The in vitro spontaneous contractions of human myometrium samples can be described using a phenomenological model involving different cell states and adjustable parameters. In patients not receiving hormone treatment, the dynamic behavior could be described using a three-state model similar to the one we have already used to explain the oscillations of intra-uterine pressure during parturition. However, the shape of the spontaneous contractions of myometrium from patients on progestin treatment was different, due to a two-step relaxation regime including a latched (...) phase which cannot be simulated using the previous model without introducing an ad hoc mechanism to account for the extra energy involved in this sustained contraction. One way to do this is to introduce an anomalous rate of ATP consumption, the biochemical reasons for which have not yet been elucidated and which cannot be mathematically simulated using our experimental data. An alternative explanation is the reduced cycling rate of actin-myosin cross-bridges known to occur during the latch-phase. Our experimental findings suggest a third possibility, namely a sol-gel transition with a specific relaxation time constant, which would maintain a significant part of the cell population in the contracted-state until the intracellular-medium returns to its normal fluid behavior. (shrink)

This book presents the views of 22 women philosophers from outside the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian worlds. These eminent thinkers are from Mesopotamia, India, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, America, the Philippines and Nigeria. Six philosophers, the earliest of whom predates the Greek pre-Socratics by two thousand years, lived at “the dawn of philosophy”; another six from late Antiquity through the Classical period; five more taught and wrote during the Middle Ages up to the Age of Exploration, and yet five others (...) were active during the modern period to the mid-twentieth century. Most belonged to major philosophical traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zen, or Sufism. The chapters of the book describe the life and views of the philosophers, outline the fundamental features of their respective schools, and contain translations of their writings. The book is intended for scholars of philosophy and women’s studies who wish to expand their knowledge of non-Western philosophical traditions and is ideally suited for undergraduate education. Comprehensive multilingual bibliographies of carefully documented sources offer scholars many promising resources for further research. (shrink)

To test if dreams contain remote or never-experienced motor skills, we collected during 6 weeks dream reports from 15 paraplegics and 15 healthy subjects. In 9/10 subjects with spinal cord injury and in 5/5 with congenital paraplegia, voluntary leg movements were reported during dream, including feelings of walking , running , dancing , standing up , bicycling , and practicing sports . Paraplegia patients experienced walking dreams just as often as controls . There was no correlation between the frequency of (...) walking dreams and the duration of paraplegia. In contrast, patients were rarely paraplegic in dreams. Subjects who had never walked or stopped walking 4–64 years prior to this study still experience walking in their dreams, suggesting that a cerebral walking program, either genetic or more probably developed via mirror neurons is reactivated during sleep. (shrink)

This study examined the recall of car and food advertisements within either a car or food television program to investigate the relationship between recall, program content, and viewer involvement. The participants, 92 sixth-form students, aged between 16–17 years, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. As predicted, advertisements placed within a program of dissimilar content were recalled significantly better than if placed within a program of similar content. A gender bias in recall was found with females recalling female-orientated products (...) significantly better than males. Viewer-involvement ratings factored onto three factor clusters: enjoyable, cheerful, and humorous. Negative correlations were shown between cheerfulness and recall in the car program, and positive correlations were shown between cheerfulness and recall in the food program. Finally, implications of the results were considered. (shrink)

La lectura de los manuscritos árabes de al-Andalus presenta aspectos específicos por el hecho de su pequeño número, de su tipo de escritura y de sus vínculos con textos latinos.

In this volume we provide rich examples of non-western philosophy written by women over the last four thousand years. We begin by defining the scope of our non-western terrain: philosophy created outside the Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian traditions. The philosophers who are the subjects of inquiry here hail from places as distant as pre-colonial Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia. Together with our expert contributing authors we demonstrate through inquiry and analysis how these women philosophers advanced human thought about profound issues, some (...) to include the nature and treatment of women themselves. (shrink)

Marie-Therese d'Alverny devoted a large part of her research to discovering and describing manuscripts of scientific texts, especially those translated from Arabic. This volume contains those of d'Alverny's studies devoted to the Latin transmission of the works of other Greek and Arabic authors (Aristotle, Galen, Priscianus Lydus, al-Kindi, Albumasar, Algazel and Averroes), the authors responsible for this transmission (Scotus Eriugena, Raymond of Marseilles, Petrus Hispanus, Henri Bate of Malines and Pietro d'Abano), and some of the themes of the transmitted (...) texts (astrology and the planetary system of Herclides), as well as three articles summarizing the whole transmission process. (shrink)

La redaction des articles reunis dans ce volume accompagna l'elaboration et la publication par Marie-Therese d'Alverny du catalogue methodique de l'Avicenna latinus, paru dans les Archives d'histoire doctrinale du Moyen Age, entre 1961 et 1972. Alors que les notices de l'Avicenna latinus vont etre republiees, il a paru utile de rassembler ici les articles qui ont jalonne l'entreprise de recensement des manuscrits et qui en constituent comme la chair. Marie-Therese d'Alverny ne faisait pas seulement preuve d'une grande erudition, (...) elle savait aussi communiquer ses enthousiasmes et ses passions. Sans doute sous l'impulsion de Louis Massignon et Etienne Gilson - ses maitres et veneres amis - elle s'attacha a la personnalite et a l'oeuvre hors du commun d'Avicenne. (shrink)

La redaction des articles reunis dans ce volume accompagna l'elaboration et la publication par Marie-Therese d'Alverny du catalogue methodique de l'Avicenna latinus, paru dans les Archives d'histoire doctrinale du Moyen Age, entre 1961 et 1972. Alors que les notices de l'Avicenna latinus vont etre republiees, il a paru utile de rassembler ici les articles qui ont jalonne l'entreprise de recensement des manuscrits et qui en constituent comme la chair. Marie-Therese d'Alverny ne faisait pas seulement preuve d'une grande erudition, (...) elle savait aussi communiquer ses enthousiasmes et ses passions. Sans doute sous l'impulsion de Louis Massignon et Etienne Gilson - ses maitres et veneres amis - elle s'attacha a la personnalite et a l'oeuvre hors du commun d'Avicenne. (shrink)

This paper explores the important role of critical science, and in particular of post-colonial and decolonial theories, in understanding and shaping the ongoing advances in artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is viewed as amongst the technological advances that will reshape modern societies and their relations. While the design and deployment of systems that continually adapt holds the promise of far-reaching positive change, they simultaneously pose significant risks, especially to already vulnerable peoples. Values and power are central to this discussion. Decolonial theories (...) use historical hindsight to explain patterns of power that shape our intellectual, political, economic, and social world. By embedding a decolonial critical approach within its technical practice, AI communities can develop foresight and tactics that can better align research and technology development with established ethical principles, centring vulnerable peoples who continue to bear the brunt of negative impacts of innovation and scientific progress. We highlight problematic applications that are instances of coloniality, and using a decolonial lens, submit three tactics that can form a decolonial field of artificial intelligence: creating a critical technical practice of AI, seeking reverse tutelage and reverse pedagogies, and the renewal of affective and political communities. The years ahead will usher in a wave of new scientific breakthroughs and technologies driven by AI research, making it incumbent upon AI communities to strengthen the social contract through ethical foresight and the multiplicity of intellectual perspectives available to us, ultimately supporting future technologies that enable greater well-being, with the goal of beneficence and justice for all. (shrink)

Le corps fait partie de manière significative de l'identité de tout être humain. Il s'agit d'une réalité familière, incontournable. Longtemps, le corps a été dévalorisé, voire méprisé, au profit de l'âme, de l'esprit. Aujourd'hui, on assiste à une dissociation corps/personne aussi regrettable que l'ancien dualisme corps/ âme. En effet, cette dissociation ne fait que provoquer des ravages dans la perception personnelle du corps, tout spécialement dans l'expérience de la maladie, du vieillissement, de la mort, et même de l'au-delà. Il est (...) alors nécessaire de s'interroger à nouveau sur la véritable signification du corps humain, sur les représentations plus ou moins adéquates dont il fait l'objet, pour dépasser les pièges rattachés à certaines visions du corps actuellement très à la mode. Repenser le corps humain avec un seul but : vivre pleinement son corps. Telle est la raison d'être de ce livre. (shrink)

Being a responsible person -- Qualities of a responsible person -- Being responsible at school and home -- Being responsible at work and with money -- Being responsible on the internet -- Responsibility for others -- Altruism : the ultimate in responsibility -- Keeping government responsible -- Responsibility to self.

À partir d’un cas de médiation familiale judiciaire entre deux parents séparés, et en conflit au sujet de l’exercice de l’autorité parentale conjointe, il s’agit de montrer comment un dispositif de médiation peut remettre en mouvement le processus de restauration du lien parental. Celui-ci est considéré dans les trois dimensions de l’institution (le droit), de l’interrelation et du groupe familial comme enveloppe psychique. Le tiers médiateur est représenté par deux éléments : la fonction symbolique du cadre et la capacité du (...) médiateur à pouvoir penser le processus. (shrink)

Tout enfant adopté a deux filiations. Sa filiation d’origine pose souvent question aux parents adoptants. Au moment de l’adolescence et de ses remaniements identitaires, les parents sont confrontés à la nécessité d’un travail psychique : reconnaître que d’autres lui ont donné la vie, et accepter de laisser une place à ce temps où l’enfant n’était pas encore le leur. Pour un couple, adopter un enfant, c’est accepter de se confronter à l’originel de ce dernier et de d’interroger le sens de (...) sa démarche. (shrink)

In his writings on the conception and the birth of the Son of God, Jacob of Sarug perceives Mary’s perpetual virginity as a mystery intimately linked to that of the Son of God. In fact, the Son of God has taken flesh from the Virgin for us men and for our salvation. Jacob presents two ways to describe the Incarnation : the conception of the Word of God through the ear, and his entrance in the world through the common door (...) of all men. This paper intends to identify the Mariological and Christological challenges of Mary’s virginal motherhood, according to Jacob of Sarug. For this purpose, it proposes to review both ways in the light of the two images of Mary : the sealed letter in which the Divine Word was inscribed, and the closed door of Ezekiel’s vision. (shrink)

This is a unique, groundbreaking study in the history of philosophy, combining leading men and women philosophers across 2600 years of Western philosophy, covering key foundational topics, including epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Introductory essays, primary source readings, and commentaries comprise each chapter to offer a rich and accessible introduction to and evaluation of these vital philosophical contributions. A helpful appendix canvasses an extraordinary number of women philosophers throughout history for further discovery and study.

La contribution s’intéresse aux transitions institutionnelles dans la formation en travail social et aux effets de ces évolutions dans le rapport au travail des formateurs. Elle a pour objet de repérer les mouvements mais aussi les tensions, les difficultés, les transactions nécessaires pour (re) donner du sens à l’activité et construire de nouveaux repères professionnels entre travail prescrit, travail rêvé/idéalisé et réel du travail de formation. Des entretiens ont été conduits dans quatre établissements de formation d’une même région. L’analyse du (...) corpus a permis de mettre à jour quelques grandes problématiques qui traversent le monde des formateurs en travail social, en prise avec les évolutions du secteur. Les résultats donnent à comprendre les remaniements identitaires et les formes d’implication des acteurs. Ils montrent la nécessite de « faire collectif », de retrouver des marges d’action et assurer sa mission de façon plus éclairée et mieux soutenue. (shrink)

This study investigated acute effects of real and imagined endurance exercise on sustained attention performance in healthy young adults in order to shed light on the action mechanisms underlying changes in cognitive functioning. The neural similarities between both imagined and physically performed movements reveal that imagery induces transient hypofrontality, whereas real exercise reflects both transient hypofrontality effects and the global release of signaling factors due to muscle contraction and the accompanying sensory feedback. We hypothesized improved cognitive functioning after both interventions (...) with greater improvements for real exercise because it targets both mechanisms. Fifty-three sport science students completed two 25-min sessions of moderate endurance exercise in either a motor imagery modality or an executed bodily activity within the framework of an order-balanced crossover study. Assessments for sustained attention performance were performed before and after each endurance exercise condition. Statistical results showed improvements for both groups over time, which can mostly be explained by retest effects. However, we observed a significant interaction effect between group and time, F = 3.64, p = 0.04, η2 = 0.07, with higher increases in the first session in case physical endurance exercise was performed compared to motor imagery exercise, t = −2.71, p = 0.09, d = 0.75. This might suggest that the release of signaling factors due to muscle contractions with sensory feedback processing is an additional mediating mechanism alongside motor-related transient hypofrontality that improves cognitive performance. (shrink)

BackgroundMediation analysis is important to test the theoretical framework underpinning an intervention. We therefore aimed to investigate if the healthy body image intervention’s effect on eating disorder symptomatology and use of muscle building supplements was mediated by the change in risk and protective factors for ED development and muscle building supplement use.MethodsThis study used data from the HBI intervention: a cluster randomized controlled universal intervention aiming to promote positive body image and embodiment and reduce the risk for ED development including (...) 30 schools in Norway. A total of 1,713 participants were included in the analyses. Conditional latent growth curve analyses were performed to test for indirect effects on ED symptomatology and weekly frequency of protein and creatine supplement use measured at the 12-month follow-up via change in the proposed mediators.ResultsIn girls, the reduction in ED symptomatology was mediated by positive changes in protective factors and reductions in risk factor scores. Comparable changes in protective and risk factors among boys played no mediating role.ConclusionInterventions aiming to reduce the risk of ED development in girls may benefit from aiming to enhance self-esteem and body image flexibility and reduce perceived media pressure and thin appearance internalization. Future studies should investigate the casual relationship between muscle building supplement use and risk and protective factors for ED development in both girls and boys. (shrink)

This volume examines the impact of advances in genetics and assisted reproduction technologies on family law, human rights and the rights of the child, ...