Literature and Character Education in Universities presents the potential of literary and philosophical texts for character education in modern universities. The book engages with theoretical and practical aspects of character development in higher education, combining conceptual discussion of the role of literature in character education with applied case studies from university classrooms. Character education within the academic context of the university presents unique challenges and opportunities. Literature and Character Education in Universities presents perspectives from academics in Europe, the USA and (...) Asia, offering unique insights into the ways that engaged reading and discussion of core texts can promote the development of intellectual and moral virtues. Chapters draw on a wide range of texts from Confucius' Analects to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, focusing on themes such as truthfulness, self-knowledge, prudence, tolerance, friendship, and humility. Literature and Character Education in Universities will be of real use to researchers, academics and postgraduates in the fields of higher education, philosophy, and literature. It should be essential reading for university educators interested in character development and advocates of literary education in modern universities. (shrink)

Lower extremity non-contact soft tissue injuries are prevalent in elite futsal. The purpose of this study was to develop robust screening models based on pre-season measures obtained from questionnaires and field-based tests to prospectively predict LE-ST injuries after having applied a range of supervised Machine Learning techniques. One hundred and thirty-nine elite futsal players underwent a pre-season screening evaluation that included individual characteristics; measures related to sleep quality, athlete burnout, psychological characteristics related to sport performance and self-reported perception of chronic (...) ankle instability. A number of neuromuscular performance measures obtained through three field-based tests [isometric hip strength, dynamic postural control and lower extremity joints range of motion ] were also recorded. Injury incidence was monitored over one competitive season. There were 25 LE-ST injuries. Only those groups of measures from two of the field-based tests, as independent data sets, were able to build robust models [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve score ≥0.7] to identify elite futsal players at risk of sustaining a LE-ST injury. Unlike the measures obtained from the five questionnaires selected, the neuromuscular performance measures did build robust prediction models. The inclusion in the same data set of the measures recorded from all the questionnaires and field-based tests did not result in models with significantly higher performance scores. The model generated by the UnderBagging technique with a cost-sensitive SMO as the base classifier and using only four ROM measures reported the best prediction performance scores. The models developed might help coaches, physical trainers and medical practitioners in the decision-making process for injury prevention in futsal. (shrink)

Since the mid-20th century, the study of Self-Regulated Learning has aimed to identify the distinctive characteristics that enable individuals to acquire new knowledge and skills under their control. The theory of Internal Self-Regulation vs. External-Regulation in Learning has postulated that a large number of self-regulatory variables are mediated by regulated/non-regulated or dysregulated features of the context. After signing their informed consent, a total of 616 university students completed validated instruments of SRL vs. ERL, behavioral regulation, regulatory teaching, and metacognitive study (...) control strategies. Using an ex-post facto design and correlation, regression, structural equation model and mediation analyses, the present research aimed to establish multicausal predictive relationships among the analyzed variables. Results indicated positive predictive effects between the external regulation variables on the self-regulation variables in learning [regulation /non-regulation /dysregulation ]; as well as positive predictive effects between SRL on SRB, RT and metacognitive SRS. Additionally, external regulation not only predicted but mediated numerous relations among the variables studied. Other findings and important considerations for future research in the field of self-regulation are discussed. (shrink)

La reivindicación del sentimiento moral en el pensamiento materialista de M. Horkheimer adquiere nueva relevancia en el actual debate sobre los fundamentos y la motivación de la acción moral. Pero esa relevancia se malograría si fuera interpretada en un sentido contrario a su genuina intención. Ella no está, en efecto, en abrir la puerta a un irracionalismo romántico ni en proponer un retorno a una fundamentación premoderna, metafísica o teológica, de la moral, anticipándose a buena parte del actual pensamiento neoconservador. (...) Su originalidad y relevancia radican más bien en que el planteamiento materialista de Horkheimer incita a una decidida superación de las morales idealistas, formales y abstractamente universales, es decir particulares, hacia una moral postidealista de la compasión y la justicia universal. (shrink)

El artículo examina el papel de Crescas y Spinoza en la transición de la concepción medieval a la concepción moderna del universo. Crescas es presentado como ejemplo ilustrativo de la tensión entre aristotelismo y religión revelada y de cómo esta última provoca la disolución del aquel, allanando así el camino a la concepción moderna del universo. A continuación, se muestra cómo la concepción moderna se plasma en el pensamiento de Spinoza, el cual radicaliza algunos de sus rasgos definitorios. Esta radicalización (...) socava la noción tradicional del _Deus absconditus_ y conduce en Spinoza al remplazo de la religión por la filosofía como auténtica revelación divina. (shrink)

El articulo examina la aparente discrepancia en el pensamiento de Spinoza entre su teocentrismo epistemológico, según el cual todo es dudoso mientras desconocemos la existencia de Dios, y el principio verum index sui et falsi, según el cual la mera posesión de ideas verdaderas excluye toda incertidumbre. Lejos de contradecirse, estas dos afirmaciones constituyen en Spinoza dos aspectos correlativos del mismo planteamiento gnoseólogico. Se muestra así que la naturaleza divina no es ajena al intelecto humano y que este es capaz (...) de contemplar la realidad desde una perspectiva omnímoda, idéntica a la de Dios. (shrink)

El artículo examina la conexión esencial que existe entre la concepción hegeliana del signo y el funcionamiento del discurso especulativo en la Ciencia de la lógica. Partiendo de la tensión irresuelta en la filosofía kantiana entre la capacidad significativa del discurso y su autorreferencialidad, se somete a consideración el intento hegeliano de resolver dicha tensión en su tratamiento del lenguaje, contenido en la Enciclopedia de las ciencias filosóficas. De esta manera se pone al descubierto el modo sutil en que la (...) concepción hegeliana del signo permite superar las restricciones que Kant impone al discurso filosófico sin contravenir la prescripción básica de la filosofía crítica, según la cual todo pensamiento debe asociarse con una intuición para poder constituir un conocimiento con pretensión de validez. A partir de este resultado y centrándose en la estructura misma del signo tal y como la conceptualiza Hegel, se intenta esclarecer el funcionamiento exacto del discurso lógico y de los momentos básicos que lo constituyen –entendimiento, dialéctica y especulación–, mediante el ejemplo concreto de las tres primeras determinaciones de la Lógica: Ser. Nada y Devenir. (shrink)

In April 1933, Albert Einstein was offered an ‘Extraordinary’ Chair of Physics at the University of Madrid. Einstein first accepted, then sought to withdraw without causing damage to the anti-Fascist Republican government. However, this proved an opportunity for the Spanish press to harness Einstein’s notoriety to their own programmes. This article discusses the genesis and resolution of this episode, which says much about Einstein and science and politics in modern Spain.

Valor humanístico del campo y concepto del paisaje.--Los componentes estéticos del paisaje.--Apéndices: El paisaje en la historia de la cultura humana. La contemplación y el sentimiento de la naturaleza en la antigüedad clásica. Los paisajistas chinos de la dinastía Song. La protección juridica del paisaje.--Bibliografía general (p. 369-372).

¿Cómo debe entenderse que una de las innovaciones de mayor alcance epocal del pensamiento cartesiano, a saber, su duda metódica, no haya sido adoptada por la inmediata posteridad filosófica de Descartes? Este artículo investiga las razones de esta supuesta desaparición de la duda en las filosofías de Spinoza y Leibniz mediante una revisión del rol de la duda en las Meditaciones de Descartes. Partiendo de una caracterización del proyecto cartesiano como la búsqueda del fundamento, el artículo muestra que la interpretación (...) de Descartes de la realidad inmediata en términos de representación constituye en realidad la apoteosis de una concepción más antigua que percibe la totalidad de lo ente como contingente y vana. De este modo, la duda no es la suspensión libre del juicio, sino el inevitable estado de irresolución que se deriva de la falta de solidez ontológica que muestra la realidad inmediata entendida como imagen o representación. Se muestra entonces que el pensamiento postcartesiano propiamente no elimina la duda, sino que la incorpora como un supuesto básico, lo cual explica por qué no hay un lugar definido para la misma en el discurso. El desarrollo ulterior del pensamiento moderno puede ser explicado de modo decisivo por medio de esta asimilación implícita de la duda y sus consecuencias. (shrink)

This paper proposes a reassessment of Hegel’s critical reading of Spinoza and of the charge of acosmism, for which this reading is known. We argue that this charge is actually the consequence of a more fundamental criticism, namely Spinoza’s presumable inability to conceive the unity of the finite and the infinite. According to Hegel, the infinite and the finite remain two poles apart in Spinoza’s metaphysics, which thus fails to be a true monism, insofar as it contains an irreducible duality. (...) Against this reading, we argue that Spinoza’s conception of the causal co-determination of finite modes entails the acknowledgment of their essentially infinite nature. The study of this particular instance of coincidentia oppositorum enables to counter some of Hegel’s criticisms as well as to illuminate a fairly unexplored aspect of Spinoza’s substance monism. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe social content of affective stimuli has been proposed as having an influence on cognitive processing and behaviour. This research was aimed, therefore, at studying whether automatic exogenous attention demanded by affective pictures was related to their social value. We hypothesised that affective social pictures would capture attention to a greater extent than non-social affective stimuli. For this purpose, we recorded event-related potentials in a sample of 24 participants engaged in a digit categorisation task. Distracters were affective pictures varying in (...) social content, in addition to affective valence and arousal, which appeared in the background during the task. Our data revealed that pictures depicting high social content captured greater automatic attention than other pictures, as reflected by the greater amplitude and shorter latency of anterior P2, and anterior and posterior N2 components of the ERPs. In addition, social content also provoked greater allocation of processing resour... (shrink)

Previous research has shown positive relationships between fitness level and different cognitive abilities and academic performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between logical–mathematical intelligence and mathematical competence with physical fitness in a group of pre-adolescents. Sixty-three children from Castro del Río, aged between 11 and 12 years, participated in this research. The Superior Logical Intelligence Test and the EVAMAT 1.0–5 battery were used. Physical fitness was evaluated by the horizontal jump test, the 4×10 meter speed–agility (...) test, and the Course Navette test. The analyses showed positive relationships between physical fitness with logical–mathematical intelligence and mathematical competence. Specifically, linear regression analyzes indicated that the 4×10 speed–agility test significantly predicted mathematical competence and the horizontal jump test significantly predicted logical–mathematical intelligence. These results are in agreement with previous research, highlighting the importance of improving physical fitness from an early age due to its benefits for intellectual and academic development. (shrink)

Purpose: Performance measurement systems (PMS) in Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) are more complex than in for-profit organizations. NPOs have an orientation towards social mission and values, and they consider not only organizational efficiency and viability, but also the social impact of the organization. This research provides a comprehensive synthesis of PMSs in NPOs. Design/methodology/approach: Using a literature review, supported by bibliometric and network analyses. A paper set of 240 articles related to this research field is examined. Topics that are the most (...) prevalent in this research area and their interrelationships are identified, presenting an outline of current efforts. Findings: Despite the descriptive analyses for the paper set, a framework is proposed for organizing the design-implementation factors of PMSs in nonprofit organizations, identifying the main requirements for their successful development. Originality/value: Investigation on performance measurement in nonprofit organizations is still in its early stages of development with many opportunities to further develop the field. Conceptual frameworks and models, as well as specific theories, are being generated for this field of research, and the process of adapting models from the general field of performance measurement is taking place. The meta-framework that organizes the main research topics of PMS in nonprofit organizations and the framework that consolidates factors that influence the design-implementation of PMSs in nonprofit organizations developed represents this paper contribution. (shrink)

The expression "any that pisseth against the wall" is the turning-point of a research upon the exegetical system of the Fathers and later Church writers who must face unknown idioms and apparently ridiculous sentences in the Bible.

Automatic control of physiological variables is one of the most active areas in biomedical engineering. This paper is centered in the prediction of the analgesic variables evolution in patients undergoing surgery. The proposal is based on the use of hybrid intelligent modelling methods. The study considers the Analgesia Nociception Index to assess the pain in the patient and remifentanil as intravenous analgesic. The model proposed is able to make a one-step-ahead prediction of the remifentanil dose corresponding to the current state (...) of the patient. The input information is the previous remifentanil dose, the ANI variable and the electromyogram signal. Modelling techniques used are Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector machines for Regression combined with clustering methods. Both training and validation were done with a real dataset from different patients. Results obtained show the potential of this methodology to calculate the drug dose corresponding to a given analgesic state of the patient. (shrink)

Student performance and its evaluation remain a serious challenge for education systems. Frequently, the recording and processing of students’ scores in a specific curriculum have several flaws for various reasons. In this context, the absence of data from some of the student scores undermines the efficiency of any future analysis carried out in order to reach conclusions. When this is the case, missing data imputation algorithms are needed. These algorithms are capable of substituting, with a high level of accuracy, the (...) missing data for predicted values. This research presents the hybridization of an algorithm previously proposed by the authors called adaptive assignation algorithm, with a well-known technique called multivariate imputation by chained equations. The results show how the suggested methodology outperforms both algorithms. (shrink)

¿Quiénes son los laicos en la Iglesia? ¿Encajan en la estructura de la vida religiosa? Este artículo intenta responder a estas preguntas analizando el significado como la teoría y connotaciones prácticas de los legos para la vida del Inspectoría Salesiana de Córdoba (España) después del Concilio.

IntroductionExcitability of the primary motor cortex measured with TMS has been associated with cognitive dysfunctions in patient populations. However, only a few studies have explored this relationship in healthy adults, and even fewer have considered the role of biological sex.MethodsNinety-seven healthy middle-aged adults completed a TMS protocol and a neuropsychological assessment. Resting Motor Threshold and Long-Interval Intracortical Inhibition were assessed in the left motor cortex and related to attention, episodic memory, working memory, reasoning, and global cognition composite scores to evaluate (...) the relationship between cortical excitability and cognitive functioning.ResultsIn the whole sample, there was a significant association between LICI and cognition; specifically, higher motor inhibition was related to better working memory performance. When the sample was broken down by biological sex, LICI was only associated with working memory, reasoning, and global cognition in men. No associations were found between RMT and cognitive functions.ConclusionGreater intracortical inhibition, measured by LICI, could be a possible marker of working memory in healthy middle-aged adults, and biological sex plays a critical role in this association. (shrink)

RESUMENUna de las líneas de investigación más interesantes de la actual filosofía de la psiquiatría gira en torno a la posibilidad de entender el contenido de los delirios a través de la noción wittgensteiniana de «certeza objetiva». En este artículo se mantiene que el contenido de los delirios se podría entender más fácilmente considerando la existencia de sistemas de creencias individuales y reformulando los conceptos diferenciales de dichos sistemas.PALABRAS CLAVEDELIRIO, CERTEZA OBJETIVA, CERTEZA SUBJETIVA, GRAMÁTICA, JUEGO DE LENGUAJEABSTRACTOne of the most (...) interesting research lines in recent philosophy of psychiatry deals with the possibility of understanding the content of delusions through Wittgenstein’s concept of «objective certainty». In this paper it is held that the content of delusions might be understood more easily by considering the existence of individual belief systems and reformulating the distinguishing concepts of such systems.KEYWORDSDELUSION, OBJECTIVE CERTAINTY, SUBJECTIVE CERTAINTY, GRAMMAR, LANGUAGE-GAME. (shrink)