The suspension system is referred to as the set of springs, shock absorbers, and linkages that connect the car to the wheel system. The main purpose of the suspension system is to provide comfort for the passengers, which is created by reducing the effects of road bumpiness. It is worth noting that reducing the effects of such vibrations also diminishes the noise and undesirable sound as well as the effects of fatigue on mechanical parts of the vehicle. Due to the (...) importance of the abovementioned issues, the objective of this article is to reduce such vibrations on the car by implementing an active control method on the suspension system. For this purpose, a conventional first-order sliding mode controller has been designed for stochastic control of the quarter-car model. It is noteworthy that this controller has a significant ability to overcome the stochastic effects, uncertainty, and deal with nonlinear factors. To design a controller, the governing dynamical equation of the quarter-car system has been presented by considering the nonlinear terms in the springs and shock absorber, as well as taking into account the uncertainty factors in the system and the actuator. The design process of the sliding mode controller has been presented and its stability has been investigated in terms of the Lyapunov stability. In the current research, road surface variations are considered as Gaussian white noise. The dynamical system behavior for controlled and uncontrolled situations has been simulated and the extracted results have been presented. Besides, the effects of existing uncertainty in the suspension system and actuator have been evaluated and controller robustness has been checked. Also, the obtained quantitative and qualitative compressions have been presented. Moreover, the effect of controller parameters on the basin of attraction set and its extensiveness has been assessed. The achieved results have indicated the good performance and significant robustness of the designed controller to stabilize the suspension system and mitigate the effects of road bumpiness in the presence of uncertainty and noise factors. (shrink)

Muammar b. Abbād al-Sulamī (d.215/830) was one of the most influential figures of his time in terms of recognizing things and making sense of the changes in the universe, which occupies an important place in Islamic thought. Muammar, who was a Basra Mu'tazilite, appears especially with his naturalistic ideas. What makes him stand out is that he also embraced atomism. Although the atomist conception was of foreign origin, the theologians revised it according to their theological views. This view was also (...) presented as a proof of God’s constant activity in the universe. Muammar, who also defined substance, body and accident, which are the basic concepts of kalam cosmology, influenced other theologians, especially with his definition of body. For Muammar, things have a nature. The body creates its accidents as a result of its own nature. Ultimately, in his thought, it is God who gives this nature to the body. Therefore, he accepts that the functioning of the universe takes place within the framework of the laws that God has set in the universe. This idea of Muammar’s about the nature of bodies is actually to demonstrate that the universe functions in a tremendous way in this way. The concept of māna, which is based on Muammar’s thought, occupies an important place at this point. With this concept, which is identified with the understanding of nature, he aimed to exclude the essence of God from the beings. In his view, this concept is also active when it comes to God’s attributes. For him, that’s why God is the wise and the powerful by means of the knowledge and the power that He possesses through the māna. According to Muammar, māna means cause. He argues that the separation of a moving object from an immobile object is the result of a māna. Therefore, objects are also differentiated from each other through a māna. A māna can exist with a māna, which brings forth the idea of the infinity of māna. However, the infinity of māna does not mean the infinity of things. Muammar’s most criticized point is the nature of objects and the fact that they undergo change as a result of this nature, that is, they create their accidents. In this case, the concept of continuous re-creation, which is generally accepted in theology, does not fit Muammar’s system. For Muammar, there is a system based on cause and effect. Although there are criticisms that this relationship he defended belongs to a strict determinist approach, in fact, it can be said that he was concerned with excluding God from situations that take place on the plane of time and space, such as movement and change. Compared to other contemporary theologians who held naturalistic views like him, Muammar’s justification of nature on the basis of māna sets him apart from the others. (shrink)

O presente artigo busca, a partir da filosofia de Michel de Montaigne, explicitar quais lições podemos aprender sobre o contexto de epidemia em que vivemos. Mas, afinal, aqui fica a pergunta fundamental deste texto: o que podemos aprender com um filósofo francês do século XVI, Michel de Montaigne, sobre esse momento tão devastador que estamos vivendo? É claro que Montaigne não nos dirá nada sobre a natureza do vírus, nem sobre nosso sistema imunológico, muito menos sobre metodologias de investigação científicas (...) para a procura de medicamentos para o tratamento da doença. O que Montaigne nos pode ensinar é algo de outra ordem, não da biológica, mas, da subjetiva. É uma (nova) disposição de nosso espírito que podemos aprender a desenvolver com o filósofo. (shrink)

The study of social justice asks: what sorts of social arrangements are equitable ones? But also: how do we derive the inequitable arrangements we often observe in human societies? In particular, in spite of explicitly stated equity norms, categorical inequity tends to be the rule rather than the exception. The cultural Red King hypothesis predicts that differentials in group size may lead to inequitable outcomes for minority groups even in the absence of explicit or implicit bias. We test this prediction (...) in an experimental context where subjects divided into groups engage in repeated play of a bargaining game. We ran 14 trials involving a total of 112 participants. The results of the experiments are statistically significant and suggestive: individuals in minority groups in these experiments end up receiving fewer resources than those in majority groups. Combined with previous theoretical findings, these results give some reason to think that the cultural Red King may occur in real human groups. (shrink)

Patient rights are universal values which we have to adopt. It is not so easy, however, to put such values and principles into effect. As approaches and attitudes differ from individual to individual, from society to society, and from country to country, a uniform application of these values is difficult. If we want to reach a general conclusion about the status of patient rights in the world as whole, we should examine the situation in individual countries. As far as Turkey (...) is concerned, we can say that, although the idea of patient rights is accepted in principle, patient rights have yet to be adequately implemented. (shrink)

The replicator dynamics and Moran process are the main deterministic and stochastic models of evolutionary game theory. The models are connected by a mean-field relationship—the former describes the expected behavior of the latter. However, there are conditions under which their predictions diverge. I demonstrate that the divergence between their predictions is a function of standard techniques used in their analysis and of differences in the idealizations involved in each. My analysis reveals problems for stochastic stability analysis in a broad class (...) of games, demonstrates a novel domain of agreement between the dynamics, and indicates a broader moral for evolutionary modeling. (shrink)

Building on the emotion-centered model of voluntary work behavior, this research tests the relations between leader narcissism, followers’ malicious and benign envy, and supervisor-targeted counterproductive work behavior. Results across five studies, two experimental studies, and two field surveys indicate that leader narcissism relates positively to followers’ negative emotions, which in turn mediates the positive relation between leader narcissism and supervisor-targeted CWB. Proposed negative relations between leader narcissism and positive emotions were only partly supported. Our findings advance the understanding of envy (...) and the detrimental impact of leader narcissism on organizational functioning. (shrink)

Defining the Perian word, ‘Fotowat’ or ‘Chivalry’ is not an easy task; in the rite of ‘Fotowat’, before entering any profession, one must set one’s soul free and pay attention to the moral teaching...

It is deemed that the effectiveness of teachers is highly entangled with psycho-emotional constructs, such as critical thinking (CT), emotion regulation (ER), and immunity. Despite the potential roles of CR, ER, and immunity, their possible relationships have remained unexplored in the higher education context of Iran. To fill in this lacuna, this study explored the potential role of CT and ER in university teachers' immunity in the Iranian higher education context. For this purpose, a total of 293 English university teachers (...) were selected using a convenience sampling method. They were invited to fill out the Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal-Form, Language Teacher Emotion Regulation Inventory, and Language Teacher Immunity Instrument. The findings of path analysis indicated that the university teachers with higher CT were more productively immunized. Moreover, the results revealed that ER could predict the university teachers' immunity. The findings of the study lead to this implication that higher order thinking skills, emotion regulatory strategies, and immune enhancement should be incorporated into educational programs of higher education. (shrink)

Scientific curation, where scientific evidence is selected and shared, is essential to public belief formation about science. Yet common curation practices can distort the body of evidence the public sees. Focusing on science journalism, we employ computational models to investigate how such distortions influence public belief. We consider these effects for agents with and without confirmation bias. We find that standard journalistic practices can lead to significant distortions in public belief; that preexisting errors in public belief can drive further distortions (...) in reporting; that practices that appear relatively unobjectionable can produce serious epistemic harm; and that, in some cases, common curation practices related to fairness and extreme reporting can lead to polarization. (shrink)

BackgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic has impacted compassion fatigue and the mental health of health care providers, particularly midwives and nurses. Although there are studies involving health workers...

BackgroundCultural competence is considered as one of the main skills of nurses enabling them to provide nursing care for those with different cultures. One of the cases related to nurses’ cultural competence is observance of ethical codes, but it has not been investigated sufficiently in studies.AimThis study has been conducted to determine the relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and observance of ethical codes in practice.Research designThis descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2020. Sampling was done at several stages. The data were (...) collected using questionnaires of demographic information, cultural competence, and observance of ethical codes as self-report. The questionnaires were provided to the subjects by the corresponding researcher and the data were analyzed using Pearson correlation test.Participants and research contextThis study was done with participation of 267 nurses working in four training hospitals located in northwestern Iran and 16 head nurses of selected wards.Ethical considerationsThe study was approved by Human Ethics Committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Participation was voluntary. Consent was obtained and confidentiality kept.FindingsThe results of Pearson correlation coefficient test showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between cultural competence and observance of ethical codes (r = 0.524, p = 0.001). In addition, cultural competence and observance of ethical codes by most nurses were at a moderate level.ConclusionsThe results of the present study showed a significant relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and observance of ethical codes. Therefore, it can be concluded that by strengthening the level of nurses, the level of observing ethical codes by them can be increased. Cultural competency and observance of ethical codes are important components of nursing care, and their development can improve nursing care delivery to clients through academic training, hidden curriculum and in-service education. (shrink)

The practice of HARKing---hypothesizing after results are known---is commonly maligned as undermining the reliability of scientific findings. There are several accounts in the literature as to why HARKing undermines the reliability of findings. We argue that none of these is right and that the correct account is a Bayesian one. HARKing can indeed decrease the reliability of scientific findings, but it can also increase it; which effect HARKing produces depends on the difference of the prior odds of hypotheses characteristically selected (...) ex ante and ex post to observing data. Further, we show how misdiagnosis of HARKing can lead to misprescription in the context of the replication crisis. (shrink)

After several technological revolutions in which technologies became ever more present in our daily lives, the digital technologies that are currently being developed are actually fading away from sight. Information and Communication Technologies are not only embedded in devices that we explicitly “use” but increasingly become an intrinsic part of the material environment in which we live. How to conceptualize the role of these new technological environments in human existence? And how to anticipate the ways in which these technologies will (...) mediate our everyday lives? In order to answer these questions, we draw on two approaches that each offers a framework to conceptualize these new technological environments: Postphenomenology and Material Engagement Theory. As we will show, each on their own, these approaches fail to do justice to the new environmental role of technology and its implications for human existence. But by bringing together Postphenomenology’s account of technological mediation and Material Engagement Theory’s account of engaging with environments, it becomes possible to sufficiently account for the new environmental workings of technology. To do justice to these new workings of environmental technologies, we introduce and develop the concept of “Technological Environmentality.”. (shrink)

Utilization of renewable energies in association with energy storage is increased in different applications such as electrical vehicles, electric boats, and smart grids. A robust controller strategy plays a significant role to optimally utilize the energy resources available in a power system. In this paper, a suitable controller for the energy resources of an EB which consists of a 5 kW solar power plant, 5 kW fuel cell, and 2 kW battery package is designed based on the linear parameter varying (...) controller design approach. Initially, all component dynamics are augmented, and by exploiting the sector-nonlinearity approach, the LPV representation is derived. Then, the LPV control method determines the suitable gains of the states’ feedbacks to provide the required pulse commands of the boost converters of the energy resources to regulate the DC-link voltage and supply the power of EB loads. Comparing with the state-of-the-art nonlinear control methods, the developed control approach assures the stability of the overall system, as it considers all component dynamics in the design procedure. The real-time simulation results demonstrate the performance of the designed controller in the creation of a constant DC-link voltage. (shrink)

The study focuses on the mobile telecommunications industry in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover of the country in 2021 and seeks to study how the mobile telecommunications corporations engage with the different area-specific governance systems in order to gain legitimacy to operate across Afghanistan. The study capitalises on mixed qualitative data to conduct an embedded case study of the Afghan mobile telecommunications industry as an extreme context for understanding business-society relations in South Asia. Theoretically, the article integrates insights from (...) governance literature on areas of limited statehood to conceptualise business–society relations in Afghanistan beyond state-centric views and assumptions. The findings result in two modalities of business engagement that are conceptualised as a single vis-à-vis multiple governance system approach. Each of these modes of engagement implies a political nature and role for the businesses that are embedded in ethical dilemmas as discussed in the article. These findings contribute to the debate on the ‘political turn’ in the CSR literature and the governance literature on areas of limited statehood. (shrink)

Propositional logic, with the aid of SAT solvers, has become capable of solving a range of important and complicated problems. Expanding this range, to contain additional varieties of problems, is subject to the complexity resulting from encoding counting constraints in conjunctive normal form. Due to the limitation of the expressive power of propositional logic, generally, such an encoding increases the numbers of variables and clauses excessively. This work eliminates the indicated drawback by interpolating constraint symbols and the set of natural (...) numbers \ into the alphabet of propositional logic and adjusting the underlying language accordingly. In the extended logic counting constraints are naturally formulated, while many important aspects, such as Boolean nature and the soundness and completeness theorems, are kept preserved. (shrink)

Considering that in times of state of emergency or civil emergency (such as the pandemic caused by COVID 19), governments in many countries around the world have restricted human rights and freedoms through legally binding government decrees. These restrictive measures increasingly raise dilemmas about their effect and possible violations by the government of international norms guaranteeing human rights. The paper aims to analyze whether these restrictive measures set out in the decisions of the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia (...) (RNM) are in compliance with the derogations allowed under the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms (ECHR) and the positive laws in power. In the framework of this paper is analyzed whether these measures have the sole purpose of protecting the health of citizens or not. The work is limited in terms of time (as long as the state of emergency lasted three months) and territory (government decrees with the force of law). Descriptive, historical, analytical, comparative and citizen survey methods are used in this paper. Government decrees have been analyzed in order to assess whether they were prudent, in accordance with international standards and consequences that they have caused to citizens. The conclusions provide data on whether the management of the situation has been appropriate or not and to what extent it has been effective, as well as how much it has been within the international framework and how they have affected the quality of life of citizens. (shrink)

Typically, public discussions of questions of social import exhibit two important properties: they are influenced by conformity bias, and the influence of conformity is expressed via social networks. We examine how social learning on networks proceeds under the influence of conformity bias. In our model, heterogeneous agents express public opinions where those expressions are driven by the competing priorities of accuracy and of conformity to one’s peers. Agents learn, by Bayesian conditionalization, from private evidence from nature, and from the public (...) declarations of other agents. Our key findings are that networks that produce configurations of social relationships that sustain a diversity of opinions empower honest communication and reliable acquisition of true beliefs, and that the networks that do this best turn out to be those which are both less centralized and less connected. (shrink)

In this paper, the author aims to show that transhumanists are confused about their own conception of the posthuman: transhumanists anticipate radical transformation of the human through technology and at the same time assume that the criteria to determine what is “normal” and what is “enhanced” are univocal, both in our present time and in the future. Inspired by Nietzsche’s notion of the Overhuman, the author argues that the slightest “historical and phenomenological sense” discloses copious variations of criteria, both diachronic (...) and synchronic, for what can be considered “normal” and “enhanced.” Radical transformation through technology does not simply enable us to become “stronger,” “smarter,” or “healthier,” but it can and often will also change the very standard or yardstick with which we measure what counts as “stronger,” “smarter,” or “healthier.” Put yet differently: new and emerging technologies are not neutral means but often bring about different and, from our current perspective, foreign standards for determining what are “normal” and “enhanced” capacities. Since the qualitative meanings of these terms are themselves not fixed, it is unintelligible and too reassuring to simply predict that new technologies will enhance human beings. (shrink)

The roots of ‘ancient sport’, or Zurkhaneh, as its name implies, go back to ancient Iran and the rituals of Mithraism, in which believers pray and learn morality and humanity in cave-shape temples built in connection with running water. After the advent of Islam and the fall of the ancient religions, temples gave way to Zurkhanehs, and athletes who, while learning moral teachings, cultivated physical strength to resist external enemy forces and internal oppression, grown in those Zurkhanehs. With a tendency (...) to Sufism, Shi`ism and following the first Imam of the Shiites, athletes became heroes and knights, many of whom today, after hundreds of years, are still the cultural myths of the people of Iran. The ancient sports such as wrestling are a symbol of human and moral virtues, the promotion of which can lead to the growth and development of the moral beauty and chivalry culture among all athletes in various sports and lead to institutionalize characteristics of heroism and magnanimity in society. Ancient sports exercising tools, art and architecture of Zurkhaneh, poems, rituals and personalities form the nature of Zurkhaneh and ancient sports have a great impact on the formation of heroic identity and the way to perform the sport movements with the special instruments of Zurkhaneh, which is accompanied by epic and religious poems. In fact, Zurkhaneh instruments, the type of poems that are recited and the existence of epic and religious patterns complement each other. This process increases the effect of Zurkhaneh on the formation of athletic and heroic identity among sportsmen. As such, it will be suggested that Zurkhareh offers an ethical ideal from which globalized Western sport can learn. (shrink)

This book investigates how we should form ourselves in a world saturated with technologies that are profoundly intruding in the very fabric of our selfhood. How do we recognize that smart technological environments, imaging technologies and smart drugs increasingly shape who and what we are and influence who we ought to be? Tackling this issue requires going beyond the persistent and stubborn inside-outside dualism and recognizing that what we consider our "inside" self is to a great extent shaped by our (...) "outside" world. Inspired by various philosophers - especially Nietzsche, Peirce and Lacan -this book demonstrates that the values, goals and ideals that humans encounter in their environments not only shape their identities but also enable them to critically relate to their present state. The author argues against understanding technological self-formation in terms of making ourselves better, stronger, and smarter. Rather, we should conceive it in terms of technological sublimation, which redefines the very notion of human enhancement. In this respect the author introduces an alternative, more suitable theory, namely Technological Sublimation Theory (TST). Extimate Technology will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of technology, philosophy of the self, phenomenology, pragmatism, and history of philosophy. (shrink)

This paper explains why Clark’s Extended Mind thesis is not capable of sufficiently grasping how and in what sense external objects and technical artifacts can become part of our human cognition. According to the author, this is because a pivotal distinction between inside and outside is preserved in the Extended Mind theorist’s account of the relation between the human organism and the world of external objects and artifacts, a distinction which they proclaim to have overcome. Inspired by Charles S. Peirce’s (...) philosophy of mind, in particular, the author tries to find a way out of this ‘inside–outside’ fallacy. External objects, artifacts or processes should, according to him, not be conceived as inanimate and unintelligent matter utilised by a separately living, inner mental sphere that has set certain pre-established goals for itself. Mind has rather an artifactual character. It is not extended by an inner biological cognitive core but rather unfolds itself through objects and artifacts. Mind as such is, especially in our modern technological culture, shaped by virtue of and through technical artifacts. Recognizing this artifactual dimension of mind will, the author concludes, enable a more critical analysis of contemporary claims that ascribe certain original and irreducible features to thinking. (shrink)

According to Max Weber, the “fate of our times” is characterized by a “disenchantment of the world.” The scientific ambition of rationalization and intellectualization, as well as the attempt to master nature through technology, will greatly limit experiences of and openness for the transcendent, i.e. that which is beyond our control. Insofar as transcendence is a central aspect of virtually every religion and all religious experiences, the development of science and technology will, according to the Weberian assertion, also limit the (...) scope of religion. In this paper, we will reflect on the relations between technology and transcendence from the perspective of technological mediation theory. We will show that the fact that we are able to technologically intervene in the world and ourselves does not imply that we can completely control the rules of life. Technological interference in nature is only possible if the structures and laws that enable us to do that are recognized and to a certain extent obeyed, which indicates that technological power cannot exist without accepting a transcendent order in which one operates. Rather than excluding transcendence, technology mediates our relation to it. (shrink)

COVID‐19 caused an imbalance between medical resources and the number of patients in Türkiye like in many countries. There was not pandemic‐triage system, and this situation led to decision making based on experience, intuition, and judgment of allocation of scarce resources. The research explains the guiding criteria that healthcare professionals used to prioritize the distribution of scarce medical resources during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The criteria preferred by 928 healthcare professionals were evaluated when preventive measures for COVID‐19 were reduced and so (...) the number of cases increased rapidly. The results indicate that Turkish healthcare professionals largely support the utilitarian approach, which focuses on medical benefit in pandemic. The main problem was that some criteria not approved in COVID‐19 triage guidelines were considered important by healthcare professionals. These criteria, which cause discrimination by preventing the provision of fair and equal medical care to patients, are a prominent issue in the study. (shrink)

Policy and guideline proposals for ethical artificial intelligence research have proliferated in recent years. These are supposed to guide the socially-responsible development of AI for a common good. However, there typically exist incentives for non-cooperation ; and, these proposals often lack effective mechanisms to enforce their own normative claims. The situation just described constitutes a social dilemma—namely, a situation where no one has an individual incentive to cooperate, though mutual cooperation would lead to the best outcome for all involved. In (...) this paper, we use stochastic evolutionary game dynamics to model this social dilemma in the context of the ethical development of artificial intelligence. This formalism allows us to isolate variables that may be intervened upon, thus providing actionable suggestions for increased cooperation amongst numerous stakeholders in AI. Our results show how stochastic effects can help make cooperation viable in such a scenario. They suggest that coordination for a common good should be attempted in smaller groups in which the cost of cooperation is low, and the perceived risk of failure is high. This provides insight into the conditions under which we should expect such ethics proposals to be successful with regard to their scope, scale, and content. (shrink)

The author of this paper starts by sketching a general framework for Peirce's ethical theory: first, he discusses very briefly Peirce's phenomenological categories; then, he outlines some implications of these categories for Peirce's concept of personal identity. In the rest of the paper he discusses successively within this framework Peirce's views on the status of ethics, ideals, concrete reasonableness, evolutionary love, and the relation between the individual and the cosmos. He then argues that these notions, taken together, culminate in a (...) non-subjective ethical theory that indicates what is a good life. The central argument that he develops is that we, according to Peirce, can only become authentic persons through a process of giving a general form to our interactions with our social and natural environment, i.e., a form that is constituted by virtue of the belief in and embodiment of common ideals, which are no less real than concrete, physical events. (shrink)

Background: It is stated that the communication and disease experiences of paediatric patients, especially paediatric oncology patients, with healthcare professionals are completely different from those of adults. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the definitions of a good physician and good nurse provided by elementary school-age oncology patients. Research design: In this qualitative research, data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews. The data were evaluated thorough thematic analysis. Participants and research context: Eighteen children hospitalised due to cancer (...) in paediatric oncology and haematology clinics of a university hospital in Turkey. Ethical considerations: Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Institution’s Ethics Committee. The objectives of this study were explained to the participants and families, and written consent was obtained from them. Also, participants were assured that necessary measures would be taken to protect their anonymity and confidentiality. Findings: The definitions of children were based on five main themes: interpersonal relationships, virtues, professional responsibility, security and individual characteristics. Conclusion: Children conveyed important messages to health professionals. They emphasised that a good physician and good nurse should communicate well, not only with themselves but also with their family. In addition, children were sensitive about health professionals who played with them and actively participated in the treatment by informing them about the disease. Meeting the expectations of children can be possible by improving the communication skills of physicians and nurses and by adding games and activities to the treatment and care plan. (shrink)