Argumentation and fiction are quite different types of communicative phenomena. However, overlaps between them happen to be very frequent. We can both fictionalize by means of argumentation and argue by means of fiction. The main goal of this paper is to analyse the different types of overlap that may arise between argumentation and fiction. In this paper, the defended hypothesis is that by considering who the “character” that is arguing is, we can get an exhaustive account of (...) any possible overlap, as well as an explanation of the different functions that such overlaps can play. (shrink)

Abstract:This article will analyze the feeling of restlessness that we discover in the representation of the border areas, seen as extreme and paradigmatic landscapes of contemporary society. The analysis is based on three narrative works of current Catalan literature: Dies de frontera (Frontier days; 2014) by Vicenç Pagèsa; La pell de la frontera (The skin of the frontier; 2014) by Francesc Serés, and L'horitzó primer (The first horizon; 2014) by Joan Todó. Traditional Catalan—and European—literature, has long since lent (...) great weight to literary representation of landscape in the creation of identity and culture. Now, however, with the desolate, degraded and forgotten landscapes of the peripheries and borders, the narrative of place speaks to us of personal and collective crises. In recent decades, academics speak of a spatial turn in the humanities, and some even talk of a shift in civilization tied to the landscape. Catalan fiction is a good example of this shift. We shall analyze these three books to see how this place is perceived aesthetically and define the feeling of disquiet and restlessness which emerges, in the end, from these specific and deeply human observations. (shrink)

The Disputation or Cathechesis of Tortosa with its sixty-nine sessions (February 7, 1413-November 12, 1413) was the longest of the Jewish Christian encounters in the Middle Age. Stirred by the Avignonesian Pope Benedict XIII, Geronimo de Sancta Fide, olim Yehoshua ha-Lorki, summoned a group of Catalan and Aragonese rabbis to inform them that the Messiah was already came. Not only the Papal notaries recorded the excruciating debates, but also two Hebrew sources: the anonymous and fragmentary letter published by Halberstam (...) in 1868 and the chapter 40 of the Shebet Yehuda. They encompass the first nine sessions carried out orally, before the Pope requested for written texts to be debated lately. Since these sources disagree on many details, this paper aims at examining them anew. That examination has shown that the anonymous account is more accurate than the fictional report of the Shebet Yehuda as far as the internal chronology of the sessions, the speeches of the Jewish delegates and their identities are concerned. The internal evidence leads us to subscribe with Riera i Sans in ascribing its authorship to Bonastruc Desmestre from Girona, who was at Tortosa on request of the Pope. He probably knew other Jewish chronicle and added some new materials from the Vikkuach Ramban, Salomon Ibn Verga, the author of Shebet Yehuda, built upon this chronicle and created a fictional account around Vidal Benveniste or the ‘ideal’ portrait of the Pope and added some materials from the Latin Protocols or from unknown Jewish sources. (shrink)

Alfred Schmidt se coloca fuera del dogma del “marxismo soviético”. Considera textos inéditos en la vida de Marx, que permiten comprender los resultados en las obras centrales. Desde el concepto de naturaleza, discute la relación sujeto-objeto y necesidad- libertad. La naturaleza está mediada socio- ..

El artículo estudia el argumento mítico y religioso del paternalismo político en virtud del cual la sociedad es hija del gobernante, en especial del monarca. Del mismo modo que el rey en tanto Dios crea a la humanidad desde la nada, también el rey en tanto padre se presenta como su engendrador o fundador. El presente análisis tiene una estructura diacrónica que comienza en el estadio mítico-religioso de los pueblos africanos y de la China clásica, atraviesa la Antigüedad grecorromana y (...) el modelo medieval de la familia como modelo de la sociedad, y termina con la teoría política de John Filmer sobre el origen bíblico de la monarquía. (shrink)

La autora explica el consumo adolescente por su sentido reafirmador en esa etapa, analiza el impacto de ellas en el sistema nervioso, postula que a población tiende a autorregular su consumo, distingue el abuso de la dependencia a las drogas y lo vincula al contexto de la vida adolescente, en particular en los sectores pobres. Finalmente aborda el tema de la rehabilitación y debate el contexto social en sus estrategias ante los jóvenes consumidores.

Background Second victim is the name given to the healthcare personnel—most often a nursing professional—involved with the error that led to the adverse event to a patient and who, as a result, have experienced negative psychological effects. Research with second victims has increased over the years, however concerns exist with regards to the ethical risks imposed upon these individuals. Aim To explore the extent to which research with second victims of adverse events in healthcare settings adhere to ethical requirements. Methods (...) A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework and using the following databases: PUBMED, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. Original research of any study design focused on second victims and published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese in 2014–2023 were included. A critical narrative approach was used to discuss the findings. Ethical considerations The review followed ethical guidelines emphasizing accurate authorship attribution and truthful data reporting. Results Fifteen studies using qualitative ( n = 2), quantitative ( n = 10), and mixed-method ( n = 3) designs were included. Over half were not assessed by a research ethics committee, with questionable reasons given by the authors. One-third did not refer to having used an informed consent. In two studies, participants were recruited by their workplace superiors, which could potentially right to autonomy and voluntary participation. Conclusion Over half of the included studies with second victims did not comply with fundamental ethical aspects, with risk to inflict respect for individual autonomy, confidentiality, and of not causing any harm to participants. Implications for nursing research Healthcare personnel involved in adverse events are most often nursing professionals; therefore, any breach of ethics in research with this population is likely to directly affect their rights as research participants. We provide recommendations to promote better research practices with second victims towards safeguarding their rights as research participants. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en explicar el concepto de «poder de lo real» en la filosofía de Xavier Zubiri. Siendo este el núcleo, hemos querido confrontar su reflexión con otros autores relacionados con un ámbito, digamos, artístico-filosófico. Autores en los que, como ocurre con el filósofo vasco, el poder de lo real, de las cosas reales concretas, es lo que proporciona el eje de sus obras. Es decir, el hombre abona, mediante ese poder, su funcionalidad con respecto a (...) las demás cosas reales, incluido el propio ser humano. Primeramente, nos introduciremos en la amplia reflexión que realiza Zubiri en relación a dos conceptos complejos, el de poder y el de lo real. Seguidamente nos adentraremos en la mirada trágica, con especial consideración a Edipo rey, de Sófocles, una obra que permite ver cómo ese poder se produce desde la vivencia trágica, lo que nos ayuda a comprender la perspectiva de Zubiri que también hace hincapié en el significado de la realidad trágica. El añadido del escritor Samuel Beckett se realiza porque su obra, en especial Esperando a Godot, puede servir de contraste, y al mismo tiempo de reto, a la visión zubiriana desde una perspectiva de la filosofía del absurdo. (shrink)

Las migraciones transnacionales, la integración del pluralismo cultural en los Es-tados de acogida de inmigrantes, el reconocimiento de sus derechos civiles, económicos y políticos y las condiciones de acceso a la ciudadanía son fenómenos de interés público que nos obligan a repensar las fronteras de la democracia y la someten a una renovación continua. La presencia del extranjero irregular y la llegada masiva de refugiados a las puertas de Europa han tambaleado las bases de nuestra ciudadanía, poniendo en tela de (...) juicio los valores comu-nitarios y desafiando la tradición cosmopolita desde el afuera de la Administración de la UE. Estas contradicciones prácticas llevan a los teóricos de la justicia y la filosofía política, como S. Benhabib, a explorar los límites de la pertenencia, la responsabilidad y la ética en las de-mocracias contemporáneas. El objetivo de conciliar los derechos de autogobierno y libre auto-determinación territorial con la afirmación de los derechos humanos universales pasa, nece-sariamente, por argumentar la vigencia del Estado-nación moderno y problematizar las lógicas divisorias de la soberanía territorial, tan reforzada hoy en día. (shrink)

El objetivo del estudio es analizar las prácticas de lectura inclusivas en niñas, niños y adolescentes mapuches con el fin de recrear la novela cervantina, desde la cosmovisión de este pueblo. La investigación se efectuó en dos escuelas interculturales con estudiantes de Educación Básica. En su ejecución se implementó un cuadernillo de trabajo con fragmentos del Quijote editado por Santos Tornero y fichas sobre la cultura mapuche que fueron desarrolladas por los participantes. Los resultados muestran la recreación de la obra (...) desde una perspectiva sincrética, donde el componente intercultural cobra relevancia y se relevan valores universales que trascienden épocas y culturas. (shrink)

La enseñanza y evaluación de la escritura son actividades esenciales en cualquier área, máxime en Medicina, que es una disciplina altamente especializada. Sin embargo, los docentes, con formación médica, pero no en didáctica ni evaluación de la escritura, muchas veces carecen de herramientas adecuadas para evaluar los aspectos lingüístico-discursivos de los textos que producen sus estudiantes. El objetivo es proponer un instrumento de evaluación contextualizado que permita valorar la calidad lingüístico-discursiva de textos disciplinares producidos por estudiantes de Medicina. Para ello, (...) se desarrolla un estudio cualitativo mediante un estudio de caso, a fin de generar una rúbrica analítica que permita orientar la enseñanza y evaluación de la escritura en la formación en Medicina. El proceso de creación del instrumento incluyó la revisión de distintos insumos de la carrera mencionada, lo que permitió realizar un levantamiento de las propiedades lingüístico-discursivas que debiesen poseer los textos especializados en cuestión y los aspectos que tendrían que ser evaluados por los docentes disciplinares en dichos textos. El instrumento quedó constituido por 17 dimensiones, agrupadas en cuatro macrodimensiones: situación comunicativa, comunicación del conocimiento especializado en Medicina, estructura global y oracional, normativa. Tras diversos procedimientos de validación, la versión final del instrumento obtuvo un acuerdo considerable para la validez de contenido y uno casi perfecto para la confiabilidad intercodificador. En conclusión, este instrumento permitirá obtener información más precisa respecto del nivel de adquisición de la competencia escritural en la formación de médicos; y, además, definir estrategias de intervención adecuadas a las necesidades de la comunidad disciplinar. (shrink)

Background: In the last decades, there have been important developments in the scientific and technological areas of healthcare. On certain occasions this provokes conflict between the patients' rights and the values of healthcare professionals which brings about, within this clinical relationship, the problem of conscientious objection. Aims: To learn the opinions that the Nurses of the Madrid Autonomous Community have regarding conscientious objection. Research design: Cross-cutting descriptive study. Participants and research context: The nurses of 9 hospitals and 12 Health Centers (...) in the Madrid Autonomous Community. The study was done by means of an auto completed anonymous questionnaire. The variables studied were social-demographical and their opinions about conscientious objections. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the Ethical Community of Clinical Research of the University Hospital Príncipe de Asturias. Participants were assured of maximum confidentiality and anonymity. Findings: A total of 421 nurses answered the questionnaire. In total, 55.6% of the nurses confirmed they were religious believers, and 64.3% declared having poor knowledge regarding conscientious objection. The matters that caused the greatest objections were voluntary abortions, genetic embryo selection, refusal of blood transfusions, and therapy refusal. Discussion: Different authors state that the most significant cases of conscientious objections for health professionals are those regarding carrying out or assisting in abortions, euthanasia, the practice of assisted reproduction and, finally, the prescription and dispensing of the morning-after pill. In our study, the most significant cases in which the nurses would declare conscientious objections would be the refusal to accept treatment, the selection of embryos after genetic diagnosis preimplantation, the patient’s refusal to receive blood transfusions due to religious reasons and pregnant women’s request for voluntary abortions within the first 14 weeks. Conclusion: Nurses’ religious beliefs influence their opinions regarding conscientious objection. The nurses who declare themselves as religious believers object in a higher percentage than those without religious beliefs. (shrink)

Tourism, as an industry, has become one of the most dynamic sectors of the world economy these days and has specific features that are different from other industries. In the tourism industry, production and consumption points occur spatially at the same time. In addition, the tourism industry contributes to the economic growth of developed regions and can simultaneously distribute the wealth created geographically. It is notable that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused many challenges in the tourism industry (...) regarding the presence of tourists in tourism centres and the closing of all tourism service chains, including food, entertainment, transportation and travel services worldwide. Tourism-related businesses, which are considered as invisible export and one of the engines of development and occupation, have been rendered obsolete. In other words, the businesses, as well as multiple units and activities in the related chain, have been damaged and employees of this industry have lost their jobs. This has led to the recession and regressive course of the developing and large industry of tourism in the world. It is worth noting that the tourism industry includes various sections, the most important of which is religious tourism. All religions in the world have different religious places, works, traditions and customs, which have become amongst the most important tourist attractions. Meanwhile, Muslims and the religion of Islam play a significant role in this branch of tourism. The Hajj, pilgrimage to holy places and the existence of mourning ceremonies or religious celebrations of Muslims are amongst the largest religious tourism events in the world. Given the importance of this issue, the present study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious tourism in Iraq in 2021. This field study was conducted on 4500 Muslim managers and staff of restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, clothing stores and souvenir shops around the holy shrines of imams and religious places in Karbala, Najaf, Kufa, Samarra and Kazemi. According to the results, the tourism of Iraq, which is mainly limited to Muslim religious sites in several major Iraqi cities, has also seen a decline in the number of religious tourists. The negative effects of COVID-19 on religious tourism have also been proved statistically by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), as µ ≥ 3 has been counted in all indices.Contribution: Our findings offered new insights into the impact of COVID-19 on tourism, based on statistical analysis. In this study, the authors showed how COVID-19 affects various aspects of religious tourism, which has not been addressed in previous researches. (shrink)

This research aims to describe how practicing lawyers perceive ‘plain writing’ in the legal field and to conceptualize this notion through the discourse analysis of these specialists. To do so, a qualitative research framed in the interpretive paradigm has been developed. Specifically, 18 practicing lawyers, from different countries and with different specializations in the practicing of Law, were surveyed. After analyzing the discourse of the interviewed lawyers, eight macro categories accounting for plain language both generally and particularly were identified. The (...) audience was identified as a key element in the production of legal texts which facilitate justice to citizens. Based on our analysis, we conclude with a definition of plain writing. (shrink)

BackgroundAntipsychotic-induced weight gain is a contributing factor in the reduced life expectancy reported amongst people with psychotic disorders. CYP2D6 is a liver enzyme involved in the metabolism of many commonly used antipsychotic medications. We investigated if CYP2D6 genetic variation influenced weight or BMI among people taking antipsychotic treatment.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and a random effects meta-analysis of publications in Pubmed, Embase, PsychInfo, and CENTRAAL that had BMI and/or weight measurements of patients on long-term antipsychotics by their CYP2D6-defined metabolic groups.ResultsTwelve (...) studies were included in the systematic review. All cohort studies suggested that the presence of reduced-function or non-functional alleles for CYP2D6 was associated with greater antipsychotic-induced weight gain, whereas most cross-sectional studies did not find any significant associations. Seventeen studies were included in the meta-analysis with clinical data of 2,041 patients, including 93 poor metabolizers, 633 intermediate metabolizers, 1,272 normal metabolizers, and 30 UMs. Overall, we did not find associations in any of the comparisons made. The estimated pooled standardized differences for the following comparisons were PM versus NM; weight = –0.07, BMI = 0.40. IM versus NM; weight = 0.09 and BMI = 0.09. UM versus EM; weight = 0.01 and BMI = –0.08.ConclusionOur systematic review of cohort studies suggested that CYP2D6 poor metabolizers have higher BMI than normal metabolizers, but the data of cross-sectional studies and the meta-analysis did not show this association. Although our review and meta-analysis constitutes one of the largest studies with comprehensively genotyped samples, the literature is still limited by small numbers of participants with genetic variants resulting in poor or UMs status. We need further studies with larger numbers of extreme metabolizers to establish its clinical utility in antipsychotic treatment. CYP2D6 is a key gene for personalized prescribing in mental health. (shrink)

Este artículo releva los criterios y estándares de calidad para la acreditación ins- titucional del subsistema universitario, ley 21.091. Se interroga ¿Cómo se entiende la dimensión de la docencia y el proceso formativo desde los criterios y estándares de calidad para la acreditación institucional? el objetivo es analizar las caracte- rísticas que se manifiestan de forma explícita e implícita sobre esta dimensión. La metodología es un estudio documental a partir de fuentes directas e indirectas. Las conclusiones expresan la necesidad de (...) desagregar los elementos concernientes a los criterios 1, 2, 3 y 4 de la Dimensión Docencia y Resultados del Proceso Formativo. (shrink)

As the demand for prosthetic limbs with reliable and multi-functional control increases, recent advances in myoelectric pattern recognition and implanted sensors have proven considerably advantageous. Additionally, sensory feedback from the prosthesis can be achieved via stimulation of the residual nerves, enabling closed-loop control over the prosthesis. However, this stimulation can cause interfering artifacts in the electromyographic (EMG) signals which deteriorate the reliability and function of the prosthesis. Here, we implement two real-time stimulation artifact removal algorithms, Template Subtraction (TS) and ε-Normalized (...) Least Mean Squares (ε-NLMS), and investigate their performance in offline and real-time myoelectric pattern recognition in two transhumeral amputees implanted with nerve cuff and EMG electrodes. We show that both algorithms are capable of significantly improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and offline pattern recognition accuracy of artifact-corrupted EMG signals. Furthermore, both algorithms improved real-time decoding of motor intention during active neurostimulation. Although these outcomes are dependent on the user-specific sensor locations and neurostimulation settings, they nonetheless represent progress toward bi-directional neuromusculoskeletal prostheses capable of multifunction control and simultaneous sensory feedback. (shrink)

BackgroundUpper limb impairment is common after stroke, and many will not regain full upper limb function. Different technologies based on surface electromyography (sEMG) have been used in stroke rehabilitation, but there is no collated evidence on the different sEMG-driven interventions and their effect on upper limb function in people with stroke.AimSynthesize existing evidence and perform a meta-analysis on the effect of different types of sEMG-driven interventions on upper limb function in people with stroke.MethodsPubMed, SCOPUS, and PEDro databases were systematically searched (...) for eligible randomized clinical trials that utilize sEMG-driven interventions to improve upper limb function assessed by Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-UE) in stroke. The PEDro scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality and the risk of bias of the included studies. In addition, a meta-analysis utilizing a random effect model was performed for studies comparing sEMG interventions to non-sEMG interventions and for studies comparing different sEMG interventions protocols.ResultsTwenty-four studies comprising 808 participants were included in this review. The methodological quality was good to fair. The meta-analysis showed no differences in the total effect, assessed by total FMA-UE score, comparing sEMG interventions to non-sEMG interventions (14 studies, 509 participants, SMD 0.14, P 0.37, 95% CI –0.18 to 0.46, I255%). Similarly, no difference in the overall effect was found for the meta-analysis comparing different types of sEMG interventions (7 studies, 213 participants, SMD 0.42, P 0.23, 95% CI –0.34 to 1.18, I273%). Twenty out of the twenty-four studies, including participants with varying impairment levels at all stages of stroke recovery, reported statistically significant improvements in upper limb function at post-sEMG intervention compared to baseline.ConclusionThis review and meta-analysis could not discern the effect of sEMG in comparison to a non-sEMG intervention or the most effective type of sEMG intervention for improving upper limb function in stroke populations. Current evidence suggests that sEMG is a promising tool to further improve functional recovery, but randomized clinical trials with larger sample sizes are needed to verify whether the effect on upper extremity function of a specific sEMG intervention is superior compared to other non-sEMG or other type of sEMG interventions. (shrink)

In this paper we explore the constraints that our preferred account of scientific representation places on the ontology of scientific models. Pace the Direct Representation view associated with Arnon Levy and Adam Toon we argue that scientific models should be thought of as imagined systems, and clarify the relationship between imagination and representation.

Most scientific models are not physical objects, and this raises important questions. What sort of entity are models, what is truth in a model, and how do we learn about models? In this paper I argue that models share important aspects in common with literary fiction, and that therefore theories of fiction can be brought to bear on these questions. In particular, I argue that the pretence theory as developed by Walton (1990, Mimesis as make-believe: on the foundations (...) of the representational arts. Harvard University Press, Cambridge/MA) has the resources to answer these questions. I introduce this account, outline the answers that it offers, and develop a general picture of scientific modelling based on it. (shrink)

Jonathan Bennett (1974) maintains that Huckleberry Finn’s deliberations about whether to return Jim to slavery afford insight into the tension between sympathy and moral judgment; Miranda Fricker (2007) argues that the trial scene in To Kill a Mockingbird affords insight into the nature of testimonial injustice. Neither claims merely that the works prompt an attentive reader to think something new or to change her mind. Rather, they consider the reader cognitively better off for her encounters with the novels. Nor is (...) her cognitive improvement restricted to acquiring new justified true beliefs about the works themselves. What the reader gleans is supposed to enhance her knowledge or understanding of the .. (shrink)

This monograph examines truth in fiction by applying the techniques of a naturalized logic of human cognitive practices. The author structures his project around two focal questions. What would it take to write a book about truth in literary discourse with reasonable promise of getting it right? What would it take to write a book about truth in fiction as true to the facts of lived literary experience as objectivity allows? It is argued that the most semantically distinctive (...) feature of the sentences of fiction is that they are unambiguously true and false together. It is true that Sherlock Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street and also concurrently false that he did. A second distinctive feature of fiction is that the reader at large knows of this inconsistency and isn't in the least cognitively molested by it. Why, it is asked, would this be so? What would explain it? Two answers are developed. According to the no-contradiction thesis, the semantically tangled sentences of fiction are indeed logically inconsistent but not logically contradictory. According to the no-bother thesis, if the inconsistencies of fiction were contradictory, a properly contrived logic for the rational management of inconsistency would explain why readers at large are not thrown off cognitive stride by their embrace of those contradictions. As developed here, the account of fiction suggests the presence of an underlying three - or four-valued dialethic logic. The author shows this to be a mistaken impression. There are only two truth-values in his logic of fiction. The naturalized logic of Truth in Fiction jettisons some of the standard assumptions and analytical tools of contemporary philosophy, chiefly because the neurotypical linguistic and cognitive behaviour of humanity at large is at variance with them. Using the resources of a causal response epistemology in tandem with the naturalized logic, the theory produced here is data-driven, empirically sensitive, and open to a circumspect collaboration with the empirical sciences of language and cognition. (shrink)