Anomalous spin diffusion in 3He films: Expected behaviour in two-dimensional Fermi liquids

It is shown that the recently observed and unexplained behaviour for spin diffusion in ³He films can be understood in terms of the Fermi-liquid theory, provided that non-perturbative effects characteristic of two dimensions are taken into account. It is conjectured that such a behaviour suggests the onset of a regime in which spin current is conserved.     

Dysfunctional body investment versus body dissatisfaction: Relations with well-being and controlled motivations for obesity treatment

In this study, we investigated the associations between body image and psychological well-being, exploring the mediating role of controlled regulation for entering obesity treatment. In addition, we analyzed whether investment body image was more strongly associated with controlled regulation (and subsequent well-being) compared to evaluative body image. These analyses were performed controlling for baseline BMI effects. Participants were 139 overweight women (age: 38.0 ± 6.7 year; BMI: 32.0 ± 4.1 kg/m²) entering treatment. Evaluative and investment body image, controlled regulation, and psychological well-being were assessed. Body image investment was positively associated with controlled regulation; evaluative body image was not. Controlled regulation was negatively associated with self-esteem and psychological functioning. Controlled regulation partially mediated the effects of body image investment on self-esteem, but did not mediate its effects on psychological functioning. Results suggest that dysfunctional body image investment might undermine well-being within overweight women, partly by increasing controlled regulation for entering obesity treatment. Discussion focuses on the importance of enhancing body image and autonomy during treatment to improve well-being and weight outcomes.     

Paraconsistent algebras

The prepositional calculiC _n , 1 n introduced by N.C.A. da Costa constitute special kinds of paraconsistent logics. A question which remained open for some time concerned whether it was possible to obtain a Lindenbaum's algebra forC _n . C. Mortensen settled the problem, proving that no equivalence relation forC _n . determines a non-trivial quotient algebra.The concept of da Costa algebra, which reflects most of the logical properties ofC _n , as well as the concept of paraconsistent closure system, are introduced in this paper.We show that every da Costa algebra is isomorphic with a paraconsistent algebra of sets, and that the closure system of all filters of a da Costa algebra is paraconsistent.     

Medicine: The first step on the road to holiness?

The connections of Medicine and Religion are thoroughly documented in the primitive societies, and it comes as no surprise to see them together. Here we describe the true story of a Portuguese physician of the late 19th century whose image today is venerated in such a way as to compare him to a saint and to bestow upon him miraculous powers of healing. We propose that modern day physicians can learn from the example of this man that the role of doctor encompasses not only scientific and technical mastery but, most of all, piety, humanity and compassion.     

The morality of harm

In this article, we discuss the range of concerns people weigh when evaluating the acceptability of harmful actions and propose a new perspective on the relationship between harm and morality. With this aim, we examine Kelly, Stich, Haley, Eng and Fessler’s [Kelly, D., Stich, S., Haley, K., Eng, S., & Fessler, D. (2007). Harm, affect, and the moral/conventional distinction. Mind and Language, 22, 117-131] recent claim that, contrary to Turiel and associates, people do not judge harm to be authority independent and general in scope in the context of complex harmful scenarios (e.g., prisoner interrogation, military training). In a modified replication of their study, we examined participants’ judgments of harmful actions in these contexts by taking into account their explanations for their judgments. We claim that both in terms of participants’ judgments and rationales, the results largely confirm our hypothesis that actions involving harm andinjustice or rights violation are judged to be authority independent and general in scope, which is a modification of Turiel’s traditional hypothesis.     

Changes in Multidigit Synergies and Their Feed-Forward Adjustments in Multiple Sclerosis

The authors explored the changes in multidigit synergies in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) within the framework of the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis. The specific hypotheses were that both synergy indices and anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to the initiation of a self-paced quick action would be diminished in the patients compared to age-matched controls. The MS patients and age-matched controls (n = 13 in both groups) performed one-finger and multifinger force production tasks involving both accurate steady-state force production and quick force pulses. The patients showed significantly lower maximal finger forces and a tendency toward slower force pulses. Enslaving was increased in MS, but only in the lateral fingers (index and little). Indices of multifinger synergies during steady-state force production were lower in MS, mainly due to the lower amount of intertrial variance that did not affect total force. Anticipatory synergy adjustments were significantly delayed in MS. The results show that MS leads to significant changes in multidigit synergies and feed-forward adjustments of the synergies prior to a quick action. The authors discuss possible contributions of subcortical structures to the impaired synergic control.     

Unplanned pregnancy and risk of maternal depression: secondary data analysis from a prospective pregnancy cohort

Purpose: to evaluate the relationship between unplanned pregnancy (UP), a common problem in high and low income countries and maternal depression (MD). Methods: Secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study with pregnant women recruited from 10 primary care clinics of the public sector in São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were questioned about pregnancy intention at 20–30 weeks of gestation. The Self Report Questionnaire score >7 was used to evaluated the presence of depression during pregnancy and 11 months after childbirth. Four groups of MD were defined: never; antenatal only; postnatal only; persistent (both antenatal/postnatal). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between UP and MD, controlling for confounding. Results: Data were analysed for 701 at the postpartum period. Five hundred and sixty-two (67.8%) women did not plan the pregnancy. Women with UP had 2.5 more risk of being depressed during both assessments (during pregnancy and postpartum) when compared to women with a planned pregnancy (RR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.47:4.30). In the adjusted models, women with UP were significantly more likely to have persistent depression (RR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2:4.3). Conclusion: UP is an independent risk factor for persistent depression, but not for postpartum depression     

Human biological and nonbiological point-light movements: Creation and validation of the dataset

Human action perception is so powerful that people can identify movement efficiently in the absence of pictorial information, such as in point-light displays. Interest is growing in this type of stimulus for research in neuroscience. This interest stems from the advantage of separating the component of pure human action kinematics from other pictorial information, such as facial expression and muscle contraction. Although several groups have previously developed datasets of human point-light actions, due to the lack of datasets composed of daily actions with short durations, we developed 20 biological and 40 control (scrambled) point-light movements by using the technique of recording people wearing reflector patches. The videos are about 1 s long. Subsequently, we performed a judgment task in which 100 participants (50 male and 50 female) evaluated each video according to three categories: human action resemblance, performed action, and gender of actor. We present the mean scores of each evaluation for each video, and further propose a selection of the most suitable videos to be used as human point-light action displays and scrambled point-light displays for control. Finally, we discuss our findings on the gender attributions of the point-light displays.