Toward an Anthropology of Exchange in Tamil Nadu

This article is an attempt to present the cultural conceptions of exchange that appear in studies of medieval South Indian redistributive processes and the anthropology of Tamil caste, kinship, and marital transactions. As such it does not engage theological understandings of gifts to and from South Indian deities. The approach is sociological, and the argument is that whether the mode is redistributive or donative, Tamil exchanges create social relationships that are embedded in meanings of distinction and precedence. What is handed out is a position in a social order that is first and foremost hierarchical, a rank in a social sequence, so that not merely things and services but social distinctions move through the social landscape.     

Addiction in Maternity: Prevalence of Mental Illness,Substance Use,and Trauma

Women living in vulnerable neighborhoods experience higher rates of poverty, homelessness, psychiatric issues, illicit substance use, rates of HIV, and a lowered life expectancy. The aim of the study was to further explore the history of mental illness and trauma in a sample of women (N?=?31) who had recently given birth and had a substance use problem while pregnant. We investigated sociodemographic characteristics, history of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rates of substance use and dependence, and psychiatric symptoms. Childhood and adult traumatic experiences were found in the majority of the sample, and one-third presented with suspected PTSD diagnosis at the time of the interview. Women-centered services are in great demand, as well as trauma informed care, and further research on appropriate treatment for substance using, traumatized, women with a mental illness.     

Trust in organismic development, autonomy support, and adaptation among mothers and their children

The current studies examined relations between mothers’ trust in organismic development, autonomy supportive parenting, and adaptation among mothers and their young children. Study 1 showed that trust in organismic development was distinct from optimism, neuroticism, and social desirability whereas it correlated with having relaxed expectations for developmental milestones and making fewer social comparisons about one’s child. Study 2 used observational methods to demonstrate a significant link between trust in organismic development and mothers behaving in an autonomy-supportive rather than controlling manner toward their 1-year-old child during puzzle solving activities. Study 3 used a 1 year prospective design to show that trust in first time mothers was associated with better maternal and child adaptation over time, controlling for initial levels of adaptation and child temperament. Study 4 explored possible social/political antecedents of trust in organismic development by comparing the beliefs of first time mothers from Canada and Norway. The four studies suggest that trust in organismic development fosters autonomy supportive parenting practices and positive maternal and child adaptation. These findings are discussed from the perspective of self-determination theory.

The effects of the contingence during the visual habituation task in 3 and 6 months old infants]

Thirty-six 3-month old infants and the same number of 6-month old infants underwent three visual habituation procedures differentiated by degree of behavioural contingency. Results showed significant differences between conditions only for the six-month olds: the lower the contingency, the higher the visual fixation scores. Results support some of the propositions that Gergely and Watson (1996, 1999) have put forth regarding the developmental model for detecting contingencies. The results also challenge the traditional model for visual habituation which suggests that varied durations of visual fixation should basically be determined by the visual characteristics of the stimulus.     

Legal aspects of the risks raised by nanotechnologies in the field of medicine

The major breakthroughs achieved in nanotechnologies open new avenues in the field of healthcare--aid to diagnosis, upgrading medical treatment efficacy, development of regenerative medicine--but they are also associated with risks, hence the increasing need of legislation. So far very little research work has been conducted on this technology whose applications are still limited and whose potential hazards are not yet clearly apprehended. The more and more frequent uses of nanoparticles in medical imaging and in current research projects dealing with tissue engineering or RFID raises the following question: is the current legislative framework relevant in light of the specificities of nano-objects? The challenge is twofold: the legal approach must encompass the nanometric element itself as a "legal object" but it must include the use of nanotechnologies and their final aims. There is still some degree of uncertainty concerning the innocuity of nanoparticles so that the use of nanoelements in aid to medical diagnosis and in clinical trials must take into account and anticipate the potential harmful effects on patients and on biomedical research teams. But due to the fact that a clear understanding of nanoparticles as specific objects with new features is still missing, the existing regulations on chemical substances, medicinal products, medical devices or cosmetics do not seem to be appropriate. So considering nanoparticles as "singular" legal objects is a prerequisite requiring an approach based on the precautionary principle. Misusing nanotechnologies in the medical field is also a cause for great concern. Threats on individual freedom and on private life as well as on human identity are real and they raise recurring questions. The possible deviations in the use of these techniques, the temptations to "trespass the limits" are also common to info technologies and to biotechnologies but the threats triggered by the nanotechnologies are enhanced by the possibilities offered by the nanometric size and the expected convergence of these different technologies. One should refer to leading guiding principles in order to solve the future conflicts between the different sets of values, especially in the medical field by always remembering the Hippocratic oath "primum non nocere, deinde curare"     

Making up for lost opportunities: the protective role of downward social comparisons for coping with regrets across adulthood

Two longitudinal studies showed that if adults confront low opportunities to overcome regrets, downward social comparisons can exert self-protective functions across the adult life span, irrespective of age (Study 1 N = 104 young and older adults, Study 2 N = 51 older adults). Both studies found that downward relative to upward social comparisons were associated with improvements in participants' positive (but not negative) affect, if they perceived low as opposed to high opportunities to overcome regrets. Moreover, Study 2 showed that this beneficial effect on change in positive affect mediated the experience of fewer cold symptoms over time. Supplemental analyses further indicated that the mechanism linking social comparison processes and opportunities with positive (but not negative) affect was associated with the capacity for goal reengagement. In addition, these analyses showed that the obtained effects were largely unrelated to the severity of regret-related consequences and thus ruled out an alternative explanation of the findings.     

Short-term memory effects of an auditory biofeedback on isometric force control: is there a differential effect as a function of transition trials?

The aim of the present study was to investigate memory effects, force accuracy, and variability during constant isometric force at different force levels, using auditory biofeedback. Two types of transition trials were used: a biofeedback-no biofeedback transition trial and a no biofeedback-biofeedback transition trial. The auditory biofeedback produced a low- or high-pitched sound when participants produced an isometric force lower or higher than required, respectively. To achieve this goal, 16 participants were asked to produce and maintain two different isometric forces (30 ± 5% and 90 N ± 5%) during 25 s. Constant error and standard deviation of the isometric force were calculated. While accuracy and variability of the isometric force varied according to the transition trial, a drift of the force appeared in the no biofeedback condition. This result suggested that the degradation of information about force output in the no biofeedback condition was provided by a leaky memory buffer which was mainly dependent on the sense of effort. Because this drift remained constant whatever the transition used, this memory buffer seemed to be independent of short-term memory processes.     

Virtual action planning in Parkinson's disease: a control study.

Cognitive planning deficits affect patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and traditional psychometric tests meet difficulties to evaluate their impact on daily life activities. Virtual reality (VR) may provide a new means of assessment. The objective of this study was firstly to develop a virtual environment (VE) useful to explore planning and secondly to examine the effectiveness of using VR in the assessment of cognitive planning for patients with PD. A virtual supermarket (VS) was designed in which participants carried out a task close to daily activities: a test of shopping list. There were two preliminary sessions to familiarize the participants with the software and the supermarket's layout. Then, during the assessment session, participants completed the task, without any time limitation. Global intellectual efficiency was assessed in order to exclude patients with dementia. Data related to the performance in the VS were recorded. Five patients with PD and five age-matched healthy volunteers, meeting inclusion criteria, constituted our convenience sample. The patients did not perform as well as the control group. In particular, the session's duration and the distance covered were longer. The patients' path is specific with numerous stops, turning around, and hesitancies. Finally, their motivation for further training sessions is aroused. The results underline the potential of using VR in the assessment of cognitive planning in PD. A larger analysis is currently being carried out to confirm and to explore all the outcome measures.