La, V. P., & Vuong, Q. H. (2019). bayesvl: Visually learning the graphical structure of Bayesian networks and performing MCMC with ‘Stan’. The Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN).

Author list: H. Frey; A. Willwoll; Georg Wunderle; E. Raitz V. Frentz; Q. Wihstutz; G. Wihstutz; R. Walter; A. Bolley; E. Steinwand; R.H. Thouleß; B. Vasady; A. Bolley.

BackgroundIn the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort, participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, heart, and abdomen, that generated incidental findings (IFs). The approach to managing these unexpected results remain a complex issue. Our objectives were to describe the CAHHM policy for the management of IFs, to understand the impact of disclosing IFs to healthy research participants, and to reflect on the ethical obligations of researchers in future MRI studies.MethodsBetween 2013 and 2019, 8252 participants (...) (mean age 58 ± 9 years, 54% women) were recruited with a follow-up questionnaire administered to 909 participants (40% response rate) at 1-year. The CAHHM policy followed a restricted approach, whereby routine feedback on IFs was not provided. Only IFs of severe structural abnormalities were reported.ResultsSevere structural abnormalities occurred in 8.3% (95% confidence interval 7.7–8.9%) of participants, with the highest proportions found in the brain (4.2%) and abdomen (3.1%). The majority of participants (97%) informed of an IF reported no change in quality of life, with 3% of participants reporting that the knowledge of an IF negatively impacted their quality of life. Furthermore, 50% reported increased stress in learning about an IF, and in 95%, the discovery of an IF did not adversely impact his/her life insurance policy. Most participants (90%) would enrol in the study again and perceived the MRI scan to be beneficial, regardless of whether they were informed of IFs. While the implications of a restricted approach to IF management was perceived to be mostly positive, a degree of diagnostic misconception was present amongst participants, indicating the importance of a more thorough consent process to support participant autonomy.ConclusionThe management of IFs from research MRI scans remain a challenging issue, as participants may experience stress and a reduced quality of life when IFs are disclosed. The restricted approach to IF management in CAHHM demonstrated a fair fulfillment of the overarching ethical principles of respect for autonomy, concern for wellbeing, and justice. The approach outlined in the CAHHM policy may serve as a framework for future research studies.Clinical trial registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/nct02220582. (shrink)

Adams and Dziobiak proved that any finite-to-finite universal quasivariety must be Q-universal, and then asked whether a somewhat weaker hypothesis could lead to the same conclusion. We show that their original hypothesis cannot be weakened to its naturally extreme form.

The methodology implicit in empirically grounded social scientific studies of religion naturally allies with forms of semantic holism. However, a well known argument which questions whether holism in general is consistent with the fact that languages are learnable can be extended into an epistemological one which questions whether holism is consistent with an empirical methodology. In other words, there is question whether holism, in fact, makes social science possible. I diagnose the assumptions on which that objection rests, pointing out that (...) they are not necessary for semantic holism per se. I argue that a form of semantic holism along the lines advocated by W. V. O. Quine and Donald Davidson can avoid the objection. Moreover, when seen in this light, it has the resources to withstand an even deeper methodological problem. In so doing, though, several important but overlooked implications for the study of religion emerge. (shrink)

v. 1. Natural law theories -- v. 2. Legal positivism.

Let X be a separable Banach space and Q be a coanalytic subset of . We prove that the set of sequences in X which are weakly convergent to some eX and is a coanalytic subset of . The proof applies methods of effective descriptive set theory to Banach space theory. Using Silver’s Theorem [J. Silver, Every analytic set is Ramsey, J. Symbolic Logic 35 60–64], this result leads to the following dichotomy theorem: if X is a Banach space, is (...) a regular method of summability and is a bounded sequence in X, then there exists a subsequence iL such that either there exists eX such that every subsequence iH of iL is weakly summable w.r.t. to e and QiH,e); or for every subsequence iH of iL and every eX with QiH,e)the sequence iH is not weakly summable to e w.r.t. . This is a version for weak convergence of an Erdös–Magidor result, see [P. Erdös, M. Magidor, A note on Regular Methods of Summability, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 59 232–234]. Both theorems obtain some considerable generalizations. (shrink)

A free ultrafilter $\mathcal{U}$ on $\omega$ is called a $T$-point if, for every countable group $G$ of permutations of $\omega$, there exists $U\in\mathcal{U}$ such that, for each $g\in G$, the set $\{x\in U:gx\ne x, gx\in U\}$ is finite. We show that each $P$-point and each $Q$-point in $\omega^*$ is a $T$-point, and, under CH, construct a $T$-point, which is neither a $P$-point, nor a $Q$-point. A question whether $T$-points exist in ZFC is open.

We exhibit a 10-element semigroup Q such that the question “Does a given quasi-identity hold inQ?” is co-NP-complete while the question “Does a given identity hold inQ?” can be answered in linear time.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:BOOK REVIEWS 375 7he Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics. Edited by JAMES F. CHILDRESS and J mrn MACQUARRIE. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986. Pp. xvii + 678. $29.95. This is a second, revised edition of The Dictionary of Christian Ethics, prepared by John Macquarrie and published in 1967. This new edition follows Macquarrie's conception of a dictionary, but expands it. It includes several subject areas, basic ethical concepts, biblical (...) ethics, theological ethics, philosophical ethics, non-Cbistian ethics; psychological, 8ociological, political, and other relevant concepts; and articles on substantial issues such as war and abortion. The criterion for selection, as stated by the editor, was the importance of the topic for Christian ethical reflection. The aim was to indicate both what is agr.eed upon and what is controversial. About 40% of the entries from the first edition have been included. These are generally updated so as to include recent developments. The selection of subjects, the way in which they are treated and the list of contributors, reflect the ecumenical character of contemporary Christian ethics. The dictionary includes a host of valuable contributions. Readers who consults the work will no doubt evaluate the entries in terms of their particular purposes. This reviewer found most useful the entries which expla~ned particular basic concepts, for example Autonomy; those dealing with schools of thought, for example, Platonic Ethics, Marxist Ethics, or the contribution of particular traditions, for example, Jewish Ethics, Puritan Ethics, Official Roman Catholic Social Teaching, Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethics, and the many entries dealing with Biomedical Ethics and peace issues. 'rhere are a number of articles on topics which are most important, but for which it is often difficult to find a succinct and comprehensive treatment; such are the contributions on "Embodiment," and " Feminist Ethics." There are a number of useful entries on urg.ent contemporary questions such as Energy and Environmental Ethics. Practical questions such as the care of the aged and the ethics of counseling are also addressed. Each article has a short bibliography appended. Numerous cross-references to other relevant entries are most helpful in providing complementary information. There is a thorough index of names. The dictionary is not conceived as a compendium of the accepted or " official " ethical teachings of churches or religious traditions. Mention could be made, however, of the entry on " Official Roman Catholic Social Teaching." '¥here such teachings exist, they am usually indicated. There are some cases where the churches and/or traditions clearly differ. The approach which is most helpful to ethical debate is to acknowledge such differences clearly, with an appropriate statement of the relevant teaching. The editor himself (James F. Childress), in his own contributions, fol- 376 BOOK REVIEWS lows this p1'0cedure. Some Roman Catholic readers may find the articles on Abortion and Contraception, while excellent in other ways, less satisfactory in this respect. The general focus seems intended to be " middle of the road "; more conservative or radical groups may find their views insufficiently represented. No doubt some of the positions presented would be disputed by Christian ethicists. But the treatment of difficult points is balanced and fair. There are, unfortunately, some inaccuracies. The following examples deserve mention. In the article on Nullity, the Roman Catholic annulment is wrongly equated with papal dissolution of the marriage bond. In the article on Virtue, it is said that St. Thomas held that along with the infused supernatural virtues there are "infused natural virtues." St. Thomas spoke ratht>r of infused theological virtues and infused moral virtues (I. II, Q.63, 3.) In the article on deterrence, it is stated that the strategy of "mutual assured destruction ", dating from the 1960s, still provides the framework of American deterrence strategy. This point would be challenged by some representat.ives of the military, who claim that M.A.D. has not been policy for some years. The same article interprets the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter, The Challenge of Peace. as basing its (conditional) acceptance of nuclear deterrence on the distinction between threatening to do an immoral aet without intending to do it, and threat coupled with the intent. That is, deterrence is aceepted as a "bluff." This is not a correct reading... (shrink)

For a quasi variety of algebras K, the Higman Theorem is said to be true if every recursively presented K-algebra is embeddable into a finitely presented K-algebra; the Generalized Higman Theorem is said to be true if any K-algebra which is recursively presented over its finitely generated subalgebra is embeddable into a K-algebra which is finitely presented over this subalgebra. We suggest certain general conditions on K under which the Higman Theorem implies the Generalized Higman Theorem; a finitely generated K-algebra (...) A is embeddable into every existentially closed K-algebra containing a finitely generated K-algebra B if and only if the word problem for A is Q-reducible to the word problem for B. The quasi varieties of groups, torsion-free groups, and semigroups satisfy these conditions. (shrink)

We exhibit a 10-element semigroup Q such that the question Does a given quasi-identity hold in Q? is co-NP-complete while the question Does a given identity hold in Q? can be answered in linear time.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF RIGHTS LANGUAGE IN PRE-MODERN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT BERNARD V. BRADY University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota CONTEMPORARY CATHOLIC social thought, both in official documents and in commentaries, has focused quite extensively on describing the use, meaning and justification of human rights. Indeed, as one significant contributor has suggested, human rights have become, since the Second Vatican Council, the "central norms of social (...) morality." 1 In all of this concern for the place of rights within Catholic thought, however, very little work has been done to explore the pre-modern roots of this moral category. This essay attempts to address this issue. The essay has three parts. The first section considers characteristics of rights language within the thought of Thomas Aquinas. The second section looks at the use of rights within the intriguing controversy of the late thirteenth century surrounding apostolic poverty. Finally, developments in Catholic rights language found in the work of the Renaissance figures Vitoria and Suarez are studied. The essay narrates the development in the use of rights within the tradition while suggesting certain threads of consistency. Thomistic Characteristics of the Use, Meaning and Justification of Rights Language In the social philosophy of Thomas Aquinas ( 1225-74), the concept " ius," or " right," has an important and nuanced role. 1 David Hollenbach, " Both Bread and Freedom: The Interconnection of Economic and Political Rights in Recent Catholic Thought," in Human Rights and the Global Mission of the Church, ed. Arthur J. Dyck (Boston: Boston Theological Institute, 1985), 31. 97 98 BERNARD V. BRADY Generally, ius suggests an objective reality, as when it is used in the concept of ius naturale, yet Thomas often uses the word interchangeably with "lex", or "law", a word fundamentally referring to the rational expression of such an objective reality.2 Most significantly from a modern perspective, Thomas also describes this objective reality of ius within the context of personal relations. Specific persons have specific rights in accord with their position within society. This section will examine the meaning of the term ius in Thomas. It will be shown that Thomas used ius primarily in an objective sense, that is, in terms of "that which is right," or " that which is fitting." It will also be suggested that Thomas used ius in something of a subjective sense as referring to personal moral claims. This latter use was, however, dependent on a prior understanding of "that which is right." "Right,'' says Thomas, "is the object of justice." 3 Operating from the principle that if one knows the end or the object of a thing one can know the reality of that thing, Thomas introduces his treatise on justice 4 with a consideration of the reality toward which justice tends-the right. As with the other cardinal virtues, justice seeks to actualize the right or the fitting as it orders a person in relation to some object. The distinguishing characteristic of justice is that the object under consideration is another person. He writes, " Accordingly that which is right in the works of the other virtues, and to which the intention of the virtue tends as to its proper object, depends on its relation to the agent only, whereas the right in a work of justice, besides its relation to the agent, is set up by its relation to others." 5 Thomas describes justice as a habit flowing from a rightly ordered self which in turn rightly orders one's relations with others. That is, the just person, through "a constant and per2 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, q. 57, art. 1, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, 3 vols. (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1947). See also Thomas Gilby, The Political Thought of Thomas Aquinas (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, Midway Reprints, 1973), 121. a Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, q. 57, art. 1. 4 Ibid., 2a, 2ae, q. 57-122. 5 Ibid., 2a, 2ae, q. 57, art. 1. RIGHTS IN PRE-MODERN THOUGHT 99 petual will,'' 6 gives to another that which is due in accord with " some kind of equality" 7 "adjusted to or commensurate with... [the other] person." 8 Even as Thomas states, "the act... (shrink)

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics assumes the existence of the classical deterministic Newtonian world. We argue that in fact the Newton determinism in classical world does not hold and in the classical mechanics there is fundamental and irreducible randomness. The classical Newtonian trajectory does not have a direct physical meaning since arbitrary real numbers are not observable. There are classical uncertainty relations: Δq>0 and Δp>0, i.e. the uncertainty (errors of observation) in the determination of coordinate and momentum is always (...) positive (non zero).A “functional” formulation of classical mechanics was suggested. The fundamental equation of the microscopic dynamics in the functional approach is not the Newton equation but the Liouville equation for the distribution function of the single particle. Solutions of the Liouville equation have the property of delocalization which accounts for irreversibility. The Newton equation in this approach appears as an approximate equation describing the dynamics of the average values of the position and momenta for not too long time intervals. Corrections to the Newton trajectories are computed. An interpretation of quantum mechanics is attempted in which both classical and quantum mechanics contain fundamental randomness. Instead of an ensemble of events one introduces an ensemble of observers. (shrink)

Ellen Fox and collaborators have produced the most detailed description of healthcare ethics practices in the United States available. Some findings are shocking for anyone committed to promoting q...

Of the early Roman historians who wrote in Greek, A. Postumius Albinus was not necessarily alone in realizing that his Greek was not the best Greek; while, on the other hand, Cato and those who followed the new fashion of writing in Latin would have resented, we may assume, could they have foreknown, the statement of Q,. Catulus in Cicero's De Oratore that they had no literary or rather ‘oratorical’ merit; though Cato might have approved Catulus' caustic comment on Roman (...) historical writing, ‘Satis est non esse mendacem’. That an historian should not, consciously and deliberately, lie all second-century historians would no doubt have agreed; and they would have endorsed Polybius' condemnation of masquerading as history in a story whose falseness was self-evident, because it assumed, on the part of the young sons of senators at Rome, a gravitas such as no young boy could possibly possess. (shrink)

We study completely decomposable torsion-free abelian groups of the form $\mathcal{G}_S := \oplus_{n \in S} \mathbb{Q}_{p_n}$ for sets $S \subseteq \omega$. We show that $\mathcal{G}_S$has a decidable copy if and only if S is $\Sigma^0_2$and has a computable copy if and only if S is $\Sigma^0_3$.

Starting from the 13th century, the question of defining theology as a science gained prominence within a new epistemological reflection on the discipline. It has been hypothesized that the availability of new translations of Aristotelian works significantly contributed to the growing interest among theologians in the theory of science. One of the most prominent intellectuals who recognized the necessity of defining theology as a science and outlining its boundaries and investigative methods in relation to other disciplines, was Albert the Great (...) (d. 1280). Numerous studies have been dedicated to exploring Albert’s treatment of this subject since the 1930s. However, little to no attention has been given to the role played by Arabic sources, particularly the works of Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, d. 1037), the philosopher and polymath of Persian origin, in shaping Albert’s own definition of theology as a science. This contribution concentrates on the analysis of a section of the Summa Theologiae (Treatise I, quaestio V, chapter 3), with particular emphasis on the ‘translation’ of the logical-argumentative method from its domain of application in scientific and philosophical research to the branch of theology dedicated to safeguarding Christian doctrine against the criticisms and the attacks of heretics. The aim is to analyze how Albert accomplished this translation of the method of inquiry by drawing parallels between the defence of the principles of philosophical inquiry, which is a primary concern of metaphysics, and the defence of the articles of faith in theology. It is by reconciling sources from both the Christian and the Arabo-Islamic traditions that Albert claims the use of a form of dialectic argumentation within theology. (shrink)

Topic of the paper is Q-logic – a logic of agency in its temporal and modal context. Q-logic may be considered as a basal logic of agency since the most important stit-operators discussed in the literature can be defined or axiomatized easily within its semantical and syntactical framework. Its basic agent dependent operator, the Q-operator (also known as Δ- or cstit-operator), which has been discussed independently by F. v. Kutschera and B. F. Chellas, is investigated here in respect of its (...) relation to other temporal and modal operators. The main result of the paper, then, is a completeness result for a calculus of Q-logic with respect to a semantics defined on the tree-approach to agency as introduced and developed by, among others, F. v. Kutschera and N. D. Belnap. (shrink)

In his paper in the same volume, Sider argues that, of maximalism and quantifier variance, the latter promises to let us make better sense of neo-Fregeanism. I argue that neo-Fregeans should, and seemingly do, reject quantifier variance. If they must choose between these two options, they should choose maximalism.

Topic of the paper is Q-logic - a logic of agency in its temporal and modal context. Q-logic may be considered as a basal logic of agency since the most important stitoperators discussed in the literature can be defined or axiomatized easily within its semantical and syntactical framework. Its basic agent dependent operator, the Q-operator (also known as Δ- or cstit-operator), which has been discussed independently by E v. Kutschera and B. E Chellas, is investigated here in respect of its (...) relation to other temporal and modal operators. The main result of the paper, then, is a completeness result for a calculus of Q-logic with respect to a semantics defined on the tree-approach to agency as introduced and developed by, among others, E v. Kutschera and N. D. Belnap. (shrink)

Geschult an den griechischen Klassikern, vor allem Demosthenes, und ausgerüstet mit einer enzyklopädischen Bildung, führte Cicero die römische Beredsamkeit zu einer Klassizität, deren Suggestivkraft die forensishcen Erfolge bedingte und ihre bleibende Faszination ausmacht. Die gründlich ausgearbeiteten Reden, seine selbständigste literarische Leistung, zeichnen darüber hinaus ein lebendiges Bild der unruhigen politischen Lage im 1. Jh. V. Chr. Die Übertragung von Manfred Fuhrmann (erstmals in der "Bibliothek der Alten Welt" erschienen) ist selbst schon ein klassisches Werk moderner Übersetzungskunst. Band 1 der Prozessreden (...) enthält die Reden vor dem Exil: Rede für P. Quinctius Rede für den Schauspieler Q. Roscius Rede für M. Tullius Rede für M. Fonteius Rede für A. Caecina Rede für A. Cluentius Habitus Rede für F. Sulla Rede für L. Flaccus. (shrink)

Reconstruction of a Source of Ibn Isḥāq’s Life of the Prophet and Early Qurʾān Exegesis: A Study of Early Ibn ʿAbbās Traditions. By Harald Motzki. Islamic History and Thought, vol. 3. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2017. Pp. v + 144. $58.

A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Second Edition, Revised and Greatly Enlarged. 2 vols. By Douglas Q. Adams. Leiden Studies in Indo-European, vol. 10. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2013. Pp. xvi + v + 964. $294.

Let us recall that Raphael Robinson's Arithmetic Q is an axiom system that differs from Peano Arithmetic essentially by containing no Induction axioms [13], [18]. We will generalize the semantic-tableaux version of the Second Incompleteness Theorem almost to the level of System Q. We will prove that there exists a single rather long Π 1 sentence, valid in the standard model of the Natural Numbers and denoted as V, such that if α is any finite consistent extension of Q + (...) V then α will be unable to prove its Semantic Tableaux consistency. The same result will also apply to axiom systems α with infinite cardinality when these infinite-sized axiom systems satisfy a minor additional constraint, called the Conventional Encoding Property. Our formalism will also imply that the semantic-tableaux version of the Second Incompleteness Theorem generalizes for the axiom system IΣ 0 , as well as for all its natural extensions. (This answers an open question raised twenty years ago by Paris and Wilkie [15].). (shrink)

Professor H. J. Rose's article in C.Q. xxxiii. 69 f. has advanced the study of this perplexing passage in two important respects. He has observed that, in order to determine the ‘eye’ as metaphorical, ỏΦθαλμός requires a dependent genitive, and he has therefore restored μεαλν πολων to this relation by punctuating as above instead of after πολίων And he is surely equally right in maintaining that this plural genitive must have a plural reference; it must mean ‘of great cities’ and (...) not ‘of Cyrene’. For although there is a figure called pluralis maiestatis, such obscurity in the use of it seems too affected, such ambiguity too perverse; a poem honouring the prince of Cyrene will refer to this famous city in unmistakable terms. (shrink)

Son onilliklərdə əhalinin müəyyən tələbatlarının nəzərə alınması şərtilə sorğuların keçirilməsi və anketlərin tərtibi geniş vüsət almışdır. Lakin bununla yanaşı sosiologiya elmində belə metodların tətbiqi müəyyən məhdudiyyətlərlə müşayiət olunur. Gənclər və orta nəsil nümayəndələrinin cəmiyyətdə baş verən xəbərlər haqqında məlumat topladığı sosial şəbəkələr belə anketlər və sorğuların tətbiqinə təsir edə bilməmişdir. Bəzi məlumat vasitələrində belə sorğu metodikası hazırda da dəyişilməz qalmaqdadır. Sosial tədqiqatlarda tətbiq edilən anket və sorğular sosial proseslərin qəbul edilməsi və anlaşılmasında vacib amillərdən olsa da əldə edilən nəticələri dəqiq, (...) səhvsiz və obyektiv hesab etmək doğru deyil. Lakin mənbə olaraq əldə edilən bu məlumat cəmiyyətdəki hadisələr və qarşılıqlı münasibətlərin izahı baxımından çox dəyərli və aktualdır. (shrink)