Mental Activity Research Articles

Fascitization by ‘nox-culture’ and “renegadeness” as reference points of modern reality

“The Renegadeness” is an intermediate culture. The modern «renegadeness», saturated with the corporate spirit, prays only to one god — Deception, considers that the triad: a pleasure, a esires and a consumption — are modus (modus vivendi) of his existence, and therefore remains at the lowest level of organic, for which “storm and onslaught” (according to Darwin and Schiller) was important (and remains) — emotions and violence — those spears that lead their colonus (holder) to success in a ‘primitive way’ — likening among similar ones. The Renegadeness, hustling and standing in line of robotics for artificial intelligence, reduces civilization to a “consumer basket”, hoping to sooth a headache by virtuality, developing pharmacological addiction, developing cosmic escapism, getting used to and not resisting artificial food and laziness, taking to the needle of “blissful idleness”, and proclaiming the manifesto of the generation “indolence” as “the last argument of the kings,” thus gaining for itself an estate equal in privilege to the aristocracy. And this simple packaging of “the bee`s knees” — the so-called elites — is now accessible to everyone thanks to anonymity, offshore zones, scattered on the planet by dandelion troops, usurious offers of banks, profanity of art and education, and spraying consumer goods. Fascitization by 'nox-culture' sets as its goal — “dislike for the native” — through contempt for it, which, with systematic use (frequent), and without proper immersion in the field of Knowledge (objective and universal), instills hatred — first in the minds, and then in the hearts, hardening and de-energizing the Mind, suppressing the Consciousness of others consciously, deliberately placing in the 'region of Darkness' by ignorance, forcing them to instincts — by instincts stupefying, excluding 'independent comprehension' — totally. The word “fascist” was intended to denote people united in a single bundle (from Latin fascis — bunch, bundle) of a nationalist group — “fascists”, it is from “fascist” that the word “fascitization” (an noun of an abstract concept) follows, meaning “process” as the “activities" of a certain group of people — “fascists”. Fascitization by ‘nox-culture’ is the process of forming alien beliefs in the mental “environment” of a single person involved, using an integrated approach and systematic “dissimilarity”, the process of diminishing the “human” in a Human. And “human” in this context of reasoning should be taken as “a person's ability to mental activity”, which allows him to develop his own Consciousness to the size of the universe, creating writing, and helps to form “Culture” as a “sphere of knowledge and reflection of the world” and the space of his dwelling. Ready-made constructions of 'thinking' — clichés, accustoming to the “formality” of understanding any “concept” that explains this or that event/phenomenon, the essence of the “object” or the essence of what is happening/happened, create the habit of “addiction” and “insane absorption” — unrestrained and passive — extraneous “content”, taken in like spaghetti — in one gulp, on clusters — torn courses designed to increase not so much education as “self-esteem”, compiled on the basis of stolen cribs of other people's monographs — give only a temporary effect of 'satisfaction' with life and itself — and soon “greedy accumulation”, troglodytic, leads to “indigestion”, which results (pun intended) in the impoverishment of not only the mind, but also physical ill health: anemia, apathy, panic, melancholy, despair, which, in its in turn, they breed fears — incubi and Goya's “caprichos”, and what kind of “gangrenes” do not crawl out of them! Hatred is that Gorgon that devours you from the inside, and with your full consent, forming the very ‘optimizaing mold’ that now, like a multiplied “portrait of Dorian Gray”, mockingly looks at you from its embrasures of contentment.

FEATURES OF THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD AFTER CAESAREAN SECTION

The main principle of perinatal obstetrics is to ensure the health of the mother, fetus and newborn, which in some cases requires quick and gentle delivery. Therefore, during the last decades, cesarean section (CS) in obstetric practice has become a tool that allows you to preserve the health of both the mother and the child.
 Despite its wide distribution, CS is classified as a category of complex operations with a high frequency of postoperative complications (3.3%-54.4%), which are associated with the intervention technique, obstetric and neonatal reasons. Potential structural and functional complications include: the risk of pulmonary, gastrointestinal and vascular complications; postoperative pain and discomfort; pelvic organ prolapse; posture change; pelvic floor dysfunction; weakness of the abdominal wall; diastasis of rectus abdominis muscles; umbilical hernia; general functional limitations.
 Scientific progress in medicine, social and cultural changes have led to fundamental transformations in the attitude to CS among women and doctors. In fact, the consensus regarding indications for caesarean section has changed in many countries, now including psychosocial factors such as anxiety about childbirth or the mother's desire for caesarean section in the absence of any medical indication.
 The postpartum period is a critical, but often overlooked, period in the lives of new parents. According to the WHO, the majority of maternal and newborn deaths occur during this period, so proper management and care of parents and newborns is vitally important.
 The postpartum period is usually divided into three separate but continuous phases: acute phase (early postpartum period) - 24 hours immediately after childbirth; subacute phase (late postpartum period): can last 2-6 weeks after childbirth; late phase - can last from 6 weeks to 6 months after childbirth.
 The postpartum period is characterized by a wide range of new states of women's life and increased sensitivity to external factors. The whole range of postnatal changes can be considered as an integrative combination of psychological, physiological and endocrine factors that affect the physical and mental activity of women, as well as determine their relationship with the child.
 Therefore, a caesarean section should be performed according to indications with a mandatory justification.
 The presence of a postoperative scar in women who underwent an abdominal delivery causes changes in the postpartum period in the form of a specific limitation of mobility during its formation. This aspect is all the more important from the point of view of the onset of future pregnancies, which requires the formation of a full-fledged elastic strong scar on the uterus and soft tissues.
 The formation of a scar in the postpartum period, in connection with the need for care and feeding of the child, changes as a result of sleep and rest regimes, additionally increases the metabolic, physical, psycho-emotional load, which causes pressure on the adaptive capabilities of the regulatory systems of the woman's body against the background of reconstruction and recovery structural and hormonal components.
 A woman's condition directly affects her ability to care for and raise a child, return to work and social activity, as well as the quality of life, both personally and within the framework of the environment. Therefore, certain recovery measures are necessary for their normalization as soon as possible.

МЕНТАЛЬНАЯ ЛЕКСИКА В ТЕКСТЕ ХАКАССКОГО ГЕРОИЧЕСКОГО СКАЗАНИЯ «АЛБЫНЧЫ»

Our research is devoted to the identification and description of one of the fragments of the folklore-linguistic picture of the world – the semantic field of mental vocabulary based on the material of the Khakas heroic legend Albynchy. The interest in this linguistic representation of the characters' image stems from the principle of the anthropocentric paradigm, which represents the study of the inner world of a person, in particular, their psychological and mental functions. We understand a mental vocabulary as lexemes that not only name the process, the state of the subject, but contain elements of its description in their semantics and indicate the ethnic specifics of perception, understanding, cognition of the surrounding reality by an individual linguistic personality or the ethnolinguistic community as a whole. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe the semantic and functional structures of a mental vocabulary based on the material of the specified work of oral folk art. The tasks set to achieve this goal are related to the anthropocentric paradigm, i.e. the issues of revealing the human phenomenon through language. The relevance of the research is due to the insufficiency of research on the lexical system of the language of the Khakas heroic tales and the need to develop their linguistic and folklore paradigm as an independent scientific direction. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that mental vocabulary based on folklore material becomes the subject of special research for the first time. Based on the material of the Khakas heroic tale Albynchy the field of mental vocabulary turned out to be few. These include two basic verbs (сағын- ‘to think’, пiл- ‘to know’); verbal synonymous constructions; nouns – synonyms with the general meaning “mind, thought, reason” (ис, ағыл, сағыс), one cliched expression (ис ирт-, ағыл ас- ‘reason to pass by, lose your mind’), the phraseology of сағыс кiр- ‘the mind to enter’, describing the processes of mental activity and mental states of the characters. The study revealed that the semantic structures of these means of expressing mentality differ significantly from the contents of common-language dictionary variants, since the system of traditional folklore texts primarily reflect the ideological orientations and attitudes of the ethnic group. The conceptual basis of the set of mental representations is the categorical polarity of assessments: positive and negative in the absence of a neutral one. We see the prospects for the study of the language of heroic tales in deeper and more thorough developments of both individual lexical groupings and conceptual spheres, which contribute to the development of the Turkic interdisciplinary directions “folklore-linguistic picture of the world” and “linguofoloristics”.

Raising the Question of Law in Language

The article shows a different approach (compared to the traditional one) to the paradigm of a public institution and to the development of a new epistemology, which replaces analysis (understood as a decomposition in the greek meaning of the word) and promotes synthesis and holism in the interpretation of law in language. It emphasizes that there are relationships between a public institution (law), language and cognition, where the role of language requires special study, especially in relation to mental activity. Modern scientific interdisciplinary approaches lead us to consider this phenomenon in the light of the paradigms of cognitivism (In connection with the interrelation and inseparability of language from thinking) and fractal semiotics (taking into account the “biosocial” function of language and the construction of an object of study from the position of an observer), representing these two public institutions as procedural, self-referential, self-organizing in their interaction with an observer.

Инструктивная подготовка практиков-аналитиков и ученых-исследователей сферы права (рецензия на учебник И. В. Понкина и А. И. Лаптевой «Методология научных исследований и прикладной аналитики», 4-е издание в 2 томах, 2023)

The authors address the dominant positive aspects of the 4th edition of the textbook in 2 volumes by I. V. Ponkin and A. I. Lapteva “Methodology of scientific research and applied analytics”, noting the substantial value of the publication for the formation of effective practitioners, analysts and legal researchers. The value of addressing the key aspects of the formation of legal thinking, the effective technique of transferring mental activity to specific applied tasks, and the focus on a systematic vision of the problem series is stated. In conclusion, the content orientation of the reviewed original scientific and scientific-instructional publication is noted to introduce the reader to the methodology of legal science and applied legal analytics.

Physical Activity, Mental Activity, and Risk of Incident Stroke: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Cumulative evidence suggests a correlation between physical or mental activity and the risk of stroke. However, the combined impact of these activities on stroke onset remains unexplored. This study identified physical and mental activity patterns using principal component analysis and investigated their associations with risk of incident stroke in the general population. Our study was sourced from the UK Biobank cohort between 2006 and 2010. Information on physical and mental-related activities were obtained through a touch-screen questionnaire. The incident stroke was diagnosed by physicians and subsequently verified through linkage to Hospital Episode Statistics. Principal component analysis was used to identify potential physical and mental activity patterns. Cox proportional hazard regression models were performed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs of incident stroke, adjusting for potential confounders. The initial UK Biobank cohort originally consisted of 502 411 individuals, of whom a total of 386 902 participants (aged 38-79 years) without any history of stroke at baseline were included in our study. During a median follow-up of 7.7 years, 6983 (1.8%) cases of stroke were documented. The mean age of the included participants was 55.9 years, and the proportion of women was 55.1%. We found that multiple individual items related to physical and mental activity showed significant associations with risk of stroke. We identified 4 patterns of physical activity and 3 patterns of mental activity using principal component analysis. The adherence to activity patterns of vigorous exercise, housework, and walking predominant patterns were associated with a lower risk of stroke by 17% (HR, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.78-0.89]; 20% (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.75-0.85]; and 20% (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.75-0.86), respectively. Additionally, the transportation predominant pattern (HR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.28-1.45) and watching TV pattern (HR, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.33-1.53) were found to be significantly associated with a higher risk of stroke. These associations remained consistent across all subtypes of stroke. Activity patterns mainly related to frequent vigorous exercise, housework, and walking were associated with lower risks of stroke and all its subtypes. Our findings provide new insights for promoting suitable patterns of physical and mental activity for primary prevention of stroke.

(Re)vision of Religious Education of Children and Youth in Secularized Polish Society

Rapidly progressing multifaceted secularization processes in Polish society strongly influence the shape of religious education of children and adolescents in the school environment. They determine a number of dimensions of the social and mental activity of young people. Their effects are visible, es­pecially in the attitudes of children and youth to God, the Church, religious lessons, moral norms, and religious practices. This situation raises new challenges for the religious education of the young. Reading this as a “sign of the times,” this article revises religious education in Polish schools. The need to reor­ganize the model of religious education lessons and to introduce changes in the curricular assumptions of religious education teaching, in student textbooks and methodological guides is pointed out. Pre-evangelization and educational activities, resignation from the mere transfer of religious knowledge, and the development of preconceived skills and attitudes are considered important. The author emphasizes the value of providing opportunities for the construction of knowledge and for the student’s own en­gagement during religious education lessons. In this context, much attention is paid to the role of the re­ligious education teacher, who is to be first and foremost a companion on a journey, an educator and a witness of faith, open to new challenges, able to communicate effectively with students, creative, and tolerant. The right personality traits of the religious education teacher and their multiple competencies (including communicative and interpersonal ones) play a key role in religious education. They guarantee the effectiveness of communication within a group of religious lesson participants. They foster authentic interpersonal relationships and community-building, thus meeting the natural needs of young people. In practice, they require a paradigm shift in the formation of religious education teachers.

Cognitive decline with pupil constriction independent of subjective fatigue during prolonged esports across player expertise levels

Cognitive fatigue, a transient cognitive decline stemming from extended mental and physical activity, is well established in conventional contexts. However, its manifestation and self-awareness during digital pursuits, as an integrated style of mental and physical activity, notably in electronic sports (esports), remain underexplored. Here we show that, using virtual football as a representative model for esports, prolonged esports cause cognitive fatigue with pupil constriction, independent of subjective fatigue across player expertise. Casual and hardcore esports players engaged in an intensive 3 h gaming session, and sense of fatigue, executive function, pupil diameter as a potential signifier, and other physiological parameters were recorded. Subjective fatigue remained unchanged for up to 2 h, but increased after 3 h, inversely linked to reported enjoyment, in both groups of players. Executive function, assessed by flanker interference, decreased after 2 h and 3 h in casual players. The accuracy of the flanker task decreased after 2 h and 3 h in hardcore players, despite an initial accuracy edge. Pupil diameter decreased after 2 h and 3 h and correlated with cognitive performance decline but diverged from subjective fatigue in both player types. Our findings clearly suggest a disparity between actual cognitive decline and subjective fatigue awareness in esports, transcending levels of player expertise. Pupil constriction is a potential neurobiological marker integrating divergent cognitive and subjective fatigue during digital engagement.

Evaluation of healthcare-related factors influencing mental health of Taiwanese citizens among different age groups

The issue of mental health has gained heightened recognition as a significant public health concern due to its potential to significantly impact various aspects of individuals’ lives. Numerous factors may influence mental health, and this study seeks to investigate and compare potential healthcare-related factors that affect the mental health of Taiwanese individuals across different age groups. Data for this study were taken from the Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS), conducted in 2021. Descriptive statistics were calculated to compare the three age groups. Then, multiple regression models were constructed with mental health conditions as the dependent variable and demographics and other key healthcare-related components as independent variables, respectively. Results showed that, among the three age groups, the middle-aged adults had the highest BMI, and the older adults had significantly better mental health. As compared with the other age groups, the older adults had significantly better perceptions of fair distribution of healthcare resources, and their trust in the healthcare system was the highest. With regard to searching for online healthcare information, the frequency reported by the older adults was the lowest. The regression model showed that, religious belief, trust in the healthcare system and searching for online healthcare information were significantly associated with mental health of middle-aged adults. In the younger group, searching for online healthcare information was significantly negatively associated with mental health. The study’s findings provide insight into how to provide Taiwanese citizens of different age groups with proper and targeted mental health promotion activities.

Status of mental and social activities of young and middle-aged patients after papillary thyroid cancer surgery.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is prevalent among younger populations and has a favorable survival rate. However, a significant number of patients experience psychosocial stress and a reduced quality of life (QoL) after surgical treatment. Therefore, comprehensive evaluations of the patients are essential to improve their recovery. The present study enrolled 512 young and middle-aged patients diagnosed with PTC who underwent surgery at our institution between September 2020 and August 2021. Each participant completed a series of questionnaires: Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (THYCA-QoL), and Readiness to Return-to-Work Scale (RRTW). GAD-7 data showed that almost half of the study subjects were experiencing anxiety. Regarding health-related quality of life (HRQoL), participants reported the highest levels of fatigue, insomnia, voice problems, and scarring, with patients in anxious states reporting worse symptoms. Based on RRTW, more than half of the subjects had returned to work and had better HRQoL compared to the others who were evaluating a possible return to work. Age, gender, BMI, education, diet, residence, health insurance, months since surgery, monthly income, and caregiver status were significantly correlated with return to work. Additionally, having a caregiver, higher monthly income, more time since surgery, and living in a city or village were positively associated with return to work. Young and middle-aged patients with PTC commonly experience a range of health-related issues and disease-specific symptoms following surgery, accompanied by inferior psychological well-being, HRQoL, and work readiness. It is crucial to prioritize timely interventions targeting postoperative psychological support, HRQoL improvement, and the restoration of working ability in PTC patients.

Evaluation of tactile sensation for fabric handle – evidence from event related potentials

PurposeIn this paper, the brain potential changes caused by touching fabrics for handle evaluation were recorded by event related potential (ERP) method, compared with subjective evaluation scores and physical index of KES, explore the cognitive mechanism of the transformation of tactile sensation into neural impulses triggered by subtle mechanical stimuli such as material, texture, density and morphology in fabrics. By combining subjective evaluation of fabric tactile sensation, objective physical properties of fabrics and objective neurobiological signals, explore the neurophysiological mechanism of tactile cognition and the signal characteristics and time process of tactile information processing.Design/methodology/approachThe ERP technology was first proposed by a British psychologist named Grey Walter. It is an imaging technique of noninvasive brain cognition, whose potential changes are related to the human physical and mental activities. ERP is different from electroencephalography (EEG) and evoked potentials (EP) on the fact that it cannot only record stimulated physical information which is transmitted to brain, but also response to the psychological activities which related to attention, identification, comparison, memory, judgment and cognition as well as to human’s neural physiological changes which are caused by cognitive process of the feeling by stimulation.FindingsAccording to potential changes in the cerebral cortex evoked by touching four types of silk fabrics, human brain received the physical stimulation in the early stage (50 ms) of fabrics handle evaluation, and the P50 component amplitude showed negative correlation with fabric smoothness sensations. Around 200 ms after tactile stimulus onset, the amplitude of P200 component show positive correlation with the softness sensation of silk fabrics. The relationship between the amplitude of P300 and the sense of smoothness and softness need further evidence to proof.Originality/valueIn this paper, the brain potential changes caused by touching fabrics for handle evaluation were recorded by event related potential (ERP) method, compared with subjective evaluation scores and physical index of KES, the results shown that the maximum amplitude of P50 component evoked by fabric touching is related to the fabrics’ smoothness and roughness emotion, which means in the early stage processing of tactile sensation, the rougher fabrics could arouse more attention. In addition, the amplitude of P200 component shows positive correlation with the softness sensation of silk fabrics.

Reduced Anxiety and Depression and Improved Mood in Older Adults Living in Care Homes After Participating in Chair Yoga.

Providing opportunities for older adults to engage in physical and mental activity is important to support healthy aging. The present preliminary study investigated the feasibility of accessible chair yoga for older adults in care homes. Chair yoga participants (n = 17) were assessed before and after attending twice weekly chair yoga sessions for 8weeks, while control participants (n = 16) underwent the assessments only. Participant ages ranged from 80 to 101years and included those living with mild to severe dementia. Anxiety and depression measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and negative affect measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), improved in the chair yoga but not the control group. Balance confidence (Modified Falls Efficacy Scale) and Health-related Quality of Life (EQ-5D-3L) were unchanged. Chair yoga is a feasible activity for older care home residents, including those living with dementia, with the potential to improve mental well-being.

The effect of the mental fitness activity program on quality of life indicators of temporary displaced women of mature age

The aim of the study was to assess the influence of Pilates health classes on the indicators of psycho- emotional state and quality of life in middle-aged temporarily displaced persons. Methods: analysis of scientific and methodological literature, sociological (survey), anthropometric, and pedagogical methods (pedagogical observation, pedagogical experiment), methods of assessing the quality of life, and methods of mathematical statistics. Subjects. The study was conducted on the basis of a family-type house in the city of Rome (Italy) and involved 12 middle-aged women and 6 Pilates trainers. Results. The results of the study confirmed that the proposed wellness program based on the use of the Pilates system in evacuation conditions had a positive effect on all components of the quality of life of middle-aged people, especially on their emotional state, as it was possible to achieve a specific increase in both physical and mental components of health status. Thus, the physical component increased by 1.3 times or by 34%, and the psychological component increased by 1.8 times or by 81%. Positive changes were observed in the indicators of physical condition (increased by 23%) and physical capacity (increased by 18%), and indicators of visual screening of posture (increases by 15.9%).

Experiences and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted global public health restrictions that impacted Canadians in multiple ways. The effects of the pandemic are well examined in specific populations and in researcher-defined areas (e.g., mental health, physical activity, social connections, and financial impacts). Few studies explore the complex perspectives of adults who experienced and were impacted by the pandemic. The purpose of this study was to understand Canadian adults’ perspectives of pandemic impacts over time. Methods: A sample of 347 Canadian adults were recruited during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to open-ended questions about the pandemic’s impacts, administered every two weeks between April 2020 and January 2021. The responses were amalgamated into epochs, defined by dates that paralleled infection rates and public health responses in Canada. Qualitative thematic analysis identified major themes for each epoch and changes in themes over time. Results: The participants predominately reported adverse impacts of the pandemic during each epoch assessed, particularly with respect to mental health, future-oriented worry, activity restrictions, and social, and employment disruptions. Key concerns were potentially driven by changes in infection rates and public health policy changes. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted individuals in predominantly negative and complex ways that varied over time with public health responses. Findings from the present study may direct future pandemic responses to mitigate adverse effects to best prevent infection while preserving wellbeing.

Neural correlates of breath work, mental imagery of yoga postures, and meditation in yoga practitioners: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Previous research has shown numerous health benefits of yoga, a multicomponent physical and mental activity. The three important aspects of both traditional and modern yoga are breath work, postures, and meditation. However, the neural mechanisms associated with these three aspects of yoga remain largely unknown. The present study investigated the neural underpinnings associated with each of these three yoga components in long- and short-term yoga practitioners to clarify the neural advantages of yoga experience, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of yoga's health-promoting effects. Participants were 40 Chinese women, 20 with a long-term yoga practice and 20 with a short-term yoga practice. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted while participants performed abdominal breathing, mental imagery of yoga postures, and mindfulness meditation. The oxygenated hemoglobin concentrations activated in the brain during these three tasks were used to assess the neural responses to the different aspects of yoga practice. The self-reported mastery of each yoga posture was used to assess the advantages of practicing yoga postures. Blood oxygen levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during breath work were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners. In the mental imagery of yoga postures task, self-reported data showed that long-term yoga practitioners had better mastery than short-term practitioners. Long-term yoga practitioners demonstrated lower activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, with lower blood oxygen levels associated with performing this task, than short-term yoga practitioners. In the mindfulness meditation task, blood oxygen levels in the orbitofrontal cortex and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners. The three core yoga components, namely, yogic breathing, postures, and meditation, showed differences and similarities in the activation levels of the prefrontal cortex. Long-term practice of each component led to the neural benefits of efficient activation in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

Theoretical substantiation of the definition "sports activities of highly qualified athletes"

The article provides a theoretical substantiation of the definition of "sports activities of highly qualified athletes". When forming a new concept, a logical-methodological technology of definition of concepts was used, which provides for the observance of certain principles. The following methods were used during the research: analysis of literary sources and documents; system analysis method; method of comparison and comparison; method of functional and structural analysis. It has been established that the result of sports activity is an effective combination of training of the organs that perform movement, training of the body's functional systems, and perfection of the neuropsychological mechanisms for regulating movements, states, and behavior. The specific features of sports activities of highly qualified athletes are singled out. Attention is drawn to the fact that when evaluating the success of competitive activities, the reliability of athletes' performances at prestigious international competitions becomes important, which indicates not only the level of mental preparation, but is an integral indicator of the evaluation of the athlete's physical, functional, mental, and mobilization qualities.
 The author's definition "Sports activities of highly qualified athletes" is formulated, which is interpreted as a physical and/or mental activity that involves active interaction with the surrounding reality through educational and training training, which includes technical, tactical, theoretical and psychological training and competitive activities to meet the needs and achieving the planned goal.

Source Domain Associations as Conceptual Assemblages in Trauma Talk – an Association Rule Mining Approach

ABSTRACT The qualitative nature of co-deployed or “associated” metaphorical source domains in discourse has been extensively researched, often in terms of whether they share common conceptual roots. There are however few empirical studies on the strength of these associations and their implications. In mental healthcare activities like psychological interviews and counseling, for example, strongly associated sources may suggest unique “conceptual assemblages” that highlight underexplored (dis)similarities between clients or client groups, beyond the typical focus on isolated sources and frequencies. Our case study compares source domain associations produced by two interviewee groups – one meeting the diagnostic threshold for acute stress disorder (ASD), the other not – relating their first-hand experiences of traumatic events during the 2019 Hong Kong social unrest. The machine learning method of association rule mining is used to extract and quantify the top association rules in both groups. Results show i) a shared rule suggesting a highly schematic construal of trauma that nevertheless varies in instantiating details, and ii) several distinct rules that corroborates and lends further insight into the “agentive vs. non-agentive” characteristics exhibited by ASD vs. non-ASD individuals. Implications and future directions, including potential extensions to other discourse contexts, are discussed.

Inner Voice in Silent Reading and Speaking

Current research reveals that individuals use two languages: external language and internal language. The external language is a loud, noisy language that everyone can hear. The internal language is a silent, mysterious, personal language that merely the individual hears. This phenomenon, called inner language, inner voice or inner speech, is a mental activity seen in most people. This activity plays important roles in language and cognitive processes, helps the processes such as reading, writing, understanding, questioning, learning, thinking, controlling emotions, motivation, and so on. The inner voice emerges during silent reading and contributes significantly to understanding words, sentences, and text. Expert readers read and understand the words by hearing the small inner sound of the words in their brain. Controversy, internal speech is when an individual talks silently to himself. Inner speech is referred when planning daily tasks, making decisions, solving problems, and leading social and emotional issues. Nonetheless, research on the inner voice and inner speech, which are effective in the development of the individual, is yet insufficient. There is a need for clearer and more comprehensive research on the role and function of inner speech in processes such as reading, speaking, understanding, and thinking. It is recommended that this phenomenon, which exists in every individual, be handled scientifically and used to develop language and cognitive skills.

A Study on Self-Regulatory Processes in EFL Academic Writing

The process of academic writing is a highly demanding mental activity that presents a number of difficulties for students, especially when it comes to L2/FL (second/ foreign language) writing. The study employs the social-cognitive model of writing to explore the issue of students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing, with a special emphasis on the most important processes and strategies that may influence the quality of writing performance. We also wanted to explore whether there is an improvement in the quality of writing performance due to regular students’ exposure to EFL learning at the university levels. The quantitative part of the study involved 104 students (53 undergraduates and 51 graduates), while the qualitative part focused on two groups of higher and lower proficiency writers. The quantitative part of the study pointed out a significant difference between the first and second measurement points in the quality of students’ writing performance both at the undergraduate and graduate levels of study. Students in second measurement point had a better writing performance compared to the ones in the first measurement point. The qualitative research results showed that higher proficiency writers exhibited better SRL processes compared to lower proficiency writers. The research findings suggest that the students’ writing proficiency benefits from incorporating more SRL processes in EFL learning/teaching in the Croatian educational context.

El marco epistémico de la esperanza y su articulación con la imaginación política: una reflexión a partir del paradigma kantiano

This paper aims to inspect the political potential of Kant’s grounding of hope and its content breaks down in three parts. First, I give an account of Kant’s approach to right and hope as a rule for our judgments and actions, shedding light over the shift that Kant’s notion of the Highest Good undergoes from a theological framework to a political one, which makes of individuals the main feature of action. Second, I focus on the intergenerational exercise of imagination inasmuch as it foreshadows the material and symbolic needs of the forthcoming generations, highlighting the key role it plays for addressing the political agency of hope. Moreover, I focus on the capacity of this kind of imagination to resist against the devices and (mis-)informative tendencies that lead human imagination to collapse as the headquarters of critical mental activity. Third, I address the epistemic framework that seems more adequate to continue drawing to hope as a promising tool to build up subjects conscious of the shortcomings of the world and the society they are embedded in. Finally, I display some concluding remarks about the interaction between material structures and culture of emotions as a key issue stemming from this enquiry of Kant’s conceptual legacy about hope.