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O presente artigo objetiva refletir acerca de possíveis inflexões ofertadas pela proposta metodológica amplamente conhecida como Cartografia. Procurando cumprir tal intuito, primeiramente explanaremos minimamente de que se trata a perspectiva cartográfica e em que ela difere de outros modos de fazer pesquisa, baseados, sobretudo, pelo impacto epistemológico conduzido por Deleuze & Guattari – propositores desse conceito – no campo da filosofia e que acaba por respingar no que concerne à produção investigativa na área das Ciências Humanas em geral e especialmente (...) no campo da Educação. Nesse sentido, o conceito de Rizoma proposto pelos autores pode ser útil para entendermos de que se trata tal giro filosófico/epistemológico. Posteriormente, utilizando como motor reflexivo a imagem da intervenção artística “Espiral do Conhecimento” de André Dalmazzo – intervenção esta proposta em uma aula de Metodologia da Pesquisa em Educação – pretendemos inferir algumas noções e estender nossa reflexão acerca de inflexões que pesquisas em educação permeadas por traços metodológicos cartográficos parecem apresentar. Três questões/inflexões foram selecionadas para serem desenvolvidas no texto, a partir do evento citado. São elas: primeiramente o incômodo causado na turma mediante uma situação inusitada, a seguir a questão de que para cada um que se embrenhou no espaço da sala de aula tomada pela intervenção artística “Espiral do Conhecimento” a experiência ocorreu de uma forma, contudo, fazer tal afirmativa não se trata de reduzir os pontos de vista a mero subjetivismo e, finalmente, a questão/inflexão que nos parece cintilar da experiência relatada diz respeito à complexidade do evento de pesquisar e à construção investigativa como uma produção a partir de fragmentos, sobras, vestígios. Desses três apontamentos concluímos que a Cartografia como estratégia metodológica parece criar inflexões de acordo com os terrenos múltiplos que o pesquisador encontra, desdobrando-se por esferas e caminhos que oferecem material para a produção de sentidos e composições diversos. (shrink)

It is suggested that bifurcation of parallel fibres in the cerebellar cortex assists the spatiotemporal convergence of temporally dispersed and asomatotopic inputs to granule cells. This increases the number of combinations of inputs which can be compared for the purpose of sequence recognition.

BackgroundThe consent process for a genetic study is challenging when the research is conducted in a group stigmatized because of beliefs that the disease is familial. Podoconiosis, also known as 'mossy foot', is an example of such a disease. It is a condition resulting in swelling of the lower legs among people exposed to red clay soil. It is a very stigmatizing problem in endemic areas of Ethiopia because of the widely held opinion that the disease runs in families and (...) is untreatable. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of social stigma on the process of obtaining consent for a study on the genetics of podoconiosis in Southern Ethiopia.MethodsWe adapted a rapid assessment tool validated in The Gambia. The methodology was qualitative involving focus-group discussions (n = 4) and in-depth interviews (n = 25) with community members, fieldworkers, researchers and staff of the Mossy Foot Treatment and Prevention Association (MFTPA) working on prevention and treatment of podoconiosis.ResultsWe found that patients were afraid of participation in a genetic study for fear the study might aggravate stigmatization by publicizing the familial nature of the disease. The MFTPA was also concerned that discussion about the familial nature of podoconiosis would disappoint patients and would threaten the trust they have in the organization. In addition, participants of the rapid assessment stressed that the genetic study should be approved at family level before prospective participants are approached for consent. Based on this feedback, we developed and implemented a consent process involving community consensus and education of fieldworkers, community members and health workers. In addition, we utilized the experience and established trust of the MFTPA to diminish the perceived risk.ConclusionThe study showed that the consent process developed based on issues highlighted in the rapid assessment facilitated recruitment of participants and increased their confidence that the genetic research would not fuel stigma. Therefore, investigators must seek to assess and address risks of research from prospective participants' perspectives. This involves understanding the issues in the society, the culture, community dialogues and developing a consent process that takes all these into consideration. (shrink)

Starting from macroscopic and microscopic facts of cerebellar histology, we propose a new functional interpretation that may elucidate the role of the cerebellum in movement control. The idea is that the cerebellum is a large collection of individual lines (Eccles's : Eccles et al. 1967a) that respond specifically to certain sequences of events in the input and in turn produce sequences of signals in the output. We believe that the sequence-in/sequence-out mode of operation is as typical for the cerebellar cortex (...) as the transformation of sets into sets of active neurons is typical for the cerebral cortex, and that both the histological differences between the two and their reciprocal functional interactions become understandable in the light of this dichotomy. The response of Purkinje cells to sequences of stimuli in the mossy fiber system was shown experimentally by Heck on surviving slices of rat and guinea pig cerebellum. Sequential activation of a row of eleven stimulating electrodes in the granular layer, imitating a of the stimuli along the folium, produces a powerful volley in the parallel fibers that strongly excites Purkinje cells, as evidenced by intracellular recording. The volley, or has maximal amplitude when the stimulus moves toward the recording site at the speed of conduction in parallel fibers, and much smaller amplitudes for lower or higher The succession of stimuli has no effect when they in the opposite direction. Synchronous activation of the stimulus electrodes also had hardly any effect. We believe that the sequences of mossy fiber activation that normally produce this effect in the intact cerebellum are a combination of motor planning relayed to the cerebellum by the cerebral cortex, and information about ongoing movement, reaching the cerebellum from the spinal cord. The output elicited by the specific sequence to which a is tuned may well be a succession of well timed inhibitory volleys the motor sequences so as to adapt them to the complicated requirements of the physics of a multijointed system. (shrink)

The main assumptions on which the tidal wave hypothesis rests will be questioned. First, since focal synchronous mossy fibre input is sufficient to ensure spread of activity along the parallel fibres, the tidal wave is redundant. Second, spatial and temporal characteristics of mossy fibre input make spatio-temporal sequences appropriate for setting up a tidal wave unlikely in the behaving animal.

The central hypothesis of Braitenberg et al.'s target article is hard to reconcile with recent neurophysiological and modeling data. The assumed pattern of mossy fiber input seems unrealistic, inhibition is likely to interfere with the proposed excitatory responses, and moreover, computer simulations show that the Purkinje cell is a poor coincidence detector.

Random-excitation granule cells are likely to overwhelm spatiotemporal sequences described as in Braitenberg et al.'s target article. A mechanism is proposed involving the Golgi cells to reinforce tidal waves against noise. The recurrent inhibition by the Golgi calls can recruit random excitations of granule cells in phase with sequences of mossy fiber input.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Proudly Jewish—and Averse to CircumcisionLisa Braver MossI've always had a strong sense of my Jewish identity—and I've always had grave misgivings about circumcision. It used to seem that these [End Page 86] statements were at odds with one another. Now I'm on a mission to integrate the two.I'm married to a man who's also Jewish. In the late 1980s, we had two sons, whose circumcisions I agreed to. (...) Brit milah (the covenant of circumcision) is intended as a spiritually meaningful act symbolizing the agreement between God and the Jewish people. But for me, the experience was so upsetting that I didn't feel God's presence. In spite of all the arguments in favor—the weight of tradition, wanting my boys to be accepted in the Jewish world, and so on—I came to regret my acquiescence.I began to explore reasons to question circumcision from a Jewish point of view, publishing articles in Jewish magazines and speaking at conferences. Rather than focusing on the medical pros and cons, I wrote about Jewish law and ethics, and spoke with many rabbis. I was hoping to deepen Jewish dialogue on this topic, which was oddly off-limits in a culture that values intellectual inquiry.Besides helping me understand more about Judaism, my research and writing was a way of living with my guilt. I had succumbed to—and put my boys through—a tradition that went completely against my maternal instincts. This schism had made me doubt myself as a new mother. What kind of parent was I if I couldn't be a fierce protector of my newborn baby? It was not a positive or welcoming way for me to enter into motherhood.I blamed myself. I hadn't done medical research before my boys were born, trusting instead in the longevity of the tradition and the claim that circumcision is more hygienic. I bought into the medical justifications for circumcision—all of which, I later learned, fail to acknowledge the erogenous nature of foreskin tissue and its physiological function. If I'd known more; if I'd thought more deeply about infant trauma; if I'd taken my own spirituality more seriously—I would have fought for a different outcome, despite the pressure I felt as a Jewish person.Years went by. I wrote a novel about Jewish circumcision, then co-wrote a book of alternative bris ceremonies for families opting out of circumcision. Slowly, I came to understand that blaming myself for agreeing to circumcise my sons was not only a waste of time, but also missed the larger point. I'm not alone in my objections to this ancient tradition. Indeed, many Jewish parents get through the event with white knuckles, emotional detachment, alcohol, or sedatives rather than with genuine religious feeling. Shouldn't their spiritual authenticity matter? Shouldn't mine have mattered?In Judaism, every commandment (of which circumcision is one) should be approached with kavanah, or spiritual intent. Thus, my non-spiritual feelings about the circumcision tradition are problematic from a Jewish point of view. I should have been able to tell the rabbi I didn't really believe circumcision was what God wanted me to do. I wish I'd been guided in coming to a decision that reflected my actual spirituality. Instead, all that seemed to matter to anyone was getting the deed done.Going against my instincts and spirituality was not just my failing—it also represented an institutional failing. Jewish leaders and rabbis aren't trained to respond compassionately to those averse to circumcision. Even parents merely questioning the practice may be subjected to judgment, lectures, and condescension. Parents deciding not to circumcise may face all that and more: in some synagogues in the U.S., boys that have not been circumcised are currently being denied bar mitzvah.________In the Jewish world, we tend to look upon circumcision as the one monolithic tradition: we assume that every Jewish male is circumcised and that no one talks about or questions this. The truth is that throughout our history, there have been males who, for various reasons, did not undergo the ritual... (shrink)

Prefrontal cerebral areas project to Purkinje cells, located in the most lateral part of the cerebellum, via mossy and climbing fibers. The latter olivary error signals reflect the attentional load of the prefrontal cortex. At the cerebral level, LTP-LTD plasticity allows these Purkinje cells to adaptively reinforce the active pyramidal cells involved in the motor sequence.

Several themes can be identified in the commentaries. The first is that the climbing fibers may have more than one function; the second is that the climbing fibers provide sensory rather than motor signals. We accept the possibility that climbing fibers may have more than one function consequence(s)’ in the title. Until we know more about the function of the inhibitory input to the inferior olive from the cerebellar nuclei, which are motor structures, we have to keep open the possibility (...) that the climbing fiber signals can be a combination of sensory and motor signals. (shrink)