This week in a short respite after a doozy of exams

The severity of a neoplasm is partly determined by it's characteristics in differentiation - a general rule, though not always applicable to all tumors that develop, is that the more well-differentiated a neoplastic tissue is, the less likely it will progress to a state of malignancy. A tumor can be either well-differentiated, and hence shows characteristics of a terminally differentiated cell, such as smooth muscle, skin, etc., or poorly differentiated. This lack of differentiation is given a name - anaplasia.

The Greek roots are "ana" (ἀνά), meaning "ascent" and "plasis" (πλάσις), meaning "formation." So, in a direct translation, anaplasia ought to mean "a formation which proceeds in an ascending fashion." The direct translation is quite close to its true medical definition, which is an undifferentiated growth, or a growth which progressed backwards, back up its developmental tree towards some anomaly that only Nature herself can explain. Many genetic and molecular cogs play a role in the entire anaplastic machine, but I won't dwell on that here.

I recognized the word anaplasia not through a brief read of Robbins' Pathology, but from my days as an ROTC cadet. One of the classes I took as a recommendation at BU was "Warfare in Antiquity." One of the books assigned for the course was "Anabasis Alexandri", by the Greek-born, Latin writer and historian Arrian. The title can be interpreted as "the walking up of Alexander", but its true contents depicts the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Asia. It was titled "Anabasis" because it was a "walking away or up" from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and inland towards Central Asia and India.

Aside from the various descriptions of battles, cultures, and schemes of Alexander, one of the most striking was the mic-drop he gave to Darius after defeating him at the famously accounted, Hollywood dramatized, Battle of Gaugamela, with the routing of the Persian army and Darius fleeing the field. Of course, no Hollywood production can equate to the portrayal of the protagonist's personality and wit as well as the written work:

"Your ancestors invaded Macedonia and Greece and caused havoc in our country, though we had done nothing to provoke them. As supreme commander of all Greece I invaded Asia because I wished to punish Persia for this act – an act which must be laid wholly to your charge. You sent aid to the people of Perinthus in their rebellion against my father; Ochus sent an army into Thrace, which was a part of our dominions; my father was killed by assassins whom, as you openly boasted in your letters, you yourselves hired to commit the crime; having murdered Arses with Bagoas’ help, you unjustly and illegally seized the throne, thereby committing a crime against your country; you sent the Greeks false information about me in the hope of making them my enemies; you attempted to supply the Greeks with money – which only the Lacedaemonians were willing to accept; your agents corrupted my friends and tried to wreck the peace which I had established in Greece – then it was that I took the field against you; but it was you who began the quarrel. First I defeated in battle your generals and satraps; now I have defeated yourself and the army you led. By God’s help I am master of your country, and I have made myself responsible for the survivors of your army who fled to me for refuge: far from being detained by force, they are serving of their own free will under my command.

Come to me, therefore, as you would come to the lord of the continent of Asia. Should you fear to suffer any indignity at my hands, then send some of your friends and I will give them the proper guarantees. Come, then, and ask me for your mother, your wife, and your children and anything else you please; for you shall have them, and whatever besides you can persuade me to give you.

And in the future let any communication you wish to make with me be addressed to the King of all Asia. Do not write to me as to an equal. Everything you possess is now mine; so, if you should want anything, let me know in the proper terms, or I shall take steps to deal with you as a criminal. If, on the other hand, you wish to dispute your throne, stand and fight for it and do not run away. Wherever you may hide yourself, be sure I shall seek you out." -- Anabasis Alexandri Book 2.

This week in exam cram galore

This will be short, as I have way too much to study.

http://youtu.be/nuja52KosN4

Back in philosophy class (I almost typed physiology instead of philosophy), we discussed Socrates' "Euthyphro" and his debate with Euthyphro about piety. The scene is Socrates bumping into Euthyphro in the center of town; Euthyphro is going to report on his father for terribly mistreating a slave, causing the death of a human being. Though noble, Socrates pursues Euthyphro's reasoning for going against his father and whether reporting is truly justified. In the debate, Socrates famously asks the question, and present's Euthyphro with a dilemna - "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by the gods (10a)?" In other words, is what is morally good commanded by Divinity because it is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by Divinity? Is there a moral good, which exists a priori to Divinity, or does Divinity dictate what is morally good?

I'm not here to answer this question, as this bit of ancient Greek philosophy is so ahead of its time, it is almost anachronistically so: Immanuel Kant is the next philosopher that truly tackles this concept in the late 18th century, almost two millenia after it was first inquired.

Rather, I'd like to draw attention to some linguistic feature of Euthyphro's dilemna. In Greek, the phrase "the pious" is written as τὸ ὅσιον, or in phonetic Latin, tò hosia. This is interesting, as it shows a great connection between the ancient, Hellenistic culture and our modern culture. The extent of the influence of the Greeks after the reign of Alexander the Great is incredible - so vastly did he spread Greek culture that the New Testament of the bible was written in Greek.

And this is where we have our modern Christian phrase of "Hosanna in the highest". "To hosia" was a biblical phrase (biblical in the sense that it was religious) whose Greek roots were not influenced in any way throughout the history of cultures. The Latin word for piety is pietas, but you don't hear Sunday services exclaiming "Pietas in the highest!"

And in music, we see the Hellenistic influence on sacred works, such as Bach's "Osanna in Excelsis," translated "Hosanna in the highest."

So, when studying the plasmin-bradykinin-coagulation love triangle this week, ask yourself - "Is inflammation occurring in the body because it is inflamed? Or is the body inflamed because the body makes it so?"

Thus far, I have not read any ancient Greek scripts that would indicate, either or - I shall name it the De La Garza dilemna