We show here that the first order theory of the positive integers equipped with multiplication remains decidable when one adds to the language the usual order restricted to the prime numbers. We see moreover that the complexity of the latter theory is a tower of exponentials, of height O(n).

We consider scenarios with distributed decision processes, e.g., coupled majorities and personal union in parliament chambers, supranational decisions and supervisory boards. When computing the adoption rate for reaching a decision in these scenarios, multiple linear inequality restrictions in combinatorial countings are present. These rates cannot be computed in closed form. We introduce a general method for incorporating multiple inequality conditions in multiple majority decisions, which significantly reduces the number of involved summations and removes restrictions on the summation indices. Exact solutions (...) are provided through integral representations which can be evaluated numerically, and unrestricted, contracted sums over discrete events. Further, we provide methods to reduce the number of necessary summations by splitting or recurring the original problem to easier sub-problems. For five dedicated scenarios, full results are given which indeed require a single unrestricted summation only. (shrink)

Multiply realizable properties are those whose realizers are physically diverse. It is often argued that theories which contain them are ipso facto irreducible. These arguments assume that physical explanations are restricted to the most specific descriptions possible of physical entities. This assumption is descriptively false, and philosophically unmotivated. I argue that it is a holdover from the late positivist axiomatic view of theories. A semantic view of theories, by contrast, correctly allows scientific explanations to be couched in the most (...) perspicuous, powerful language available. On a semantic view, traditional notions of multiple realizability are thus very hard to motivate. At best, one must abandon either the idea that multiple realizability is an interesting scientific notion, or else admit that multiply realizable properties do not automatically block scientific reductions. (shrink)

The problem of multiple-computations discovered by Hilary Putnam presents a deep difficulty for functionalism (of all sorts, computational and causal). We describe in out- line why Putnam’s result, and likewise the more restricted result we call the Multiple- Computations Theorem, are in fact theorems of statistical mechanics. We show why the mere interaction of a computing system with its environment cannot single out a computation as the preferred one amongst the many computations implemented by the system. We explain why (...) nonreductive approaches to solving the multiple- computations problem, and in particular why computational externalism, are dualistic in the sense that they imply that nonphysical facts in the environment of a computing system single out the computation. We discuss certain attempts to dissolve Putnam’s unrestricted result by appealing to systems with certain kinds of input and output states as a special case of computational externalism, and show why this approach is not workable without collapsing to behaviorism. We conclude with some remarks about the nonphysical nature of mainstream approaches to both statistical mechanics and the quantum theory of measurement with respect to the singling out of partitions and observables. (shrink)

Dysregulation of lipid metabolism is a commonly observed feature associated with metabolic syndrome and leads to the development of negative health outcomes such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease, or atherosclerosis. Time‐restricted feeding/eating (TRF/TRE), an emerging dietary intervention, has been shown to promote pleiotropic health benefits including the alteration of diurnal expression of genes associated with lipid metabolism, as well as levels of lipid species. Although TRF likely induces a response in multiple organs leading to the modulation (...) of lipid metabolism, a majority of the studies related to TRF effects on lipids have focused only on individual tissues, and furthermore there is a lack of insight into potential underlying mechanisms. In this review, we summarize the current insights regarding TRF effects on lipid metabolism and the potential mechanisms in adipose tissue, liver, skeletal muscle, and heart, and conclude by outlining possible avenues for future exploration. (shrink)

A representation methodology for knowledge allowing multiple interpretations is described. It is based on the following conception of legal knowledge and its open texture. Since indeterminate, legal knowledge must be adapted to fit the circumstances of the cases to which it is applied. Whether a certain adaptation is lawful or not is measured by metaknowledge. But as this too is indeterminate, its adaptation to the case must be measured by metametaknowledge, etc. This hierarchical model of law is quite well-established and (...) may serve well as a basis for a legal knowledge system. To account for the indeterminacy of law such a system should support the construction of different arguments for and against various interpretations of legal sources. However, automatizing this reasoning fully is unsound since it would imply a restriction to arguments defending interpretations anticipated at programming time. Therefore, the system must be interactive and the user''s knowledge be furnished in a principled way. Contrary to the widespread opinion that classical logic is inadequate for representing open-textured knowledge, the framework outlined herein is given a formalization in first order logic. (shrink)

Abstract -/- Quantifier domain restriction (QDR) and two versions of nominal restriction (NR) are implemented as restrictions that depend on a previously introduced interpreter and interpretation time in a two-dimensional semantic framework on the basis of simple type theory and categorial grammar. Against Stanley (2002) it is argued that a suitable version of QDR can deal with superlatives like tallest. However, it is shown that NR is needed to account for utterances when the speaker intends to convey different restrictions for (...) multiple uses of the same quantifying determiner. We argue that NR generally fares better with such examples but also observe that examples like Every sailor waves at every sailor might be pragmatically anomalous. An account of contextual domain restriction is proposed that (i) excludes these anomalous readings (but it is shown how they could be included), (ii) makes it possible to express different contextual domain restrictions as long-range dependencies on an interpreter and an interpretation time, and (iii) additionally models restrictions based on locative constructions as general mereological constraints introduced by shifting the index. (shrink)

Basing their claims on findings in the behavioral sciences that illuminate cognitive deficiencies, scholars spanning multiple disciplines argue that certain features of free market capitalist societies threaten human wellbeing, especially insofar as such societies are marked by a proliferation of consumer choices and incessant demands on decision making. This paper thus attempts three things. First, it outlines the criticisms of the expansive freedoms found in free market societies, based on those findings, in order to provide a reliable overview of the (...) shape of the critics’ concerns. Second, it surveys typical objections to these critics’ concerns, while also taking note of actual and anticipated counter-responses, in order to demonstrate why the debate about the value of those freedoms is not settled by those objections. Third, it argues that one objection remains that demands further debate and consideration before the critics’ choice restrictions should materialize. Namely, since there is solid evidence that entrepreneurship contributes to overall happy and healthy societies, and since the benefits of entrepreneurship are best realized in the types of societies marked by more expansive freedoms than the critics would countenance, the critics, who are concerned with general wellbeing, ought to consider the impact of their choice-restricting proposals on entrepreneurship. This paper does not claim that these critics offer baseless concerns about various threats to our wellbeing that arise from ample exercises of liberty, but it does argue that recognizing the role that entrepreneurship plays in fostering such wellbeing severely dampens the force of their implications for liberty. (shrink)

When Johann and Daniel Bernoulli founded fluid dynamics they encountered several problems. To go beyond the vision of Newtonian particles, a new set of images was needed in order to deal with the spatial extensibility and lack of form of fluids. I point to evidence that analogy was an essential abductive strategy in the creation of this imagery. But its heuristic behavior is complex: analogy can provide an initial model or proto-model that establishes the starting point of a theoretical process, (...) but it can play other roles as well. The historical genesis analyzed here shows that the participation of analogy in physicists’ creativity is not so restricted and that its richness opens up the field for very different roles and strategies in model-based discovery processes. Analogies can crop up intermittently in the evolution of a theory; and they can cooperate with images, extreme case reasoning and thought experiments, and even activate these processes at origin. Although it may seem that the contributions of analogy are generative in the sense of helping to discover new aspects of reality, we must stress the evaluative function that sometimes is performed by analogical reasoning in order to gain confidence. The study of the Bernoulli’s genesis of the foundations of fluid dynamics generates interesting hypotheses about the multiple roles that analogy can play in scientific model-based reasoning. (shrink)

In this article I introduce a new reading of Jean-Paul Sartre's account of bad faith. The reading contrasts with previous accounts by denying that states of bad faith are exhausted by attitudes towards transcendence and facticity. Instead, I argue that bad faith can involve attitudes to many other aspects of the human being. I also respond to an argument which claims that affirmations of freedom are inconsistent with the motivations behind bad faith. The inconsistency is here resolved by demonstrating how (...) in bad faith we can still affirm a restricted version of freedom which avoids us acknowledging the unpleasant aspects of our full freedom. (shrink)

In this paper I discuss two objections raised against von Fintel’s (1994) and Stanley and Szabó’s (2000a) hidden variable approach to quantifier domain restriction (QDR). One of them concerns utterances of sentences involving quantifiers for which no contextual domain restriction is needed, and the other concerns multiple quantified contexts. I look at various ways in which the approaches could be amended to avoid these problems, and I argue that they fail. I conclude that we need a more flexible account of (...) QDR, one that allows for the hidden variables in the LF responsible for QDR to vary in number. Recanati’s (2002; 2004) approach to QDR, which makes use of the apparatus of “variadic functions”, is flexible enough to account successfully for the two phenomena discussed. I end with a few comments on what I take to be the most promising way to construe variadic functions. (shrink)

This paper discusses why speech regulations are logically necessary for any account of a moral right to free speech. My argument for limiting the right to free speech (and more widely any right to freedom) will be grounded in compossibility. Rights to freedom, formally speaking, are claims by an agent that other people not interfere with them; a compossible set of rights is one where the domains of permissible actions–permitted by each claim (and its correlative duty) within the set–do not (...) contradict one another across claims. I will argue that in order for claims to be coherent, they cannot generate contradictory domains, and that for a claim to non-interference to not generate contradictory domains across multiple people with the same claim, the claim must be restricted. This account as it currently stands can at least generate conclusions on the permissibility of incitement. (shrink)

Multiple supervenience is a problematic notion whose role can well be served by a contextualized or properly restricted standard notion of supervenience. It is furthermore not needed to defend functionalism against Kim's charge that cross-classifying taxonomies imply a serious form of dualism; nor does Ross & Spurrett's (R&S's) Kitcherian account of the metaphysics of causation crucially depend on multiple supervenience.

We introduce a graph-theoretical representation of proofs of multiplicative linear logic which yields both a denotational semantics and a notion of truth. For this, we use a locative approach related to game semantics and the Danos–Regnier interpretation of GoI operators as paths in proof nets . We show how we can retrieve from this locative framework both a categorical semantics for Multiplicative Linear Logic with distinct units and a notion of truth. Moreover, we show how a restricted version of (...) our model can be reformulated in the exact same terms as Girardʼs geometry of interaction . This shows that this restriction of our framework gives a combinatorial approach to J.-Y. Girardʼs geometry of interaction in the hyperfinite factor, while using only graph-theoretical notions. (shrink)

Research studies have identified various different mechanisms in the effects of nature engagement on well-being and mental health. However, rarely are multiple pathways examined in the same study and little use has been made of first-hand, experiential accounts through interviews. Therefore, a semi-structured interview was conducted with seven female students who identified the role of nature engagement in their well-being and mental health. After applying thematic analysis, 11 themes were extracted from the data set, which were: “enjoying the different sensory (...) input,” “calm nature facilitates a calm mood,” “enhancing decision making and forming action plans,” “enhancing efficiency and productivity,” “alleviating pressure from society's expectations regarding education,” “formation of community relations,” “nature puts things into perspective,” “liking the contrast from the urban environment,” “feel freedom,” “coping mechanism,” and “anxious if prevented or restricted.” The results indicate complementary mechanisms for how nature-related activities benefit mental health and well-being that may occupy different levels of experience within a hierarchical framework informed by perceptual control theory. (shrink)

Drawing on the so-called “doctrinal paradox”, List and Pettit (2002) have shown that, given an unrestricted domain condition, there exists no procedure for aggregating individual sets of judgments over multiple interconnected propositions into corresponding collective ones, where the procedure satisfies some minimal conditions similar to the conditions of Arrow’s theorem. I prove that we can avoid the paradox and the associated impossibility result by introducing an appropriate domain restriction: a structure condition, called unidimensional alignment, is shown to open up a (...) possibility result, similar in spirit to Black’s median voter theorem. Specifically, I prove that, given unidimensional alignment, propositionwise majority voting is the unique procedure for aggregating individual sets of judgments into collective ones in accordance with the above mentioned minimal conditions. (shrink)

Emotion Review, Volume 14, Issue 3, Page 167-181, July 2022. A growing cadre of influential scholars has converged on a circumscribed definition of empathy as restricted only to feeling the same emotion that one perceives another is feeling. We argue that this restrictive isomorphic matching definition is deeply problematic because it deviates dramatically from traditional conceptualizations of empathy and unmoors the construct from generations of scientific research and clinical practice; insistence on an isomorphic form undercuts much of the functional (...) value of empathy from multiple perspectives of analysis; and combining the opposing concepts of isomorphic matching and self-other awareness implicitly requires motivational content, causing the RIM definition to implicitly require the kind of non-matching emotional content that it explicitly seeks to exclude. (shrink)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly recognised as a threat to human, animal and environmental health. In an effort to counter this threat, several intervention plans have been proposed and implemented by states and organisations such as the WHO. A One Health policy approach, which targets multiple domains (healthcare, animal husbandry and the environment), has been identified as useful for curbing AMR. Johnson and Matlock have recently argued that One Health policies in the AMR context require special ethical justification because of (...) the so-called least restrictive alternative principle. This article analyses and rejects two assumptions that this argument relies on. The first assumption is that One Health policies are generally more restrictive than their alternatives because they target more domains and impact more people. The second assumption is that the least restrictive alternative principle has a special normative importance in that it establishes a systematic presumption in favour of the least restrictive policy options. Once these assumptions are rejected, the use of One Health policies on AMR can be justified more easily than Johnson and Matlock argue. (shrink)

Extended algorithmic logic (EAL) as introduced in [18] is a modified version of extended +-valued algorithmic logic. Only two-valued predicates and two-valued propositional variables occur in EAL. The role of the +-valued logic is restricted to construct control systems (stacks) of pushdown algorithms whereas their actions are described by means of the two-valued logic. Thus EAL formalizes a programming theory with recursive procedures but without the instruction CASE.The aim of this paper is to discuss EAL and prove the completeness (...) theorem. A complete formalization of EAL was announced in [20] but no proof of the completeness theorem was given. (shrink)

Ted Honderich's ‘Causes and If p, even if x, still q ’ contains many good points I shall not discuss. My discussion is restricted to some of the points Honderich makes about causal priority in the final two sections of his paper. He considers several proposals, new and old, for accounting for causal priority before he presents a tentativeproposal of his own. He thinks that some of these proposals, besides having difficulties peculiar to themselves, share the deficiency of lacking (...) the proper character. When we look for the difference between causal circumstances and causes, on the one hand, and their effects, on the other, he says, We are not pursuing any difference between these things. We arepursuing a difference of a certain character. What we are after has to do with what we say: that causes and causal circumstances make their effects happen , and not the other way on, and that causes and causal circumstances explain their effects , and not the other way on. (shrink)

We study the notion of logical relation in the coherence space semantics of multiplicative-additive linear logic . We show that, when the ground-type logical relation is “closed under restrictions”, the logical relation associated to any type can be seen as a map associating facts of a phase space to families of points of the web of the corresponding coherence space. We introduce a sequent calculus extension of whose formulae denote these families of points. This logic admits a truth-value semantics in (...) the previously mentioned phase space, and this truth-value semantics faithfully describes the logical relation model we started from. Then we generalize this notion of phase space, we prove a truth-value completeness result for and we derive from any phase model of a denotational model for . Using the truth-value completeness result, we obtain a weak denotational completeness result based on this new denotational semantics. (shrink)

Although norms of premarital sex vary cross-culturally, the sexuality of adolescent girls has been consistently more restricted than that of adolescent boys. Three major theories that attempt to explain restrictions on female premarital sex (FPS) concern male, female, and parental control. These competing theories have not been tested against each other cross-culturally. In this study, we do this using a sample of 128 nonindustrial societies and socioecological predictors capturing extramarital sex, paternal care, female status, sex ratio, parental control over (...) a daughter’s mate choice, residence, and marriage transactions, while also controlling for phylogenetic non-independence across societies. We found that multiple parties benefit from restrictions on FPS. Specifically, FPS is more restricted in societies intolerant of extramarital sex and where men transfer property to their children (male control), as well as where marriages are arranged by parents (parental control). Both paternity uncertainty (partitioned among marital fidelity and paternal investment) and parent–offspring conflict (prompting parents to control their daughter’s sexuality) were identified as possible mechanisms of FPS restrictions. The evidence for female control is ambiguous, mainly because it can be equally well interpreted as both male control and parental control, and because fathers, rather than mothers, are often the primary decision makers about a daughter’s mate choice. Our results also emphasize the importance of social roles, rather than stereotyped sex roles, as a more useful approach to understanding the evolution of FPS restrictions. (shrink)

We first show that the projection image of a discrete definable set is again discrete for an arbitrary definably complete locally o‐minimal structure. This fact together with the results in a previous paper implies a tame dimension theory and a decomposition theorem into good‐shaped definable subsets called quasi‐special submanifolds. Using this fact, we investigate definably complete locally o‐minimal expansions of ordered groups when the restriction of multiplication to an arbitrary bounded open box is definable. Similarly to o‐minimal expansions of (...) ordered fields, Łojasiewicz's inequality, Tietze's extension theorem and affiness of pseudo‐definable spaces hold true for such structures under the extra assumption that the domains of definition and the pseudo‐definable spaces are definably compact. Here, a pseudo‐definable space is a topological space having finite definable atlases. We also demonstrate Michael's selection theorem for definable set‐valued functions with definably compact domains of definition. (shrink)

In 1913 Wittgenstein raised an objection to Russell’s multiple relation theory of judgment that eventually led Russell to abandon his theory. As he put it in the Tractatus, the objection was that “the correct explanation of the form of the proposition, ‘A makes the judgement p’, must show that it is impossible for a judgement to be a piece of nonsense. (Russell’s theory does not satisfy this requirement,” (5.5422). This objection has been widely interpreted to concern type restrictions on the (...) constituents of judgment. I argue that this interpretation is mistaken and that Wittgenstein’s objection is in fact a form of the problem of the unity of the proposition. (shrink)

In team-based tasks, successful communication and mutual understanding are essential to facilitate team coordination and performance. It is well-established that an important component of human conversation is the maintenance of common ground. Maintaining common ground has a number of associated processes in which conversational participants engage. Many of these processes are lacking in current synthetic teammates, and it is unknown to what extent this lack of capabilities affects their ability to contribute during team-based tasks. We focused our research on how (...) teams package information within a conversation, by which we mean specifically whether information is explicitly mentioned or implied, and how multiple pieces of information are ordered both within single communications and across multiple communications. We re-analyzed data collected from a simulated remotely-piloted aerial system task in which team members had to specify speed, altitude, and radius restrictions. The data came from three experiments: the “speech” experiment, the “text” experiment, and the “evaluation” experiment. We asked first whether teams settled on a specific routine for communicating the speed, altitude, and radius restrictions, and whether this process was different if the teams communicated in speech compared to text. We then asked how receiving special communication instructions in the evaluation experiment impacted the way the human teammates package information. We found that teams communicating in either speech or text tended to use a particular order for mentioning the speed, altitude, and radius. Different teams also chose different orders from one another. The teams in the evaluation experiment, however, showed unnaturally little variability in their information ordering and were also more likely to explicitly mention all restrictions even when they did not apply. Teams in the speech and text experiments were more likely to leave unnecessary restrictions unmentioned, and were also more likely to convey the restrictions across multiple communications. The option to converge on different packaging routines may have contributed to improved performance in the text experiment compared some of the conditions in the evaluation experiment. (shrink)

The following analysis attempts to provide a general account of the multiple solutions given to the quantum measurement problem in terms of causality. Leaving aside instrumentalism which restricts its understanding of quantum mechanics to the algorithmic prediction of measurement outcomes, the many approaches which try to give an answer can be distinguished by their explanation based on the efficient cause —recovering in this way a classical physical description— or based on the final cause —which goes back to the hylomorphic tradition. (...) Going beyond the limits of these two schemes we call the attention to an ‘inversion of the measurement problem’ and its proposed solution based on the immanent cause. By replacing both the final and efficient causes by the immanent cause we attempt to lay down new conditions for representing quantum superpositions in a realist way which coherently relates the quantum formalism with outcomes. (shrink)

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy, Spain, New York, and Hong Kong stood out for the ir high rates of infections. Given this scenario, a web-based international multisite and cross-sectional study was conducted between April and May 2020 to investigate the psychological impact of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed by the governments in these countries. We expected similar patterns in European countries, and no significant differences in terms of psychological impairment between Hong Kong and the other (...) areas. Participants were 1955 adults from the above-mentioned areas. We assessed anxiety, depression, COVID-19-related threats, and perceived burden of restrictive measures. Two-explorative factor analyses with Promax rotation identified COVID-19-related factors: personal physical threat, personal economic threat, global economic threat, and restriction-related burden. ANOVAs studied locations’ differences and two-separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses by location determined whether and how COVID-19-related variables were associated with anxiety and depression, adjusting for age and sex. Italy and Hong Kong showed higher anxiety than Spain ; Hong Kong scored higher on depression than Italy and Spain, which highlighted the lowest mean-score. New York participants showed the poorest mental health conditions. Anxiety was predicted by restriction-related burden and personal economic threat in New York and Hong Kong ; by global economic threat and restriction-related burden in Italy ; and by personal physical threat in Spain. Depression was predicted by restriction-related burden and personal economic threat in New York and Hong Kong ; by global economic threat in Italy ; and no predictors emerged in Spain. Findings could contribute to understanding the specific impact of the pandemic on people’s psychological health in each area, along with the factors that impacted mental health. This information may be useful to implementing prevention interventions in case of restrictions. (shrink)

Decision making during reproduction is complex for a variety of medical and social reasons. Anyone who has had a conversation with a family member about the “best time” to have a baby can attest to this — there is no “best time” or “best way.” Multiple pressures from any number of sources combine in a minefield of hazards made ever more complicated by restrictive laws in the US. Add to this a screening result of potential chromosomal aneuploidy and decision making (...) becomes ever more complex. Societal stigma and lack of adequate and accurate information during counseling certainly plays a role in the high number of terminations in the setting of diagnosed chromosomal aneuploidy, yet other factors also push families in this direction including medical considerations and the abysmal lack of social support programs. (shrink)

BackgroundCo-creation allows to develop tailored interventions in chronicity and to increase patients’ engagement. Considering the interacting nature of physical, psychological, and social domains in multiple sclerosis, a biopsychosocial approach to care is crucial.AimsThis paper aims to present an example of a co-creation process in the context of chronic diseases preferences and perspectives of young adults with multiple sclerosis and healthcare professionals on the relevance, objectives, and modalities of a biopsychosocial intervention and on strategies/barriers to participation.MethodsA participatory mixed-method approach in three (...) consecutive steps was implemented: online surveys with YawMS and HCPs, online focus groups with YawMS, consultation with an advisory board composed by YawMS, HCPs and researchers. For the survey, descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis have been used for quantitative and qualitative analysis, respectively. FGs and AB were used to deepen the understanding of the survey’s results.ResultsAn integrated intervention is extremely relevant according to the perspectives of the main stakeholders. Helping disease acceptance, providing stress management strategies, and supporting emotional expression emerged as the most relevant psychological objectives according to participants. Having tangible benefits, being tailored, and fostering interpersonal relationships emerged as the main preferred characteristics of physical activity. Preferences emerged on the modalities and timing of the intervention, with a venue unrelated to the disease strongly supported. Both HCPs and YawMS highlighted as the most valuable advantages of conducting the intervention online the increased accessibility, while the main limit was the restriction to social interaction. Accessibility and lack of time resulted as the main barriers to participation.ConclusionThe co-creation process gave valuable information on preferences and perspectives of main stakeholders on objectives, modalities, and strategies to improve participation which has been used in the design of the ESPRIMO biopsychosocial intervention. Those results might inform future intervention development in the field of chronicity. The current paper outlined a co-creation methodology which might be replicated in future research on other conditions of vulnerability. (shrink)

Is it permissible to kill an innocent person against her will in order to prevent several other innocent persons from being killed against their will? The answer to which this essay comes after extensive discussion is – under certain conditions and limitations – affirmative. On the way to this answer, the book offers a comprehensive in-depth discussion of so-called deontic restrictions – that is, the idea of an action’s being prohibited in circumstances in which performing it once would be the (...) only way to prevent its being performed multiple times. The book’s leading question is whether there is a plausible rationale for deontic restrictions. To this effect, a taxonomy and critical discussions of the most important approaches to justify deontic restrictions are provided – where many of these approaches undergo a deeper examination for the first time ever. In addition, the book clarifies some adjoining questions, such as why deontic restrictions are often perceived as being problematic or how the concept of agent-relativity should best be understood and formalized. Put into broader perspective, the conclusions offered should have a bearing on a number of debates in normative ethics, not least on the debate between deontologists and consequentialist. (shrink)

Introduction Hundreds of thousands of premature neonates born in low-income countries are implicitly denied treatment each year. Studies from India show that treatment is rationed even for neonates born at 32 gestational age weeks (GAW), and multiple external factors influence treatment decisions. Is withholding of life-saving treatment for children born between 28 and 32 GAW acceptable from an ethical perspective? Method A seven-step impartial ethical analysis, including outcome analysis of four accepted priority criteria: severity of disease, treatment effect, cost effectiveness (...) and evidence for neonates born at 28 and 32 GAW. Results The ethical analysis sketches out two possibilities: (a) It is not ethically permissible to limit treatment to neonates below 32 GAW when assigning high weight to health maximisation and overall health equality. Neonates below 32 GAW score high on severity of disease and efficiency and cost-effectiveness of treatment if one gives full weight to early years of a newborn life. It is in the child's best interest to be treated. (b) It can be considered ethically permissible if high weight is assigned to reducing inequality of welfare and maximising overall welfare and/or not granting full weight to early years of newborns is considered acceptable. From an equity-motivated health and welfare perspective, we would not accept (b), as it relies on accepting the lack of proper welfare policies for the poor and disabled in India. Conclusion Explicit priority processes in India for financing neonatal care are needed. If premature neonates are perceived as worth less than other patient groups, the reasons should be explored among a broad range of stakeholders. (shrink)

This paper expresses wonder about how bodies in motion can lead towards an understanding of lived meaning in silent lifeworlds. In such lifeworlds, expressions are without words, pre-symbolic, and thus embodied. To address the wonder, phenomenological philosophy and phenomenological methodology were employed to frame an approach that acknowledges lives with disabilities as qualitatively different from, and yet not inferior to, nor less imbued with meaning than, lives without.The paper focuses on spatiality as decisive in determining possibilities for persons to express (...) their perspectives through a wide range of movements. Movements take place in the continuum between the spatiality of positions as objective bodily sensations and the spatiality of situations as embodied interactions with others and the world. Thus, in order to access the perspectives of students with severe and multiple disabilities, transitions between and movements within different spaces are examined.Approaching an educational everyday life where students are restricted in the possibilities available to them for moving in and out of spaces, the study reported points to the importance of recognizing the relationship between subjective movements and the spaces enveloping them as what creates a spatiality that is meaningful to the subject. It is accordingly suggested that choosing which spaces to include in educational contexts are formative choices that express a view of humanity. The paper also emphasizes the importance of recognizing temporality as a pedagogical resource when detecting and acting upon students’ changing expressions. (shrink)

According to neoclassical growth theory, there are two main patterns of economic growth, namely, intensive growth, which depends on total factor productivity, and extensive growth, which relies on factor input. This study explores the impacts of property taxes on growth patterns by considering the property tax pilots in Shanghai and Chongqing as a quasi-natural experiment. For evaluation, we applied multiple causal inference methods, including DID, PSM-DID, and a panel data approach for program evaluation. We found that the pilot of Shanghai (...) contributed to intensive growth, while the pilot of Chongqing reinforced the prevailing extensive growth. Specifically, Shanghai's property taxes restricted the buying of multiple homes and oversized homes, thereby reducing house prices and increasing TFP. Chongqing's property taxes are mainly for high-end houses, causing the substitution effect between high-end homes and ordinary houses; thus, the pilot increased the prices of ordinary houses and the average house price, which stimulated factor input and economic growth but decreased TFP. This study provides empirical evidence of the causal relationships between property taxes and growth patterns, indicating that transitional economies should avoid narrow tax bases during property tax reform for intensive growth. (shrink)

We show that various paradoxes can arise in a natural class of social networks. They demonstrate that more services or products may have adverse consequences for all members of the network and conversely that restricting the number of choices may be beneficial for every member of the network. These phenomena have been confirmed by a number of empirical studies. In our analysis we use a simple threshold model of social networks introduced in Apt and Markakis, and more fully in Apt (...) and Markakis. In this model the agents, influenced by their neighbours, can adopt one out of several alternatives. We identify and analyze here four types of paradoxes that can arise in these networks. These paradoxes shed light on possible inefficiencies arising when one modifies the sets of products available to the agents forming a social network or the network structure. One of the paradoxes corresponds to the well-known Braess paradox in congestion games and shows that by adding more choices to a node, the network may end up in a situation that is worse for everybody. We exhibit a dual version of this, according to which removing a product available to an agent can eventually make everybody better off. The other paradoxes that we identify show that by adding or removing a product from the choice set of an agent may lead to permanent instability. Finally, we also identify conditions under which some of these paradoxes cannot arise. (shrink)

A common misconception among logicians is to think that intuitionism is necessarily tied-up with single conclusion calculi. Single conclusion calculi can be used to model intuitionism and they are convenient, but by no means are they necessary. This has been shown by such influential textbook authors as Kleene, Takeuti and Dummett, to cite only three. If single conclusions are not necessary, how do we guarantee that only intuitionistic derivations are allowed? Traditionally one insists on restrictions on particular rules: implication right, (...) negation right and universal quantification right are required to be single conclusion rules. In this note we show that instead of a cardinality restriction such as one-conclusion-only, we can use a notion of dependency between formulae to enforce the constructive character of derivations. The system we obtain, called FIL for full intuitionistic logic, satisfies basic properties such as soundness, completeness and cut elimination. We present two motivating applications of FIL and discuss some future work. (shrink)

Telephone survey of 293 TV viewers in Minneapolis-St. Paul investigated how viewers evaluate ethical issues and problematic content in TV news and entertainment programs, and attitudes toward methods of controlling TV content. In rating eight hypothetical news and entertainment scenarios, viewers appeared more willing to accept ethical breaches in entertainment than in news programs. In evaluating the severity of general problems in TV programming, most viewers considered violence, adult themes, and a lack of family values to be big problems. Different (...) methods of controlling potentially problematic content were evaluated, with viewers overwhelmingly endorsing a system of ratings or warnings, as well as restricting content to certain times or channels. Governmental regulation as a form of controlling TV content was strongly rejected. This article demonstrates the usefulness and appropriateness of empirical research in involving the audience in an active role in the study of media ethics. (shrink)

Each of the homeotic genes of the bithorax complex of Drosophila defines the identities of more than one body segment. The mechanisms by which this occurs have been elusive. In a recent report, Castelli‐Gair and Akam(1) analyze in detail the control of parasegment 5 and parasegment 6 identities by the bithorax complex gene Ubx. Their results indicate that differences in the spatial and temporal expression patterns of Ubx are critical in determining differences between these parasegments. However, dose effects observed by (...) others indicate that parasegment‐specific differences in the level of Ubx expression are also important. For the other BX‐C genes, parasegment‐specific expression of protein isoforms, or combinatorial control dependent on the expression patterns of other spatially restricted regulators, may also play a role. (shrink)

Self-injurious behavior is associated with diverse psychiatric conditions. Sometimes, SIB is the most dominant symptom, severely restricting the psychosocial functioning and quality of life of the patients and inhibiting appropriate patient care. In severe cases, it can lead to permanent physical injuries or even death. Primary therapy consists of medical treatment and if implementable, behavioral therapy. For patients with severe SIB refractory to conventional therapy, neuromodulation can be considered as a last recourse. In scientific literature, several successful lesioning and deep (...) brain stimulation targets have been described that can indicate a common underlying neuronal pathway. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the short- and long-term clinical outcome of patients with severe, therapy refractory SIB who underwent DBS with diverse underlying psychiatric disorders and to correlate these outcomes with the activated connectivity networks. We retrospectively analyzed 10 patients with SIB who underwent DBS surgery with diverse psychiatric conditions including autism spectrum disorder, organic personality disorder after hypoxic or traumatic brain injury or Tourette syndrome. DBS targets were chosen according to the underlying disorder, patients were either stimulated in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, posterior hypothalamus, medial thalamus or ventrolateral thalamus. Clinical outcome was measured 6 months after surgery and at long-term follow-up after 10 or more years using the Early Rehabilitation Barthel index and time of restraint. Connectivity patterns were analyzed using normative connectome. Based on previous literature the orbitofrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, the anterior cingulate cortex, the amygdala and the hippocampus were chosen as regions of interest. This analysis showed a significant improvement in the functionality of the patients with DBS in the short- and long-term follow-up. Good clinical outcome correlated with higher connectivity to the amygdala and hippocampus. These findings may suggest a common pathway, which can be relevant when planning a surgical procedure in patients with SIB. (shrink)

We study a reduct ${\mathcal{L}_*}$ of the ring language where multiplication is restricted to a neighbourhood of zero. The language is chosen such that for p-adically closed fields K, the ${\mathcal{L}_*}$ -definable subsets of K coincide with the semi-algebraic subsets of K. Hence structures (K, ${\mathcal{L}_*}$ ) can be seen as the p-adic counterpart of the o-minimal structure of semibounded sets. We show that in this language, p-adically closed fields admit cell decomposition, using cells similar to p-adic semi-algebraic (...) cells. From this we can derive quantifier-elimination, and give a characterization of definable functions. In particular, we conclude that multiplication can only be defined on bounded sets, and we consider the existence of definable Skolem functions. (shrink)

In this paper, we analyze an intra-personal game where a decision-maker is summarized by a succession of selves. Selves may (or may not) have conflicting interests, and earlier selves may have imperfect knowledge of the preferences of future selves. At date 1, self-1 chooses a menu, at date 2, the preferences of self-2 realize and self-2 chooses an item from the menu. We show that equilibrium choice is consistent with either a preference for flexibility, a preference for betweenness or a (...) preference for systematic restriction. Overall, the analysis reconciles the decision–theoretic approach of choice over time with the game–theoretic multiple-selves approach. (shrink)

Multiple studies show that periodic reanalysis of genomic test results held by clinical laboratories delivers significant increases in overall diagnostic yield. However, while there is a widespread consensus that implementing routine reanalysis procedures is highly desirable, there is an equally widespread understanding that routine reanalysis of individual patient results is not presently feasible to perform for all patients. Instead, researchers, geneticists and ethicists are beginning to turn their attention to one part of reanalysis—reinterpretation of previously classified variants—as a means of (...) achieving similar ends to large-scale individual reanalysis but in a more sustainable manner. This has led some to ask whether the responsible implementation of genomics in healthcare requires that diagnostic laboratories routinely reinterpret their genomic variant classifications and reissue patient reports in the case of materially relevant changes. In this paper, we set out the nature and scope of any such obligation, and analyse some of the main ethical considerations pertaining to a putative duty to reinterpret. We discern and assess three potential outcomes of reinterpretation—upgrades, downgrades and regrades—in light of ongoing duties of care, systemic error risks and diagnostic equity. We argue against the existence of any general duty to reinterpret genomic variant classifications, yet we contend that a suitably restricted duty to reinterpret ought to be recognised, and that the responsible implementation of genomics into healthcare must take this into account. (shrink)

Post-classical period witnessed intense debates on aspects of the Avicennan theory of science. Among them one set of discussions concerned the issue of subject matter (mabāhith al-mawdūʿ) in a science. They were raised by Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa (d. 747/1346) in the introduction of his al-Tawḍīh, a commentary on his legal theory text al-Tanqīḥ. Therein, he raised three questions: (1) whether the subject matter of a science can be multiple, (2) what restricting subject matter of a science means, and (3) whether one (...) thing can be the subject matter of multiple sciences. Taftāzānī (d. 792/1390), a proponent of the Avicennan theory, objected to Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s positions in his al-Talwīḥ, the most well-known supercommentary on al-Tawḍīh. The paper analyzes this debate on the issue of subject matter in sciences, and thus sheds light on the reception of an important aspect of the Avicennan theory of science in the postclassical period. (shrink)

While N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) is a well‐known epigenetic modification in bacterial DNA, it remained largely unstudied in eukaryotes. Recent studies have brought to fore its potential epigenetic role across diverse eukaryotes with biological consequences, which are distinct and possibly even opposite to the well‐studied 5‐methylcytosine mark. Adenine methyltransferases appear to have been independently acquired by eukaryotes on at least 13 occasions from prokaryotic restriction‐modification and counter‐restriction systems. On at least four to five instances, these methyltransferases were recruited as RNA methylases. Thus, (...) m6A marks in eukaryotic DNA and RNA might be more widespread and diversified than previously believed. Several m6A‐binding protein domains from prokaryotes were also acquired by eukaryotes, facilitating prediction of potential readers for these marks. Further, multiple lineages of the AlkB family of dioxygenases have been recruited as m6A demethylases. Although members of the TET/JBP family of dioxygenases have also been suggested to be m6A demethylases, this proposal needs more careful evaluation. (shrink)

Traditional multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis is usually criticized for having too restrictive model assumption, namely the scalar measurement invariance. The new multiple-group analysis methodology, alignment, has become an effective alternative. The alignment evaluates measurement invariance and more importantly, permits factor mean comparisons without requiring scalar invariance which is usually required in traditional multiple-group CFA. Some simulation studies and empirical studies have investigated the applicability of alignment under different conditions, but some areas remain unexplored. Based on the simulation studies of Asparouhov (...) and Muthén and of Flake and McCoach, this current simulation study is broken into two sections. The first study investigates the minimal group sizes required for alignment in three-factor models. The second study compares the performance of multiple-group CFA, multiple-group exploratory structural equation model, and alignment by including different proportions and magnitudes of cross-loadings in the models. Study 1 shows that when the model has no noninvariant parameters, the alignment requires relatively lower group sizes. Explicitly, the minimal group size required for alignment was 250 when the amount of groups was three, the minimal group size was 150 when the amount of groups was nine, and 200 when the amount of groups was 15. When there are noninvariant parameters in the model and the amount of groups is low, a group size of 350 is a safe rule of thumb. When there are noninvariant parameters in the model and the amount of groups is high, a group size of 250 is required for trustworthy results. The magnitude of noninvariance and the noninvariance rate do not affect the minimal group size required for alignment. Study 2 shows that multiple-group CFA provides accurate factor mean estimates when each factor had 20% factor loading with small-sized cross-loading. Multiple-group ESEM provides accurate factor mean estimates when the magnitude of cross-loading is small or when each factor had 20% factor loading with medium-sized cross-loading. Alignment provides accurate factor mean estimates when there are only small-sized cross-loadings in the model. The parameter estimates, coverage rates and ratios of average standard error to standard deviation for each methodology are not influenced by the amount of groups. Recommendations are concluded for using multiple-group CFA, multiple-group ESEM, traditional alignment and aligned ESEM based on the results. Multiple-group CFA is more suitable for use when scalar invariance is established. Multiple-group ESEM works best when there are small-sized or only a few medium-sized cross-loadings in the model. Traditional alignment allows for small-sized cross-loadings and a few noninvariant parameters in the model. AESEM integrates the advantages of alignment and ESEM, can provide accurate estimates when noninvariant parameters and cross-loadings both exist in the model. Compared to multiple-group CFA, multiple-group ESEM, the alignment methodology performs well in more situations. (shrink)

Sentences with multiple occurrences of plural definites give rise to certain effects suggesting that distributivity should be modeled by polyadic operations. Yet in this paper it is argued that the simpler treatment of distributivity using unary universal quantification should be retained. Seemingly polyadic effects are claimed to be restricted to definite NPs. This fact is accounted for by the special anaphoric (dependent) use of definites. Further evidence concerning various plurals, island constraints, and cumulative quantification is shown to support this (...) claim. In addition, it is shown that the evidence against a simple atomic version of unary distributivity is not decisive either. In the (uncommon) cases where distributivity with definites is not strictly atomic, they can be analyzed as dependent on implicit quantifiers. (shrink)

Belief fusion, instead of AGM belief revision, was first proposed to solve the problem of inconsistency, that arised from repetitive application of the operation when agents' knowledge were amalgamated. In the preceding work of Maynard-Reid II and Shoham, the fusion operator is applied to belief states, which is total preorders over possible worlds which is based on the semantics of belief revision. Moreover, they introduced the pedigreed belief state, which represented multiple sources of belief states, ordered by a credibility ranking. (...) However in the theory, all the sources must be totally ordered and thus applicable area is quite restrictive. In this paper, we realize the fusion operator of multiple agents for partially ordered sources. When we consider such a partial ranking over sources, there is no need to restrict that each agent has total preorders over possible worlds. The preferential model, based on the semantics on nonmonotonic reasoning, allows each agent to have strict partial orders over possible worlds. Especially, such an order is called a preferential relation, that prescribes a world is more plausible than the other. Therefore, we introduce an operation which combines multiple preferential relations of agents. In addition, we show that our operation can properly include the ordinary belief fusion. (shrink)

This volume is about the many ways we perceive. Contributors explore the nature of the individual senses, how and what they tell us about the world, and how they interrelate. They consider how the senses extract perceptual content from receptoral information. They consider what kinds of objects we perceive and whether multiple senses ever perceive a single event. They consider how many senses we have, what makes one sense distinct from another, and whether and why distinguishing senses may be useful. (...) They consider the extent to which the senses act in concert, rather than as discrete modalities, and whether this influence is epistemically pernicious, neutral, or beneficial. They explore both the familiar five sense modalities and other candidate sense modalities, including a sense for flavour, inner senses (e.g., a sense for pain), and various senses that may result from using sensory substitution devices. Contributors often represent competing views, and the methods they deploy sometimes differ from one essay to the next—with some drawing upon the sciences and engineering and others relying upon conceptual analysis. All contributors agree, nonetheless, that traditional theorizing about the senses is hampered by a neglect of the senses other than vision, and by the misconception that vision is a passive receptacle for an image thrown by a lens. And many contributors believe that it is unduly restrictive to think of perception as a collation of contents provided by individual sense modalities; they think that to understand perception properly, we need to build into our accounts the idea that the senses work together. The ambition of the volume is to begin to develop better paradigms for understanding the senses, and thereby to move toward a better understanding of perception. (shrink)