The need for the political empowerment of women, and the role played by the media in both promoting and hindering it are well-known problems. A new opportunity to consider these problems as regards the Italian case was afforded by the 1999 presidential election. During that selection process, the proposal to appoint a woman as head of the nation was, for the first time, brought into the arena for debate. Neither of the two women who were candidates – European Commissioner Emma (...) Bonino and Minister of the Interior Rosa Russo Jervolino – were elected. Using the `public arenas model' and the concept of `framing', the article explores the rise and fall of the two female candidatures by highlighting the limits in the social construction of the women's agenda. Considered from this point of view, the campaign offers an interesting case study in order to better understand the mechanisms of gender exclusion. (shrink)

Cancer derives from a cell clone that has accumulated genetic and epigenetic changes that influence its phenotype and finally enable it to escape from the normal controls of proliferation. A recent paper shows that, in myc‐induced tumours, the inactivation of this oncogene produces the regression of the tumours and the differentiation of the tumour cells into mature osteocytes.1 In addition, a further reactivation of myc in these cells does not restore the malignant phenotype but induces apoptosis. This discovery could lead (...) to an innovative therapeutic strategy. BioEssays 25:104–107, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Depue & Morrone-Strupinsky's (D&M-S's) model of affiliation meets the criteria advanced for the definition of behavior systems and endophenotypes. We argue that its application in psychiatry could be useful for identifying a biological pathophysiology common to a variety of conditions that are currently classified in very different categories of psychiatric nosography, including autism, schizoid personality, primary psychopathy, and dismissing attachment.

Patients with physical symptoms for which no organic cause can be found are distributed along a continuum of disease simulation that ranges from a sincere belief of having a serious disease to intentional presentation of false symptoms. The evolutionary hypothesis that self-deception improves the deception of others can explain such a combination of unconscious and intentional production of physical symptoms.

Social cognition is a broad term, incorporating all aspects of social functioning from perceiving emotional stimuli to attributional style and theory of mind. Not distinguishing between these different capacities may confound the interpretation of the data deriving from studies of the relationship between psychiatric disorders and the social brain. The distinction between cognitive and affective components of social cognition is clearly exemplified by the abnormalities observed in psychopathy and Williams syndrome.

The “hijacking” and “drug instrumentalization” models of psychoactive drug use predict opposite outcomes in terms of adaptive behavior and fitness benefits. Which is the range of applicability of each model? To answer this question, we need more data than those reported by studies focusing on medical, psychiatric, and legal problems in addicted users. An evolutionary analysis requires a much wider focus.

The target article shows that the application of the evolutionary theory to psychopathology should not necessarily consist in finding hidden adaptive benefits for each psychiatric syndrome. However, in rejecting lax adaptationism, Darwinian psychiatrists should not forget that the search for adaptive behavioral polymorphisms can be a powerful antidote against the normative attitude of mainstream psychiatry and its growing tendency to medicalize human diversity. (Published Online November 9 2006).

Studies of the activation of the behavioral immune system triggered by the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic have demonstrated that evolutionary explanations of individual differences in self-protection should not be based only on parental investment and sexual selection theory. An evolutionary model must also incorporate individual differences that arise within each sex as a result of life history strategies and attachment patterns.

The objective of this work is to reconstruct the concepts of constellation, parataxis and essay, from the perspective of Theodor Adorno, in order to approach them by affinity, but demonstrating the way that each one expresses within its specificities the Adorno’s insistence in a model of thought in which the non-identical: 1) resists conceptual subsumption by arranging itself in a constellatory configuration; 2) it does not succumb to subordinate juxtapositions typical of merely communicative language; and, 3) finds its best philosophical (...) expression in the essay form. In order to do so, we will take as a starting point the adornian reconstruction of the constellation category as a legacy of Walter Benjamin’s thought, so that later we can present the expansion of this category in Adorno’s thought, relating it both to the conception of parataxis as in the conception of the essay form, but aiming to understand these categories as way of thinking philosophically aiming to elucidate the place of the non-identical in the scope of dialectical thinking of Theodor Adorno. (shrink)

El presente trabajo propone una lectura del libro de poemas Los ligámenes de Mauro Césari. Parte de la “escena” de la catástrofe que el libro repone: el colapso de dos diques mineros en Minas Gerais y el avance de un alud de barro tóxico sobre el poblado y los ríos de la región. Desde allí, busca cartografiar la imaginación material propuesta por el poemario, indagando específicamente en la concepción de escritura de la materia que el libro despliega y en la (...) máquina de lectura que ella supone. Con ese objetivo, recupera la tradición de lectura y escritura propuesta por el neobarroso en un intento por proponer una modulación neobarrotóxica para leer la singularidad de esta escritura. (shrink)

My experience concerning cases similar to the Wanglie case indicates that there was virtually no possibility of a solution for the conflict between the different expectations of the Wanglie family and those of the physicians caring for Helga Wanglie. A persistent vegetative state precludes a return to consciousness unless an extraordinary phenomenon takes place. Therefore, the physicians expected to be relieved of the duty of continuing to give Mrs. Wanglie respiratory care. However, her family thought it their duty to provide (...) their loved one with the best possible treatment. The family based their position on the claim that life is God's gift and that only He has the right to terminate it. Such spiritual convictions are perceived as reflective of a higher “truth” and are not predisposed to negotiation or change according to the situation. (shrink)

O artigo propõe abordar a construção da imagem de Isabel, a Católica aproximando Luiz de França foi um dos mais significativos mestres de maracatu nação. Dirigiu e articulou o maracatu Nação Leão Coroado, entre os anos de 1950 até sua morte, em 1997. Ainda hoje a sua memória é reivindicada por grupos de maracatus existentes no Recife. Tal questão indica diferentes aspectos nos processos de construção das memórias, e da forma como estas são usadas no presente. Este artigo objetiva discutir (...) e analisar as performances de Luiz de França, bem como suas estratégias cotidianas a partir das memórias dos maracatuzeiros pernambucanos. Entendendo a memória como fruto dos processos históricos, também é objetivo deste trabalho analisar as diferentes formas como a memória é construída, trazendo à tona questões de ordem teórico-epistemológica a respeito da cultura negra, dos maracatus e dos maracatuzeiros recifenses. (shrink)

The overflow of scientific literature stimulates poor reading habits which can aggravate science's reproducibility crisis. Thus, solving the reproducibility crisis demands not only methodological changes, but also changes in our relationship with the scientific literature, especially our reading habits. Importantly, this does not mean reading more, it means reading better.

In recent years there has been a wealth of studies investigating how memories are allocated in the hippocampus. Some of those studies showed that it is possible to manipulate the identity of neurons recruited to represent a given memory without affecting the memory's behavioral expression. Those findings raised questions about how the hippocampus represents memories, with some researchers arguing that hippocampal neurons do not represent fixed stimuli. Herein, an alternative hypothesis is argued. Neurons in high‐order brain regions can be tuned (...) to multiple dimensions, forming complex, abstract representations. It is argued that such complex receptive fields allow those neurons to show some flexibility in their responses while still representing relatively fixed sets of stimuli. Moreover, it is pointed out that changes induced by artificial manipulation of cell assemblies are not completely redundant—the observed behavioral redundancy does not imply cognitive redundancy, as different, but similar, memories may induce the same behavior. (shrink)

The paper advances the hypothesis that René Descartes presents a skeptical system of philosophy in Thomas Reid’s reading. There is a sort of ‘involun-tary’ or ‘accidental’ skepticism that results from the adoption by Descartes of both a skeptical method and a skeptical principle. The first section shows to what extent the Cartesian method of doubt – which focuses on the reliability of the faculties of the mind - is a skeptical demand that cannot be satisfied. The second section shows how (...) the principle of the Cartesian system – which establishes that ideas are the immediate objects of the operations of the mind – is not only skeptic but leads exactly and naturally to the most radical form of skepticism, namely, solipsism. The third section discusses the Cartesian sources of the doubt on the existence of external world according to Reid. (shrink)

The paper advances the hypothesis that David Hume’s philosophy explains the corporeal dimension of the self, particularly, one’s belief in a body as being ‘her own body’, as a part of one’s self, in light of three different perspectives: through the operations of the imagination, the associative principles and the perception of mental and physical parallel states; through the occurrence of certain passions in the mind, particularly, pride, humility, and self-interest which direct one’s attention to a body that is felt (...) to be her own body; through the consciousness of the ability of the will to guide the power of moving certain parts of the body. Finally, it is argued that the mental phenomenon of belief in one's own body is a mutual construction of the human mind, that is, it is produced simultaneously by intellectual, affective, and volitional operations. (shrink)

The paper discusses Thomas Reid's objection to David Hume's theory of personal identity. The hypothesis states that this criticism is not effective because it is based on a misunderstanding of Hume’s theory, namely, that Hume would have admitted a negative ontological thesis - the inexistence of a mind beyond perceptions - and a positive ontological thesis - a mind reduced to a bundle of perceptions. After explaining in what measures Reid’s objection is based upon this misunderstanding, the paper shows why (...) Hume does not accept those theses,. (shrink)

The paper presents and discusses how Thomas Reid's philosophy of common sense replies to the skepticism about the epistemic reliability of the faculties of mind. The hypothesis presented establishes that Reid’s reply has three arguments. First, Reid shows why it is impossible to prove the reliability of the faculties of mind and why philosophers may begin their investigations by accepting the truth of the beliefs due to these faculties. Secondly, Reid shows that it is inconsistent to choose one of these (...) faculties as the only source of true beliefs. This is arbitrary. Those authors, who choose, for example, consciousness as the only source of reliable knowledge, only reinforce the claim that all faculties of mind are equally reliable. Thirdly, if the faculties of the mind operate properly, that is, when our mind is not affected by any disorder or disease, there is no good reason to call them into question and to doubt the truth of their beliefs. (shrink)