According to standard philosophical and clinical understandings, pain is an essentially mental phenomenon. In a challenge to this standard conception, a recent burst of empirical work in experimental philosophy, such as that by Justin Sytsma and Kevin Reuter, purports to show that people ordinarily conceive of pain as an essentially bodily phenomenon—specifically, a quality of bodily disturbance. In response to this bodily view, other recent experimental studies have provided evidence that the ordinary concept of pain is more complex than previously (...) assumed: rather than tracking only bodily or only mental aspects of pain, the ordinary concept of pain can actually track either of these aspects. The polyeidic analysis of the folk concept of pain, as proposed by Emma Borg et al., captures this complexity. Whereas previous empirical support for the polyeidic view has focused on the context-sensitivity of the folk concept of pain, here we discuss individual differences in people’s ‘pain priors’—namely, their standing tendencies to think of pain in relatively mind-centric or body-centric ways. We describe a preliminary empirical study and present a small number of findings, which will be explored further in future work. The results we discuss are part of a larger programme of work which seeks to integrate philosophical pain research into clinical practice. For example, we hypothesise that variations in how patients with chronic pain are thinking about pain could help predict their responses to treatment. (shrink)

This article reports the findings of a survey examining whether gender differences influence the degree to which individuals recognize unethical conduct in the use and development of information technology. The results show that, on the average, there is a significant gender gap in the recognition of unethical behavior in information systems. Although, women are better able to recognize unethical actions described in information systems scenarios than men, the existence of statistically significant differences varies depending upon the nature of the ethical (...) dilemma. The findings of this study provide both managers and researchers valuable understanding regarding the differences (and similarities) in the reactions of individuals of both genders to unethical situations in information systems. (shrink)

Do you have to be one to know one? Madhvàcàrya, the founder of the thirteenth century school of Vedànta, answered this question with a resounding 'yes!' Madhvàcàrya's insistence that one must be a Màdhva to study Màdhva Vedànta led him to employ various strategies to exclude outsiders and unauthorized readers from accessing the root texts of his tradition and from obtaining oral commentary from living virtuosos. Deepak Sarma explores the degree to which outsiders can understand and interpret the doctrine (...) of the Màdhva school of Vedànta. The school is based on insider epistemology which is so restrictive that few can learn its intricate doctrines. This book reveals the complexity of studying traditions based on insider epistemologies and encourages its audience to ponder both the value and the hazards of granting any outsider the authority and opportunity to derive important insights into a tradition as an insider. The first analysis of the Màdhva tradition, this work contributes to the ongoing controversies regarding epistemic authority and voice in religious studies. (shrink)

TRASCIENDE LOS OBSTÁCULOS QUE AFECTAN A TU CUERPO Y A TU ESPÍRITU 15 años después de su gran clásicoCuerpos sin edad, mentes sin tiempo, Deepak Chopra revisa el “milagro olvidado”—la capacidad infinita de renovación y cambio del ...

This article analyzes the past, the present, and the future of business institution in society in terms of its management approaches by using the framework of human evolution, and discovers a trend that explains three paradigms in business management that have been witnessed so far. Extending the trend, it projects another two paradigm shifts to take place in future, and establishes that the business management practice is going to evolve further where it will turn from its present status of ‘result-oriented (...) management’to ‘process-oriented management’ in terms of its focus, or in other words, it will evolve from ‘professional management’ to ‘ethical management’ in terms of its underlying philosophy. As a result, the business enterprise will evolve from its present form of economic organization to a humane organization, and further up to a divine organization. Expressed the other way round, the business institution that had kicked off as an industrial organization has got transformed to a human organization by now; however, in the future, it will further evolve to its final level of a divine organization. (shrink)

Technologies such as horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing are central to ensuring the viability of shale oil and gas resource development by maximizing contact with the most productive reservoir volumes. However, characterization efforts based on the use of well logs and cores, although very informative, may be associated with substantial uncertainty in interwell volumes. Consequently, this work is centered around the development of a predictive tool based on surface seismic data analysis to rapidly demarcate the most prolific reservoir volumes, (...) to identify zones more amenable to hydraulic fracturing, and to provide a methodology to locate productive infill wells for further development. Specifically, we demonstrate that surface seismic attributes such as [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] crossplots can successfully be employed to quantitatively grade reservoir rocks in unconventional plays. We also investigate the role of seismically inverted Poisson’s ratio as a fracability discriminator and Young’s modulus as an indicator of total organic carbon richness and porosity. The proposed predictive tool for sweet spot identification relies on classifying reservoir volumes on the basis of their amenability to fracturing and reservoir quality. The classification scheme is applied to a field case study from the Lower Barnett Shale and we validate these results using production logs recorded in four horizontal wells and microseismic data acquired while fracturing these wells. The integration of seismic data, production logs, and microseismic data underscores the value of shale reservoir characterization with a diverse suite of measurements to determine optimal well locations and to locate hydraulic fracture treatments. A key advantage of the methodology developed here is the ease of regional-scale characterization that can easily be generalized to other shale plays. (shrink)

Selections and accompanying materials inspire a reassessment of long-held presuppositions and modes of thought, and accessible translations prove the modern relevance of these enduring works.

A variety of legal documents are increasingly being made available in electronic format. Automatic Information Search and Retrieval algorithms play a key role in enabling efficient access to such digitized documents. Although keyword-based search is the traditional method used for text retrieval, they perform poorly when literal term matching is done for query processing, due to synonymy and ambivalence of words. To overcome these drawbacks, an ontological framework to enhance the user’s query for retrieval of truly relevant legal judgments has (...) been proposed in this paper. Ontologies ensure efficient retrieval by enabling inferences based on domain knowledge, which is gathered during the construction of the knowledge base. Empirical results demonstrate that ontology-based searches generate significantly better results than traditional search methods. (shrink)

The notion of ‘rhetorical bodies’ argues the cause of the rhetorical elements in the material and the material elements in the rhetorical in ways that can be seen as analogous to the bi-partite modes of Deleuzian film philosophy, ‘movement-image’ and ‘time-image’. Tamil films of the 1940s and 1950s bear the strong imprints of the rhetorical elements of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidian Movement, which took root in different versions during the 1920s–60s. The narrative locations of the bodies in the Tamil (...) films of the 1940s and 1950s provide interesting theoretical and analytical challenges if one seeks to combine the Deleuzian notions of ‘movement-image’ with the notions of material rhetorics. The coming together of these notions provides new pointers to the understanding of an important phase in the history of Tamil cinema for its implications on the long-running nexus between politics and films in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Deleuzian trajectory in film philosophy provides more than enough pointers to examine early Tamil cinema's attempts to construct ‘movement-images’ through rhetorical bodies. This paper seeks to examine the contexts of ‘movement-images’ and the role of ‘rhetorical bodies’ in constructing the same in Velaikari, scripted by C. N. Annadurai. Popularly known as Aringnar Anna, C. N. Annadurai was the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Founder of DMK, the party which unseated Congress from power in Tamil Nadu in 1967, and the state remains out of reach of the national parties ever since. (shrink)

For a Dalit,especially from a rural background, it is not easy to survive in the higher education system in India because it is overwhelmingly dominated by the upper caste, class, and English-speaking people. It is not uncommon for Dalit learners like us to face multiple discrimination, and even exclusion in higher educational institutions. Intersectionality between these three factors abounds in institutions of higher learning. The transition from native language to English has not been an easy task for me, for in (...) my educational journey, I have discovered that English is not just a language but also a commodity. It is becoming increasingly easy for economically well-off people to acquire education in English and dominate the spheres of educational institutions in India. They are usually considered as knowledgeable and intellectual persons. On the other hand, Dalit students also want to take education in English but, most of them are not able to do so because of their caste background and rampant discrimination. This study is based on my own experience and fieldwork at the University of Delhi through a semi-structured questionnaire. (shrink)

My artistic inquiries draw from gender and sexuality in public space and use performance as process. In inspiration, the works emerge as aesthetic responses to post-colonial, gendered public identi...

This introduction to the Madhva school of Vedanta is accessible to a wide audience with interest in Hinduism, Indian thought and in the comparative philosophy of religion.Deepak Sarma explores the philosophical foundations of Madhva Vedanta and then presents translations of actual debates between the Madhva and Advaita schools of Vedanta, thus positioning readers at the centre of the 700 year-old controversy between these two schools of Vedanta. Original texts of Madhvacarya are included in an appendix, in translation and in (...) Sanskrit. (shrink)

The Marquis de Sade has been labeled everything from a sadomasochistic pornographer to the fiction writer responsible for the ideas that led to the Nazi death camps. Must We Burn Sade? peels away the negative legacy that has shrouded Sade for too long. Deepak Narang Sawhney points out that "Sade's legacy has been neglected, recreated, fictionalized, and venerated by medical guilds, literary hacks, religious detractors, and intellectual movements. In the past two centuries, Sade has come to represent many things (...) for many people.... It is unclear whether we know Sade the writer or the apparatus which has been set up to either condemn or to sanctify his life and work." By contrast, this intriguing collection of essays seeks to examine Sade for what he was—a writer of novels and letters, a creator of plays and stories, and an author of essays and political manifestos. The contributors examine the literary, theatrical, political, social, and philosophical aspects of Sade's work, acquitting him of the false accusations and trials that have plagued his name by revealing his influences and motivations, and by providing an understanding of society's fear of Sade. What is so alarming about Sade's books that civilized society has felt compelled to disassociate itself from his works? This volume forces us to rethink Sade. Included are essays by Kathy Acker, David Allison, Georges Bataille, Catherine Cusset, Lucienne Frappier-Mazur, Annie Le Brun, Alphonso Lingis, Stephen Pfohl, Deepak Narang Sawhney, Philippe Sollers, and Alistair Welchman. (shrink)

Tucked away in the foothill of a mountain in the Kathmandu Valley, Mātā Tirtha defies the description of a sacred tirtha. It is neither situated between the confluences of two rivers nor is it dedicated to the God Viṣṇu, as are most of the tirthas in India. And yet, Mātā Tirtha continues to become popular within the valley among citizens of all faiths. What is unique about Mātā Tirtha? This paper sets out to trace its origins by examining its history, (...) folklore, and the myths that surround the sacred site. Positioned as a tirtha, it is dedicated specifically to the mother—the mothers of all men and women whose mothers have passed away. For that reason, Mātā Tirtha stands out as unique. Nothing similar is to be found in India. In terms of geography, Mātā Tirtha has a unique place in the religious landscape of the Kathmandu Valley, while its historic sanctity dates back to the seventeenth century during the reign of King Pratapa Malla. Legend, however, pushes it back to an even earlier existence. Today, visitors of all religious persuasions come to Mātā Tirtha to honor their mothers who have passed away. (shrink)

Legal judgments are complex in nature and hence a brief summary of the judgment, known as a headnote , is generated by experts to enable quick perusal. Headnote generation is a time consuming process and there have been attempts made at automating the process. The difficulty in interpreting such automatically generated summaries is that they are not coherent and do not convey the relative relevance of the various components of the judgment. A legal judgment can be segmented into coherent chunks (...) based on the rhetorical roles played by the sentences. In this paper, a comprehensive system is proposed for labeling sentences with their rhetorical roles and extracting structured head notes automatically from legal judgments. An annotated data set was created with the help of legal experts and used as training data. A machine learning technique, Conditional Random Field, is applied to perform document segmentation by identifying the rhetorical roles. The present work also describes the application of probabilistic models for the extraction of key sentences and composing the relevant chunks in the form of a headnote. The understanding of basic structures and distinct segments is shown to improve the final presentation of the summary. Moreover, by adding simple additional features the system can be extended to other legal sub-domains. The proposed system has been empirically evaluated and found to be highly effective on both the segmentation and summarization tasks. The final summary generated with underlying rhetorical roles improves the readability and efficiency of the system. (shrink)

This paper introduce a new variant of the Genetic Algorithm whichis developed to handle multivariable, multi-objective and very high search space optimization problems like the solving system of non-linear equations. It is an integer coded Genetic Algorithm with conventional cross over and mutation but with Inverse algorithm is varying its search space by varying its digit length on every cycle and it does a fine search followed by a coarse search. And its solution to the optimization problem will converge to (...) precise value over the cycles. Every equation of the system is considered as a single minimization objective function. Multiple objectives are converted to a single fitness function by summing their absolute values. Some difficult test functions for optimization and applications are used to evaluate this algorithm. The results prove that this algorithm is capable to produce promising and precise results. (shrink)

This paper attempts to show how Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric can be interpreted usefully to understand the existential dimension of communication. Heidegger’s treatment of communication as a phenomenon is ontologically broader as he locates it within the existential analytics of Dasein. Taking Heidegger’s 1924 Marburg lecture, Being and Time and other texts dealing with the problem of the being of language as theoretical sources, this study first presents the importance of Heidegger’s conception of rhetoric and (...) then shows how this throws light on the ontological aspects of communication as such. Human beings in their basic mode of existence as being-in-the-world and speaking-with-one-another is always already in communication through language. If rhetoric is a way of having the existential view about how matters present themselves in a particular manner by virtue of speaking about it with-one-another, then it is in the region of the doxa of people. Further, how existential communication works in our concrete life is demonstrated through a rhetorical analysis of the film Blow-Up. (shrink)

Higher Education has been considered as a site of knowledge, and it is a place, where one can pursue it. But, the distribution of knowledge and acquiring knowledge is controlled by various factors. For example, caste, class, language, region, religion, gender, race, etc. The two principal factors, i.e. language and caste, determine one's access and then survival in higher educational institutions. The Hegemony of English language becomes a very problematic for non-English background students in the higher educational classroom in India. (...) The hegemony of one language itself achieves the status of dominant or prestigious. The caste, class and gender also determine who are going to use the English language as a medium of instruction. In the era of modernization and globalization, caste, class and gender dynamic work inherently in the higher education. In this context, this paper gives a broader insight of language and caste-based discrimination, and it's a mechanism in the higher education set-ups. (shrink)

Reviving the Invisible Hand is an uncompromising call for a global return to a classical liberal economic order, free of interference from governments and international organizations. Arguing for a revival of the invisible hand of free international trade and global capital, eminent economist Deepak Lal vigorously defends the view that statist attempts to ameliorate the impact of markets threaten global economic progress and stability. And in an unusual move, he not only defends globalization economically, but also answers the cultural (...) and moral objections of antiglobalizers. Taking a broad cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach, Lal argues that there are two groups opposed to globalization: cultural nationalists who oppose not capitalism but Westernization, and "new dirigistes" who oppose not Westernization but capitalism. In response, Lal contends that capitalism doesn't have to lead to Westernization, as the examples of Japan, China, and India show, and that "new dirigiste" complaints have more to do with the demoralization of their societies than with the capitalist instruments of prosperity. Lal bases his case on a historical account of the rise of capitalism and globalization in the first two liberal international economic orders: the nineteenth-century British, and the post-World War II American. Arguing that the "new dirigisme" is the thin edge of a wedge that could return the world to excessive economic intervention by states and international organizations, Lal does not shrink from controversial stands such as advocating the abolishment of these organizations and defending the existence of child labor in the Third World. (shrink)

The Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin is one of the most important resource plays in the USA. The total organic carbon and brittleness can help to characterize a resource play to assist in the search for sweet spots. Higher TOC or organic content are generally associated with hydrocarbon storage and with rocks that are ductile in nature. However, brittle rocks are more amenable to fracturing with the fractures faces more resistant to proppant embedment. Productive intervals within a resource (...) play should therefore contain a judicious mix of organics and mineralogy that lends to hydraulic fracturing. Identification of these intervals through core acquisition and laboratory-based petrophysical measurements can be accurate but expensive in comparison with wireline logging. We have estimated TOC from wireline logs using Passey’s method and attained a correlation of 60%. However, errors in the baseline interpretation can lead to inaccurate TOC. Using nonlinear regression with Passey’s TOC, normalized stratigraphic height, and acquired wireline logs, the correlation increased to 80%. This regression can be applied to uncored wells with logs to estimate TOC, and we used it as a ground truth in integrated analysis of seismic and well log data. The brittleness index is computed based on core Fourier transform infrared mineralogy using Wang and Gale’s formula. The correlation between core BI and estimated BI using elastic logs combined with wireline logs was 78%. However, this correlation decreases to 66% if the BI is estimated using only wireline logs. Therefore, the later serves as a less reliable proxy. We have correlated production to volumetric estimate of TOC and brittleness by computing distance-weighted averages in 120 horizontal wells. We have obtained a production correlation of 38% on blind wells, which was encouraging, suggesting that the geologic component in completions provides an important contribution to well success. (shrink)

Martin Heidegger’s writings on modern science as well as his stray remarks on communication are important theoretical resources to understand the character and contour of, and our response to the Anthropocene epoch. John Caputo distinguishes between the early hermeneutic account of science in Heidegger’s corpus and the later deconstructive account, claiming that the former would have sufficed to fulfil the critical task of the latter without its pejorative and dismissive reading of modern science. Accepting Caputo’s distinction but rejecting his critique (...) of the deconstructive account, this paper argues that Heidegger’s abandoning of the hermeneutic account was premised on the refusal of the Western metaphysical baggage that still pervades and is endorsed in that account, a baggage which is now leading to the Anthropocene epoch and the consequent ontological communication of distress. The deconstructive approach evokes the communication of scientific phenomena in plural ways such as fictional, poetical and metaphorical narratives, thus undercutting the reductionist and monolithic character of modern science. (shrink)

This research examines the concept of entrepreneurial learning and relates it to Deepak Chopra's seven spiritual laws of success. The article first examines generic processes in motivating entrepreneurs to engage in self-directed learning projects on behalf of their businesses. Then it examines three modes of learning as they apply to practising entrepreneurs. Triple-loop learning is proposed as the deepest level of entrepreneurial learning. Triple-loop learners are considered the most likely entrepreneurs to practise the seven spiritual laws of success. Finally, (...) each of the seven laws is related back to the motives that inspire entrepreneurs to learn. (shrink)

This article featuring India constitutes one of five articles in a collection of essays on local capacity-building in research ethics by graduates from the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics MHSc in Bioethics, International Stream program funded by the Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences. Research ethics is a growing area of work and interest in India. Ethics review remains the weakest component in the mechanism of good clinical practice, and there is a severe dearth (...) of professionals trained in ethics who can provide leadership. Although the Indian Good Clinical Practice Guidelines, the Indian Medical Council Act, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act require that the Indian Council of Medical Research’s ethical guidelines be followed as a mandatory requirement for physicians who conduct research, there is a pervasive lack of awareness of basic requirements guiding the ethical conduct of research. There is a great need to strengthen India’s research ethics capacity and regulatory framework for research. (shrink)

In photoreceptors of a dark adapted eye, the inward flux of sodium and calcium ions in the outer segment is balanced by the outward flux of potassium ions. But in the presence of light the creation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in the outer segment decreases. Due to low concentration of cG the channels in the outer segment open relatively less and thus the influx of calcium ion decreases, leading finally to hyperpolarization of the photoreceptors. We have analyzed theoretically the effect (...) of oxidizing iron ions on the photoreceptors. In order to explain the effects of iron-induced oxidative stress, the different molecules and ions involved in phototransduction are quantified leading to a differential equation for calculating the electroretinogram a-wave voltage. The theoretical results are compared with published experimental data. In the presence of light, the iron ions could push outward the similarly charged calcium ions resulting in a small increase in the amount of inward calcium flux. Again, the presence of iron ions generates Reactive Oxygen Species, and ROS could attract the calcium ions which also increases the calcium flux. This will result in a reduction in the amplitude and slope of the a-wave voltage in the electroretinogram. These results are parametrized in terms of calcium ion concentrations. As the amplitude of the a-wave shows how much electrical signal is produced, its reduction indicates reduction in the visual signal. Thus, the increase in iron ions could explain the reduction in the electrical signal due to iron-induced oxidative stress. (shrink)

Not much work has been done on Hindu bioethics other than by a select few scholars and medical doctors. Professor Cromwell Crawford, author of Dilemmas of Life and Death: Hindu Ethics in a North American Context and Hindu Ethics for the Twenty-first Century, for example, is well known in the field of Hindu bioethics. Others scholars include Dr. Uma Mysorekar, who is a gynecologist as well as the president of the board of trustees of the Ganesha Temple of Flushing New (...) York. She has published several short pieces on Hindu bioethics, and has even been interviewed by PBS for their “Religion and Ethics” program. Dr. H. L. Trivedi, director of the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center at the Civil Hospital Campus in Ahmedabad, India, is also prominent. His pithy paragraph in Transplant Proceedings on Hinduism and organ transplantation is cited with enormous frequency on the Internet and elsewhere. These thinkers, however, are unequivocally wrong in their position that Hinduism supports organ transplantation, and, more importantly, that it offers any coherent or systematic bioethics whatsoever. (shrink)

The author offers a commentary on the question, “Are there Hindu bioethics?” After deconstructing the term “Hindu,” the author shows that there are indeed no Hindu bioethics. He shows that from a classical and Brahminical perspective, medicine is an inappropriate and impure profession.

Death Cafés are non-profit social franchises that arise spontaneously in communities to serve as informal forums for discussing death. There is a great need within the medical community for the kind of conversation that Death Cafés foster: open, unstructured, spontaneous, genuine and interdisciplinary dialogue. Burnout in healthcare, with symptoms of exhaustion, depersonalisation and decreased efficacy, is a global crisis, with alarming estimates suggesting one in three practicing physicians experience burnout. While open-forum community-based Death Cafés exist widely, there appears to be (...) no evidence in the literature to suggest that healthcare settings have adapted this model for fostering debriefings among hospital employees. We have started hospital-based Death Cafés in a large, public, urban-centre, Level I Trauma centre in the Gulf South in an effort to study healthcare worker burnout. In this brief commentary, we introduce the concept of hospital-based Death Cafés as distinct from community-based Death Cafés. From our experience, hospital-based Death Cafés are easy to implement, inexpensive, require little planning and yet offer tremendous reward to participants. Should the phenomenon of Death Cafés take off in hospitals as it has in communities internationally, we propose that this intervention be studied for its effect on healthcare worker burnout. (shrink)

During the past two decades, geoscientists have used machine learning to produce a more quantitative reservoir characterization and discover hidden patterns in their data. However, as the complexity of these models increases, the sensitivity of their results to the choice of the input data becomes more challenging. Measuring how the model uses the input data to perform either a classification or regression task provides an understanding of the data-to-geology relationships which indicates how confident we are in the prediction. To provide (...) such insight, the ML community has developed local interpretable model-agnostic explanations and Shapley additive explanations tools. In this study, we train a random forest architecture using a suite of seismic attributes as input to differentiate among mass transport deposits, salt, and conformal siliciclastic sediments in a Gulf of Mexico data set. We apply SHAP to understand how the model uses the input seismic attributes to identify target seismic facies and examine in what manner variations in the input, such as adding band-limited random noise or applying a Kuwahara filter, impact the model predictions. During our global analysis, we find that the attribute importance is dynamic, and it changes based on the quality of the seismic attributes and the seismic facies analyzed. For our data volume and target facies, attributes measuring changes in dip and energy show the largest importance for all cases in our sensitivity analysis. We note that to discriminate between the seismic facies, the ML architecture learns a “set of rules” in multiattribute space, and overlap among MTDs, salt, and conformal sediments might exist based on the seismic attribute analyzed. Finally, using SHAP at a voxel scale, we understand why certain areas of interest were misclassified by the algorithm and perform an in-context interpretation to analyze how changes in the geology impacted the model predictions. (shrink)