Open Access Books

In the past three decades, research on plasticity after spinal cord injury (SCI) has led to a gradual shift in SCI rehabilitation: the former focus on learning compensatory strategies changed to functional neurorecovery, that is, promoting restoration of function through the use of affected limbs. This paradigm shift contributed to the development of technology-based interventions aiming to promote neurorecovery through repetitive training. This chapter presents an overview of a range of noninvasive modalities that have been used in rehabilitation after SCI. Among others, we present repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), surface electrical stimulation tools such as transcutaneous electrical spinal cord stimulation (tcSCS), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and functional electrical stimulation (FES), as well as its integration with cycling training and assistive robotic devices. The most recent results attained and the potential relevance of these new techniques to strengthen the efficacy of the residual neuronal pathways and improve spasticity are also presented. Future efforts toward the widespread clinical application of these modalities include more advances in the technology, together with the knowledge obtained from basic research and clinical trials. This can ultimately lead to novel customized interventions that meet specific needs of SCI patients.

The idealised representation of the otium litteratum as a privileged and sheltered space for intellectual work coexists in Erasmus with the concrete immersion in the frenetic activity of the new publishing industry and the bitter disputes it produces. Faced with the repressive action of the great political and religious institutions of the age of confessionalisation, intellectuals of early modern age sometimes took refuge in a private or restricted space. From the end of the 17th century onwards, some of them redefine their role thanks to the expansion of the publishing market and the transformations of the 'République des Lettres': taking on the function of opinion leaders who spread new scientific and religious, ethical and political paradigms, these intellectuals effectively pave the way for the Enlightenment age.

As part of the VINCULUM project, a precious and unpublished document in private possession was identified - the Crónica da Linhagem dos Castelo Branco. This Chronicle, a rare example in Portugal, tells the story of the Castelo Branco family, a noble family group that stood out for its service to the Crown, from its origins until the end of the 16th century. The author of the Chronicle is not identified, but the research carried out during the preparation of this work has made it possible to know his name: Garcia Velez de Castelo Branco. It is worth highlighting the extensive historical and genealogical knowledge that this family member had about his ancestors, as well as his literary erudition, which is evident in the diverse and up-to-date bibliographical references cited throughout the Crónica. The work that is now being published includes the full edition of the Crónica da Linhagem dos Castelo Branco, an onomastic index and various historical studies on different themes, which illustrate, but do not exhaust, the potential of the Crónica for research and knowledge of 15th and 16th century Portuguese history.

Mouraria, Retalhos de Um Imaginário: Significados Urbanos de Um Bairro de Lisboa, resulta de uma investigação sobre os motivos socioculturais dos dilemas, contendas e conflitos simbólicos relacionados com o processo de construção de imagens identitárias de um bairro tradicional da cidade de Lisboa. O espaço central é o indicador central do estudo e é analisado a partir das significações imaginárias do bairro e das práticas de uso e apropriação do espaço público urbano local. O livro faz uma síntese da história do bairro e reflete sobre dados etnográficos de uso, apropriação e representação do bairro. A partir da etnografia realizada, o leitor poderá compreender alguns dos significados que vigoram no processo de construção da ideia de que o bairro é um dos contextos representativos de uma Lisboa típica, tradicional e popular, patrimonial e histórica, pluralista e multiétnica, podendo ainda denotar variantes que levam a pensá-lo como espaço marginal e liminar. Ao lidar com a complexidade local, o livro incorpora os contributos de uma perspetiva antropológica que, a partir da etnografia, privilegia a análise de um segmento do espaço urbano através da observação, da proximidade social e da assiduidade junto e dentro do contexto de estudo.

Originally published in 1999. If religion once seemed to have played out its role in the intellectual and political history of Western secular modernity, it has now returned with a vengeance. In Philosophy and the Turn to Religion, Hent de Vries argues that a turn to religion discernible in recent philosophy anticipates and accompanies this development in the contemporary world. Though the book reaches back to Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, and earlier, it takes its inspiration from the tradition of French phenomenology, notably Emmanuel Levinas, Jean-Luc Marion, and, especially, Jacques Derrida. Tracing how Derrida probes the discourse on religion, its metaphysical presuppositions, and its transformations, de Vries shows how this author consistently foregrounds the unexpected alliances between a radical interrogation of the history of Western philosophy and the religious inheritance from which that philosophy has increasingly sought to set itself apart.De Vries goes beyond formal analogies between the textual practices of deconstruction and so-called negative theology to address the necessity for a philosophical thinking that situates itself at once close to and at the farthest remove from traditional manifestations of the religious and the theological. This paradox is captured in the phrase adieu (à dieu), borrowed from Levinas, which signals at once a turn toward and a leave-taking from God—and which also gestures toward and departs from the other of this divine other, the possibility of radical evil. Only by confronting such uncanny and difficult figures, de Vries claims, can one begin to think and act upon the ethical and political imperatives of our day.

Pour parler de la foi chrétienne, les Pères ont souvent recouru à des exposés concrets, s’appuyant sur des personnages bibliques. Or, de tous ces modèles bibliques, Jésus est sans conteste le paradigme. Les premiers écrivains chrétiens se sont ainsi attachés à expliquer les épisodes de sa vie pour en dégager des enseignements spirituels, moraux ou doctrinaux, soulevant de la sorte aussi bien des questions d’exégèse que de théologie. La grande question qui s’est posée dès le début à la communauté chrétienne fut de démontrer que le Jésus de Nazareth de la Bible est bien le « Christ ». Cette question s’est posée de manière complexe et souvent violente au cours des premiers siècles du christianisme. Partant de la lecture que les Pères ont faite de la figure de Jésus, notamment dans les Évangiles, le présent volume s’interrogera sur l’élaboration progressive, parfois polémique, des différents éléments constitutifs du personnage théologique du Christ. Il s’agira de permettre de mieux saisir la manière dont la figure de Jésus, telle qu’on la trouve dans les Écritures, a été peu à peu comprise et réélaborée dans des lectures théologiques.Ces réflexions des Pères conservent toute leur portée aujourd’hui, tant les questions soulevées dès les premiers siècles du christianisme continuent d’être actuelles : elles concernent tant les historiens des religions que les théologiens, sans oublier les exégètes et tous ceux qui s’intéressent à la réception du personnage du Christ.

Wherein resides the ‘art’ in the ‘art of building’? Throughout history, architects have generally viewed their field as a craft informed by the human body, a creative sense of play, and technical science. Theory in the second half of the 20 th century departed from this direction by reducing art to the visual and semiotic understanding of form. The remarkable discoveries of the biological sciences in recent decades have opened an entirely new perspective for designers, based on our profound insights into human soci-ality, empathy, emotion, mirror systems, and design’s inherent powers of “tactility and kinesis.” The dictum “know thyself,” once inscribed in stone at the entrance of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, in many ways holds the key to locating the missing ‘art’ of design.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline, thanks to generous funding support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). This incisive book examines how citizens are increasingly taking it upon themselves to change their neighbourhoods and communities, becoming co-producers, makers and pioneers who actively participate in the design of urban spaces and spatial processes. Analysing the potentials and limitations of civic engagement, it discusses how such participation has led to greater cohesion of communities against changing environments.

Ecopreneurs – founders of young start-ups with an ecologically sustainable business model – are seen as the beacons of hope for the sustainable transformation of society. With the combination of idealistic motivation, creative thinking and entrepreneurial drive that is attributed to them in social, political and business discourse, they develop innovative solutions for ecological problems. With sustainable and at the same time profitable business models, they harmonize seemingly conflicting goals of environmental protection and economic growth. As part of this study, 21 ecopreneurs and their start-ups were followed over a period of several years. Eltje Gajewski illustrates the motivational structures, orientations, business practices and ways of thinking with which ecopreneurs approach their start-ups and how these change in the process of dealing with the external framework conditions. This reveals various conflicts with investors, stakeholders, legal requirements and economic policy regulations, which ecopreneurs typically deal with by making compromises to the detriment of the ecological aspects of their ventures in order to save their sustainability ideals. Contrary to common assumptions about the innovative potential of capitalism, it can be seen how ecological disruptions are slowed down on and by the market.

Ingmar Bergman is worldwide known as a film and stage director. Yet no-one has attempted to compare his stage and screen activities. In Between stage and screen Egil Törnqvist examines formal and thematical correspondences and differences between a number of Bergman's stage, screen, and radio productions. In the prologue Bergman's spiritual and aesthetic heritage and his position in the twentieth century media landscape is outlined. In the epilogue the question is answered to what extent one can speak of Bergman's directorial 'method' irrespective of the chosen medium.

In the past 20 years, karst desertification control has produced remarkable results, and the South China karst has been a global hotspot for greening. However, in the new stage of karst desertification control, the functional lag of forest ecosystems and the insufficient supply capacity of ecosystem services are gradually becoming prominent. We not only lack systematic research on vulnerability and resilience, structure and stability, ecological assets and services, carrying capacity and ecological security, and service trade-offs/synergies and optimization in controlled ecosystems. There is still a lack of research on the ecological processes of newly constructed forests in improving ecosystem functions and services. Therefore, this reprint mainly focuses on the research improvement of forest ecosystem functions in karst desertification control. This includes the improvement mechanism of ecosystem structure, function, and services, the mechanism of ecosystem service tradeoff/synergy, and function optimization. An optimization model of ecosystem function and an improvement path for eco-product supply are introduced. The role of functional traits in the maintenance of ecological function and services is also established, and social–ecological responses to afforestation in karst desertification control are discussed.

Up to one billion individuals globally may be impacted by neurological illnesses, according to recent World Health Organization (WHO) research. Medical definitions of neurological illnesses include conditions that impact not only the brain but also the spinal cord and nerves in the human body. A variety of symptoms may be brought on by structural, biochemical, or electrical anomalies in the brain, spinal cord, or other nerves. Among the most prevalent are neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and other dementias, strokes, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, polyneuropathies, neurological infections, brain tumours, and conditions resulting from nervous system trauma like head injuries.

This innovative study explores diverse aspects of Canadian and European identity on the information highway and reaches beyond technical issues to confront and explore communication, culture and the culture of communication.

Dieses Open-Access-Buch schafft durch ein qualitatives Forschungsvorgehen im Sinne der Grounded Theory Methodologie einen empirischen Zugang zur Perspektive von Peer-Begleiter*innen auf Unterstützungsangebote im Kontext psychischer Beeinträchtigung. Im Fokus der in diesem Zuge entwickelten gegenstandsverankerten Theorie steht die Peer-Beziehung zwischen Peer-Begleiter*innen und Nutzer*innen als spezifische Ausprägung einer Unterstützungsbeziehung. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit deuten darauf hin, dass diese als komplexe Form der Beziehungsgestaltung verstanden werden kann, da sie von einer Gleichzeitigkeit drei unterschiedlicher Positionierungen der Peer-Begleiter*innen gegenüber den Nutzer*innen geprägt ist: erstens als Selbst-Betroffene, zweitens als Unterstützer*innen und drittens als organisationale Akteur*innen. Aus dem Zusammenwirken dieser Aspekte resultierende Spannungsfelder kennzeichnen die entstehenden Peer-Beziehungen und stellen die Anforderung an Peer-Begleiter*innen, im praktischen Handeln einen Umgang damit zu finden.