Anthropometric characteristics and gait transition speed in human locomotion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between anthropometric parameters and the preferred transition speed (PTS) in human locomotion, in both genders. Previous studies exploring body measures as possible determinants of the PTS were biased toward longitudinal body dimensions, while the relationship between the PTS and transverse body dimensions has so far not been examined. Longitudinal and transverse anthropometric parameters were measured in 48 physical education students (21 males, 27 females), and an exercise test was performed for determination of the PTS. The relationship between the PTS and the anthropometric variables was determined using Pearson product-moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Weak to moderate correlations between several body size and body shape variables and the PTS were found. In males, significant negative correlations (p<.05) between transverse body dimensions scaled to body height (calf girth, shoulder, bicristal and bitrochanteric diameters) and the PTS were found (r=-.51 to -.63). In females, calf girth and thigh girth scaled to height were significantly negatively correlated with the PTS (r=-.61 and -.42, respectively; p<.05). The results of the study suggest that gait transition speed in humans is related to both transverse and longitudinal body dimensions, and that sexual dimorphism in body size and shape should be taken into consideration for a proper interpretation of the PTS.     

National Ethics Advisory Bodies in the Emerging Landscape of Responsible Research and Innovation

The article examines the role played by policy advice institutions in the governance of ethically controversial new and emerging science and technology in Europe. The empirical analysis, which aims to help close a gap in the literature, focuses on the evolution, role and functioning of national ethics advisory bodies (EABs) in Europe. EABs are expert bodies whose remit is to issue recommendations regarding ethical aspects of new and emerging science and technology. Negative experiences with the impacts of science and technology in the past have resulted in calls for increased transparency and broader participation and pluralism in expert advice and policy decision-making. Do national EABs function as inclusive, anticipatory “hybrid forums”? Or do they resemble more “classical” expert-oriented bodies, inspired by technocratic or decisionist approaches? As part of the empirical analysis of the role and functioning of institutional ethical advisory structures in 32 European countries, an extensive analysis of EAB websites and the content of publicly available documents on such institutions has been carried out, supplemented by an online survey of representatives of the EABs. One major finding of the empirical analysis is the very uneven distribution of “hybrid forum” features of EABs across Europe.     

Perpetrator Abhorrence: Disgust as a Stop Sign

Most contemporary research on disgust can be divided into “disgust advocates” and “disgust skeptics.” The so‐called advocates argue that disgust can have a positive influence on our moral judgment; skeptics warn that it can mislead us toward prejudice and discrimination. This article compares this disagreement to a structurally similar debate in the field of genocide studies concerning the phenomenon of “perpetrator abhorrence.” While some soldiers report having felt strong disgust in the moment of committing or witnessing atrocity, scholars disagree on whether such disgust is moral in nature. These empirical cases provide us with reasons to reconsider the normative features of disgust. Inspired by the conceptualization of disgust in Immanuel Kant and Aurel Kolnai, and as an alternative to both the disgust advocates and the skeptics, this article argues that the analogy of a stop sign can better help us define disgust responses.     

“The king of France is bald” reconsidered: a case against Yablo

Stephen Yablo has argued for metaontological antirealism: he believes that the sentences claiming or denying the existence of numbers (or other abstract entities or mereological sums) are inapt for truth valuation, because the reference failure of a numerical singular term (or a singular term for an abstract entity or a mereological sum) would not produce a truth value gap in any sentence containing that term. At the same time, Yablo believes that nothing similar applies to singular terms that aim to refer to an entity whose existence or non-existence is a factual matter, e.g. ‘the king of France’: the failure of the presupposition that there is a unique French king makes some sentences with the term ‘the king of France’, in particular “The king of France is bald”, gappy. In this paper I will show that the sentence “The king of France is bald” must be false, and not gappy, according to Yablo’s own criteria and that, furthermore, the presupposition that the term ‘the king of France’ refers presents a fail-safe mechanism in the same way Yablo thinks abstract presuppositions do—this undermines his argument for metaontological antirealism.     

Investigative and Suspensive Scepticism

Sextus Empiricus portrays the Pyrrhonian sceptics in two radically different ways. On the one hand, he describes them as inquirers or examiners, and insists that what distinguishes them from all the other philosophical schools is their persistent engagement in inquiry. On the other hand, he insists that the main feature of Pyrrhonian attitude is suspension of judgement about everything. Many have argued that a consistent account of Sextan scepticism as both investigative and suspensive is not possible. The main obstacle to characterizing Pyrrhonism as both investigative and suspensive is the fact that it seems that the mature sceptics, after they have suspended judgement and thus reached tranquillity, have no motivation for further inquiry. Any inquiry they seem to be interested in after they have suspended judgement is the refutation of (relevant) beliefs needed for maintaining tranquillity. I try to show that the mature sceptics' removal of distress does not ipso facto mean removal of the desire for knowledge. This is because distress is not just a matter of unsatisfied desire, but of belief that one of the opposed appearances must be true, or, more generally, of belief that the truth is the only worthwhile epistemic goal. Having abandoned this belief, the sceptics can still engage in philosophical inquiries. This is because Sextus does not assume that philosophy is the search for truth: it is so only for the dogmatists. In a more general sense, applicable to the sceptics as well, philosophy is just an inquiry into certain things, and for the sceptics, its epistemic goal is still open.     

Being “Psychologically Held”: Separation and Reparation in the Parent-Child Relationship

In the context of child development, this article proposes that “asynchrony,” or brief separation from an attachment figure, is necessary for optimal, emotional growth toward attachment security. Emotional growth is seen as occurring through asynchrony and the repair process that follows. The authors propose to explore the notion of asynychrony in the context of emotional regulation and attachment theory and to relate it to the repair process. Furthermore, the authors plan to understand the possible effects of a lack of asynchrony as well as a loss of the repair process in the context of development. A child's capacity to experience asynchrony changes with development. A caregiver needs to maintain a balance between providing a holding environment and allowing a child to experience asynchrony in a developmentally appropriate way. The authors will address the role of the caregiver in the context of asynchrony and the repair process.     

The Haven Mother's House Modified Therapeutic Community: Meeting the gap in infant mental health services for pregnant and parenting mothers with drug addiction

The specialized needs of pregnant and parenting women in the treatment of drug addiction must not be underestimated. The impact of substance abuse on developmental outcomes for young infants and children supports the notion that attention to the parent–child relationship is a critical aspect of addiction treatment for this population. As such, the standard of care appears to be shifting from separating mothers and young children while the mother completes addiction treatment to women residing with their children while in treatment and receiving concurrent addiction treatment and parenting education. While parenting education is important, it may not provide the needed relationship intervention to address the myriad of issues often present for female recovering addicts and their children. This article describes the evolution and workings of a program for integrating infant mental health practice into a long‐term residential treatment community for pregnant and parenting women with addiction. The principles and structure of the modified therapeutic community are described, as are the ways in which infant mental health practice have been effectively integrated and incorporated into the addiction treatment philosophy. A case example is provided, and clinical implications are discussed.     

Some Predictors of Primary Control of Development in Three Transitional Periods of Life

In the context of some personal control (mastery) theories (e.g., J. Heckhausen & R. Schultz, 1995; Gutmann, 1964), primary, secondary, and tertiary personal control of development among subjects in three transitional periods of life were investigated (D. J. Levinson, C. N. Darrow, E. B. Klein, M. H. Levinson, & B. McKee, 1978). Results confirmed the expectation that primary control decrease whereas secondary control increase with age. Tertiary control was the same in all transitional periods. There were some differences in contribution of predictors of primary control in the early, middle, and late period of transition. From the group of variables relating to personality traits, optimism proved a good predictor of primary control in the young and middle aged, whereas in old people who have the lowest primary control, none of the personality traits proved predictive. The importance of goals related to knowledge and competence (GKC) was a significant predictor in all three (age) groups.