[The genius of Balzac from the psychiatric point of view: genius and madness].
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The late B. Tersteegen devised a clever way to combine the advantages of a closed tank hemodialysis system with the efficacy and bacteriological safety of a single-pass system. The Teerstegen equipment is now marketed as the GENIUS hemodialysis system. For each treatment, fresh dialysis fluid is prepared according to the physician's prescription by mixing sterile ingredients (electrolytes and glucose) with preheated ultrapure water. The total amount of dialysis fluid is put into a thermally insulated glass tank (volume 75 l) of the hemodialysis machine. The filling and emptying process is completely automated. An UV radiator is used for desinfection. Due to a consequent hygienic concept, the system operates with an almost sterile and usually pyrogen-free dialysis fluid. During treatment, fresh dialysis fluid is taken from the top of the system, and the used dialysate is returned to the bottom. There is a sharp interface between the fresh and used dialysis fluids because of a small difference in temperature (1 degrees C). True volumetric ultrafiltration control is simply achieved; ultrafiltration rates between 100 and 1,000 ml/h can be selected as considered appropriate by the physician. MICROBIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION: We cultured more than 2,000 dialysate specimens to examine bacterial contamination, and found either no bacterial growth at all (in the vast majority of the cases) or less than 1 CFU/ml dialysate. CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: We have utilized the GENIUS system since 1994. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 treatments have been performed in our center. Biochemical results of the first 19 stable hemodialysis patients (mean age 66 years, range 45-82), who had been treated with conventional hemodialysis systems for at least 6 months (range 6-157) before changing to GENIUS, were evaluated. We observed an increase of mean serum albumin concentration from 4.1 (+/-0.4 SD) g/dl to 4.8 (+/-0.3) g/dl (p < 0.01) within 6 months. Most patients reported improved well-being. Of these 19 patients, 18 preferred further treatment with the GENIUS system in comparison to conventional hemodialysis machines. CONCLUSION: The GENIUS hemodialysis system permits an individualized therapy of high quality; most patients prefer this system to conventional hemodialysis machines. Serum albumin levels increased significantly from normal to high normal values after change from conventional hemodialysis machines to GENIUS, probably due to less catabolic stress during the hemodialysis sessions.
The relationship between genius and madness has been a subject of interest since the beginning of critical and philosophical thinking. Thus, Aristotle, in the Book XXX of the Problemata, asks himself "why are all extraordinary men in the fields of philosophy, politics, poetry and art melancholic?, adding afterwards: "...and some of them in such a way that they may suffer from pathologic manifestations whose origin is in the black bile". In the past decades the German author Tellenbach studied the personalities of several geniuses, both from fiction, such as Hamlet, and from reality, such as the writer von Kleist, concluding that they suffered from a specific form of depression that he called "Schwermut" (melancholy), which was supposedly different from the narrowly defined illness of depression. Other work done on this subject is the extensive study by the North American author Kay Jamison, who, after researching the biography and the tree of a long list of writers, composers and musicians, concluded that all of them had suffered to some degree from a bipolar disorder. This author strives to carry out a phenomenology of genius, and he finds that, together with other essential features, the geniuses always show forms of experiencing and/or of behaving which do not fall within the range that is considered normal, although they can not always be classified as pathological. His study is based on the analysis of the life and the work of three men whose genius could not be doubted: the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, the philosopher Soeren Kierkegaard and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. This author specially focuses on the last named, since in his later work he explicitly meditated on the suffering that has meant for him his condition of genius and what he considered the only way to overcome them: to be faithful to the work of art, whose fulfilment was imposed on him--to a certain degree from the endogenous--as an unavoidable imperative.
Lewis M. Terman is well-known in the history of American psychology for the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon intelligence tests and the Genetic Studies of Genius project. The same assumptions informed the genius project and Terman's work in intelligence testing: the notion of the fixity of the IQ at birth and the maturation theory. According to the maturation theory, individuals developed only within the range of differences made possible by the genetic endowment of the "group"--natural, cultural, or both--to which they belonged. In this article the historicity and nonuniversality of Terman's work is discussed.
BACKGROUND: The Genius single-pass batch system for hemodialysis contains a closed reservoir and dialysate circuit of 75 L dialysate. The unused dialysate is withdrawn at the top of the reservoir and the spent fluid is reintroduced into the container at the bottom. Although it has been claimed that both fractions remain unmixed during the dialysis session, no direct proof of this assumption has yet been provided. In the present study, we investigated whether contamination of the unused dialysate with uremic solutes occurred and at which time point it began. Two different dialysate temperatures were compared. METHODS: Ten chronic hemodialysis patients were dialyzed twice with the Genius system, with dialysate prepared at 37 degrees C and 38.5 degrees C, respectively. The sessions lasted 270 minutes with blood/dialysate flow set at 300 mL/min. Dialysate was sampled at 5, 60, 180, 210, 225, 230, 235, 240, 255, and 270 minutes both from the inlet and outlet dialysate line and blood was sampled from the arterial line predialysis, after 4 hours, and postdialysis. All samples were tested for osmolality, urea, creatinine, p-cresol, hippuric acid, and indoxyl sulfate. RESULTS: Uremic solutes appeared in the inlet dialysate line between 3 hours 50 minutes and 4 hours 10 minutes after the start of dialysis, corresponding to 68.6 and 74.7 L spent dialysate, respectively (37 degrees C vs. 38.5 degrees C; P = NS). No difference in the amount of removed solutes and in the serum levels was observed between 37 degrees C and 38.5 degrees C. A Kt/V of 1.17 +/- 0.20 and 1.18 +/- 0.26, respectively, was reached with the 37 degrees C and 38.5 degrees C dialysate temperature (P = NS). CONCLUSION: Contamination with uremic solutes occurred at the dialysate inlet only near the end of the session when small quantities of fresh dialysate were left in the container. Differences in dialysate temperature did not result in a different separation between used and unused dialysate, or in differences in removal of toxins or Kt/V.
Kumagusu Minakata (1867-1941), a Japanese genius devoted to natural history and folklore, is famous for his immense range of works, including his discovery of many new varieties of mycetozoa, or slime molds. His diary reveals that he was affected by epilepsy. In this study of his brain, we adopted a method of measuring the volume of the hippocampi by MRI of postmortem brain and found evidence of right hippocampal atrophy. This finding, together with the striking parallels between his behavior and the known behavioral syndrome in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), suggests that he was affected by TLE. The postmortem imaging analysis of brain, as performed in this study, offers a bridge between neuroscience and classic psychopathologic approaches to the creativity of geniuses.
Thomas Young is arguably one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, but most people have never heard of him, though he was renowned in his own era. He did important work in a large variety of scientific disciplines, but that was his downfall. Given the specialization of the present era, physicists do not appreciate how important his work in linguistics was, linguists do not appreciate the importance of his work in psychology, and so on. Despite his obscurity today, Young nicely exemplifies the traits that one finds in a genius of the first order: tendency toward analogical thinking, high intelligence, an amazing capacity for hard work, extremely wide interests, distaste for traditional dogmas, and very high self-esteem.
1. As an addition to already published studies in this journal (BEHEIM 1974) about the cytoarchitectonic divisions in six left human dorsal surfaces, the left and the right dorsal surface of a linguistic genius and of two anthropoids were examined; a second human right dorsal surface was used for a comparison. 2. In all these cases it was possible to confirm the presented in the first article dividing characteristics of the described partitions of the cortex in spite of considerable cytoarchitectonic differences between individuals, as well as, between left and right dorsal surfaces. 3. The linguistic genius (El 9) showed on the left side a striking development of the 2d transverse gyrus by the repetition of two fields and threefold increase of the most interior field of the medial segment with the smallest nerve cells of the tr 2. 4. On the right side El 9 revealed, besides a considerable narrowing of the caudal part of the lst transverse gyrus in the 2nd transverse gyrus, only division into two parts of the medial segment of the gyrus; the most interior field was missing. The caudal field of the tr 2 and regio t par tr were large in comparison with the left side. A similar picture was presented by the right dorsal surface in the case of the highly musical scientist (El 2) in whom the left tr 1 was especially extensive. In both right dorsal surfaces the nerve cells of the tr 1, especially in markedly narrowed caudal part, were very small; the nerve cells of the tr 2 - exclusive tr 2 c - were smaller than on the left side - as much as it was possible to judge without comparative microphotographs; the nerve cells of the tr 2 c appeared to correspond to that on the left side. In regio t par tr the nerve cells, practically of "normal" size, were so severely damaged that it could not be topographically differentiated. 5. In both anthropoids, the topography of the dorsal surfaces was similar to that of the man; in both left sides area tr 1 c could not be subdivided; on the right side the differentiation between the subareae of tr 1 i and tr 1 c was even not possible. In tr 2 on both sides it was possible to divide in two the middle part of the gyrus similarly as in examined human right side; in addition there was a conspicuous extension of the lateral and caudal area of the tr 2. 6. The literature concerning the left-right differences in the dorsal surfaces and about the sensory primary auditory cortex is quoted and discussed.
Atypical glandular cells (AGC) are a diagnostic challenge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and diagnostic performance of AGC detection on the Hologic Genius Digital Diagnostics System (HGDDS). A retrospective analysis of 451 ThinPrep Pap cases was conducted, including 207 cases of AGC, 27 cases of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), 25 cases of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), and 192 benign cases. All AGC cases had follow-up histologic diagnoses, with 66 cases subsequently diagnosed as adenocarcinoma. The slides were randomized, scanned, and analyzed by the HGDDS. Patient age and HPV test results were provided to reviewers, an experienced cytologist, who screened the cases, followed by two cytopathologists who independently examined the cases on the HGDDS. Diagnostic concordance between the two cytopathologists indicated strong agreement (κ = 0.829). Sensitivity of AGC on Papanicolaou (Pap) tests for adenocarcinoma detection on HGDDS was 98.5% and 95.5%, respectively, comparable to the original ThinPrep interpretation (OTPI). Specificity for adenocarcinoma detection was significantly higher (84.6% and 85.6%) with the HGDDS than 27.7% with OTPI. Overall, the diagnostic performance for AGC/HSIL interpretation to detect CIN2/3/adenocarcinoma appeared to have improved with HGDDS compared with OTPI, particularly for specificity and positive predictive value (PPV). This is the first study evaluating AGC diagnosis using the HGDDS. The findings demonstrate that the sensitivity of adenocarcinoma detection as AGC on HGDDS is comparable to the ThinPrep Imaging System, but the specificity and PPV are improved. This suggests the potential of artificial intelligence to augment the performance of cervical cancer screening.
At a time of crisis in his marital life, Gustav Mahler met with Freud. After the meeting with Freud, Mahler's spirits and sexual potency were restored, and his attitude toward his wife changed remarkably. However, these changes were accompanied by an apparent loss of the ability to compose: there is no evidence that Mahler wrote any new music between the summer of 1910, when he saw Freud, and May of 1911, when he died from complications of streptococcal endocarditis. Mahler in effect had chosen human love over artistic creativity. An analysis of the encounter and its effects on the composer's artistic capabilities raises questions about the psychology of genius, adolescent trauma, and psychosomatics.
Galton believed that his data on hereditary genius support purely genetic inheritance. On the contrary, analysis under a simple model shows no clear resolution of genetic and cultural inheritance in this material, or generally, unless adoptive relations, monozygous twins, and/or environmental indices are included in a design adequate to test the assumptions under which they are informative.
In his creation of a psychobiography of one genius and the hidden autobiographic analysis of another, Freud exemplifies what he described in the study: "Kindly nature has given the artist the ability to express his most secret mental impulses, which are hidden even from himself, by means of the works that he creates" (p. 107).
Virginia Stephen was a member of one of England's great literary families, many of whom were also mentally ill. An exquisitely endowed infant, she was beautifully matched with her mother during the symbiotic state of development, and later called this period "the base upon which life stands." Difficulties presumably began as early as the differentiation subphase of separation. Mrs. Stephen appeared to be a narcissistic woman, who required constant affirmation, and thus was unable to respond to the needs of a developing child. Virginia probably was rescued from engulfment by a powerful biologically determined practicing period of separation-individuation. This great organismic surge, in all likelihood, is as characteristic of toddlers who are incipient manics as of children of future genius. Because of the strong regressive pull, it is probable that Virginia experienced a particularly high-powered glee in evading the field of her mother. This "economic condition," according to Freud, is a given that is felt by the manic as he overthrows the imprisoning restraints of the superego. Deflated by events beyond her control, such as the sadism of her siblings, Virginia probably attempted to return to her mother. But it appears that Mrs. Stephen was not available. Hence Virginia was forced to split off her anger and turn it against herself, keeping her aggression unavailable for neutralization. As a result she was unable to proceed to an age-adequate level of development. The raw rage lay smoldering within until many years later, when it burst forth to power her manic attacks. This failure of rapprochement presumably deflated Virginia, and resulted in a basic mood of depression already apparent in the nursery. Virginia also experienced a second basic mood, elation, which appears to have been characteristic of her even in well periods, and resembles the description of the typical manic victim given by Beck.
Leslie Stephen, the father of Virginia Woolf, was a cacophony of contradictions. From all accounts, he was a bully, a manipulator, and a blustering, pessimistic, emotionally dishonest man. Although he could be lovable, charming, whimsical, encouraging, and deeply devoted to his family, he subjugated the adult women in his household and at least one son to exploitation and abuse, demanding (and receiving from his wife and step-daughter) almost total abnegation of self. Julia Stephen, in contrast, was an optimistic, seemingly selfless person, who characteristically presented herself in an "up" mood to the world. Virginia incorporated both parental moods into her character structure, as have a number of the author's cyclothymic patients. Therefore, it is postulated that pessimism and habitual deflating affronts on the part of one parent, in combination with a compulsive "good mood" on the part of the second parent, are a particularly lethal combination of character traits, which in their offspring may contribute to the rapid mood shifting characteristic of manic depression. In contrast to Julie, Stephen was a presence who could not be side-stepped. This combination of sweet and monstrous attributes in her father's nature, and again in the contrasting temperaments of the parental couple, must have been impossible to integrate for the small Virginia, who already was desperately engaged in the struggle for selfhood. She could not complete her development on the oedipal level, although she loved her father dearly, because identification with her mother meant further threat to an identity already weakened at the separation-individuation phase of development. Virginia's solution was to identify with her father in his character, his sexual identity, and his profession. Stephen, who was particularly devoted to Virginia, whom he regarded as an extension of himself, encouraged this identification, and served as her teacher and mentor. In that sense, he truly was the captain of the ship in her voyage To the Lighthouse, master of the currents that swept her onward to the grand light of her genius. A four-fold comparison of Virginia Woolf and Leslie Stephen is made concerning their respective ages of weaning, success in navigating both the rapproachment phase of separation-individuation and the oedipal period, and the ages at which their mothers died. It appears that Virginia lost her mother at those four critical periods when Leslie did not.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
In a concluding session, David Knight (University of Durham) took the title '"One great slaughter-house the warring world"--living in revolutionary times'. He pointed out that Darwinian thought had to contend with three revolutions. First, the political revolutions of 1776 and 1789, leading to the terror of the 1790s that washed over the English Midlands leaving Priesley's house burnt and Priestley himself exiled to America. Second, the scientific revolution, which valued exact knowledge and specialism rather than wide syntheses. Third, the Romantic revolution which emphasized the tragic rather than the cheerful optimism of Darwin's heroic couplets. For all these reasons Darwin's influence waned. However, Knight finished on an optimistic note that echoed King-Hele's opening address, saying that in our own times, as suspicion of experts grows, and some, at least, see science as a liberating force, Darwin's fame may recover. Negotiations are in process for the publication of the proceedings under the title 'The genius of Erasmus Darwin: proceedings of a bicentennial conference', and a website has been constructed that contains details of all speakers (http://www.bham.ac.uk/erasmusdarwin/).
How much of your day is absorbed with solving problems, implementing changes, overcoming challenges, and finding new ways to do more with less? The majority of each day? If this sounds like you, then read on. Below are instructions for you to become a genius by learning to use your brain better.
Huarte de San Juan's Examen de ingenios (Examination of men's wits) of 1575 is one of the most significant Spanish contributions to Renaissance thought. The treatise reached an enormous popularity in Europe during the 16th and the 17th century as demonstrated by numerous translations in Italian, French, Portuguese, English, German or Dutch. However, it is barely known in modern times. Huart's doctrine illustrates the Renaissance attempt to restore the purity of ancient medicine, while proposing a "scientific" basis for the project of a systematic professional orientation. By means of the ancient theory of humours and that of the philosophical reflection on the genius, Huarte articulates a new pattern for the intellectual ability, seen as highly individual, but also deeply rooted in the biological nature of the human being The intellectual fecundity is explained by recourse to humoural physiology with a special focus on the traditional image of the melancholic temperament, redefined in the spirit of the pre-modern anthropology of the variety.
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