Reflexion Models Research Articles

La douleur de la ponction lombaire. Résultats de 2 années de réflexion au sein de la Société française d'oncologie pédiatrique

Pain during lumbar puncture: a 2 year discussion at the Société francaise d'oncologie pédiatrique. Background. — Lumbar puncture is a common procedure in pediatric onco-hematology. Repeated invasive painful procedures may contribute to increase distress displayed during medical treatment, and cause regression, depression and other psychological disorders. Material and methods. — A two-year workshop of the Société française d'oncologie pédiatrique was reviewed through a questionnaire assessing changes in technical management of lumbar puncture, local anesthesia, sedation and cognitive-behavioral interventions. Results. — Significant changes were found for pain assessment, local anesthesia procedures, and nitrous oxide administration. The extensive use of the Emla ® cream largely contributed to reduce pain. Anxiety however remained an unsolved problem, particularly among young children. Conclusion. — Pain in pediatrics remains a major challenge. This workshop is a model of reflexion to achieve a better management of pain during invasive medical procedures.

McClain's circle and Plato's harp

Abstract McClain depicted Plato's city of Magnesia as a circle and found that its structure was based on mathematical ratios which coincide with Just Intonation set of musical intervals (including non-standard intervals 4 7 and 7 8 ). Later McClain noted that the same set of intervals was deduced formally by the author of this paper from his model of human reflexion. In this work the author puts forth the hypothesis that Plato might have known of some formal correlations analogous to those used in this model.

The fundamental structures of human reflexion

Abstract In this paper, we put forth the hypothesis that a special inner inborn ‘computer’ for modeling the self and others exists in human beings. The operation of this computer can be described with the help of an algebraic model of human reflexion. Certain data obtained in personality theory, social psychology, and musicology can be explained as a result of the work on this computer. The paper describes this model and its specific applications, as well as possibilities for its future development.

Experiments on the diffraction of strong blast waves

This paper considers the diffraction of strong shocks over rigid concave comers, and complements an earlier paper (Henderson & Siegenthaler 1980), which dealt with weak shocks. It is shown that the von Neumann theory of strong Mach reflexion does not agree with experiment once the comer signal everywhere overtakes the reflected shock. We show that the difficulty is due to the assumption that the flow is self-similar along the trajectory path passing through the comer and that the theory may be reconstructed by choosing a new path that does not necessarily pass through the comer. The flow is assumed to be self-similar with respect to the new path. The reconstructed theory is in good agreement with experiment. One obtains from it a new model of strong Mach reflexion beyond the catch-up condition that features a length scale apparently introduced into the flow by viscous effects at the comer. The reflected shock is weaker according to the new theory which implies that the blast loading on sloping surfaces will be less after catch-up than predicted by the classical theory. Experimental evidence is also presented on transition between regular and Mach reflexions, and it supports the normal shock criterion first proposed by von Neumann but largely ignored by the textbooks.