‘Physics is a kind of metaphysics’: Émile Meyerson and Einstein’s late rationalistic realism

Abstract

Gerald Holton has famously described Einstein's career as a philosophical "pilgrimage". Starting on "the historic ground" of Machian positivism and phenomenalism, following the completion of general relativity in late 1915, Einstein's philosophy endured (a) a speculative turn: physical theorizing appears as ultimately a "pure mathematical construction" guided by faith in the simplicity of nature and (b) a realistic turn: science is "nothing more than a refinement "of the everyday belief in the existence of mind-independent physical reality. Nevertheless, Einstein's mathematical constructivism that supports his unified field theory program appears to be, at first sight, hardly compatible with the common sense realism with which he countered quantum theory. Thus, literature on Einstein's philosophy of science has often struggled in finding the thread between ostensibly conflicting philosophical pronouncements. This paper supports the claim that Einstein's dialog with Émile Meyerson from the mid 1920s till the early 1930s might be a neglected source to solve this riddle. According to Einstein, Meyerson shared (a) his belief in the independent existence of an external world and (b) his conviction that the latter can be grasped only by speculative means. Einstein could present his search for a unified field theory as a metaphysical-realistic program opposed to the positivistic-operationalist spirit of quantum mechanics.

Molecular Subtypes of Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Recent whole genome characterizations of primary human bladder cancers revealed that they can be grouped into "intrinsic" basal and luminal molecular subtypes. Here, we provide an overview of the subtypes and discuss their biological and clinical properties.

Recent Findings

Basal cancers are characterized by advanced stage and metastatic disease at presentation. They tend to be enriched with squamous and small cell/neuroendocrine features and inactivating mutations and deletions of TP53 and RB1. Basal cancers can be divided into "epithelial" and "mesenchymal" (also known as "claudin low") subsets, and a portion of the latter form a "neuroendocrine/neuronal" subset that is associated with particularly poor survival. Luminal cancers are often enriched with papillary histopathological features and activating mutations in FGFR3, and they can also be divided into additional subsets based on differential stromal cell infiltration, relative genomic instability, and high- versus low-level expression of carcinoma in situ (CIS) gene expression signatures. Importantly, the bladder cancer molecular subtypes display differential sensitivities to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade, and preliminary data also suggest that they respond differently to radiation with or without hypoxia modulation. Ongoing studies are investigating the relevance of the molecular subtypes to the bladder cancer histopathological variants and to upper tract urothelial cancer.

Summary

The bladder cancer molecular subtypes were associated with different prognoses and responses to conventional and targeted therapies in retrospective studies. If validated in prospective studies, molecular subtyping will be integrated into bladder cancer clinical management.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancers: Systematic Review of the Literature on Molecular and Clinical Features with a Focus on Treatment with Innovative Drugs

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15–20% of diagnosed breast tumours, with higher incidence in young and African-American women, and it is frequently associated with BRCA germline mutations. Chemotherapy is the only well-established therapeutic option in both early- and advanced-stages of the disease. TNBC tumours relapse earlier after standard anthracycline- and/or taxane-based chemotherapy treatments, generally within 1–3 years after the diagnosis, and often develop visceral metastases, representing the subtype with a worse prognosis among all breast cancers. In the present review, we will provide an updated overview of the available results of recent clinical trials for this disease and we will describe the implications of the known molecular pathways representing novel targets for development of future therapies for TNBC patients.

Recent Findings

Over the past decade, the advent of gene expression micro-array technology has led to the identification of different actionable targets including various genomic alterations, androgen receptor, PARP, PI3K, VEGF and other proteins of the angiogenic pathway. Thus, novel targeted drugs have been tested in clinical trials reporting promising results in specific TNBC molecular subgroups.

Summary

Although cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for TNBC patients, the identification of novel 'drugable' targets and pathways for developing personalized treatments represents a promising investigational approach in the management of the TNBC subtype.

Analyzing the environmental Kuznets curve for the EU countries: the role of ecological footprint

Abstract

A great majority of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) literature use CO₂ emissions to proxy for environmental degradation. However, this is an important shortage in application of the EKC concept because environmental degradation cannot be captured by CO₂ emissions only. By using a broader proxy, ecological footprint, this study aims to investigate the presence of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the EU countries. The annual data from 1980 to 2013 is examined with second generation panel data methodologies which take into account the cross-sectional dependence among countries. The results show that there is U-shaped relationship between the real income and ecological footprint. In addition, non-renewable energy increases the environmental degradation while renewable energy and trade openness decrease the environmental degradation in the EU countries. Policy implications are further discussed.

Asthma, sinonasal disease, and the risk of active tuberculosis

Publication date: Available online 18 August 2018

Source: The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice

Author(s): Anthony C. Yii, Avril Z. Soh, Cynthia B.E Chee, Yee T. Wang, Jian-Min Yuan, Woon-Puay Koh

Abstract

Background

Although asthma is associated with impaired lung immunity, it is unclear whether asthma affects risk of active tuberculosis (TB). Since the upper and lower airways are immunologically related, sinonasal disease may also modify susceptibility to TB disease.

Objectives

To evaluate whether asthma and sinonasal disease prospectively modulate the risk of active TB in the Singapore Chinese Health Study.

Methods

In this population-based prospective cohort, we recruited 63,257 Chinese adults aged 45-74 years from 1993-1998 in Singapore, and conducted follow-up I interviews among 52,325 surviving participants from 1999-2004. Data on self-reported history of physician-diagnosed sinonasal disease was collected at baseline, and data on asthma and chronic bronchitis were collected at follow-up I interviews. Active TB cases were identified by linkage with the national TB notification registry through December 2014. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate risk of active TB.

Results

During a mean follow-up of 17 years from recruitment, there were 1249 cases of active TB, and among them, 678 cases were diagnosed in the 12-year period from follow-up I interviews. We observed reduced risk of active TB in those with a history of asthma at follow-up I [hazard ratio (HR) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32-0.93] or sinonasal disease at baseline (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.36-0.95). Conversely, history of chronic bronchitis was not associated with risk of TB (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.68-1.31).

Conclusions

A history of asthma or sinonasal disease may modulate immunological response to reduce incidence of active TB in the adult population.

The ‘Enseki’ Sandbath’: A novel, safe and effective far‐infrared bathing procedure for health

Photodermatology, Photoimmunology &Photomedicine, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Local production of prolactin in lesions may play a pathogenic role in psoriatic patients and imiquimod‐induced psoriasis‐like mouse model

Experimental Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Role of IL‐17A receptor blocking in melanocytes survival: A strategic intervention against vitiligo

Experimental Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Autoantibody to transcriptional intermediary factor‐1β as myositis‐specific antibody: clinical correlation with CADM or DM with mild myopathy

British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Impact of Hidradenitis Suppurativa on Work Loss, Indirect Costs and Income

British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Skin resident memory T cell population is not effectively constructed in systemic sclerosis

British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Long‐term 52‐week trends in apremilast safety outcomes for treatment of psoriasis in clinical practice: a multicentre, retrospective case series

British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Blastema formation and periosteal ossification in the regenerating adult mouse digit

Wound Repair and Regeneration, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.

Comparative analysis of immune cell subsets in peripheral blood from patients with periodontal disease and healthy controls

Clinical &Experimental Immunology, Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-.