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Archive:Gulching

2008-05-28T00:19:54Z

131.215.45.96: /* See also */

'''Gulching''' refers to the act of forming a localized, [[underground economy|underground economic]] and social community of freedom-minded individuals. The term comes from Galt's Gulch, the fictional village of economic outlaws in [[Ayn Rand]]'s novel, ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''. Galt's Gulch was hidden in the [[Rocky Mountains]] and protected by a holographic shield so perfect it was described in the novel as "almost magical". Modern gulching does typically occur in remote areas, but can also take place in suburban or urban areas, or even online. These underground communities are called ''gulches'', and the inhabitants and participants thereof are called ''gulchers''.

Gulchers trade and barter with each other outside of government regulation and tax systems. The intent is to create a greater degree of [[economic freedom|economic]] and personal freedom, while building a trust-based local trade network to provide goods and services that might become unavailable if the mainstream economy collapses. Self-sufficiency as a whole, in terms of food, energy, fiber, shelter, health care, and other production and services is considered valuable, even vital, to a free existence. Gulchers are also free to trade outside of the gulch, though a remote location might make this difficult.

A gulch differs from a [[commune]] in that it is uniquely freedom-focused, and so upholds [[individual rights|individual]] and [[property rights]] rather than operating by the rules of [[community property]]. Participants remain free to own [[property]], to earn and to keep their own wealth, and to live their days as they see fit, rather than by rules imposed by a nebulous 'community.' There may be some mutually accepted plan to share chores or self-defense duties, but in the main, gulchers tend to prefer minimal rules, believing that free individuals will always create better solutions to the questions facing them. Those who seek to participate in a Gulch generally adhere to the [[Zero Aggression Principle]] and have no wish to harm or attack others who choose to live differently. They do believe in [[self-defense]] if first aggressed upon by others.

Writer [[Taran Jordan]] describes a gulch as "a place where one stores needed supplies to last a certain length of time, until one has arranged to produce as many of those supplies as possible once that initial time runs out, [where] one has made contacts with other likeminded folks to band together in the interests of future production, trade, and the defense of the produce, its means of production, and its producers, [and where] one can enjoy the fruits of one’s labor, and life at the pace of nature, free from those who do not choose this way of life." [http://taranjordan.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/the-gulchers-thought-process]

''The Gulcher's Guide'', by [[Claire Wolfe]] and [[Mary Lou Seymour]], recommends that gulches be located at least 100 miles from any major city, in the event that a catastrophe causes refugees to spill out of the city in search of food, loot, and refuge[http://www.libertymls.com/gulch/location.html]. The choice of location involves tradeoffs that affect suitability for gulching. For instance, while the intermountain west is perceived as relatively friendly to the goals of gulchers, it also suffers from lack of water, harsh climates and poor agricultural conditions.

Since gulchers may need to sacrifice many conveniences associated with the above-ground economy, Wolfe considers the most crucial characteristic of a potential gulcher to be adaptability[http://www.libertymls.com/gulch/recruit.html]. Gulchers typically eschew banks, preferring to barter or use gold as a currency. Wolfe notes that gulchers may have to rely on anonymous advertisements to find customers and services, e.g.:
*"Chiropractor needed for individual in Coos County, New Hampshire."
*"Internist and full range of clinic services available to gold-paying customers in Pocatello, Idaho."
*"Homeopathic Practitioner willing to trade arsenic water for liberty dollars in Mt. Carmel, People's Republic of Texas"

A variation on gulching, but done as a single individual with the specific goal of "Refus[al] to engage in any implementation of your personal creative ability which benefits the State[...]Tak[ing] your brains off the statist marketplace[...]Act[ing] so that only those who add to your life, not those who devour it, comprise your creativity marketplace[...]Reserv[ing] your achievements for yourself and those who will join you in the endeavor to build a sane and sensible world" is what David King termed "Shrugging"[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7695/CHAPTR13.HTM]. This term also originated from Ayn Rand's novel cited above.

Exact statistics on gulching's prevalence are unavailable, and likely to remain so, as [[privacy]] is usually paramount to gulchers. However, it is unlikely that gulches exist on any large scale.

==See also==
*[[Agorism]]
*[[Back-to-the-land movement]]
*[[Economic secession]]
*[[BioShock#Setting|Rapture (Fictional City)]]
*[[Survivalism]]
*[[Mogadishu|Mogadishu Case Study]]
*[[Mount Carmel Center]]

==References==
*Seymour, Mary Lou, and Wolfe, Claire: [http://www.libertymls.com/gulch/intro.html The Gulcher's Guide].

[[Category:Libertarianism]]

Immunology basics

2005-09-20T23:39:01Z

131.215.34.201: /* Classical immunology */

'''Immunology''' is a broad branch of [[biomedical science|biomedical]] [[science]] that covers study of all aspects of the [[immune system]] in all [[organism]]s. It deals with, among other things, the [[physiology|physiological]] functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ([[autoimmune diseases]], [[hypersensitivity|hypersensitivities]], [[immune deficiency]], [[transplant|allograft]] rejection); the physical, chemical and physiological characteristics of the components of the immune system [[in vitro]], [[in situ]], and [[in vivo]]. Immunology has various applications in several disciplines of science, and as such is further divided.

==Histological examination of the immune system==
Before even the concept of [[immunity]] was developed numerous early physicians characterised organs that would later prove to be part of the immune system. The key organs of the immune system are [[thymus]], [[spleen]], [[bone marrow]], [[lymphatic system|lymph vessels]], [[lymph node]]s and secondary lymphatic tissues such as [[tonsil]]s and [[adenoid]]s) and [[skin]]. The major organs, the thymus and spleen, are examined [[histology|histologically]] only post-mortem during [[autopsy]]. However some lymph nodes, and secondary lymphatic tissues can be [[surgery|surgically]] excised for examination while patients are still alive.

Many components of the immune system are actually [[cell (biology)|cell]]ular in nature and not associated with any specific organ, but imbedded or circulating in various [[tissue (anatomy)|tissues]] located about the body.

==Classical immunology==
Classical immunology ties in with the fields of [[epidemiology]] and [[medicine]]. It studies the relationship between the body systems, [[pathogen]]s and immunity. The earliest written mention of immunity can be traced back to the [[plague]] of [[Athens]] in [[430 BC]]. [[Thucydides]] noted that people who had recovered from a previous bout of the disease could [[nurse]] the sick without coming down with the illness a second time. Many other ancient societies have references to this phenomenon, but it was not until the [[19th century|19th]] and [[20th century|20th centuries]] before the concept developed into scientific theory.

The study of molecular and cellular components that comprise the immune system, including their function and interaction, is the central science of immunology. The immune system has been divided into [[innate immunity|innate immune system]], and [[adaptive immunity|acquired or adaptive immune system]], the latter of which is further divided into [[humoral immunity|humoral]] and [[cell-mediated immunity|cellular components]].

The humoral (antibody) response is defined as the interaction between [[antibody|antibodies]] and [[antigen]]s. Without an understanding of the properties of these two biological entities, much of immunology would be non-existent. However, equally important is the cellular response which can not only kill infected cells in its own right, but is also crucial in controlling the antibody response. Put simply, both systems are highly interdependent.

In the [[21st century]] though, immunology has broadened its horizons with much research being performed in the more specialised niches of immunology. This includes the immunological function of cells, organs and systems not normally associated with the immune system, as well as the function of the immune system outside classical models of immunity.

==Clinical immunology==
[[Clinical immunology]] is the study of [[disease]]s caused by the immune system and diseases of the immune system from a medical perspective.

Many diseases caused by the immune system fall into two broad categories: [[immunodeficiency]], in which parts of the immune system fail to provide an adequate response (examples include [[chronic granulomatous disease]]), and [[autoimmunity]], in which the immune system attacks its own antigens (examples include [[systemic lupus erythematosus]], [[rheumatoid arthritis]], [[Hashimoto's disease]] and [[myasthenia gravis]]). Other immune system disorders include different [[hypersensitivity|hypersensitivities]], in which the system responds inappropriately to harmless compounds ([[asthma]] and [[allergy|allergies]]) or responds too intensively.

The most well-known disease that affects the immune system itself is [[Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome|AIDS]], caused by the [[HIV virus]]. AIDS is an immunodeficiency characterized by the lack of CD4+ ("helper") [[T cells]] and [[macrophages]], which are destroyed by the HIV virus.

Clinical immunologists also study ways to prevent [[transplant rejection]], in which the immune system attempts to destroy [[allograft]]s or [[xenograft]]s.

==Immunotherapy==
''See main article [[Immunotherapy]]''

The use of immune system components to treat a disease or disorder is known as immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is most commonly used in the context of the treatment of [[cancer]]s together with [[chemotherapy]] ([[drug]]s) and [[radiotherapy]] ([[electromagnetic radiation|radiation]]). However, immunotherapy is also often used in the immunosuppressed (such as [[HIV]] patients) and people suffering from other immune deficiencies or autoimmune diseases.

==Diagnostic immunology==
The specificity of the bond between antibody and antigen has made it an excellent tool in the detection of substances in a variety of diagnostic techniques. Antibodies specific for a desired [[antigen]] can be conjugated with a radiolabel, fluorescent label, or color-forming enzyme and are used as a "probe" to detect it.

Well known applications of this include [[immunoblot]]ting, [[ELISA]] and immunohistochemical staining of microscope slides. The speed, accuracy and simplicity of such tests has led to the development of rapid techniques for the diagnosis of disease, microbes and even illegal drugs ''[[in vivo]]'' (of course tests conducted in a closed environment have a higher degree of accuracy). Such testing is also used to distinguish compatible [[blood type]]s.

==Evolutionary immunology==
Study of the immune system in extant and [[extinction|extinct]] species is capable of giving us a key understanding of the [[evolution]] of species and the immune system.

A development of complexity of the immune system can be seen from simple phagocytotic protection of single celled organisms, to circulating antimicrobial peptides in insects to lymphoid organs in vertebrates. Of course, like much of evolution, this is often seen from the [[anthropocentric]] aspect, but it must be recognised, that every organism's immune system is absolutely capable of protecting it from most forms of harm.

[[Insect]]s and other [[arthropod]]s, while not possessing true adaptive immunity, show highly evolved systems of innate immunity, and are additionally protected from external injury (and exposure to pathogens) by their [[chitin]]ous shells.

==See Also==
*[[Immune system]]
*[[autoimmunity]]
*[[List of immunologists]]

==References==
* Goldsby RA, Kindt TK, Osborne BA and Kuby J (2003) '''Immunology''', 5th Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, New York, ISBN 0-7167-4947-5

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