Freezing of gait can cause reduced independence and quality of life for many with Parkinson’s disease. Episodes frequently occur at points of transition such as navigating a doorway. Therapeutic interventions, i.e., drugs and exercise, do not always successfully mitigate episodes. There are several different, but not exclusive causes for freezing of gait. People with freezing of gait are able to navigate dynamic situations like stairways by utilizing a different attentional strategy to over-ground walking, but may freeze when passing through a (...) doorway. The question is, is it possible to employ a special attentional strategy to prevent freezing at this point? Motor imagery allows for learning motor skills in absolute safety and has been widely employed in a variety of populations, including other neuro-compromised groups. Motor imagery is not studied in a homologous manner in people with Parkinson’s Disease, leading to conflicting results, but may have the potential to establish a different attentional strategy which allows a subject to mitigate freezing of gait episodes. This paper will identify and discuss the questions that still need to be answered in order to consider this approach i.e., can this population access motor imagery, can motor imagery alter the attentional strategy employed when moving through doorways, what is the best motor imagery approach for people with Parkinson’s Disease and freezing of gait, and what dosage is most effective, while briefly outlining future research considerations. (shrink)

Postural reflexes are essential for locomotion and postural stability, and may play an important role in the etiology of chronic back pain. It has recently been theoretically predicted, and with the help of unilateral perturbations of the trunk experimentally confirmed that the sensorimotor control must lower the reflex amplitude for increasing reflex delays to maintain spinal stability. The underlying neuromuscular mechanism for the compensation of postural perturbations, however, is not yet fully understood. In this study, we applied unilateral and bilateral (...) sudden external perturbations to the trunk of healthy subjects and measured the muscular activity and the movement onset of the trunk. We found that the onset of the trunk muscle activity is prior to, or coincident with, the onset of the trunk movement. Additionally, the results of our experiments imply that the muscular response mechanism integrates distant sensory information from both sides of the body. These findings rule out a simple monosynaptic stretch reflex in favor of a more complex polysynaptic postural reflex mechanism to compensate postural perturbations. Moreover, the previously predicted negative correlation between reflex delay and reflex gain was also confirmed for bilateral perturbations. (shrink)

Abstract152 S., zahlreiche Abb., € 25,00. ISBN 978-3-7030-0830-6.

The present paper argues that, despite appearance to the contrary, Kierkegaard’s writings offer promising argumentational resources for addressing the problem of evil. According to Kierkegaard, however, in order to make use of these resources at all, one must necessarily be willing to shift the battleground, so to speak: from a third- to a genuine first-person perspective, namely the perspective of what Climacus dubs Religiousness A. All (yet also only) those who seek deliberate self-annihilation before God—a God in relation to whom (...) they perceive themselves always in the wrong—shall discover the ideal that an unwavering and in fact unconditional thankfulness (namely, for being forgiven) is to be considered the only appropriate attitude towards God and as such both necessary and sufficient for coming to terms with evil and suffering, at least in the life of someone making that discovery. I will argue that Kierkegaard’s (non-)pseudonymous writings provide reasons, at times unwittingly, for adopting the perspective of Religiousness A; however, I will also and ultimately argue that the principle of infinite thankfulness as a corollary of that perspective flounders when it comes to making sense of (the eschatological implications of) the suffering of others. (shrink)

In this paper, I will examine the notion of an epistemic dilemma, its characterizations in the literature, and the different intuitions prompted by it. I will illustrate that the notion of an epistemic dilemma is expected to capture various phenomena that are not easily unified with one concept: while some aspects of these phenomena are more about the agent in a certain situation, other aspects seem to be more about the situation as such. As a consequence, incompatible intuitions emerge concerning (...) the transparency of epistemic dilemmas as well as regarding the role that doxastic suspension plays in resolving cases of epistemic dilemma. I suggest to distinguish between the mental state of agents who find themselves in an epistemic dilemma and the normative situation that gives rise to a dilemma. I will refer to the agent’s mental state as epistemic conflict and will reserve the term epistemic dilemma for evidential situations in which epistemic principles either recommend incompatible doxastic responses or render all options impermissible. The concept of epistemic conflict not only captures the mental state of agents who find themselves in a genuine epistemic dilemma but also applies to agents who face difficult epistemic choices that they cannot resolve without substantial cognitive (and often pragmatic) effort, for example, via doxastic suspension. (shrink)

Drawing upon the example of Tucholsky's 1927 Pyrenäenbuch [Book of the Pyrenees], the paper inquires into the possibilities of disciplinary competences and methodology-driven interpretations in the field of cultural studies. It asks whether in the case of the Pyrenäenbuch , the combination strategies of text and photography necessarily predetermine the interpretation, or whether there are other competitive horizons of interpretation beyond this wellestablished theoretical topos of media studies. If it is read in the context of Arnold Gehlen's 1927 Reflexionen über (...) Gewohnheit [Reflections on habit] and Walter Benjamin's Kunstwerkessay , Tucholsky's Reisebuch [Book/journal of voyages] presents itself as an contemporary reading of Kierkegaard and thus as a systematic discussion of medial usages and practices under the sign of repetition. German Der Aufsatz fragt am Beispiel von Tucholskys Pyrenäenbuch von 1927 nach den Möglichkeiten disziplinärer Zuständigkeiten und methodisch gesteuerter Interpretationen im Feld der Kulturwissenschaft. Gibt im Falle des Pyrenäenbuchs die aus Sicht der Medienwissenschaft avancierte Kombinatorik von Text und Photographie die Auslegung vor oder lässt sich jenseits dieser etablierten medienwissenschaftlichen Theorie-Topik dem Text selbst noch ein anderer konkurrenzfähiger Auslegungshorizont abgewinnen? Gelesen im Umfeld von Arnold Gehlens Reflexionen über Gewohnheit (1927) und Walter Benjamins Kunstwerk -Aufsatz wird Tucholskys Reisebuch lesbar als aktualisierte Kierkegaard-Lektüre und damit als systematische Abhandlung über mediale Gebrauchsweisen und Praktiken im Zeichen der Wiederholung. (shrink)

Using an explicit task cuing paradigm, we tested whether masked cues can trigger task-set activation, which would suggest that unconsciously presented stimuli can impact cognitive control processes. Based on a critical assessment of previous findings on the priming of task-set activation, we present two experiments with a new method to approach this subject. Instead of using a prime, we varied the visibility of the cue. These cues either directly signaled particular tasks in Experiment 1, or certain task transitions in Experiment (...) 2. While both masked task and transition cues affected task choice, only task cues affected the speed of task performance. This observation suggests that task-specific stimulus–response rules can be activated only by masked cues that are uniquely associated with a particular task. Taken together, these results demonstrate that unconsciously presented stimuli have the power to activate corresponding task sets. (shrink)

The present study evaluates the cognitive representation of a kicking movement performed by a human and a humanoid robot, and how they are represented in experts and novices of soccer and robotics, respectively. To learn about the expertise-dependent development of memory structures, we compared the representation structures of soccer experts and robot experts concerning a human and humanoid robot kicking movement. We found different cognitive representation structures for both expertise groups under two different motor performance conditions . In general, the (...) expertise relies on the perceptual-motor knowledge of the human motor system. Thus, the soccer experts’ cognitive representation of the humanoid robot movement is dominated by their representation of the corresponding human movement. Additionally, our results suggest that robot experts, in contrast to soccer experts, access functional features of the technical system of the humanoid robot in addition to their perceptual-motor knowledge about the human motor system. Thus, their perceptual-motor and neuro-functional machine representation are integrated into a cognitive representation of the humanoid robot movement. (shrink)

Performance on working memory (WM) tasks may partially be supported by long-term memory (LTM) processing. Hence, brain activation recently being implicated in WM may actually have been driven by (incidental) LTM formation. We examined which brain regions actually support successful WM processing, rather than being confounded by LTM processes, during the maintenance and probe phase of a WM task. We administered a four-pair (faces and houses) associative delayed-match-to-sample (WM) task using event-related fMRI and a subsequent associative recognition LTM task, using (...) the same stimuli. This enabled us to analyze subsequent memory effects for both the WM and the LTM test by contrasting correctly recognized pairs with incorrect pairs for either task. Critically, with respect to the subsequent WM effect, we computed this analysis exclusively for trials that were forgotten in the subsequent LTM recognition task. Hence, brain activity associated with successful WM processing was less likely to be confounded by incidental LTM formation. The subsequent LTM effect, in contrast, was analyzed exclusively for pairs that previously had been correctly recognized in the WM task, disclosing brain regions involved in successful LTM formation after successful WM processing. Results for the subsequent WM effect showed no significantly activated brain areas for WM maintenance, possibly due to an insensitivity of fMRI to mechanisms underlying active WM maintenance. In contrast, a correct decision at WM probe was linked to activation in the “retrieval success network” (anterior and posterior midline brain structures). The subsequent LTM analyses revealed greater activation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex in the early phase of the maintenance stage. No supra-threshold activation was found during the WM probe. Together, we obtained clearer insights in which brain regions support successful WM and LTM without the potential confound of the respective memory system. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Sportvereine reagieren auf einen Veränderungsdruck ihrer Umwelt selten einheitlich und keinesfalls immer so, wie es die damit verbundenen Forderungen nahe legen. Was steckt hinter diesem Phänomen? Weshalb ist es anscheinend so irrelevant für die Entwicklung der Sportvereine, wenn externe Experten die Notwendigkeit von Strukturveränderungen einfordern? Bedeutet dies, dass Sportvereine ausschließlich nach dem Gutdünken ihrer Funktionäre operieren, oder dass sie gar unfähig sind, sich von Ereignissen in ihrer Umwelt zu Lernprozessen anregen zu lassen? Der vorliegende Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit der (...) Lernfähigkeit von Sportorganisationen. Dabei zeigt sich der Sportverein als besonders lernfähig im Hinblick auf eine Abwehr von Irritationen. Die Notwendigkeit dieser Abwehr ergibt sich aus den sportvereinsspezifischen Organisationsstrukturen. (shrink)

This paper has two goals. The first is to develop a cross-linguistically valid model of modality and mood that captures the most important dimensions along which modal expressions vary. I posit a model with two such dimensions, one of volitivity, and one of event-orientation vs. speaker-orientation, mood being placed at the speaker-oriented end relative to modality proper. The second goal is to provide a new perspective on semantic change of modal expressions on the basis of the proposed model. I argue (...) that unidirectional change along the event-oriented / speaker-oriented dimension is the one overarching tendency of semantic change in modals. This stands in contrast to the widespread perception that change from deontic to epistemic is the dominant tendency. The directionality suggested in this new model is also more comprehensive than previously proposed tendencies of change, such as ‘‘from agent-oriented to epistemic’’, ‘‘from agent-oriented to speaker-oriented’’, and ‘‘from participant-internal to participant-external’’, as it better accounts for various kinds of change that have been previously neglected, including change from epistemic to deontic. (shrink)

chapter Introduction Poststructuralist perspectives on language, gender and sexual identity Since the inception of the field of language and gender in the, ...

This note proposes to emend the problematic preserved reading ad cuius mensae sacra (Val. Max. 4.2.3) to ad Iouis mensae sacra.

Immanuel Kant is, famously, not only the major philosopher of European enlightenment, but also one of the first philosophers to develop a philosophical theory of “human races”. How do these two sides of Kant relate to each other? What is the significance of race in Kant’s philosophy? In this article, we aim to discuss these questions by taking a close look into the conceptual and philosophical presuppositions underlying Kant’s understanding of race; relating them to the concept of teleology as developed (...) by Kant in the Critique of Judgement and to the idea of natural history that can be derived from there. In the last two chapters, we intertwine both perspectives in such a way that, on the one hand, we can determine the philosophical significance of race for Kant, and, on the other hand, show how a race-sensible perspective gives new and critical insight into Kant’s concept of reason. (shrink)

In this paper, the relationship between the e-value of a complex hypothesis, H, and those of its constituent elementary hypotheses, Hj, j = 1… k, is analyzed, in the independent setup. The e-value of a hypothesis H, ev, is a Bayesian epistemic, credibility or truth value defined under the Full Bayesian Significance Testing mathematical apparatus. The questions addressed concern the important issue of how the truth value of H, and the truth function of the corresponding FBST structure M, relate to (...) the truth values of its elementary constituents, Hj, and to the truth functions of their corresponding FBST structures Mj, respectively. (shrink)

Cancer is a complex disease, necessitating research on many different levels; at the subcellular level to identify genes, proteins and signaling pathways associated with the disease; at the cellular level to identify, for example, cell-cell adhesion and communication mechanisms; at the tissue level to investigate disruption of homeostasis and interaction with the tissue of origin or settlement of metastasis; and finally at the systems level to explore its global impact, e.g. through the mechanism of cachexia. Mathematical models have been proposed (...) to identify key mechanisms that underlie dynamics and events at every scale of interest, and increasing effort is now being paid to multi-scale models that bridge the different scales. With more biological data becoming available and with increased interdisciplinary efforts, theoretical models are rendering suitable tools to predict the origin and course of the disease. The ultimate aims of cancer models, however, are to enlighten our concept of the carcinogenesis process and to assist in the designing of treatment protocols that can reduce mortality and improve patient quality of life. Conventional treatment of cancer is surgery combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy for localized tumors or systemic treatment of advanced cancers, respectively. Although radiation is widely used as treatment, most scheduling is based on empirical knowledge and less on the predictions of sophisticated growth dynamical models of treatment response. Part of the failure to translate modeling research to the clinic may stem from language barriers, exacerbated by often esoteric model renderings with inaccessible parameterization. Here we discuss some ideas for combining tractable dynamical tumor growth models with radiation response models using biologically accessible parameters to provide a more intuitive and exploitable framework for understanding the complexity of radiotherapy treatment and failure. (shrink)

This study presents a contrastive corpus linguistic analysis of language use before and after Stonewall. It uses theoretical insights on normativity from the field of language and sexuality to investigate how the shifting normativities associated with the Stonewall Riots – widely considered the central event of gay liberation in the Western world – have shaped our conceptualization of sexuality as it surfaces in language use. Drawing on two corpora of gay men’s pre-Stonewall narratives dating from two time periods, the analysis (...) combines quantitative and qualitative corpus linguistic methods to examine discursive shifts as evident from narrators’ language use. The study identifies the terms homosexual and normal as central contrastive labels in PRE, and gay and straight as corresponding terms in POST. Other discursive shifts detected are from sexual desire/practices to identity, from an individualistic to a community-based conceptualization of sexuality, and from unquestioned heteronormativity and gender binarism to a weakening of such dominant discourses. The findings are discussed in relation to the desire-identity shift, which is traditionally assumed to have taken place at the end of the 19th century, and shed new light on Stonewall as a central event for the development of an identity-based conceptualization of sexuality as we know it today. (shrink)

Organised around the themes of economy and politics; critical theory; and culture in order to offer an impressive range of thematic perspectives and critical angles, the book delves into the most pressing of today’s quandaries by combining stringent critical analysis with creative foresight. A rigorous examination of the current crisis of late-capitalist society, States of Crisis and Post-Capitalist scenarios develops paradigms that promise to rekindle the desire to move beyond capitalism towards a different social order.

This conceptual paper analyses the arguments which have been made in favour of a transition towards humanistic management. In order to reconcile economic as well as moral arguments an integrative model of humanistic management is presented. This model outlines prospective lines of empirical research especially in the area where business conduct is profitable but not humanistic.

Kritik: Formbildung und Formbegriff. Das Formdenken der Moderne, hrsg. von Ralph Ubl. Malika Maskarinec, Rahel Villinger und Markus Klammer, Paderborn: Fink 2019.

Der Aufsatz fragt am Beispiel von Tucholskys Pyrenäenbuch von 1927 nach den Möglichkeiten disziplinärer Zuständigkeiten und methodisch gesteuerter Interpretationen im Feld der Kulturwissenschaft. Gibt im Falle des Pyrenäenbuchs die aus Sicht der Medienwissenschaft avancierte Kombinatorik von Text und Photographie die Auslegung vor oder lässt sich jenseits dieser etablierten medienwissenschaftlichen Theorie-Topik dem Text selbst noch ein anderer konkurrenzfähiger Auslegungshorizont abgewinnen? Gelesen im Umfeld von Arnold Gehlens Reflexionen über Gewohnheit (1927) und Walter Benjamins Kunstwerk-Aufsatz wird Tucholskys Reisebuch lesbar als aktualisierte Kierkegaard-Lektüre und (...) damit als systematische Abhandlung über mediale Gebrauchsweisen und Praktiken im Zeichen der Wiederholung. Drawing upon the example of Tucholsky's 1927 [Book of the Pyrenees], the paper inquires into the possibilities of disciplinary competences and methodology-driven interpretations in the field of cultural studies. It asks whether in the case of the, the combination strategies of text and photography necessarily predetermine the interpretation, or whether there are other competitive horizons of interpretation beyond this wellestablished theoretical topos of media studies. If it is read in the context of Arnold Gehlen's 1927 [Reflections on habit] and Walter Benjamin's, Tucholsky's [Book/journal of voyages] presents itself as an contemporary reading of Kierkegaard and thus as a systematic discussion of medial usages and practices under the sign of repetition. (shrink)

Implicit and explicit filling-in phenomena should be distinguished. Blind spot phenomena and mechanisms of boundary completion can be accounted for by implicit filling-in. Surface regions are “painted” with perceptual quantities, such as brightness, by explicit filling-in. “Filling-in” and “finding-out” relate to different computational tasks. Mechanisms of purposive computation (e.g., for navigation) evaluate local measurements, thus “finding out”; whereas mechanisms for grasping might require passive reconstruction, thus “filling in.”.