Originally published in 1951, Homo Faberis an examination of the scientific outlook on human mental evolution through the lens of parapsychology. The book aims to undermine what its terms, the 'scientific outlook' examining the human interpretation of the world, and the preconceived scientific concepts that reality does not extend beyond the realm that our senses reveal. The book expands upon this and moves to examine the broader human understanding of the entire cosmos, challenging the scientific conception that this can be (...) grasped in principal by human intellect, arising from the chance combination of material particles. The book argues that the scientific outlook prevents humans from discovering in the Universe the meaning and purpose which are everywhere to be found if sought in the appropriate contemplative states of mind. This book provides a unique take on the examination of human psychology and the evolution of the brain from an alternative scientific stance. It will be of interest to anthropologists, historians and psychologists alike. will be of interest to anthropologists, historians and psychologists alike. (shrink)

If there is one question which stands forth pre-eminently from among the many problems with which physical science bristles, it is that of the ontological status of the world which physics is exploring. What is reality in the eyes of science, and what are we to understand the physicist to mean when he refers to the “real world”? Can we agree with him when he assures us that physical science represents a progress towards pure truth? There seems to be a (...) certain reluctance on the part of twentieth-century physicists to face the ontological question which I think their colleagues of the nineteenth century did not share to the same extent. (shrink)

The state-of-art research in the field of life’s organization confronts the need to investigate a number of interacting components, their properties and conditions of sustainable behaviour within a natural system. In biology, ecology and life sciences, the performance of such stable system is usually related to homeostasis, a property of the system to actively regulate its state within a certain allowable limits. In our previous work, we proposed a deterministic model for systems’ homeostasis. The model was based on dynamical system’s (...) theory and pairwise relationships of competition, amensalism and antagonism taken from theoretical biology and ecology. However, the present paper proposes a different dimension to our previous results based on the same model. In this paper, we introduce the influence of inter-component relationships in a system, wherein the impact is characterized by direction (neutral, positive, or negative) as well as its (absolute) value, or strength. This makes the model stochastic which, in our opinion, is more consistent with real-world elements affected by various random factors. The case study includes two examples from areas of hydrobiology and medicine. The models acquired for these cases enabled us to propose a convincing explanation for corresponding phenomena identified by different types of natural systems. (shrink)

This paper describes the topological aspect of a logic-based, artificial intelligence approach to formalising the qualitative description of spatial properties and relations, and reasoning about those properties and relations. This approach, known as RCC theory, has been under development for several years at the University of Leeds. The main rationale for this project is that qualitative descriptions of spatial properties and relationships, and qualitative spatial reasoning, are of fundamental importance in human thinking about the world: even where quantitative spatial data (...) are most important, they must be attached to the components of a perceived spatial structure if we are to make use of them. RCC theory covers other qualitative aspects of spatial description and reasoning, but the topological properties and relations of spatially extended entities are fundamental to our work. The topological formalisms used by mathematicians are, in general, not well suited to the task of formalising the kinds of ‘common-sense’ or ‘everyday’ qualitative spatial description and reasoning which are our primary interest. Nevertheless, we must come to grips with the concepts of topology as practised by mathematicians if we are not to risk constantly ‘reinventing wheels’. (shrink)

Upshot: According to Biology of Cognition and Language (Maturana’s approach) the immune system is not a cognitive system and defining of a cognitive paradigm is not what we understand as a Maturanian approach to immunology. The true cognitive actions in immunology are performed by immunologists acting as observers, not by body organs or systems. Stimuli and responses are not adequate concepts in the description of systems. As a closed network of cellular/molecular interactions, the immune system yields patterns of activity as (...) is transparent in robust conserved profiles of reactivity of natural immunoglobulins, as investigated by Nóbrega et al. and Cohen et al., which offer the opportunity to unravel its natural, spontaneous activity. Dietary materials, products of the commensal microbiome are the most abundant and common elements continuously incorporated to the network activity and, thus, also represent an important avenue of investigation. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To measure the preference regarding disclosure of a serious diagnosis, and its determinants, of the Lebanese public. DESIGN AND SETTING: Non-random sample survey of 400 persons interviewed in health care facilities in Beirut in 1995. RESULTS: Forty-two per cent of respondents generally preferred truth not to be disclosed directly to patients. Preference for disclosure was associated with younger age, better education and tendency to rapport-building with physicians. There were no meaningful associations between place of residence (urban/rural), level of religious (...) practice, or religious affiliation, and preference for disclosure. CONCLUSIONS: Under one plausible interpretation, this survey suggests that the expectation for concealment will decrease as the advantage of knowledge in better coping with disease is understood by an increasingly better educated public, and that the Lebanese public will increasingly come to expect direct and full disclosure of serious diagnoses. (shrink)

This invaluable resource is the first one-volume, in-depth, comprehensive history of modern science ever published.

Current discussions on the utilization of information technologies for agriculture, place emphasis on the collection and processing of information on the farm, through the introduction and use of computers as management support in process control and database management. However, because of farm management's dependency on outside information support for the production control and market engagement, the communication of information and the improvement of its efficiency is of similar, if not greater, importance. This article, therefore, places its main focus on the (...) communication aspect. It provides a classification for “on-farm” communication patterns and highlights, using this classification, a number of European experiences with videotex applications in agriculture. It argues that new information technologies may open the way for new approaches to farm-related communication, and thus for a major change in farm management practices. For this progression to occur, its development and application should base itself upon the basic communication patterns that have evolved in practice, and reflect the actual use of information in agriculture. (shrink)

Although there is great concern about protecting those who participate in research, little if any concern has been expressed in the literature about protecting “decliners”—individuals who were invited to participate, but did not. However, there are several situations in which potential participants may experience negative consequences if they choose not to participate—for example, the prison setting, where the power imbalance is obvious and the history of research is not a positive one. We offer several options to protect decliners from possible (...) adverse consequences. (shrink)

In the competitive and globalized scenario, organizations are interested in enhancing employee–organization relationship. Perceived organizational support is one way to understand employee–organization relationship. This study examines the impact of various work-related experiences of healthcare professionals on perceived organizational support. The work experience comprises employees’ experience with i) formal support through human resource practices and facility in the workplace and ii) informal social support from supervisors and coworkers in the workplace. A survey is conducted among healthcare professionals including medical officers and (...) staff nurses working in primary health centers in the state of Tamil Nadu. The results of the study proved the positive impact of human resource practices (such as pay and rewards, and job autonomy), social support (such as supervisor support and coworker support), and health facility on perceived organizational support. The career growth opportunities showed a negative impact on perceived organizational support. The supervisor support and coworker support showed higher influence on perceived organizational support than human resource practices and health facility. The study has contributed to the literature on human resource practices and perceived organizational support. The results of the study have provided inputs on how to enhance perceived organizational support of healthcare professionals and about healthcare professionals’ perception of human resource practices that could be incorporated while making policies related to public health. (shrink)

Background: Emergency exception to informed consent regulation was introduced to provide a venue to perform research on subjects in emergency situations before obtaining informed consent. For a study to proceed, institutional review boards need to determine if the regulations have been met.Aim: To determine IRB members’ experience reviewing research protocols using emergency exception to informed consent.Methods: This qualitative research used semistructured telephone interviews of 10 selected IRB members from around the US in the fall of 2003. IRB members were chosen (...) as little is known about their views of exception to consent, and part of their mandate is the protection of human subjects in research. Interview questions focused on the length of review process, ethical and legal considerations, training provided to IRB members on the regulations, and experience using community consultation and notification. Content analysis was performed on the transcripts of interviews. To ensure validity, data analysis was performed by individuals with varying backgrounds: three emergency physicians, an IRB member and a layperson.Results: Respondents noted that: emergency exception to informed consent studies require lengthy review; community consultation and notification regulations are vague and hard to implement; current regulations, if applied correctly, protect human subjects; legal counsel is an important aspect of reviewing exception to informed-consent protocols; and IRB members have had little or no formal training in these regulations, but are able to access materials needed to review such protocols.Conclusions: This preliminary study suggests that IRB members find emergency exception to informed consent studies take longer to review than other protocols, and that community consultation and community notification are the most difficult aspect of the regulations with which to comply but that they adequately protect human subjects. (shrink)

The paper addresses the use of heterogeneous ensembles of intelligent unmanned vehicles in such a perspective field of innovations as an unmanned fishery. The issues of joint activity of unmanned vehicles of different types in fishing operations based on intelligent technologies are investigated. The “smart fishing” approach based on the joint fishing operation model is proposed. The operational framework that includes missions, roles, and activity scenarios embedded in the discretized spatial model is presented. The scenario activities are considered as the (...) sequences of pentad that determine executing specific functions concerning the specified waypoint, timepoints, and the states of vehicles. The definition of the plan as the scenario prototype that needs adjusting to the conditions of the situational context is proposed. The coordination problem regarding the joint activities of the unmanned vehicles and their scenarios is defined and the coordination framework based on the distributed common board model and coordination primitives is presented. The prototype of the intelligent scenario-based system including the implementation of both operational and coordination frameworks developed for the control of unmanned vehicles is described. This system makes unmanned vehicles capable to absorb all the latest advances in intelligent technologies to perform smart fishing operations jointly in a large heterogeneous group. The proposed approach to smart fishing using intelligent technologies makes it possible to detach fishermen from the fishing activities dangerous to their life and health, to reduce significantly poaching and illegal fishing, to increase the overall efficiency of fishing operations, and even to save the marine ecosystem. (shrink)