Different Forms Of Activity Research Articles

Aminopeptidase-N (CD13; gp 150): Contrasting patterns of enzymatic activity in blood from patients with myeloid or lymphoid leukemia

We have investigated the compartmentalization of aminopeptidase-N-like activity in various blood fractions obtained from patients with acute lymphoid (ALL) or myeloid (AMD leukemia. The primary difference appears not to be the absolute level of overall activity, but rather the relative proportions of the different forms of activity detected. Thus, despite similar levels of total aminopeptidase-N-like activity detected in cells from different leukemic groups, true aminopeptidase-N/CD13 activity was only detected in cells derived from AML patients. Even in these patients, however, most of the detected aminopeptidase-N-like activity (>80%) could not be attributed to aminopeptidase-N/CD13. In marked contrast, plasma from leukemic patients also contained substantial total aminopeptidase-N-like activity, of which (irrespective of leukemic group) most could be attributed to aminopeptidase-N/CD13. Whilst slightly higher levels of total activity were obtained in plasma from AML patients compared to ALL patients, there was no difference in the relative proportion attributable to aminopeptidase-N/CD13 (approximately 80% of total aminopeptidase-N-like activity). Evaluation of total aminopeptidase-N-like activity present in whole blood gave differential patterns, and whilst only a proportion (20–40% of total aminopeptidase-N-like activity) could be attributed to true aminopeptidase-N/CD13, blood from patients with CD13 + AML showed the greatest activity so attributable. In total, our results outline the complexities of peptidase activities present within blood of leukemic individuals, and may, in part, explain the variability of previous studies attempting to associate prognostic features with phenotypic expression of CD13.

The Development of Franz Brentano's Ethics (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 1 19 The last chapter, "Passivity and Activity in the Philosophical Anthropology of Karl Marx," discusses the results of the concept of praxis. If we see that man produces his own conditions of life, we are able to relate human spontaneity and receptivity as inseparable aspects of subjectivity (83). The recovery of spontaneity requires the abolition of alienation (89). Marx substitutes the concept of real corporeal man for Hegel's analyses of mental labor and abstract subjectivity (96). Marx goes beyond Kant and Hegel in that he understands how the ideals of freedom and community merely posited by the idealists are the real result of the process of life (io8). Marx's view of praxis is of "utmost philosophical significance" (l 12). Hoffman is correct to point to subjectivity as an ongoing problem in German idealism, although his account is too narrow. A crucial weakness is his failure to discuss Fichte, who was above all concerned with the synthesis, within the limits of human subjectivity, of the different forms of activity distinguished by Kant. Ii-German idealism is intrinsically unable to think the unity of theoretical and practical forms of subjectivity, this point must be shown with respect to Fichte, I am further hesitant to regard Marx's position as the positive outcome of German philosophy since, although I applaud recognition of its philosophical importance , I reject the inference that it differs fundamentally from the idealist tradition in which it emerges, To begin with, the concept of interest is not novel with Marx, but already constitutive of Kant's position, not to mention Fichte's. In the second place, while Marx did advance a view of corporeal man which he held to be absent in Hegel, like the other left Hegelians he was largely influenced in the formation of his positive view of subjectivity by Fichte. Thirdly, it is difficult to view the analysis of labor as indicative of a fundamental difference between Marx and Hegel unless one can explain away the latter's discussion of the "System of Needs" in the Philosophy o] Right, which is not mentioned here. Finally, while some forms of knowledge may require as their condition an end to alienation, that point cannot be correct for all forms of epistemology on pain of self-stultification. To conclude, Hoffman's good discussion of the problem of subjectivity in German idealism would have been more insightful if his account of this period had been fuller. Although he is correct to point to the philosophical significance of Marx's view, there seems no reason to regard it either as an intellectual panacea or as standing in some conceptual limbo beyond idealism. TOM ROCKMORE Fordham University Linda McAlister. The Development of Franz Brentano's Ethics. Atlantic Highland, N.J, Humanities Press, 1982. Pp. 171. $16.25 (cloth). Students of Brentano's ethics have long been faced with a dearth of coherent and reliable documentation of his views. During his lifetime, he published ,just one slender volume, the lecture Vom Ursprung sittlicher Erkenntis. The longer work, Grundlegung und Aufbau der Ethik, did not appear until decades after his death. It consists of 120 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 23:1 JANUARY 1985 lecture notes edited in a free-handed fashion by followers who wished the work to conform to what they took to be his true and final views. In the Preface to her book, Professor McAlister tells us that it is her intention to trace and analyze the development of Brentano's ethical theory, to present background information for purposes of elucidation, and to furnish some critical comments on Brentano's philosophy. She is particularly concerned with distinguishing his earlier ethical theory, presented in the Ursprungand the notes used as the basis for Grundlegung, from the later view contained in the Nachlassand in later essays and letters. To do this, McAlister undertook the laborious task of examining all of the microfilms of Brentano's unpublished writings and checking the text of the Grundlegungagainst the lecture notes, doing us the service of providing a fuller and less distorted view of Brentano's actual development . In ~968, when she completed this volume as her dissertation, it served another...

The Structure of Electoral Political Participation

Research on electoral political participation frequently combines voting and campaing activity into a single scale and adopts the Michigan social-psychological perspective on political behavior. Using Canadian data, we find that (1) voting and campaing activity are qualitatively different forms of activity that need to be examined separately, and (2) the Michigan model, with its emphasis on individual interests and beliefs as the primary determinatn of political activities, applies to voting behavior but not to campaing activity. A "public-arena" model that distinguishes whether an individual was contacted to participate in campaign activities is suggested in its place. Results indicate hta, net of all else, being recruited to participate in campaing activity by 50%. Analyses suggest that an explanation of who is likely to be recruited should include both individual status and social network characteristics. Implications of the findings for a democratic polity are noted.

The Ecological Significance of Activity Patterns in the Woodlouse Porcellio Scaber Latr. (Isopoda)

AbstractFrom the literature it is known that woodlice are badly equipped for life on land, but because they can generally be found in dense populations they must be able to maintain life in land habitats. In 1952 it was found that in the dune area "Meijendel" near Den Haag woodlice show remarkable nocturnal activities, and it was supposed that these activities had something to do with their adjustment to the habitat. In 1953 an investigation into the ecological significance of activity patterns in the woodlouse Porcellio scaber Latr. was started in two aspen woods in "Meijendel". It was found that the amount of different forms of activity and the quantitative relations between these forms are correlated with air humidity. The duration of the individual periods of activity depends on air humidity and is for the great majority of active specimens about one hour. The activity patterns of P. scaber have a distinct effect on the distribution of the animals over a wood (day-habitat) and contribute to an effective dispersal of the species. The suitability of a day-habitat for P. scaber depends on its moistness, since it must essentially be considered a shelter against the relative dryness of the day-period. Generally the best shelters are offered by the loose bark of dead or dying trees and by compact objects lying flat on the ground. The observations made under natural conditions may be generally understood by the working hypothesis: "The activities of P. scaber are a means of losing by transpiration the excess of water which has accumulated in the bodies of the animals during a stay inside a very moist shelter". An experiment with artificial tree-shelters under natural conditions has yielded new data which confirm the hypothesis. With experiments in the laboratory it could be shown that specimens of P. scaber take up water from saturated or nearly-saturated air and that this results in an increasing preference for lower air humidities (for becoming active) and vice versa. Water-uptake occurs through the cuticle and the amount of water-uptake increases with temperature up to about 15-20° C. It is apparent that in saturated or nearly-saturated air, "normal" excretion cannot compensate for water-uptake, so that water is accumulated in the body. The activity patterns of P. scaber must be considered an active regulation of the water-balance, by which the animals move at intervals from a habitat with a very high air humidity (shelter) to a habitat with a lower air humidity (locality for adequate transpiration) and vice versa. It could be shown that at high humidities the animals have a greater tendency to move upwards. They then reach places where the evaporative power of the air is greater and transpiration of water is thus increased. The results from experiments in the laboratory on the effect of humidity or temperature on the amount of activity agree with corresponding findings under natural conditions. A number of unexpected results of these experiments demonstrate that the form and amount in which the activity patterns arise depend on the structure of the shelters and of the habitat in which the activities occur. Habitat-selection in P. scaber depends on the mean trend of temperature and humidity of the air during a number of years and on the presence and accessibility of suitable shelters and of localities where adequate transpiration is possible.

Les Principes de la physique

A TRANSLATION into French of Dr. N. R. Campbell's book entitled “Physics, The Elements,” was suggested to the author by M. Emile Borel, who had been called upon for a notice of the volume in the Revue philo-sophique. But the length of the original imposed the necessity for considerable abbreviation; one-third only of this smaller book is a textual translation, the rest is an abstract, the developments of several pages being sometimes reduced to a few lines. Mme. Pebellier has carried out both the paraphrase and the translation, and her difficult task seems to have been performed most efficiently. The book is rendered more interesting, especially to the English reader, by the preface contributed by M. Borel. He emphasises the great importance of the treatise, arising from the fact that the author is an experimental physicist, and moreover an English physicist. Experimental and theoretical work correspond to different forms of activity, and perhaps to different forms of thought. Continental physicists, whether they are French, German, or Italian, are perhaps less purely physicists than the English. It may at least be affirmed that the latter have certain particular qualities, qualities which sometimes shock the savant of the Continent but in practice produce remarkable results. M. Borel proceeds with an interesting discussion of the language of physics, which he regards as intermediate between the exact language of mathematics and the vaguer language of the vulgar tongue, in which words have only a statistical definition. In its new form Dr. Campbell's work should appeal to a wide circle of readers.