GOD AND THE UNCONSCIOUS

ABSTRACT This paper summarizes the author's recent book, The Symmetry of God . It proposes that the concepts of God in the Christian tradition and of the Unconscious in Freudian theory have much in common. In particular, the mystics may be seen as explorers of the Unconscious and religious narrative as revelation of the Unconscious into Consciousness. Matte Blanco's theory about the logic of the Unconscious is used to support this. Theology has often turned to philosophy for 'models' of God and using the Unconscious as such opens discussion between spiritual and psychological understandings of humanity. While the traditional Christian language is retained, it is given a less objective feel than is customary, and religious truth is sharply distinguished from factual or empirical truth. This may make the language of faith more accessible to those who find literal interpretations incredible.     

MATTE BLANCO AND THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL REALM OF THE UNCONSCIOUS

The author offers an introduction to the work and thinking of the Chilean psychoanalyst, Ignacio Matte Blanco (1908–1995), which can be understood as the exploration of the logical properties inherent in Freud's five characteristics of the unconscious ( Freud, 1915 ). One consequence of these properties is that unconscious phenomena behave as if they occupy dimensions that are greater than those of conscious phenomena. These are the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. The unconscious has to be ‘unfolded’ or ‘translated’ out of this higher number of dimensions into those available for conscious representation and thought. This characteristic, together with the fact that the individual is lost in the unconscious, makes the experience terrifying and bewildering. In addition, Matte Blanco shows that the logical properties of the unconscious and those of emotion are indistinguishable, suggesting an equation between the two. Material from a patient's analysis is offered to illustrate this phenomenology and the clinical application of Matte Blanco's thinking.     

THE DREAM OF PERFECTION

abstract Psychoanalytic thinking is suspicious of the notion of perfection, whereas Christian (and other religious) thinking allows an important place to it. Is psychoanalytic hostility justified, or is it part of the depressive mind‐set which even some insiders have attributed to the analytic perspective? With help from George Bernard Shaw and Robert Browning, this paper explores the reasons for therapeutic suspicion, but also considers Jesus’ teaching about perfection. Following leads offered by Matte Blanco, Jung and others, it argues for the spiritual and therapeutic value of making space for a dream of perfection – but it also highlights the murderous consequences of allowing the dream to become concretized.     

PASSION AND SIMILARITY: THE CLINICAL APPLICATION OF MATTE BLANCO'S IDEAS

I will focus on Matte Blanco's hypothesis of emotion and the unconscious as being substantially the same. This concept allows us to apply the same instruments to understanding emotional reactions as we use with manifestations of the unconscious, such as dreams and symptoms. The tendency towards undifferentiation in the deepest strata of the mind is capable of mobilizing dramatic experiences of inappropriate amplification of the concept of identity. When a simple relation of similarity is translated into equivalence, a symmetrization arises and different people or situations on a basis of a single common characteristic are treated as if identical and interchangeable. In my clinical example, Franco had a panic attack with florid somatic symptoms on the same day he felt that Sara, a woman in whom he had become interested, was attracted to someone else. The intensity of feelings had grown exponentially from the moment the suspicion had arisen that he might have to ‘share her with another’. The infinite quality of his emotion suggested that his jealousy had constructed Sara as part of a broader class of women whom, for whatever reason, he felt to be indispensable to his survival. Only the understanding of this propositional function, through the decrease of the incandescence of emotions, allowed Sara, considered as a class, to be seen as an individual person.     

FGF受体在皮瓣移植中的分布变化

目的　研究皮瓣移植前后FGF受体分布特点及外源性bFGF对受体分布的影响。　方法　选择健康Wistar大鼠背部两侧随意皮瓣 (2cm× 1 5cm)模型 ,于原位缝合后即刻在皮瓣下注入bFGF ,应用SP免疫组织化学染色。　结果　大鼠皮瓣表皮基底层细胞 ,真皮层、皮下组织和深筋膜中的血管内皮细胞 ,成纤维细胞及毛囊、汗腺的上皮细胞都有FGF受体表达。FGF受体免疫反应阳性细胞数在皮瓣移植术后 1～ 5d逐渐增加 ,第 5d达高峰 ,第7d恢复到术前水平。加入外源性bFGF后与对照组相比实验组FGF受体免疫反应阳性细胞数在术后 1～ 3d都有明显增加 ,术后第 3d达高峰 ,高峰期比对照组提前 2d ,峰值也比对照组显著增高。　结论　大鼠皮瓣各层组织细胞中都存在FGF受体。FGF受体免疫反应阳性细胞数在术后 1～ 5d逐渐增加 ,第 5d达高峰。加入外源性bFGF后可使FGF受体增加。     

国人女性乳房内侧部的动脉

本文观察了50例女性乳房内侧部的动脉,标本血管内注入有色乳胶液,在肉眼及手术显微镜下解剖观察。胸廓内动脉的Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ穿支为动脉主要来源。动脉分5型,2支型最多(54%)。分布到乳腺的穿支为肌皮腺型血管,其基本形具有4个方向的分支:主支向乳头;另1支向腋下;第3支向胸骨;第4支向锁骨。血管径以第Ⅱ穿支最大(0.92 mm),其次是第Ⅰ和第Ⅲ穿支。分布面积以第Ⅱ穿支最广(6,265.50 mm~2),其次是第Ⅲ和第Ⅰ穿支。第Ⅰ穿支跨4肋者占52%;第Ⅱ穿支跨4肋者占43%;以下各支逐渐减少。乳房内侧部的动脉与乳房外侧部的动脉分支吻合数最多(48%)。     

大白鼠下丘脑促肾上腺皮质激素(ACTH)样免疫反应神经元的分布及功能意义

本文应用免疫细胞化学技术观察大白鼠下丘脑促肾上腺皮质激素样神经元胞体,纤维及串珠样膨体的分布。胞体位于弓状核、下丘脑前核的腹侧、视上背侧连合、室周层的腹侧区及乳头体核腹侧。纤维及串珠样膨体广泛地分布于下丘脑,串珠样膨体在室旁核和室周层密集。串珠样膨体贴室管膜分布,伸至室管膜下神经毯,有的穿行室管膜上皮细胞之间并多与室管膜上皮细胞接触或穿过室管膜上皮细胞之间至第三脑室腔。在第三脑室侧壁的室管膜上皮细胞之间偶见促肾上腺皮质激素反应细胞。室旁核区促肾上腺皮质激素免疫反应串珠样膨体可能作用于催产素和后叶加压素神经元,控制催产素和后叶加压素的分泌和释放。室周层的串珠样膨体直接与脑脊液接触可认为是促肾上腺皮质激素神经元释放分泌产物的另一途径。     

Nitric oxide-containing pyramidal neurons of the subiculum innervate the CA1 area

Neurons and axon terminals containing neuron-specific nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) were examined in the rat subiculum and CA1 area of Ammon's horn. In the subiculum, a large subpopulation of the pyramidal neurons and non-pyramidal cells are immunoreactive for nNOS, whereas in the neighbouring CA1 area of Ammon's horn only non-pyramidal neurons are labelled with the antibody against nNOS. In the pyramidal layer of the subiculum, nNOS-positive axon terminals form both asymmetric and symmetric synapses. In the adjacent CA1 area the nNOS-positive terminals that form symmetric synapses are found in all layers, whereas those terminals that form asymmetric synapses are only in strata radiatum and oriens, but not in stratum lacunosum-moleculare. In both the subiculum and CA1 area, labelled terminals make symmetric synapses only on dendritic shafts, whereas asymmetric synapses are exclusively on dendritic spines. Previous observations demonstrated that all nNOS-positive non-pyramidal cells are GABAergic local circuit neurons, which form exclusively symmetric synapses. We suggest that nNOS-immunoreactive pyramidal cells of the subiculum may innervate neighbouring subicular pyramidal cells and, to a smaller extent, pyramidal cells of the adjacent CA1 area, forming a backward projection between the subicular and hippocampal principal neurons. Electronic Publication     

GABAergic neurons containing somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the rat hippocampus and dentate gyrus

Summary The distribution of somatostatin-like immunoreactive (SS-LI) material and its colocalization with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)-like immunoreactivity were studied in the rat hippocampus and dentate gyrus neurons using immunohistochemistry. In the dentate gyrus and CA1 region, SS-LI perikarya were concentrated in the hilus and in the stratum oriens, respectively, whereas immunoreactive cell bodies were rarely seen in other layers. Approximately half of the SS-LI neurons of the CA3 region were situated in the stratum oriens, the other half being scattered in strata pyramidale, lucidum and radiatum. About 90% of SS-LI neurons were also GAD-like immunoreactive, whereas about 14% of GAD-like immunoreactive (GAD-LI) neurons were SS-like immunoreactive. The percentage of GAD-LI neurons which were also immunoreactive for SS varied from one layer to the other. This percentage was about 30% in the hilus of the dentate gyrus and in the stratum oriens of the CA1 and CA3 regions; it was 5–10% in the strata pyramidale, lucidum and radiatum of the CA3 region and reached only 2% in the granule cell layer and molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and in the stratum pyramidale and stratum radiatum in the CA1 region. These observations indicate that the majority of SS-LI neurons in the rat hippocampal formation are a subpopulation of GABAergic neurons.     

Insecure attachment representations and child personal narrative structure: implications for delayed discourse in preschool-age children

The internal working model of attachment has been assessed through attachment interviews and story-stems that exhibit differentiated patterns in adult and child narratives. This study examined variation in length and structure of children’s independent personal narratives by attachment representations, discriminating between insecure-avoidant and insecure-ambivalent, and we tested attachment insecurity as a predictor of developmental delay in narrative discourse. Sixty-five preschool-age children completed the Attachment Story Completion Task-Revised and recalled three recent past events. Secure children told longer personal narratives than both avoidant and ambivalent children, and secure children’s narrative structure was more coherent than that of ambivalent children but not avoidant children. Likewise, the two insecure categories differentially predicted delayed discourse. Ambivalent children were 10 times more likely to exhibit delayed discourse than secure children, whereas avoidant children were not at significantly greater risk. Differential developmental outcomes of avoidant and ambivalent children are discussed and conclusions are drawn about the role of child attachment in storing, accessing and communicating memories about everyday lived experiences.     

大鼠纹状体边缘区的突触特征

本文在电镜下对大鼠纹状体边缘区的突触特征进行了研究。边缘区中可见四种类型的突触:轴—体,轴—树,轴棘及轴—轴。在胞体、树突或树突棘上均可见有对称性及非对称性突触。多数对称性突触含有多形性小泡,而非对称性突触主要含圆形小泡。我们还在边缘区中首次观察到少量轴—轴—棘突触。边缘区中这些突触特征和纹状体其余部位有区别。     

Cost-effectiveness of asthma control: an economic appraisal of the GOAL study

BACKGROUND: The Gaining Optimal Asthma ControL (GOAL) study has shown the superiority of a combination of salmeterol/fluticasone propionate (SFC) compared with fluticasone propionate alone (FP) in terms of improving guideline defined asthma control. METHODS: Clinical and economic data were taken from the GOAL study, supplemented with data on health related quality of life, in order to estimate the cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) results for each of three strata (previously corticosteroid-free, low- and moderate-dose corticosteroid users). A series of statistical models of trial outcomes was used to construct cost effectiveness estimates across the strata of the multinational GOAL study including adjustment to the UK experience. Uncertainty was handled using the non-parametric bootstrap. Cost-effectiveness was compared with other treatments for chronic conditions. RESULT: Salmeterol/fluticasone propionate improved the proportion of patients achieving totally and well-controlled weeks resulting in a similar QALY gain across the three strata of GOAL. Additional costs of treatment were greatest in stratum 1 and least in stratum 3, with some of the costs offset by reduced health care resource use. Cost-effectiveness by stratum was 7600 pound (95% CI: 4800-10,700 pound) per QALY gained for stratum 3; 11,000 pound (8600-14,600 pound) per QALY gained for stratum 2; and 13,700 pound (11,000-18,300 pound) per QALY gained for stratum 1. CONCLUSION: The GOAL study previously demonstrated the improvement in total control associated with the use of SFC compared with FP alone. This study suggests that this improvement in control is associated with cost-per-QALY figures that compare favourably with other uses of scarce health care resources.     

跖骨的动脉分布

通过动脉灌注研究了９０侧不同年龄（婴儿至８７岁）尸体跖骨的血液供应。分布于跖骨的动脉来自滋养动脉、骨膜动脉、骺－干骺动脉和假骺动脉。滋养动脉的近、远侧支供应皮质的内２／３￣３／４；骨膜动脉发出少量小支进入骨皮质，供应皮质的外１／３￣１／４；骺－干骺动脉呈轮辐状发自续于跖骨干的骨膜动脉浅丛，供应第１跖骨底和第２￣５跖骨头；假骺动脉从骺－干骺动脉发出后，穿过非关节面区，供应第２￣５跖骨底和第１跖骨头。     

Differential cortical laminar structure revealed by NeuN immunostaining and myeloarchitecture between sulcal and gyral regions independent of sexual dimorphisms in the ferret cerebrum

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively clarify differences in laminar structure and myeloarchitecture of sulcal and gyral regions of the cerebral cortex of ferrets. Histological sections of cerebrum from male and female ferrets at postnatal day 90 were made at the coronal plane, and were immunostained with anti‐NeuN or anti‐myelin basic protein (MBP). Thickness was estimated in the entire depth or three strata, that is, layer I, outer (layers II–III) and inner (layers IV–VI) strata of the neocortex in representative five sulcal and seven gyral regions. As with the entire cortical depth, outer and inner strata were significantly thinner in the sulcal bottoms than in the gyral crowns, whereas layer I had about twofold greater thickness in the sulcal bottoms. However, thicknesses of the entire cortical depth and each cortical stratum were not statistically different among five sulcal regions or seven gyral regions examined. By MBP immunostaining, myelin fibers ran tangentially through the superficial regions of layer I in gyral crowns. Those fibers were relatively denser in gyri of frontal and temporal regions, and relatively sparse in gyri of parietal and occipital regions, although their density in any gyri was not different between sexes. These results show a differential laminar structure and myeloarchitecture between the sulcal and gyral regions of the ferret cerebral cortex present in both sexes. Myelination of layer I tangential fibers varied among primary gyri and was weaker in phylogenetically higher‐order cortical gyri. Anat Rec, 299:1003–1011, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

贵州仡佬族趾毛的分布

本文调查了贵州省道真县仡佬族20－60岁之间的农民共205人（男99，女106）趾毛的分布，结果发现：大部分人近侧趾节有趾毛，中间趾节除发现4例男性有趾毛外，其余均没有。近侧趾节的趾毛分布规律依次为1＞2＞3＞4＞5趾，两性间近侧趾节趾毛的出现男性显著性地大于女性（P＜0．05）。     

人胎海马结构小白蛋白免疫反应神经元的分布与发育

了解人类海马结构神经元的发育。方法用免疫组织化学方法观察了１６－３８周人胎海马结构内小白蛋白免疫反应性神经元的分布和发育。结果ＰＶ－１Ｒ神经元最见于２３周海马结构内,主要位于下托和ＣＡ１区的锥体细胞层和多形层,以下托为主。     

FOCAL ATROPHY OF THE SEMINIFEROUS TUBULE IN THE HUMAN TESTIS

Three types of focal atrophy of the seminiferous tubule, A, B and A+B type, were recognized in the 250 testes obtained from human subjects who died of acute death. The A-type consists of complete hyalinized scarring of the tubule and the B-type of varing degrees of tubular collapse. The A+B type shows combined atrophy of A and B-type in which B-type occurs peripherally to A-type occlusion in sequence and might be induced by local obstruction of luminal flow. Focal tubulitis is uncommon but has been observed in the A+B type atrophy which is characterized by sperm retention and the presence of sperm-phagocytic macrophages in the lumen. Areas around the rete testis and periseptal zones of the testis are preferential sites for tubular atrophy. B-type atrophy as an abortive form of A-type is predominant in the younger groups of the second to third decades, and the incidence of A-type increases after the fifth decade. It is suggested that A and B-type are brought about by locally limited ischemia in relation to circulatory disturbance with arteriolar hyalinosis which commonly appears focally in the postpuberal testis.     

Hepatitis D in Yaounde, Cameroon

Although 10% of the Yaounde population are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive, nothing is known about hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection in them. Sera from 110 HBsAg subjects were tested for HDV infection (antibody and antigen). The subjects were 43 pregnant women, 23 prostitutes, 20 patients with febrile jaundice, 16 multitransfused sickle cell children and 8 medical students. Thirty of the 110 (27.3%) had antibodies to the HDV (HDV-Ab). Two of 91 tested for HDV antigen (2.2%) were positive. The highest HDV-Ab prevalence (62.5%) was obtained from sickle cell children (10/16). Thus, HDV infection was found in about one fifth to one third of the HBsAg-positive subjects we studied and the main route of transmission appears to be by blood transfusion.     

THE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICO‐RELIGIOUS NARRATIVES: STEPS TOWARD INTERVENTION PROMOTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY

“Without an understanding of religion in American life, an understanding of community in American life remains incomplete” (Pargament & Maton, 2000, p. 515). In America, however, religion intertwines with politics, often creating ideological controversy and political deadlock. We investigated one of the underlying contributors to America's current ideological controversy, namely, values as manifest in the politico‐religious narratives people construct to help give meaning to their lives. The first author spent several months as a participant‐observer in a rural southeastern community, intensely experiencing community life, and keeping extensive field notes. Semistructured in‐depth and group interviews, analyzed using grounded theory and supplemented by theoretical accounts of morality/religion and politics, provided data for developing a theoretical model of narrative construction. We found (a) beliefs, (b) moral and religious values, and (c) emotional sentiments to be the major politico‐religious narrative elements and discussed implications for community psychology intervention in pursuit of human development and community.     

PRIMARY CARCINOID TUMOR OF THE LARYNX AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Primary carcinoid tumor of the larynx is very rare. This is the fifth case reported in the literature and the first autopsy case of laryngeal carcinoid. The early manifestation of the present case was multiple metastasis to the skin. At autopsy there was a laryngeal tumor associated with widespread visceral and cutaneous metastases. The tumor proved to be carcinoid tumor by histological, histochemical and electron microscopic findings.