Compassion in Buddhist psychology

This chapter examines compassion in three leading traditions of Buddhism. In early and Theravada Buddhism, compassion is a power for deep mental purification, protection and healing that supports inner freedom. In Mahayana Buddhism, compassion becomes the primary means to empower and communicate a non-conceptual wisdom in which self and others are sensed as undivided. In Vajrayana Buddhism, unconditional compassion radiates forth all-inclusively as a spontaneous expression of the mind’s deepest unconditioned nature. Within this discussion, John will give examples of techniques from these traditions for cultivating compassion.

Features of interleukin-19 production in patients with atherosclerosis

Objective. To study the features of local and systemic production of interleukin-19 in patients with atherosclerosis.Material and Methods. The study comprised a total of 46 patients (26 women and 20 men) treated for arterial hypertension in the therapeutic department of Republican Clinical Hospital named after G.Y. Remishevskaya. The mean age of subjects was 63.4 ± 3.2 years. The control group included 40 patients (23 women and 17 men aged 44.7 ± 5.5 years) who did not have atherosclerosis. Samples of atherosclerotic plaques and venous blood were examined. Atherosclerotic plaques were obtained by endarterectomy and then subjected to homogenization followed by enzymatic hydrolysis for 1 h at 37 °C with collagenase IV in the presence of proteinase III inhibitors. The serum levels of cytokines (in the control group and in patients with atherosclerosis) and in the atherosclerotic plaque homogenate (in patients with atherosclerosis) were determined by ELISA. To assess the cytokine-producing capacity of blood leukocytes and white blood cells isolated from atherosclerotic plaques, spontaneous and phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced cytokine production was determined when the cells were cultured in RPMI-1640.Results. The serum levels of IL-19 did not significantly differ between the patients with atherosclerosis and the control group. A statistically significant two-fold increase in the spontaneous expression of IL-19 by blood leukocytes was observed in the group of patients with atherosclerosis in comparison with the control group. When comparing the contents of IL-19 in blood serum and atherosclerotic plaque homogenate in patients with atherosclerosis, no statistically significant differences were found (p = 0.182). The level of PHA-induced IL-19 production by the atherosclerotic plaque white blood cells was significantly lower than that of blood leucocytes.Conclusion. The study showed that the reserve capacity for IL-19 synthesis in the atherosclerotic plaque white blood cells decreases leading to the progression of inflammation. The obtained results suggest that IL-19 plays the anti-atherogenic role and its production is involved in the maintaining the mechanisms for down-regulation of inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques.

John Cranko’s Stuttgart Ballet

The legacy of John Cranko’s Stuttgart Ballet includes his ballets and his underlying philosophy of “experiential intersubjectivity”—a collaborative creative process based on observation of individual experience. Working closely with his colleagues (dancers, composers, designers, etc.), Cranko sought their spontaneous expression to his cue or their solution to the challenges of creating. His choreographic philosophy led away from the traditionally exclusive, hierarchical work style of the ballet world and toward a work style producing individuality and originality. Successfully integrating the divergent ideas and instinctive expressivity of many separate individuals into his ballets, Cranko did more than enable an individualized viewer experience, accessible to a diversified audience. Importantly, Cranko also empowered his colleagues with his democratic and collaborative way of creating ballets in Stuttgart, ultimately forming such choreographers as Jiří Kylián, John Neumeier, and William Forsythe. This chapter looks at what shaped Cranko’s Stuttgart Ballet, the choreographic oeuvre, and the legacy today.

Spontaneous emotional speech in European Portuguese using feeltrace system – first approaches

The present work studies spontaneous emotional speech in European Portuguese, comparing the values obtained in measuring acoustic parameters in this study with the ones known for other languages and for simulated. The spontaneous expression of emotions recorded in the street or from television programs may bring very relevant results, but even in those situations it is difficult to determine the individual’s true emotion (it is often only possible to be identify through the context) (Patrick, 2008). The main focus of our study is on voice related parameters such as F0, jitter, shimmer and HNR that will be liable to compare with previous studies of emotions produced by an actor. Using the Feeltrace system it is possible to better describe the sensation caused by the stimuli (in any of the emotions in question) and describe in more dynamic manner the emotion. We also realize that, although the emotions produced by actors show some differences, because they are necessarily exaggerated, the parameter values are all very similar, valuing the studies that are usually obtained based on utterances produced by performers. Given the scarcity of studies on voice quality in European Portuguese, it is important to highlight that this work presents an original corpus specifically created for this study. We recognize the limitations of the presented research seeing the results as first approaches that must be deeply studied being important to areas such as robotics and health technology.

Cognitive load but not immersion plays a significant role in embodied cognition as seen through the spontaneous act of leaning

An important aspect of embodied approaches to cognition is the idea that human cognition does not occur simply in the brain, but is influenced by a complex bi-directional interplay between the brain, body, and external environment. Though embodied cognition is often studied in a controlled laboratory setting, by its very nature it can arise spontaneously in everyday life (e.g., gesturing). A recent paper by Chisholm et al. suggested that leaning while playing a video game may be another instance of a natural spontaneous expression of embodied cognition that can be studied to gain insight into a person’s ongoing covert cognition. Consistent with this proposal, Chisholm et al. found that, like gestures, leaning increases when cognitive demand is increased. However, in Chisholm et al., immersion also increased with cognitive demand. We argue that their test to exclude it as a contributing factor—by holding cognitive demand constant while manipulating immersion—was limited. Despite their test, it remains possible and plausible that cognitive demand has an effect on leaning only when immersion increases. To address this issue, the present study systematically varied demand and immersion. We replicate Chisholm et al.’s finding that leaning increases with cognitive load. We also show that the effect of load is not influenced by a robust and reliable change in immersion. Collectively our results provide new and converging evidence that spontaneous overt embodiment of an individual’s intention is modulated by cognitive demand, and emphasises the utility of using natural behaviours to understand the embodiment of cognition.

Opinions that matter: the hybridization of opinion and reputation measurement in social media listening software

Since the 2000s, numerous start-ups and agencies have argued for the necessity of analyzing social media data to ‘know what people think’, as they are deemed to provide access to spontaneous expression of thoughts, tastes, and representations. How do these actors, and the various types of knowledge and technology they draw upon, change the way we know and act upon people’s opinions? This article offers insight on these understudied actors, by describing the emergence in France of a market for measuring online opinion. It shows two distinct trajectories of innovation, and the key role played by the early clients of these companies and by the demand for tools for online reputation management in the shaping of these instruments, and the definition of epistemic value. Both approaches of online opinion break with the classical egalitarian conception of public opinion. They instead conceive opinion as a mediated and collective process in which not all opinions have an equal value.

Mayavini Sarsi (Circe): Devkota’s Reworking to Western Myths

Laxmi Prasad Devkota, celebrated poet as the Mahakavi or Poet the Great wasborn in 1966 BS. Writing in distinct style from the tradition, Devkota has broken the convention in Nepalese writing, both in form and content, though he was in the difficult mode of free expression due to Rana observation over writings and even the discouraging situation on free thinking and creative writing. He has adapted Sanskrit tradition of writing epics, (Mahakavya) and also, he has composed the epic on free verse. He has introduced and applied western Romantic trend of writing poetry. With these new modes, he has introduced new genre and approach in writing poems and other forms of literature. Openness, lucidity and honesty are some of the characteristics of Devkota’s poetic works. His feelings, sensibility and expressions have been blended perfectly and brilliantly with words and meanings that have created an explosion of thoughts and ideas in his writings. We find spontaneous expression in his poems and there is no artificial sense. As a versatile writer, he has composed in all literary genres, pomes, epics, essays, plays and fictions, but he is basically a poet. Having with the knowledge both in eastern Sanskrit literature and western literary traditions, he has combined both traditions in his Nepali writings. With the use of the western and eastern mythical references, he has united the traditions of the both in his writings. This article aims to observe his revisit to the eastern and western mythical references in Mayavini Circe, the epic on free verse.