Since the early 1980’s, with the clinical advent of in vitro fertilization resulting in so-called “test tube babies,” a wide array of ethical considerations and concerns regarding artificial womb technology (AWT) have been described. Recent breakthroughs in the development of extracorporeal neonatal life support by means of AWT have reinitiated ethical interest about this topic with a sense of urgency. Most of the recent ethical literature on the topic, however, pertains not to the more imminent scenario of a physiologically improved (...) method of neonatal care through AWT, but instead to the remote scenario of “complete ectogenesis” that imagines human gestation occurring entirely outside of the womb. This scoping review of the ethical literature on AWT spans from more abstract concerns about complete ectogenesis to more immediate concerns about the soon-to-be-expected clinical life support of what we term the fetal neonate or fetonate. Within an organizing framework of different stages of human gestational development, from conception to the viable premature infant, we discuss both already identified and newly emerging ethical considerations and concerns regarding AWT and the care of the fetonate. (shrink)

This article examined the effects of body–object interaction (BOI) on semantic processing. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. In Experiment 1, BOI effects were examined in 2 semantic categorization tasks (SCT) in which participants decided if words are easily imageable. Responses were faster and more accurate for high BOI words (e.g., mask) than for low BOI words (e.g., ship). In Experiment 2, BOI effects were examined in a semantic (...) lexical decision task (SLDT), which taps both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The BOI effect was larger in the SLDT than in the SCT, suggesting that BOI facilitates both semantic feedback and semantic processing. The findings are consistent with the embodied cognition perspective (e.g., Barsalou's, 1999, Perceptual Symbols Theory), which proposes that sensorimotor interactions with the environment are incorporated in semantic knowledge. (shrink)

In 2008, Representative John Read of Mississippi recently co-sponsored state legislation that would ban restaurants from serving obese customers. He later admitted that the bill was a publicity stunt,meant to “shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi.” Although controversial, Read’s bill exemplifies both the current perception of obesity as a national public health problem and the general sentiment underlying the types of interventions that are being considered to address this issue. The proposed legislation also demonstrates how (...) policymakers can use or, in this case misuse, information about obesity to generate significant discussion on an issue along with ill-conceived legal interventions.Information sharing and the methods used to share best practices are components of the fourth core element of public health legal preparedness. (shrink)

In 2008, Representative John Read of Mississippi recently co-sponsored state legislation that would ban restaurants from serving obese customers. He later admitted that the bill was a publicity stunt,meant to “shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi.” Although controversial, Read’s bill exemplifies both the current perception of obesity as a national public health problem and the general sentiment underlying the types of interventions that are being considered to address this issue. The proposed legislation also demonstrates how (...) policymakers can use or, in this case misuse, information about obesity to generate significant discussion on an issue along with ill-conceived legal interventions.Information sharing and the methods used to share best practices are components of the fourth core element of public health legal preparedness. (shrink)

A total of 1918 loci, detected by the hybridization of 938 expressed sequence tag unigenes from 26 Triticeae cDNA libraries, were mapped to wheat homoeologous group 4 chromosomes using a set of deletion, ditelosomic, and nulli-tetrasomic lines. The 1918 EST loci were not distributed uniformly among the three group 4 chromosomes; 41, 28, and 31% mapped to chromosomes 4A, 4B, and 4D, respectively. This pattern is in contrast to the cumulative results of EST mapping in all homoeologous groups, as reported (...) elsewhere, that found the highest proportion of loci mapped to the B genome. Sixty-five percent of these 1918 loci mapped to the long arms of homoeologous group 4 chromosomes, while 35% mapped to the short arms. The distal regions of chromosome arms showed higher numbers of loci than the proximal regions, with the exception of 4DL. This study confirmed the complex structure of chromosome 4A that contains two reciprocal translocations and two inversions, previously identified. An additional inversion in the centromeric region of 4A was revealed. A consensus map for homoeologous group 4 was developed from 119 ESTs unique to group 4. Forty-nine percent of these ESTs were found to be homoologous to sequences on rice chromosome 3, 12% had matches with sequences on other rice chromosomes, and 39% had no matches with rice sequences at all. Limited homology was found between wheat ESTs on homoeologous group 4 and the Arabidopsis genome. Forty-two percent of the homoeologous group 4 ESTs could be classified into functional categories on the basis of blastX searches against all protein databases. (shrink)

Comparative Political Theory and Cross-Cultural Philosophy explores new forms of philosophizing in the age of globalization by challenging the conventional border between the East and the West, as well as the traditional boundaries among different academic disciplines. This rich investigation demonstrates the importance of cross-cultural thinking in our reading of philosophical texts and explores how cross-cultural thinking transforms our understanding of the traditional philosophical paradigm.

Thousands of youth suffering from acquired brain injury or other early-life neurological disease live, mature, and learn with only limited communication and interaction with their world. Such cognitively capable children are ideal candidates for brain-computer interfaces. While BCI systems are rapidly evolving, a fundamental gap exists between technological innovators and the patients and families who stand to benefit. Forays into translating BCI systems to children in recent years have revealed that kids can learn to operate simple BCI with proficiency akin (...) to adults. BCI could bring significant boons to the lives of many children with severe physical impairment, supporting their complex physical and social needs. However, children have been neglected in BCI research and a collaborative BCI research community is required to unite and push pediatric BCI development forward. To this end, the pediatric BCI Canada collaborative network was formed, under a unified goal to cooperatively drive forward pediatric BCI innovation and impact. This article reflects on the topics and discussions raised in the foundational BCI-CAN meeting held in Toronto, ON, Canada in November 2019 and suggests the next steps required to see BCI impact the lives of children with severe neurological disease and their families. (shrink)

Ḍırār b. ʿAmr ve ʿAbdullāh b. Yezīd el-Fezārī, dönemlerinin önde gelen kelâmcıları arası yer almışlardır. Onlara dair bilgilerimiz çok uzun bir süre sadece makâlât ve tarih kitaplarındaki anlatımlara dayanıyordu. Yakın tarihimizde bu eksikliği gideren gelişmeler oldu. Ḍırār’ın günümüze intikal eden ilk ve tek eseri olan Kitābu’t-Taḥrīş, 2014 yılında neşredildi. Bu eser, doğrudan kelâm alanıyla ilgili olmasa da mezheplerin dağılımı ve fikirleri hakkında bilgiler ihtiva eden en eski Muʿtezilî kaynaklar arasında yer almaktadır. Ḍırār bu kitabında farklı dinî grupların rivâyetleri birbirlerine karşı (...) nasıl kullanıp suistimal ettiklerini konu edinmiştir. Eserin özelliği sadece ihtiva ettiği rivâyetlerde değil, meseleyi ele alış ve anlatım tarzında da bulunuyor. Ḍırār bu çalışmasıyla sonraki nesilleri birçok yönden etkilemiştir. ʿAbdullāh b. Yezīd el-Fezārī, eserlerinin günümüze ulaşması bakımından daha şanslıdır. Bir proje kapsamında 2014 yılından itibaren onun tam on bir eseri yayımlanmıştır. Bunlar arasında kelâm ilmine hasredilmiş birçok neşir yer almaktadır. Böylece çağdaş İslâm araştırmacıları ʿAbdullāh’ın fikirlerini az sayıdaki makâlât referanslarından bağımsız olarak doğrudan kendi kaleminden öğrenme imkanı elde etmiş oldular. Bunun ötesinde bu çalışmalar erken dönem kelâm ilminin en eski kaynakları arasına girmiştir. Bu yayımlar arasında özellikle Kitābu’r-Rudūd dikkat çekmektedir. Sebebi ise Kitābu’t-Taḥrīş ile olan benzerliğinden dolayıdır. Neredeyse her iki kitabın tamamı birbirinin aynısıdır ve karşılıklı atıflar içermemektedirler. Bu tür bir yazım faaliyeti günümüzde tereddütsüz intihal olarak adlandırılırdı. İki mütekellim arasında kronolojik farklar olmadığından kimin kimden etkilendiğini söylemek ilk aşamada zordur. Ḍırār ve ʿAbdullāh’ın birbirlerinden haberdar oldukları anlaşılıyor: İkisi de Kûfe’de yaşamış, Abbâsî halifesi Hārūn er-Reşīd döneminde (786-809) Bağdat’a geçmişler ve orada Hişām b. el-Ḥakem’le (ö. 179/795) imâmete dair Yaḥyā b. Ḫālid el-Bermekī’nin (ö. 190/805) rehberlik ettiği aynı münazara ortamında bulunmuşlardır. Eserlerin özgünlüğü ve etkisi hasebiyle bu çağdaş hemşehrilerden kimin kime kaynaklık etmiş olabileceği sorusu merak uyandırıyor. İkisinin de hem rivâyetleri merkeze alan bir eser vermek için hem bu tür bir telifin fikir babası olmasına delalet eden gerekçeleri var. Bu makalede, öncelikle ikisinin biyografik benzerlikleri takdim edilmiş, akabinde iki eser arasında mukayeselere yer verilmiştir. Kıyaslama, eserlerin hayat öyküleriyle uyumlulukları ve eserlerin tertip ve düzeni üzerinden yapılmıştır. Yöntem olarak aralarındaki paralelliklerden çok farklılıklara odaklanılmıştır. Son olarak ikisinin dayandığı ortak bir kaynağın varlığı sorgulanmıştır. Bu emârelerden hareketle kimin kime öncülük etmiş olabileceğine açıklık getirilmek amaçlanmıştır. (shrink)

The socioeconomic and ethnic characteristics of parents are some of the most important correlates of adverse health outcomes in childhood. However, the relationships between ethnic, economic, and behavioral factors and the health outcomes responsible for this pervasive finding have not been specified in child health epidemiology. The general objective of this paper is to propose a theoretical approach to the study of maternal behaviors and child health in diverse ethnic and socioeconomic environments. The specific aims are: (a) to describe a (...) causal pathway between the utility that women obtain through work outside the home and through child care and disease hazard rates in childhood using an optimization model; (b) to specify the influence of ethnic and socioeconomic factors on model constraints; (c) to use the model as a tool to learn about how different combinations of maternal wage labor and child care time might influence child health outcomes in diverse social contexts; (d) to identify parameters that will require measurement in future research; (e) to discuss research strategies that will enable us to obtain these measurements; and (f) to discuss the implications of the model for biostatistical modeling and public health intervention. Optimization models are powerful heuristic tools for understanding how ethnic, environmental, family, and personal characteristics can place important constraints on both the quality and quantity of care that women can provide to their children. They provide a quantitative appreciation for the difficult trade-offs that most women face between working in order to purchase basic goods that children cannot do without (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, health insurance), and increasing offspring well-being through child care (e.g., training in social skills, affection, protection from environmental hazards, help with homework). (shrink)

Osmanlı’da Huzur Dersleri Ramazan ayında, padişahın riyasetinde belirli plan ve program çerçevesinde yapılan tefsir dersleridir. Bu dersler, III. Mustafa zamanında h. 1172/m. 1759 yılında resmiyet kazanmış ve hilafetin ilgasına kadar devam etmiştir. İslam ilim geleneğinde Huzur Dersleri; muhâkemât, muhâdarât ve mecâlîs gibi ilmi toplantılarla benzerlik göstermektedir. Bu dersler, ümera ile ulemanın ilmi meclislerde bir araya gelmesine zemin hazırlamıştır. Dönemin önde gelen ilim adamları, mukarrir (dersi sunan) ve muhatap (müzakereci) olarak bu derslerde görev almıştır. Bu toplantılara padişahlar; dinleyici, müzakereci ve yönetici (...) olarak katılmıştır. Derslerin ana konusunu Kur’an âyetleri oluşturmaktadır. Derslerde takririn ardından müzakere heyeti, mukarrire sorular yönelterek soru-cevap usulüyle değerlendirmelerde bulunmuşlardır. Huzur Dersleri, Kur’an âyetlerinin yorumlanması ve müzakere edilmesi açısından tefsir ilminin bir konusudur. Bununla beraber Huzur Dersleri, tefsir ilminden başka; tarih, edebiyat ve din eğitimi gibi disiplinlere de konu edilmiştir. Alan yazındaki araştırmalar, Mardin’in Huzur Dersleri eseri bağlamında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Fakat, Mardin’in eserinde bazı mukarrirlerin sağlık, vefat ve sair gerekçelerle derslerini icra edemediği gibi bilgilerle takrir heyetinde yapılan değişikliklere işaret edilmediği belirlenmiştir. Bu sebeple Huzur Dersleri, Mardin’in eserinin yanında; Meşihat-ı İslâmiye Sicill-i Ahvâl defterleri, Devlet Arşivleri, ders davetiyeleri, dönemin gazete-dergileri ve sair evraklar dik-kate alınarak daha kapsamlı bir şekilde ele alınmalıdır. Çalışmada, bu kaynaklar incelenerek mukarrirlerin hangi padişah döneminde kaçıncı âyeti takrir ettiklerine dair veriler çok yönlü soruşturulmuş, ihtilaflı gözüken bilgiler elenmiştir. Takrir edilen âyet(ler)in tespit edilemediği Huzur Dersleri ise dikkate alınmamıştır. Araştırmada, Huzur Dersleri’nde; hangi padişah döneminde, kaçıncı âyetin, kim tarafından takrir edildiği incelenerek Huzur Dersleri kronolojisi oluşturulmuştur. (shrink)

Introduction -- Direct realism. An introduction to direct realism : the views of D.M. Armstrong -- The representationalism of Dretske, Tye, and Lycan -- Searle's naturalism and the prospects for knowledge -- Philosophy as science : neuroscience, neurophilosophy, and naturalized epistemology. Cognitive science, philosophy, and our knowledge of reality, pt. 1. The views of David Papineau -- Cognitive science, philosophy, and our knowledge of reality, pt. 2. The views of Daniel Dennett -- Can the Churchlands' neurocomputational theory cognition ground a (...) viable epistemology? (by Errin Clark) -- Other alternatives, and naturalism's future. Other proposals : Pollock's internalism, Kim's functionalism (with Peggy Burke), and more externalist considerations -- The future directions of naturalism -- A positive case for our knowledge of reality -- Methodological naturalism and the scientific method, and other implications. (shrink)

The new result of this paper is that for θ-stable we have S1[θ] = D[θ, L, ∞]. S1 is Hrushovski's rank. This is an improvement of a result of Kim and Pillay, who for simple theories under the assumption that either of the ranks be finite obtained the same identity. Only the first equality is new, the second equality is a result of Shelah from the seventies. We derive it by studying localizations of several rank functions, we get the followingMain (...) Theorem. Suppose that μ is regular satisfying μ ≥ |T|+, p is a finite type, and Δ is a set of formulas closed under Boolean operations. If either R[p, Δ, μ+] < ∞ or p is Δ-stable and μ satisfies “for every sequence {μi : i < |Δ| + ℵ0} of cardinals μi < μ we have that equation image holds”, then S[p, Δ, μ+] = D[p, Δ, μ+] = R[p, Δ, μ+].The S rank above is a localized version of Hrushovski's S1 rank. This rank, as well as our systematic use of local stability, allows us to get a more conceptual proof of the equality of D and R, which is an old result of Shelah. A particular case of the theorem offers a new sufficient condition for the equality of S1 and D[·, L, ∞]. We also manage, due to a more general approach, to avoid some combinatorial difficulties present in Shelah's original exposition. (shrink)

A crisis continues to brew within the pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) enterprise: productivity continues declining as costs rise, despite ongoing, often dramatic scientific and technical advances. To reverse this trend, we offer various suggestions for both the expansion and broader adoption of modeling and simulation (M&S) methods. We suggest strategies and scenarios intended to enable new M&S use cases that directly engage R&D knowledge generation and build actionable mechanistic insight, thereby opening the door to enhanced productivity. What M&S requirements (...) must be satisfied to access and open the door, and begin reversing the productivity decline? Can current methods and tools fulfill the requirements, or are new methods necessary? We draw on the relevant, recent literature to provide and explore answers. In so doing, we identify essential, key roles for agent-based and other methods. We assemble a list of requirements necessary for M&S to meet the diverse needs distilled from a collection of research, review, and opinion articles. We argue that to realize its full potential, M&S should be actualized within a larger information technology framework—a dynamic knowledge repository—wherein models of various types execute, evolve, and increase in accuracy over time. We offer some details of the issues that must be addressed for such a repository to accrue the capabilities needed to reverse the productivity decline. (shrink)

In an era where decolonizing architectural pedagogy is imperative, cities stand as the forefront of radical thought, acting as crucibles for ideological, activist, and spatial dynamics. These urban landscapes are not just breeding grounds for new paradigms, but also reflect significant shifts in political and social frameworks. This study adopts the concept of the “radical city” as a prism to understand how local events echo global political and sociocultural disturbances. This research takes an innovative approach by integrating mixed-method pedagogies, student-driven (...) inquiries, and diverse case studies, spanning continents from Asia to Latin America, Europe to Africa, and the US to the UK. The aim is to explore the deep-rooted changes in these cities and to promote a decolonized approach to architectural education, moving beyond traditional, Eurocentric narratives. The backbone of this research is the course “Visualizing Radical Urbanism,” offered at the Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, in Fall 2022 and Fall 2023. Through this course, students engage in a pedagogical journey involving exploration, research, analysis, and introspection on their selected radical city. Their diverse methodologies and expressive mediums converge in a comprehensive portfolio, showcasing their intellectual growth and culminating in a reflective essay on their urban subject. By focusing on educational research and time investment in this course, the study highlights the importance of sustained, critical engagement with urban environments. This approach not only enriches architectural education but also contributes to the broader discourse on urban activism and decolonization, reinforcing the need for diverse, inclusive, and globally aware architectural pedagogies. (shrink)

"By combining recent advances in the physical sciences with some of the novel ideas, techniques, and data of modern biology, this book attempts to achieve a new and different kind of evolutionary synthesis. I found it to be challenging, fascinating, infuriating, and provocative, but certainly not dull."--James H, Brown, University of New Mexico "This book is unquestionably mandatory reading not only for every living biologist but for generations of biologists to come."--Jack P. Hailman, Animal Behaviour , review of the first (...) edition "An important contribution to modern evolutionary thinking. It fortifies the place of Evolutionary Theory among the other well-established natural laws."--R.Gessink, TAXON. (shrink)

_Observing Organisations_ presents a unique approach derived from direct participant observation of small units within institutions, all in the health and social services sector. A range of contributors bring together the results of their own observational projects to show how they were able to come to a psychoanalytically informed understanding of the cultures that arise within healthcare organisations, and how this understanding can be used to overcome difficulties that arise.