Introduction:Despite being considered as a contravention under some countries’ legislation, the therapeutic use of Cannabis sativa has been growing in Brazil, due to the promising results observed in many pathologies. Such a scenario has fostered the need to deepen discussions on the subject and possibly revise legislation governing the substance use and access.Objectives:Identify the types of stigma related to the therapeutic use of Cannabis and describe the strategies people use to overcome stigma.Methods:This integrative review was carried out in the databases (...) PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, with 565 articles being retrieved. Triads’ cross-check were done, first maintaining the “cannabis” and “therapeutic use” pair, added by “stigma,” “bioethics,” “ethics,” “social consequences,” and “legal consequences.” The final selection resulted in six articles.Ethical Consideration:However, the ethical issues that pervade and regulate decisions on this subject must be considered.Results:Different dimensions and types of stigma related to the therapeutic use of Cannabis have been identified. The bioethical principle of autonomy was an expression of citizenship and human rights, mitigating internal conflicts related to self-stigma and the effects of external stigma on the person’s life.Conclusion:It was possible to identify the types of stigma related to the therapeutic use of Cannabis is an internal dimension represented and an external dimension, represented and to identify strategies adopted to face this stigma: skills training group for users, elaboration of laws and specific programs to clarify the therapeutic use of Cannabis with a greater social scope, and support for family members. Thus, contributing to the building of people’s autonomy in a broader context of decision-making autonomy and executive autonomy will provide the development of people’s capacity to perform complex tasks of self-management and, consequently, to continue promoting and preserving their decision-making process and their capacity to plan and perform tasks associated with managing their lives and their treatments. (shrink)

O que somos? Como nos tornamos o que somos? Quais relações de saber-poder atravessam nossas subjetividades? Quais dispositivos e tecnologías foram/são mobilizados em torno das urgências histórico-contemporâneas? Quais outros somos são possíveis diante das estratégias de governamentalidade disciplinares e biopolíticas que marcam a contemporaneidade? O pensamento de Michel Foucault e seu modo crítico de indagação histórica e filosófica possibilitam que interpelemos os processos que nos fizeram e nos fazem ser quem somos, seus mecanismos de assujeitamento e posibilidades de resistências, nos (...) levando a problematizar os processos de subjetivação como efeitos e indicios de relações de poder-saber historicamente constituídas [...]. (shrink)

Review & Reply. Review of Gonçalves, R.T. (tr.) Lucrécio. Sobre a Natureza das Coisas(2021).

Facial information is a powerful channel for human-to-human communication. Characteristically, faces can be defined as biological objects that are four-dimensional (4D) patterns, whereby they have concurrently a spatial structure as well as temporal dynamics. The spatial characteristics of facial objects possess three dimensions (3D), namely breadth, height and importantly, depth. The temporal properties of facial objects are defined by how a 3D facial structure evolves dynamically over time; where time is referred to as the fourth dimension (4D). Our entire perspective (...) of another’s face, whether it be social, affective or cognitive perceptions, is therefore built on a combination of 3D and 4D visual cues. Counterintuitively, over the past few decades of experimental research in psychology, facial stimuli have largely been presented to participants as a spatial pattern that has been flattened into two dimensions (2D), while remaining largely static. The following review aims to advance and update facial researchers, on the recent revolution in computer-generated, realistic 4D facial models produced from real-life human subjects. We delve in-depth to summarize recent studies which have utilized facial stimuli that possess 3D structural cues (geometry and depth) and 4D temporal cues (3D structure + dynamic viewpoint and movement). In sum, we have found that higher-order perceptions such as identity, gender, ethnicity, emotion and personality, are critically influenced by the 4D characteristics embedded within natural human faces. In future, it is recommended that facial stimuli incorporate the 4D space-time perspective with the proposed time-resolved methods. (shrink)

Recently, an increasing number of researchers in different parts of the world have been studying childhood from a point of view that highlights children who are considered “peripheral” – far from the ideal model associated with Western countries. We began with the intention of getting to know African children in Angola, informed by the belief that the preservation of languages is important in maintaining social knowledge and traditions. This text describes a preliminary study carried out in a culturally rich location (...) with strong traditions, but which is also marked by processes of cultural denial and devaluation. According to Ndombele and Timbane (2020), most Angolan children learn Portuguese at age seven, when they start school, especially in rural areas. This fact hinders the literacy learning process, and presents the risk of the disappearance of some native languages. Many schools teach children only in Portuguese. When visiting a school in Ganda, a rural area of Benguela, we found a group of children who, primarily through the games they played, keep the Umbundu language alive, and with that the identity and culture of their ancestors. Building on this, these children and their teachers created a syllable association game based on the music sung as they played. The game had two modalities - in the Umbundu language and in the Portuguese language – and functioned as a bilingual pedagogical tool. In the initial moment of offering the game for testing with the children, it was discovered that by singing the song of the game and discussing the possible solutions by themselves, they were able to make correct associations of the syllables in Umbundu, which they then translated into Portuguese. Thus, a resource was created together with the teachers, which, in addition to valuing the native language of the population, allowed the use of children's knowledge to create a didactic resource. In addition, it was possible to encounter the concept of childhood in the current world, deconstructing the idea of a single and ideal model, especially in light of those children who bring habits from home that do not always harmonize with the school routine, and often clash with Euro/Western model, which is based on age separation of classes as a requirement to guarantee learning, and tend to devalue other exchanges that help children learn. (shrink)

Schizophrenia is usually described as a fragmentation of subjective experience and the impossibility to engage in meaningful cultural and intersubjective practices. Although the term schizophrenia is less than 100 years old, madness is generally believed to have accompanied mankind through its historical and cultural ontogeny. What does it mean to be “mad”? The failure to adopt social practices or to internalize cultural values of common sense? Despite the vast amount of literature and research, it seems that the study of schizophrenia (...) and of the psychoses is suffering from a generic disintegration. In this introduction, we offer an historical overview of the variety of theories and approaches to schizophrenia. We also provide an overview of how the authors in this volume attempt an integrative account where training, practice, theory and research are considered as parts of a larger whole. This is a varied and pluralistic volume, and it is up to the readers to make use of different chapters according to their own needs. (shrink)

Ethical concerns about randomising persons to a no-treatment arm in the context of Ebola epidemic led to consideration of alternative designs. The stepped wedge design, in which participants or clusters are randomised to receive an intervention at different time points, gained popularity. Common arguments in favour of using this design are when an intervention is likely to do more good than harm, all participants should receive the experimental intervention at some time point during the study and the design might be (...) preferable for practical reasons. We examine these assumptions when considering Ebola vaccine research. First, based on the claim that a stepped wedge design is indicated when it is likely that the intervention will do more good than harm, we reviewed published and ongoing SW trials to explore previous use of this design to test experimental drugs or vaccines, and found that SW design has never been used for trials of experimental drugs or vaccines. Given that Ebola vaccines were all experimental with no prior efficacy data, the use of a stepped wedge design would have been unprecedented. Second, we show that it is rarely true that all participants receive the intervention in SW studies, but rather, depending on certain design features, all clusters receive the intervention. Third, we explore whether the SW design is appealing for feasibility reasons and point out that there is significant complexity. In the setting of the Ebola epidemic, spatiotemporal variation may have posed problematic challenges to a stepped wedge design for vaccine research. Finally, we propose a set of points to consider for scientific reviewers and ethics committees regarding proposals for SW designs. (shrink)

GONÇALVES, Werbert Cirilo. A Renúncia de Deus como experiência Místico-Especulativa: o apofaticismo do Pseudo-Dionísio e o anúncio histórico da morte divina. 2014. Dissertação (Mestrado), Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Religião, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. Palavras-chave: Renúncia de Deus. Mística-especulativa. Pseudo-Dionísio. Apofaticismo. Morte de Deus. Keywords: Resignation of God. Speculative-mysticism. Pseudo-Dionysius. Apophaticism. Death of God.

O estudo do valor é indissociável da análise dos conceitos de bom e Bem, pelo que qualquer base metodológica que lhe sirva de alicerce tem de partir do exame destes. Assumindo os riscos do sem-sentido, recusamos uma redução relativista do bom predicativo a bom atributivo e de bom a bom para, bom do ponto de vista de, bom relativo a, e avançamos para a discussão de algumas tentativas de identificação do bom, nomeadamente com o prazer, o desejo e o escolhido. (...) Seguindo-se o esforço de mostrar como bom é insusceptível de uma remissão para o psicológico ou para o subjectivo, o ensaio procura evidenciar a ideia de Bem como o conceito fundamental e indefinível para a compreensão do bom, a partir da sua estruturação teleológica. Propomo-nos, portanto, estabelecer bom = aquilo que remete para o Bem, sendo o conceito de valor o reflexo da relação mediada com o Bem, indissociável do domínio ético. Por fim, consagra-se a possibilidade de uma nova fundação de um método na teoria do valor baseado nos preceitos alcançados, distinguindo-se o estudo do valor em analítico, substantivo e prático. The study of value is inseparable from the analysis of the concepts of good and the Good, so any methodological basis which serves as groundwork must take from these. Assuming the risks of non-sensicality, we propose to refuse a relativistic reduction of predicative good to attributive good and of good to good for, good from the point of view of and good-relative-to and discuss some attempts to identify good, particularly with pleasure, desire and choice. Following the effort to show how good is not liable to be ascribed to the psychological or subjective, the essay seeks to highlight the idea of the Good as the fundamental concept - therefore undefinable - to understand good as from its teleological structure. We therefore propose to establish good = what refers to the Good, and the concept of value as one which reflects the mediated relationship with the Good, inseparable from the ethical. Finally, we establish the possibility of a new foundation of a method of the theory of value based in the reached percepts, distinguishing between analytical, substantive and practical inquiries on value. (shrink)

Neste trabalho nos ocupamos centralmente em compreender a proposta ética de Hans Jonas e como ele apresenta o Princípio Responsabilidade como uma categoria ética a ser norteadora das ações humanas. Apresentamos um breve histórico do desenvolvimento da Filosofia da Tecnologia enquanto uma disciplina filosófica específica e, então, discutimos as principais considerações de Jonas sobre a necessidade de uma ética inteiramente nova que tome a técnica como objeto e a proposta que este apresente de uma ética do futuro pautada na responsabi (...) lidade enquanto princípio. (shrink)

The nature of the relationship between the two types of meiotic recombination outcomes, exchange (crossing‐over) and simple gene conversion, has been debated for years. I here propose that these two types of events are not necessarily causally related and hypothesize that the primary role of events detected as simple gene conversion is in the recognition of homology during synapsis.

A cultura ocidental, desde a sua marca grega, viu a instância do ser humano reduzida á condição de cidadão. O período medieval tentou inverter essa tendência, constituindo indice dessa alteração discussão polarizada no tópico Intelecto Universal/Intelecto Individual que ocupou lugar fundamental entre as questões desenvolvidas na Universidade Medieval, tornando-se mesmo a referênda privilegiada da actividade desta, senão até a sua razão de ser. È a incidencia no Intelecto Individual que caracteriza o humanismo cristão. Ao esbater-se essa questáo, na modernidade, o (...) modelo do Intelecto Universal passou novamente a comandar a nacionalidade da cultura ocidental,circunscrita esfera á esfera da cidadania, dominada pela política, sendo a Universidade um instrumento desta, limitando-se a preparar especialistas para o funcionamento da engrenagem citadina. A recuperação da Universidade passa pelo regresso a dimensão ampla e profunda do ser humano, cuja dimensão universal não é garantida pela cidadania. /// The greek influence on the western culture has led the human being to be reduced to his condition of citizen. The medieval period tried to revert this tendency by centering the discussion on the double aspect Universal Intelect/Individual Intelect. This discussion turned out to be the fundamental one among the quaestiones analysed at the Medieval University, becoming the main reference of its activity, and even the reason of its existence. It is precisely the incidence on the Individual Intelect that characterizes the Christian humanism. As this theme subsided with modernity, it was the paradigm based on the Universal Intelect that came to influence again the rationality of western culture. This rationality is limited to the domain of citizenship and therefore dominated by politics, which has in the University its instrument aimed at training specialists that make the civic machinery work. The revival of the University pressuposes the return to the deep and wide dimension of human being, whose universal nature is not guaranteed by citizenship. (shrink)

BackgroundAlthough values have increasingly received attention in psychiatric literature over the last three decades, their role has been only partially acknowledged in psychiatric classification endeavors. The review process of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders received harsh criticism, and was even considered secretive by some authors. Also, it lacked an official discussion of values at play. In this perspective paper we briefly discuss the interplay of some values in the scientific and non-scientific debate around (...) one of the most debated DSM-5 category proposals, the Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome. Then, we point out some ethical consequences of a facts-plus-values perspective in psychiatric classification.DiscussionDifferent stakeholders participated in the APS-debate and for analytical purposes we divided them into four groups: researchers in the field of high-risk mental states; the DSM-5 Psychotic Disorders Work Group; patient, carers and advocacy groups; and external stakeholders, not related to the previous groups, but which also publicly expressed their opinions about APS inclusion in DSM-5. We found that each group differently stressed the role of values we examined in the APS-debate. These values were ethical, but also epistemic, political, economic and ontological. The prominence given to some values, and the lack of discussion about others, generated divergent positions among stakeholders in the debate.SummaryAs exemplified by the APS discussion, although medicine is primarily an ethical endeavor, values of different kinds that take part in it also shape to a large extent the profession. Thus, it may be strategic to openly discuss values at play in the elaboration of diagnostic tools and classificatory systems. This task, more than scientifically or politically significant, is ethically important. (shrink)

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries worldwide have put lockdowns in place to prevent the virus from spreading. Evidence shows that lockdown measures can affect mental health; it is, therefore, important to identify the psychological characteristics making individuals more vulnerable. The present study aimed, first, to identify, through a cluster analysis, the psychological attributes that characterize individuals with similar psychological responses to the COVID-19 home confinement; second, to investigate whether different psychological characteristics, such as personality traits, alexithymia, and resilience, specifically (...) influence anxiety, stress, and depression, depending on the scope of the confinement. We analyzed data from 393 participants who completed an online survey on their experiences during two different phases of the Italian lockdown, characterized by more or less strict measures of confinement. Two clusters were identified which included participants reporting a better and worse emotional response to the lockdown, respectively. Individuals in the −ER group showed lower emotional stability, resilience, and higher alexithymia. Moreover, even if lifting part of the restrictions decreased psychological distress among all participants, a reduction in perceived stress was observed only among individuals with high resilience. Finally, personality traits, alexithymia, and resilience differently affected depression, anxiety, and stress. Our results suggest that different psychological interventions should be planned depending on the context: mental health professionals should focus on enhancing the individuals’ coping strategies to alleviate stress in emergencies, while long-term intervention aiming at alleviating anxiety and depressive symptoms should focus on alexithymic tendencies and personality constructs. (shrink)

Os processos de integração regional em curso hoje na América Latina têm sido marcados por uma lógica territorial que tem concebido grandes áreas do espaço geográfico latino-americano como “vazios demográficos” ou “terras disponíveis”. Essa forma de conceber o espaço geográfico latino-americano remonta ao legado colonial que atravessa a formação sócio-espacial da região e a própria posição que o continente americano ocupou no processo de formação do sistema-mundo moderno-colonial, a partir de 1492. Este artigo tem por objetivo problematizar os processos de (...) integração física em curso atualmente no continente, especificamente a Iniciativa para Integração da Infra-estrutura Regional Sul-Americana (IIRSA), buscando evidenciar a reprodução da lógica da colonialidade do poder e do saber constituintes de seu modelo de desenvolvimento regional. (shrink)

A partir da implantação da República, surgiu um movimento de intelectuais que procurou congregar e dinamizar num esforço comum os pensadores de várias áreas do conhecimento, através da revista A Águia, tendo em vista uma nova ordem moral e cívica dentro do ideal democrático. Procurámos dar a conhecer as linhas principais que consubstanciaram o espaço aberto pela revista, as influências recebidas e os debates que a animaram.

O presente artigo trata da geografia da violência urbana na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Mostra como a ação do Estado está permeada por ignorâncias acerca das lógicas de experiências espaciais com que se organizam e operam as classes populares trabalhadoras do Rio de Janeiro. O objetivo é estimular uma discussão que impulsione as análises para além dos discursos estigmatizadores com relação à população favelada. A metodologia adotada assemelha-se às sinuosidades dos becos e vielas, visto que optamos em nos entranhar (...) empiricamente na concretude do espaço favelado e, também, nas re-leituras das narrativas marginalizadas, dos compositores que há décadas oferecem pistas para que possamos esboçar um mapeamento das lógicas de sociabilidades e das experiências de espaço dessa população. Assim, podemos afirmar – ainda que hipoteticamente – que os mecanismos convencionais de análises e os instrumentos metodológicos fundamentados no distanciamento dos seus “objetos” são insuficientes para uma mínima compreensão do que se passa nos cotidianos de opressão e resistências das classes populares. O máximo que se tem alcançado historicamente, tanto com as pesquisas quantitativas acerca do tema quanto com os apelos midiáticos, é a forte influência na construção de discursos universalistas que naturalizam a criminalização dos citadinos mais pobres e as suas lógicas de integração-sobrevivência nas cidades. (shrink)

El artículo versa sobre la relación entre epistemes, espacio y poder. Cuestiona la presunción de universalidad tal como es pensada por la tradición hegemónica europea -eurocentrismo- pero rechaza cualquier pretensión de universalidad unidireccional venga de donde venga. Propone la idea de múltiples universalidades posibles partiendo del supuesto de la incompletud de toda cultura. El artículo invita a la crítica de la colonialidad del saber y del poder que están imbricados mutuamente, y a la atención que debemos prestar al lugar de (...) enunciación de cada discurso, lugar al mismo tiempo social y geográfico. Parte del pensamiento subalterno y valoriza los espacios de conflicto como epistémicamente densos, aportando además que el debate acerca de los territorios quizás sea la mejor expresión de la naturalización de las relaciones sociales y de poder que el territorio comporta, significando, en verdad, cuán profundas son las transformaciones en curso en los días actuales. (shrink)

El artículo procura analizar el contexto en que surge el reciente debate acerca de agua identificando los principales protagonistas que vienen conformando ese campo que es, al mismo tiempo, teórico, técnico y político. Demuestra como los organismos multilaterales y sus intelectuales (con el discurso de la escasez) vienen impulsando políticas que buscan transferir el papel del Estado en beneficio de los agentes empresariales estimulando procesos de privatización de agua y de su mercantilización. El artículo presenta una serie de casos en (...) que este proceso de privatización aumenta los conflictos en torno del agua. (shrink)

El artículo busca explicar las razones de la conversión al discurso de la sustentabilidad, por parte del sector de los grandes productores de petróleo y el de los latifundios empresariales de monocultivos, que hegemonizan el agro negocio. Para ello, se analiza la forma como históricamente se ha constituido el bloque de poder hegemónico conformado como un complejo de poder técnico-científico-industrial-financiero-militar-mediático, del cual también participan los dueños de los agronegocios -el viejo bloque de poder modernizado. Se concluye que se avecina una (...) verdadera tragedia con la expropiación generalizada que advendrá de la expansión del monocultivo latifundista moderno-colonial de los agro negociantes que quieren someter la producción agrícola a la producción de combustibles de biomasa. Se señala la enorme importancia de comprender adecuadamente el carácter mundial del capitalismo y del papel del desarrollo de las fuerzas productivas que el capital impone al mundo y la necesidad de ejercer el derecho a la diferencia anclada en la defensa del territorio. (shrink)

THEODOR GOMPERZ AND JOHN STUART MILL The subject of this essay is the little known episode of an unusual friendship. To the writer its fascination lies as ...

Although values have increasingly received attention in psychiatric literature over the last three decades, their role has been only partially acknowledged in psychiatric classification endeavors. The review p..

Turing’s much debated test has turned 70 and is still fairly controversial. His 1950 paper is seen as a complex and multilayered text, and key questions about it remain largely unanswered. Why did Turing select learning from experience as the best approach to achieve machine intelligence? Why did he spend several years working with chess playing as a task to illustrate and test for machine intelligence only to trade it out for conversational question-answering in 1950? Why did Turing refer to (...) gender imitation in a test for machine intelligence? In this article, I shall address these questions by unveiling social, historical and epistemological roots of the so-called Turing test. I will draw attention to a historical fact that has been only scarcely observed in the secondary literature thus far, namely that Turing’s 1950 test emerged out of a controversy over the cognitive capabilities of digital computers, most notably out of debates with physicist and computer pioneer Douglas Hartree, chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi, and neurosurgeon Geoffrey Jefferson. Seen in its historical context, Turing’s 1950 paper can be understood as essentially a reply to a series of challenges posed to him by these thinkers arguing against his view that machines can think. Turing did propose gender learning and imitation as one of his various imitation tests for machine intelligence, and I argue here that this was done in response to Jefferson's suggestion that gendered behavior is causally related to the physiology of sex hormones. (shrink)

O Principado priva o senado de muitos dos seus poderes tradicionais. No entanto, durante a crise de 69 d. C., são vários os candidatos ao lugar de príncipe e os generais que afirmam nos seus discursos poder contar com o apoio do senado. Este artigo desina-se a averiguar o exato valor atribuído a este apoio num contexto em que o senado revela uma generalizada incapacidade de ação política.

O sentido ontológico do trabalho e o desenvolvimento das funções psicológicas superiores: considerações preliminares Resumo: O presente estudo tem por objetivo demonstrar de que forma o trabalho auxilia no processo de hominização do homem. Trata-se de um estudo de natureza teórica, realizado mediante pesquisa bibliográfica, sendo dividido em três momentos principais. No primeiro, apresenta-se como o trabalho é concebido por Marx e apropriado por Lukács e os representantes da Escola de Vigotski. No segundo, trata-se das tensões entre a importância conferida (...) aos aspectos biológicos e aos aspectos sociais para o processo de desenvolvimento do gênero humano, demonstrando de que maneira a produção de instrumentos gesta o progressivo afastamento da barreira natural, ao passo que propicia o desenvolvimento cada vez mais social do homem. Tal reflexão servirá de base para sinalizar como a teoria de Vigotski destaca em seu edifício categorial a relação entre os instrumentos e as funções psicológicas superiores no processo de humanização do homem. Palavras Chave: Trabalho. Instrumento. Funções psicológicas superiores. The ontological meaning of work and the development of higher mental functions: preliminary considerations: This study we aim to demonstrate how the work supports in the humanization process of the individuals. This is a theoretical study conducted by bibliographic research and divided into three main sessions. In the first moment, we present how the work is conceived by Marx and appropriated by Lukács and the representatives from Vygotsky’s school. In the second, we bring the tensions between the importance attached to the biological aspects and social aspects in the humankind’s development process, demonstrating how the tools’ production manage the progressive separation from the natural barrier, whereas it provides the increasingly social development of individuals. Further consideration will serve as a basis to indicate how Vygotsky’s theory underscore in its categorical building the relationship between the tools and the higher mental functions in the humanizing process of the individuals. Keywords: Work. Tools. Higher.mental functions. El sentido ontológico del trabajo y el desarrollo de las funciones psicológicas superiores: consideraciones preliminares Resumen: El presente estudio tiene por objetivo demostrar de qué forma el trabajo auxilia en el proceso de hominización del hombre. Se trata de un estudio de naturaleza teórica, realizado mediante investigación bibliográfica, siendo dividido en tres momentos principales. En el primero, presentamos cómo el trabajo es concebido por Marx y apropiado por Lukács y los representantes de la escuela de Vigotski. En el segundo, traemos las tensiones entre la importancia conferida a los aspectos biológicos ya los aspectos sociales para el proceso de desarrollo del género humano, demostrando de qué manera la producción de instrumentos gesta el progresivo alejamiento de la barrera natural, mientras que propicia el desarrollo cada vez más social del hombre. Tal reflexión servirá de base para señalar cómo la teoría de Vigotski destaca en su edificio categorial la relación entre los instrumentos y las funciones psicológicas superiores en el proceso de humanización del hombre. Financiamento: CNPq Palabras clave: Trabajo. Instrumento. Funciones psicológicas superiores. Data de registro: 09/01/2019 Data de aceite: 25/10/2019. (shrink)

Background Doctors often deal with end-of-life issues other than assisted death, such as incompetent patients and treatment withdrawal, including food and fluids. Methods A link to a questionnaire was sent by email three times, at one-week intervals, to the doctors registered in the Northern Section of the Portuguese Medical Association. Results The questionnaire was returned by 1148 (9%) physicians. This study shows that only a minority of Portuguese doctors were willing to administer drugs in lethal doses to cognitively incompetent patients (...) at the request of a family member or other close person, and even less would do it on their initiative. Most doctors favored the withdrawal of life support measures in advanced and progressive diseases at the patient’s request. Still, much fewer doctors agreed with the suspension of supportive life measures at the request of a family member, another close person, or by their own unilateral decision. However, fewer agreed with that action concerning the rest of the food and fluids. Portuguese doctors favor the administration of drugs for suffering control, even foreseeing they could shorten life. Conclusion Most doctors in this study respect patients’ autonomy but disagree with measures decided by others that have an impact on patients’ survival. They also agree with the administration of drugs for suffering control, even considering the possibility of shortening life. (shrink)

As fontes sempre foram assunto válido para a Igreja Católica, de fato muitas vezes a Igreja se afastou do caminho das origens, porém pela ação do Espírito Santo sempre vai retomando o caminho correto após muitas reflexões sobre seu passado, presente e tomando iniciativas para o futuro. Mas como identificar uma fonte válida? O que é uma fonte afinal? A ciência história é fundamental para podermos identificar uma fonte verdadeira e confiável, desta maneira, a Igreja incentiva aos exegetas a terem (...) domínio bem aprofundado sobre todos os melhores métodos e abordagens possíveis para identificarmos com segurança no que podemos ou não confiar. A Igreja não teme a ciência, mas teme opiniões pré-concebidas que fazem a ciência sair de seu domínio. A Igreja precisa investigar a fundo e buscar sempre recorrer às fontes para evitar ao máximo se perder do caminho da evangelização. (shrink)

The processing of sensitive information in the health field is subject to rigorous standards that guarantee the protection of information confidentiality. Recently, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali) stated their formal opinion on a standard procedure in dental offices involving the submission of a questionnaire that includes the patient's health status. HIV infection status is included on the form. The Authority has stated that all health data collection must be in accordance with the current (...) Italian normative framework for personal data protection and respect the patient's freedom. This freedom allows the patient to decide, in a conscious and responsible way, whether to share health information with health personnel without experiencing any prejudice in the provision of healthcare requested. Moreover, data collection must be relevant and cannot exceed the principles of treatment goals with reference to the specific care of the concerned person. However, the need for recording information regarding HIV infection at the first appointment, regardless of the clinical intervention or therapeutic plan that needs to be conducted, should not alter the standard protection measures of the healthcare staff. In fact, these measures are adopted for every patient. (shrink)