Biomedical subjects

Joav Merrick

Publications and source records attributed to Joav Merrick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Human development x: Explanation of macroevolution--top-down evolution materializes consciousness. The origin of metamorphosis.

In this paper, we first give a short discussion of the macroevolution viewing life as information-directed, complex, dynamic systems. On this basis, we give our explanation of the origin of life and discuss the top-down evolution of molecules, proteins, and macroevolution. We discuss these subjects according to our new holistic biological paradigm. In view of this, we discuss the macroevolution of the organism, the species, the biosphere, and human society. After this, we discuss the shift in evolution from natural selection to a new proposed process of nature called the "metamorphous top-down" evolution. We discuss the capability of the evolutionary shift to govern some of the processes that lead to the formation of new species. We discuss the mechanisms we think are behind this proposed shift in evolution and conclude that this event is able to explain the huge biological diversity of nature in combination with evolutionary natural selection. We also discuss this event of nature as an isolated, but integrated, part of the universe. We propose the most important genetic and biochemical process that we think is behind the evolutionary shift as a complicated symbiosis of mechanisms leading to metamorphosis in all biological individuals, from bacteria to humans. The energetic superorbital that manifests the consciousness governs all these processes through quantum chemical activity. This is the key to evolutionary shift through the consciousness, and we propose to call this process "adult human metamorphosis".

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Health effects of long-term exposure to insecticide-treated mosquito nets in the control of malaria in endemic regions, revised.

The endemicity of malaria in tropical areas of the world persists, especially in countries south of Saharan Africa. The efforts and concerns invested by the World Health Organization and other health agencies to eradicate malaria are commendable. However, in spite of all these efforts, the loss in economic and human resources continues. In a previous report, the long-term health effects of insecticide-impregnated bednet (IIBN) use were highlighted with the expectation of attracting serious thoughts and further research on the issue. This present paper is an update on that expectation. Results from a comprehensive literature search show that not much work has been done on the effects of long-term exposure to IIBNs in combating malarial infection. The efficacy of IIBNs is not in question. What is in question is whether long-term exposure to IIBNs have any health effects. The aims and outcomes of the research found in the literature on the subject to date seem to support only the efficacy of the temporal use of plain bednets, but not the use of IIBNs, and do not tell much about the long-term effects of IIBN exposure. All pesticides are toxic by nature and present risks of adverse effects. While there is agreement that IIBNs can be effective in reducing malarial morbidity and mortality under field trials, a number of factors relating to their long-term-exposure health effects have yet to be determined. Further reliable research projects are recommended urgently. However, some of the anticipated behavioral effects caused by insecticidal use will be avoided by the use of untreated nets instead.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Human development VI: supracellular morphogenesis. The origin of biological and cellular order.

Uninterrupted morphogenesis shows the informational potentials of biological organisms. Experimentally disturbed morphogenesis shows the compensational dynamics of the biological informational system, which is the rich informational redundancy. In this paper, we use these data to describe morphogenesis in terms of the development of supracellular levels of the organism, and we define complex epigenesis and supracellular differentiation. We review the phenomena of regeneration and induction of Hydra and amphibians, and the higher animal's informational needs for developing their complex nervous systems. We argue, also building on the NO-GO theorem for ontogenesis as chemistry, that the traditional chemical explanations of high-level informational events in ontogenesis, such as transmutation, regeneration, and induction, are insufficient. We analyze the informational dynamics of three embryonic compensatory reactions to different types of disturbances: (1) transmutations of the imaginal discs of insects, (2) regeneration after removal of embryonic tissue, and (3) embryonic induction, where two tissues that normally are separated experimentally are made to influence each other. We describe morphogenesis as a complex bifurcation, and the resulting morphological levels of the organism as organized in a fractal manner and supported by positional information. We suggest that some kind of real nonchemical phenomenon must be taking form in living organisms as an information-carrying dynamic fractal field, causing morhogenesis and supporting the organism's morphology through time. We argue that only such a phenomenon that provides information-directed self-organization to the organism is able to explain the observed dynamic distribution of biological information through morphogenesis and the organism's ability to rejuvenate and heal.

Cell Physiological Phenomena↗

PubMed2006

Human development VII: a spiral fractal model of fine structure of physical energy could explain central aspects of biological information, biological organization and biological creativity.

In this paper we have made a draft of a physical fractal essence of the universe, a sketch of a new cosmology, which we believe to lay at the root of our new holistic biological paradigm. We present the fractal roomy spiraled structures and the energy-rich dancing "infinite strings" or lines of the universe that our hypothesis is based upon. The geometric language of this cosmology is symbolic and both pre-mathematical and pre-philosophical. The symbols are both text and figures, and using these we step by step explain the new model that at least to some extent is able to explain the complex informational system behind morphogenesis, ontogenesis, regeneration and healing. We suggest that it is from this highly dynamic spiraled structure that organization of cells, organs, and the wholeness of the human being including consciousness emerge. The model of "dancing fractal spirals" carries many similarities to premodern cultures descriptions of the energy of the life and universe. Examples are the Native American shamanistic descriptions of their perception of energy and the old Indian Yogis descriptions of the life-energy within the body and outside. Similar ideas of energy and matter are found in the modern superstring theories. The model of the informational system of the organism gives new meaning to Bateson's definition of information: "A difference that makes a difference", and indicates how information-directed self-organization can exist on high structural levels in living organisms, giving birth to their subjectivity and consciousness.

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed2006

Human development VIII: a theory of "deep" quantum chemistry and cell consciousness: quantum chemistry controls genes and biochemistry to give cells and higher organisms consciousness and complex behavior.

Deep quantum chemistry is a theory of deeply structured quantum fields carrying the biological information of the cell, making it able to remember, intend, represent the inner and outer world for comparison, understand what it "sees", and make choices on its structure, form, behavior and division. We suggest that deep quantum chemistry gives the cell consciousness and all the qualities and abilities related to consciousness. We use geometric symbolism, which is a pre-mathematical and philosophical approach to problems that cannot yet be handled mathematically. Using Occam's razor we have started with the simplest model that works; we presume this to be a many-dimensional, spiral fractal. We suggest that all the electrons of the large biological molecules' orbitals make one huge "cell-orbital", which is structured according to the spiral fractal nature of quantum fields. Consciousness of single cells, multi cellular structures as e.g. organs, multi-cellular organisms and multi-individual colonies (like ants) and human societies can thus be explained by deep quantum chemistry. When biochemical activity is strictly controlled by the quantum-mechanical super-orbital of the cell, this orbital can deliver energetic quanta as biological information, distributed through many fractal levels of the cell to guide form and behavior of an individual single or a multi-cellular organism. The top level of information is the consciousness of the cell or organism, which controls all the biochemical processes. By this speculative work inspired by Penrose and Hameroff we hope to inspire other researchers to formulate more strict and mathematically correct hypothesis on the complex and coherence nature of matter, life and consciousness.

Behavior↗

PubMed2006

Human Development IX: a model of the wholeness of man, his consciousness, and collective consciousness.

In this paper we look at the rational and the emotional interpretation of reality in the human brain and being, and discuss the representation of the brain-mind (ego), the body-mind (Id), and the outer world in the human wholeness (the I or "soul"). Based on this we discuss a number of factors including the coherence between perception, attention and consciousness, and the relation between thought, fantasies, visions and dreams. We discuss and explain concepts as intent, will, morals and ethics. The Jungian concept of the human collective conscious and unconscious is also analyzed. We also hypothesis on the nature of intuition and consider the source of religious experience of man. These phenomena are explained based on the concept of deep quantum chemistry and infinite dancing fractal spirals making up the energetic backbone of the world. In this paper we consider man as a real wholeness and debate the concepts of subjectivity, consciousness and intent that can be deduced from such a perspective.

Consciousness↗

PubMed2006

Human development V: biochemistry unable to explain the emergence of biological form (morphogenesis) and therefore a new principle as source of biological information is needed.

Today's biomedicine builds on the conviction that biochemistry can explain the creation of the body, its anatomy and physiology. Unfortunately there are still deep mysteries strangely "fighting back" when we try to define and understand the organism and its creation in the ontogenesis as emerging from biochemistry. In analysing this from a theoretical perspective using a mathematical model focusing on the noise in complex chemical systems we argue that evolving biological structure cannot in principle be a product of chemistry. In this paper we go through the chemical gradient model and argue that this is not able to explain the ontogenesis. We discuss the used gradients as information carriers in chemical self-organizing systems and argue that by use of the "Turing structures" we are only able to modelling the mostly simple biological systems. The bio-chemical model is only able to model simple organization but not to explain the complexity of biological phenomena. We conclude that we seemingly have presented a formal proof (a NO-GO theorem) that the self-organizing chemical systems that are using chemical gradients are not able to explain complex biological matters as the ontogenesis. We need a fundamentally new, information-carrying principle to understand biological information and biological order.

Biochemical Phenomena↗

PubMed2006

Human development IV: the living cell has information-directed self-organisation.

In this paper, restricted to describe the ontogenesis of the cell, we discuss the processing of DNA through RNA to proteins and argue that this process is not able to transfer the information necessary to organize the proteins in the cell, but only to transfer the information necessary to form the shape of the proteins. We shortly describe the structure of the information carrying field recruited by the cells that we think is responsible for building the organelles and other cellular structures. We use the cells superior control of its cytoskeleton as an example of how the cell is using an informational field giving the positional information guiding all the local chemical processes behind the cell movement. We describe the information-directed self-organization in cells and argue that this can explain the ontogenesis of the cell. We also suggest the existence of an undiscovered phenomenon behind the information transmitting cell interactions. We conclude that during evolution the cell has developed into an information-guided self-organizing structure. The mystery we want to solve is: what is the mechanical cause and nature of biological information?

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Human development I: twenty fundamental problems of biology, medicine, and neuro-psychology related to biological information.

In a new series of papers, we address a number of unsolved problems in biology today. First of all, the unsolved enigma concerning how the differentiation from a single zygote to an adult individual happens has been object for severe research for decades. By uncovering a new holistic biological paradigm that introduces an energetic-informational interpretation of reality as a new way to experience biology, these papers will try to solve the problems connected with the events of biological ontogenesis involving a fractal hierarchy, from a single cell to the function of the human brain. The problems discussed are interpreted within the frames of a universe of roomy fractal structures containing energetic patterns that are able to deliver biological information. We think biological organization is guided by energetic changes on the level of quantum mechanics, interacting with the intention that again guides the energetic conformation of the fractal structures to gain disorders or healthiness. Furthermore, we introduce two new concepts: "metamorphous top down" evolution and "adult human metamorphosis". The first is a new evolutionary theory involving metamorphosis as a main concept of evolution. The last is tightly linked to the evolutionary principle and explains how human self-recovery is governed. Other subjects of special interest that we shall look deeper into are the immunological self-nonself discrimination, the structure and function of the human brain, the etiology and salutogenesis of mental and somatic diseases, and the structure of the consciousness of a human being. We shall criticize Szentagothai's model for the modulated structure of the human cerebral cortex and Jerne's theory of the immunological regulatory anti-idiotypic network.

Biology↗

PubMed2006

Human development II: we need an integrated theory for matter, life and consciousness to understand life and healing.

For almost a decade, we have experimented with supporting the philosophical development of severely ill patients to induce recovery and spontaneous healing. Recently, we have observed a new pattern of extremely rapid, spontaneous healing that apparently can facilitate even the spontaneous remission of cancer and the spontaneous recovery of mental diseases like schizophrenia and borderline schizophrenia. Our working hypothesis is that the accelerated healing is a function of the patient's brain-mind and body-mind coming closer together due to the development of what we call "deep" cosmology. To understand and describe what happens at a biological level, we have suggested naming the process adult human metamorphosis, a possibility that is opened by the human genome showing full generic equipment for metamorphosis. To understand the mechanistic details in the complicated interaction between consciousness and biology, we need an adequate theory for biological information. In a series of papers, we propose what we call "holistic biology for holistic medicine". We suggest that a relatively simple model based on interacting wholenesses instead of isolated parts can shed a new light on a number of difficult issues that we need to explain and understand in biology and medicine in order to understand and use metamorphosis in the holistic medical clinic. We aim to give a holistic theoretical interpretation of biological phenomena at large, morphogenesis, evolution, immune system regulation (self-nonself discrimination), brain function, consciousness, and health in particular. We start at the most fundamental problem: what is biological information at the subcellular, cellular, and supracellular levels if we presume that it is the same phenomenon on all levels (using Occam's razor), and how can this be described scientifically? The problems we address are all connected to the information flow in the functioning, living organism: function of the brain and consciousness, the regulations of the immune system and cell growth, the dynamics of health and disease. We suggest that life utilizes an unseen fine structure of the physical energy of the universe at a subparticular or quantum level to give information-directed self-organization; we give a first sketch of a possible fractal structure of the energy able to both contain and communicate biological information and carry individual and collective consciousness. Finally, thorough our analysis, we put up a model for adult human metamorphosis.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Human development III: bridging brain-mind and body-mind. introduction to "deep" (fractal, poly-ray) cosmology.

Reality can be interpreted in many ways, but two distinctly different ways are the mental and the emotional interpretation. The traditional way of thinking in science today is the first: an often simple and mechanical interpretation of reality that empowers us to handle the outer physical world with great, often brutal efficiency. The development of a mind that enables us to handle the outer physical world and survive makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary perspective; the problem is that the mental reason and linear logic reduces all phenomena to well-defined interacting objects, which might not exist from a deeper perspective of reality. A more intuitive way to interpret the world makes much more sense, when it comes to our human relations. So to function as a human being, we need both these two ways of seeing the world, and two different modi operandi. In many patients, we find an internalized conflict between logical and mental reasoning on one hand, and emotional and sexual approach to reality and human needs on the other. We speculate that this conflict causes the deep emotional problems that really are the basis of most human diseases. Only by merging brain-mind and body-mind will we be whole and free and truly ourselves. We need to develop our mental understanding, deepen our cosmology, and develop our sexuality and body-mind in order to make them meet and merge. To facilitate this existential healing, we propose a third integrative way of looking at our human nature, which we call "the energetic-informational interpretation of reality". What it does is allows us to look at both brain-mind and body-mind as a highly structured field of "energy and information". Energy and information are actually the same from a scientific point of view; when the world is seen through the body-mind, it looks more like energy; when seen though the brain-mind, it looks more like information.

Brain↗

PubMed2006

Epidemiology of pediatric bite/sting injuries. One-year study of a pediatric emergency department in Israel.

Animal bite/sting injuries are a known source of morbidity with a significantly higher incidence among children who are most often bitten in the face, head, and neck. The objective of this study was to provide a better understanding of bite/sting injuries treated at the pediatric emergency department in order to guide preventive efforts. The sociodemographic, epidemiological, and clinical data on all bite/sting injuries treated in one representative pediatric emergency department in Israel over a 1-year period were retrieved and analyzed. Two hundred of the 9,309 pediatric trauma cases treated in the emergency department were bite/sting injuries (2.1%). Non-Jewish patients were under-represented in this subgroup. The majority of patients were males (61.5%). Age distribution from 0-12 years was fairly even, except for an unexplained peak at 8 years. Dogs inflicted 56%, cats 11%, and hornets 9.5% of the injuries. Limbs were affected in 64% and the head and neck in 27%. Specialists, mostly plastic surgeons, were consulted in 42 cases (21%). The incidence rate for hospitalization (7%) was similar to that seen in other types of injuries. Children with scorpion or hornet stings and young age were more likely to be hospitalized. Preventive and educational aspects are discussed.

Age Distribution↗

PubMed2006

What influence do major events in life have on our later quality of life? A retrospective study on life events and associated emotions.

BACKGROUND: To examine associations between global quality of life (QOL) and major life events. MATERIAL/METHODS: This was a retrospective study using the self-administrated expanded SEQOL questionnaire with questions on life events and connected emotions. Seven hundred forty-six people, 55-66 years old, from a representative sample of the Danish population participated. Global QOL was measured by SEQOL (self-evaluation of quality of life), containing eight global QOL measures: well-being, life-satisfaction, happiness, fulfillment of needs, experience of temporal and spatial domains, expression of life's potentials, and objective factors. RESULTS: Life events related to health such as restraints of movement or psychological illness showed a major association with the quality of life. Most other associations between quality of life and life events were intermediate or minor. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life cannot simply be determined by life events. Actual quality of life is determined by how all the events of life have been processed and integrated in the consciousness. The results seem to support the idea that global QOL can be efficiently improved by integrating the painful events of the past. Since several studies have shown correlations between QOL and health, it is likely that such an improvement in QOL will also cause improved health and ability.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

The influence of Israel Health Insurance Law on the Negev Bedouin population--a survey study.

The extension of universal health service insurance to national populations is a relatively new phenomenon. Since 1995, the Israeli National Health Insurance Law (NHIL) has provided universal health services to every resident, but the effect of this law on health and health services among minorities has not been examined sufficiently. The goals of this study were to track some of the first changes engendered by the NHIL among the Negev Bedouin Arabs to examine the effects of universal health care services. Methods included analysis of historical and health policy documents, three field appraisals of health care services (1994, 1995, 1999), a region-wide interview survey of Negev Bedouins (1997), and key informant interviews. For the interview survey, a sample of 515 households was chosen from different Bedouin localities representing major sedentarization stages. Results showed that prior to the NHIL, a substantial proportion of the Negev Bedouins were uninsured with limited, locally available health service. Since 1995, health services, particularly primary care clinics and health manpower, have dramatically expanded. The initial expansion appears to have been a marketing ploy, but real improvements have occurred. There was a high level of health service utilization among the Bedouins in the Negev, especially private medical services, hospitals, and night ambulatory medical services. The NHIL brought change to the structure of health services in Israel, namely the institution of a national health system based on proportional allocation of resources (based on size and age) and open competition in the provision of quality health care. The expansion of the pool of potential members engendered by the new universal coverage had profound effects on the Health Funds' attitudes towards Negev Bedouins. In addition, real consumer choice was introduced for the first time. Although all the health care needs of this rapidly growing population have yet to be met fully, the assurances under the Law and the new level of competition promise a higher level of service in the future.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Quality of life and events in the first year of life. Results from the prospective Copenhagen Birth Cohort 1959-61.

The objective of this paper was to explore the association between diverse factors occurring during the first year of a child's life and the quality of life later as an adult. The design was a prospective cohort study based on material from the Copenhagen Birth Cohort 1959-61 with 7,222 participants and two sets of questionnaires used: one by a physician during the child's first year and one by the "adult child" 31-33 years later. The results showed that a mother's attitude towards her pregnancy, unsuccessful abortions, and/or institutionalization left a permanent trace on the child, since these children, as adults, have a quality of life 3% below the average. Meningitis during the first year of life resulted in a quality of life 11.7% below the average, while other illnesses or accidents did not have an effect. The largest associations were found with psychomotor development, where "walking with support" showed a difference of 14.2% in overall quality of life between the fastest and slowest group. Generally, diet is not correlated with quality of life, however, we find a small, but essential, correlation between the quality of life of the adult and the early cessation of suckling (4%). Full-time institutionalization during the first year of life showed a connection with the quality of life of the adult (7.1%). It is concluded that our quality of life, health and ability as adults are primarily determined by what we ourselves choose to do with our lives as young people and as adults--and only to a marginal degree determined by factors related to our background. This suggests that we as adults have a great freedom to achieve a good life despite our experiences in the beginning of life.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Parental knowledge on car safety for children: an Israeli survey.

The objective of this study was to assess the level of parental car safety knowledge and actual behavior regarding their children under the age of 15 years. This study forms part of the National Center for Child Safety and Health in Israel (Beterem) program to examine awareness on child safety. Seven hundred and five Jewish families with at least one child at home younger than 15 years (a total of 1,345 children) were used as a randomized sample of the Jewish population. A telephone survey was conducted by professional interviewers using a questionnaire developed by injury prevention specialists consisting of seven knowledge questions and a diagram that described the usual seating positions and restraining method of the family members in the family car. Concerning knowledge about injury prevention, the rate of incorrect answers was high, 64% in regard to the proper car seats for age and 84% in regard to the age for booster seats. Sixty five percent of parents did not know what a booster seat was and 54% did not know that the proper place for children was in the back seat. The average of incorrect answers was 4.86 out of 7 (SD=1.45) correlated with low socioeconomic status. Concerning care safety behavior 60% percent of babies and 38% of toddlers were not restrained properly. This study should alert planners and policy makers to the need of implementation of educational prevention programs for the Israeli public of parents concerning car safety for children in order to reduce childhood injury.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The health and social situation of the mother during pregnancy and global quality of life of the child as an adult. Results from the prospective Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort 1959-1961.

A prospective cohort study (Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959-61) of 7,222 persons was used in order to explore the association between the social and health situation during pregnancy and the global quality of life (QOL) of the adult child 31-33 years later. Two sets of questionnaires were used with one filled out by physicians during pregnancy and one filled out by the adult children 31-33 years later. The questionnaires included mother's situation during pregnancy and global QOL of the child at follow-up: Well-being, life satisfaction, happiness, fulfillment of needs, experience of life's temporal and spatial domains, expression of life's potentials and objective measures. The only indicators to have clear connections with a reduced quality of life were the cases of mother's with syphilis (8.5%), mother's congenital malformations (8.8%), low social group (6.9%) and failing contraception (3.8%). The results obtained repudiate the common notion and hypothesis that the mother's situation during pregnancy is highly important for the quality of life that the child experience as an adult. This suggest that the aspects important for quality of life later on are not found solely in early conditions, but instead more dependent on later attitude towards life of that specific person.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Factors during pregnancy, delivery and birth affecting global quality of life of the adult child at long-term follow-up. Results from the prospective Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959-61.

This paper presents a prospective cohort study, where we explore associations between pregnancy, delivery and the global quality of life (QOL) of the adult child 31-33 years later. The data is from the Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959-61 using two sets of questionnaires send to 7,222 persons: one filled out by physicians during pregnancy and delivery, while the follow-up questionnaire was completed by the adult children 31-33 years later. The main outcome measures were objective factors describing pregnancy and delivery along with global quality of life, including: well-being, life satisfaction, happiness, fulfillment of needs, experience of life's temporal and spatial domains, expression of life's potentials and objective measures. Results showed two main factors in pregnancy that seemed to be associated with a reduced quality of life for the child 31-33 years later: the mother's smoking habits and the mother's medication--especially painkillers and different psychopharmacological drugs with the association being most prevalent early in pregnancy. Considering what can and do go wrong during the various stages of labour and delivery and considering how few connections we found between the factors examined and the later global QOL, it seems that the child is remarkably resilient to external influences during pregnancy and delivery as concerns global QOL in adulthood.

Adult↗