Global Climate Report. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov). July 2019.

It’s summer, and it is hot out there; but if it feels like record-breaking temperatures are becoming more common globally, they are. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and European Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that July 2019 was the hottest month across the globe ever measured since measurements began, in 1880. Global temperatures averaged 16.73°C in July, which is 0.95 °C higher than the 20th-century average of 15.78°C . Average Antarctic sea-ice coverage was 8.5% below the 1981-2010 average. And sea ice coverage was 10.5% below the overall average, which is based on records beginning in 1979. The scientists also released geographical data, showing that the regions where temperatures varied furthest from averages, were Alaska, Central Europe, Northern and Southwestern parts of Asia, and certain regions in Africa and Australia. These findings corroborate scientific predictions regarding the effects of man-made climate change. Human activities, primarily from burning fossil fuels, emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Increasing greenhouse gas emissions are associated with warmer global surface temperatures. The planet’s 10 hottest years on record have all fallen in the past two decades. Scientists and policymakers around the globe are also feeling this heat.

Unless significant measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions are adopted, scientists expect temperature records to keep falling. Scientists say global temperatures could increase by at least 3°C this century, which will create conditions on Earth that have not been seen in more than 2 million years. Given the notable trends in higher temperatures and natural disasters, we might be pushing the climate system toward states that we haven’t seen in our societal experience – and even in our species’ experience.

Manipulation of brain circuits using smartphone-controlled device

Qazi R et al. Wireless optofluidic brain probes for chronic neuropharmacology and photostimulation. Nature Biomedical Engineering, August 2019.

Scientists recently designed a device that can regulate brain circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone. This bluetooth-enabled device utilizes replaceable lego-like drug cartridges to target neurons with drugs and light. Existing methods to deliver drugs and light to the brain typically involve metal tubes and optical fibers. These tools are rigid and can substantially damage the brain’s soft tissue over time. Moreover, this bulky equipment often limits the patient’s movement because of the wired connections, making them unfit for long-term use. To achieve chronic remote-controlled drug delivery without exhaustion and evaporation of drugs, scientists invented a neural device with a replaceable drug cartridge, which could allow neuroscientists to study the same brain networks for several months without depleting the drug supply. These “plug-n-play” drug cartridges were integrated into a brain implant for mice with a soft and ultrathin probe (about the thickness of a human hair), which consisted of microfluidic channels and tiny LEDs (smaller than a grain of salt), for unlimited drug doses and light delivery. The implant is regulated via a smartphone, allowing researchers to trigger precise combinations and sequences of drug and light delivery. In animal models, these stimuli can be triggered with the target outside of the laboratory, allowing researchers to wirelessly instill changes in the animal’s brain while in its natural habitat. Using these neural devices, researchers are now able to perform fully automated animal studies where the behavior of one animal could positively or negatively affect behavior in other animals by conditional triggering of light and/or drug delivery. This device will allow researchers to better dissect the neural circuit basis of behavior and how specific neuromodulators in the brain tune behavior in various ways. In addition, the device can be utilized in complex pharmacological studies to develop potentially new therapeutics for pain, addiction, and emotional disorders.

The secret weapon of E.Coli 

Melson E. at al. The sRNA DicF integrates oxygen sensing to enhance enterohemorrhagic Escherichia colivirulence via distinctive RNA control mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2019.

Scientists have revealed how E. coli (Escherichia coli) bacteria seeks out the most oxygen-free parts of your colon to cause the worst infection possible. E. coli normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. Most varieties of E. coli are harmless or cause relatively brief diarrhea. But a few particularly nasty strains can cause cramps, diarrhea, vomiting – even kidney failure and death. Children are particularly at risk. A new study uncovers how this foodborne pathogen knows where and when to begin colonizing the colon on its way to making you sick. Bacterial pathogens typically colonize a specific tissue or organ in the host. Therefore, as part of their infection strategies, bacterial pathogens precisely time deployment of proteins and toxins to these specific colonization niches in the human host. This allows the pathogens to save energy and avoid detection by our immune systems and ultimately cause disease. The researchers in this study identified how E.Coli detects low oxygen levels in the large intestine and then produces proteins that allow it to attach to host cells and establish infection. Oxygen actually diffuses from the intestinal tissue into the gut, and there are comparably higher levels in the small intestine than the large. Remarkably, E. coli specifically waits until it has reached the-low oxygen large intestine before striking. E. coli controls this process via a small form of RNA that activates particular genes when oxygen levels are low. This is the point when the infection really gets established and the bacteria are able to begin to manufacture harmful Shiga toxins. The researchers predict that other bacterial pathogens, such as Shigella and Salmonella, likely utilize a similar control mechanism. Researchers suggest that if we can find a way to block oxygen sensing, we may be able to prevent the infection by allowing E. coli to pass harmlessly through the body.

Come and see them in their graves.

Only a large shirt is their share

And even those, without sleeves

Dignitaries they had been

With servants standing before them

Now come and see, you can’t tell,

The late masters from their men

Digestion in grain-eating birds

The digestive system of the chicken, which is a representative of the world of birds, is comprised of organs lined up in straight line succession: a beak, mouth, gullet, craw, front stomach (with gland), gizzard, small intestine, caecum, large intestine, cloacae and anus. In addition, enzymes secreted from the pancreas, liver and gallbladder also have digestive duties. Ending in a sharp point, the beak was created especially to be able to pick up single pieces of feed. Chickens do not have assisting organs like the palate, cheek, tongue or teeth that are normally found in the mouth, the first door of digestion in most animals. Ruminating animals like cows, sheep, goats and camels use the tongue instead of a beak for taking food into their mouths, and then their teeth are used to begin the breakdown of food. In chickens, however, this breakdown is initiated with the bottom and top beak. In ruminants there are taste buds in different shapes on the tip, sides and middle of their tongues which also function as the organ for the sense of taste. Since such taste buds are not found in chickens, there is also no perception of taste like that experienced in ruminating animals.

The structure and function of the gullet, or food pipe, has similar characteristics in chickens and other animals. However, just as in all birds that eat single seeds and grains, there is another digestive organ in chickens in the shape of a bag opposite to where the gullet expands. Called a craw, this tiny pouch is a place for the storage, wetting and softening of feed, and it serves the purpose of bringing food to the consistency needed for further digestion; consequently, it lightens the burden of the stomach (just like when we leave food that is difficult to cook, like chick peas or beans, standing in water overnight before we cook it).

A chicken’s stomach is composed of two different sections, the front stomach and the gizzard. The feed the chicken eats passes from the gullet and the craw to the front stomach, where digestive secretions are made. The food is stored here briefly and mixed with the special fluids of the stomach. Found in this secretion are both the pepsin enzyme, which starts the digestion of proteins, and hydrochloric acid, which is secreted to generate the pH level that makes this enzyme effective (and which also helps in the dissolution of minerals). These two important secretions are produced by different glands in the stomach. Like the craw, the gizzard, which comes after the front stomach, is the place where mechanical digestion, which is particular to all birds that eat grains, takes place. The gizzard is called the stomach with muscles because it is comprised of a pair of thick and strong muscle layers. As a result of these muscles constricting strongly, feed is broken down mechanically and ground up. While gathering feed, the chicken usually also swallows small pieces of sand, stone and limestone as if it knows how its digestive system works. Although many of us think that chickens swallow stones because they cannot distinguish them from feed, it is obvious that there is a purpose why they are doing it. If these stones, which are like “mill stones” for the digestive tract, are not found in the gizzard, the feed is not fully ground; consequently, it will pass to the small intestine in a form that will not be fully beneficial to the body.

Depending on its characteristics, the feed eaten can stay in the gizzard for a few minutes or several hours. The small intestine, which comes after the stomach, is comprised of the duodenum (twelve-finger intestine), the jejunum and the ileum. The small intestine is similar in grain-eating birds to those of other animals. The duodenum empties the secretions coming from the pancreas and the bile coming from the gall bladder. The digestion and absorption of the feed actually takes place in the small intestine due to these secretions. Final digestion and the absorption of carbohydrates and protein are effected by bacteria found at the point where the small intestine ends, in the 10-15 centimeter-long, V-shaped caecum.

The large intestine and the cloacae are found in the advanced sections of the digestive system. The role of the large intestine, which is twice as large in diameter as the small intestine, is to temporarily store the waste from the digested food and to maintain the balance of water in the body. The cloacae is a small orifice with a structure formed by the widening of the large intestine towards the anus and where the digestive, defecation and reproduction tracts open up.

While giving grain-eating birds the above mechanisms in order to nourish them, God equipped ruminating animals with different oral, dental, gastric and intestinal structures as well as different digestive strategies.

Digestion in ruminating mammals

While secreting saliva is essential for ruminating animals, it is not necessary for chickens because of differences in their digestive system. As a result of the secretion of saliva the fodder of ruminants is softened and dryness of mouth is prevented. Ptyalin (or alpha amylase), which is found in saliva, has antibacterial properties that protect animals from infections in addition to playing a role in digestion. The mother cows constantly licking their newborn calves is both an expression of compassion and also of wisdom in protecting the newborn from probable infections (Similarly, animals like dogs and cats licking their wounds and thus speeding up healing is no coincidence, but a sign of universal wisdom and mercy). This wisdom shows that saliva, of which cows secrete 90-180 liters and sheep 5-8 liters per day, is not a waste.

The stomachs of ruminants are comprised of four sections; the first three are the rumen, the reticulum and the omasum. These three sections are called the front stomach. The section that does the real work is called the abomasum. Because the nutritional value of grass is very low in comparison with meat, it is obvious that a large bodied ruminant will need a lot of grass. Consequently, the capacity of rumen being 150 liters is a wise and fitting design. In addition, the cellulase enzyme that digests the cellulose walls in plant cells is not produced in the tissues of any mammals. The possessor of infinite knowledge and power, God placed high concentrations of bacteria, protozoa, yeast and fungus-all of which can produce the cellulase enzyme needed to break down cellulose-in the rumen of ruminating mammals. The rumen acts as a fermentation factory because of these microorganisms. Breaking down the cellulose-rich food consumed by ruminants, these microorganisms both fulfill their own nutritional needs and help to meet the host’s energy, protein and vitamin (especially B12) needs within a symbiotic relationship. I wonder where the microorganisms in the rumen learned about this synthesis and assistance mechanisms!

What a magnificent engineering wonder is the “sulcus esophagus,” a semi-duct structure in the shape of a canoe that extends from the end of the food pipe in newborn ruminants to the abomasum where the essential stage of digestion takes place. Due to this structure, milk drunk reaches the last stage of the stomach without passing through the rumen, for there is no matter like cellulose in the content of milk that needs to be broken down. Consequently, there is no need for the milk to go to the rumen. If it were not like this, the milk would go directly to the rumen where it would be ruined by microorganisms, lose its nutritional quality and be like a bribe given in vain to the microorganisms in the rumen.

We remember Africa today with recent famines and drought, especially in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, worst in the last sixty years. If one is not watching only wild life documentaries, Africa is one large portion of the old world, home for diverse cultures, a continent rich with natural resources, and this last one has been the major reason why it has become a large battlefield for many centuries.

Nigeria is the most populous country of Africa (seventh in the world), with over 250 ethnicities, over 500 different languages spoken (one of the countries with highest linguistic diversity). Nevertheless, Nigeria has also been the stage for tribal warfare and strife, and bitter incidents of some recent bloodshed still linger in our memories. In this respect, the theme of the conference fits perfectly well in this country, where there are seventeen schools, a university, and a recently established dialogue foundation inspired by Fethullah Gülen.

What other forms of engagement can we offer other than education and dialogue for peaceful engagement? What can be a more lucrative investment for a peaceful future than the one made in education and dialogue? With awareness of this need and commitment to serving all humanity, regardless of race, color, religion, or nationality, growing numbers of volunteers of education and dialogue are establishing schools, hospitals, dialogue centers, and relief organizations all over the world. Humble but selfless efforts of these volunteers who are inspired from thinkers like Fethullah Gülen are now yielding fruits of dialogue in more than 130 countries where children of warring nations are educated side by side, members of different religions enjoy the same meal, and pray for a peaceful future.

The current issue of The Fountain offers essays reflecting this culture of coexistence. The lead article expounds on the unique qualities of being human, reminding us the “know thyself” principle of Socrates, for “the one who has perceived the secrets of his or her own self has also known God.”

“Different Approaches to Interpersonal Conflict” stresses on how vital it is to be familiar with “conflict-related behavioral tendencies” for it “might help in the development of strategies for interpersonal, intercultural conflict resolution or prevention.”

Also in this issue Dr. Kurucan explains Islam’s stance for issues like freedom of practicing and teaching one’s religion, and in what conditions Islam allows war, if it does, in cases of violation of this right.

For the sake of simplicity, the very complex – yet flawless – organization of a single cell can be portrayed as a city. Even in a very small city that has a relatively low population there are different establishments of various sizes and capabilities that work in concert. Likewise, in order to keep the cell alive the intracellular organelles and proteins of a cell complement each other’s functions. Even though the majority of cities may have the resources to supply themselves, they also need to import and export goods. In addition, some cities may have greater industrial, residential, or agricultural strengths, making it necessary for it to communicate and trade with neighboring towns to eliminate shortages. In a similar way, cells have to communicate with neighboring cells, and bring in new sustenance and get rid of waste at different stages in their life cycles. In this article we will focus on one of the key elements of the import mechanism that is used by living cells, endocytosis.

Endocytosis is the process by which cells take in substances from outside. Since living cells are surrounded by a membrane, the cargo molecules, which are too large to penetrate through the membrane, have to be internalized by different means; this can be classified as Cell eating (i.e. phagocytosis: the endocytosis of large solid materials), cell drinking (i.e. pinocytosis: the endocytosis of liquids in large amounts) and receptor mediated endocytosis (the internalization of molecules that have specific receptors on the cell membrane) (Figure 1). During the course of these events, the portion of the cell membrane that surrounds the cargo is also internalized. However, at the present time, very little is known about the mechanisms that cause the cell membrane to invaginate and eventually be pinched off during the onset of endocytosis. Here we will concentrate on receptor mediated endocytosis, which has been intriguing biologists for more than three decades now.

Receptor molecules, which are located on the outer surface of living cells, function like receiving docks for cells. These are sites where the membrane-encountering molecule is first engaged. The cargo molecules, which arrive at the receiving docks, are often known as ligands (Latin ligare = to bind). Ligand molecules are either secreted from a neighboring cell or come directly from the bloodstream and can bind to the specific receptor molecules on the cell surface. In most cases the ligand is either a signaling molecule, which transmits information to the cell from the extracellular milieu, or a nutritious substance that needs to be internalized via endocytosis.

Unlike other forms of endocytosis, receptor mediated endocytosis occurs in a very controlled way. First of all, the ligand determines whether endocytosis will occur or not. Basically, a ligand molecule that does not have a corresponding receptor on the cell membrane cannot interact with the cell and, as a result, will not be internalized. For instance, a certain virus, which can cause severe lesions in the mouths of horses, cannot infect human cells, as our cells do not have the receptors that link the virus to the cell membrane. Secondly, the ligand cell determines how much intake will take place. That is, cells can control the amount of receptors on their membranes and thus how much the ligands that are recognized by these receptors will be internalized. By acting in this way, cells can adapt to different conditions by controlling the rate of endocytosis through the receptor molecules. The third way of control is concerned with the size of the molecules that are to be internalized. As we will discuss below, receptor mediated endocytosis is performed via some scaffold proteins that form cages (i.e. coats) around the membrane. These cages are fairly small in size, and molecules that are larger than 100 nanometers (100 nanometer is one-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair) cannot fit into them nor enter the cells along this pathway.

The conformation of the plasma membrane changes substantially during endocytosis. Given that the cell membrane has a fluidic nature, it must be accompanied by a firmer construction in order to perform these structural modifications. In the case of receptor mediated endocytosis, this function is carried out by clathrin cages (or clathrin coats), which are formed adjacent to the membrane. The clathrin protein is a three-legged molecule which can freely diffuse inside the cell. However, when a ligand molecule binds to a receptor on the membrane then multiple clathrins aggregate into that region and polymerize into cages composed of pentagons and hexagons (Figure 2a). These cages surround the cell membrane, compelling it to engulf the cargo (ligand) by invagination. When the cargo is entirely enclosed by the membrane a scission protein seals off the enclosed cargo from the plasma membrane (Figure 2b). The completely internalized membrane pouch rapidly casts away its clathrin coat with a quick uncoating reaction. After this point, the membrane pouch, including the cargo, can be transported to the inner compartments of the cell. In living cells, this process takes a little less than a minute. Even though the lifetimes of the clathrin coats are not very long, scientists have found ways of ascertaining the detailed organization of these molecules.

One of the most intriguing findings about the clathrin scaffold (or coat) is its breathtaking geometry. X-ray crystallography studies showed that the cages formed by the polymerization of multiple clathrin proteins are composed of pentagons and hexagons (Figure 3a). It has been also shown that in the majority of the cases the three dimensional structures of the cages are very similar to a soccer ball, where 12 pentagons are accompanied by 20 hexagons in order to create a curve (Figure 3b). However this is not the only geometry that clathrin coats can have. Electron microscopy images taken on frozen cells reveal that clathrins can also form some large flat arrays on the membrane which look exactly like honeycombs. In this configuration the pentagons are missing and all the clathrins align in the hexagon geometry to preserve a flat surface (Figure 3c).

The function of the honeycomb-shaped flat clathrin arrays is still a mystery. All we know is that they are more durable than the cages. In other words, although they do not have definite sizes like cages, they last much longer. Some scientists believe that these structures might be functional in the internalization of huge cargo molecules, such as bacteria, however, these claims still need to be proved. More research is needed if scientists are to be able to better understand clathrin-based endocytosis. Nevertheless, the fact that a simple geometrical modification at the molecular level can alter the entire mechanism of a biological process is on its own a very fascinating discovery.

Hamdi Sener is a biophysicist living in Boston. He can be contacted at hamdisener@gmail.com.

Note

1. Even though bacteria are the smallest cells known, compared to the regular cargo molecules they are gigantic structures.

Figure 1. Taken from Wikipedia.org

Figure 2. A) A clathrin coat (or cage) formed by the polymerization of multiple three-legged clathrin molecules. A single clathrin molecule is shown died with cyan. Adapted from RCSB protein data bank website (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb). B) The different stages of receptor-mediated endocytosis. The entire process takes a little less than a minute.

Figure 3. Taken from Wikipedia.org

Dear Peter, in order for you to understand me better, keep in mind a basic principle about the functioning of living organisms-they all depend on energy use. If no energy enters a living system, then no metabolic activity, no life function can be carried out. Think about a car without fuel. No matter how great the car is, it simply won’t work without any fuel in the tank. The human body is no different. Plants and animal products which people consume as food provide the body with fuel. However, you cannot make use of the energy in nutrients in the form in which you take them in. They need to undergo a process so that they become usable fuel for us, like crude oil being refined into gasoline to make a car work. This is roughly what my duty is. Without my functioning, you would be devoid of the energy to move a finger, and eventually die. Do you understand now how important a set of pipes I am? You just think that I look like a soft and hollow canal and misjudge me as simple. Well, I know that I don’t have such complex parts as the heart, lungs, and kidneys, but I’m created as a perfect work of art in plain design.

Although the hoses you use for watering your garden wear out and break in a relatively short time, my walls made of four layers keep functioning through a lifetime without any holes unless I contract a disease like cancer. My outer layer consists of a durable connective tissue, the next one consists of two sets-one horizontally and one vertically laid-of straight muscles, the next layer under that consists of glands spread in a soft connective tissue, and the innermost layer is the epithelial mucosa where the actual absorption takes place.

Now, let’s come to how I achieve digestion, one of your body’s vital activities. Actually, there is no place for me to take any pride in it; I’m just doing as I am ordered. Anyway, the complex processes occurring within my simple-looking walls are just fascinating! Every one of my cells producing the particular enzymes to break up each nutrient is like a separate factory. Some of these enzymes break proteins into different levels of peptides, some break the peptides into amino acids, some break fats into fat acids and glycerin, whereas some break carbohydrates down into glucose. All of these particular enzymes have their sub-branches within themselves. For example the enzymes breaking down fructose (fruit sugar), lactose (milk sugar), and starch are all different. In order for the enzymes to be effective, my inside needs to have the right pH level; the enzymes work in very sensitive conditions. To give you an idea, the enzymes in the stomach-which happens to be the second station the nutrients are destined for before they come to me-work in an acidic environment (pH: 2.5–3). In my case however, basic fluids are secreted and this strong acidity is neutralized for my enzymes to work.

My overall length is around 8.5 meters from the first entrance at the stomach to the last exit. The small intestine is nearly 7 meters long and the remaining 1.5-meter section is the large intestine. Although the small intestine is the longest section of the digestive tract, it is still called small since it is smaller in diameter than the large intestine.

The small intestine is also divided into three sections. The very short (25–30cm) and relatively thicker part right after the stomach is the duodenum. Bile-which works like detergent and facilitates breaking up fats-produced by the liver and digestive enzymes from the pancreas enter the duodenum. Thus, the nutrients are digested one step further and pass on to the second section (jejunum) and then to the third (ileum). You cannot easily tell apart these final two sections. As blood circulation is more intense in the second section, this section is more reddish and the contractions here are faster and stronger. The third section is narrower and has thinner walls. The blood circulation here is relatively lower and the movements are more limited. The thin membrane of connective tissue (mesentery) around me which attaches me to the abdomen wall and prevents me from knotting up is relatively fatty in this third section.

My most vital parts are the villi-tiny nipples covering the curly surface of my inner wall like a carpet. Shaped like the fingers of a glove, villi yield an enormously large inner surface. They contain a net of capillaries and lymph canals. In addition to the glands secreting the enzymes to break down nutrients, the secretion of certain glands protects me against the destructive effect of the stomach acid. Some cells secrete mucus for lubrication and protection of the passing nutrients. As some cells of the villi secrete digestive enzymes, some of my cells absorb the nutrients broken down until the final phase and pass them to the bloodstream.

Peter, how can some guys mistake such a splendid mechanism as a work of unconscious nature? What I’m telling you about is a manifestation of such great knowledge and might that it leaves you spellbound. I know the characteristics of foods, I know about the other organs’ needs, I adjust various enzymes and an absorption system, I fit them in a limited space… In addition, I do all these in the most ideal way, without any waste or flaw! C’mon Peter, can all these happen by themselves? Now, if I were to start telling everyone about the absorption mechanism in detail, they would probably see those cells as divine beings! The One who assigned special carrier molecules and a system for every nutrient molecule, has placed two transfer systems as blood and lymph pathways in every single one of those millions of villi! The blood pathway passes amino acids, water and salts into the blood directly, whereas the lymphatic pathway absorbs fats to pass them to the blood indirectly. After absorption, the nutrients become a property of the body and they are carried in the bloodstream to all the cells waiting for them in need.

Well, what about the waste then? Since everything you eat is not beneficial and usable, and some things are even toxic, they should be disposed of as soon as possible. The unabsorbed remnants are still too watery to be disposed of; sending them away as they are will be a waste of water and minerals. But don’t worry, everything is perfectly planned! Now the large intestine comes on duty. In this 1.5-meter section, the water of the waste and certain minerals are absorbed, and the waste solidifies. The large intestine is also divided into three sub-sections. The pouch connected to the junction of the small and large intestines is named the cecum and there’s the appendix at its end. This end sometimes festers and you have to have it removed in an appendectomy. Now, there’s this made-up story that the appendix was once longer since your ancestors only ate plants, that it has evolved into a shorter form for I now eat more meat, so on and so forth… Bah! Nothing is created in vain, Peter. If it didn’t have a duty, it simply wouldn’t be created. Only after some time did it dawn on them, after researchers proved that it is so necessary, that as a lymphoid organ, rich in blood vessels, it produces antibodies to fight the germs which somehow make their way into me.

The rest of the large intestine is the colon and the rectum. The mucosa covering my inner surface is rather smooth. It secretes mucus to facilitate the removal of waste. In addition, useful bacteria are made to work in abundance in the large intestine for your needs. These bacteria synthesize the group B vitamins like B12, thiamin, and riboflavin, along with vitamin K. You see how all the processes are carried out so splendidly? If it weren’t for vitamin K, your blood would fail to coagulate, and the slightest injury to your blood vessels would kill you. Could you ever have imagined that what looks to you like a sewage canal could produce vitamins of vital significance? Your Creator has infinite wisdom.

Peter, now you may wonder how the acts of this organ which resembles a long hose are regulated, how the nutrients inside are propelled, and then thrown out. To put it briefly, the “willful” part of your brain does not even know about it. Indeed, if it knew, it would be constantly busy with me and unable to do anything else.

Under the control of the autonomous nervous system, the straight muscles of my walls gradually contract in waves-this is squeezing act is called peristalsis. The nerve fibers connected to me fall into two basic categories-sympathetic and parasympathetic. As the sympathetic fibers pressure me to slow down, parasympathetic fibers stimulate me to act. Thus, I try to keep a balanced functioning between these two opposite effects. When the waste material I propel this way assumes a state to be disposed of, it reaches the rectum, and when the walls here strain, I make a natural call to you that I need to get rid of garbage. This is the step where your will has a partial interference.

Colon cancer, which troubles many people today, appears in this final section. The major reason is consuming too much meat and fatty foods, lack of movement, and leading a stressful life. When these are combined, I fail to function properly. If you want to help me at that, you should consume fiber-rich foods such as fruit and vegetables, and also lead a peaceful life. My web of nerves is amazingly rich and complex. Therefore, I am sensitive to nervous changes. If you feel down or sad, and if you suffer too much stress, I begin to go into spasms. Then I fail to dispose of waste, the toxic material inside me begins to damage my inner walls and eventually increases your cancer risk. Therefore, you’d better take up the habit of a glass of warm water when you get up in the morning, and try to have regular meals at the same times of the day. Most importantly, always have fresh green vegetables on your table, reduce meat intake… and it would be great if you could afford to consume olive oil rather than any other.

Hey, wait! I was about to forget the most important point. If you don’t have any peace of mind, all of these will be useless. This doesn’t mean that you will never worry; after all, this world is a testing ground and you are a human being like anyone else. However, if you give in to troubles and get overcome by feelings like panic, fatigue, and hopelessness, then my functioning will be upset. So, troubles faced with active patience and effort without giving up hope do not harm me much.

Peter, I do not wish you to wait until you see colon cancer patients disposing of waste through a hole in their belly into a plastic bag before you feel grateful for the blessings you enjoy. Actually, maybe I have told you at most a tenth of what I know about myself. Anyway, I think even this much will give you an idea of what a work of art I am. Thanks for listening to me, Peter!

Irfan Yilmaz is a professor of biology at Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.

Abstract: Appadurai’s work offers a very critical and deep analysis of modernity and globalization. He believes that no single theory can describe modernity’s complexity, for he believes that a theory cannot be universalistic, and because societies are much messier than our theories about them. His focus is more on globalization’s cultural dimensions, as opposed to its economic ones. In addition, he looks at globalization in terms of homogenization and heterogenization, for migration and media create both sameness and difference in today’s globalized world. Migrating people and media, particularly television, produce different cultural spheres in different countries. As a result, he looks for irregularities as much as he looks for regularities in the modern or postmodern social world.

Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization

In Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Appadurai examines new dimensions of globalization, particularly cultural ones. He argues that few theories describe modernity, and that all of them either declare or desire universal applicability. Looking at modernity and globalization from a historical context, he argues that modernity was very much a product of the Enlightenment. However, he is not convinced that the Enlightenment created modernity and made people wish to become modern (p. 1).

Modernism originated in the late-sixteenth century after the rise of capitalism. However, it is not limited to economic dimensions, for it also contains cultural and political ones. Becoming more visible after the Industrial Revolution, modernism eventually became the dominant culture of the West and then of the world.

The understanding and theorizing associated with modernity is very much a part of Western social science, for it was shaped by such leading Western social scientists as Karl Marx (d. 1883), Auguste Comte (d. 1857), Max Weber (d. 1961), and Emile Durkeim (d. 1917). Appadurai sees Western social science as problematic, for it reinforces the sense of a single moment (which he calls the modern moment) serving as a dramatic and unparalleled break between past and present. Western social science has focused on categorizing and typologizing traditional and modern societies, practices that Appadurai argues distort the meanings of change and the past, and assumes that the Western experience of modernity is universal.

Modernity, however, is irregularly self-conscious and unevenly experienced in different parts of the world. This causes Appadurai to disagree with modernization theory’s identification of societies as modern vs. traditional, urban vs. rural, small family vs. large family, and so on, for he sees irregularities within so-called modern and traditional societies. He claims that modernity is experienced differently over space and throughout time. For instance, such modern metropolitan cities as Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Cairo experience modernity and tradition simultaneously. The same is true of Germany, the United States, or any other modern state in which both traditional and modern ways of life are practiced at the same time in different parts these countries.

Appadurai thinks that the media and population migration are the most important factors defining today’s global world. He explores their joint effect on the work of the imagination, as a constitutive feature of modern subjectivity. Both media and migration create specific irregularities. For example, he analyzes both print and electronic media, while claiming that electronic media, especially television, has been much more influential in terms of modifying cultural spaces and cultural worlds: Electronic media give a new twist to the environment within which the modern and the global often appear as flip sides of the same coin (p. 44). He believes that the electronic media’s ability to transform the sense of distance between viewer and event transforms everyday discourse. It also shapes and reshapes society and the self in all different types of societies and people.

Migration is the second constitutive force. This is not limited to moving or migrating people; rather, he includes within this concept a process of transporting ideas, values, life styles, and everyday lives from the home of origin. As he puts it: When the story of mass-migration is juxtaposed with the rapid flow of mass-mediated images, scripts, and sensations, we have a new order of instability in the production of modern subjectivities (p. 44).

Migrants create diasporic public spheres that confound theories that depend on the continued salience of the nation“state as key arbiter of important social changes (p. 4). For instance, Turkish guest workers in Germany watch Turkish movies and gather together to celebrate religious and traditional festivals. This is an irregularity in modern German society, as different cultural groups lead everyday lives that have nothing to do the dominant culture of the country in which they live.

When discussing migration, one must realize that the young or new generation are the agents of social challenge and change, not the elderly. The new generation experiences and pushes new ways of life, and is people’s minds migrate along with their bodies and produce change.

Appadurai considers globalization as both cultural homogenization and, at the same time, cultural heterogenization (p. 32). He urges us to think of the new global cultural economy in terms of complexity, overlap, and disorder. Moreover, he is unsure if existing center-periphery models can address such complexity and irregularity. Nor is he convinced that traditional models, such as the pull“push migration model or surpluses and deficits, can explain the global cultural economy.

Therefore, he proposes a new framework for understanding the new global cultural economy’s complexity and messiness. This consists of five dimensions of global cultural flows: ethnoscapes, mediascapes, techno-scapes, financescapes, and ideocapes (p. 33). He uses the suffix -scape to point out the fluid and irregular shapes of landscapes. These deeply perspectival constructs are inflected by nation-states, multinationals, diasporic communities, as well as religious, political, and economic groupings and movements confronting such groups as neighborhoods and families.

I am not going to discuss each cultural landscape. Suffice it to say, as Appadurai asserts, that these cultural landscapes are the building blocks for imagined worlds. He quotes this from Anderson’s discussion of imagined communities. These worlds are socially and historically constructed by historically situated people and social groups all over the globe.

Appadurai disagrees with the idea that goods and services end in consumption. Calling it an illusion, he urges us to re-situate consumption in time and place. He especially focuses on history, periodicity, process, and how demand is produced and consumption is achieved. How do people make their preferences? How is demand produced?

Although people seemingly make free choices in their everyday lives, their choices are structured through the market. Everything is commodified, from food and medical care to transportation and housing, from education and leisure to body and knowledge. Everything is bought and sold in the capitalist market. Thus, it is important to know that commodities are socially constructed and humanly produced.

Expanding capitalism allowed scholars and philosophers to rework time and space. New philosophies showed social constructions of time and space. We know that they are not natural; rather, they are human constructions.

I conclude with a few words about knowledge“ relations. Appadurai proves that different cultural landscapes exist. It also is important to realize that all cultural landscapes are socially made, and that we produce those landscapes with our everyday practices, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Landscapes, maps, and cultural spheres are social products, and their construction reflects ongoing power relations. Appadurai deals with this when discussing how Britain measured its Indian colony (e.g., census and maps) to control it. The resulting knowledge served British imperial interests, not those of India. Maps as social texts were not used for social betterment, but as tools of social control.

As a result, Appadurai urges, if we are to understand today’s cultural, economic, and political globalized world, we need to understand it in those time“ space contexts and knowledge“power relations that have shaped both its homogeneous and heterogeneous cultural, economic, and political realities

• References:
• Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1983.
• Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.