Grounding Abstract Concepts in Action

Sensory-motor information is linguistically encoded by action verbs. Such verbs are not only used to express action concepts and events, but they are also pervasively exploited in the linguistic representation of abstract concepts and figurative meanings. In the light of several theoretical approaches (i.e., Embodied Theories, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Image Schema Theory), this paper analyzes the mechanisms that enable action verbs to acquire abstract meanings and that motivate the symmetries (or asymmetries) in the semantic variations of locally equivalent verbs (e.g., premere and spingere; Eng., to press and to push). The research is carried out within the IMAGACT framework and focuses on a set of four Italian action verbs encoding force (i.e., premere, spingere, tirare, and trascinare; Eng., to press, to push, to pull, and to drag). The results confirm that metaphorical extensions of action verbs are constrained by the image schemas involved in the core meaning of the verbs. Additionally, the paper shows that these image schemas are responsible for the asymmetries in the metaphorical variation of action verbs pertaining to the same semantic class (i.e., force)

Adapting a community of practice model to design an innovative ethics curriculum in healthcare

The focus of healthcare ethics within the framework of ethical principles and philosophical foundations has always, in recent times, been the community, namely, the healthcare provider, the patient or, in research, the study participant. An initiative is thus described whereby a community of practice (CoP) model was developed around health ethics in health research, education and clinical care. The ethics curriculum was redesigned to include several components that are integrated and all embracing, namely, health research ethics, healthcare ethics, health personnel education in ethics and global and public health ethics. A CoP is a group who share a common interest and a desire to learn from and contribute to the community with their variety of experiences. The CoP is dynamic and organic, generating knowledge that can be translated into effective healthcare delivery and ethical research. It requires the collaboration and social presence of active participants such as community members, healthcare professionals and educators, ethicists and policy makers to benefit the community by developing approaches that adapt to and resonate with the community and its health - care needs. Philosophical principles constitute the foundation or underpinning of this innovative curriculum. Recommendations are presented that will continue to guide the consolidation and sustainability of the CoP.IS

EXERCISE INTENSITY AND PACING STRATEGY OF A 5-KM INDOOR RACE WALK DURING A WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT: A CASE STUDY

The aim of this case study was to describe the physiological and regulatory processes, by means of heart rate (HR) monitoring and pacing strategy, in a top-level race walker (age: 32 years; height: 1.76 m; body mass: 62 kg; training volume: 130\u2013150 km\u2022wk-1) who was focused on the attainment of the 5-km indoor race walk (RW) World Record. The HRmean was 185 6 14.9 b\u2022min-1, with an HRmean/HRmax ratio of 0.96. Almost the whole race (91.8%) was performed to an intensity 6590% of the HRmax; lower intensity work was negligible (8.1%). The race profile was a reverse J-shaped pacing curve; in fact, the athlete completed the first 1,000 m in the fastest time, slowing during the middle 3,000 m, and increasing the speed during the final 1,000 m of the race. Despite the attempt failed (the athlete performed only the 2009 World leading performance, 18 minutes 23 seconds 47 tenths), these data suggest that a more linear strain distribution for the entire performance would be optimal instead of a fast-start strategy, which leads to a drastic decrement of the walking velocity. Moreover, this study supports the use of HR monitoring combined with the regulation of the effort to understand the physiological and regulatory processes during an indoor RW event

Re-examining ethical obligations in the intensive care unit: HIV disclosure to surrogates

Physicians treating newly incapacitated patients often must help navigate surrogate decision-makers through a difficult course of treatment decisions, while safeguarding the patient's autonomy. We offer guidance for intensive care physicians who must frequently address the difficult questions concerning disclosure of confidential information to surrogates. Three clinical vignettes will highlight the ethical challenges to physician disclosure of a critically ill patient's HIV status. Two key distinctions are offered that influence the propriety of disclosure: first, whether HIV infection represents a 'primary cause' for the patient's critical illness; and second, whether the surrogate may be harmed by failure to disclose HIV status. This balanced consideration of the direct duties of physicians to patients, and their indirect duties to surrogates and third-party contacts, may be used as a framework for considering other ethical obligations in the intensive care unit. We also provide a tabulation of individual US state laws relevant to disclosure of HIV status

An Impedance Measurement Technique for Composite Materials Moisture Level Detection Devoted to Health Monitoring in Aeronautics

The current design practice of composite material aeronautical structures imposes the use of knock-down structural material allowables to take into account the high sensitivity to environmental exposure (i.e., moisture, temperature, damages). The "moisture derating factor" comes from specific mechanical test campaign and drastically reduces the advantage of using such materials; but the continuous monitoring of the moisture content of the structure could enable the use of higher design allowables. In the framework of FUSIMCO (Work developed within the frame of the Project FUSIMCO-FUSoliera Ibrida Metallo COmposito-co-financed by MIUR-Italian Ministry of Research with DAC-Campania Aerospace District as beneficiary and Leonardo Company-Aerostructure Division as "prime" partner) project, the aim of this study is to verify the effectiveness of the impedance measurement method as a health-monitoring tool to evaluate the moisture quantity absorbed by an aeronautical composite structure. The method is based on the idea that a composite laminate can be associated with an equivalent electric circuit (EEC). Some electrical characteristics of this EEC can be associated to the moisture content of the laminate. A simple EEC model, mainly capacitive, was used. A frequency sweep was the electric stimulus signal of some electrodes, glued onto the specimens to investigate the EEC parameters variation with respect to the induced moisture content variation (gravimetrically determined). The study confirmed the possibility of effectively using the impedance measurement method as a health-monitoring tool for moisture content evaluation of a composite laminate

Prediction of Performance in a Short Trail Running Race: The Role of Body Composition

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of the classical physiological model of endurance running performance - maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max), %VO(2)max at ventilatory thresholds (VT), work economy, lactate levels, and body composition on the prediction of short trail running performance. Eleven male trail runners (age 36.1 +/- 6.5 years, sport experience 6.6 +/- 3.8 years, and mean +/- standard deviation) were examined for fat mass and skeletal muscle mass, and performed a graded exercise test to measure VO(2)max, vVO(2)max, and VT. Also, they participated in a short 27 km trail run with a positive elevation of +1750 m. Age, years of training and skeletal muscle mass did not correlate with race time (P > 0.05), and fat mass and body mass index (BMI) showed significant correlations with race time (P 0.05). Only vVO(2)max (P = 0.005) and VO(2)max (P = 0.007) is correlated to race time. Multiple regression models for VO(2)max accounted for 57% of the total variance. The vVO(2)max model variable accounted for 60% and the fat mass model for 59.5%. Finally, the combined VO(2)max and fat mass model explained 83.9% of the total variance (P < 0.05 in all models). The equation for this model is "race time (min) = 203.9956-1.9001 x VO(2)max + 10.2816 x Fat mass%" (R-2 = 0.839, SEE = 11.1 min, and P = 0.0007). The classical variable VO(2)max together with fat mass percent are two strong predictors for short trail running performance