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The article focuses on the concept of poikilia which has also resisted commentary because of its complex and dubious status in questions of both moral and aesthetic value. Topics include considered in certain periods and contexts, it had positive value and examines it was associated with order, craft, complexity, wonderous variety and beauty.

The article explores the thematic connections between Bong Joon-ho's film "Parasite" and nineteenth-century Russian literature, particularly in relation to the concepts of the "superfluous man" and the house. It delves into the ideas of superfluity and parasitism in modern society, drawing from the works of Hannah Arendt, and examines how the film addresses these themes in the context of Confucian values and urban space.

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Presocratics: Natural Philosophers before Socrates, by James Warren. Ancient Philosophies series. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2007. 224 pp. $19.95 US (paper). James Warren, Senior Lecturer in Classics at Cambridge, [...]

Chapter 9 of the book "Timaeus" by Plotinus is presented. It explores artistic experience with mirrors and their internal nature, reality of Plotinian picture, and existence of natural images. It highlights circumvent discursivity of images, production of knowledge and sense-perception, and mutual understanding.

In the article the author examines a reference made by Merab Mamardashvili in his book Classical and Non-classical Ideals of Rationality to the work of the Georgian psychologist Dimitri Uznadze (1886-1950). Uznadze's concepts are introduced and described for the purpose of establishing how Uznadze's overall project as represented by his theory of "set" can lead to a better understanding of certain basic intentions of Mamardashvili's philosophy. This is done primarily through an analysis of Mamardashvili's reception of Uznadze's theory of set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 testing strategies and determining the accuracy of tests is crucial for the prevention of disease in asymptomatic communities., Objective: To determine the positive predictive value for the BD Veritor System for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 (BD Veritor System) among asymptomatic athletes and athletic staff in a University setting. Secondarily, a cost savings analysis was conducted to evaluate the benefits of a rapid antigen testing strategy over a universal PCR-based strategy., Methods: Asymptomatic athletic personnel at Ferris State University tested using the BD Veritor System from November 4, 2020-February 15, 2021. Individuals whose antigen test was positive immediately had specimen collected for confirmatory PCR testing. These results were used to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) for the BD Veritor System. A cost-savings analysis was conducted from the University's perspective to determine the value of this rapid antigen testing strategy over a universal PCR-based strategy., Results: A total of 3352 antigen tests were performed on 359 individuals during the study period. During this period, 21 positive antigen tests were obtained of which 5 individuals had a positive reflex PCR result. The calculated PPV of the BD Veritor System among asymptomatic individuals was 25%. According to the mandated athletics testing schedule, the University spent $67,475.76 on BD Veritor System tests and $1785 on confirmatory PCR tests. In contrast, if a solely PCR-based approach had been continued, the same testing strategy would have cost the University $284,920. By employing a 2-tiered testing strategy with the BD Veritor System with reflex PCR testing, the University realized a cost savings of $215,659.24 during the 3-month period., Conclusions: Despite sub-optimal PPV associated with the BD Veritor System among asymptomatic athletes, the University was able to effectively use an antigen-based testing program to comply with collegiate testing requirements and realize $215,659.24 cost savings per quarter over a PCR-based strategy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Casey Kepczynski, Jaelin Genigeski, Daniel deRegnier, Emmanuel Jadhav, Minji Sohn, Michael Klepser., (© 2021 The Authors.)

In utero exposure to chemicals with antiandrogen activity induces undescended testis, hypospadias, and sub- or infertility. The hypospermatogenesis observed in the adult rat testis exposed in utero to the antiandrogen flutamide has been reported to be a result of a long-term apoptotic cell death process in mature germ cells. However, little if anything is known about the upstream signaling mechanisms controlling this apoptosis. In the present study, we have investigated the possibility that the TGF-beta signaling pathway may be at play in this control of the apoptotic germ cell death process. By using a model of adult rat exposed in utero to 0, 0.4, 2, or 10 mg/kg.d flutamide, we observed that pro-TGF-beta signaling members, such as the three isoforms of TGF-beta ligands (TGF-beta1-3), the two TGF-beta receptors (TGF-betaRI and -RII) and the R-Smads Smad 1, Smad 2, Smad 3, and Smad 5 were inhibited at the mRNA and protein levels, whereas the anti-TGF-beta signaling member Smad 7 was overexpressed. Furthermore, we report that the overexpression of Smad 7 mRNA could induce an activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, because of the observed c-Jun overexpression, activation, and nuclear translocation leading to an increase in the transcription of the proapoptotic factor Fas-L. Together, the alterations of TGF-beta signaling may represent upstream mechanisms underlying the adult germ cell apoptotic process evidenced in adult rat testis exposed in utero to antiandrogenic compounds such as flutamide.