Panama

Panama

A novel by Eric Zencey

The embassy secretary was a dour-looking young man with oiled hair and a sharp chin. He watched Adams carefully and with obvious mistrust, as if by letting Adams wait for Hay he was being asked to play some sort of confidence game that he could lose if he wasn't attentive.

Adam sighed and surveyed the anteroom for distraction. Having finally grown uncomfortable with the damp solitude of a cab, and wanting to find a way out of the funk he felt descending on him, he had decided to find Hay. To feel at peace with him, to feel once again welcome in the bosom of friendship, would be a comfort. But Special Envoy Hay wasn't in; he was expected shortly, would Adam be pleased to wait?

Yes. And no. Adam was unambiguously pleased, though, to spy a copy of that morning's Le Temps on a chair across the room. He rose to retrieve it, forcing a smile at the secretary, gratified to find that the paper hadn't been read: he liked the crisp flatness of fresh of fresh newspapers, all their pages aligned. Clover had known this, and had always seen to it that he got the papers first.

He scanned the Panama story on the front page. Loubet was promising to bring the chécquards to justice, no new warrant had been issued, and the Chamber was selecting its investigating committee – the Socialists were agitating to have the matter taken up by the courts (a more thorough non-partisan investigation, the argued), and the Boulangists has abstained, saying no investigation run by the Chamber itself could possibly be legitimate. They had a point, Adam thought. The paper went on to note that there was no word on who, exactly, the chéquards were, and it opined that in the face of the ignorance the responsible citizen could only reserve jugement.

Adam had began reading correspondences' reports from the Crimea by the time Hay arrived. “I'll see Mr. Adam now”, he told the Secretary, motioning Adams to follow him. “I hope you don't mind,” Hay said when they were seated, a silver-handled, ebony-bladed letter opener in his hand. “I have to deal with this.” He pointed at the stack of afternoon mail on his desk. More of his officiousness, Adams thought, it will make it easier to hold me at arm's length. “Have you seen Lizzie today?” Hay spoke absently, without even looking up, as he sliced an envelope. Adams watched him glance at the letter, the set it and its envelope into the wooden tray on the left side of the desk.

Finally Hay looked at him. No, he hadn't seen her. “Not since last night.” He would keep the details of their talk to himself.

Hay nodded. “She and Cameron had a visit from the police. She's very upset by it. Apparently the police were rude. Abusive, she said. Perhaps she exaggerates, but still”.

“I'm sorry to hear that.”

He unfolded another page, glanced at it and set it in the tray.

Life at the top. Photograph by Elena.

Genes and Behaviour

Genes and Behaviour

The interrelation of genes and behavior is a very interesting topic of study for psychologists.

The field’s best-known discussion topic is the nature versus nurture debate (nature – genes; nurture – environment). Although both sides have numerous proponents, the scientific community seems to have mostly settled on an interaction effect, meaning both are important in determining an organism’s phenotype (genotype is the actual genes, and corresponding allelic variations, an organism has inherited; phenotype refers to those that actually get expressed).

Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes; an allele is passed down from each parent for a total of 46. An evident example of genetic determination is the 23rd pair, females have two X chromosomes, while males have an X and a Y. Interestingly, the sex of a baby is determined by the father; women can only pass on the X chromosome, while men can contribute either the X or the much smaller Y.

The fact portrays as highly illogical, of course not to mention sexist and unkind, the decision of certain kings in the past to remarry if their wife failed to produce a male heir. The difference in chromosomes leads to some sex linked disorders, such as colorblindness, that is found mostly in the male population. In a nutshell, there are recessive and dominant genes, in cases where both alleles are present, the dominant gets expressed. For example, an individual having an allele coding for blue, and another coding for brown, eye color, will have brown eyes. However, some alleles can also be codominant, where both alleles get expressed, such as in the case of blood types.

Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Illustration by Elena.

If a person possesses an A and a B allele, the result is the AB bloodtype. Genetics researchers have several tools at their disposal. Family studies are popular, isolating probands and establishing pedigrees. Monozygotic (MZ, identical) twins share 100% of their genetic material, and thus are popular in elucidating the respective contributions of genes versus environment; while dizygotic (DZ, fraternal) twins only genetically share only 50%, like any regular siblings. For instance, schizophrenia probandwise concordance (the likelihood that if one twin has a condition, the other twin will also have it) is 48% for MZ twins and only 17% for DZ twins (Gottesman, 1991).

Furthermore, there exists often-cited anecdotal evidence of two MZ twins who were separated at birth and raised by two diverse families (e.g. Gough & Bourdeaux, 2003). The two families clearly offered the children very unalike upbringings; they lived in different countries, harbored dissimilar religious and political views, and were of unequal socio- economic status (SES). Still, once the brothers were in their forties, they decided to meet. Surprisingly, they arrived at the airport similarly dressed and were puzzled to find out that they shared the same religion, political affiliation, and profession.

What’s more, they had both married and divorced a woman named Linda, whereas their second marriage was to a lady named Betty. They enjoyed the same hobbies and both had a dog. Whether this one case represents the influence of genes on behavior or pure coincidence is unclear, especially since the sample is too small to draw any significant conclusions. Yet, the story is compelling.

Other genetic studies center on wild type as opposed to genetically modified mice, and various molecular diagnostic assays.

Reference:

• Gottesman, I. I. (1991). Schizophrenia genesis: The origin of madness. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman & Company, 1991.
• Gough, W. C. & Bourdeaux, R. (2006). Journey into infinity. Foundation for Mind Being Research, May 8.

Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behaviour, and they are classic excuses. (Andrew Lansley, a British politician). Image : Megan Jorgensen.

Love and Romance

Love and Romance

Throughout history, most songs composed, most books written, most tales told and definitely most TV shows and movies made, involved a love story. From Ancient Greco-Roman myths, where Zeus (Jupiter) cheated on his wife Hera (Juno) in his never-ending pursuit of beautiful women to Aphrodite’s (Venus) – the embodiment of the sentiment, the goddess of love. From Romeo and Juliet the classic tragedy by William Shakespeare 1600s hundreds medieval England to the 1998 remake with the soundtrack contributions by rock formation Garbage. More or less any plot line involves some flame, fling or unrequited overtures at some point.

In 2011, the buzz on love story is Bella Swan and Edward Cullen (Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon, Breaking Dawn). Green-eyed Kirsten Stewart and Robert Pattison portray the couple. Vampires suddenly flew back into fashion, not that they ever went out to judge by the amount of fiction written and motion pictures produced. In the late 1990s, there was a show about an underground vampire club in Montreal, whose members would pretend to drink blood and participate in rituals together.

The concept of romantic love dates back to medieval times. At that time, marriage was seen as an arrangement beneficial to both families or clans, with little bearing on emotional attachment. In some cultures, even today, the parents decide marriages, sometimes at the instant of the child’s birth.

Some believe that the idea of love was played up by Disney and Hollywood to accelerate diamond commerce. The diamond industry is huge. The largest world suppliers of the rock are Russia and South Africa. Diamond trade in African countries has been associated with unspeakable atrocities. The movie Blood Diamonds, and the involvement of supermodel Naomi Campbell in a series of trials, is rooted in the trade. Marilyn Monroe sang that ‘… diamonds are a girl’s best friends…’ Madonna’s lyrics proudly confirmed that she was ‘… a material girl in a material world…’ the Pussycat Dolls’ musical band’s with lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, proclaimed ‘… if you like it, the you gotta put a ring on it…’ Along the same lines, parodies on De Beers’s advertisements similarly reaffirm the association between a diamond (ring) and long-lasting companionship.

A more traditional approach is that diamonds are indeed forever. Therefore, they symbolise the durability and meaning of the commitment between two enamoured people.

Being the hardest element is why some industrial saws are made with low-grade diamonds. Diamonds are measured in carats, the more carats – the bigger and more expensive the stone. Clarity, colour and intactness are also important factors in precious (diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald) and semi-precious (amethyst, aquamarine, garnet, quartz) gemstones appraisal.

Everybody needs love. Then, why are so many people unhappily single and lonely? The answer to the question lays in the paradoxical nature of the human psyche. Many seek guidance and read tons of self-help books on dating and relationships. Then, they receive (sometimes bad) advice on how to manage their personal lives. Perchance loneliness is just a natural and integral part of the human condition or possibly that is quite inaccurate and ‘…quoi que tu fasses l’amour est partout ou tu regardes…’ as French singer Francis Cabrel… eloquently put it.

Concept of romantic love, does it exist at all? Photo : Megan Jorgensen.

Neuroscience and Psychology of Fear

The Neuroscience and Psychology of Fear

Fear, as a phenomenon, is omnipresent. The statement could be easily verified by how common doomsday predictions, fear mongering, and conspiracy theories are. Social events such as Steven Colbert's Rally to Keep Fear Alive are only some of the evidence. Further, many believe that subliminal messages embedded in media somehow influence the human mind. While that seems exaggerated, it is scientifically plausible to show something for such a short time that the brain registers it, but without any conscious awareness of what has been seen. Regardless, such far fetched suggestions are far beyond the topic of the present short essay, the purpose of which is to outline fear conditioning and extinction as documented in the academic literature.

Japan is renown, aside from electronics, anime and other elements, for its shockingly scary movies, a premiere of one of them allegedly being so scary that it had to be banned from show, due to heart attacks at the premiere. Film festivals such as Fantasia center on such thematic motion pictures. Moreover, fear is a strong motivator, and to judge by the horror movie genre and amusement parks popularity, actually a feeling many seek out.

Neuroscientifically, the brain structure mostly associated with the emotion is the amygdala (Wilensky et al., 2006; Pare et al., 2004). Interestingly, anxiety differs from fear in that anxiety is fright of something unconfirmed, whereas fear relates to something certain (i.e. if there is a lion in one's room and one is afraid, then that constitutes fear, but if one thinks there might be a monster under one's bed, then that represents anxiety).

A fearful reaction. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen.

Naturally, fear and anxiety are very important for anxiety disorders and other troubles related to abnormal psychology. Perhaps, the most obvious example of such ailments is GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, characterized by chronic and excessive worry about almost everything).

Further, classical conditioning refers to the technique pioneered by Ivan Pavlov at the beginning of the 20th century. Fear conditioning works in a similar way. A famous story is that of little Albert, who was thus conditioned to fear white fluffy animals. So, fear conditioning works in the same way as classical conditioning. An initially neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with one that elicits fear, and eventually, the neutral stimulus comes to be experienced as frightening.

Classical conditioning - famous Pavlov's dogs experiment explained graphically. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). US - Unconditioned or Unconditional Stimulus (terms used interchangeably, salivation to food); CS - Conditioned or Conditional Stimulus (sound of a bell, paired repeatedly with food); UR - Unconditioned or Unconditional Response (salivation to food); CR - Conditioned or Conditional Response (salivation to bell sound). Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen.

Widely used in the treatment of phobias (irrational fears, such as acrophobia: fear of heights, arachnophobia: fear of spiders, agoraphobia with or without panic attack: fear of crowded places, claustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces, and so on). Individuals suffering from these afflictions, often realize that their worries are unsubstantiated, but simply cannot do much about them. Fear extinction takes advantage of the reverse mechanism to treat phobias. For example, in desensitization, a scary stimulus is presented gradually in a safe environment (i.e. supervised by a mental health professional), and in time, the person gets more and more confortable and can potentially get rid of the fear all together.

The lion (pantera leo, feline) has long been considered as symbolizing courage and valor, as evidenced, among other things, by such titles as Richard the Lion Heart. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen.

Finally, Silverstein et al. (2011) explain that fear is processed at different levels in the brain. Thus, there appear to be cortical and subcortical pathways in the brain’s interpretation of aversive stimuli. Using neuroimaging techniques, the authors confirmed the involvement of the amygdala, but also of the thalamus, visual cortex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC).

References:

• Pare, D., Quirk, G. L. & LeDoux, J. E. (2004). New vistas on amygdala networks in conditioned fear. Journal of Neurophysiology, 92: 117-33.
• Silverstein, D., Lansner, A., Ingvar, M. & Ohman, A. (2011). A neural model of human fear pathways based on anatomical and neuroimaging data. BMC Neuroscience, 12, P241-2.  From the Twentieth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: Stockholm, Sweden.
• Wilensky, A. E., Schafe, G. E., Kristensen, M. P. & LeDoux, J. E. (2006). Rethinking the fear circuit: The central nucleus of the amygdala is required for the acquisition, consolidation, and expression of Pavlovian fear conditioning. Journal of Neuroscience, 26: 12387-96.

The Cruel Sky

The Cruel Sky

By Arthur C. Clarke

No man in all history had ever greeted a stranger dawn. Though they were tired and stiff and cold, and the dryness of the thin air made every breath rasp in their throats, they forgot all these discomforts as the first dim glow spread along the jagged eastern horizon. The stars fades one by one; last to go, only minutes before the moment of daybreak, was the most brilliant of all the space stations – Pacific Number Three, hovering twenty-two thousand miles above Hawaii. Then the sun lifted above a sea of nameless peaks, and the Himalayan day had dawned.

It was like watching sunrise on the Moon. At first, only the highest mountains caught the slanting rays, while the surrounding valleys remained flooded with inky shadows. But slowly the line of light marched down the rocky slopes, and more and more of this harsh, forbidding land climbed into the new day.

Now, if one looked hard enough, it was possible to see signs of human life. There were a few narrow roads, thin columns of smoke from lonely villages, glints of reflected sunlight from monastery roofs. The world below was waking, wholly unaware of the two spectators poised so magically fifteen thousand feet above.

During the night, the wind must have changed direction several times, and harper had no idea where they were. He could not recognize a single landmark. They could have been anywhere over a five-hundred-mile-long strip of Nepal and Tibet.

The immediate problem was to choose a landing place – and that soon, for they were drifting rapidly toward a jumble of peaks and glaciers where they could hardly expect to find help. The wind was carrying them in a northeasterly direction, toward China. If they floated over the mountains and landed there, it might be weeks before they could get in contact with one of the U.N. Famine Relief Centers and find their way home. They might even be in some personal danger, if they descended out of the sky in an area where there was only an illiterate and superstitious peasant population.

“We’d better get down quickly,” said Harper.” I don`t like the look of those mountains.”

His words seemed utterly lost in the void around them. Although Dr. Elwin was only ten feet away, it was easy to imagine that his companion could not hear anything he said. But at last the Doctor nodded his head, in almost reluctant agreement.

“I’m afraid you’re right – but I’m not sure we can make it, with this wind. Remember – we can’t go down as quickly as we can rise.”

That was true enough; the power-packs could be charged at only a tenth of their discharge rate. If they lost altitude and pumped gravitational energy back into them too fast, the cells would overheat and probably explode. The startled Tibetans (or Nepalese?) would thing that a large meteorite had detonated in their sky. And no one would ever know exactly what had happened to Dr. Jules Elwin and his promising young assistant.

To make matters worse, they had completely miscalculated the air speed at ground level. That infernal, unpredictable wind was blowing a near-gale once more. They could see streamers of snow, torn from exposed ridges, waving like ghostly banners beneath them. (Arthur C. Clarke). Illustration: © Megan Jorgensen.