In this paper a theoretical framework is proposed for how the brain processes the information necessary for us to achieve the understanding of others that we experience in our social worlds. Our framework attempts to expand several previous approaches to more fully account for the various data on interpersonal understanding and to respond to theoretical critiques in this area. Specifically, we propose that social understanding must be achieved by at least two mechanisms in the brain that are capable of parallel (...) information processing. The first mechanism, based on research into mirror matching systems in the brain, suggests that representations of others are mapped onto an observer's representations of these same schemas in order to understand them. The second mechanism requires semantic analysis of a given social situation in order to understand the actions of others and most likely involves conscious processes. We suggest that experimental correlates of these systems should be dissociable using both behavioral and neuroimaging techniques. (shrink)

Farmer participatory approaches were used to identify problems and needs as perceived by local people and to develop strategies to achieve fodder security in south Indian villages. Indigenous knowledge systems as they relate to agroforestry were explored. The farmer participatory approaches have laid the foundations for selecting appropriate agroforestry technologies and developing suitable fodder security policy options. Potential benefits and risks as a result of implementing agroforestry projects were also discussed.

Background The field of bioethics examines the moral and ethical dilemmas that arise in the biological sciences, healthcare, and medical practices. There has been a rise in medical negligence cases, complaints against healthcare workers, and public dissatisfaction with healthcare professionals, according to reports from the Indian Medical Council and other healthcare associations. We intend to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of bioethics among the registered healthcare professionals (HCPs) of Maharashtra, India. Methods A State-level online survey was conducted (...) among the registered HCPs (n = 2143) casing all five regions of the Maharashtra state using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The responses were expressed as mean, and proportions with their standard deviation and 95% CI respectively. Binary logistic regression and a multivariate logistic model were used to determine factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice of bioethics. Results Of the 2143 registered HCPs in Maharashtra included in this study, most of them (65.2%) had adequate knowledge of bioethics. Adequate knowledge was associated with lower age, profession (nurses and dentists), employment in the private sector, HCPS at Marathwada and Pune, and higher educational attainment. About 3 in 5 HCPs (59.4%) had a favorable attitude towards the ethical practice of bioethics, and was associated with profession, place of work, region of practice, and work experience. The distribution of unethical bioethics practices among 10 items was proportionally high, and only 34.4% reported good/fair practice. The common unethical practices in the state were allowing patients to be examined by interns, and not informing them about professional misconduct to the regulatory bodies. Conclusion Most HCPs had adequate knowledge of bioethics, which is encouraging and would favor the laying foundation for forming a good bioethics framework. Only 3/5 HCPs demonstrated a favorable attitude, and the observed unethical practice is alarmingly common. A serious consideration to evaluate the compliance level of bioethics practice periodically and measures to educate, sensitize, and train bioethics among HCPs in Maharashtra is warranted. (shrink)

Philosophers have established that certain ethically important val- ues are modally robust in the sense that they systematically deliver correlative benefits across a range of counterfactual scenarios. In this paper, we contend that recourse – the systematic process of reversing unfavorable decisions by algorithms and bureaucracies across a range of counterfactual scenarios – is such a modally ro- bust good. In particular, we argue that two essential components of a good life – temporally extended agency and trust – are under- (...) written by recourse. We critique existing approaches to the conceptualization, op- erationalization and implementation of recourse. Based on these criticisms, we suggest a revised approach to recourse and give ex- amples of how it might be implemented – especially for those who are least well off. (shrink)

Shows that executive integrity is not merely a moral trait but a dynamic process of making empathetic, responsible, and sound decisions. Describes key features of executive integrity including effective social interaction, open dialogue, and responsive leadershipand explains how integrity can be developed and practiced in today's organizations.

Emphasizes The Integration Aspects And The Spiritual Foundations Of Music.

In this paper, a fresh method is offered regarding training of particular neural networks. This technique is a combination of the adaptive genetic (AG) and cuckoo search (CS) algorithms, called the AGCS method. The intention of training a particular artificial neural network (ANN) is to obtain the finest weight load. With this protocol, a particular weight is taken into account as feedback, which is optimized by means of the hybrid AGCS protocol. In the beginning, a collection of weights is initialized (...) and the similar miscalculation is discovered. Finally, during training of an ANN, we can easily overcome the training complications involving ANNs and also gain the finest overall performance with training of the ANN. We have implemented the proposed system in MATLAB, and the overall accuracy is about 93%, which is much better than that of the genetic algorithm (86%) and CS (88%) algorithm. (shrink)

CSR in India is mandated through Section 135 of the Companies Act (2013), covering the practice and reporting of social responsibility projects. This paper examines India's CSR framework and reports findings on governance, planning, and implementation from a survey of and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Overall findings reveal several positive aspects and inform us of the challenges that companies and NGOs consider essential. First, an overwhelming majority of companies focused on three investment areas: health, education, and the environment. Second, 88% of (...) companies undertook long-term continuing projects, a positive signal from a social development perspective. Third, 68% reported that their CSR strategy was aligned with their core business strategy. Fourth, a significant majority of the companies have established the required structure for policy development, planning, and periodic monitoring from a governance perspective. Finally, findings on NGOs indicate several elements of preparedness; however, the retention of talented employees is a continual challenge. (shrink)

The primary argument against Rachlin's act-versus-pattern analysis of self-control is that it is wrong to think of a temptation as a solitary act while the alternative is conceived of as an element of a pattern. Either both are solitary acts or both are members of patterns, however different the patterns may be in their complexity and abstractness.

This monograph deals with the controversy about determinism versus freedom of will. The book is addressed to scholars, especially in the areas of philosophy and psychology, and also to thinking and serious-minded laypersons who are interested in the implications of being human. The book attempts to help the reader understand and resolve the dilemma of determinism. The solution offered by this book has not been previously offered by any other book, even though the literature on this topic is vast. The (...) deterministic position is that all events are effects of previous events and causes of future events, in inexorable cause-effect sequences, which leave no room for intervention of anything outside of the stream of causal relationships, such as free will, thus rendering moral responsibility meaningless. Libertarians believe in freedom of will which is, for them, indispensable for moral responsibility. This controversy can be resolved only by making a clear distinction between two kinds of freedom. In common parlance, freedom means freedom from constraint or compulsion, which can be designated as contra-constraintual freedom. The second meaning of freedom is freedom from causation, which has been referred to as contra-causal freedom, and this is the meaning that is inherent in the concept of freedom of will. If we have contra-causal freedom, we can choose or decide to act irrespective of antecedent conditions including our own past. The distinction between contra-causal freedom and contra-constraintual freedom is the key to the resolution of the controversy between determinism and libertarianism. The absence of contra-causal freedom prevails at the theoretical, conceptual, objective, abstract, or as-is level, whereas contra-constraintual freedom functions at the practical, behavioral, subjective, concrete, or as-if level. All we need for moral responsibility is contra-constraintual freedom, and not contra-causal freedom. At the as-is level, there is neither freedom nor dignity, neither morality nor accountability, and neither purpose nor meaning for human existence. It is only at the as-if level that these terms make any sense at all. In theory there is no choice from alternative courses of action in light of the absence of contra-causal freedom; in practice there is, in direct proportion to contra-constraintual freedom. (shrink)

Standalone corporate social responsibility reports vary considerably in the content of information released due to their voluntary nature. In this study, we develop a disclosure score based on the tone, readability, length, and the numerical and horizon content of CSR report narratives, and examine the relationship between the CSR disclosure scores and analyst forecasts. We find that CSR reporters with high disclosure scores are associated with more accurate forecasts, whereas low score CSR reporters are not associated with more accurate forecasts (...) than firms who do not issue CSR reports. The findings are robust to controlling for firm characteristics including CSR activity ratings and financial narratives. The findings are driven by experienced CSR reporters rather than first-time CSR reporters. Together, our findings suggest that the content of CSR reports helps to improve analyst forecast accuracy, and this relationship is more pronounced for CSR reports with more substantial content. (shrink)

One of Hume's most well-known works and a masterpiece of philosophy, A Treatise of Human Nature is indubitably worth taking the time to read.

Background: A large number of nurse researchers do not adhere to ethical standards while performing the research. Moreover, there is far less data on knowledge of existing national ethical guidelines. This study was, therefore, done to assess awareness and adherence to current national ethical guidelines among nursing students and faculty members. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done among nursing faculty members and theses carried out by postgraduate nursing students between 2012 and 2017. Using the convenience sampling technique, seven states (...) of North India were selected. In each of the selected seven states, one government and one private nursing college was selected. Thus, a sample of 14 nursing colleges was selected. Then, using simple random sampling, a total of 140 nursing faculty members and 280 postgraduate nursing theses were selected from all the chosen institutes to be part of the study. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. Ethical considerations: The study has been approved by the institutional ethical committee. In addition, written permission from the head of each nursing institute was obtained before conducting the study. After participants read the Participation Information Sheet, they were asked for written informed consent before data collection. Confidentiality of the information and anonymity of the participants were maintained throughout the study. Results: The majority of the participants were females. It was found that compared to private nurses, government college nurses were more adhered to the research guidelines on research project approval, informed consent guidelines, providing patient information sheets, maintaining information confidentiality, maintaining anonymity and obtaining custodian permission. It was also shown that nurses were more aware of the informed consent process domain followed by the general ethical principles domain. Conclusion: Government college nurses adhered more to the research guidelines as compared to those employed in private settings. Most of the faculty members were not part of any clinical trials and had no research ethics training at all. Therefore, it is needed to provide an instructional programme to raise awareness of the research ethical standards. (shrink)

Research articles presented in various projects of Indian Council of Philosophical Research.

Learning in college often extends beyond classrooms and formal instruction. Various forms of student organisings can allow for learning beyond institutional curricula. In this paper, using two examples of collective mobilisations, I argue for paying keener attention to the informal within formal education spaces. Both the instances under discussion occur around the space of the hostel - located within the formal educational institution and yet, away from the formalised processes of learning and teaching. In varied ways, however, the forms of (...) conversation that marks the coming together of students, has pedagogic significance. Specifically, conceiving students mobilising as an instance of anti-caste assertion or against implicitly accepted gender norms, I argue, provides students newer ways of thinking about the world - and must thus be conceptualised as learning. Not only are these informal learning spaces significant for the varied ways they could impact students; they are also important in holding the possibility to question hegemonic practices in educational institutions, and society at large. (shrink)

Access to energy is essential for our daily lives, economic growth, environment, and sustainability. However, our use of fossil fuels has contributed to global climate change, which poses a significant threat to society and life on this planet. Yet, it has been challenging to reconcile the perceived conflict between economics and climate change, which has created deep divisions in our society. ENERGY 2040: Aligning Innovation, Economics, and Decarbonization provides a holistic and comprehensive analysis of the ongoing energy transition and its (...) underlying causes. It presents a viable path to meet the energy, economic, and climate goals by weaving together science, technology, economics, policy, entrepreneurship, and geopolitics. The book presents a captivating narrative that brings together a range of topics, including new and disruptive technologies with steep learning rates, the challenges of the future power grid, the democratization of energy, and reducing the timeline from science to impact at scale. It also explores the complex role of scientific research, disruptive deep tech, entrepreneurship, and policy in accelerating this energy transformation. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the future of energy. Whether you're a scientist, energy-industry practitioner, policymaker, investor, student, or concerned citizen, this book offers critical insights into the complex and evolving world of energy, innovation, decarbonization, and climate change. (shrink)