Many traditions have utilized silent environments to induce altered states of consciousness and spiritual experiences. Neurocognitive explorations of spiritual experience can aid in understanding the underlying mechanism, but these are surprisingly rare. We present the verbal report and the electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha profile of a female participant scoring a maximal 34 on the Absorption Scale, recorded before and while she was immersed in a whole-body perceptual deprivation (WBPD) tank. We analyze her trancelike experience in terms of the imagery reported: (...) a spaceship, corridors, doors, a man dressed in white, speaking to God, the sun, supernova, concentric images, and an out-of-body experience. Her report is indicative of a spiritual experience, given that she felt that she was “meeting God” in the laboratory. She exhibited both frontal and parietal left > right alpha power asymmetry at baseline, whereas in the WBPD condition, there was a global increase in alpha power and especially a sharp increase in right-frontal alpha power. Her verbal report and EEG alpha profile were compared to those of another female participant, also scoring high on absorption, whose verbal report was also indicative of a trancelike experience. For further comparison, we present the data for two participants scoring low on absorption. Spiritual experience that can be verbalized might be associated with a marked increase in right-frontal alpha power, as reported here. In contrast, a mystical experience characterized by ineffability would be indicated by a marked increase in left-frontal alpha power. (shrink)

The article aims to provide insight into the water absorption, capillarity action, and material composition of various bricks and panels used as external coatings for buildings. The materials analyzed include silicate brick, red clay brick, normal clay hollow brick, concrete block, and EPS fibre cement composite wall panel. These types of bricks and panels are widely used in buildings in Albania, making their water absorption characteristics and hygroscopic moisture levels important factors to consider for future applications. The study (...) is based on an experiment involving five material samples. Initially, the samples are dried and then partially submerged in water for 12, 24, and 36 hours. Afterward, they are removed from the water and dried indoors for 12, 24, and 36 hours. The moisture content is measured at three intervals for each sample category. The experiment also analyzes the capillarity action of water within the materials to evaluate their overall performance. Based on the results, red clay brick and normal clay hollow brick were identified as the most vulnerable materials due to their composition, high capillarity action, and significant water absorption. These findings are crucial for determining the suitability of these materials in construction practices. (shrink)

In early medicine, Galenic physicians considered digestion to be central to health and therapy. It was essential not only for keeping the body in balance but also for absorbing internal drugs effectively. While food digestion aimed to assimilate nutriment into the body, drug absorption aimed to alter the body’s constitution to restore it to a balanced state. Both processes revealed the transformation of substances in the digestive tract, their material composition in elements and particles, as well as their relationship (...) with blood and humours. In the Renaissance, physicians expanded on food digestion and drug absorption according to Galen’s medical treatises, whose printed editions were available in Greek and Latin. In this chapter, I examine the account of the French physician Jean Fernel (1497–1558) in the Universa medicina (1567), through dedicated books to physiology and therapy. These works provided a didactic account of digestion, where Fernel explained the processing of food and drugs in the stomach, liver, and veins, as well as the sensory properties and active powers related to their matter and substance. In so doing, he shed light on ancient and medieval pre-conceptions of food and drug metabolism, as well as their reception in the late Renaissance. (shrink)

Unique properties of wood such as being porous and ability to absorb water and capillary action make it widely used in many applications. It is important to understand how different types of wood absorb water and move it through capillaries when using it in construction or home furniture. This article investigates the water absorption properties, moisture content, and capillarity actions of four common species of wood in Albania: Pine, Fir, Beech, and Oak. The experiment consists of partial and total (...) immersion of the samples in water in order to measure capillarity action in the wood after 12, 24, 36, and 72 hours of partial immersion in water, and water content after the full submersion in water. The moisture content was checked through a specific device every time frame at the highest level of water capillarity. Meanwhile, water intake (absorption) was calculated using the appropriate formula during dry and wet phases, after the total submersion in water. The detailed comparative analysis of the results is elaborated using statistical software like IBM SPSS Statistics 27 and through the graphs elaborated in Microsoft Excel. Beech and Oak were found to absorb and retain more water during both immersion and drying, reflecting their higher moisture retention capacity. However, their low capillarity action suggests that water movement within these woods is limited, likely due to their denser cellular structures. On the other hand, Pine and Fir showed lower moisture retention overall but exhibited higher capillarity, indicating that water moves more easily through their structures. The study investigates the specific anatomical structures they possess and their compositions that determine these features and make them suitable for other purposes. Understanding these distinct properties is essential for choosing the right wood type for construction and design projects, particularly in fluctuating moisture levels. (shrink)

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence into professional, educational, and therapeutic contexts has intensified debates about efficiency, cognitive offloading, and human agency. While existing accounts emphasize functional and performance-related outcomes, they offer limited frameworks for examining how sustained AI use may shape subjective experience over time. This paper proposes a conceptual, hypothesis-generating model of psychological absorption to describe a gradual process in which cognitive, regulatory, and meaning-making functions are increasingly delegated to AI systems. Drawing on relapse prevention theory, (...) the model conceptualizes absorption not as addiction or loss of control, but as a maintenance vulnerability in agency that emerges through repeated, adaptive reliance on external cognitive support under conditions of overload and uncertainty. The paper integrates relapse prevention concepts with selected psychodynamic perspectives to illuminate how containment, authorship, and experiential vitality may be subtly reshaped in AI-mediated cognition. Rather than advocating restriction or abstinence, the framework emphasizes early detection, awareness of micro-delegations, and the restoration of psychological presence. By reframing AI use as a maintenance challenge rather than a pathological dependency, the paper contributes to interdisciplinary discussions on human-AI interaction, subjectivity, and the future of agency in AI-saturated environments. (shrink)

I explore critique through art, a meaningful problem as art is pervasive and ideology plays a role in social progress. I also consider the debate between Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno, a question of passive absorption versus active contemplation. I argue Baruch Spinoza’s psychology of affects presents a critique of Adorno, allows a defense of Benjamin, and provides a thicker understanding of both thinkers. I criticize Adorno for implying that rationality is immediately possible and argue social progress must be (...) historical and procedural; rationality cannot be a means to this progress. Affects are the proper means for this historical moment. Passive absorption of art, particularly through film, is more effective than active contemplation due to the causal function of affect. (shrink)

This book presents a detailed analysis of what it means to be absorbed in playing music. Based on interviews with one of the world’s leading classical ensembles, “The Danish String Quartet”, it debunks the myth that experts cannot reflect while performing, but also shows that intense absorption is not something that can be achieved through will, intention, prediction or planning – it remains something individuals have to be receptive to. Based in the phenomenological tradition of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty as (...) well as of Dan Zahavi and Shaun Gallagher, it lays out the conditions and essential structures of musical absorption. Employing the lived experience of the DSQ members, it also engages and challenges core ideas in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, enactivism, expertise studies, musical psychology, flow theory, aesthetics, dream and sleep studies, psychopathology and social ontology, and proposes a method that integrates phenomenology and cognitive science. (shrink)

The target article, in stressing the balance between neurobiological and psychological factors, makes a compelling argument in support of a continuum of perceptual and hallucinatory experience. Nevertheless, two points need to be addressed. First, the authors are probably underestimating the incidence of hallucinations in the normal population. Second, one should consider the role of absorption as a predisposing factor for hallucinations.

We prove that every congruence distributive variety has directed Jónsson terms, and every congruence modular variety has directed Gumm terms. The directed terms we construct witness every case of absorption witnessed by the original Jónsson or Gumm terms. This result is equivalent to a pair of claims about absorption for admissible preorders in congruence distributive and congruence modular varieties, respectively. For finite algebras, these absorption theorems have already seen significant applications, but until now, it was not clear (...) if the theorems hold for general algebras as well. Our method also yields a novel proof of a result by P. Lipparini about the existence of a chain of terms (which we call Pixley terms) in varieties that are at the same time congruence distributive and k-permutable for some k. (shrink)

This paper is going to deal with water absorption in different types of wood such as: pine, oak, beech, and fir. The amount of water absorbed by these types of wood is known as water absorption and it is determined using the material's initial state and after their immersion in water. The major goal of this study is to explain the effects of water absorption in hardwood materials and to demonstrate the changes that will take place in (...) them over the course of 48 hours. Water can be absorbed by wood in a variety of ways, as a liquid, or as an atmospheric vapor. Despite the fact that wood can absorb other liquids and gases, water is the most important. Because of its hygroscopicity, wood, whether as part of a living tree or as a material, always contains moisture. The experiment will be focused on the selection of different types of wood (most popular in the Albanian context), analyzing their water absorption and moisture level. The wooden samples will be submerged in water for 24 and 48 hours in order to obtain the appropriate results. Their moisture level and water level due to capillarity will be analyzed too. The purpose of the study is to follow the behavior of wooden frames in different environments. (shrink)

A technique for measuring broadband near-infrared absorption spectra of turbid media that uses a combination of frequency-domain and steady-state reflectance methods is presented. Most of the wavelength coverage is provided by a white-light SS measurement, whereas the FD data are acquired at a few selected wavelengths. Coefficients of absorption and reduced scattering derived from the FD data are used to calibrate the intensity of the SS measurements and to estimate μ‘s at all wavelengths in the spectral window of (...) interest. After these steps are performed, one can determine ma by comparing the SS reflectance values with the predictions of diffusion theory, wavelength by wavelength. Absorption spectra of a turbid phantom and of human breast tissue in vivo, derived with the combined SSFD technique, agree well with expected reference values. All measurements can be performed at a single source-detector separation distance, reducing the variations in sampling volume that exist in multidistance methods. The technique uses relatively inexpensive light sources and detectors and is easily implemented on an existing multiwavelength FD system. © 2000 Optical Society of America. (shrink)

In the Introduction to Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media, he argues for the relevance of the book’s subtitle, “The Extensions of Man.” Specifically, McLuhan claims that media—that is, electronic media—are extensions of the human nervous system, permitting a range of contexts, contacts, and experiences. To clarify what this means, I develop a phenomenological interpretation of media as existential, lived situation, drawing from McLuhan’s own account while critically analyzing it, and bringing into play the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Our being-in-media may be as (...) decisive for us as McLuhan seems to have thought, but may also be far better characterized by exposure, absorption, or subjection than by McLuhan’s optimism. (shrink)

The qigong state of bigu is believed to be supported by the absorption of qi from the universe. Gamma radiation is ubiquitous in the cosmos and, according to some, may be a possible source of energy for cellular functioning. When the concept of energy is integrated with the concept of dynamical systems, the logic leads to the theory—termed systemic memory—that predicts all systems, from the micro to macro, store information and energy to various degrees. New research indicates that the (...) human body absorbs gamma radiation from the environment and emits high-frequency X rays. There are substantial individual differences in these effects that appear to be related, in part, to the psychological state of the person. Future research can determine if bigu is associated with increased absorption of gamma radiation and/or decreased emission of high frequency X rays. The hypothesis that qi can be viewed as quality information is proposed. (shrink)

With this widely acclaimed work, Fried revised the way in which eighteenth-century French painting and criticism were viewed and understood. "A reinterpretation supported by immense learning and by a series of brilliantly perceptive readings of paintings and criticism alike.... An exhilarating book." John Barrell, "London Review of Books".

The majority of studies on absorptive capacity (AC) underscore the importance of absorbing technological knowledge from other firms to create economic value. However, to preserve moral legitimacy and create social value, firms must also discern and adapt to (shifts in) societal values. A comparative case study of eight firms in the food industry reveals how organizations prioritize and operationalize the societal value health in product innovation while navigating inter- and intravalue conflicts. The value-sensitive framework induced in this article extends AC (...) by explaining how technically savvy, economic value–creating firms diverge in their receptivity, articulation, and reflexivity of societal values. (shrink)

This study investigated how green absorptive capacity influences employee perceptions of a green work climate and their engagement in green innovative behavior. It also examines the moderating role of green leadership support in shaping these relationships. Guided by the resource-based view, the research explores how environmental knowledge capabilities and supportive organizational conditions contribute to sustainability-focused innovation. Survey data were collected from employees at twelve four- and five-star hotels in the United Arab Emirates and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation (...) modeling. The findings show that green absorptive capacity significantly enhances perceptions of a green work climate, which in turn leads to increased green innovative behavior. The results further reveal that green leadership support strengthens the effect of green work climate on green innovative behavior. These insights extend the resource-based view by demonstrating that organizational resources must be integrated with a supportive climate to achieve innovation outcomes. The study offered practical recommendations for firms aiming to embed sustainability into their core operations by investing in environmental knowledge systems, cultivating green workplace values, and reinforcing leadership support for environmental initiatives. (shrink)

Although existing research evaluates how the adoption of proactive environmental strategies affects corporate performance, there is little understanding of the organizational mechanisms that link such strategies to competitive advantage. It is, therefore, unclear how environmental strategies relate to other management strategies that could lead to a competitive advantage. In this article, we analyze the organizational capabilities that underlie a firm’s ability to generate competitive advantage from the adoption of proactive environmental strategies. We develop and test a model where absorptive capacity (...) facilitates the development of proactive environmental strategies that result in competitive advantage. Results from a survey of 157 German chemical firms strongly support the model. (shrink)

This paper examines one of the central objections levied against neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics: the self-absorption objection. Proponents of this objection state that the main problem with neo-Aristotelian accounts of moral motivation is that they prescribe that our ultimate reason for acting virtuously is that doing so is for the sake of and/or is constitutive of our own eudaimonia. In this paper, I provide an overview of the various attempts made by neo-Aristotelian virtue ethicists to address the self-absorption objection (...) and argue that they all fall short for one reason or another. I contend that the way forward for neo-Aristotelian virtue ethicists is to reject the view that the virtuous agent ought to organize her life in a way that is ultimately good for her, and instead adopt a more expansive conception of her ultimate end, one in which no special preference is given to her own good. (shrink)

Little research has considered the potential influence of distant, external pressures on the implementation of firms’ ‘green’ innovations, nor how internal firm resources might moderate this relationship. By combining institutional and resource-based theories and examining 649 firms in Australia, I find that export intensity is positively associated with green innovations. Further, as women in leadership roles increase in firms, the relationship strengthens between export intensity and green innovations. The results also suggest that greater levels of absorptive capacity among firms strengthen (...) the relationship between export intensity and green innovations. Contributions of the findings are discussed along with limitations and future research opportunities. (shrink)

Music and listening, music and consciousness -- Conceptualizing consciousness -- The phenomenology of everyday music listening experiences -- Absorption, dissociation and trancing -- Musical and non-musical trancing in daily life -- Imaginative involvement -- Musical and non-musical trancing : similarities and differences -- Experiencing life and art : ethological and evolutionary perspectives on -- Transformations of consciousness -- Everyday music listening experiences reframed.

In this paper, we show how to construct for a given consistent theory U a $$\varSigma ^0_1$$ Σ 1 0 -predicate that both satisfies the Löb Conditions and the Kreisel Condition—even if U is unsound. We do this in such a way that U itself can verify satisfaction of an internal version of the Kreisel Condition.

Die vom Hongkonger Martial-Arts-Film des Informationszeitalters prämierten Bilder sind zusammenfassend in zwei wirkungsästhetische Grundmodi zu gliedern. Zum einen sind affektive Bilderflüsse prominent geworden, die in Annäherung an eine reine Wahrnehmung den Anteil des Gedächtnisses an der Produktion von Bildern reduzieren und die ästhetische Distanz tilgen, die den performativen Kung-Fu-Film auszeichnete. Zum anderen rücken jene Bilder in den Vordergrund, die als Zitate explizit von der Erinnerungs- und Montagearbeit ihrer Nutzer abhängig sind.

Experimental mass absorption coefficients of soot in a laboratory-scale spray combustor flame are reported for the 0.9-2.0 μm spectral range and compared to values in the literature. A specially selected JP-5 hydrocarbon fuel was sprayed through a nominal 60-deg twin-fluid nozzle at three air-to-fuel mass ratios to obtain three different soot concentrations. The measurements depended on quantitative gravimetric determination of soot concentration, gas sampling, quantitative radiometry, and optical pyrometry. Determinations of soot and gaseous species concentrations were made by traversing (...) a water-cooled probe radially along the line of sight of the radiometer used. Optically filtered total radiometric measurements were made with selected pairs of band-pass filters. The filter bands were chosen to indicate effective gas temperature, effective soot temperature, and optical depth of soot along the radiometric line of sight. An optical pyrometer aided in confirming the soot temperature and optical depth. © American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1990, All rights reserved. (shrink)

The trenchant scholarship evident in Fried's earlier essays on Couture, Manet and Courbet is equally manifest in this challenging study of the development of French painting in the period 1750-1770. Fried's major thesis is that the central and guiding concern of artists from Chardin to David was the relationship between the viewer of the painting and what is represented in the painting. Those who now concentrate on social and economic determinants of artistic enterprises will be disappointed by Fried's blatantly aesthetic (...) hypothesis that the narrower concerns of the art of painting itself were primary in the mainstream of French painting of this period. But they will be hardpressed to counter the solid evidence that Fried musters in support of his position. (shrink)

Article studies the absorption of European funds in Romania for the two post-accession periods: 2007-2014 and 2014-2020 and highlight the situation in Romania regarding the amount and evolution of European funds received, the structure of these funds, the evolution of the absorption during the two intervals by program type and Romanian areas of development as well as difficulties encountered and the solutions adopted to overcome them. The analysis is based on primary statistical data provided by the Romanian Government (...) and the European Commission, as well as studies and reports on national particularities and problems of absorption of European fund in Romania. In addition, a qualitative analysis of legislative and institutional framework aims to point out weakness and causes that hindered the absorption of funds. Paper highlights the increase of funds absorption in the current financial framework compared to the previous and emphasizes weaknesses in the Romanian institutional framework. The fact that many of the difficulties manifested in the first stage after adhesion were counter through appropriate solutions, enable better management of funds, which places Romania to the EU average in terms of rate of absorption. These solutions concern the improvement of administrative capacity. (shrink)