The homogeneity effect on figure/ground perception in infancy

We examined whether the homogeneity of the two profiles of Rubin's goblet affects figure/ground perception in infants. We modified the two profiles of Rubin's goblet in order to compare figure/ground perception under four test patterns: (1) two profiles painted with horizontal lines (horizontal-line condition), (2) two profiles painted middle gray (uni-color condition), (3) one profile painted light gray and the other dark gray (two-color condition), and (4) a goblet painted with concentric circles (concentric-circles condition). In the horizontal-line condition the homogeneity of the profile was strengthened, and in the two-color condition the homogeneity of the profile was weakened compared to the uni-color condition, which was an original Rubin's goblet. In the concentric-circles condition the homogeneity of the reversed areas of the horizontal-line were strengthened.     

Rethinking deindustrialisation and male career crisis

The decline in manufacturing and growth of service-based jobs has prompted many social theorists to argue that the ability of working-class men to construct meaningful and rewarding careers is becoming ever more limited. Despite using the universal label ‘working class’, the experience of skilled working-class men has been largely ignored. This article explores 26 work history interviews collected from 14 former Royal Dockyard tradesmen in South-East England and 12 of these men's sons and grandsons. Findings from this research challenge the idea that most men were/and are passive victims of industrial change. By contrast, the majority of men in this study managed to carefully adapt to and navigate the transition from industrial to post-industrial work whilst still retaining a ‘linear life narrative’ to give meaning to their evolving careers and lives.     

Motor planning in Parkinson’s disease patients experiencing freezing of gait: The influence of cognitive load when approaching obstacles

Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is typically assumed to be a pure motor deficit, although it is important to consider how an abrupt loss of gait automaticity might be associated with an overloaded central resource capacity. If resource capacity limits are a factor underlying FOG, then obstacle crossing may be particularly sensitive to dual task effects in eliciting FOG. Participants performed a dual task (auditory digit monitoring) in order to increase cognitive load during obstacle crossing. Forty-two non-demented participants (14 PD patients with FOG, 13 PD who do not freeze, and 14 age-matched healthy control participants) were required to walk and step over a horizontal obstacle set at 15% of the participants’ height. Kinematic data were split into two phases of their approach: early (farthest away from the obstacle), and late (just prior to the obstacle). Interestingly, step length variability and step time variability increased when PD patients with FOG performed the dual task, but only in the late phase prior to the obstacle (i.e. when closest to the obstacle). Additionally, immediately after crossing, freezers landed the lead foot abnormally close to the obstacle regardless of dual task condition, and also contacted the obstacle more frequently (planning errors). Strength of the dual task effect was associated with low general cognitive status, declined executive function, and inappropriate spatial planning, but only in the PD-FOG group. This study is the first to demonstrate that cognitive load differentially impacts planning of the final steps needed to avoid an obstacle in PD patients with freezing, but not non-freezers or healthy controls, suggesting specific neural networks associated with FOG behaviours.     

Pakistan Federal Shariat Court's Collective Ijtihād on Gender Equality,Women's Rights and the Right to Family Life

This article argues on the basis of recent case law that the judges of the Pakistan Federal Shariat Court (FSC) have asserted their right to ijtihād and have indeed engaged in collective ijtihād. While in some areas, such as freedom of religion, Islamic law has been interpreted rigidly in a non-human-rights-friendly fashion in Pakistan, in some other areas, the flexibility and pluralism of Islamic law has been used to improve gender equality, women's rights and the right to family life. By using its constitutional powers, with its collective ijtihād, the FSC has been tackling the traditionally illiberal interpretation and application of Muslim laws in these areas. Regardless of the methodology and process of this ijtihādic endeavor, the output shows that the FSC has been either modifying the traditional ijtihāds or coming up with totally new ijtihāds to answer contemporary questions faced by Islamic law. The findings of the article once again challenge the views of scholars such as Schacht, Coulson and Chehata, who have argued that, by the fourth/tenth century, the essentials of Islamic legal doctrine were already fully formulated and that the doctrine remained fixed.     

Anglicans and Islam in East Africa: The Diocese of Zanzibar and the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (1923–63)

This article examines the legacy of Godfrey Dale, who in 1923 published a Qur'an in Swahili, with the intention of letting people “know what the Qur?ān does say.” The work of his successors is explored. It discusses the proposals for work amongst Muslims submitted by lay and ordained members of the Diocese of Zanzibar for consideration at the 1944 Diocesan Conference, as the Diocese prepared for the situation after World War II. Finally, it examines the role of the Diocese with particular reference to Christian–Muslim relations as Tanganyika and Zanzibar prepared for Independence.     

联合预防阿尔茨海默病与缺血性脑卒中的构想

阿尔茨海默病（AD）与缺血性脑卒中（IS）是中枢神经系统常见的两种高发病率和高致残率疾病。传统观点认为这两种疾病的病因、发病机制、病理生理以及临床表现均截然不同,长期以来它们的预防工作是分别展开的。随着 AD 研究的不断深化,AD 与 IS 之间的共性也不断增多,AD 可能与 IS 有着共同的血管相关发病机制以及相似的预防措施。为此,结合近年来 AD 血管机制领域的研究进展,提出 AD 与 IS 联合预防的新概念,并探讨了最佳的开始时间和预防策略。     

阿尔茨海默病发病机制的研究进展

阿尔茨海默病是一种起病隐匿,进行性发展的神经系统退行性疾病。临床上以记忆障碍、失语、失用、失认、视空间损害、执行功能障碍以及人格和行为改变等全面性痴呆表现为特征,病因迄今未明,发病机制复杂。本文对可能的发病机制：遗传因素（包括ApoE基因、早老素-1和早老素-2基因,APP基因、α2巨球蛋白基因、TOMM40基因、COL25A1基因）;Aβ代谢（合成、分解、转运）;神经递质学说;自由基与氧化应激学说;金属离子学说等进行综述。     

奥伦自理理论对充血性心力衰竭患者综合生存质量的预后影响研究

研究分析奥伦自理理论对充血性心力衰竭患者综合生存质量的预后影响。选取2012年2月~2013年5月本院收治的90例充血性心力衰竭患者为研究对象,将90例患者遵循随机分配的原则分为对照组（常规护理干预组）45例和观察组（奥伦自理理论组）45例,然后将两组患者护理干预前和护理干预后1个月、3个月的MLHFQ量表、WHOQOL-100量表及Zung量表评估结果进行统计与比较。观察组护理干预后1个月、3个月的MLHFQ量表评分均低于对照组,WHOQOL-100量表评分高于对照组,Zung量表评分与阳性率均低于对照组,P均〈0.05,两组护理干预后的评估结果差异均有统计学意义。奥伦自理理论有助于改善充血性心力衰竭患者的综合生存质量,在此类患者中的应用价值较高。     

Affaire Vincent L. : les maux de la fin

As called back it June 24th, Council of State in its press release, the Vincent L.’s case “raise scientific, ethical and human questions”. At first, to decide on the fate of this 38-year-old man, the administrative jurisdiction recovered from it in expert opinions asked to establish the existence or not of an unreasonable stubbornness. But the objectivity of the medical science cannot solve only this litigation where the outcome is the life or the death of a patient. That is why the court opened its doors to the ethical speech too. If in this case, the science could not exist without consciousness, if the legal word could not exist without the ethical word, it's because of the human dimension which fills this media and legal affair. So behind this patient's case, called now “the Vincent L.’s affair”, it's a question about the death, that of a young man in the incapacity to express its will. It's also a question of a family disagreement on the future of their son, brother, or husband. In this context, “politically and mediatically charged”, the administrative jurisdiction pronounced four times on the decision of the stop of Vincent L.’s treatment. The educational position of the French judges allowed to clear up statutory provisions of the Leonetti's act.     

Teaching Comparative Theology from an Institution's Mission

Although comparative theology is a continuously growing method in the study of religion, it is still relatively new and not widely accepted in either confessional or secular institutions. Scholars may face difficulty when seeking their institutions' acceptance for a comparative theology course. One way of generating interest and approval for such a course is by designing it from the center of the institution's mission. Professors can look to the institution's mission as a resource for teaching comparatively. We offer four examples from Catholic institutions of how this might be done. Reid Locklin offers further insights in his response to our explorations.