Rebuilding the Feminine in Levinas's Talmudic Readings

This study presents a reconsideration of Levinas’s concept of the feminine. This reconsideration facilitated by a philosophically informed analysis of Levinas’s Talmudic readings on that subject. The innovation of this research is based on the methodology which combined the two corpuses of Levinas’ writings as important parts of his thought. Two main phenomena are derived from Levinas’ Talmudic readings and arouse main principles of his ethics. In the hearth of the discussion on Eros stated the differentiation of feminine and masculine in Levinas’ thought, and its implication of gender and Ethics of otherness. In the center of Levinas’ terminology of maternity stated his phenomenology of pregnancy, and its ethical implication on responsibility to the other. The extreme responsibility committed to the subject since there is a immanent conflict between parents and their child. The characters of Leivnas’ discussion which described here are obligating the reconsideration of the philosophical question: are Levinas’ concepts of the feminine exclusive to the women? The subjects of Levinas’s exploration of the feminine, in this view, emerge from his Talmudic readings, but his phenomenological analysis of those very subjects goes beyond what can be found in those readings. Analyzing the meaning of the difference between the sexes—the topic of one of the Talmudic readings—leads Levinas to a wider phenomenological treatment of the status of woman that does not bypass the feminine voice. Delving into the Talmudic concept of rodef (persecutor) as applied to the relationship of fetus and mother leads Levinas to a phenomenological analysis of the concept of maternity and readiness to accept responsibility (even suffering) for the Other. Those two discussions lead us to a rereading of Levinas’s essay “Phenomenology of Eros” and enable us to rebut the charge that in that essay Levinas presents only a masculine voice. Levinas’s concept of “responsibility” will be seen to resemble the feminist psychologist Carol Gilligan’s concept of “care.” We must then reconsider whether Levinas’s concept of the feminine is exclusively the domain of women

Phenomenology of Pregnancy, Maternity and Parenthood in the Writings of R. Joseph Soloveitchik and Emmanuel Lévinas

This article aims to explore the philosophical meaning of pregnancy and maternity in the writ-ings of R. Soloveitchik and Emmanuel Lévinas. They both make a phenomenological enquiry into these phenomena, by looking on the biological aspect and the emotional aspects. R. Solove-itchik suggests a spiritual interpretation concerning the meaning of pregnancy, which is both biological and spiritual. He attempts to differentiate between the natural parenthood and the spiritual parenthood. Lévinas gives us the philosophical observation through the phenomenolog-ical research of pregnancy, motherhood and parenthood. For him, this inquiry may be revealed as an ethical occurrence that demand responsibility. Perhaps this is one of the unique dimensions of modern Jewish philosophy, looking towards the religious texts with modern philosophical method and modern philosophy theories. Reading carefully the biblical story of Genesis on the notion of birth and maternity, raises textual questions and cultural questions. For Lévinas and R. Soloveitchik these questions can open the door to new philosophical inquiry

The Challenge of Sustainability: A New Covenant for Humanity

Never has humanity experienced so palpably and unambiguously a feeling of collective fate. The common experience of facing danger and suffering disrupts our faith in life and evokes questions of meaning and existence. Humanity facing the challenge of sustainability: global warming, climate change, new viruses, pandemics, and the new technology – Artificial Intelligence. From East to West, people find themselves in fear and exposed to the questions of their fate and real suffering. Nature demands that humankind join hands in the battle against ecological problems. The awareness of the collective fate that has been forced upon us, has the potential to mark a new kind of partnership for humanity as a whole. Jewish tradition tried to teach human beings that their mission in life is to turn fate into destiny, to turn a passive existence into an active one – to move from being an object dictated to by powers greater than he or she, to a subject who determines his or her own path and meaning in the world. The readiness of humanity to enter into the covenant of fate—the willpower of individuals to take responsibility for the community, to join together in times of distress, out of a sense of obligation and responsibility—is worthy of honor and recognition

Coping with information style and family burden:Possible roles of self-stigma and hope among parents of children in a psychiatric inpatient unit

Objective: Parents of children who are hospitalized in inpatient psychiatric units must cope with significant challenges. One of these challenges relates to the way in which they cope with illness-related information. The current study examined the relationship between two such coping styles - monitoring and blunting - and family burden among parents of children in a psychiatric inpatient unit. Moreover, the possible moderating roles.played by hope and self-stigma in these associations were also examined. Methods: Questionnaires regarding coping with information style, self-stigma, hope and family burden were administered to 70 parents. Results: A main positive effect of hope and a main negative effect of self-stigma were uncovered. An interaction between self-stigma and monitoring was also revealed, suggesting that for parents with high self-stigma, compared to those with low self-stigma, more monitoring was related to more burden. Conclusions: Tailoring family interventions according to coping style and self-stigma is highly recommended as a mean to reduce the family burden of parents whose child is hospitalized in a psychiatric inpatient unit. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved

Auditory stimulation improves motor function and caretaker burden in children with cerebral palsy- A randomized double blind study.

AIM: To investigate the impact of auditory stimulation on motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and disabling hypertonia. METHOD: 9 matched pairs (age: 7y5m, SD 4y1m; 13 boys; gross-motor-functional-classification-scale: median 4; manual-ability-classification-system: median 4) were randomized to receive either auditory stimulation embedded in music (study, n = 9) or music alone (sham, control, n = 9) for at least 10 minutes 4 times a week for 4 weeks. Goal-Attainment-Scale, Care-and-Comfort-Hypertonicity-Questionnaire, Gross-Motor-Function-Measure and Quality-of-Upper-Extremity-Skills-Test (QUEST) were assessed before and 5 months following intervention. RESULT: Children receiving auditory stimulation attained more goals than children who listened to music alone (p = 0.002). Parents reported improved care and comfort in children in the study group compared to a slight deterioration in controls (p = 0.002). Upper extremity skills improved in the study group compared to controls (p = 0.006). Similar gross motor function changes were documented in both groups (p = 0.41). One participant reported increased seizure frequency; no other participants with epilepsy reported increased seizure frequency (n = 6/18) and no other adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: Auditory stimulation alleviated hypertonia and improved fine and gross motor functions

Parental Efficacy Moderates the Association Between Empathy and Burden Among Parents of Children Admitted to a Psychiatric Ward

Empathy is considered a positive aspect of caregiving, although in certain circumstances, being empathic might increase the burden of caregivers. The current study assessed the associations between empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden among parents of children who were hospitalized in a psychiatric unit. Specifically, we examined whether the association between empathy and family burden was moderated by the parents' sense of self-efficacy. Seventy parents of children with psychiatric disorders, hospitalized in an inpatient psychiatric unit, filled out questionnaires of empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden. Results supported a moderating role of parental efficacy between empathy and family burden (interaction effect: beta = -1.72, p = .0406). Specifically, empathy was positively related to family burden among parents with low self-efficacy (conditional effect = 0.70, p = .032) and negatively related to family burden among parents with high self-efficacy (conditional effect = -0.39, p = N.S). Implications for practice include the importance of self-efficacy and address the possible negative implications of empathy among parents of children treated in a psychiatric hospital

Clinical Phenotype in Individuals With Birk-Landau-Perez Syndrome Associated With Biallelic SLC30A9 Pathogenic Variants

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Birk-Landau-Perez syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in SLC30A9 presenting with a complex movement disorder, developmental regression, oculomotor abnormalities, and renal impairment. It has previously been reported in 2 families. We describe the clinical phenotype of 8 further individuals from 4 unrelated families with SLC30A9-related disease. METHOD: Following detailed clinical phenotyping, 1 family underwent research whole-genome sequencing (WGS), 1 research whole-exome sequencing, and 2 diagnostic WGS. Variants of interest were assessed for pathogenicity using in silico prediction tools, homology modeling, and, where relevant, sequencing of complementary DNA (cDNA) for splicing effect. RESULTS: In 2 unrelated families of Pakistani origin (1 consanguineous and 1 not), the same homozygous missense variant in SLC30A9 (c.1253G>T, p.Gly418Val) was identified. Family 1 included 2 affected brothers, and family 2 one affected boy. In family 3, also consanguineous, there were 4 affected siblings homozygous for the variant c.1049delCAG, pAla350del. The fourth family was nonconsanguineous: the 1 affected individual was compound heterozygous for c.1083dup, p.Val362Cysfs*5, and c.1413A>G, p.Ser471=. Despite phenotypic variability between the 4 families, all affected patients manifested with a progressive hyperkinetic movement disorder, associated with oculomotor apraxia and ptosis. None had evidence of severe renal impairment. For the novel missense variant, the conformation of the loop domain and packing of transmembrane helices are likely to be disrupted based on structure modeling. Its presence in 2 unrelated Pakistani families suggests a possible founder variant. For the synonymous variant p.Ser471=, an effect on splicing was confirmed through cDNA analysis. DISCUSSION: Pathogenic variants in SLC30A9 cause a progressive autosomal recessive neurologic syndrome associated with a complex hyperkinetic movement disorder. Our report highlights the expanding disease phenotype, which can present with a wider spectrum of severity than has previously been recognized

At-risk elementary school children with one year of classroom music instruction are better at keeping a beat

Temporal processing underlies both music and language skills. There is increasing evidence that rhythm abilities track with reading performance and that language disorders such as dyslexia are associated with poor rhythm abilities. However, little is known about how basic time-keeping skills can be shaped by musical training, particularly during critical literacy development years. This study was carried out in collaboration with Harmony Project, a non-profit organization providing free music education to children in the gang reduction zones of Los Angeles. Our findings reveal that elementary school children with just one year of classroom music instruction perform more accurately in a basic finger-tapping task than their untrained peers, providing important evidence that fundamental time-keeping skills may be strengthened by short-term music training. This sets the stage for further examination of how music programs may be used to support the development of basic skills underlying learning and literacy, particularly in at-risk populations which may benefit the most

Transitional Care for Young People with Movement Disorders: Consensus-Based Recommendations from the MDS Task Force on Pediatrics

Background: The International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society (MDS) set up a working group on pediatric movement disorders (MDS Task Force on Pediatrics) to generate recommendations to guide the transition process from pediatrics to adult health care systems in patients with childhood-onset movement disorders. / Methods: To develop recommendations for transitional care for childhood onset movement disorders, we used a formal consensus development process, using a multi-round, web-based Delphi survey. The Delphi survey was based on the results of the scoping review of the literature and the results of a survey of MDS members on transition practices. Through iterative discussions, we generated the recommendations included in the survey. The MDS Task Force on Pediatrics were the voting members for the Delphi survey. The task force members comprise 23 child and adult neurologists with expertise in the field of movement disorders and from all regions of the world. / Results: Fifteen recommendations divided across four different areas were made pertaining to: (1) team composition and structure, (2) planning and readiness, (3) goals of care, and (4) administration and research. All recommendations achieved consensus with a median score of 7 or greater. / Conclusion: Recommendations on providing transitional care for patients with childhood onset movement disorders are provided. Nevertheless several challenges remain in the implementation of these recommendations, related to health infrastructure and the distribution of health resources, and the availability of knowledgeable and interested practitioners. Research on the influence of transitional care programs on outcomes in childhood onset movement disorders is much needed