BackgroundWith the emergence of Brain Computer Interfaces, clinicians have been facing a new group of patients with severe acquired brain injury who are unable to show any behavioral sign of consciousness but respond to active neuroimaging or electrophysiological paradigms. However, even though well documented, there is still no consensus regarding the nomenclature for this clinical entity.ObjectivesThis systematic review aims to 1) identify the terms used to indicate the presence of this entity through the years, and 2) promote an informed discussion (...) regarding the rationale for these names and the best candidates to name this fascinating disorder.MethodsThe Disorders of Consciousness Special Interest Group of the International Brain Injury Association launched a search on Pubmed and Google scholar following PRISMA guidelines to collect peer-reviewed articles and reviews on human adults published in English between 2006 and 2021.ResultsThe search launched in January 2021 identified 4,089 potentially relevant titles. After screening, 1,126 abstracts were found relevant. Finally, 161 manuscripts were included in our analyses. Only 58% of the manuscripts used a specific name to discuss this clinical entity, among which 32% used several names interchangeably throughout the text. We found 25 different names given to this entity. The five following names were the ones the most frequently used: covert awareness, cognitive motor dissociation, functional locked-in, non-behavioral MCS and higher-order cortex motor dissociation.ConclusionSince 2006, there has been no agreement regarding the taxonomy to use for unresponsive patients who are able to respond to active neuroimaging or electrophysiological paradigms. Developing a standard taxonomy is an important goal for future research studies and clinical translation. We recommend a Delphi study in order to build such a consensus. (shrink)

Bu çalışma İslam’da i‘adetü’l-ma‘dûm (var olmayanın yeniden yaratılması) üzerine olan tartışmaların gelişimini, i‘adetü’l-ma‘dûm fikrini, bu fikrin reddedilmesi ve kabul edilmesinin arkasında yatan sebepleri ve mümkün olup olmadığı hakkındaki delilleri sunar. İade, yok edilmiş bir varlığı kimliğini koruyarak yeni- den yaratma eylemine dayanmaktadır. İbn Sînâ öncesi kelâmcıların çoğu iadenin imkânını kabul eder fakat bir aslî (ma‘dûmun sübûtu) ve bir de ferî meselede (belli varlık sınıflarının iade edilebilmesi) ihtilaf ederler. İadeyi kabul etmek kelâmcıların cismânî bir antropoloji ile yeniden dirilmenin imkânını uzlaştırmalarını sağlamıştır. (...) İbn Sînâ, iadenin imkânına karşı üç ana delilden oluşan etkili bir delil ortaya koymuştur: bu delil, (ma‘dûmun sâbit olmaması göz önüne alınacak olursa) sezgiden, iade edilen varlığın eşdeğer kopya- sından ayırt edilemezliğinden ve zamanın iadesinin yol açtığı çelişkilerden oluşur. İbn Sînâ öncesi düşünce ekollerinden sadece Eş‘arîler iadenin imkânını savunmuştur. Klasik sonrası dönemin tartışmaları İbn Sînâ ve mütekaddimûn kelâmcılar tarafından ana hatları çizilen cedelî bir asıl üzerine inşa edilmiş daha karmaşık formülasyonları (modal değişmezlik argümanı), itirazları, cevapları ve aynı zamanda hem iadeyi destekleyen (tasavvurî parçaların imkânı, hatırlama, varsayımsal imkân) hem de iadeye karşı olan (ara boşluk, illetlerin iadesi) bütünüyle yeni bazı argümanları öne sürer. (shrink)

Background: Evidence suggesting adverse drug reactions often emerges unsystematically and unpredictably in form of anecdotal reports, case series and survey data. Safety trials and observational studies also provide crucial information regarding the (un-)safety of drugs. Hence, integrating multiple types of pharmacovigilance evidence is key to minimising the risks of harm. Methods: In previous work, we began the development of a Bayesian framework for aggregating multiple types of evidence to assess the probability of a putative causal link between drugs and side (...) effects. This framework arose out of a philosophical analysis of the Bradford Hill Guidelines. In this article, we expand the Bayesian framework and add “evidential modulators,” which bear on the assessment of the reliability of incoming study results. The overall framework for evidence synthesis, “E-Synthesis”, is then applied to a case study. Results: Theoretically and computationally, E-Synthesis exploits coherence of partly or fully independent evidence converging towards the hypothesis of interest (or of conflicting evidence with respect to it), in order to update its posterior probability. With respect to other frameworks for evidence synthesis, our Bayesian model has the unique feature of grounding its inferential machinery on a consolidated theory of hypothesis confirmation (Bayesian epistemology), and in allowing any data from heterogeneous sources (cell-data, clinical trials, epidemiological studies), and methods (e.g., frequentist hypothesis testing, Bayesian adaptive trials, etc.) to be quantitatively integrated into the same inferential framework. Conclusions: E-Synthesis is highly flexible concerning the allowed input, while at the same time relying on a consistent computational system, that is philosophically and statistically grounded. Furthermore, by introducing evidential modulators, and thereby breaking up the different dimensions of evidence (strength, relevance, reliability), E-Synthesis allows them to be explicitly tracked in updating causal hypotheses. (shrink)

(No abstract is available for this citation).

La fundamental idea orteguiana de que «mi vida» es «razón», difiere radicalmente de la concepción fenomenológica de la razón que alumbra Husserl en Ideen, esencialmente fundada en el ser. La razón vital es teoría del hombre, que es su proyecto circunstancial; su estímulo argumental procede de una reflexión estética sobre todo orientada a la comprensión del realismo y del idealismo artísticos, y cuyas consecuencias filosóficas serán decisivas.

Multidimensional theories of well-being are locked into a debate about value judgment. They seek to settle which dimensions should matter for measurement and policy, and, more importantly, on what grounds to decide what should matter. Moreover, there is a gulf between theory and practice, given that measurement and policy are rarely rooted in a coherent ethical framework. Our paper engages in the debate concerning the legitimate grounds for selecting dimensions. Combining Amartya Sen's capability approach and John Rawls’ method of political (...) constructivism, we explore whether the constitution and its public culture can be used as an ethically sound informational base for selecting dimensions, and if so, why. We apply this ‘constitutional approach’ to the Italian case with the aim of deriving a set of publicly justifiable dimensions of well-being. It is a long-standing Constitution with broad public consultation at its base, which still enjoys a wide consensus. We seek to show why there is a need for more ethically sound methodological approaches to measuring well-being, pointing out the advantages of the constitutional approach, and how it may enrich the work of practitioners engaged in the policies of well-being. (shrink)

La experiencia de la pobreza llama a la economía a humanizarse y a la filosofía a pensar etimológicamente desde las “normas de la casa”. Se descubre, entonces, el sentido de las épocas y de las generaciones filosóficas, la razón de su fecundidad y de su pobreza, así como la relación entre estas y la justicia.

This chapter proposed a novel design methodology called Value-Sensitive Design and its potential application to the field of artificial intelligence research and design. It discusses the imperatives in adopting a design philosophy that embeds values into the design of artificial agents at the early stages of AI development. Because of the high risk stakes in the unmitigated design of artificial agents, this chapter proposes that even though VSD may turn out to be a less-than-optimal design methodology, it currently provides a (...) framework that has the potential to embed stakeholder values and incorporate current design methods. The reader should begin to take away the importance of a proactive design approach to intelligent agents. (shrink)

Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) are robotic weapons systems, primarily of value to the military, that could engage in offensive or defensive actions without human intervention. This paper assesses and engages the current arguments for and against the use of LAWs through the lens of achieving more ethical warfare. Specific interest is given particularly to ethical LAWs, which are artificially intelligent weapons systems that make decisions within the bounds of their ethics-based code. To ensure that a wide, but not exhaustive, survey (...) of the implications of employing such ethical devices to replace humans in warfare is taken into account, this paper will engage on matters related to current scholarship on the rejection or acceptance of LAWs—including contemporary technological shortcomings of LAWs to differentiate between targets and the behavioral and psychological volatility of humans—and current and proposed regulatory infrastructures for developing and using such devices. After careful consideration of these factors, this paper will conclude that only ethical LAWs should be used to replace human involvement in war, and, by extension of their consistent abilities, should remove humans from war until a more formidable discovery is made in conducting ethical warfare. (shrink)

Panarchy is a normative political meta-theory that advocates non-territorial states founded on actual social contracts that are explicitly negotiated and signed between states and their prospective citizens. The explicit social contract, or a constitution, sets the terms under which a state may use coercion against its citizens and the conditions under which the contract may be annulled, revised, rescinded, or otherwise exited from. Panarchy does not advocate any particular model of the state or social justice, but intends to encourage political (...) variety, innovation, experimentation, and choice. With its emphasis on explicit social contracts, Panarchy offers an interesting variation on traditional social contract theories. Today, Panarchist political thought is particularly relevant and interesting in the context of globalization, increased international migration, the weakening of national sovereignty, the rise of the internet "cloud" as a non-territorial locus of political and protopolitical social networks that are not geographic, the invention of cryptocurrencies that may replace national currencies, and the rise of urban centers where people of many different political identities live and work together. This is the first volume to bring together key philosophically and politically interesting yet often overlooked Panarchist texts. From the first published translation of de Puydt seminal 1860 article to contemporary Silicon Valley political theory, the volume includes Panarchist texts from different eras, cultures and geographical regions. The amassed wealth of theoretical insight enables readers to compare different texts in this tradition of political thought and distinguish different streams and varieties within this political tradition, in comparison with Cosmopolitanism, Contractarianism, and Anarchism. (shrink)

The right to ‘domestic remedies’, which ideally connects ‘subsidiarity’ and ‘embeddedness’ of the ECHR in the legal systems of member States, is deemed to play a crucial role for the Strasbourg machinery survival as well as for an effective protection of human rights, especially in the field of the ‘reasonable-time’ requirement. In this respect the Italian case seems an excellent test. Once a compensatory remedy was introduced in the Italian legal system by Law No. 80 of 2001 (the ‘Pinto Act’), (...) it soon appeared that such a remedy could be considered ‘effective’ in so far as it was implemented in accordance with the ECtHR’s jurisprudence. Therefore a legal tool for the interaction between ECtHR and Italian courts had to be found. Nevertheless, the results of this interaction might suggest that the domestic remedy has neither increased the protection of the reasonable-time requirement in Italy nor is it the final solution to the ECtHR’s overload. (shrink)

. This article analyses some of the anatomical waxes in the Museo della Specola in Florence. Executed in at least two different periods in the history of Florentine wax modelling, they project culturally determined images of the body which are analysed from a historico-semiotic perspective. “Rotten corpses,” a “disembowelled woman” and a “flayed man” emerge as salient figures in the collection and reveal the close tie between anatomical representations and aesthetics, social relations and religious scruples, in other words, the culture (...) tout court which produced them. (shrink)

Cultural diversity between residents and staff is significant in aged care homes in many developed nations in the context of international migration. This diversity can be a challenge to achieving effective cross‐cultural communication. The aim of this study was to critically examine how staff and residents initiated effective cross‐cultural communication and social cohesion that enabled positive changes to occur. A critical hermeneutic analysis underpinned by Giddens’ Structuration Theory was applied to the study. Data were collected by interviews with residents or (...) their family and by focus groups with staff in four aged care homes in Australia. Findings reveal that residents and staff are capable of restructuring communication via a partnership approach. They can also work in collaboration to develop communication resources. When staff demonstrate cultural humility, they empower residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to engage in effective communication. Findings also suggest that workforce interventions are required to improve residents’ experiences in cross‐cultural care. This study challenges aged care homes to establish policies, criteria and procedures in cross‐cultural communication. There is also the challenge to provide ongoing education and training for staff to improve their cross‐cultural communication capabilities. (shrink)

BackgroundPositive psychosocial factors can play an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease. Among them, psychological resilience is defined as the capacity of responding positively to stressful events. Our aim was to assess whether PR is associated with CVD or metabolic disturbances through a systematic review.MethodsWe gathered articles from PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar up to October 28, 2021. We included articles that were in English, were observational, and had PR examined as exposure. The CVD outcomes (...) were either clinical or metabolic outcomes.ResultsOur literature search identified 3,800 studies, of which 17 met the inclusion criteria. Of them, seven were longitudinal and 10 cross-sectional, and 13 were on adults and four on children. The exposure assessment was heterogeneous, i.e., 12 studies used different kinds of self-administered questionnaires and five used interviews with a psychologist. Regarding outcomes, five studies investigated CVD, seven obesity, one metabolic syndrome, two hypertension, four dyslipidemia, and four diabetes. In longitudinal studies, PR was found to have an inverse association with included outcomes in five studies from the Swedish military conscription cohort but had no association with CVD in a study on African-American women and was associated with slower progression of diabetes in a general population. The cross-sectional studies showed that the prevalence of disease was not associated with PR in many cases but the progression of disease was associated with PR.ConclusionPR seems to have a possibly favorable association with CVD and metabolic disturbances that differs according to the type of outcome and population. Our study limitations are given by the small number of studies available and the heterogeneity in PR measurement.Systematic Review Registration[https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=237109], identifier [CRD42021237109]. (shrink)

En los reproches que José Ortega y Gasset le hace a Martin Heidegger sobre el problema del ser, al afirmar que este no puede ser un ciego punto de partida, una creencia, se evidencia la distancia entre dos perspectivas unidas por el horizonte real que pretenden explorar: la vida humana. Sin embargo,..

For a better understanding of Julián Marías’ Metaphysic Antropology, it is recommendable going back to the Ortega’s mereology, epistemology and metaphysic, especially in order to clarify the meaning of “structure”, “system”, “organ” and “function”. The vital reason is personal project as the systematic openness to its circumstance, whose unitary, empirical and structural structure is “man”.

«Hermeneutic» means interpretation, that is, looking from a point of view. In this study we try to interpret from the vital reason, the method of Ortega y Gasset, his and his disciple Julián Marías, the Aristotelian concept of «substance». If life is the radical reality, as Ortega stresses, and the person its programmatic realization, in Marías’ opinion, a vital reason of the concept of οὐσία, means to discover its capacity to understand human life. We will find, as a matter of (...) fact, that there are four limits, essentially, that distance the philosopher from that comprehension. By them, we will find the core of the greatest contradictions of the Aristotelian thought, that has been subject to intense critics throughout its history. We will concern, especially, on the function of language in the Greek conception of reason, on the interpretations that brought to «being» and «entity» as Aristotle’s thought starting point «Hermenéutica» significa interpretar, mirar desde un punto de vista. En este estudio buscamos interpretar desde la «razón vital», el método de Ortega y Gasset y su discípulo Julián Marías, el concepto aristotélico de «sustancia». Si la vida es la realidad radical, como afirma Ortega, y la persona es su realización programática, según entiende Marías, una razón vital de la οὐσία significa descubrir su capacidad de comprensión para con la vida humana. Encontraremos, entonces, que hay esencialmente cuatro límites que desvían de esa comprensión; mediante ellos, habremos encontrado el núcleo de importantes contradicciones del pensamiento aristotélico que han sido objeto de encendidos debates a lo largo de la historia. Nos centraremos, sobre todo, en la función del lenguaje en la concepción de la razón griega, en los supuestos interpretativos del «ser» y del «ente» como puntos de partida del pensamiento de Aristóteles . (shrink)

La filosofía de Brentano, más conocida por introducir el antiguo concepto de intencionalidad para distinguir los fenómenos psíquicos de los físicos, acaba siendo una peculiar metafísica en que el objeto es función de la actividad autoperceptiva del sujeto. Los conceptos de juicio como reconocimiento y de conciencia secundaria como percepción interna tienen un papel fundamental en este proceso, porque establecen, desde el comienzo de su doctrina, un ámbito de realidad indudable en que se cumple el concepto clásico de verdad como (...) adaequatio rei et intellectus; si bien con un sentido esencialmente original porque el perceptor resulta ser, a la vez, el percibido. Finalmente, pasando por una comparación con la fenomenología, podremos comprender que esta nueva relación que introduce Brentano entre sujeto y objeto se acerca a las concepciones pragmatistas, anticipando, en su sentido más profundo, importantes cambios filosóficos del existencialismo del siglo XX y de la razón vital. (shrink)

Né vers 1600 en Italie, l'opéra encourait les foudres de Marcello dès 1720. L'ouverture des salles au public, les nécessités commerciales et le vedettariat l'avaient éloigné des idéaux qui présidèrent à sa naissance. L'opuscule de Benedetto Marcello aborde, sur le ton de la dérision et de la satire, tous les aspects de l'opéra, du livret à la musique, en passant par les chanteurs, les compositeurs, les directeurs de théâtre, la mise en scène, etc. Le texte méritait une nouvelle traduction française (...) (la dernière datait de la fin du dix-neuvième siècle), plus précise et plus complète, car le savant compositeur de l'Estro poetico-armonico y déploie une verve irrésistible, proche de celle dont se servira Carlo Goldoni dans l'imprésario de Smyrne. Cette satire représente l'étincelle qui allait embraser le flambeau de la réforme par le biais du comte Francesco Algarotti (1712-1764) poète et écrivain. Son Essai sur l'Opéra en musique contient en effet tous les points importants sur lesquels Calzabigi et Gluck allaient asseoir leur reconstruction : choix du livret, rôle de la poésie et de la musique, rôle des chanteurs, du compositeur, moyens et contrôle artistiques des productions. La traduction française qu'un fit Chastellux en 1773, nonobstant sa finesse et son élégance, fait pourtant figure de " belle infidèle ". Force nous était donc d'élaborer là encore une nouvelle traduction de ce texte fondateur. A côté de ces deux grands titres, nous avons réuni un dossier important d'écrits émanant des acteurs de la réforme : Métastase, Angiolini, Calzabigi, Gluck et Du Roullet. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:“It’s not true, but I believe it”: Discussions on jettatura in Naples between the End of the Eighteenth and Beginning of the Nineteenth CenturiesFrancesco Paolo de CegliaIntroduction: What is Jettatura?Non èvero...ma ci credo (“It’s not true... but I believe it”) is the title of a comedy by the Italian actor and playwright, Peppino De Filippo, younger brother of the more famous Eduardo, which was staged for the first time (...) in 1942. The narrated events take place in the twentieth century and concern Gervasio Savastano, a Neapolitan businessman who is tormented by the fear of jettatura. The character, victim of grotesque events, first sacks a worker, believing him to be a jettatore, and then hires another, who is a hunchback and so should bring him good luck. In the end, however, it is discovered that the presumed jettatore has never harmed anyone and that the hunchback is not what he seems: he has stuffed his jacket in order to enter into the good graces of the gullible businessman and marry his daughter, with whom he has planned a con trick. The “lucky” events ascribed to his presence can therefore be considered casual. The epilogue? In keeping with the logic of compromise, typical of the brothers De Filippo’s theater, even though the character is rationally convinced of the unfounded nature of his beliefs, he remains adamant: “It’s not true, but I believe it” in other words.1 [End Page 75]“Where I come from, jettatura rules,” wrote the journalist and scriptwriter Giuseppe Marotta in 1947. Indeed, it is still a part of popular Neapolitan culture today.2 Often confused with similar beliefs, such as fascination (fascino) and the evil eye (malocchio), jettatura assumed its present form between the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, at a time when a polite debate on its nature was taking shape in the city. In this period, the epistemological pluralism animating the discussions was translated into a variety of interpretative hypotheses and literary genres, in which grotesque atmospheres and spirited quips also found room, all perfectly in line with what could be considered the Weltanschauung of Savastano. It is the purpose of this article to examine these discussions, which even spread the term abroad and, with it, the “local color” of the concept.Nineteenth-century European writers on jettatura knew the Neapolitan authors well, and either quoted them explicitly or associated them with characters whose names were a deformation of real people’s: for example, Volitta for Valletta (Stendhal), don Jo (Stendhal) or Ojori (Dumas) for De Jorio. They explained that jettatura corresponded to the more familiar evil eye, but they left the term in Italian, as if to underline the fact that it was untranslatable.Is jettatura a mere anthropological issue, linked to a “primitive” culture, in the face of which official science would remain refractory? A belief that could not be exported or shared by those educated in more “highly developed” contexts? Well, in part, yes. Nevertheless, in the 1840s there was a visitor to Naples who expressed himself in the following terms: “When a foreigner arrives in Naples, at first he laughs at jettatura, then, little by little, he becomes troubled by it, and finally, after a stay of three months, you will see him covered in horns and with his right hand forever clenched [to ward off evil].”3 [End Page 76]So wrote the novelist Alexandre Dumas, père, one of the many travellers who, after having completed the Grand Tour of southern Italy, decided to describe its picturesque scenes and backward customs.4 Creating a veritable topos of travel literature, in the same period the philologist Karl August Mayer commented, “often foreigners let themselves be influenced” by local “superstitions.”5 Indeed many of them were captivated by these Neapolitan beliefs, despite their desire to remain objective and detached; and so they were “converted,” and driven to seek scientific explanations, often after meeting “a Real Jettatore,” whose image had nothing in common with the exotic fantasies of “a French Novelist’s Idea of Jettatore.”6Actually, Dumas and Mayer probably exaggerated somewhat in order to make their descriptions more... (shrink)

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a stroke effectiveness test in table tennis based on the temporal game structure to assess the ball speed and ball placement of the players, with a purpose to analyze its reproducibility and validity. Methods: Nineteen male table tennis players participated in this study. The test was performed twice during the first session and once during the second session to assess the intrasession and intersession reproducibility, respectively. Moreover, the test was examined on its ability to (...) discriminate between regional and local performance-level players and on the relationship between the test results and the table tennis performance to assess the discriminant and concurrent validity, respectively. In general, the test consisted of 11 simulated rallies of 2–5 balls with the effort and rest ratio of 0.5, and focused on attack with offensive strokes at defensive balls delivered by a robot randomly between the left and right positions on the table. Results: Ball speed, ball placement, and ball speed-ball placement index showed satisfactory reliability and agreement outcomes. Additionally, the Bland-Altman plots show the systematic error of the analyses closer to 0, and that most values were within the limits of agreements. Concerning validity analyses, regional players had higher scores of ball placement and ball speed-ball placement index as well as made fewer errors than local players. Moreover, ball placement, ball speed-ball placement index, and percentage error presented a strong and significant correlation with table tennis performance. However, ball speed was slightly different between the regional than local players and this variable was not related to table tennis performance. Conclusion: Our findings show evidences that the test is reproducible. Moreover, discriminant and concurrent validity are confirmed for ball placement and ball speed-ball placement index. (shrink)

This study represents an empirical, comprehensive investigation of two different inter-organisational collaborative approaches, offering a novel perspective on collaborative circular business models in the modern economy. In this vein, we explore how open innovation strategies foster the implementation of circular economy practices within a circular supply chain and a circular ecosystem. In addition, we identify and characterise stakeholders' roles in facilitating the translation of circular principles into a viable business. An inductive theorising approach was employed, leveraging an explorative multiple case (...) study methodology. Data were collected from 13 organisations involved in two collaborative networks, designed to establish upcycling practices to recover waste from the food and beverage industry. A critical realist philosophical positioning underpinned researchers' data collection and analysis. As a result, we outline the nature of two different collaborative approaches to pursue a regenerative production system through open innovation strategies: a circular supply chain and a circular ecosystem architecture. The characterisation of the coordinator and orchestrator of collaborative circular business models is also highlighted in our findings. In sum, this study contributes to the literature on circular economy by unveiling the role of open innovation in fostering circular business development. From a practical standpoint, it offers insights for managers of sustainability-oriented companies willing to implement upcycling practices. (shrink)

. The subject of this paper is Georg Ernst Stahl's reflections on epilepsy. In the German physician's work, the concept of disease is stratified: it is the morbid idea which causes dysfunctions in the animal economy, as well as irregular motion, overabundance and ultimately an alteration of the corporeal humours. In particular, epilepsy is an affection deriving from an altered functioning of the bodily motions, caused by abnormal blood flow, intestinal worms, anatomical defects, foreign bodies, and the passions of the (...) soul. While a certain medical tradition attributed a nervous origin to epilepsy, Stahl, giving it a humoural genesis, openly shows the theoretical premises on which his physiology rests. So, Stahlian physiology appears to be a non-mechanistic, teleological-inspired, hydraulicism. (shrink)

Personalized medicine relies on two points: 1) causal knowledge about the possible effects of X in a given statistical population; 2) assignment of the given individual to a suitable reference class. Regarding point 1, standard approaches to causal inference are generally considered to be characterized by a trade-off between how confidently one can establish causality in any given study (internal validity) and extrapolating such knowledge to specific target groups (external validity). Regarding point 2, it is uncertain which reference class leads (...) to the most reliable inferences. -/- Instead, pharmacovigilance focuses on both elements of the individual prediction at the same time, that is, the establishment of the possible causal link between a given drug and an observed adverse event, and the identification of possible subgroups, where such links may arise. We develop an epistemic framework that exploits the joint contribution of different dimensions of evidence and allows one to deal with the reference class problem not only by relying on statistical data about covariances, but also by drawing on causal knowledge. That is, the probability that a given individual will face a given side effect, will probabilistically depend on his characteristics and the plausible causal models in which such features become relevant. The evaluation of the causal models is grounded on the available evidence and theory. (shrink)

Esiste un confine certo tra vita e morte? Il volume ripercorre, con un approccio transculturale, la storia della definizione di morte e le vicende connesse alle tecniche di accertamento del decesso dall'antichità ai giorni nostri. Da sempre, infatti, medici, filosofi e teologi si sono sforzati di individuare il momento preciso dell'exitus, l'istante in cui, secondo la tradizione, l'anima avrebbe lasciato il corpo. Nondimeno, soglie e parametri stabiliti da una generazione furono spesso posti in discussione e ridisegnati dalla successiva. Alimentato dai (...) successi conseguiti nelle tecniche rianimative e nella trapiantologia, il dibattito ha conosciuto una fase di grande vivacità proprio negli ultimi decenni, tanto che, pur avendo in genere abbandonato - o, perlomeno, ridimensionato - considerazioni su principi metafisici, la definizione di morte appare ancor oggi come un oggetto di negoziazione scientifica e bioetica. (shrink)

Two quantum Macro-states and their Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions (MQS) localized in two far apart, space-like separated sites can be non-locally correlated by any entangled couple of single-particles having interacted in the past. This novel “Macro-Macro” paradigm is investigated on the basis of a recent study on an entangled Micro-Macro system involving N≈105 particles. Crucial experimental issues as the violation of Bell’s inequalities by the Macro-Macro system are considered.

A pesar de los matices y variaciones de significado, el concepto husserliano de intencionalidad no deja de estar al servicio de la idea clásica de la verdad como adaequatio, finalmente adaptada al orden monádico de la conciencia trascendental. Veremos, sin embargo, que en los análisis de Husserl sobre la conciencia interna del tiempo se manifiesta toda la dificultad para interpretar intencionalmente la esfera pasiva de la conciencia, peligrando la peculiar vocación a la verdad de la misma intencionalidad. Intentaremos, mediante las (...) últimas ideas husserlianas sobre la constitución eidética, encontrar una génesis pasiva del sentido ideal intencional sin perder su referencia egológica. Abstract: Despite the nuances and differences of meaning, the husserlian’s concept of intentionality supplies coherently that of classic true as adaequatio, even if adapted to the monadic order of transcendental conscience. We will show how Husserl’s analysis of inner time consciousness shows all the difficulties for an intentional interpretation of the passive sphere of consciousness, altering the peculiar vocation of intentionality to truth. Through the latest husserlian ideas on constitution, we will try to find a passive genesis to the ideal meaning of intentionality without losing its egologic reference. -/- . (shrink)

The meaning of justice can be defined according to a juridical, human, theological, ethical, biomedical, or social perspective. It should guarantee the protection of life and health, personal, civil, political, economic, and religious rights, as well as non-discrimination, inclusion, protection, and access to care. In this review, we deal with three theoretical concepts that define justice in all its aspects. (1) The utilitarian theory, which justifies moral statements on the basis of the evaluation of the consequences that an action produces, (...) elaborating a pragmatic model of medical science. (2) The libertarian theory, which considers freedom as the highest political aim, thus absolutizing the rights of the individual; here, the principle of self-determination, with respect to which the principle of permission/consent is the fundamental presupposition, plays a central role in the definition of the person. (3) The iusnaturalist theory, in which man’s moral freedom is identified with the ability to act by choosing what the intellect indicates to him as good; the natural moral law that drives every conscience to do good is therefore realized in respect for the person in the fullness of his rights. In conclusion, different forms and conceptions of justice correspond to different organizations of society and different ways of addressing ethical issues in the biomedical domain. (shrink)