Mental action as visible bodily performance: an educational perspective

International audienceKinetic activity fuels cognitive activity and facilitates the expression of thought. Ordinary speakers, not just actors and orators, physically engage in argumentation and use their bodies to articulate abstract meanings. All make a symbolic use of space and gesture to shape ideas and deliver their messages. Because teachers are public speakers, one would normally expect them to control their bodily actions and expressive movements with great professional skill. But few have received any formal training in rhetoric, gesture semiotics or pragmatics. As a result, the teaching bodies of most instructors and the learning bodies of their students tend to underperform in the classroom. Strategies for turning teachers and learners into actors, and learning space into performance space, are suggested. An embodied approach to reasoning and understanding in the teaching room is outlined, and the case is made for greater sensory-motor engagement in secondary or higher education

Clinical Implementation of Next-generation Sequencing in the Field of Prenatal Diagnostics

The possibility to receive genetic information of the fetus from maternal blood during the course of pregnancy has been one of the main goals of research in prenatal medicine for decades. First, the detection of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal blood and finally, the development of the powerful technique of “next-generation sequencing” (NGS) were required to finally transfer this analysis into clinical practice. Since its introduction in 2011, the clinical demand for the technique of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been enormous. NIPT initially was available for the most common aneuploidies (trisomy 21, 13, and 18), but the varieties of diseases that can be detected prenatally by NIPT are increasing rapidly

Prävention von Frühgeburten

Zusammenfassung: Die Frühgeburt stellt heute, obwohl große Fortschritte im medizinisch-technischen Bereich gemacht wurden, immer noch eine Hauptursache der perinatalen Mortalität und Morbidität dar. Trotz intensiver Bemühungen im therapeutischen Bereich ist die Rate der Frühgeburten in den westlichen Ländern stabil oder - wie in den USA - sogar ansteigend. Präventive Maßnahmen rücken deswegen immer stärker in den Blickpunkt. In der vorliegenden Übersichtsarbeit werden basierend auf randomisierten oder Beobachtungsstudien die aktuellen Strategien zur Prävention diskutiert. Nach den derzeit vorliegenden Metaanalysen wird die perinatale Morbidität durch präventive Maßnahmen nicht verbessert, wohl aber das Gestationsalter verlängert. Was dies an Vorteilen für das Neugeborene bringt, bleibt zu kläre

Quasiprobability methods for multimode conditional optical gates

We present a method for computing the action of conditional linear optical transformations, conditioned on photon counting, for arbitrary signal states. The method is based on the Q-function, a quasi probability distribution for anti normally ordered moments. We treat an arbitrary number of signal and ancilla modes. The ancilla modes are prepared in an arbitrary product number state. We construct the conditional, non unitary, signal transformations for an arbitrary photon number count on each of the ancilla modes.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. JOSA B Special Issue "Optical Quantum Information Science

Biomarker development for presymptomatic molecular diagnosis of preeclampsia: Feasible, useful or even unnecessary?

The past decade saw the advent of a number of promising biomarkers to detect pregnancies at risk for preeclampsia (PE), the foremost being those associated with an imbalance of angiogenic factors. In late pregnancy, these are useful for the detection of imminent cases of PE, while earlier they were more predictive for early- than late-onset PE. This suggests that there may be fundamental differences between the underlying pathology of these two PE forms. Therefore, it is possible that such a biological premise may limit the development of biomarkers that will permit the efficacious detection of both early- and late-onset PE via an analysis of first-trimester maternal blood samples. Consequently, a significant increase in our understanding of the underlying pathology of PE, using a variety of approaches ranging from systems biology to animal models, will be necessary in order to overcome this obstacle. © Informa UK, Ltd

From sensory to propositional modality

L’univers mental de la modalité épistémique n’est pas entièrement coupé de l’univers physique des objets et des substances que les êtres humains perçoivent et avec lesquels ils interagissent. Il existe un lien métaphorique entre attitudes (ou postures) modales et attitudes (ou postures) corporelles, comme l’atteste l’emploi courant d’expressions visuelles et manuelles pour exprimer les notions ou processus modaux. L’énonciateur-conceptualisateur exécute symboliquement une gestualité mentale et s’implique dans des scènes « ceptuelles » de vision, de mouvement et de manipulations épistémiques. Les hypothèses sont « forgées », les faits sont « posés », les jugements « appliqués » ou « assénés » avec plus ou moins de « force ». Les conclusions sont « atteintes » et les déductions « faites » ou « opérées ». Les structures interprétatives sont « construites ». Les arguments logiques « tiennent debout ». L’incohérent « s’écroule » ou « s’effondre ». Les analogies perceptuelles les plus courantes de la certitude et de l’évidence sont la « clarté », la « transparence » ainsi que la « solidité. Les propositions sont des objets de conceptions hybrides, intégrant le matériel au mental, localisés dans des espaces matériels et mentaux mixtes. Le corps symbolique de la cognition y accède, en utilisant les organes, perceptions et mouvements imaginaires inscrits dans le langage.The mental world of epistemic modality is not entirely removed from the material world of objects and substances that humans perceive and interact with. Modal stances are symbolically related to physical stances and metaphorically described in terms of visual and manual-haptic experience. Cognizers perform mental gestures and engage in “ceptual”scenes of epistemic vision, motion and manipulation. Thus, hypotheses are “formed”; while assertions, judgements and conjectures are “made” with varying degrees of “strength”. Conclusions are typically “reached” and inferences “drawn”. Interpretations are “constructs”. Logical arguments “stand”. Inconsistent statements “collapse” or  “fall apart”. The common perceptual analogues of certainty are “clarity” and “solidity”. Propositions are blended mental-material objects of conception that the imaginary body of cognition accesses in blended mental-physical space, using the imaginary organs, perceptions and motions encoded in the language

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome: an underreported entity causing nausea and vomiting of pregnancy

Introduction: In the western world, cannabis is the most widely used drug of abuse. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which seems to be a rare paradoxical reaction in individuals with a particular predisposition, is characterized by cyclic severe nausea and vomiting in long-term cannabis users. While the symptoms are unresponsive to antiemetic drugs, compulsive hot baths result in a considerable symptom relief. Methods: We report the first case of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome in pregnancy. A 26-year-old patient was admitted to our clinic in the 10th week of gestation. Conclusion: Before undertaking time-consuming and expensive medical examinations to rule out other medical reasons for therapy-resistant hyperemesis in pregnancy, obstetricians should determine whether compulsive bathing or showering provides symptomatic relief and ask specific questions regarding possible/suspected cannabis consumptio