Masculinities in Conflict: Representations of the Other in Narrative during the Spanish Civil War

In this article, I analyze the representation of the Other in three texts that were published during the Spanish Civil War: El infierno azul (1938?), by Republican Isidro R. Mendieta, and two closely related works by Falangist Jacinto Miquelarena: Cómo fui ejecutado en Madrid (1937) and El otro mundo: La vida en las embajadas de Madrid (1938). Although these texts adhere to different political ideologies and are stylistically very divergent, they are similar in their constant criticisms of the enemy. Furthermore, both Republicans and rebels tend to depict the enemy as possessing an inadequate masculinity. He is described, on one hand, as a beast or an animal, unable to control his instincts, and, on the other hand, as an unmanly and effeminate coward. Thus, for the construction of the nation, the Other presents an inappropriate masculinity, which is either excessive and uncontainable, or insufficient. Therefore, national ideologies seem to propose a normative masculinity that is located in an ambiguous middle ground: a masculinity that is able to control animal instincts yet capable of heroic acts.

Chains of Infinite Order, Chains with Memory of Variable Length, and Maps of the Interval

We show how to construct a topological Markov map of the interval whose invariant probability measure is the stationary law of a given stochastic chain of infinite order. In particular we characterize the maps corresponding to stochastic chains with memory of variable length. The problem treated here is the converse of the classical construction of the Gibbs formalism for Markov expanding maps of the interval.

Technical innovations for the diagnosis and the rehabilitation of motor and perceptive impairments of the child with Cerebral Palsy

The treatment of the Cerebral Palsy (CP) is considered as the “core problem” for the whole field of the pediatric rehabilitation. The reason why this pathology has such a primary role, can be ascribed to two main aspects. First of all CP is the form of disability most frequent in childhood (one new case per 500 birth alive, (1)), secondarily the functional recovery of the “spastic” child is, historically, the clinical field in which the majority of the therapeutic methods and techniques (physiotherapy, orthotic, pharmacologic, orthopedic-surgical, neurosurgical) were first applied and tested. The currently accepted definition of CP – Group of disorders of the development of movement and posture causing activity limitation (2) – is the result of a recent update by the World Health Organization to the language of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health, from the original proposal of Ingram – A persistent but not unchangeable disorder of posture and movement – dated 1955 (3). This definition considers CP as a permanent ailment, i.e. a “fixed” condition, that however can be modified both functionally and structurally by means of child spontaneous evolution and treatments carried out during childhood. The lesion that causes the palsy, happens in a structurally immature brain in the pre-, peri- or post-birth period (but only during the firsts months of life). The most frequent causes of CP are: prematurity, insufficient cerebral perfusion, arterial haemorrhage, venous infarction, hypoxia caused by various origin (for example from the ingestion of amniotic liquid), malnutrition, infection and maternal or fetal poisoning. In addition to these causes, traumas and malformations have to be included. The lesion, whether focused or spread over the nervous system, impairs the whole functioning of the Central Nervous System (CNS). As a consequence, they affect the construction of the adaptive functions (4), first of all posture control, locomotion and manipulation. The palsy itself does not vary over time, however it assumes an unavoidable “evolutionary” feature when during growth the child is requested to meet new and different needs through the construction of new and different functions. It is essential to consider that clinically CP is not only a direct expression of structural impairment, that is of etiology, pathogenesis and lesion timing, but it is mainly the manifestation of the path followed by the CNS to “re”-construct the adaptive functions “despite” the presence of the damage. “Palsy” is “the form of the function that is implemented by an individual whose CNS has been damaged in order to satisfy the demands coming from the environment” (4). Therefore it is only possible to establish general relations between lesion site, nature and size, and palsy and recovery processes. It is quite common to observe that children with very similar neuroimaging can have very different clinical manifestations of CP and, on the other hand, children with very similar motor behaviors can have completely different lesion histories. A very clear example of this is represented by hemiplegic forms, which show bilateral hemispheric lesions in a high percentage of cases. The first section of this thesis is aimed at guiding the interpretation of CP. First of all the issue of the detection of the palsy is treated from historical viewpoint. Consequently, an extended analysis of the current definition of CP, as internationally accepted, is provided. The definition is then outlined in terms of a space dimension and then of a time dimension, hence it is highlighted where this definition is unacceptably lacking. The last part of the first section further stresses the importance of shifting from the traditional concept of CP as a palsy of development (defect analysis) towards the notion of development of palsy, i.e., as the product of the relationship that the individual however tries to dynamically build with the surrounding environment (resource semeiotics) starting and growing from a different availability of resources, needs, dreams, rights and duties (4). In the scientific and clinic community no common classification system of CP has so far been universally accepted. Besides, no standard operative method or technique have been acknowledged to effectively assess the different disabilities and impairments exhibited by children with CP. CP is still “an artificial concept, comprising several causes and clinical syndromes that have been grouped together for a convenience of management” (5). The lack of standard and common protocols able to effectively diagnose the palsy, and as a consequence to establish specific treatments and prognosis, is mainly because of the difficulty to elevate this field to a level based on scientific evidence. A solution aimed at overcoming the current incomplete treatment of CP children is represented by the clinical systematic adoption of objective tools able to measure motor defects and movement impairments. A widespread application of reliable instruments and techniques able to objectively evaluate both the form of the palsy (diagnosis) and the efficacy of the treatments provided (prognosis), constitutes a valuable method able to validate care protocols, establish the efficacy of classification systems and assess the validity of definitions. Since the ‘80s, instruments specifically oriented to the analysis of the human movement have been advantageously designed and applied in the context of CP with the aim of measuring motor deficits and, especially, gait deviations. The gait analysis (GA) technique has been increasingly used over the years to assess, analyze, classify, and support the process of clinical decisions making, allowing for a complete investigation of gait with an increased temporal and spatial resolution. GA has provided a basis for improving the outcome of surgical and nonsurgical treatments and for introducing a new modus operandi in the identification of defects and functional adaptations to the musculoskeletal disorders. Historically, the first laboratories set up for gait analysis developed their own protocol (set of procedures for data collection and for data reduction) independently, according to performances of the technologies available at that time. In particular, the stereophotogrammetric systems mainly based on optoelectronic technology, soon became a gold-standard for motion analysis. They have been successfully applied especially for scientific purposes. Nowadays the optoelectronic systems have significantly improved their performances in term of spatial and temporal resolution, however many laboratories continue to use the protocols designed on the technology available in the ‘70s and now out-of-date. Furthermore, these protocols are not coherent both for the biomechanical models and for the adopted collection procedures. In spite of these differences, GA data are shared, exchanged and interpreted irrespectively to the adopted protocol without a full awareness to what extent these protocols are compatible and comparable with each other. Following the extraordinary advances in computer science and electronics, new systems for GA no longer based on optoelectronic technology, are now becoming available. They are the Inertial and Magnetic Measurement Systems (IMMSs), based on miniature MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) inertial sensor technology. These systems are cost effective, wearable and fully portable motion analysis systems, these features gives IMMSs the potential to be used both outside specialized laboratories and to consecutive collect series of tens of gait cycles. The recognition and selection of the most representative gait cycle is then easier and more reliable especially in CP children, considering their relevant gait cycle variability. The second section of this thesis is focused on GA. In particular, it is firstly aimed at examining the differences among five most representative GA protocols in order to assess the state of the art with respect to the inter-protocol variability. The design of a new protocol is then proposed and presented with the aim of achieving gait analysis on CP children by means of IMMS. The protocol, named ‘Outwalk’, contains original and innovative solutions oriented at obtaining joint kinematic with calibration procedures extremely comfortable for the patients. The results of a first in-vivo validation of Outwalk on healthy subjects are then provided. In particular, this study was carried out by comparing Outwalk used in combination with an IMMS with respect to a reference protocol and an optoelectronic system. In order to set a more accurate and precise comparison of the systems and the protocols, ad hoc methods were designed and an original formulation of the statistical parameter coefficient of multiple correlation was developed and effectively applied. On the basis of the experimental design proposed for the validation on healthy subjects, a first assessment of Outwalk, together with an IMMS, was also carried out on CP children. The third section of this thesis is dedicated to the treatment of walking in CP children. Commonly prescribed treatments in addressing gait abnormalities in CP children include physical therapy, surgery (orthopedic and rhizotomy), and orthoses. The orthotic approach is conservative, being reversible, and widespread in many therapeutic regimes. Orthoses are used to improve the gait of children with CP, by preventing deformities, controlling joint position, and offering an effective lever for the ankle joint. Orthoses are prescribed for the additional aims of increasing walking speed, improving stability, preventing stumbling, and decreasing muscular fatigue. The ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), with a rigid ankle, are primarily designed to prevent equinus and other foot deformities with a positive effect also on more proximal joints. However, AFOs prevent the natural excursion of the tibio-tarsic joint during the second rocker, hence hampering the natural leaning progression of the whole body under the effect of the inertia (6). A new modular (submalleolar) astragalus-calcanear orthosis, named OMAC, has recently been proposed with the intention of substituting the prescription of AFOs in those CP children exhibiting a flat and valgus-pronated foot. The aim of this section is thus to present the mechanical and technical features of the OMAC by means of an accurate description of the device. In particular, the integral document of the deposited Italian patent, is provided. A preliminary validation of OMAC with respect to AFO is also reported as resulted from an experimental campaign on diplegic CP children, during a three month period, aimed at quantitatively assessing the benefit provided by the two orthoses on walking and at qualitatively evaluating the changes in the quality of life and motor abilities. As already stated, CP is universally considered as a persistent but not unchangeable disorder of posture and movement. Conversely to this definition, some clinicians (4) have recently pointed out that movement disorders may be primarily caused by the presence of perceptive disorders, where perception is not merely the acquisition of sensory information, but an active process aimed at guiding the execution of movements through the integration of sensory information properly representing the state of one’s body and of the environment. Children with perceptive impairments show an overall fear of moving and the onset of strongly unnatural walking schemes directly caused by the presence of perceptive system disorders. The fourth section of the thesis thus deals with accurately defining the perceptive impairment exhibited by diplegic CP children. A detailed description of the clinical signs revealing the presence of the perceptive impairment, and a classification scheme of the clinical aspects of perceptual disorders is provided. In the end, a functional reaching test is proposed as an instrumental test able to disclosure the perceptive impairment. References 1. Prevalence and characteristics of children with cerebral palsy in Europe. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2002 Set;44(9):633-640. 2. Bax M, Goldstein M, Rosenbaum P, Leviton A, Paneth N, Dan B, et al. Proposed definition and classification of cerebral palsy, April 2005. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2005 Ago;47(8):571-576. 3. Ingram TT. A study of cerebral palsy in the childhood population of Edinburgh. Arch. Dis. Child. 1955 Apr;30(150):85-98. 4. Ferrari A, Cioni G. The spastic forms of cerebral palsy : a guide to the assessment of adaptive functions. Milan: Springer; 2009. 5. Olney SJ, Wright MJ. Cerebral Palsy. Campbell S et al. Physical Therapy for Children. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Saunders. 2000;:533-570. 6. Desloovere K, Molenaers G, Van Gestel L, Huenaerts C, Van Campenhout A, Callewaert B, et al. How can push-off be preserved during use of an ankle foot orthosis in children with hemiplegia? A prospective controlled study. Gait Posture. 2006 Ott;24(2):142-151.

Measurement of the ZZ production cross section and limits to the anomalous triple gauge couplings with forward electrons with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of the self coupling between bosons are important to test the electroweak sector of the Standard Model (SM). The production of pairs of Z bosons through the s-channel is forbidden in the SM. The presence of physics, beyond the SM, could lead to a deviation of the expected production cross section of pairs of Z bosons due to the so called anomalous Triple Gauge Couplings (aTGC). Proton-proton data collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) recorded by the ATLAS detector at a center of mass energy of 8 TeV were analyzed corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb-1. Pairs of Z bosons decaying into two electron-positron pairs are searched for in the data sample. The effect of the inclusion of detector regions corresponding to high values of the pseudorapidity was studied to enlarge the phase space available for the measurement of the ZZ production. The number of ZZ candidates was determined and the ZZ production cross section was measured to be: rn7.3±1.0(Stat.)±0.4(Sys.)±0.2(lumi.)pb, which is consistent with the SM expectation value of 7.2±0.3pb. Limits on the aTGCs were derived using the observed yield, which are twice as stringent as previous limits obtained by ATLAS at a center of mass energy of 7 TeV.

Origin of the spin Seebeck effect

Der Spin Seebeck Effekt repräsentiert einen neuartigen Spin kalorischen Effekt mit vorteilhaften und aussichtsreichen Eigenschaften für Anwendungen in den Gebieten der Spintronik und Thermoelektrik.rnIn dieser Arbeit präsentieren wir eine umfangreiche Untersuchung des Spin Seebeck Effekts in isolierenden, magnetischen Granaten und geben Antworten zum kontrovers diskutierten Ursprung des Effekts. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, haben wir die Abhängigkeit des Spin Seebeck Effekts von der Dicke des Ferromagneten, der Temperatur, der Stärke des magnetisches Feldes, der Grenzflächen und des Detektormaterials, sowie Kombinationen dieser Parameter gemessen. Im Zuge dessen haben wir das Wachstum der untersuchten magnetischen Granate optimiert und eine umfassende Analyse der strukturellen und magnetischen Parameter durchgeführt, um Einflüsse der Probenqualität auszuschließen. Des Weiteren zeigte eine Untersuchung des magnetoresistiven Effekts, welcher als mögliche Ursache des Effekts galt, in Kombination mit einer Studie des Messaufbaus, dass parasitäre Einflüsse auf das Messergebnis ausgeschlossen werden können. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Spin Seebeck Effekt mit zunehmender Dicke des Ferromagneten eine Sättigung des Signals aufweist. Diese hängt zudem von der Temperatur ab, da mit abnehmender Temperatur die Sättigung erst bei dickeren Filmen auftritt. Außerdem fanden unsere Messungen ein Maximum des Spin Seebeck Effekts für Temperaturen unterhalb der Raumtemperatur, welcher sowohl von der Dicke des Materials als auch der Magnetfeldstärke und dem Detektormaterial beeinflusst wird. In Messungen bei hohen magnetischen Feldstärken beobachteten wir eine Unterdrückung des Messsignals, dessen Ursache mithilfe von Simulationen auf den magnonischen Ursprung des Spin Seebeck Effekts zurückgeführt werden kann. Dies unterstreicht, dass der Effekt auf vom Ferromagneten emittierten Magnonen basiert. Im letzten Abschnitt dieser Arbeit präsentieren wir Messungen in einem bislang nicht untersuchten ferrimagnetischen Material, welche zwei Vorzeichenwechsel des Spin Seebeck Effekts als Funktion der Temperatur aufzeigen. Dieses bisher unbekannte Signalverhalten betont, dass der Effekt aus einem komplexen Zusammenspiel der magnonischen Moden resultiert und zusätzlich vom Detektormaterial abhängt.rnSomit tragen unsere Ergebnisse und Beobachtungen im hohen Maße zur Beantwortung der Frage nach dem Ursprungs des Spin Seebeck Effekts bei und zeigen neuartige bisher nicht beobachtete Effekte, welche ein neues Kapitel für das Gebiet der Spin Kaloritronik eröffnen.

Application of the specular and diffuse reflection analysis for in vitro diagnostics of dental erosion: correlation with enamel softening, roughness, and calcium release

We present assembly and application of an optical reflectometer for the analysis of dental erosion. The erosive procedure involved acid-induced softening and initial substance loss phases, which are considered to be difficult for visual diagnosis in a clinic. Change of the specular reflection signal showed the highest sensitivity for the detection of the early softening phase of erosion among tested methods. The exponential decrease of the specular reflection intensity with erosive duration was compared to the increase of enamel roughness. Surface roughness was measured by optical analysis, and the observed tendency was correlated with scanning electron microscopy images of eroded enamel. A high correlation between specular reflection intensity and measurement of enamel softening (r(2) ? -0.86) as well as calcium release (r(2) ? -0.86) was found during erosion progression. Measurement of diffuse reflection revealed higher tooth-to-tooth deviation in contrast to the analysis of specular reflection intensity and lower correlation with other applied methods (r(2) = 0.42-0.48). The proposed optical method allows simple and fast surface analysis and could be used for further optimization and construction of the first noncontact and cost-effective diagnostic tool for early erosion assessment in vivo.

Does Israel Follow the Law? A Critical Analysis of Israel's Application of the International Law of Belligerent Occupation in the Occupied Territories

Israel's occupation of territories it captured in 1967 has become one of the longest and most controversial occupations of the last fifty years. Eschewing the traditional political analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this paper aims to explore whether Israel has adequately applied international law in the occupied territories, in particular, the law of belligerent occupation. The two actors under assessment are the Israeli government, particularly its military which enforces and maintains the law in the territories, and the Supreme Court of Israel, which has the power of review over military actions in the territories. The particular issues of the occupation that are critically analyzed are the general legal framework that Israel established in the territories, Israel's civilian settlement policy in territories, and Israel's construction of a barrier in the West Bank. This paper concludes that Israel has incorrectly applied the legal framework of belligerent occupation by refusing to apply the Fourth Geneva Convention; it has wrongly concluded that the establishment of civilian settlements in the territories conform with international law; yet it has rightly concluded that the construction of the barrier in the West Bank is permissible under international law, in contrast to the conclusion of the much publicized International Court of Justice's Advisory Opinion on the 'Wall.' Along with these general assessments, the author will also provide some historical and political insight into why the Israeli government and the Supreme Court may have applied the law in the way that they did.

The sense of the body in individuals with spinal cord injury

Increasing evidence suggests that the basic foundations of the self lie in the brain systems that represent the body. Specific sensorimotor stimulation has been shown to alter the bodily self. However, little is known about how disconnection of the brain from the body affects the phenomenological sense of the body and the self. Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients who exhibit massively reduced somatomotor processes below the lesion in the absence of brain damage are suitable for testing the influence of body signals on two important components of the self-the sense of disembodiment and body ownership. We recruited 30 SCI patients and 16 healthy participants, and evaluated the following parameters: (i) depersonalization symptoms, using the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS), and (ii) measures of body ownership, as quantified by the rubber hand illusion (RHI) paradigm. We found higher CDS scores in SCI patients, which show increased detachment from their body and internal bodily sensations and decreasing global body ownership with higher lesion level. The RHI paradigm reveals no alterations in the illusory ownership of the hand between SCI patients and controls. Yet, there was no typical proprioceptive drift in SCI patients with intact tactile sensation on the hand, which might be related to cortical reorganization in these patients. These results suggest that disconnection of somatomotor inputs to the brain due to spinal cord lesions resulted in a disturbed sense of an embodied self. Furthermore, plasticity-related cortical changes might influence the dynamics of the bodily self.

How Much Is Enough? an Analysis of the 5' Nontranslated Region of the Deformed Wing Virus in Honeybees

Honeybees are an essential component of today¿s agricultural system because of their role as pollinators. However, viruses, including a member of the Picornavirales order known commonly as Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), are compromising the health of honeybee colonies. Many picornaviruses, such as poliovirus, have been studied in depth because of their relation to human disease, but also because of their use of an Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) to initiate translation. The primary goal of this thesis was to determine if the 5¿ Non-Translated Region (NTR) of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) functions as an IRES. A secondary goal was to determine if there are specific parts of that 5¿ NTR that are important to IRES function. Six plasmids were constructed by inserting three different sections of the 5¿ NTR of DWV, in both sense and antisense directions, between two reporter genes. These plasmids, along with several control plasmids, were transfected into Sf9 cells, and post-transfection luciferase assays were conducted. Results were inconclusive. This could have been due to an inability of the plasmids to be expressed in Sf9 cells, an error in the construction of the plasmids, or a mechanical error in the assay procedure. At this time it appears most likely that the 5¿ NTR of DWV may be cell-type or species specific, and the next step would be to transfect the plasmids into a recently developed cultured honeybee cell line.

Efficiency of the Sieved-NPMLE in CAR-Missing Data Models

We consider nonparametric missing data models for which the censoring mechanism satisfies coarsening at random and which allow complete observations on the variable X of interest. W show that beyond some empirical process conditions the only essential condition for efficiency of an NPMLE of the distribution of X is that the regions associated with incomplete observations on X contain enough complete observations. This is heuristically explained by describing the EM-algorithm. We provide identifiably of the self-consistency equation and efficiency of the NPMLE in order to make this statement rigorous. The usual kind of differentiability conditions in the proof are avoided by using an identity which holds for the NPMLE of linear parameters in convex models. We provide a bivariate censoring application in which the condition and hence the NPMLE fails, but where other estimators, not based on the NPMLE principle, are highly inefficient. It is shown how to slightly reduce the data so that the conditions hold for the reduced data. The conditions are verified for the univariate censoring, double censored, and Ibragimov-Has'minski models.

Anatomical organization of the memory underlying sensitization in the siphon-withdrawal reflex circuit of {\it Aplysia californica}

Previous studies have shown that short-term sensitization of the Aplysia siphon-withdrawal reflex circuit results in multiple sites of change in synaptic efficacy. In this dissertation I have used a realistic modeling approach (using an integrate-and-fire scheme), in conjunction with electrophysiological experiments, to evaluate the contribution of each site of plasticity to the sensitized response.^ This dissertation contains a detailed description of methodology for the construction of the model circuit, consisting of the LFS motor neurons and ten interneurons known to convey excitatory input to them. The model replicates closely the natural motor neuron firing response to a brief tactile stimulus.^ The various circuit elements have different roles for producing circuit output. For example, the sensory connections onto the motor neuron are important for the production of the phasic response, while the polysynaptic interneuronal connections are important for producing the tonic response.^ The multiple sites of plasticity that produce changes in circuit output also have specialized roles. Presynaptic facilitation of the sensory neuron to LFS connection enhances only the phasic component of the motor neuron firing response. The sensory neuron to interneuron connections primarily enhance the tonic component of the motor neuron firing response. Also, the L29 posttetanic potentiation and the L30 presynaptic inhibition primarily enhance the tonic component of the motor neuron firing response. Finally, the information content at the various sites of plasticity can shift with changes in stimulus intensity. This suggests that while the sites of plasticity encoding memory are fixed, the information content at these sites can be dynamic, shifting in anatomical location with changes in the intensity of the test stimulus.^ These sites of plasticity also produce specific changes in the behavioral response. Sensory-LFS plasticity selectively increases the amplitude of the behavioral response, and has no effect on the duration of the behavioral response. Interneuronal plasticity (L29 and L30) affects both the amplitude and duration of the behavioral response. Other sensory plasticity also affect both the amplitude and duration of the behavioral response, presumably by increasing the recruitment of the interneurons, which provide all of the effect on duration of the behavioral response. ^

Root system of singular perturbations of the harmonic oscillator type operators

We analyze perturbations of the harmonic oscillator type operators in a Hilbert space H, i.e. of the self-adjoint operator with simple positive eigenvalues μ k satisfying μ k+1 − μ k ≥ Δ > 0. Perturbations are considered in the sense of quadratic forms. Under a local subordination assumption, the eigenvalues of the perturbed operator become eventually simple and the root system contains a Riesz basis.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.

Psychosocial construction of time and social change

This paper analyzes the psychosocial construction of the conceptions of time and social change, and their relation with the notion of progress set up by modernity as well as their contradictory aspects, considering their historicity as psychosocial and social phenomena. The social construction of the notion of time is discussed; it responds to social organization forms, thus turning the social changes into historical and temporal landmarks. The association between social changes and social movements is argued and the concept of progress is deconstructed. Finally, the importance of the idea of movement in the construction of time, change and progress concepts is pointed out; it is also explained how modernity imbued such notions with direction and goals, in the direction of an arrow, according to the prevailing interests, while modeling them in its own image and likeness.