GDF15 Induces Anorexia through Nausea and Emesis

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The Harm of Bioethics: A Critique of Singer and Callahan on Obesity

Debate concerning the social impact of obesity has been ongoing since at least the 1980s. Bioethicists, however, have been relatively silent. If obesity is addressed it tends to be in the context of resource allocation or clinical procedures such as bariatric surgery. However, prominent bioethicists Peter Singer and Dan Callahan have recently entered the obesity debate to argue that obesity is not simply a clinical or personal issue but an ethical issue with social and political consequences. This article critically examines two problematic aspects of Singer and Callahan's respective approaches. First, there is an uncritical assumption that individuals are autonomous agents responsible for health‐related effects associated with food choices. In their view, individuals are obese because they choose certain foods or refrain from physical activity. However, this view alone does not justify intervention. Both Singer and Callahan recognize that individuals are free to make foolish choices so long as they do not harm others. It is at this point that the second problematic aspect arises. To interfere legitimately in the liberty of individuals, they invoke the harm principle. I contend, however, that in making this move both Singer and Callahan rely on superficial readings of public health research to amplify the harm caused by obese individuals and ignore pertinent epidemiological research on the social determinants of obesity. I argue that the mobilization of the harm principle and corresponding focus on individual behaviours without careful consideration of the empirical research is itself a form of harm that needs to be taken seriously.     

Hepatic DNAJB9 Drives Anabolic Biasing to Reduce Steatosis and Obesity

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Sensory Neurons Contacting the Cerebrospinal Fluid Require the Reissner Fiber to Detect Spinal Curvature In Vivo

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Ultrastruttura della cellula apicale di Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau (Phaeophyceae,Sphacelariales)

Abstract

Ultrastructure of the apical cell of Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau (Phaeophyceae, Sphacelariales). - The ultrastructure of resting apical cells of Halopteris scoparia (L.) Sauvageau from material collected in December is described. The cytoplasm is higly vacuolated with lipids, poliphenolic substances and polisaccharides occurring inside the vacuoles (the classic « physodes »).

Two cell organelles are prominently active at this stage: conspicuosly hypertrophic dictyosomes and the budding endoplasmic reticulum. Both light and electron microscope observations show that the cell wall has an outer stratification and inner discontinuous thickenings, the constituent material of which is uniformerly dispersed.

The above observations point out that the apical cell of Halopteris scoparia at this stage of its life cycle is engaged in an elaboration of vacuolar and parietal substances which will be therefore readly available at the outset of the growing season.