Les professeurs Macey et Miller analysent la relation entre l’assurance des dépôts et l’ inadé quation dans la structure des échéances des actifs et passifs des banques commerciales. Après avoir critiqué l’hypothèse traditionnelle concernant la réglementation, d’après laquelle les banques sont incitées à financer les actifs à long terme par des passifs à court terme parce que l’assurance des dépôts garantie par l’Etat stimule le crédit des banques et subventionne les passifs à court terme, ils utilisent l’analyse économique des décisions (...) publiques pour soutenir qu’une version modifiée de l’hypothèse de la réglementation est la meilleure explication de la déstructuration des échéances des actifs et passifs bancaires.Finalement, ils considèrent que soutenir l’hypothèse de la réglementation n’entraîne pas l’ acceptation du modèle d’assurance des dépôts garantie par l’Etat tel qu’il existe aux Etats-Unis aujourd’hui.Professors Macey and Miller explore the relationship between deposit insurance and the mismatch in the term structure of commercial banks’ assets and liabilities. After criticizing the traditional regulatory hypothesis, which posits that banks have incentives to fund long-term assets with short-term liabilities because government-sponsored deposit insurance enhances bank credit and subsidizes short-term liabilities, they use public choice theory to argue that a modified version of the regulatory hypothesis is the best explanation for the mismatch in the term structure of banks’ assets and liabilities. Finally, they argue that embracing the regulatory hypothesis does not imply acceptance of the government-sponsored deposit insurance scheme as it exists in the U.S. today. (shrink)

In 1995 Barbara Held, professor of Psychology , published what is, I think, the first book of its kind - Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy - a book not about how to do psychotherapy, but about how we should think about doing it. The work engages in a vigorous examination of the recent antirealist trend in psychotherapy and it opens up an important and timelyepistemological debate, but its conclusion - that postmodern (narrative) therapists ought to (...) reject antirealism in favour ofa modest realism - is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of the originary aim behind the adoption of an antirealist epistemology. It is Held’s contention that the narrative therapy movement adopted antirealism as a means of “maximizing individuality” in therapy, a goal which canand should be achieved by way of realism. I suggest here that, to the contrary, the aim of this epistemological shift was the resolution of strictly epistemological problems, and that a return to realism would be antithetical to this aim.En 1995, Barbara Held,professeure de psychologie, a publié ce qui, à mon avis, est un livre inouï: Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy. L’ouvrage entreprend un examen critique des tendances antiréalistes que l’on retrouve dans la psychothérapie aujourd‘hui et ouvre un débat épistémologique important et opportun. Cependant, sa conclusion, à l’effet que les thérapeutes postmodernes (narratifs) devraient rejeter l’antirealisme au profit d’un réalisme modeste, se fonde sur une interprétation erronée du but premier de l’épistémologie antiréaliste. Held soutient que le mouvement de thérapie narrative a adopté l’antiréalisme afin de “maximiser l’individualité” en thérapie, un but qui peut et devrait être atteint plutôt par le réalisme. Ici, je prétends au contraire que letournant épistémologique a été entrepris dans le but de résoudre des problèmes strictement épistémologiques, et qu’un retour au réalisme serait contraire à ce but. (shrink)

In 1995 Barbara Held, professor of Psychology, published what is, I think, the first book of its kind - Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy - a book not about how to do psychotherapy, but about how we should think about doing it. The work engages in a vigorous examination of the recent antirealist trend in psychotherapy and it opens up an important and timelyepistemological debate, but its conclusion - that postmodern (narrative) therapists ought to reject (...) antirealism in favour ofa modest realism - is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of the originary aim behind the adoption of an antirealist epistemology. It is Held’s contention that the narrative therapy movement adopted antirealism as a means of “maximizing individuality” in therapy, a goal which canand should be achieved by way of realism. I suggest here that, to the contrary, the aim of this epistemological shift was the resolution of strictly epistemological problems, and that a return to realism would be antithetical to this aim.En 1995, Barbara Held,professeure de psychologie, a publié ce qui, à mon avis, est un livre inouï: Back to Reality: A Critique of Postmodern Theory in Psychotherapy. L’ouvrage entreprend un examen critique des tendances antiréalistes que l’on retrouve dans la psychothérapie aujourd‘hui et ouvre un débat épistémologique important et opportun. Cependant, sa conclusion, à l’effet que les thérapeutes postmodernes (narratifs) devraient rejeter l’antirealisme au profit d’un réalisme modeste, se fonde sur une interprétation erronée du but premier de l’épistémologie antiréaliste. Held soutient que le mouvement de thérapie narrative a adopté l’antiréalisme afin de “maximiser l’individualité” en thérapie, un but qui peut et devrait être atteint plutôt par le réalisme. Ici, je prétends au contraire que letournant épistémologique a été entrepris dans le but de résoudre des problèmes strictement épistémologiques, et qu’un retour au réalisme serait contraire à ce but. (shrink)

The study of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) function has shown to provide useful indicators for risk stratification and early detection on a variety of cardiovascular pathologies. However, data gathered during different tests of the ANS are difficult to analyse, mainly due to the complex mechanisms involved in the autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system (CVS). Although model-based analysis of ANS data has been already proposed as a way to cope with this complexity, only a few models coupling the main (...) elements involved have been presented in the literature. In this paper, a new model of the CVS, representing the ventricles, the circulatory system and the regulation of the CVS activity by the ANS, is presented. The models of the vascular system and the ventricular activity have been developed using the Bond Graph formalism, as it proposes a unified representation for all energetic domains, facilitating the integration of mechanic and hydraulic phenomena. In order to take into account the electro-mechanical behaviour of both ventricles, an electrophysiologic model of the cardiac action potential, represented by a set of ordinary differential equations, has been integrated. The short-term ANS regulation of heart rate, cardiac contractility and peripheral vasoconstriction is represented by means of continuous transfer functions. These models, represented in different continuous formalisms, are coupled by using a multi-formalism simulation library. Results are presented for two different autonomic tests, namely the Tilt Test and the Valsalva Manoeuvre, by comparing real and simulated signals. (shrink)

Quelle est la nature et la fonction des sentiments dans l’activité de connaissance et, plus largement, dans l’existence humaine? Cette question, massive, n’a cessé d’inquiéter la philosophie, dont l’histoire paraît à bien des égards se confondre avec celle d’une opposition entre la lucidité de la raison et l’obscurité dangereuse des passions. Si le discours philosophique n’a jamais nié l’importance des sentiments, ni leur rôle dans l’ordonnancement général de la vie humaine, ce discours est cependant empreint d’ambiguïtés, comme l’est, déjà, le (...) statut du « cœur » dans la tripartition fonctionnelle de l’âme présentée par Platon : ni réductible à la droite raison, ni relégué dans la sphère des désirs qui nous empêchent de contempler les Idées, le sentiment est cet intermédiaire allié de la raison qui met en mouvement nos réactions morales. Cette ambiguïté se retrouve à l’âge classique, lorsque le discours philosophique découvre le fonctionnement des passions et cherche les modèles scientifiques susceptibles d’en rendre compte, hésitant entre la physiologie , la géométrie , la médecine et les sciences de la nature .En faisant de l’affectivité l’une des structures fondamentales de l’existence, la phénoménologie a replacé au centre du questionnement philosophique la problématique des sentiments. Mais comment décrire ces expériences singulières – celle de l’amour, de l’angoisse, du désespoir ou de la joie – sans les confondre avec des objets? Comment donner du sens aux affects sans adopter ce point de vue surplombant des sciences de la nature, qui confond le discours des causes et celui des raisons? Comment, en d’autres termes, continuer à parler des sentiments de manière raisonnée, tout en reconnaissant que les sentiments nous font autant que nous les connaissons – tout en continuant, par conséquent, à être réceptifs à leur pouvoir de nous ébranler? (shrink)

Next SectionThe present investigation looks for a solution to the problem of the influence of feelings and emotions on our ethical decisions. This problem can be formulated in the following way. On the one hand, emotions (fear, pity and so on) can alter our sense of discrimination and lead us to make our wrong decisions. On the other hand, it is known that lack of sensitivity can alter our judgment and lead us to sacrifice basic ethical principles such as autonomy, (...) beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. Only emotions can turn a decision into an ethical one, but they can also turn it into an unreasonable one. To avoid this contradiction, suggest integrating emotions with the decisional factors of the process of “retrospective thinking”. During this thinking, doctors usually try to identify the nature and impact of feelings on the decision they have just made. In this retrospective moment of analysis of the decision, doctors also question themselves on the feelings they did not experience. They do this to estimate the consequences of this lack of feeling on the way they behaved with the patient. (shrink)

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered (...) to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered (...) to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

Response strategy is a key for preventing widespread corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector. Although several studies have been devoted to this area, the effectiveness of response strategies has seldom been evaluated in China. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities through a survey in the Chinese public construction sector. Survey data obtained from selected experts involved in the Chinese public construction sector were analyzed by factor analysis and partial (...) least squares-structural equation modeling. Analysis results showed that four response strategies of leadership, rules and regulations, training, and sanctions, only achieved an acceptable level in preventing corruption vulnerabilities in the Chinese public construction sector. This study contributes to knowledge by improving the understanding of the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector of developing countries. (shrink)

The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics is an outstanding, comprehensive and accessible guide to the major themes, thinkers, and issues in metaphysics. The Companion features over fifty specially commissioned chapters from international scholars which are organized into three clear parts: History of Metaphysics Ontology Metaphysics and Science. Each section features an introduction which places the range of essays in context, while an extensive glossary allows easy reference to key terms and definitions. The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics is essential reading for students (...) of philosophy and anyone interested in surveying the central topics and problems in metaphysics from causation to vagueness and from Plato and Aristotle to the present-day. (shrink)

Physicians frequently face ethical dilemmas when caring for patients. To help them to cope with these, biomedical ethics aims to implement moral norms for particular problems and contexts. As a means of studying the cognitive and neurobiological features underlying the respect for these norms, moral cognitive neuroscience could help us to understand and improve ethical questioning. The article reviews recent developments in the field and presents neurobiological arguments to highlight why some moral rules are universally shared and why some ethical (...) responses are very dependent on context. (shrink)