SummarySon preference has been considered as a determinant of women's risk of intimate partner violence experience in India, although quantitative evidence from large nationally representative studies testing this relationship is limited. This study examines the association between husband's son preference, sex composition of children and risk of physical and sexual IPV victimization among wives. Information was collected for 26,284 couples in the nationally representative 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey of India. The exposures were husband's son preference measured as husband's desire (...) for one or more sons greater than the number of daughters and sex composition of the household: only sons, only daughters and mixed. Outcome included past year physical and/or sexual IPV. The results showed that husband's reported son preference and sex composition of children were not associated with risk for IPV victimization in the models adjusted for socio-demographic factors. The findings from this first population-based study of socio-cultural norms around son preference and married Indian women's risk for IPV victimization indicate that cultural preference for sons does not influence women's risk for IPV victimization. (shrink)

Rare copy number variants have a prominent role in the aetiology of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Substantial risk for schizophrenia is conferred by large CNVs at several loci, including microdeletions at 1q21.1, 3q29, 15q13.3 and 22q11.2 and microduplication at 16p11.2. However, these CNVs collectively account for a small fraction of cases, and the relevant genes and neurobiological mechanisms are not well understood. Here we performed a large two-stage genome-wide scan of rare CNVs and report the significant association of copy (...) number gains at chromosome 7q36.3 with schizophrenia. Microduplications with variable breakpoints occurred within a 362-kilobase region and were detected in 29 of 8,290 patients versus 2 of 7,431 controls in the combined sample. All duplications overlapped or were located within 89 kilobases upstream of the vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor gene VIPR2. VIPR2 transcription and cyclic-AMP signalling were significantly increased in cultured lymphocytes from patients with microduplications of 7q36.3. These findings implicate altered vasoactive intestinal peptide signalling in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and indicate the VPAC2 receptor as a potential target for the development of new antipsychotic drugs. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. (shrink)

This volume is a critical investigation into the contemporary phenomenon of the dissensus of the globe and the planet, and the new terrains of consciousness that need to be negotiated towards a possibility for transformation. It examines the possibilities of alternate, sustainable modes of being and existing in a world which requires a unified, ethical, biopolitical worldview. The book explores themes like philosophical posthumanism and planetary concerns; disruption of cultural and intellectual inequality; bodily movement through nomadic subjectivity; dystopic spatialities of (...) game(re)play; globalization, and speculative imaginaries of the body; and theory of multiplicity. It also discusses impact of COVID on human beings, role of the neoliberal media, the question of rights of robots and cyborgs in sci-fi movies, and representation of refugees in literature. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of English literature, political philosophy, cultural studies, literary cultures, post-colonial studies, critical theory, and social anthropology. (shrink)

This book presents a critical analysis of sense-making practices through an exploration of acoustic, creative, and artistic spaces. It studies how local cultures of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are impacted by global discourses and media, such as television, popular music, digital media, and literature. The authors look at sense-making practices and spatial discourses through an interconnected discussion on thought and experience that seeks to present a multidimensional cartography of the global, the local, and the glocal, to closely analyze (...) the phenomenon of globalization. The volume is an investigation of the possibilities of alternate, sustainable modes of being and existing in a world which requires a unified, ethical, biopolitical worldview that challenges the disparity of its fragments while speculating on their synesthetic conditionality. A unique contribution, the book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of English literature, media studies, cultural studies, literary cultures, post-colonial studies, globalization studies, philosophy, critical theory, sociology, and social anthropology. (shrink)

Copyright © 2015 by the Society of Criti. Objective: Global lung stress varies considerably with low tidal volume ventilation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. High stress despite low tidal volumes may worsen lung injury and increase risk of death. No widely available parameter exists to assess global lung stress. We aimed to determine whether the volume delivered during a recruitment maneuver is inversely associated with lung stress and mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome. Design: Substudy of an acute respiratory distress (...) syndrome clinical trial on esophageal pressure-guided positive end-expiratory pressure titration. Setting: U.S. academic medical center. Patients: Forty-two patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in whom airflow, airway pressure, and esophageal pressure were recorded during the recruitment maneuver. Interventions: A single recruitment maneuver was performed before initiating protocol-directed ventilator management. Recruitment maneuvers consisted of a 30-second breath hold at 40 cm H2O airway pressure under heavy sedation or paralysis. VRM was calculated by integrating the flow-time waveform during the maneuver. End-inspiratory stress was defined as the transpulmonary pressure during end-inspiratory pause of a tidal breath and tidal stress as the transpulmonary pressure difference between end-inspiratory and end-expiratory pauses. Measurements and Main Results: VRM ranged between 7.4 and 34.7 mL/kg predicted body weight. Lower VRM predicted high end-inspiratory and tidal lung stress. After adjusting for Pao2/Fio2 and either driving pressure, tidal volume, or plateau pressure and positive end-expiratory pressure, VRM remained independently associated with both end-inspiratory and tidal stress. In unadjusted analysis, low VRM predicted increased risk of death. VRM remained significantly associated with mortality after adjusting for study arm. Conclusions: Low VRM independently predicts high lung stress and may predict risk of death in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. (shrink)

Este trabajo aborda la pregunta por la política en aquello que damos en llamar el tiempo actual. Como vía heurística, se convocan ciertos aspectos del andamiaje teórico de Étienne Balibar; en particular se problematiza la categoría de ciudadanía que este filósofo francés reivindica, desajustándola de la tradición liberal-capitalista -que la limita a una concepción jurídico-moral- y restituyéndole su poder instituyente sin dejar de considerar las relaciones -siempre aporéticas- que ésta mantiene con la figura del Estado. Se focaliza en la relación (...) entre ciudadanía y ciudad (la pólis) en tanto los modos de habitar las ciudades -y las disputas que se generan en torno a ellos- se constituyen en un problema político que implica la discusión respecto de los «derechos de ciudad», de las formas de intervención y de las exclusiones ciudadanas. Esta preocupación se sustenta en la premisa de que, si bien históricamente la ciudad ha sido el locus por excelencia del ejercicio de la política, el espacio urbano encarna de modo paradigmático la conflictividad social del mundo contemporáneo. Como hipótesis se propone que la vigencia conceptual de la categoría de ciudadanía requiere además considerarla en su dimensión sensible dado que los modos en que los ciudadanos habitan una ciudad remiten a una configuración que enlaza maneras de ver, sentir y pensar. Las formas estético-políticas (Rancière) que presenta el espacio de la ciudad se incardinan a los procesos de subjetivación política y a las posibilidades y dificultades de construcción del ser-en-común. En tal sentido, si bien las escenas actuales de predominio neoliberal evidencian una dirección desdemocratizadora y antiigualitaria, la condición politizable de la forma urbana contempla la posibilidad de emergencia de intervenciones ciudadanas insurgentes que disputen la desigual distribución de tiempos y espacios. (shrink)

Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi discussed corporate responsibility and business ethics over several decades of the twentieth century. His views are still influential in modern India. In this paper, we highlight Gandhi’s cross-level CR framework, which operates at institutional, organizational, and individual levels. We also outline how the Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has historically applied and continues to utilize Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship. We then compare Gandhi’s framework to modern notions of stakeholder and stewardship management. We conclude that (...) trusteeship has strong potential to help firms and their stakeholders achieve shared value by considering the interactions between individual, organizational, and institutional factors, and paying attention to a range of multi-level stakeholder obligations. (shrink)

La cuestión de la técnica y los posibles efectos e implicancias de la misma en las sociedades contemporáneas es una temática recurrente en pensadores del siglo XX. Se trata de un fenómeno que de una u otra manera fue abordado por quienes intentaron comprender el ritmo de las sociedades de la época. Nos interesa particularmente pensar los desarrollos de tres autores que, según nuestro criterio, han reflexionado sobre la cuestión de la técnica moderna junto a otros aspectos sociales y culturales (...) claves para comprenderla en profundidad. Por un lado, Herbert Marcuse se refiere a los avances tecnológicos en el marco de un diagnóstico crítico de las sociedades del capitalismo avanzado con el interés de pensar la posibilidad de transformarlas. Walter Benjamin, por otro, reflexiona sobre el progreso técnico en relación con las posibilidades del mismo en el ámbito estético: la reproductibilidad técnica de la obra de arte y, específicamente, el sentido político de este fenómeno junto a su carácter sintomático del proceso social en general. Por último, Martin Heidegger también aborda la cuestión de la técnica moderna y algunas de sus implicancias, pero desde otro lugar: en el marco de una reflexión acerca de la historia de la interpretación del ser o, mejor, de la metafísica. Nos interesa ensayar un acercamiento al planteo de estos pensadores, y, quizás, encontrar y articular algunos puntos de encuentro o, también, de desencuentro. (shrink)

‘Individualisation’ is a well-known societal phenomenon of late modernity. At the organisational level it shows up in different managerial forms and HRM technologies that focus more and more intensively on the employee as an individual person. In order to assess an employee’s personal contribution and commitment emphasis is put on the characteristics of individuals: their talents, performance and personality. Reporting on research on an individualised pay system in Denmark, this paper illustrates the empirical complexity of this personalisation process. It shows (...) how the employee is created and ‘codified’ as an individual person. It occurs in three different ways according to the codes of learning, love and the moral. It indicates that the postulated regime of individualisation follows a variety of trajectories to reach its target making for a quite subtle way of intimately managing human relations. (shrink)

Seeking to better understand how nonprofit organizations (NPOs) manage hybridity, we investigated what distinguishes NPOs that combine multiple logics in productive and unproductive ways. We collected and analyzed data from six case studies of NPOs delivering social services in Australia. Our findings reveal that organizational members of NPOs take a _perspective_ on their hybrid nature which comprises four elements: motivational framing, actor engagement, resourcing attitude, and governance orientation. NPOs that combine multiple logics in productive and unproductive ways, respectively, are distinguished (...) by (1) a compelling or confused motivational framing for combining logics; (2) actors having active and shared, or passive and isolated, engagement with multiple logics; (3) attitudes toward resourcing multiple logics that are either coherent or competitive; and (4) a governance orientation toward multiple logics as opportunities to leverage or problems to resist. Our findings contribute to the literature by deepening understanding of the interplay between complex constellations of multiple logics in NPOs, including religious and professional logics. We also develop a model of organizational perspectives on hybridity and their implications for distinguishing NPOs that productively harness tensions between logics. (shrink)

Considerando dos obras de la escritora y artista visual Verónica Gerber (Otro día... poemas sintéticos y el proyecto Máquina distópica), este ensayo indaga modos de reescribir territorio y naturaleza por medio de operaciones de copia, deformación y desvío de archivos documentales y artísticos. Con la reescritura de obras de Juan José Tablada y Amparo Dávila así como apropiaciones del trabajo de Manuel Felguérez y de documentos de diferente tenor, Gerber complejiza categorías de territorio, ecosistema y naturaleza a la luz de (...) los efectos del colapso de la antigua distinción entre la historia natural y la historia humana. Lejos de una práctica melancólica del archivo, esta propuesta reinstala un registro lúdico, a la vez que reposiciona la práctica artística como un proceso de desestabilización de formatos y definiciones constituidas. (shrink)

BackgroundArtificial intelligence has been described as the “fourth industrial revolution” with transformative and global implications, including in healthcare, public health, and global health. AI approaches hold promise for improving health systems worldwide, as well as individual and population health outcomes. While AI may have potential for advancing health equity within and between countries, we must consider the ethical implications of its deployment in order to mitigate its potential harms, particularly for the most vulnerable. This scoping review addresses the following question: (...) What ethical issues have been identified in relation to AI in the field of health, including from a global health perspective?MethodsEight electronic databases were searched for peer reviewed and grey literature published before April 2018 using the concepts of health, ethics, and AI, and their related terms. Records were independently screened by two reviewers and were included if they reported on AI in relation to health and ethics and were written in the English language. Data was charted on a piloted data charting form, and a descriptive and thematic analysis was performed.ResultsUpon reviewing 12,722 articles, 103 met the predetermined inclusion criteria. The literature was primarily focused on the ethics of AI in health care, particularly on carer robots, diagnostics, and precision medicine, but was largely silent on ethics of AI in public and population health. The literature highlighted a number of common ethical concerns related to privacy, trust, accountability and responsibility, and bias. Largely missing from the literature was the ethics of AI in global health, particularly in the context of low- and middle-income countries.ConclusionsThe ethical issues surrounding AI in the field of health are both vast and complex. While AI holds the potential to improve health and health systems, our analysis suggests that its introduction should be approached with cautious optimism. The dearth of literature on the ethics of AI within LMICs, as well as in public health, also points to a critical need for further research into the ethical implications of AI within both global and public health, to ensure that its development and implementation is ethical for everyone, everywhere. (shrink)

The thesis of the paper is that the root cause of clash or reconciliation among civilizations is housed in the drama of consciousness! Two models of consciousness that highlight this drama are put forward here. First is Jean Gebser’s view, which asserts that the history of human civilization is nothing more than the manifestations of the development of consciousness. This development has taken place through five distinct stages: the archaic, magical, mythic, mental and integrative. Clash in civilizations is due to (...) the fixation on the first four stages whereas reconciliation is possible through the use of the integrative stage. The second is the Tantric Yoga view of consciousness in terms of the seven chakras or wheels of consciousness. These chakras are spread out in the body like seven colors of the rainbow—starting with the base of the spine to the genitals, the belly button, the heart, the throat, the forehead and ending in the crown of the head. Clash in civilizations is due to the fixation on the first three levels (chakras) of consciousness whereas reconciliation is possible through the use of the upper fourwheels of consciousness (chakras), which are focused at developing universal consciousness. Since religion and civilization are intimately connected and several of the prominent civilizational clashes have been due to the religious differences, religious consciousness will be taken as the paradigm of this paper.How can humanity move from clash towards reconciliation? Such a possibility is suggested by both Gebser and Tantric Yoga whose theories point towards the development of an integrative universal consciousness: an encompassing consciousness that will transcend as well as incorporate all limited religious consciousness perspectives in its fold! The views of Vivekananda, a scholar-monk of India, on “one religion/one spirituality” are of particular interest in this context. They indicate an approach, which might lead to a possible future solution thus paving a path towards one-world-spiritual-peaceful order! (shrink)

Traditional scholars of philosophy and religion, both East and West, often place a major emphasis on analyzing the nature of “the self.” In recent decades, there has been a renewed interest in analyzing self, but most scholars have not claimed knowledge of an ahistorical, objective, essential self free from all cultural determinants. The contributors to this volume recognize the need to contextualize specific views of self and to analyze such views in terms of the dynamic, dialectical relations between self and (...) culture.An unusual feature of this book is that all of the chapters not only focus on traditions and individuals, East and West, but include as primary emphases comparative philosophy, religion, and culture, reinforcing individual and cultural creativity. Each chapter brings specific Eastern and Western perspectives into a dynamic, comparative relation. This comparative orientation emphasizes our growing sense of interrelatedness and interdependency. Culture and Self includes many Asian and Western philosophical, religious, and cultural perspectives. Chapters focus on Vedanta, Samkhya-Yoga, and other Hindu approaches, as well as Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist and other Indian, Chinese, and Japanese perspectives. Studies present Cartesian and other dominant Western perspectives, as well as Marx, Nietzsche, Sartre, feminism, and other Western challenges to the dominant Western interpretations of culture and self.This volume will appeal to students and readers of philosophy, religious studies, Asian studies, and cultural studies. (shrink)

Em tempos de aceleração, de competição consigo mesmo e de uma linguagem instrumental e pragmática para se falar da educação, qual seria o valor de uma justificativa estética da existência em se tratando da formação de professores? Tendo tal problemática como motivadora, objetivamos, com este estudo, levantar a discussão acerca da relação entre literatura e docência, procurando aproximá-las de modo não utilitário, mas com vistas à estética da existência. Como um modo de resistência, optamos por perguntar pela formação de professores (...) pautada pelo exercício do pensamento, pela problematização dos valores e pelo cuidado consigo e com os demais. A partir disso, utilizamo-nos da pesquisa com inspiração arquegenealógica em Foucault, nos debruçando sobre autores que abordam ou a literatura ou a docência como possibilidades de entendimentos outros que não os conteudistas. Assim, tomamos a literatura, com inspiração nos estudos foucaultianos para problematizar a constituição docente. Mais especificamente, buscamos, nos estudos sobre a genealogia da subjetivação, a leitura, e a escrita tomadas como práticas possíveis do cuidado de si, quando da investigação de Foucault na Antiguidade greco-romana, especialmente nos primeiros séculos da nossa era. Todavia, não se trata de uma aplicação conceitual anacrônica, mas de tomarmos esse ferramental para pensar o que estamos nos tornando no presente, quais são os modos contemporâneos de dominação e quais são as possibilidades, em brechas, de criação de uma estilística da existência. Sendo um ensaio teórico, operamos com a literatura como possibilidade de dobra na linguagem tida como verdade, que poderia funcionar não fora da linguagem, mas fora da ordem do discurso. Seguindo essa perspectiva, entendemos que ela pode não ter apenas a função de revelar outra verdade, ser um passatempo, informar ou transmitir um saber, mas pode funcionar como uma prática de si num exercício de pensamento que problematiza o que estamos fazendo com nossa vida e com a vida dos demais no presente. Palavras-chave: Literatura. Docência. Práticas de si. Foucault. (shrink)

Ethicalisation processes that partake in the construction of a firm or a professional group’s ethical identity are often described as a relatively linear combination of several components, such as policies (starting with the development of a code of ethics), corporate practices, and leadership. Our study of a professional community dealing with the topics related to cultural diversity indicates a more reciprocal relationship between ethical identity and ethicalisation processes. We argue that a tangible form of ethical identity can pre-date the ethicalisation (...) process of a professional group, and additionally, can impact this process at the start. We highlight that, despite the absence of official ethical statements in the community, a form of ethical professional identity is already present among the interculturalists of the international organisation Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research. Using critical discourse analysis, we identify the proclaimed humanist ethos in the discourses that interculturalists co-produce and diffuse during conferences, on on-line discussion forums, and in the mission of their professional organisations. This study contributes to the literature on ethical identity development by showing how a pre-existing form of ethical identity can influence the early stage of the development of a code of ethics. In addition, we indicate that, similar to organisational identity construction, ethical identity construction uses self-other identity talks, thus, defining an ethical other (or less ethical other) in its development. (shrink)

While many models of ethical decision-making in marketing have been presented in the literature, no recent attempts have been made to explicitly account for ethical decision-making from a marketing research perspective. We present an ethical framework for marketing research, the various philosophies of ethics, and a few enduring marketing ethical decision-making models, thus laying the foundation for a descriptive model for ethics in marketing research. The authors then develop an integrated model of ethical decision-making that incorporates the perspectives of all (...) parties involved in the process of making ethical marketing research decisions, the various philosophies, and external variables. The proposed model is compared with some of the models considered in the literature and illustrated with a marketing research application. (shrink)

This paper presents a challenge to Eurocentric world history on the grounds that it reifies and exaggerates the role of the West in the creation of modernity, while simultaneously ignoring India's seminal contributions. The groundwork is prepared in the first three sections, which refute the parochial biases of Eurocentrism by revealing India's impressive early developmental record and its place near the center of a nascent global economy. The paper culminates in an approach that places the "dialogue of civilizations" center-stage of (...) progressive world history, which is formulated as an antidote to parochial Eurocentric world history. This entails an extensive discussion of two key contributions that India made in enabling the rise of the modern West. These comprise the dissemination of Indian industrial methods that enabled the British industrial revolution on the one hand, and the transmission of Indian mathematical ideas that helped promote the European scientific revolution on the other hand. Moreover, this discussion is coupled with two speculative counterfactual historical scenarios. They are: first, that in the absence of British imperialism which sought to "contain" Indian development, India might have gone on to make the breakthrough to modernity, and second, that in the absence of Indian (as well as Chinese, African and Middle Eastern) help, the West might not have made the breakthrough to modernity. But whatever the veracity of such counterfactuals may or may not be, the ultimate upshot of the argument presented in this paper reveals that Eurocentrism's central claim - that the West made the breakthrough to modernity all by itself - can no longer hold true. (shrink)

In the theory outlined in the target article, an animal forages continuously, making sequential decisions in a world where the amount of food and its uncertainty are fixed, but delays are variable. These assumptions contrast with the risk-sensitive foraging theory and create a problem for comparing the predictions of this model with many laboratory experiments that do not make these assumptions.

This article takes the stance that the subjectivity of the researcher is an integral part of the research process. It should be studied as a key to understanding the interrelational processes of meaning in an interview situation. The article demonstrates how the subjectivity of the researcher can be made accessible methodologically and methodically by combining a psychodynamic approach with an autoethnographic approach. The methodical question is therefore how the researcher can conduct introspection and at the same time reflect upon and (...) analyse the central object of investigation. The approach is psychoanalytically informed, but autoethnography became the actual vehicle for moving beyond reflections on the psychodynamics represented in the texts. The researcher ventured into an introspection of not only the texts, but also her own feelings, fantasies, and bodily experiences at the time of the interview and also when bringing the data into new situations. The abstract reflections after the interview situation were left for a while, and instead a more experiential and sensual/bodily understanding appeared, based on narratives, feelings, and reflections from the research field. In doing so, the affective and experiential personal process became an important step in the interpretation. (shrink)

This paper aims to examine the way that the concepts of thought and interest have been described in the three main documents that currently guide Brazilian Child Education – National Education Guidelines and Bases/1996, National Curriculum Guidelines for Child Education/2010, and National Curriculum Basis/2018 for Child Education – and their implications for relations between childhood and thinking. In order to do that, we have relied on studies in the philosophy of difference, considering authors such as Kohan, Larrosa, López and Ribeiro, (...) among others, to problematize thought as linked to individual interest. We notice how much thought has been regarded as a problem-resolution tool in these documents, following a neoliberal logic that has been increasingly displaced from collective to individualized interest. Furthermore, the whole functioning of a disciplinary society is evident in the documents, as the latter moves towards a performance society, with greater emphasis on assessment practices and records of children’s “production.” We consider, both in the concept of childhood and the concept of experience, the possibility of experiencing other relationships with childhoods and temporalities in schools, and the power of both free time and play as open breathing spaces among routines that are both full of compulsory activities and empty of meaning. (shrink)

Em tempos de aceleração, fragmentação, pobreza narrativa e precarização dos laços no presente, este artigo é um ensaio teórico que busca problematizar o conceito do olhar, mais especificamente a educação do olhar no encontro entre a filosofia e a educação. Para tanto, ensaia alguns deslocamentos em se tratando do conceito do olhar e os modos de vida e pensamento. Toma tal conceito desde Platão e Descartes até as perspectivas mais contemporâneas do pensamento da diferença, especialmente operando com o tema da (...) conversão a partir de uma perspectiva foucaultiana do cuidado de si, para pensar sobre a potência de uma educação filosófica do olhar na escola. (shrink)

Combining classical and contemporary readings with original essays, Pathways to Philosophy offers an imaginative introduction to the art of philosophical reflection and wonderment. The collection reflects the inherent multidisciplinary nature of the field - revealing and exploring the connections between philosophy, science, and literature. All material is carefully chosen, edited, and coordinated to ensure its accessibility to readers of all levels. The result is a presentation that is engaging, provocative, and fun. There are four main sections divided into twelve chapters (...) held together by a common thread: analysis and exploration of concepts and dimensions of the Self. The readings cover Eastern as well as Western traditions, and include selections by both women and men. In the process, it provides coverage of a number of topics which, though important, are often omitted from introductory texts. (shrink)

We show that classical two-valued logic is included in weak extensions of normal three-valued logics and also that normal three-valued logics are best viewed not as deviant logics but instead as strong extensions of classical two-valued logic obtained by adding a modal operator and the right axioms. This article develops a general method for formulating the right axioms to construct a two-valued system with theorems that correspond to all of the logical truths of any normal three-valued logic. The extended classical (...) system can then express anything that can be expressed in the three-valued logic, so there can be no reason to abandon two-valued logic in favor of three-valued logic. Moreover, the two-valued modal system is preferable, because it enables us to study interactions of different operators with different rationales. It also makes it easier to introduce quantifiers and iteration. Nothing is lost and much is gained by choosing the extended two-valued approach over normal three-valued logics. (shrink)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is likely to have long-term mental health effects on individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. Rightly, there is a global response for recognition and planning on how to deal with mental health problems for everyone impacted by the global pandemic. This does not just include COVID-19 patients but the general public and health care workers as well. There is also a need to understand the role of the virus itself in the pathophysiology of mental health disorders (...) and longer-term mental health sequelae. Emerging evidence suggests that COVID-19 patients develop neurological symptoms such as headache, altered consciousness, and paraesthesia. Brain tissue oedema and partial neurodegeneration have also been observed in an autopsy. In addition, there are reports that the virus has the potential to cause nervous system damage. Together, these findings point to a possible role of the virus in the development of acute psychiatric symptoms and long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19. The brain pathologies associated with COVID-19 infection is likely to have a long-term impact on cognitive processes. Evidence from other viral respiratory infections, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), suggests a potential development of psychiatric disorders, long-term neuropsychiatric disorders, and cognitive problems. In this paper, we will review and evaluate the available evidence of acute and possible long-term neuropsychiatric manifestations of COVID-19. We will discuss possible pathophysiological mechanisms and the implications this will have on preparing a long-term strategy to monitor and manage such patients. (shrink)

The concept of lifeworld as posited by Husserl and developed by Schutz reveals key aspects of human social life. What happens when organized forces of human control tear lifeworlds apart? Gebser warned that without a transformation of consciousness humans would destroy their world. Habermas pointed out that humans were destroying lifeworlds with little awareness of the consequences due to the predominance of rational/legal thinking, thus creating “Deathworlds”. Transformative Phenomenology has become a community-of-practice that is an antidote to Deathworld-Making. Transformative phenomenology (...) includes hermeneutics, somatics and leregogic practices and phenomenologists trained in this way exhibit ten qualities of being. We offer the Rising Sun project, a phenomenologically based social innovation, as a case example. The call to maintain and restore lifeworlds is the call to oneness and peace. In the era of growing Deathworlds, we, phenomenologists, are urged to respond and contribute to this call. (shrink)

The activation of leukocytes by bacterial cell wall lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contributes to the pathogenesis of septic shock. It is well established that, in the presence of plasma LPS‐binding protein (LBP), LPS binds with high affinity to CD14. The binding of LPS to CD14 has been associated with the activation of cells, although available evidence indicates that CD14 itself does not transduce intracellular signalling. The physiological function of this interaction is to promote host defense mechanisms of cells to combat the infection (...) and clear LPS from the circulation. At higher concentrations of LPS, however, the activation of cells can take place in the absence of LBP and CD14, presumably through a distinct low‐affinity signalling LPS receptor. On the evidence published by us and others, we propose that in neutrophils, and possibly other leukocytes, L‐selectin can act as a low‐affinity LPS receptor. (shrink)

The presence of stigmatizing language in the electronic health record (EHR) has been used to measure implicit biases that underlie health inequities. The purpose of this study was to identify the presence of stigmatizing language in the clinical notes of pregnant people during the birth admission. We conducted a qualitative analysis on N = 1117 birth admission EHR notes from two urban hospitals in 2017. We identified stigmatizing language categories, such as Disapproval (39.3%), Questioning patient credibility (37.7%), Difficult patient (21.3%), (...) Stereotyping (1.6%), and Unilateral decisions (1.6%) in 61 notes (5.4%). We also defined a new stigmatizing language category indicating Power/privilege. This was present in 37 notes (3.3%) and signaled approval of social status, upholding a hierarchy of bias. The stigmatizing language was most frequently identified in birth admission triage notes (16%) and least frequently in social work initial assessments (13.7%). We found that clinicians from various disciplines recorded stigmatizing language in the medical records of birthing people. This language was used to question birthing people's credibility and convey disapproval of decision‐making abilities for themselves or their newborns. We reported a Power/privilege language bias in the inconsistent documentation of traits considered favorable for patient outcomes (e.g., employment status). Future work on stigmatizing language may inform tailored interventions to improve perinatal outcomes for all birthing people and their families. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world. After liberalization in 1991, microfinance became a panacea for poor people without collateral and information asymmetry. The higher cost of microfinance and debt traps highlighted the need for the state to intervene in resource redistribution. In addition, national lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions have made it difficult for emerging economies like India to achieve this sustainable development goal. The Reserve Bank of India introduced self-help group (SHG) bank linkage to ensure the financial inclusion of (...) the poor. The difference-in-difference method examined how SHGs affect entrepreneur households’ income. CMIE Consumer Pyramid dx data were used for analysis. The data establish that SHGs have increased the income of the households, and demographic factors such as education, income level and gender also impact the financial inclusion of the poor. (shrink)

Clinical Pharmacology is a specialty with many attributes and our association with the subject has allowed us to acquire, apply and disseminate myriad aspects of research and practice. Though clinical pharmacologists are conspicuous by virtue of their small number, recent years have shown a growing need for the course. In the review below we navigate through several aspects of the subject as we encountered them from time to time. From critical appraisal of literature, to application of knowledge of drugs, to (...) clinical practice; moving on to clinical and basic research, to drug development process, to policy making - these are but a few of the many fields which constitute the scope of clinical pharmacology. The importance of the subject lies in allowing a trainee to develop a broad overview of the entire process, from drug generation to drug distribution to drug utilization, a process meant for the greater common goal of better health for all. We foresee a bright future for the subject though with a slight skepticism thrown in. In the present article, we make use of personal experiences and reference from literature to help you get a broad view of what clinical pharmacology means to us. (shrink)

With its promise of personal improvement, physical well-being and spiritual enrichment, yoga is enjoying a resurgence in popularity at the turn of the third millennium. To unravel the mystery of the discipline, its philosophies and relevance in contemporary life, the original text of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali must be explored. This book offers the first accessible translation and commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. An introductory section examines the multidimensional aspects of yoga as philosophy, psychology, science, and religion, as well (...) as exploring popular versions of yoga in the West. The core of the book offers a new translation of the entire text of the Yoga Sutras, in a language that is clear and comprehensible to students. Commentaries are presented to highlight the meaning of various statements and key themes are outlined via sectional summaries. A full glossary of key words and names is also provided. Concluding chapters look at yoga in contemporary life, revealing the popularity of yoga in the 21st century through Star Wars, and exploring yoga's connection to health and science, contrasting yoga's holistic view of healing with that of the limited view of present day medical science. Sample physical, breathing and meditation exercises are provided. An Introduction to Yoga Philosophy offers a comprehensive introduction to the Yoga Sutras text of Patanjali to all students and interested readers of Indian philosophy and religion, world religions, east-west psychology, and mysticism. (shrink)

Steven Pinker presents four ideals of Enlightenment in his popular book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He argues his case brilliantly and convincingly through cogent arguments in a language comprehensible to the reader of the present century. Moreover, whether it is reason or science or humanism or progress, he defends his position powerfully. He justifies his views by citing 75 graphs on the upswing improvement made by humanity in terms of prosperity, longevity, education, equality of (...) men and women, health, political freedom and medical breakthroughs. Though Pinker makes an excellent case for the positive contributions of Enlightenment; however he ignores the negative aspects that are responsible for causing a great schism between the white race and others who are black and brown. The paper highlights some of these negative comments made by such Enlightenment thinkers as Montesquieu, Voltaire, Chambers, Down and Down and others. Through their literary and scientific writings, these scholars and researchers downgraded the black and brown races, thus causing a rift that led to slavery, colonialism and apartheid. The paper reveals these negative aspects ignored by Pinker in his otherwise well-researched book on Enlightenment. Since Pinker presents a one-sided case by including only the positive contributions of Enlightenment, I recommend that he should write a sequel to his present work outlining the negative aspects responsible for numerous political, social and environmental problems facing humanity today. By using dialectical logic in place of logic of contraries, he might be able to synthesize both the positive and negative aspects of Enlightenment. He can then argue that humanity might be propelled to make progress more efficiently at a faster pace toward humanism and world peace. (shrink)

One of the hardest parts of being a leader is handling disagreements about values. The skills required to do this are increasingly important in polarized societies where there is pressure for businesses and organizations to have a sense of purpose and "do the right thing." Our book helps readers address these challenges. To do this, we don''t give a simplistic cookie-cutter recipe for what is right and wrong. Rather, we guide readers on a journey to rigorously explore their values and (...) better understand the values of others. We discuss the human psychology that drives conflicts over values as well as the philosophical frameworks that have guided people for millennia. We provide strategies, based in research from psychology and the behavioral sciences, whichthat readers can use to implement their values in their lives and their organizations. Topics covered include moral intuitions, self-serving biases, situational pressures, social norms, the role of business in society, consequentialism/utilitarianism, motives, perspective-taking, justice, fairness, and liberty. (shrink)

The thesis of the paper is that the root cause of clash or reconciliation among civilizations is housed in the drama of consciousness! Two models of consciousness that highlight this drama are put forward here. First is Jean Gebser’s view, which asserts that the history of human civilization is nothing more than the manifestations of the development of consciousness. This development has taken place through five distinct stages: the archaic, magical, mythic, mental and integrative. Clash in civilizations is due to (...) the fixation on the first four stages whereas reconciliation is possible through the use of the integrative stage. The second is the Tantric Yoga view of consciousness in terms of the seven chakras or wheels of consciousness. These chakras are spread out in the body like seven colors of the rainbow—starting with the base of the spine to the genitals, the belly button, the heart, the throat, the forehead and ending in the crown of the head. Clash in civilizations is due to the fixation on the first three levels (chakras) of consciousness whereas reconciliation is possible through the use of the upper fourwheels of consciousness (chakras), which are focused at developing universal consciousness. Since religion and civilization are intimately connected and several of the prominent civilizational clashes have been due to the religious differences, religious consciousness will be taken as the paradigm of this paper.How can humanity move from clash towards reconciliation? Such a possibility is suggested by both Gebser and Tantric Yoga whose theories point towards the development of an integrative universal consciousness: an encompassing consciousness that will transcend as well as incorporate all limited religious consciousness perspectives in its fold! The views of Vivekananda, a scholar-monk of India, on “one religion/one spirituality” are of particular interest in this context. They indicate an approach, which might lead to a possible future solution thus paving a path towards one-world-spiritual-peaceful order! (shrink)

The author examines the relationships between civilization and organized religion. A new theory of religion spawning civilization instead of vice versa is discussed, as well as the influence of the great organized religions on the development of modern cultures and civilizations. The history of the various large organized religions, including their origins, spread and mindsets are all examined, and the major differences between the Abrahamic and Indic religions are remarked upon as well.

This paper is a reflection on the boundaries of academic discourse as I came to be acutely aware of them while attempting to teach a graduate seminar in qualitative research methods. The purpose of the readings in Husserl and Schutz and the writing exercises was to assist students trained in quantitative methods and steeped in positivistic assumptions about research to write phenomenological descriptions of lived experience. Paul could not write the assigned papers due to a diagnosed writing disability but he (...) did submit fictional stories and sketches which beautifully illustrated the concepts of Husserl and Schutz. Paul's disability presented a natural bracketing experiment which brought the positivistic assumptions surrounding academic research and writing to the forefront. I engaged in verbal dialogues with Paul, in which he discussed the philosophical ideas. My work with Paul highlighted the extent to which the academic lifeworld marginalizes those who seek to write from the heart, disguising even the work of those philosophers who wish to uncover direct experiences.The crisis of the sciences is the loss of meaning for life. (Husserl, 1970: 5). (shrink)

IntroductionCognition generally declines gradually over time due to progressive degeneration of the brain, leading to dementia and eventual loss of independent functions. The rate of regression varies among the six cognitive domains. Current modality of cognitive assessment using neuropsychological paper-and-pencil screening tools for cognitive impairment such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment has limitations and is influenced by age. Virtual reality is considered as a potential alternative tool to assess cognition. A novel, fully immersive automated VR system has been developed to (...) assess the six cognitive domains. As cognition is associated with age, VR performance is postulated to vary with age using this system.AimsThis is a feasibility study to evaluate the VR performance of cognitively healthy adults aged between 35 and 74 years old, based on the performance score and completion time using the CAVIRE system.MethodsConducted in a public primary care clinic in Singapore, 25 multi-ethnic Asian adults were recruited in each of the four age groups in years: 35–44; 45–54; 55–64, and 65–74. The eligibility criteria included a MoCA score of 26 or higher to reflect normal cognition and understanding English instructions. They completed common daily activities ranging from brushing teething to shopping, across 13 VR segments. Their performances scores and completion time were automatically computed by the CAVIRE system. These VR performance indices were compared across the four age groups using one-way ANOVA, F-test of the hypothesis, followed by pair-wise comparisons in the event of a significant F-test.ResultsOne participant dropped out from Group 1. The demographic characteristics of 99 participants were similar across the 4 age groups. Overall, younger participants in Groups 1 and 2 attained higher VR performance scores and shorter completion time, compared to those in Groups 3 and 4, in all six cognitive domains.ConclusionThe CAVIRE VR performance scores and completion time significantly differ between the younger and older Asian participants with normal cognition. Enhancements to the system are needed to establish the age-group specific normal performance indices. (shrink)

Hisashi Nasu, Lester Embree, George Psathas, and Ilja Srubar (eds.), Alfred Schutz and His Intellectual Partners; Sandra P. Thomas and Howard R. Pollio, Listening to Patients, A Phenomenological Approach to Nursing Research and Practice; Matthew Ratcliffe, Rethinking Commonsense Psychology: A Critique of Folk Psychology, Theory of Mind and Simulation.