Yoon Choi

Philosophical inquiry that delves into the intriguing connections between media technology and leisure may assist us in understanding how we might consider the goodness of using media technology for leisure. Specifically, philosophical discourses of Aristotle and Heidegger can be used to help identify and clarify the roles of media technology and leisure. Therefore, in this paper, we provide a philosophical examination of connections between media technology and leisure by exploring perspectives and linkages of writings by Aristotle [2004. The Nicomachean ethics. Translated and edited by J. A. K. Thompson. New York: Penguin Group] and Heidegger [1977. The Question Concerning Technology. Translated and edited by W. Lovitt. New York: Harper & Row]. We use the writings of these philosophers to organize and describe recent research focusing on media technology and leisure experiences. The relationship between media technology and leisure is complex and multifaceted and it seems that this relationship is reciprocal, in that media technology influences leisure expression and, simultaneously, leisure experiences shape the use of media technology.

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 includes provisions to deny reunification services under specified conditions and gives states latitude to develop any number of additional "aggravated circumstances" in which parents need not be offered services. California legislators have developed a relatively large number of conditions enabling agencies to bypass reunification services. Based upon a case record review involving 55 parents, this study attempts to identify the proportion of parents eligible for a reunification bypass, the proportion recommended to the courts, and the proportion of parents who were denied reunification services, and examines the characteristics of parents associated with reunification bypass recommendations. Based upon focus groups and interviews with child welfare and judicial personnel in six counties, the study also examines the implementation of reunification bypass provisions. Implications for public policy and practice are provided.

Human mesenchymal stem cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation have all been linked to extracellular matrix stiffness, yet the signaling pathway that are necessary for mechanotransduction remain unproven. Vinculin has been implicated as a mechanosen-sor in vitro, but here we demonstrate its ability to also regulate stem cell behavior, including hMSC differentiation. RNA interference-mediated vinculin knockdown significantly decreased stiffness-induced MyoD, a muscle transcription factor, but not Runx2, an osteoblast transcription factor, and impaired stiffness-mediated migration. A kinase binding accessibility screen predicted a cryptic MAPK1 signaling site in vinculin which could regulate these behaviors. Indeed, reintroduction of vinculin domains into knocked down cells indicated that MAPK1 binding site-containing vinculin constructs were necessary for hMSC expression of MyoD. Vinculin knockdown does not appear to interfere with focal adhesion assembly, significantly alter adhesive properties, or diminish cell traction force generation, indicating that its knockdown only adversely affected MAPK1 signaling. These data provide some of the first evidence that a force-sensitive adhesion protein can regulate stem cell fate. ©C AlphaMed Press.

This chapter explores what Kant means by “life”, the “feeling of life”, the “feeling of the promotion of life”, and related notions, such as the idea of a “vital power”, through the contrast between Kant’s account of the beautiful and his account of the sublime. We argue that it is significant that Kant characterizes the feeling of the beautiful as a feeling of the promotion of life but the feeling of the sublime in terms of vital powers. We account for this difference by showing that in experiences of beauty, we are aware of ourselves as rational but embodied human beings, as part of nature. In the feeling of the sublime, by contrast, we are aware of ourselves as pure rational beings. This entails that in the beautiful, we experience nature as deeply life-promoting, while in the sublime, we experience the independence of our supersensible vocation from nature.