam.

The Journal Of Immunology by DocMarCell

2011-05-09T23:47:00.002+02:00

image archive

2011-05-05T09:51:00.000+02:00

DocMarcell's Laboratory

2011-05-05T09:48:00.002+02:00

Adaptive Immune Regulation in the Gut: T Cell–Dependent and T Cell–Independent IgA Synthesis

2011-04-15T08:13:00.001+02:00

In mammals, the gastrointestinal tract harbors an extraordinarily dense and complex community of microorganisms. The gut microbiota provide strong selective pressure to the host to evolve adaptive immune responses required for the maintenance of local and systemic homeostasis. The continuous antigenic presence in the gut imposes a dynamic remodeling of gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT) and the selection of multiple layered strategies for immunoglobulin (Ig) A production. The composite and dynamic gut environment also necessitates heterogeneous, versatile, and convertible T cells, capable of inhibiting (Foxp3+ T cells) or helping (TFH cells) local immune responses. In this review, we describe recent advances in our understanding of dynamic pathways that lead to IgA synthesis, in gut follicular structures and in extrafollicular sites, by T cell–dependent and T cell–independent mechanisms. We discuss the finely tuned regulatory mechanisms for IgA production and emphasize the role of mucosal IgA in the selection and maintenance of the appropriate microbial composition that is necessary for immune homeostasis.

x ray

2011-03-20T16:22:00.000+01:00

measure measure measure

2011-03-20T16:20:00.000+01:00

Delvoye - Cloaca

2011-03-15T09:31:00.001+01:00

Stelarc

2011-02-27T16:37:00.001+01:00

Orlan and the Work of Art in the Age of Hyper-mechanical Organic Reproduction

2011-01-04T12:13:00.003+01:00

. Introduction
The French performance artist Orlan has risen to an extraordinary position in the contemporary art world. Her motto: “art is a dirty job, but someone has to do it” is given incredible meaning in the surgeries she has carried out on her body to make art. In these artistic performances or “Carnal Art,” she transforms her body and her face in an enactment of a critique of the beauty concept which she feels is embedded in male power and its construction of female-subjects in modern Western societies. In order to better understand Orlan’s artistic philosophy and her artistic production I wish to discuss concepts from both the Western and the Eastern intellectual worlds.
Find out more here:
http://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/vol3_1/akman.htm

Stills

2009-04-27T10:51:00.001+02:00

About some fellows scientists

2009-04-27T10:36:00.002+02:00

The myth of the mad scientist: ruins, thanatos, melancoly, weirdness.

Scientists of genetics, artificial inteligence depicted in an environement of destroyed buildings, ruined walls, landscape decay.

1.An Evening Walk with Mr. M
2.Two Gentlemen Contempling the Sunset
3.Mr. W in a Hangar
4.Mr. J Thinking
5.One-Down

Beauty Control

2009-04-27T10:35:00.000+02:00

Anorexia nervosa

2008-02-08T15:07:00.000+01:00

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Individuals with anorexia often control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs. It primarily affects adolescent females, however approximately 10% of people with the diagnosis are male. Anorexia nervosa is a complex condition, involving psychological, neurobiological, and sociological components.[1]

The term anorexia is of Greek origin: an (privation or lack of) and orexis (appetite) thus meaning a lack of desire to eat.[2] A person who is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa is most commonly referred to with the adjectival form anorexic. The noun form, "anorectic" is generally not used in this context and usually refers to drugs that suppress appetite.

"Anorexia nervosa" is frequently shortened to "anorexia" in both the popular media and scientific literature. This is technically incorrect, as the term "anorexia" used separately refers to the medical symptom of reduced appetite.

* 1 Diagnosis and clinical features
o 1.1 Presentation
+ 1.1.1 Physical
+ 1.1.2 Psychological
+ 1.1.3 Emotional
+ 1.1.4 Interpersonal and social
+ 1.1.5 Behavioral
o 1.2 Diagnostic issues and controversies
* 2 Causes and contributory factors
o 2.1 Physiological factors
+ 2.1.1 Genetic factors
+ 2.1.2 Neurobiological factors
+ 2.1.3 Nutritional factors
o 2.2 Psychological factors
+ 2.2.1 Social and environmental factors
* 3 Prognosis
* 4 Incidence, prevalence and demographics
* 5 Treatment
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links
o 8.1 Support organizations and information
o 8.2 Media stories and reports

Diagnosis and clinical features

The most commonly used criteria for diagnosing anorexia are from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) and the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).

Although biological tests can aid the diagnosis of anorexia, the diagnosis is based on a combination of behavior, reported beliefs and experiences, and physical characteristics of the patient. Anorexia is typically diagnosed by a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or other suitably qualified clinician.

Notably, diagnostic criteria are intended to assist clinicians, and are not intended to be representative of what an individual sufferer feels or experiences in living with the illness.

The full ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa can be found here, and the DSM-IV-TR criteria can be found here.

To be diagnosed as having anorexia nervosa, according to the DSM-IV-TR, a person must display:

1. Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected; or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected).
2. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese.
3. Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
4. In women who have had their first menstrual period but have not yet gone through menopause (postmenarcheal, premenopausal females), the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles (amenorrhea).
5. Or other eating related disorders.

Furthermore, the DSM-IV-TR specifies two subtypes:

* Restricting Type: during the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has not regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behavior (that is, self-induced vomiting, over-exercise or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas)
* Binge-Eating Type or Purging Type: during the current episode of anorexia nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in binge-eating OR purging behavior (that is, self-induced vomiting, over-exercise or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas).

The ICD-10 criteria are similar, but in addition, specifically mention

1. The ways that individuals might induce weight-loss or maintain low body weight (avoiding fattening foods, self-induced vomiting, self-induced purging, excessive exercise, excessive use of appetite suppressants or diuretics).
2. Certain physiological features, including "widespread endocrine disorder involving hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is manifest in women as amenorrhoea and in men as loss of sexual interest and potency. There may also be elevated levels of growth hormones, raised cortisol levels, changes in the peripheral metabolism of thyroid hormone and abnormalities of insulin secretion".
3. If onset is before puberty, that development is delayed or arrested.

Presentation

There are a number of features, that although not necessarily diagnostic of anorexia, have been found to be commonly (but not exclusively) present in those with this eating disorder.[3][1]

Physical

Anorexia nervosa can put a serious strain on many of the body's organs and physiological resources, [4][5][6] particularly on the structure and function of the heart and cardiovascular system, with slow heart rate (bradycardia) and elongation of the QT interval seen early on. People with anorexia typically have a disturbed electrolyte balance, particularly low levels of phosphate, which has been linked to heart failure, muscle weakness, immune dysfunction, and ultimately death. Those who develop anorexia before adulthood may suffer stunted growth and subsequent low levels of essential hormones (including sex hormones) and chronically increased cortisol levels. Osteoporosis can also develop as a result of anorexia in 38-50% of cases,[7] as poor nutrition leads to the retarded growth of essential bone structure and low bone mineral density. Anorexia does not harm everyone in the same way. For example, evidence suggests that the results of the disease in adolescents may differ from those in adults.[4]

Changes in brain structure and function are early signs of the condition. Enlargement of the ventricles of the brain is thought to be associated with starvation, and is partially reversed when normal weight is regained.[8] Anorexia is also linked to reduced blood flow in the temporal lobes, although since this finding does not correlate with current weight, it is possible that it is a risk trait rather than an effect of starvation.[9]

Other effects may include the following:

* Extreme weight loss
* Body mass index less than 17.5 in adults, or 85% of expected weight in children
* Stunted growth
* Endocrine disorder, leading to cessation of periods in girls (amenorrhoea)
* Decreased libido; impotence in males
* Starvation symptoms, such as reduced metabolism, slow heart rate (bradycardia), hypotension, hypothermia and anemia
* Abnormalities of mineral and electrolyte levels in the body
* Thinning of the hair
* Growth of lanugo hair over the body
* Constantly feeling "cold"
* Zinc deficiency
* Reduction in white blood cell count
* Reduced immune system function
* Pallid complexion and sunken eyes
* Creaking joints and bones
* Collection of fluid in ankles during the day and around eyes during the night
* Tooth decay
* Constipation
* Dry skin
* Dry or chapped lips
* Poor circulation, resulting in common attacks of 'pins and needles' and purple extremities
* In cases of extreme weight loss, there can be nerve deterioration, leading to difficulty in moving the feet
* Headaches
* Brittle fingernails
* Bruising easily

Psychological

* Distorted body image
* Poor insight
* Self-evaluation largely, or even exclusively, in terms of their shape and weight
* Pre-occupation or obsessive thoughts about food and weight
* Perfectionism
* Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
* Belief that control over food/body is synonymous with being in control of one's life
* Refusal to accept that one's weight is dangerously low even when it could be deadly

Emotional

* Low self-esteem and self-efficacy
* Intense fear about becoming overweight
* Clinical depression or chronically low mood
* Mood swings

Interpersonal and social

* Withdrawal from previous friendships and other peer-relationships
* Deterioration in relationships with the family
* Denial of basic needs, such as food

Behavioral

* Excessive exercise, food restriction
* Secretive about eating or exercise behavior
* Fainting
* Self-harm, substance abuse or suicide attempts
* Very sensitive to references about body weight
* Aggressive when forced to eat "forbidden" foods

Diagnostic issues and controversies

The distinction between the diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) is often difficult to make in practice and there is considerable overlap between patients diagnosed with these conditions. Furthermore, seemingly minor changes in a patient's overall behavior or attitude (such as reported feeling of 'control' over any bingeing behavior) can change a diagnosis from 'anorexia: binge-eating type' to bulimia nervosa. It is not unusual for a person with an eating disorder to 'move through' various diagnoses as his or her behavior and beliefs change over time.[3]

Additionally, it is important to note that an individual may still suffer from a health- or life-threatening eating disorder (e.g., sub-clinical anorexia nervosa or EDNOS) even if one diagnostic sign or symptom is still present. For example, a substantial number of patients diagnosed with EDNOS meet all criteria for diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, but lack the three consecutive missed menstrual cycles needed for a diagnosis of anorexia.[1]

Feminist writers such as Susie Orbach and Naomi Wolf have criticized the medicalisation of extreme dieting and weight-loss as locating the problem within the affected women, rather than in a society that imposes concepts of unreasonable and unhealthy thinness as a measure of female beauty.

Causes and contributory factors

It is clear that there is no single cause for anorexia and that it stems from a mixture of social, psychological and biological factors. Current research is commonly focused on explaining existing factors and uncovering new causes. However, there is considerable debate over how much each of the known causes contributes to the development of anorexia. In particular, the contribution of perceived media pressure on women to be thin has been especially contentious.[10]

Genetic factors

Family and twin studies have suggested that genetic factors contribute to about 50% of the variance for the development of an eating disorder[11] and that anorexia shares a genetic risk with clinical depression.[12] This evidence suggests that genes influencing both eating regulation, and personality and emotion, may be important contributing factors.

Several rodent models of anorexia have been developed which largely involve subjecting the animals to various environmental stressors or using gene knockout mice to test hypotheses about the effects of certain genes on related behavior.[13] These models have suggested that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may be a contributory factor, although the models have been criticised as food is being limited by the experimenter and not the animal, and these models cannot take into account the complex cultural factors known to affect the development of anorexia nervosa.

Neurobiological factors

There are strong correlations between the neurotransmitter serotonin and various psychological symptoms such as mood, sleep, emesis (vomiting), sexuality and appetite. A recent review of the scientific literature has suggested that anorexia is linked to a disturbed serotonin system,[14] particularly to high levels at areas in the brain with the 5HT1A receptor - a system particularly linked to anxiety, mood and impulse control. Starvation has been hypothesised to be a response to these effects, as it is known to lower tryptophan and steroid hormone metabolism, which, in turn, might reduce serotonin levels at these critical sites and, hence, ward off anxiety. In contrast, studies of the 5HT2A serotonin receptor (linked to regulation of feeding, mood, and anxiety), suggest that serotonin activity is decreased at these sites. One difficulty with this work, however, is that it is sometimes difficult to separate cause and effect, in that these disturbances to brain neurochemistry may be as much the result of starvation, than continuously existing traits that might predispose someone to develop anorexia. There is evidence, however, that both personality characteristics (such as anxiety and perfectionism) and disturbances to the serotonin system are still apparent after patients have recovered from anorexia,[15] suggesting that these disturbances are likely to be causal risk factors.

Recent studies also suggest anorexia may be linked to an autoimmune response to melanocortin peptides which influence appetite and stress responses.[16]

Nutritional factors

Zinc deficiency causes a decrease in appetite that can degenerate in anorexia nervosa (AN), appetite disorders and, notably, inadequate zinc nutriture. The use of zinc in the treatment of anorexia nervosa has been advocated since 1979 by Bakan. At least five trials showed that zinc improved weight gain in anorexia. A 1994 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial showed that zinc (14 mg per day) doubled the rate of body mass increase in the treatment of AN.[17] Deficiency of other nutrients such as tyrosine and tryptophan (precursors of the monoamine neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin, respectively), as well as vitamin B1 (thiamine) could contribute to this phenomenon of malnutrition-induced malnutrition.[17]

Psychological factors

There has been a significant amount of work into psychological factors that suggests how biases in thinking and perception help maintain or contribute to the risk of developing anorexia.

Anorexic eating behavior is thought to originate from feelings of fatness and unattractiveness[18] and is maintained by various cognitive biases that alter how the affected individual evaluates and thinks about their body, food and eating.

One of the most well-known findings is that people with anorexia tend to over-estimate the size or fatness of their own bodies. A recent review of research in this area suggests that this is not a perceptual problem, but one of how the perceptual information is evaluated by the affected person.[19] Recent research suggests people with anorexia nervosa may lack a type of overconfidence bias in which the majority of people feel themselves more attractive than others would rate them. In contrast, people with anorexia nervosa seem to more accurately judge their own attractiveness compared to unaffected people, meaning that they potentially lack this self-esteem boosting bias.[20]

People with anorexia have been found to have certain personality traits that are thought to predispose them to develop eating disorders. High levels of obsessionality (being subject to intrusive thoughts about food and weight-related issues), restraint (being able to fight temptation), and clinical levels of perfectionism (the pathological pursuit of personal high-standards and the need for control) have been cited as commonly reported factors in research studies.[21]

It is often the case that other psychological difficulties and mental illnesses exist alongside anorexia nervosa in the sufferer. Clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse and one or more personality disorders are the most likely conditions to be comorbid with anorexia, and high-levels of anxiety and depression are likely to be present regardless of whether they fulfill diagnostic criteria for a specific syndrome.[22]

Research into the neuropsychology of anorexia has indicated that many of the findings are inconsistent across studies and that it is hard to differentiate the effects of starvation on the brain from any long-standing characteristics. Nevertheless, one reasonably reliable finding is that those with anorexia have poor cognitive flexibility[23] (the ability to change past patterns of thinking, particularly linked to the function of the frontal lobes and executive system).

Other studies have suggested that there are some attention and memory biases that may maintain anorexia.[24] Attentional biases seem to focus particularly on body and body-shape related concepts, making them more salient for those affected by the condition, and some limited studies have found that those with anorexia may be more likely to recall related material than unrelated material.
Fairburn and colleagues psychological model of anorexia
Fairburn and colleagues psychological model of anorexia

Although there has been quite a lot of research into psychological factors, there are relatively few hypotheses which attempt to explain the condition as a whole.

Professor Chris Fairburn, of the University of Oxford and his colleges have created a 'transdiagnostic' model,[25] in which they aim to explain how anorexia, as well as related disorders such as bulimia nervosa and ED-NOS, are maintained. Their model is developed with psychological therapies, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, in mind, and so suggests areas where clinicians could provide psychological treatment.

Their model is based on the idea that all major eating disorders (with the exception of obesity) share some core types of psychopathology which help maintain the eating disorder behavior. This includes clinical perfectionism, chronic low self-esteem, mood intolerance (inability to cope appropriately with certain emotional states) and interpersonal difficulties.

Social and environmental factors

Sociocultural studies have highlighted the role of cultural factors, such as the promotion of thinness as the ideal female form in Western industrialised nations, particularly through the media. A recent epidemiological study of 989,871 Swedish residents indicated that gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status were large influences on the chance of developing anorexia, with those with non-European parents among the least likely to be diagnosed with the condition, and those in wealthy, white families being most at risk.[26] A classic study by Garner and Garfinkel demonstrated that those in professions where there is a particular social pressure to be thin (such as models and dancers) were much more likely to develop anorexia during the course of their career,[27] and further research has suggested that those with anorexia have much higher contact with cultural sources that promote weight-loss.[28]

Although anorexia nervosa is usually associated with Western cultures, exposure to Western media is thought to have led to an increase in cases in non-Western countries. However, it is notable that other cultures may not display the same 'fat phobic' worries about becoming fat as those with the condition in the West, and instead may present with low appetite with the other common features.[29]

There is a high rate of child sexual abuse experiences in those who have been diagnosed with anorexia (up to 50% in those admitted to inpatient wards, with a lesser prevalence among people treated in the community). Although prior sexual abuse is not thought to be a specific risk factor for anorexia (although it is a risk factor of mental illness in general), those who have experienced such abuse are more likely to have more serious and chronic symptoms.[30]

The Internet has enabled anorexics and bulimics to contact and communicate with each other outside of a treatment environment, with much lower risks of rejection by mainstream society. A variety of websites exist, some run by sufferers, some by former sufferers, and some by professionals. The majority of such sites support a medical view of anorexia as a disorder to be cured, although some people affected by anorexia have formed online pro-ana communities that reject the medical view and argue that anorexia is a 'lifestyle choice', using the internet for mutual support, and to swap weight-loss tips.[31] Such websites were the subject of significant media interest, largely focusing on concerns that these communities could encourage young women to develop or maintain eating disorders, and many were taken offline as a result.[32]

Prognosis

Anorexia is thought to have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, with approximately 10% of those who are diagnosed with the disorder eventually dying due to related causes.[6] The suicide rate of people with anorexia is also higher than that of the general population and is thought to be the major cause of death for those with the condition.[33] A recent review suggested that less than one-half recover fully, one-third improve, and 20% remain chronically ill.[34]

Incidence, prevalence and demographics

The majority of research into the incidence and prevalence of anorexia has been done in Western industrialized countries, so results are generally not applicable outside these areas. However, recent reviews[35][36] of studies on the epidemiology of anorexia have suggested an incidence of between 8 and 13 cases per 100,000 persons per year and an average prevalence of 0.3% using strict criteria for diagnosis. These studies also confirm the view that the condition largely affects young adolescent females, with females between 15 and 19 years old making up 40% of all cases. Furthermore, the majority of cases are unlikely to be in contact with mental health services. As a whole, about 10% of people with anorexia are male and about 90% of people with anorexia are female.[1]

Treatment

The first line treatment for anorexia is usually focused on immediate weight gain, especially with those who have particularly serious conditions that require hospitalization. In particularly serious cases, this may be done as an involuntary hospital treatment under mental health law, where such legislation exists. In the majority of cases, however, people with anorexia are treated as outpatients, with input from physicians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and other mental health professionals.

A recent clinical review has suggested that psychotherapy is an effective form of treatment and can lead to restoration of weight, return of menses among female patients, and improved psychological and social functioning when compared to simple support or education programmes.[37] However, this review also noted that there are only a small number of randomised controlled trials on which to base this recommendation, and no specific type of psychotherapy seems to show any overall advantage when compared to other types. Family therapy has also been found to be an effective treatment for adolescents with anorexia[38] and in particular, a method developed at the Maudsley Hospital is widely used and found to maintain improvement over time.[39]

Drug treatments, such as SSRI or other antidepressant medication, have not been found to be generally effective for either treating anorexia,[40] or preventing relapse[41] although it has also been noted that there is a lack of adequate research in this area. It is common, however, for antidepressants to be prescribed, often with the intent of trying to treat the associated anxiety and depression.

Supplementation with 14mg/day of zinc is recommended as routine treatment for anorexia nervosa due to a study showing a doubling of weight regain after treatment with zinc was begun. The mechanism of action is hypothesized to be an increased effectiveness of neurotransmission in various parts of the brain, including the amygdala, after adequate zinc intake begins resulting in increased appetite.[42]

There are various non-profit and community groups that offer support and advice to people who suffer from anorexia or who care for someone who does. Several are listed in the links below and may provide useful information for those wanting more information or help on treatment and medical care.

Eat to stay forever young

2008-02-08T15:00:00.000+01:00

Dumplings

Director
Fruit Chan
Producer
Peter Chan
Writer
Lilian Lee
Duration
01:31:00
Release
Friday June 16 2006
Genres
Drama, Horror

A former soap opera actress decides to eat a Mainland woman's special dumplings in her quest to obtain eternal youth. Trashy Mainland immigrant Mei is a former singer-turned-doctor-turned-abortionist whose patented dumplings provide a lifeline for Qing, a retired actress whose marriage to businessman Li has sexually stalled. What's now clear is that Li himself, who eats eggs containing chicken fetuses, is equally obsessed with maintaining his sexual allure. This leads him to also seek out Mei's services, with surprising results.

Car Crash Organizing and Spotting

2008-01-29T16:28:00.000+01:00

Man and car liquids comming together, autodestruction takes the form of metamorphosis, osmosis and automutilation.(Crash, a movie by Cronenberg - the modern age of autodestruction)

Breath in [Ctrl+Alt+Del]

2007-08-21T14:36:00.000+02:00

The Earth's surface and the clouds absorb visible and invisible radiation from the sun and re-emit much of the energy as infrared back to the atmosphere. Certain substances in the atmosphere, chiefly cloud droplets and water vapor, but also carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, and chlorofluorocarbons absorb this infrared, and re-radiate it in all directions including back to Earth. Thus the greenhouse effect keeps the atmosphere and surface much warmer than if the infrared absorbers were absent from the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The monthly CO2 measurements display small seasonal oscillations in an overall yearly uptrend; each year's maximum is reached during the northern hemisphere's late spring, and declines during the northern hemisphere growing season as plants remove some CO2 from the atmosphere.
Recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). The monthly CO2 measurements display small seasonal oscillations in an overall yearly uptrend; each year's maximum is reached during the northern hemisphere's late spring, and declines during the northern hemisphere growing season as plants remove some CO2 from the atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. It is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warms a planet's atmosphere and surface.

Existence of the greenhouse effect as such is not disputed. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 30 °C (54 °F), without which Earth would be uninhabitable. The debate centers on how the strength of the greenhouse effect is changed when human activity increases the atmospheric concentrations of some greenhouse gases.

On Earth, the major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36–70% of the greenhouse effect (not including clouds); carbon dioxide (CO2), which causes 9–26%; methane (CH4), which causes 4–9%; and ozone, which causes 3–7%.[16][17] Some other naturally occurring gases contribute very small fractions of the greenhouse effect; one of these, nitrous oxide (N2O), is increasing in concentration owing to human activity such as agriculture. The atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 31% and 149% respectively above pre-industrial levels since 1750. These levels are considerably higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for which reliable data has been extracted from ice cores. From less direct geological evidence it is believed that CO2 values this high were last attained 20 million years ago.[18] Fossil fuel burning has produced about three-quarters of the increase in CO2 from human activity over the past 20 years. Most of the rest is due to land-use change, in particular deforestation.

The present atmospheric concentration of CO2 is about 383 parts per million (ppm) by volume.[20] Future CO2 levels are expected to rise due to ongoing burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. The rate of rise will depend on uncertain economic, sociological, technological, and natural developments, but may be ultimately limited by the availability of fossil fuels. The IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios gives a wide range of future CO2 scenarios, ranging from 541 to 970 ppm by the year 2100.[21] Fossil fuel reserves are sufficient to reach this level and continue emissions past 2100, if coal, tar sands or methane clathrates are extensively used.

Positive (reinforcing) feedback effects such as the expected release of methane from the melting of permafrost peat bogs in Siberia (possibly up to 70,000 million tonnes) may lead to significant additional sources of greenhouse gas emissions[23] not included in climate models cited by the IPCC.

Feedbacks

The effects of forcing agents on the climate are complicated by various feedback processes.

One of the most pronounced feedback effects relates to the evaporation of water. In the case of warming by the addition of long-lived greenhouse gases such as CO2, the initial warming will cause more water to be evaporated into the atmosphere. Since water vapor itself acts as a greenhouse gas, this causes still more warming; the warming causes more water vapor to be evaporated, and so forth until a new dynamic equilibrium concentration of water vapor is reached with a much larger greenhouse effect than that due to CO2 alone. (Although this feedback process involves an increase in the absolute moisture content of the air, the relative humidity stays nearly constant or even decreases slightly because the air is warmer.) This feedback effect can only be reversed slowly as CO2 has a long average atmospheric lifetime.

Feedback effects due to clouds are an area of ongoing research. Seen from below, clouds emit infrared radiation back to the surface, and so exert a warming effect. Seen from above, the same clouds reflect sunlight and emit infrared radiation to space, and so exert a cooling effect. Whether the net effect is warming or cooling depends on details such as the type and altitude of the cloud. These details are difficult to represent in climate models, in part because clouds are much smaller than the spacing between points on the computational grids of climate models (about 125 to 500 km for models used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report). Nevertheless, cloud feedback is second only to water vapor feedback and is positive in all the models that were used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.

Another important feedback process is ice-albedo feedback.[25] When global temperatures increase, ice near the poles melts at an increasing rate. As the ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice, and thus absorb more solar radiation. This causes more warming, which in turn causes more melting, and this cycle continues.

Positive feedback due to release of CO2 and CH4 from thawing permafrost is an additional mechanism contributing to warming. Possible positive feedback due to CH4 release from melting seabed ices is a further mechanism to be considered.

The ocean's ability to sequester carbon is expected to decline as it warms, because the resulting low nutrient levels of the mesopelagic zone limits the growth of diatoms in favour of smaller phytoplankton that are poorer biological pumps of carbon.

7 Zeichnungen

2007-06-25T22:56:00.000+02:00

We will need more fuel.

STILLS from "Total Ebola" movie

2007-06-22T14:49:00.000+02:00

http://groaza.ro/

Secret Fear

2007-06-20T16:15:00.000+02:00

What about AIDS?

2007-06-20T14:38:00.000+02:00

http://www.diamandagalas.com/

The cyanide ion > if used as poison, is generally delivered in the form of gaseous hydrogen cyanide, potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide

2007-04-02T09:15:00.000+02:00

Mechanism of toxicity

Cyanide is an irreversible enzyme inhibitor. Cyanide ions bind to the iron atom of the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase (also known as aa3) in the fourth complex in the mitochondrial membrane in the mitochondria of cells. This denatures the enzyme, and the final transport of electrons from cytochrome c oxidase to oxygen cannot be completed. As a result, the electron transport chain is disrupted, meaning that the cell can no longer aerobically produce ATP for energy.

Tissues that mainly depend on aerobic respiration, such as the central nervous system and the heart, are particularly affected.

Plants contain an alternative pathway for respiration in their mitochondria. The alternate oxidase is not as efficient as the normal pathway, but immune to cyanide. As a result, plants are insensitive to concentrations of cyanide that are lethal to animals, and a few species (e.g. the Giant Bamboo in its shoots) are known to contain cyanides.[4] Interestingly, the Greater Bamboo Lemur is able to consume lethal doses of the Giant Bamboo shoots with no effect. The reason for its immunity is not yet understood.

Clinical symptoms

It is difficult to give dose figures in this section due to the rapid metabolism of cyanide in the human body. Animal studies are of little help, as different species have widely different sensitivities to cyanide: it is quite possible that there is also a considerable range of sensitivity among human individuals. The Regulatory information section below may give some guidance.

Suicide

Cyanide salts are sometimes used as fast-acting suicide devices. Cyanide is reputed to work faster on an empty stomach, possibly because the anion is protonated by stomach acids to give HCN. Famous cyanide salt suicides include:

* Erwin Rommel
* Adolf Hitler (likely, see article on Hitler's death)
* Eva Braun
* Wallace Carothers
* Joseph Goebbels
* Hermann Göring
* Heinrich Himmler
* Alan Turing
* Odilo Globocnik
* Martin Bormann
* A North-Korean agent identified as Kim Sung Il, who along with a female accomplice in police custody in Bahrain bit into cyanide tablets hidden in cigarettes after having left a bomb onboard Korean Air Flight 858 which subsequently exploded over the Indian Ocean on November 29, 1987. The woman's life was saved by a quick-thinking police officer who knocked the cigarette away at the last second.
* Ramón Sampedro
* Gavrilo Princip attempted suicide, but failed
* Nedeljko Čabrinović attempted suicide, but failed
* Behzad Nabavi attempted suicide, but failed

Some espionage agents also carried glasses with cyanide in the frames. If they were caught by the enemy they could 'casually' chew the frame, releasing the cyanide, and die before having information extracted from them.[citation needed] Members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which operate in north-eastern Sri Lanka are probably the most reported to use capsules made out of cyanide compound/compounds, where each member of the militia wears a capsule round their neck, which is used to commit suicide when they are about to be captured by the security forces of Sri Lanka.

War

Cyanides were stockpiled in both the Soviet and the United States chemical weapons arsenals in the 1950s and 1960s.[citation needed] During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was thought to be planning to use hydrogen cyanide as a "blitzkrieg" weapon to clear a path through the opposing front line, knowing that the hydrogen cyanide would dissipate and allow unprotected access to the captured zone[citation needed]. However, as a military agent, hydrogen cyanide was not considered very effective, since it is lighter than air and need a significant dose to incapacitate or kill.

A Team

2006-11-14T10:36:00.000+01:00

Some Conclusions of DocMarCell

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We can make this statement, without the shadow of a doubt, that humankind developed from destruction towards its inexorable autodestruction. This is our thesis to demonstrate. That looking from these days back, to the early days of diseases and wars, the concept of destruction is old-fashioned and it seems to be less demonic. What really scares us is the quickly spread of a brand new concept (its date of birth cannot be precisely established, but could be indicated arround the beginning of the XXth century). This new concept is AUTODESTRUCTION of the humankind and this is what we call the contemporary phase of development of the humankind. This is the baroque phase, the "summum" and beyond it we cannot foresee anything for the moment. The evil which affects humankind has now this shape. Who would have been the turning point from destruction to autodestruction, what would be the causes, and can we, nevertheless, foresee something after this autodestruction point in which we are stuck?

"The Conclusions" of DocMarCell are some of them based on true facts, some of them are visionary, some come from his subjective memory.

Everything is gathered in an archive of images that shouldn't be forget. This archive is a possible memory of humankind. A history of the Evil which affected it. And this archive contains probably the ideas about how would appear to be a new era to come.

The images of the archive, in the form of "print screens", illustrate the concept of destruction (human pandemic, war, terrorism) and the concept of autodestruction (DNA code manipulation, autoerasing of electronic information). All the history of human Evil from The Archaic, to The Modern Era, until this baroque Phase is intended to be illustrated in the course of development of this project.

One immediate conclusion comes at light: if destruction makes us think about macro structures, autodestruction would action especially at the cellular and informational level.

DISEASES fallen from heaven are HISTORY cause we are heading for NEW TIMES

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DESTRUCTION is such an old fashioned concept

2006-10-09T17:48:00.000+02:00

Advertisement for a radium based facial cream

2006-10-09T17:28:00.000+02:00

DNA HELIX STRUCTURE

2006-10-09T17:18:00.000+02:00

Memorie flash cu autodistrugere

2006-10-09T17:09:00.000+02:00

Cei care traiau cu teama permanenta ca datele lor pot intra pe maini neprietenoase au acum la dispozitie un nou dispozitiv pentru a le transporta in siguranta. Relativ.
Data Traveler Elite Privacy Edition de la Kingston are o capacitate de 4 GB si floseste unsistem de criptare a datelor in 128-biti, adaugand in plus inca o optiune de securitate: posibilitatea de autodistrugere. Nu va ganditi ca o sa explodeze. Sistemul functioneaza mult mai simplu. Daca raufacatorul incearca sa ghiceasca parola care protejeaza datele si greseste de 25 de ori la rand, flash-drive-ul va sterge automat toate datele stocate. Bineinteles, daca parola pe care v-ati ales-o e usor de ghicit, va puteti lua adio de la securitatea informatiilor. In afara de acest mic incovenient, memoria pare a fi o buna solutie de transport securizat.

BY THOSE TIMES THINGS GOT SHARPNESS

2006-10-09T16:44:00.000+02:00

In 1962 James Watson (1928– ), Francis Crick (1916–2004), and Maurice Wilkins (1916–2004) jointly received the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology for their determination in 1953 of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Because the Nobel Prize can be awarded only to the living, Wilkins's colleague Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), who died of cancer at the age of 37, could not be honored.

The molecule that is the basis for heredity, DNA, contains the patterns for constructing proteins in the body, including the various enzymes. A new understanding of heredity and hereditary disease was possible once it was determined that DNA consists of two chains twisted around each other, or double helixes, of alternating phosphate and sugar groups and that the two chains are held together by hydrogen bonds between pairs of organic bases—adenine (A) with thymine (T) and guanine (G) with cytosine (C). Modern biotechnology also has its basis in the structural knowledge of DNA—in this case the scientist's ability to modify the DNA of host cells that will then produce a desired product, for example, insulin.

The background for the work of the four scientists was formed by several scientific breakthroughs: the progress made by X-ray crystallographers in studying organic macromolecules; the growing evidence supplied by geneticists that it was DNA, not protein, in chromosomes that was responsible for heredity; Erwin Chargaff's experimental finding that there are equal numbers of A and T bases and of G and C bases in DNA; and Linus Pauling's discovery that the molecules of some proteins have helical shapes—arrived at through the use of atomic models and a keen knowledge of the possible disposition of various atoms.

Of the four DNA researchers only Rosalind Franklin had any degrees in chemistry. The daughter of a prominent London banking family, where all children—girls and boys—were encouraged to develop their individual aptitudes, she held her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cambridge University. During World War II she gave up her research scholarship to contribute to the war effort at the British Coal Utilization Research Association, where she performed fundamental investigations on the properties of coal and graphite. After the war she joined the Laboratoire Centrale des Services Chimiques de l'Etat in Paris, where she was introduced to the technique of X-ray crystallography and rapidly became a respected authority in this field. In 1951 she returned to England to King's College, London, where her charge was to upgrade the X-ray crystallographic laboratory there for work with DNA.

Already at work at King's College was Maurice Wilkins, a New Zealand–born but Cambridge-educated physicist. As a new Ph.D. he worked during World War II on the improvement of cathode-ray tube screens for use in radar and then was shipped out to the United States to work on the Manhattan Project. Like many other nuclear physicists he became disillusioned with his subject when it was applied to the creation of the atomic bomb; he turned instead to biophysics, working with his Cambridge mentor, John T. Randall—who had undergone a similar conversion—first at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and then at King's College, London. It was Wilkins's idea to study DNA by X-ray crystallographic techniques, which he had already begun to implement when Franklin was appointed by Randall. The relationship between Wilkins and Franklin was unfortunately a poor one and probably slowed their progress.

Meanwhile, in 1951 23-year-old James Watson, a Chicago-born American, arrived at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. Watson had two degrees in zoology: a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a doctorate from the University of Indiana, where he became interested in genetics. He worked under Salvador E. Luria on bacteriophages, the viruses that invade bacteria in order to reproduce—a topic for which Luria received a Nobel Prize in medicine in 1969. Watson then went to Denmark for postdoctoral work—to continue studying viruses and to remedy his relative ignorance of chemistry. At a conference at the Zoological Station at Naples, Watson heard Wilkins talk on the molecular structure of DNA and saw his recent X-ray crystallographic photographs of DNA—and was hooked.

Watson soon moved to the Cavendish Laboratory. There several important X-ray crystallographic projects were in progress under William Lawrence Bragg's leadership, including Max Perutz's investigation of hemoglobin and John Kendrew's study of myoglobin—a protein in muscle tissue that stores oxygen. (Perutz and Kendrew received Nobel prizes in chemistry for their work in the same year that the prizes were awarded to the DNA researchers—1962.) Working under Perutz was Francis Crick, who had earned a bachelor's degree in physics from University College, London, and had helped develop radar and magnetic mines during World War II. Crick, another physicist in biology, was supposed to be writing a dissertation on the X-ray crystallography of hemoglobin when Watson arrived, eager to recruit a colleague for work on DNA. Inspired by Pauling's success in working with molecular models, Watson and Crick rapidly put together several models of DNA and attempted to incorporate all the evidence they could gather. Franklin's excellent X-ray photographs, to which they had gained access without her permission, were critical to the correct solution. The four scientists announced the structure of DNA in articles that appeared together in the same issue of Nature.

Then they moved off in different directions. Franklin went to Birkbeck College, London, to work in J. D. Bernal's laboratory—a much more congenial setting for her than King's College. Before her death she made important contributions to the X-ray crystallographic analysis of the structure of the tobacco mosaic virus—a landmark in the field. Wilkins applied X-ray techniques to the structural determination of nerve cell membranes and of ribonucleic acid (RNA)—a molecule that is associated with chemical synthesis in the living cell—while rising in rank and responsibility at King's College. Watson's subsequent career eventually took him to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of Quantitative Biology on Long Island, where as director from 1968 onward he led it to new heights as a center of research in molecular biology. From 1988 to 1992 he headed the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health. Crick stayed at Cambridge and made fundamental contributions to unlocking the genetic code. He and Sydney Brenner demonstrated that each group of three adjacent bases on a single DNA strand codes for one specific amino acid. He also correctly hypothesized the existence of "transfer" RNA, which mediates between "messenger" RNA and amino acids. After 20 years at Cambridge, with several visiting professorships in the United States, Crick joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California.

WELCOME TO THE FILTHYMAGIC OF THE HUMANKIND

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