Search Results (65)

Oral narratives play a crucial role in shaping the historical consciousness of Indigenous communities in Northeast India, where history writing is a relatively recent phenomenon. Among the Mizos, Nagas, Khasis, Kuki-Chins, and other Indigenous tribes of Northeast India, including the Bodos, the Garos, the Dimasas, or the Karbis of Assam, much of what is considered written history emerged during British colonial rule. Native historians later continued it in postcolonial India. However, written history, especially when based on fragmented colonial records, includes interpretive gaps. In such contexts, oral traditions provide complementary, and frequently, more authoritative frameworks rooted in cultural memory and collective transmission. Oral narratives, including ritual poetry, folk songs, myths, and folktales, serve as vital mediums for reconstructing the past. Scholars such as Jan Vansina view oral narratives as essential for understanding the histories of societies without written records, while Paul Thompson sees them as both a discovery and a recovery of cultural memory. Romila Thapar argues that narratives become indicative of perspectives and conditions in societies of the past, functioning as a palimpsest with multiple layers of meaning accruing over generations as they are recreated or reiterated over time. The folk narratives of the Mizos and Angami Nagas not only recount their origins and historical migrations, but also map significant geographical and cultural landmarks, such as Khezakheno and Lungterok in Nagaland, Rounglevaisuo in Manipur, and Chhinlung or Rih Dil on the Mizoram–Myanmar border. These narratives constitute a cultural understanding of the past, aligning with Greg Dening’s concept of “public knowledge of the past,” which is “culturally shared.” Additionally, as Linda Tuhiwai Smith posits, such stories, as embodiments of the past, and of socio-cultural practices of communities, create spaces of resistance and reappropriation of Indigenous identities even as they reiterate the marginalization of these communities. This paper deploys these ideas to examine how oral narratives can be used to decolonize grand narratives of history, enabling Indigenous peoples, such as the Mizos and the Angamis in North East India, to reaffirm their positionalities within the postcolonial nation. Full article

Traditional villages are irreplaceable cultural heritages, embodying complex human–environment interactions. This study uses historical geography analysis, kernel density estimation, centroid migration modeling, and Geodetector techniques to analyze the 2000-year spatiotemporal evolution and formation mechanisms of 224 nationally designated traditional villages in China’s Qinling-Daba Mountains. The findings are as follows: (1) These villages significantly cluster on sunny slopes of hills and low mountains with moderate gradients. They are also closely located near waterways, ancient roads, and historic cities. (2) From the embryonic stage during the Qin and Han dynasties, through the diffusion and transformation phases in the Wei, Jin, Song, and Yuan dynasties, to the mature stage in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the spatial center of these villages shifted distinctly southwestward. This migration was accompanied by expansion along waterway transport corridors, an enlarged spatial scope, and a decrease in directional concentration. (3) The driving forces evolved from a strong coupling between natural conditions and infrastructure in the early stage to human-dominated adaptation in the later stage. Agricultural innovations, such as terraced fields, and sociopolitical factors, like migration policies, overcame environmental constraints through the synergistic effects of cultural and economic networks. Full article

This article critically examines the star persona of Lola Flores, an iconic Spanish flamenco artist, within the historical and political context of Francoist Spain (1939–1975). It argues that Flores’s carefully constructed star image not only persisted into post-Franco Spain but also served as a covert vehicle for the continued propagation of National-Falangist Catholic ideology. The article primarily focuses on two major productions: the book Lola en carne viva. Memorias de Lola Flores (1990) and the television series El coraje de vivir (1994). Both portray a linear and cohesive version of her life from childhood to her later years, carefully curated to defend and rehabilitate her image. While many view Flores as a self-made artist, the article argues that her star persona was a deliberate construct—shaped by Suevia Films, a major Francoist-era film studio, and media narratives that aligned her with traditional gender roles, Catholic values, and Spanish nationalism. Despite emerging in post-Franco Spain, Flores’s narrative does not mark a rupture from the ideological frameworks of the past. Instead, it repackages Francoist values—particularly those surrounding patriarchal gender norms, suffering, and the glorification of sacrifice—to ensure her continued relevance. Suevia Films (1951) played a significant role in shaping her star persona as a symbol of Spanish folklore, aligning her with Francoist ideals of nation, Catholic morality, and submissive femininity. Her image was used to promote Spain internationally as a welcoming and culturally rich destination. Her persona fit within Franco’s broader strategy of using flamenco and folklore to attract foreign tourism while maintaining tight ideological control over entertainment. Flores’s life is framed as a rags-to-riches story, which reinforces Social Spencerist ideology (a social Darwinist perspective) that hard work and endurance lead to success, rather than acknowledging systemic oppression under Francoism. Her personal struggles—poverty, romantic disappointments, accusations of collaboration with the Franco regime, and tax evasion—are framed as necessary trials that strengthen her character. This aligns with the Catholic ideal of redemptive suffering, reinforcing her status as the mater dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) figure. This article highlights the contradictions in Flores’s gender performance—while she embodied passion and sensuality in flamenco, her offstage identity conformed to the submissive, self-sacrificing woman idealized by the Francoist Sección Femenina (SF). Even in her personal life, Flores’s narrative aligns with Francoist values—her father’s bar, La Fe de Pedro Flores, symbolizes the fusion of religion, nationalism, and traditional masculinity. Tico Medina plays a key role by framing Lola en carne viva as an “authentic” and unfiltered account. His portrayal is highly constructed, acting as her “defense lawyer” to counter criticisms. Flores’s autobiography is monologic—it suppresses alternative perspectives, ensuring that her version of events remains dominant and unquestioned. Rather than acknowledging structural oppression, the narrative glorifies suffering as a path to resilience, aligning with both Catholic doctrine and Francoist propaganda. The article ultimately deconstructs Lola Flores’s autobiographical myth, demonstrating that her public persona—both onstage and offstage—was a strategic construction that perpetuated Francoist ideals well beyond the dictatorship. While her image has been celebrated as a symbol of Spanish cultural identity, it also functioned as a tool for maintaining patriarchal and nationalist ideologies under the guise of entertainment. Full article

Background: The rapid expansion of the brain–computer interface for patients with neurological deficits has garnered significant interest, and for patients, it provides an additional route where conventional rehabilitation has its limits. This has particularly been the case for patients who lose the ability to communicate. Circumventing neural injuries by recording from the intact cortex and subcortex has the potential to allow patients to communicate and restore self-expression. Discoveries over the last 10–15 years have been possible through advancements in technology, neuroscience, and computing. By examining studies involving intracranial brain–computer interfaces that aim to restore communication, we aimed to explore the advances made and explore where the technology is heading. Methods: For this scoping review, we systematically searched PubMed and OVID Embase. After processing the articles, the search yielded 41 articles that we included in this review. Results: The articles predominantly assessed patients who had either suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cervical cord injury, or brainstem stroke, resulting in tetraplegia and, in some cases, difficulty speaking. Of the intracranial implants, ten had ALS, six had brainstem stroke, and thirteen had a spinal cord injury. Stereoelectroencephalography was also used, but the results, whilst promising, are still in their infancy. Studies involving patients who were moving cursors on a screen could improve the speed of movement by optimising the interface and utilising better decoding methods. In recent years, intracortical devices have been successfully used for accurate speech-to-text and speech-to-audio decoding in patients who are unable to speak. Conclusions: Here, we summarise the progress made by BCIs used for communication. Speech decoding directly from the cortex can provide a novel therapeutic method to restore full, embodied communication to patients suffering from tetraplegia who otherwise cannot communicate. Full article

This paper explores two paths that depth psychology, particularly the work of C. G. Jung, offers to the project of decolonizing knowledge. Jung was a complex intellectual pioneer who embodied and projected the limiting colonialist scientific presuppositions of his time also spent much of his career attempting to become familiar with the undisciplined domain of the Unconscious that offered access to ways of thinking that erased disciplinary boundaries that would separate psychology, religion, and science. Offering a close reading of Jung’s early work demonstrates how colonizing forms of knowledge perpetuate themselves through a self-legitimating mythic structure. Acknowledging Jung’s later work, which explored psyche as both “material” and “spiritual”, illustrates the potential that depth psychology offers for an undisciplined approach to thinking and reality. The focus throughout will be on the Shadow, one of the core archetypes in Jungian psychology. The first section, which associates Jung’s colonial bias with his ideas about rational consciousness, is followed by a second section that provides a critique of Jung’s colonialism, highlighting the implicit violence that accompanies Jung’s story about rationality. The third section provides an overview of different ways that shadows can be used, building on other depth psychological modes of exploring the unconscious. The paper concludes with a description of how embracing Shadow invites the concept of an undisciplined playfulness back into a decolonized, experiential approach to knowledge. This presents an improved version of the Shadow based on a framework of participation, rather than polarization, which opens a mode of belonging that bridges rifts that colonialism created. This demonstrates how depth psychology opens a path toward decolonizing knowledge and moving toward a consciously undisciplined form of experiential understanding. Full article

The research focuses on the methodology of preparing a concept and application scenarios for alternative sources of energy in transportation. The ideas and interpretations are not strictly limited to automobile transport but also reach into other areas of using and processing energy. The conceptual approach to the choice of sources, with the aim of securing the efficient use of energy conversion, is illustrated on the model embodiment embedded in a passenger car; the relevant presentation is centered on an experiment focusing on the linear arrangement of a driven electromagnetic generator. This involves generating and collecting energy for not only the accumulation of electrical energy using relatively independent systems, but also for direct use within driving needs. In the modeled example, the supplied energy is assumed to be in a range of constant power from p = 10 W to 50 kW (200 kW). The given example of the design of the choice of energy conversion sources and the use of generators in a passenger car shows the possibilities, limitations, and variants for demonstrating the requirements relating to a simple driving mode. The application of a linear or cylindrical internal combustion engine is considered for a specific set mode of the car. Variants of suitable uses of the accumulated energy in compressed air are proposed. The use of light and thermal forms of energy is considered for additional forms. As an experimental example, the use of generators derived from vibration harvesters is shown. The proposed energy generation arrangement can be controlled and optimized for specific transport tasks. The generation and accumulation of energy can be employed in the form of electrical energy, as kinetic energy for direct use in driving, or to accumulate in compressed air for later use. Solar energy can be used directly or can be accumulated. The combustion unit can serve as a source of kinetic energy or also to store energy for further use. The concept of alternative sources is based on known methods of use in other industries. The model combination of resources and its simple analysis in the concept of resource selection is demonstrated on an example of an application in passenger cars. Full article

Background/Objectives: Although the embodiment of action-related language is well-established in the mother tongue (L1), less is known about the embodiment of a second language (L2) acquired later in life through formal instruction. We used the high temporal resolution of ERPs and topographic ERP analyses to compare embodiment in L1 and L2 and to investigate whether L1 and L2 are embodied with different strengths at different stages of linguistic processing. Methods: Subjects were presented with action-related and non-action-related verbs in a silent reading task. Subjects were late French–German and German–French bilinguals, respectively, and we could therefore collapse across languages to avoid common confounding between language (French and German) and order of acquisition (L1, L2). Results: We could show distinct effects of embodiment and language. Embodiment affected only the sensory and lexical stages of processing with increased strength and power of the N1 component for motor vs. non-motor verbs, and language affected the lexical and semantic stages of processing with stronger P2/N400 components for L2 than for L1. Non-motor verbs elicited a stronger P1 component in L2. Conclusions: Our results suggest that processing words in L2 requires more effortful processing. Importantly, L1 and L2 are not embodied differently, and embodiment affects early and similar stages of processing in L1 and L2, possibly integrating other process of action–language interaction Full article

In the mid-seventeenth century, Chinese Chan master Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592–1673), accompanied by several disciples, traveled to Japan and established Ōbaku Zen, a new sect of Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan. Ōbaku art, particularly portrait paintings of Ōbaku abbots and their spiritual predecessors, became critical representations of the sect and greatly influenced later Japanese Buddhist art. While much of the existing scholarship focuses on the artistic and stylistic aspects of Ōbaku portraiture, this paper emphasizes its religious context and doctrinal dimensions. Building on Elizabeth Horton Sharf’s inquiry into the “meaning and function” of Ōbaku portrait painting, the paper investigates how Ōbaku doctrine is expressed through these images. Using the Triptych of Three Zen Masters: Linji, Bodhidharma, and Deshan as a case study, this paper explores the role of portraiture in visually conveying Ōbaku teachings and the religious aspirations of those Chinese immigrant monks. By examining the integration of image, inscription, and seal as a unified “pictorial trinity”, the paper argues that Ōbaku portraiture embodies the sect’s distinct doctrine, rooted in Ming-era Chan practices such as beating, shouting, and strict dharma transmission. Moreover, the prominence of Bodhidharma in Ōbaku portraits, as illustrated in the triptych, reflects these Chinese immigrant monks’ desire to emulate Bodhidharma in spreading the dharma and expanding their sect’s influence in a new land. Full article

This article explores the specific role of courage in the context of the Anthropocene’s moment; it first examines Aristotle’s conception of virtues, focusing on courage, before comparing it to Confucian thought and analyzing the historical dialogue between Western and Chinese traditions on ethics through the works of François Noël (1651–1729). Aristotle views moral cultivation as a social process wherein habits shape inner dispositions; in his view, courage is linked to other virtues, such as temperance and justice. For Aristotle, courage implies the appropriate balance between extremes and must be directed toward a worthy end, such as promoting positive change within a community. This Aristotelian perspective was later incorporated into a biblical framework by Aquinas and Suarez, emphasizing dichotomies between body and soul, as well as between humans and other living beings. These dichotomies must be challenged in the face of the Anthropocene’s emergencies. The second part of this contribution proceeds to a detour examining Confucian ethics, which rests on a different anthropology, emphasizing continuities rather than discontinuities. Like Aristotelian thought, Confucian thought also underscores moral education within a community; it prioritizes humanity, embodied through empathy and loyalty. In the Analects, courage is balanced by a sense of rituals and righteousness. Mencius further distinguishes several types of courage, stressing self-cultivation and the ruler’s responsibility to make empathetic, appropriate decisions for the community’s sake. From this perspective, courage is understood as the continuous perseverance in self-cultivation, coupled with a firm intention oriented toward the good of the community. Zhu Xi’s comments on Zilu’s courage in the Analects extend this Confucian tradition. Finally, this article highlights how a dialogue between Aristotelian and Confucian ethics began four centuries ago, particularly through Noël’s Philosophia Sinica, which combined these traditions. This inter-religious approach to ethics, enriched by figures such as Aquinas, Suarez, Zhu Xi, and neo-Confucian thinkers, requires re-evaluation because the understanding of personal ethics and nature has evolved. The modern naturalistic approach, with its emphasis on dichotomies, has contributed to a mechanistic view of nature, fostering its exploitation, and a devaluation of the body. This contrast highlights the urgent need for renewed dialogue between Western and Chinese ethical traditions to address contemporary challenges, with François Noël serving as a historical witness of these exchanges. Full article

In the field of clinical testing, the traditional focus has been on the development of large-scale analysis equipment designed to process high volumes of samples with fully automatic and high-sensitivity measurements. However, there has been a growing demand in recent years for the development of analytical reagents tailored to point-of-care testing (POCT), which does not necessitate a specific location or specialized operator. This trend is epitomized using the lateral flow assay (LFA), which became a cornerstone during the 2019 pandemic due to its simplicity, speed of delivering results—within about 10 min from minimal sample concentrations—and user-friendly design. LFAs, with their paper-based construction, combine cost-effectiveness with ease of disposal, addressing both budgetary and environmental concerns comprehensively. Despite their compact size, LFAs encapsulate a wealth of technological ingenuity, embodying years of research and development. Current research is dedicated to further evolving LFA technology, paving the way for the next generation of diagnostic devices. These advancements aim to redefine accessibility, empower individuals, and enhance responsiveness to public health challenges. The future of LFAs, now unfolding, promises even greater integration into routine health management and emergency responses, underscoring their critical role in the evolution of decentralized and patient-centric healthcare solutions. In this review, the historical development of LFA and several of the latest LFA technologies using catalytic amplification, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, heat detection, electron chemical detections, magnetoresistance, and detection of reflected electrons detection are introduced to inspire readers for future research and development. Full article

With a few notable exceptions, the word “epinoia” has not been heard with a philosophical ear since the time of Epicurus and the Stoics. In addition to the scarce mentions it had received in philosophy, epinoia was strewn across the plays of Euripides and Aristophanes and, more so, across the canonical body of Christian theology, from Patristics—Origen, Cyril of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor—to the late Byzantine period. Straddling the divide between the authorities of the nascent Church and those they suspected of heresy, it made a spectacular appearance in Gnostic texts (The Apocryphon of John), cryptically embodying the reconciliation of knowledge and life. On the margins of the Christian tradition, first-century CE controversial religious figures such as Simon Magus associated epinoia with the great goddess and the womb of existence, even as, three centuries later, Eunomius of Cyzicus—the theological arch-enemy of the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil and Gregory—deplored it for its hollowness and pure conventionality. In this paper, I argue that epinoia is the figure of anarchic intelligence in theology and philosophy alike. The anarchy of epinoia is its note of defiance: the escape from power it plots is the most serious challenge to power, the royal road to liberation from the oppressive unity of Being, Mind, or Concept. Full article

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the Kopčić House, a significant example of modernist architecture in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on its structural-specific features and seismic performance. The Kopčić House embodies a confined masonry structure with innovative construction features, combining load-bearing masonry walls with reinforced concrete elements. This architectural approach was pioneering for its time, combining traditional construction methods with innovative materials and techniques. Detailed analysis using numerical modeling techniques, specifically 3D modeling with the 3Muri software (Vers.14.2.0.4), was conducted to assess the seismic resilience of the structure. The analysis considered different load distributions and eccentricities to comprehensively evaluate the building’s response to lateral forces. The findings of this research reveal the structural capacity and potential vulnerabilities of the Kopčić House when subjected to seismic events. While the building demonstrates inherent strength due to its confined masonry design, areas requiring structural strengthening were identified through numerical simulations. This study contributes to the broader understanding of confined masonry construction within the context of modernist architecture. By integrating historical research with advanced structural analysis, this work aims to bridge the gap between architectural heritage and contemporary engineering practices. Full article

This paper examines Philip Huynh’s short story collection The Forbidden Purple City in relation to its engagement with the nativity–territory–citizenship triad on which Western socio-political communities found the principles of affiliation of their members. First, the Canadian reaffirmation of a discourse of national benevolence is contextualised to later draw on how the collection is nurtured by boundary-crossing ethics that interrogates any sequential relation between past and present, Vietnam and Canada, which usually structures refugee narratives. It is argued then that disruptive and productive time/space interconnections delegitimate any simplistic representations of easily assimilated grateful refugees, fracturing the convenient narration of Canada as a benefactor concerned with old and new international humanitarian causes. The newness of Huynh’s stories relies on their mobilisation of the discourse of state citizenship through exceptional migrancy and its disruptive border nature. In contrast to premises of birth and geographical territory, which lose ground as backbones of any affiliation, citizenship appears incomplete and processual. The stories use the precarious performativity of collective homogeneity expected of a former settler colony, like Canada, to launch agency and resistance to state homogenisation, and de-institutionalise the refugee subject to critically intervene sovereignty and political subjectivity. Finally, the stories evince that Canada’s social spectrum is ideal to explore the threshold opened by the adjacency of sameness and otherness embodied by Huynh’s protagonists. Their condition as diasporic refugee subjects augments the transformative potential of new refugee narratives, in which literal and metaphorical polymorphous borders unveil the bases of the contemporary Canadian socio-political community. Full article

As the use of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymers (NFRPs) become increasingly popular in the built environment, steps in established workflows, including molding and transportation, continue to impose constraints on what is possible in the material’s fabrication process. This research builds on previous studies of moldless fiber composites using tailored fiber placement (TFP) as a fabrication method. By integrating compliant folding mechanisms into the flat preform to give shape to the final desired geometry this research replaces all dependencies on molds and formworks during the resin curing process with programmed formal deformations. The desired geometry is digitally simulated from its two-dimensional state into its resultant three-dimensional state and then subsequently structurally analyzed. The flat pack components are material efficient and can be transported flat to the site for their final assembly into their programmed geometry. This form is locked into its bent active state through the use of a simple drawstring that can later be removed to revert the form back into its flat state. This method is demonstrated through the digital fabrication of a stool where flat-packed elements can be deployed into elegant solutions that embody structure, material, and form simultaneously. Full article

Coupling brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) and robotic systems in the future can enable seamless personal assistant systems in everyday life, with the requests that can be performed in a discrete manner, using one’s brain activity only. These types of systems might be of a particular interest for people with locked-in syndrome (LIS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) because they can benefit from communicating with robotic assistants using brain sensing interfaces. In this proof-of-concept work, we explored how a wireless and wearable BCI device can control a quadruped robot—Boston Dynamics’ Spot. The device measures the user’s electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) activity of the user from the electrodes embedded in the glasses’ frame. The user responds to a series of questions with YES/NO answers by performing a brain-teaser activity of mental calculus. Each question–answer pair has a pre-configured set of actions for Spot. For instance, Spot was prompted to walk across a room, pick up an object, and retrieve it for the user (i.e., bring a bottle of water) when a sequence resolved to a YES response. Our system achieved at a success rate of 83.4%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first integration of wireless, non-visual-based BCI systems with Spot in the context of personal assistant use cases. While this BCI quadruped robot system is an early prototype, future iterations may embody friendly and intuitive cues similar to regular service dogs. As such, this project aims to pave a path towards future developments in modern day personal assistant robots powered by wireless and wearable BCI systems in everyday living conditions. Full article