Modulation of pain threshold by virtual body ownership

Background Appropriate sensorimotor correlations can result in the illusion of ownership of exogenous body parts. Nevertheless, whether and how the illusion of owning a new body part affects human perception, and in particular pain detection, is still poorly investigated. Recent findings have shown that seeing one’s own body is analgesic, but it is not known whether this effect is transferable to newly embodied, but exogenous, body parts. In recent years, results from our laboratory have demonstrated that a virtual body can be felt as one’s own, provided realistic multisensory correlations. Methods The current work aimed at investigating the impact of virtual body ownership on pain threshold. An immersive virtual environment allowed a first-person perspective of a virtual body that replaced the own. Passive movement of the index finger congruent with the movement of the virtual index finger was used in the “synchronous” condition to induce ownership of the virtual arm. The pain threshold was tested by thermal stimulation under four conditions: 1) synchronous movements of the real and virtual fingers, 2) asynchronous movements, 3) seeing a virtual object instead of an arm, and 4) not seeing any limb in real world. Results Our results show that, independently of attentional and stimulus adaptation processes, the ownership of a virtual arm per se can significantly increase the thermal pain threshold. Conclusions This finding may be relevant for the development and improvement of digital solutions for rehabilitation and pain treatment.

Integrated multi-scale architecture of the cortex with application to computer vision

Tese de dout., Engenharia Electrónica e de Computadores, Faculdade de Ciência e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2007

Local object gist: meaningful shapes and spatial layout at a very early stage of visual processing

In his introduction, Pinna (2010) quoted one of Wertheimer’s observations: “I stand at the window and see a house, trees, sky. Theoretically I might say there were 327 brightnesses and nuances of color. Do I have ‘327’? No. I have sky, house, and trees.” This seems quite remarkable, for Max Wertheimer, together with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Koehler, was a pioneer of Gestalt Theory: perceptual organisation was tackled considering grouping rules of line and edge elements in relation to figure-ground segregation, i.e., a meaningful object (the figure) as perceived against a complex background (the ground). At the lowest level – line and edge elements – Wertheimer (1923) himself formulated grouping principles on the basis of proximity, good continuation, convexity, symmetry and, often forgotten, past experience of the observer. Rubin (1921) formulated rules for figure-ground segregation using surroundedness, size and orientation, but also convexity and symmetry. Almost a century of research into Gestalt later, Pinna and Reeves (2006) introduced the notion of figurality, meant to represent the integrated set of properties of visual objects, from the principles of grouping and figure-ground to the colour and volume of objects with shading. Pinna, in 2010, went one important step further and studied perceptual meaning, i.e., the interpretation of complex figures on the basis of past experience of the observer. Re-establishing a link to Wertheimer’s rule about past experience, he formulated five propositions, three definitions and seven properties on the basis of observations made on graphically manipulated patterns. For example, he introduced the illusion of meaning by comics-like elements suggesting wind, therefore inducing a learned interpretation. His last figure shows a regular array of squares but with irregular positions on the right side. This pile of (ir)regular squares can be interpreted as the result of an earthquake which destroyed part of an apartment block. This is much more intuitive, direct and economic than describing the complexity of the array of squares.

Before identity, gender and human rights

This is the beginning of an exploration of before as the thesis ‘before’ (temporally) and ‘be-fore’ (spatially) difference. Before denotes the origin and the desired destination. Before (in the double sense of ‘before’ and ‚be-in-the-fore’) opens up a space of pre-difference, of origin and of forgotten memory, as well as a space of desire, objective, illusion of teleology, unity, completion. Applied to the two domains of Human Rights and Sex/Gender, the space of ‘before’ yields two slightly different vistas: in human rights, a premodern, functionally undifferentiated society which had to invent human rights as its safeguards of functional differentiation. In Sex/Gender, 'before' brings a self-referential construction: that of ipseity, as the form of identity beyond comparison that does not play with id but with ipsum. Ipseity is inoperable but not useless. It is inoperable because it cannot be observed from anywhere without suffering rupture. It is not useless because it offers a ground for the reconceptualisation of difference, both through awe and desire.

Withdrawing from Atmosphere: An Ontology of Air partitioning and Affective Engineering

The main objective of this text is to warn against atmospherics. However comfortable it might appear, an atmosphere is politically suspicious because it numbs a body into an affective embrace of stability and permanence. It becomes doubly suspicious because a body desires to be part of the atmosphere. For this reason, I rethink both affect and atmosphere ontologically rather than phenomenologically. I argue that an atmosphere is engineered by subsuming individual affects to what I call, following Sloterdijk, an atmospheric glasshouse. I suggest that this happens in four steps: a distinction between inside and outside through partitioning; inclusion of the outside inside; illusion of synthesis; and dissimulation. In order to do this, I begin with air as the elemental paradox of ontological continuum and rupture. I carry on with the passage from air to atmosphere while retaining the discourse around continuum and rupture. Finally, I indicate a way of rupturing the atmospheric continuum through the ontological movement of withdrawal from the atmosphere. The ultimate goal of the article is to sketch a problematic of atmospherics that puts together without synthesising an elemental ontology of continuum and rupture.

Withdrawing from atmosphere: An ontology of air partitioning and affective engineering

The main objective of this text is to warn against atmospherics. However comfortable it might appear, an atmosphere is politically suspicious because it numbs a body into an affective embrace of stability and permanence. It becomes doubly suspicious because a body desires to be part of the atmosphere. For this reason, I rethink both affect and atmosphere ontologically rather than phenomenologically. I argue that an atmosphere is engineered by subsuming individual affects to what I call, following Sloterdijk, an atmospheric glasshouse. I suggest that this happens in four steps: a distinction between inside and outside through partitioning; inclusion of the outside inside; illusion of synthesis; and dissimulation. In order to do this, I begin with air as the elemental paradox of ontological continuum and rupture. I carry on with the passage from air to atmosphere while retaining the discourse around continuum and rupture. Finally, I indicate a way of rupturing the atmospheric continuum through the ontological movement of withdrawal from the atmosphere. The ultimate goal of the article is to sketch a problematic of atmospherics that puts together without synthesising an elemental ontology of continuum and rupture.

O papel da interactividade na construção da narrativa em role-playing games digitais

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Audiovisual e Multimédia.

Diderot, le grand satirique

Diderot est davantage un humaniste et un non-conformiste qui se préoccupe beaucoup de la stabilité et du confort de l‘existence humaine. Il croit que l‘homme est né pour vivre en société et qu‘il doit être heureux. Toute cette philosophie ressort de ses oeuvres dont l‘objectif est celui d‘aider les hommes à atteindre le bonheur: il s‘agit donc d‘une littérature engagée. La verve satirique de Diderot est le fil directeur d‘une oeuvre variée et diverse qui risque de décourager le lecteur paresseux. L‘élément satirique rassemble les articles de L‟Encyclopédie, les Salons et les oeuvres fictives de Diderot, comme par exemple, Le Neveu de Rameau, Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître et La Religieuse. Bien que L‟Encyclopédie soit une entreprise scientifique, Diderot cache, dans plusieurs articles, pour tromper la censure, des attaques virulentes contre la morale, la religion et ses institutions. Il critique aussi les superstitions et les croyances don‘t s‘entourent les religions. Dans les Salons, Diderot rédige des appréciations sur les tableaux de quelques peintres, parus dans plusieurs expositions. Mais Diderot ne les décrit pas en tant que technicien, il s‘en sert pour faire une parodie de ces peintures, utilisant très souvent un langage grossier et un style gaillard. La satire est le lien entre la non-fiction et la fiction. Dans ses oeuvres romanesques on trouve la satire sociale et littéraire : Diderot y met en question le genre romanesque traditionnel, par conséquent Le Neveu de Rameau, Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître et La Religieuse se caractérisent par un décousu apparent et désordonné – c‘est la forme amusante dont Diderot se sert pour révéler aux lecteurs que les romans traditionnels les trompent. La forme désorganisée sert aussi à montrer le manque de liberté dont l‘homme jouit – l‘homme n‘est qu‘un guignol manipulé par le destin. En effet, en « déconstruisant » le roman, Diderot oblige le lecteur à réfléchir sur la condition humaine et l‘illusion romanesque de telle façon que le lecteur ne sait plus ce qui est faux et ce qui est vrai, surtout dans le cas de La Religieuse.

La résistance bactérienne aux antibiotiques.

50 years ago, the introduction of penicillin, followed by many other antibacterial agents, represented an often underestimated medical revolution. Indeed, until that time, bacterial infections were the prime cause of mortality, especially in children and elderly patients. The discovery of numerous new substances and their development on an industrial scale gave us the illusion that bacterial infections were all but vanquished. However, the widespread and sometimes uncontrolled use of these agents has led to the selection of bacteria resistant to practically all available antibiotics. Bacteria utilize three main resistance strategies: (1) modification of their permeability, (2) modification of target, and (3) modification of the antibiotic. Bacteria modify their permeability either by becoming impermeable to antibiotics, or by actively excreting the drug accumulated in the cell. As an alternative, they can modify the structure of the antibiotic's molecular target--usually an essential metabolic enzyme of the bacterium--and thus escape the drug's toxic effect. Lastly, they can produce enzymes capable of modifying and directly inactivating antibiotics. In addition, bacteria have evolved extremely efficient genetic transfer systems capable of exchanging and accumulating resistance genes. Some pathogens, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multiresistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have become resistant to almost all available antibiotics and there are only one or two substances still active against such organisms. Antibiotics are very precious drugs which must be administered to patients who need them. On the other hand, the development of resistance must be kept under control by a better comprehension of its mechanisms and modes of transmission and by abiding by the fundamental rules of anti-infectious chemotherapy, i.e.: (1) choose the most efficient antibiotic according to clinical and local epidemiological data, (2) target the bacteria according to the microbiological data at hand, and (3) administer the antibiotic in an adequate dose which will leave the pathogen no chance to develop resistance.

Amener à l'existence : la fragile naissance des nanosystèmes

En partant d'une étude ethnographique dans un laboratoire engagés dans la conception et la réalisation de micro et nanosystèmes, l'article rend compte de la manière dont ces objets sont amenés à l'existence, mais aussi de la fragilité de cette existence d'être technologique. Confronté à de nombreux échecs, les chercheurs en viennent à douter de leur faisabilité technologique, de leur capacité à maintenir l'intérêt des industriels pour ces objets, voire même du sens de l' histoire technologique. Cette histoire, qu' ils croyaient évoluer inéluctablement des microsystèmes vers les nanosystèmes, semble brutalement s'arrêter, voir s'inverser. Les nanosystèmes ne seraient alors qu'un leurre, une illusion plutôt qu'une nouvelle catégorie de technologie. L'existence-même de l'objet est devenue problématique. En suivant les chercheurs, ingénieurs et techniciens au travail, l'article rend compte de la technogénèse comme exploration des modes d'existence des êtres technologiques.

全人矩矱Quan ren ju he.La règle de tout l'homme.

Contient : I, livre préliminaire太上感應篇纂註Tai shang gan ying pian zuan zhu.Le Tai shang gan ying pian, avec commentaires ; II, livre préliminaire文昌帝君陰隲文纂註Wen chang di jun yin zhi wen zuan zhu.Le Yin zhi wen, du dieu de la Littérature, avec commentaires ; III, livre préliminaire文昌帝君覺世文纂註Wen chang di jun jue shi wen zuan zhu.Traité pour éveiller le monde, par le dieu de la Littérature ; IV, livre préliminaire關聖帝君覺世經 。釋略并諭Guan sheng di jun jue shi jing. Shi lüe bing yu.Le vrai livre sacré du réveil du monde, par le dieu de la Guerre ; V, livre préliminaire純陽祖師警士文Chun yang zu shi jing shi wen.Avertissement aux lettrés, traité du dieu Fu you ; VI, livre préliminaire魏元君勸世文Wei yuan jun quan shi wen ; VII, livre 1勸孝集說Quan xiao ji shuo.Recueil de textes recommandant la piété filiale ; VIII, livre 2戒淫集說Jie yin ji shuo.Recueil de textes contre l'impureté ; IX, livre 2文昌帝君戒淫文Wen chang di jun jie yin wen.Traité contre l'impureté, par le dieu de la Littérature ; X, livre 2文昌帝君天戒錄Wen chang di jun tian jie lu.Défenses célestes, notées par le dieu de la Littérature ; XI, livre 2三丰張眞人戒淫說San feng zhang zhen ren jie yin shuo.Traité contre l'impureté, par l'homme vrai Zhang, de San feng ; XII Livre 2文昌帝君慾海廻狂寶訓Wen chang di jun yu hai hui kuang bao xun.Instructions pour tirer l'insensé de la mer de la concupiscence, par le dieu de la Littérature ; XIII, livre 3勸戒彚抄Quan jie hui chao.Recueil de conseils et de défenses.Wen di quan zhong.Traité pour conseiller la fidélité, par le dieu de la Littérature ; XIV, livre 3文帝戒士子文Wen di jie shi zi wen.Conseils aux lettrés, par le dieu de la Littérature ; XV, livre 3文帝鱣壇勸世文Wen di zhan tan quan shi wen.Conseils donnés au monde par le dieu de la Littérature, à l'autel Zhan ; XVI, livre 3文帝鱣壇語錄Wen di zhan tan yu lu.Entretiens du dieu de la Littérature à l'autel Zhan ; XVII, livre 3蕉窻十則并序Jiao chuang shi ze bing xu.Les dix commandements de Jiao tchhoang, avec préface ; XVIII, livre 3文帝三教論 。七願 。十戒Wen di san jiao lun. Qi yuan. Shi jie.Dissertation sur les trois religions ; les sept vœux ; les dix commandements : du dieu de la Littérature ; XIX, livre 3呂祖師訓世文Lü zu shi xun shi wen.Instructions au monde par le dieu Fu you ; XX, livre 3勸敬惜字紙文Quan jing xi zi zhi wen.Traité pour conseiller le respect des caractères d'écriture ; XXI, livre 3敬字說Jing zi shuo.Traité sur le respect des caractères d'écriture ; XXII, livre 3惜字說Xi zi shuo.Traité sur le ménagement des caractères d'écriture ; XXIII, livre 3勸敬惜五榖文Quan jing xi Wu gu wen.Traité du respect des cinq sortes de grains ; XXIV, livre 3戒殺生說Jie sha sheng shuo.Traité pour défendre de tuer les êtres ayant vie ; XXV, livre 3戒溺女說Jie ni nü shuo.Traité pour défendre de noyer les petites filles ; XXVI, livre 3戒賭文Jie du wen.Traité contre le jeu ; XXVII, livre 3戒嗜酒Jie shi jiu.Défense d'aimer le vin ; XXVIII, livre 3戒貪財Jie tan cai.Défense de convoiter les richesses ; XXIX, livre 3戒聽讒Jie ting chan.Défense d'écouter la calomnie ; XXX, livre 3戒口過文Jie kou ge wen.Traité pour interdire les péchés de langue ; XXXI, livre 3戒損人利己說Jie sun ren li ji shuo.Traité pour interdire de chercher des avantages personnels au détriment d'autrui ; XXXII, livre3不自棄文Bu zi qi wen.Traité recommandant de ne pas s'abandonner au vice ; XXXIII, livre 3戒慢葬Jie man zang.Traité pour défendre d'user de négligence dans les funérailles ; XXXIV, livre 3戒不修治墳墓Jie bu xiu zhi fen mu.Traité recommandant d'entretenir les tombes ; XXXV, livre 3勸塾師培植子弟Quan shu shi pei zhi zi di.Traité recommandant aux maîtres de prendre soin de leurs élèves ; XXXVI, livre 3勸尊重師傅Quan zun zhong shi fu.Traité recommandant aux élèves d'honorer leur maître ; XXXVII, livre 3勸幕賓Quan mo bin.Conseils aux secrétaires privés des mandarins ; XXXVIII, livre 3勸公門修行Quan gong men xiu xing.Dans les affaires publiques, il faut régler sa conduite ; XXXIX, livre 3勸擇術慎業Quan ze shu shen ye.Il faut choisir un métier et s'y appliquer ; XL, livre 3勸化惡助善Quan hua e zu shan.Il faut corriger le mal et contribuer au bien ; XLI, livre 3勸排難解紛Quan phai nan jie fen.Il faut écarter les obstacles et dissiper les difficultés ; XLII, livre 3勸謙和雍睦Quan qian he yong mu.Traité pour conseiller l'esprit de conciliation et de concorde ; XLIII, livre 3勸救濟Quan jiu ji.Il faut aider (ceux qui ont besoin d'aide) ; XLIV, livre 3賑饑十二善Zhen ji shi er shan.Il faut nourrir les affamés ; XLV, livre 3勸敬說Quan jing shuo.Traité sur le respect ; XLVI, livre 3勸畏說Quan wei shuo.Traité sur la crainte respectueuse ; XLVII, livre3改過之法Gai ge zhi fa.Moyen de corriger les fautes ; XLVIII, livre3勸惜福Quan xi fu.Il faut ménager sa part de bonheur ; XLIX, livre3耕心說Geng xin shuo. Autre titre : 勸耕治心地Quan geng zhi xin di.Il faut cultiver son cœur ; L, livre3廣立命說Guang li ming shuo.Développement du traité sur la direction de la vie ; LI, livre3為學當從事性道Wei xue lang cong shi xing dao.Pour étudier, il faut s'appliquer à la voie naturelle ; LII, livre3性道集說Xing dao ji shuo.Recueil de textes sur la voie naturelle ; LIII, livre3夢覺圖說Mong jue tu shuo.Traité et figure sur l'illusion universelle ; LIV, livre4功過格彚編Gong ge ge hui bian.Liste des mérites et des péchés ; LV, livre4行功過格說Xing gong ge ge shuo.Traité sur l'usage de l'échelle des mérites et des péchés ; LVI, livre4功過格例Gong ge ge li.Règles annexes à l'échelle des mérites et des péchés ; LVII, livre4功過格分類彚編Gong ge ge fen lei hui bian.Liste méthodique des mérites et des péchés ; LVIII, livre 4不費錢功德例Bu fei qian gong de li.Manière d'obtenir des mérites sans dépenser d'argent ; LIX, livre final勸世詩歌Quan shi shi ge.Recueil de poésies morales

"The whole earth as village" : a chronotopic analysis of Marshall McLuhan's "Global Village" and Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner

Marshall McLuhan's "global village", and his theories on communications and technology, in conjunction with Patrick McGoohan's television series The Prisoner (ATV, 1967-1968) are explored in this thesis. The Prisoner, brainchild of McGoohan, is about the abduction and confinement of a British government agent imprisoned within the impenetrable boundaries of a benign but totalitarian city -state called "The Village". The purpose of his abduction and imprisonment is for the extraction of information regarding his resignation as a government spy. Marshall McLuhan originally popularized the phrase "the global village" in The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making o/the Topographic Man (1962), asserting that, "The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village" (p. 31). This thesis argues that valid parallels exist between McGoohan's conception of "village", as manifested in The Prisoner, and McLuhan's global village. The comprehensive methodological stratagem for this thesis includes Marshall McLuhan's "mosaic" approach, Mikhail Bakhtin's concept ofthe "chronotope", as well as a Foucauldian genealogicallhistorical discourse analysis. In the process of deconstructing McLuhan's texts and The Prisoner as products of the 1960s, an historical "constellation" (to use Walter Benjamin's concept) of the same present has been executed. By employing this synthesized methodology, conjunctions have been made between McLuhan's theories and the series' main themes of bureaucracy as dictatorship, the perversion of science and technology, freedom as illusion, and the individual in opposition to the collective. A thorough investigation of the global village and The Prisoner will determine whether or not Marshall McLuhan and/or Patrick McGoohan visualize the village as an enslaving technological reality.

Medicalization and women : O, the Oprah Magazine diagnosed through critical discourse analysis

This thesis uses critical discourse analysis (COAl to explore and examine direct-toconsumer (OTC) pharmaceutical drug advertisements appearing in four issues of 0, The Oprah Magazine in 2006. The theoretical underpinnings of this thesis emerge from social scientists and feminists analyses regarding the medicalization of everyday life. The findings of this study highlight three types of discourses used by pharmaceutical companies. First, I explore the use of historical and contemporary gender norms to seJi pharmacological products; second, J examine discourses which normalize the use of chemical solutions as the first line of defense to address a wide range of everyday problems; and finally, I assess how phannaceutical advertisements provide an illusion of autonomy by responsibilizing individuals as patients, at the same time as they suggest that real independence can only be achieved with medication. My discussion of these themes also includes an analysis of why 0 Magazine, which explicitly promotes women's empowerment through holistic approaches to health and personal growthmight support such advertising. Thus I explore: how does OTC advertising benefit both pharmaceutical companies and 0 Magazine itself? I conclude through a brief discussion of the larger implications of OTC advertising for women's health.

“Illegal Aliens” and the Inconspicuous Geographies of US Immigration and Border Policing within 100 Miles of the US-Canada Border

Legal provisions in the US have extended the idea of the border to the inside of US territory. Border Patrol Agents confront people in different spaces to inquire about their status. I examine border policing along the northern border of the United States through textual and discourse analysis. This thesis asks: How do border agents exercise power and control the movement of people within 100 miles of the border? In whose interest is the border, the “nation,” secured? The spaces in which these mobile borders are practiced become the sites where “citizens” and “aliens” are produced, reproduced and contested. These border policing practices create the illusion of a “nation” that is secured for “our” interests. However, the interests of these vulnerable groups are not reflected in the immigration policy and along the “border. Therefore the very existence of immigrants and their basic right to be in the US is undermined.

Développement durable: quelques points litigieux

Ouvrant la réflexion sur les enjeux de la perte massive de la biodiversité, l'article s'appuie sur la question élémentaire de l'importance de la diversité biologique pour l'homme, à la fois sur le plan économique, biologique et éthique. La maîtrise de la nature par l'homme se révèle être une illusion. La réalité étant celle de l'interaction, il est permis de dire que les sociétés humaines agissent sur leurs propres conditions en modifiant les équilibres biologiques pour satisfaire leurs besoins, sans pour autant intégrer cette interaction fondamentale dans l'équation d'un rapport viable entre l'homme et la nature. L'approche récente par le biais des analyses des services écologiques constitue à cet égard un progrès sensible. Il aboutit néanmoins au constat de l'impossibilité pour l'humanité de se substituer aux mécanismes naturels permettant de tirer les services de la nature nécessaires à sa survie. Plutôt que de prétendre contrôler et maîtriser la nature à tout prix, l’homme devrait apprendre à se reconnaître comme une partie consciente de la nature et à vivre avec la vie qui l’entoure. Cet apprentissage soulève des défis scientifiques, humains et de gouvernance. L'article prône la nécessité d'une science de la biodiversité intégrée et non plus éclatée, condition essentielle pour l'élaboration de politiques économiques et sociales qui intègrent la viabilité de l'utilisation des ressources naturelles et des services qu'elles procurent.