Chance or Vitalism?

Molecular “Vitalism”

ate on very different principles. Even the simple signal-response of an allosteric enzyme is not machine-like Berkeley, California 94720 when examined in detail. Allosteric proteins have intrin-sically active and inactive conformations, which exist in some ratio in the absence of an external signal (Monod In the early nineteenth century, views on the nature of et al., 1965; Henry et al., 1997)....

The Nature of Moral Vitalism

Moral vitalism refers to a tendency to view good and evil as actual forces that can influence people and events. We introduce a scale designed to assess the belief in moral vitalism. High scorers on the scale endorse items such as “There are underlying forces of good and evil in this world.” After establishing the reliability and criterion validity of the scale (Studies 1, 2a, and 2b), we exami...

Subclinical Hypothyroidism or Thyroid Autoimmunity and Variant Angina: By Chance? or with a Chance?

Proper functioning of thyroid is of importance due to its effects on the cardiovascular system. Furthermore, the relationship between hyperthyroidism and coronary vasospasm is well-known and has been continuously reported since the first description in a case report in 1979. The most important treatment of thyroid disease is the control of thyrotoxicosis and the majority of cases showed excelle...

On the Vitality of Vitalism

MANY OF those who share an interest in the life sciences today, perhaps most, would agree with the claim that vitalism is obsolete. Some prominent biologists now use ‘vitalism’ as a derogatory label associated with lack of intellectual rigour, anti-scientific attitudes, and superstition (see, e.g., Dawkins, 1988). Other scientific commentators treat the term more seriously, but equally arrive a...

Conjugal Parkinson's disease - Real or chance?