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Symbols
Kinds of Symbols Terms modified by Symbols Selected AbstractsTHE DOUBLE-AXE: A CONTEXTUAL APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF A CRETAN SYMBOL IN THE NEOPALATIAL PERIODOXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1 2010MATTHEW HAYSOM Summary The Double-Axe has always been considered as one of the most important religious symbols in Minoan Crete. This paper reassesses the significance of the Double-Axe and puts forward a new interpretation for it. It recognizes the great potential for change in symbolic meanings during the Bronze Age and seeks to understand the Double-Axe in as narrow a period as is realistically possible by filtering out evidence from other periods. Central to the argument is the principle that the meaning of symbols is contextually dependent. It builds, therefore, a new interpretation of the Double-Axe on the basis of as wide a range of contextual associations as possible, both within iconographic sources and in the wider material record. From these contextual associations, it suggests that in the Neopalatial period the Double-Axe was a symbol primarily associated with a social group which exercised power in the economic, military and religious realms and that it became a solely religious symbol only later. [source] ANOTHER VIEW MUSEUMS AS SYMBOLSCURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003Andrew J. Pekarik First page of article [source] PUEBLO MISSION CHURCHES AS SYMBOLS OF PERMANENCE AND IDENTITY,GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2000KEVIN S. BLAKE ABSTRACT. The three Pueblo mission churches of San Esteban del Rey, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and San José de Laguna are the most visually striking structures in the western New Mexico pueblos of Acoma, Zuni, and Laguna. Prime examples of "structures of permanence" on the landscape, the churches define local cultural identity. Church permanence and Pueblo identity are expressed in a five-part typology of visible characteristics: natural materials and hand labor, massive exterior form, adjoining cemeteries, syncretism of interior decorations, and structural decay and rebirth. Permanence must, however, be understood as an evolving condition, undergoing new representations as multicultural relationships evolve. [source] The neuropsychological profile in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's diseaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2009Haruhiko Oda Abstract Objective To demonstrate the exact nature of the cognitive profile of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) on standardized neuropsychological tests including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale,,Revised (WAIS-R) and the Wechsler Memory Scale,,Revised (WMS-R). Design We examined the WAIS-R and the WMS-R of 26 patients with probable DLB (based on the Consensus Criteria for the clinical diagnosis of DLB) and of 78 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) (based on criteria of the National Institute for Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's disease and Related Disorders Association) who were matched to the patients with DLB 3:1 by Mini-Mental State Examination score. Results The DLB group scored significantly lower on the Block Design, Object Assembly and Digit Symbol of WAIS-R and significantly higher on the Logical Memory I, Verbal Paired Associates I, Logical Memory II, Visual Paired Associates II, Verbal Paired Associates II and Visual Reproduction II of WMS-R (p,<,0.0016 to p,<,0.0001). In a comparison between the DLB group and the AD group, a logistic regression analysis revealed that the weighted sum score of the Object Assembly and the Logical Memory II may differentiate DLB from AD with a sensitivity of 0.81 [95% Confidence Intervals (CI),=,0.66,0.96] and a specificity of 0.76 (95% CI,=,0.66,0.85). Conclusions The WAIS-R and the WMS-R can help to differentiate DLB from AD. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Neuropsychological Deficits in Sober Alcoholics: Influences of Chronicity and Recent Alcohol ConsumptionALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2000William W. Beatty Background: The relationships between severity of neuropsychological (NP) deficits and quantity and duration of alcoholic drinking remain controversial. Eckardt et al. (1998) proposed that NP deficits can be observed only if chronicity of alcohol abuse equals or exceeds 10 years. In this study we tested the hypothesis of Eckardt et al. and reexamined the relationship of NP performance and alcohol consumption. Methods: One hundred sixty-two alcoholics and 165 controls completed a NP test battery at least 3 weeks after the alcoholics attained sobriety. Chronicity varied from 4 to 9 years for 55 alcoholics and from 10 to 33 years for the remaining 107. Results: Compared to controls, both groups of alcoholics were impaired on the Shipley Vocabulary and Abstraction tests and on two versions of the Digit Symbol test, but there was no difference between the two alcoholic groups on any measure. Regression analyses that controlled for age and education showed that chronicity predicted less than 0.5% of the variance on NP measures. By contrast, a measure of recent alcohol consumption, the Quantity-Frequency Index, contributed significantly (approximately 5% of the variance) to the prediction of alcoholics'NP performance. Conclusions: These data provide weak support for a dose effect relationship between degree of NP impairment and level of alcoholic drinking in the past 6 months but no evidence for an influence of chronicity. [source] Carnival and Culture: Sex, Symbol, and Status in SpainAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2000Mary M. Crain Carnival and Culture: Sex, Symbol, and Status in Spain. David D. Gilmore. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. 244 pp. [source] The Public Health Nursing Bag as Tool and SymbolPUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2009Sarah E. Abrams ABSTRACT This historical article presents information about the public health nurse's bag as used in mid-20th century America. The bag was an essential of practice, containing items necessary for providing home care to the sick, maternity nursing, health demonstrations, and other functions within the role of public health nursing agencies or private organizations in which nurses gave home care to multiple patients. Contents of the bag and specifications for their use are described. The historical use of the bag as both a repository for the instruments of skilled care and expert knowledge and of bag technique as a means of infection control may help explain the endurance of the black bag as a symbol of public health nursing. [source] Important Places and Their Public Faces: Understanding Fenway Park as a Public SymbolTHE JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE, Issue 2 2006MICHAEL IAN BORER First page of article [source] Social Commentary and Political Action: The Headscarf as Popular Culture and Symbol of Political Confrontation in Modern Turkey1THE JOURNAL OF POPULAR CULTURE, Issue 4 2000Marlene Breu First page of article [source] Titelbild: The Ouroborand: A Cavitand with a Coordination-Driven Switching Device (Angew. Chem.ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE, Issue 18 201018/2010) Der Panzergürtelschweif ist ein südafrikanisches Reptil, das als Defensivtaktik seinen Schwanz ins Maul nimmt. Dies erinnert an das antike griechische Symbol des Ouroboros, das eine Schlange zeigt, die ihren eigenen Schwanz verschluckt, und eine berühmte Inspirationsquelle für Kekulés Formulierung der Benzolstruktur vor 150 Jahren war. In ihrer Zuschrift auf S.,3257,ff. berichten F. Durola und J. Rebek, Jr., wie ein Cavitand, der in seinem Hohlraum eine Seitenkette koordiniert und daher "Ouroborand" genannt wird, je nach Zugabe von Zinkionen zwischen dem geschlossenen und dem offenen Zustand schalten kann. (Bild: P.,le F.,N. Mouton) [source] The South Pacific Stock Exchange: Is it a Market or Status Symbol?AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 1 2009Rajni Mala Listing on a stock exchange is one of the most significant events in a company's life cycle. Using a case study approach we examine why companies in Fiji list on a stock exchange. The various factors that have been found to motivate companies to list include enhancing their image and reputation, increasing the firm's value and introducing better financial and managerial practices. Importantly, the accessing of new sources of finance has not been a determinant of a company's listing decision. The findings imply that in emerging economies, stock exchange listing can be perceived as a status symbol. [source] Symbols in Wittgenstein's TractatusEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2007Colin Johnston This paper is concerned with the status of a symbol in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. It is claimed in the first section that a Tractarian symbol, whilst essentially a syntactic entity to be distinguished from the mark or sound that is its sign, bears its semantic significance only inessentially. In the second and third sections I pursue this point of exegesis through the Tractarian discussions of nonsense and the context principle respectively. The final section of the paper places the forgoing work in a secondary context, addressing in particular a debate regarding the realism of the Tractatus. [source] Rationality and Its Symbols: Signalling Effects and Subjectification in Management Consulting*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 8 2004Thomas Armbrüster abstract In service sectors such as management consulting, it is very difficult to measure the impact or success of a service even after it has been delivered. In these markets of goods between experience and credence, symbolic value is helpful and necessary to complement quality perceptions. The leading management consulting firms, in particular, do not only deliver data-driven analyses but also represent and symbolize the rational approach to business issues. This article looks at the role of personnel selection in the context of quality symbolization. It argues that the predominant tool for personnel selection in the consulting sector, the case study, accounts for both a signalling effect of rationality to the business environment and a subjectification of consulting staff to the consulting culture and rationality beliefs. The case is made that, rather than leading to a valid selection of high-performance personnel, the process of personnel selection has latent effects, which nonetheless contribute to the consulting industry's success. [source] Book Reviews: Symbols in Clay: Seeking Artists' Identities in Hopi Yellow Ware Bowls by Steven LeBlanc and Lucia HendersonAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 3 2010E. Charles Adams No abstract is available for this article. [source] Reading Symbols, and Writing words.NEW BLACKFRIARS, Issue 1019 2008A Model for Biblical Inspiration Abstract Biblical Inspiration has long been considered an important concept for Catholic theology, but the difficulties experienced in trying to give an adequate and convincing explanation of how divine and the human authors could collaborate in producing Biblical texts has discouraged many writers from pursuing the topic. Some have considered that the difficulties are so great that the task of exploring a theology of Inspiration is too great to make the effort worthwhile. This article, in attempting to sketch a model for Biblical Inspiration, begins by trying to identify exactly what is required for the theology of Inspiration, and then discarding what is not; it also sets out to distinguish clearly between Revelation and Inspiration, while recognising that the two are closely related, and using a model of symbolic mediation for Revelation. The article goes on to propose a model of Inspiration which satisfies not only the demands of contemporary Biblical scholarship and philosophical hermeneutics, but also the requirements of the doctrine of Inspiration as found in the Magisterial documents of the Catholic Church. [source] More carrots than sticks: Antanas Mockus's civic culture policy in BogotáNEW DIRECTIONS FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, Issue 125 2010Felipe Cala Buendía The son of a Lithuanian artist, Antanas Mockus was the president of the National University in Colombia before he became mayor of Bogotá in 1995. As mayor, he transformed the city into a huge classroom, not only bringing to his administration a new view of governing but also transforming the way people exercised their citizenship. Mockus resorted to a creative communicative and pedagogical effort to change the citizens' hearts and minds in favor of peaceful coexistence and legal compliance. Symbols, metaphors, and humor became the language through which the administration would enforce its measures to deal with urban violence. Unconventional techniques, such as a symbolic vaccine against domestic violence and the use of mimes to control traffic circulation and create a sense of shame among those who committed infractions, helped to stop crime and develop a new sense of citizenship. [source] Resources, Group Conflict and Symbols: Explaining Anti-Immigration Hostility in BritainPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2007Lauren McLaren This article analyses the causes of variation in attitudes to immigration policy in the UK. The key theoretical approaches emphasised are: the role of self-interest; group conflict over resources; and group conflict over important symbols of Britishness. The connection between perceptions of immigration and crime is also investigated. Based on the 2003 British Social Attitudes Survey, the findings indicate that self-interest has very little bearing on opposition to immigration and that British citizens instead appear to be most concerned with threats to ingroup resources posed by immigration, threats to the shared customs and traditions of British society (particularly those posed by Muslims) and , to a lesser extent , the potential for increased crime that may result from immigration. [source] Substantive Symbols: The Attitudinal Dimension of Black Political Incorporation in Local GovernmentAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007Melissa J. Marschall Traditional studies of minority incorporation focus on the redistribution of public resources that purportedly follows black gains in representation. The present study departs from this approach by focusing on the attitudinal effects of black leadership. Two research questions guide this study: To what extent do blacks' assessments of neighborhood services and conditions stem from black representation in local executive and legislative offices? Are these attitudinal effects rooted in policy and service delivery outcomes? Employing survey data from 3,000 blacks embedded in 52 cities and 53 school districts, this study reveals that blacks report higher levels of satisfaction with their neighborhood conditions, police services, and public schools when represented by blacks in city hall and on school boards and that these evaluations are most positive when improvements in local services are conspicuous. Overall, these findings extend conventional conceptualizations of substantive benefits and challenge more pessimistic accounts regarding the effects of black representation in local politics. [source] Symbols, not data: rare trees and vegetation history in MaliTHE GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2003Chris S Duvall Historical analysis of botanical literature concerning the trees Gilletiodendron glandulosum and Guibourtia copallifera in Mali's Manding Plateau reveals that the dominant representation of these plants has helped to perpetuate colonial-era theories of vegetation history, African land management, and natural resource politics in West Africa. The French botanist Aubréville described these plants as proof of the theory of vegetation history that blamed poor land management by rural Africans for a steady and continuing destruction of vegetation from its presumed original forest climax. Although Aubréville's representation of these trees was justified within the 1930s scientific context he worked, subsequent researchers uncritically maintained his conclusions even though the changed scientific context in which they worked did not justify such representation. Subsequent ecological research also failed to substantiate Aubréville's representation of these trees, yet several influential modern botanical works have uncritically accepted colonial-era botanical literature founded on his ideas. Thus, modern botanical works have perpetuated a simplistic and inaccurate narrative of resource use under an appearance of objectivity. As a result, policy recommendations based on the modern botanical sources remain almost identical to colonial-era policies. Based on the similarity of colonial-era and modern portrayals of these trees, this paper argues that a regional discursive formation recently described by other authors may be expanded to include southern Mali, which carries negative implications for decentralization reform in Mali. [source] Jung and White and the God of terrible double aspectTHE JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Ann C. Lammers Abstract:, This paper discusses theoretical, historical and personal issues in the ill-fated friendship and intellectual collaboration between C.G. Jung and the Dominican scholar Victor White, O.P., based on primary documents in their correspondence, 1945 to 1960. The collaboration of Jung and White began with high expectations but fell into painful disagreements about the nature of God, the problem of evil, and shadow aspects of the Self. They made a rapid commitment to their working alliance based on personal and professional hopes, but paying scant attention to their divergent underlying assumptions. White hoped to build theoretical and practical connections between Jungian psychology and Catholic theology for the sake of modern Catholics. Jung needed learned theological support as he explored the psychological meanings of Christian symbols, including the central symbol of Christ. At the grandest level, they both hoped to transform the Christian West, after the moral disaster of World War II. Their collaboration was risky for both men, especially for White in his career as a Dominican, and it led to considerable suffering. The Self is prominent in the relationship, symbolically present in the text of the correspondence and consciously forming their major topic of debate. From the start, the Self is an archetypal field, drawing the friends into their visionary task at the risk of unconscious inflation. Later the Self is revealed with its shadow as a burden, a puzzle, and a basis for estrangement. Finally, with the intervention of feminine wisdom, mortal suffering is transformed by an attitude of conscious sacrifice. Translations of Abstract À partir de documents fondamentaux issus de la correspondance de C.G.Jung et de l'érudit Dominicain Victor White, entre 1945 et 1960, l'article traite de questions théoriques, historiques et personnelles autour de leur amitié et de leur collaboration intellectuelle, à l'issue funeste. La collaboration de Jung et de White était fort prometteuse à ses débuts, mais elle versa dans de douloureux différends au sujet de la nature divine, du problème du mal et de la dimension d'ombre du Soi. Tous deux s'engagèrent, hâtivement en ne prêtant guère d'attention aux divergences de base sous-jacentes, dans une alliance de travail fondée sur des attentes personnelles et professionnelles. White espérait jeter des passerelles théoriques et pratiques entre la psychologie jungienne et la théologie catholique, à l'adresse des catholiques modernes. Jung, quant à lui, avait besoin d'un soutien théorique savant dans son exploration de la signification psychologique des symboles chrétiens et notamment du symbole central du Christ. A un niveau plus ambitieux, tous deux espéraient transformer l'Occident chrétien après le désastre moral de la seconde guerre mondiale. La collaboration était risquée pour les deux hommes et plus particulièrement pour White dans sa carrière de Dominicain, et elle engendra des souffrances considérables. Le Soi est omniprésent dans cette relation, présent symboliquement dans le texte de la correspondance, et consciemment comme sujet majeur de leur débat. Dès le début, le Soi agit en toile de fond archétypique, poussant les amis vers leur tâche visionnaire au risque d'une inflation inconsciente. Plus tard, le Soi se révèle avec son ombre comme un fardeau, une énigme et le noyau de leur désunion. Finalement, l'intervention de la sagesse féminine transforme la souffrance mortelle en une attitude de sacrifice conscient. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die theoretischen, historischen und persönlichen Aspekte der unter einem schlechten Stern stehenden Freundschaft und intellektuellen Zusammenarbeit zwischen C.G. Jung und Victor White O.P., einem gelehrten Dominikaner, diskutiert. Die Arbeit basiert auf den Originaldokumenten ihrer Korrespondenz zwischen 1945 und 1960. Die gemeinsame Arbeit von Jung und White begann mit hohen Erwartungen, mündete aber in schmerzvolle Uneinigkeit über die Natur Gottes, das Problem des Bösen und Schattenaspekte des Selbst. Sie bekannten sich sehr schnell zu ihrer Zusammenarbeit aufgrund persönlicher und beruflicher Hoffnungen, schenkten ihren zugrunde liegenden unterschiedlichen Annahmen aber wenig Aufmerksamkeit. White hoffte, eine theoretische und praktische Verbindung zwischen Jungs Psychologie und der katholischen Theologie zum Nutzen der fortschrittlichen Katholiken herzustellen. Jung brauchte kenntnisreiche theologische Unterstützung zur Untersuchung der psychologischen Bedeutung der christlichen Symbole einschließlich des zentralen Symbols, Christus. Auf dem Höhepunkt ihrer Arbeit hofften beide, nach der moralischen Katastrophe des 2. Weltkrieges den christlichen Westen zu transformieren. Ihre Zusammenarbeit bedeutete für beide Männer ein Risiko, besonders für White in seiner Laufbahn als Dominikaner, und führte zu beträchtlichem Leiden. In ihrer Beziehung kam erhebliche Bedeutung dem Selbst zu, das symbolisch im Text ihrer Korrespondenz präsent ist und auf der bewussten Ebene den Hauptinhalt ihrer Debatte bildet. Von Anfang an ist das Selbst ein archetypisches Feld, das die Freunde in ihren visionären Absichten bestimmt - mit dem Risiko einer unbewussten Inflation. Später wird das Selbst mit seinem Schatten als Bürde, als Rätsel und als Grundlage der Entfremdung enthüllt. Schließlich wird das menschliche Leiden mithilfe weiblicher Weisheit durch eine Haltung bewussten Opferns transformiert. In questo lavoro vengono discussi i problemi teorici, storici e personali nella sfortunata amicizia e nella collaborazione intellettuale tra C.G.Jung e l'allievo domenicano Victor White, O.P., basati su documenti originali della loro corrispondenza dal 1945 al 1960. La collaborazione tra Jung e White iniziò con grandi aspettative ma finì in un doloroso disaccordo sulla natura di Dio, sul problema del male e sugli aspetti ombra del Sé. Essi misero subito un grande impegno nella loro alleanza basata su speranze personali e professionali, prestando però insufficiente attenzione alla divergenza dei loro assunti di base. White sperava di costruire connessioni teoriche e pratiche fra la psicologia junghiana e la teologia cattolica a vantaggio dei cattolici moderni. Jung aveva bisogno di apprendere supporti teologici mentre stava indagando sui significati psicologici dei simboli Cristiani, compreso il simbolo centrale di Cristo. Al livello massimo entrambi speravano di trasformare l'Occidente Cristiano dopo il disastro morale della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. La loro collaborazione risultò rischiosa per entrambi,soprattutto per White nella sua carriera di Domenicano e comportò notevoli sofferenze. Il Séè prominente nella relazione, presente simbolicamente nel teso della corrispondenza e informa consciamente il loro interesse principale nel dibattito. All'inizio il Séè un campo archetipico che trascina gli amici nel loro lavoro visionario, a rischio di una inflazione inconscia. Più avanti il Sé si rivela con la sua ombra come un peso, un puzzle e una base per l'alienazione. Infine, con l'intervento della saggezza femminile, la sofferenza mortale viene trasformata in un atteggiamento di consapevole sacrificio. En este trabajo se exploran problemas teóricos, históricos y personales surgidos de la infortunada relación y colaboración intelectual entre C.G. Jung y el estudiosos Dominico Victor White, O.P., basada en los primeros documentos y correspondencia, 1945 hasta 1960. La colaboración entre Jung y White comenzó con grandes expectativas pero calló en dolorosos desacuerdos sobre la naturaleza de Dios, el problema del mal, y los aspectos sombríos del Self. Se habían apresurado a comprometerse en su alianza laboral fundados en sus intereses profesionales y personales, sin embargo le dieron poca importancia a los prejuicios ocultos. White esperaba elaborar conexiones teóricas y pragmáticas entre la psicología Junguiana y la teología Católica para beneficio de los católicos modernos. Jung necesitaba adquirir soporte teológico en su investigación del significado de los símbolos Cristianos, incluyendo el símbolo central de Cristo. En el nivel mas elevado ambos esperaban transformar el Occidente Cristiano, después del desastre moral de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El trabajo conjunto era riesgoso para ambos hombres, especialmente para White en su carrera como Dominico, y o condujo a un considerable sufrimiento. El Self es predominante en la relación. Está presente simbólicamente en el texto de su correspondencia y conscientemente siendo el mayor tópico para de debate. Desde el comienzo, el Self es un campo arquetipal, conduciendo a los amigos dentro de su meta visionaria, a riesgo de de una inflación inconsciente. Posteriormente se revela en la sombra como una carga, un embrollo, y el fundamento para el alejamiento. Finalmente, con la intervención de la sabiduría femenina, el mortal sufrimiento es transformado en una actitud de sacrificio consciente. [source] Exploratory evaluation of several teratogen warning symbols,BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH, Issue 6 2006Richard Goldsworthy Abstract BACKGROUND: Previous research has noted potential inadequacies in the warning labels and symbols used with some teratogenic medications. A clear teratogen warning symbol represents an important component of risk mitigation for accidental teratogen exposure. METHODS: Several teratogen warning symbols were developed through rapid prototyping and focus groups. A nationally distributed field trial (n = 300) examined the relative effectiveness of 6 candidate symbols, including the symbol in use at the time of the study. Measures included open-ended interpretation, closed-ended preference, and demographic surveys. Each participant was shown a single symbol and asked what it meant, to whom it applied, and what that person should do. Text statements were added to the symbol and participants were asked to reinterpret the warning. Participants were told the intended message of the warning, shown all 6 symbols, and asked to choose the most effective symbol. RESULTS: Four of 6 symbols achieved levels of correct interpretation close to or exceeding the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) benchmark of 85% and none exceeded the ANSI limit of 5% critical confusion. Symbols elicited varying conceptual responses. Respondents considered 1 symbol to be the most effective, by a 4 to 1 margin. Several outcomes varied by age and by ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Several symbols emerged as viable alternatives to the current symbol; however, no 1 symbol was clearly found to be the most effective. Instead, the symbol considered "best" depends on the messages that are considered most essential to the warning. Additionally, it appears a symbol without the addition of text can convey most, but possibly not all, of the meaning required of the warning label. Next steps should include further symbol refinement, closer examination of text additions to symbols, and validation of the candidate symbols and warnings through a large-scale field trial. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 76:453,460, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sensitivity and specificity of a visual acuity screening protocol performed with the Lea Symbols 15-line folding distance chart in preschool childrenACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 6 2006Francesca Bertuzzi Abstract. Purpose:, The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a visual acuity (VA) test using the Lea Symbols 15-line folding distance chart and its diagnostic validity in detecting VA deficiency in preschool children. Methods:, A group of 149 children aged 38,54 months underwent VA examination performed with the Lea 15-line folding optotype at a distance of 3 metres, according to a test protocol described in the Methods section. After the VA test, a complete ophthalmological examination, including cycloplegic retinoscopy, a cover test and examination of the anterior and posterior segments, was performed on each child in order to detect any VA-threatening ocular abnormality. The Lea Symbols test's sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR +, LR ,) and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were calculated by means of standard procedures using each VA level of the chart from 0.1 to 1 (1,0 logMAR) as a cut-off point. Results:, The Lea Symbols test could be successfully used in 95.9% of the population. The most useful cut-off points for screening preschool children were found to be 0.8 (LR +,5.73, LR ,,0.05) or 0.63 (LR +,11.7, LR ,,0.23). Conclusion:, The Lea Symbols test proved to be clinically useful in detecting VA deficiency in preschool children. The choice between the two best performing cut-off levels should be made according to the expected cost-effectiveness of the screening programme. [source] The Effects of Feature-Label-Order and Their Implications for Symbolic LearningCOGNITIVE SCIENCE - A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, Issue 6 2010Michael Ramscar Abstract Symbols enable people to organize and communicate about the world. However, the ways in which symbolic knowledge is learned and then represented in the mind are poorly understood. We present a formal analysis of symbolic learning,in particular, word learning,in terms of prediction and cue competition, and we consider two possible ways in which symbols might be learned: by learning to predict a label from the features of objects and events in the world, and by learning to predict features from a label. This analysis predicts significant differences in symbolic learning depending on the sequencing of objects and labels. We report a computational simulation and two human experiments that confirm these differences, revealing the existence of Feature-Label-Ordering effects in learning. Discrimination learning is facilitated when objects predict labels, but not when labels predict objects. Our results and analysis suggest that the semantic categories people use to understand and communicate about the world can only be learned if labels are predicted from objects. We discuss the implications of this for our understanding of the nature of language and symbolic thought, and in particular, for theories of reference. [source] Hourly and daily clearness index and diffuse fraction at a tropical station, Ile-Ife, NigeriaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2009E. C. Okogbue Abstract Dataset consisting of hourly global and diffuse solar radiation measured over the period February 1992 and December 2002 have been utilized to investigate the diurnal and seasonal variations of hourly and daily clearness index together with the diffuse fraction at a tropical station Ile-Ife (7.5°N, 4.57°E), Nigeria. Statistical analysis (the frequency and cumulative frequency distribution of the hourly and daily clearness index) and subsequent characterization of the sky conditions over the station based on these were also done, and their implications for solar energy utilization in the area discussed. Daytime (11:00,15:00 LST) monthly mean hourly diffuse fraction, M,d (explained in a separate ,List of Symbols' provided, along with other symbols used in this article), have values, which are most of the time less than 0.52, 0.54 and 0.60 respectively for January, February and March in the dry season. However, during the months of July and August (which are typical of the wet season), the values range between 0.61 and 0.85 (being generally greater than 0.65) with the corresponding values of the monthly mean hourly clearness index, M,T, ranging between 0.23 and 0.45. Statistical analysis of hourly and daily clearness index showed that the local sky conditions at the station were almost devoid of clear skies and overcast skies (clear skies and overcast skies occurred for only about 3.5% and 4.8% of the time respectively). The sky conditions were rather predominantly cloudy (cloudy skies occurred for about 88% of the time) all the year round. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in FranceCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Didier Fassin Immigration policies in Europe in the last three decades have become increasingly restrictive. During the 1990s, political asylum lost much of its legitimacy, as new criteria based on humanitarian claims became more common in appeals for immigration. Asylum seekers were increasingly identified as illegal immigrants and therefore candidates for expulsion, unless humanitarian reasons could be found to requalify them as victims deserving sympathy. This substitution of a right to asylum by an obligation in terms of charity leads to a reconsideration of Giorgio Agamben's separation of the humanitarian and the political, suggesting instead a humanitarianization of policies. Sangatte Center, often referred to as a transit camp, became a symbol of this ambiguous European treatment of the "misery of the world" and serves here as an analytical thread revealing the tensions between repression and compassion as well as the moral economy of contemporary biopolitics. [source] Evolving the UPS brandDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2004Larry Bloomenkranz When it was designed in 1961, the corporate identity was a compelling symbol for UPS. In the intervening decades, however, things had changed,dramatically! The company was significantly larger, a leader in a diverse spectrum of interrelated businesses, and publicly traded. In this context, Larry Bloomenkranz details the rationale, the research, and the meaning of the company's most recent brand developments. [source] The role of perseveration in children's symbolic understanding and skillDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2003Tanya Sharon In the first few years of life, children become increasingly sensitive to the significance of a variety of symbolic artifacts. An extensive body of research has explored very young children's ability to use symbol-based information as a guide to current reality. In one common task, for example, children watch as a miniature toy is hidden in a scale model, and are then asked to retrieve a larger version of the toy from the corresponding place in the room itself. Two-and-a-half-year-old children perform very poorly in most versions of this task. Their most common error is to perseverate; that is, they search again at the location where the toy was last hidden. Two studies examined the degree to which 21/2 -year-olds' high rate of perseveration and poor performance stem from problems with inhibitory control. Results showed that problems with inhibitory control contribute very little to 21/2 -year-old children's difficulty with the task. Instead, the results confirm young children's great difficulty appreciating and exploiting symbol,referent relations. [source] Transforming Possession: Josephine and the Work of CultureETHOS, Issue 2 2008Bambi L. Chapin After a 30-year career as a priestess during which she became renowned for deep possession trances, firewalking, and blood sacrifices, she no longer participates in these activities. The analysis of this case argues that problematic dissociation outside a ritual context can be used in and transformed by involvement in culturally available possession rituals to promote healing. This counters Melford Spiro and others who have viewed possession experiences as necessarily abnormal, psychotic, and symptomatic of mental disorder. It supports Gananath Obeyesekere's assertion that engagement with these symbolic systems can lead to "progressive transformations." Parallels between this priestess' lifestory and Western psychotherapy extend Obeyesekere's conception of "the work of culture" beyond the domain of meaning and symbol to include roles for embodied practice and interpersonal relationships. [spirit possession, Sri Lanka, dissociation, healing, mental health] [source] Disruption of self-organized actions in monkeys with progressive MPTP-induced parkinsonism.EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2004Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by motor symptoms, usually accompanied by cognitive deficits. The question addressed in this study is whether complexity of routine actions can exacerbate parkinsonian disorders that are often considered to be motor symptoms. To examine this question, we trained four vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) to perform three multiple-choice retrieval tasks. In order of ascending complexity, rewards were freely available (task 1), covered with transparent sliding plaques (task 2), and covered with opaque sliding plaques cued by symbols (task 3). Thus, from task 1 to task 2 we added a motor difficulty , the recall of context-adapted movement; and from task 2 to task 3 we added a cognitive difficulty: the recall of symbol,reward associations. The more complex the task, the longer it took to learn, but after extensive training the performance was stable in all tasks, with similar retrieval durations. The monkeys then received systemic 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) injections (0.3,0.4 mg/kg) every 4,7 days, until the first motor symptoms appeared. In the course of MPTP intoxication, the behavioural performance declined while the motor symptoms were absent or mild , the retrieval duration increased, and non-initiated choices and hesitations between choices became frequent. Interestingly, this decline was in proportion to task complexity, and was particularly pronounced with the cognitive difficulty. Furthermore, freezing appeared only with the cognitive difficulty. We therefore suggest that everyday cognitive difficulties may exacerbate hypokinesia (lack of initiation, abnormal slowness) and executive disorders (hesitations, freezing) in the early stages of human PD. [source] Symbols in Wittgenstein's TractatusEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2007Colin Johnston This paper is concerned with the status of a symbol in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. It is claimed in the first section that a Tractarian symbol, whilst essentially a syntactic entity to be distinguished from the mark or sound that is its sign, bears its semantic significance only inessentially. In the second and third sections I pursue this point of exegesis through the Tractarian discussions of nonsense and the context principle respectively. The final section of the paper places the forgoing work in a secondary context, addressing in particular a debate regarding the realism of the Tractatus. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||