Spoken language consists of a linear sequence of units, from which the existence of particular underlying hierarchical processing mechanisms is inferred. Uddén et al. use graph theory to provide a framework for describing the possible structural relationships that may underlie a linear output sequence. Being more explicit in defining different structures can help identifying and testing for such structures in AGL experiments, as well as help showing how behavioral and neuroimaging data reveals signatures of hierarchical processing in humans.

This article draws on an empirical investigation of how Australia’s cervical screening program came to be the way it is. The study was carried out using grounded theory methodology and primarily uses interviews with experts involved in establishing, updating or administering the program. We found strong differences in experts’ normative evaluations of the program and beliefs about optimal ways of achieving the same basic outcome: a reduction in morbidity and mortality caused by invasive cervical cancer. Our analysis demonstrates how variations (...) in values and preferences associated with key concepts underpinning public health such as benefit, harm and burden led to different perspectives on the purpose of an organized cervical screening program. These variations were largely driven by different bases of professional experience. Differently conceived purposes in turn led to conflict over how the program should be operationalized. Following Frith’s model of empirical bioethics, the results of the study both draw on and inform the existing public health and screening ethics literature. (shrink)

The paper offers a description of the second project of the translations of the books of influential philosophers into Slovak. The project has been carried out in the time of strict political normalization and neodogmatism. In spite of the political conditions the editors managed to publish 20 volumes of classical philosophy, 10 volumes of the Western philosophy of that time and 16 volumes of Marxist philosophy. The impact of the project was far-reaching. First of all, it offered a support to (...) Slovak philosophy, which at that time was on its progressive way to the status of an academic discipline. (shrink)

A simple exactly solvable model is given of the dynamical coupling between a person’s classically described perceptions and that person’s quantum mechanically described brain. The model is based jointly upon von Neumann’s theory of measurements and the empirical findings of close connections between conscious intentions and synchronous oscillations in well separated parts of the brain. A quantum-Zeno-effect-based mechanism is described that allows conscious intentions to influence brain activity in a functionally appropriate way. The robustness of this mechanism in the face (...) of environmental decoherence effects is emphasized. (shrink)

The doctor-patient relationship has evolved to respect “the autonomy and patients’ rights”. One of the cornerstones in such autonomy is the opportunity for patients to draw living wills, also known as advance directives. However, information about AD available to patients remains scarce largely due to the lack of involvement of General practitioners for several reasons. The aim of our study was to evaluate current general practitioner residents’ behavior concerning their role in informing their patients about AD. We built a French (...) nationwide survey from GPR class of 2012 to 2014. Two thousand three hundred ten residents completed our survey. 89.8% declared their willingness to offer patients the opportunity of writing AD. When asked about the usefulness of AD, 73.6% of residents responded that these are a suitable help for patients, but 19.7% considered that AD are essentially geared towards frail patients. Among residents who want to inform patients about AD, 14.7% wanted to involve all patients. Only 20.5% thought that elderly people should be systematically informed about AD. When the question involves other frail people in various disease areas, information seems relevant for 60.1% of GPR considering patient with cancer or malignant hematologic disease and for 56.2% about patients affected by neurodegenerative disease. When considering the routine use of AD, 20.5% of GPR would take them into account only if they are in agreement with the patient’s decision. The results of the survey indicate that GPR would rather choose to decide who should be informed about AD, and when to take AD into account for ethical concerns. (shrink)

The goal of this study was to determine if the level of preservice teachers’ economic literacy might serve as a gatekeeper to teaching economics competencies. The participants ( n=84) were teacher candidates in an elementary education program in their final methods courses prior to their teacher internship. The findings supported the intuitive belief that elementary teachers lack the economic literacy and confidence needed to teach economics concepts in the elementary curriculum. This deficit can serve as a gatekeeper to teaching economics (...) competencies leading to curricular disjuncture between the established curriculum and actual practice in the classroom. (shrink)

• The transitive closure of R is the smallest relation S for which: –R⊆S, – S is transitive. • To express ^r one would need an ‘infinite formula’: {(x, y) | R(x, y) ∨ ∃z(R(x, z) ∧ R(z, y)) ∨∃z, v(R(x, z) ∧ R(z, v) ∧ R(v, y)) ∨∃z, v, w(R(x, z) ∧ R(z, v) ∧ R(v, w) ∧ R(w, y)) ∨ · · ·.

This problem, which was actual in the theoretical and practical aspects, became the subject of an interested discussion of an international scientific conference on issues of state-church relations, which took place on December 4-5, 1995 in Kyiv based on the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Zusammenfassung Die Komplexität und Dynamik des Umfeldes, in dem sich Fußballvereine bewegen, hat in der Vergangenheit enorm zugenommen. Um bei dieser Entwicklung wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben, bedarf es entsprechender Konzepte zur Unterstützung der Unternehmensführung. So hat die durchgeführte empirische Untersuchung ihren Fokus auf das Controlling als ein unterstützendes Konzept zur zielorientierten Unternehmenssteuerung gelegt. Ziel dieser Untersuchung ist es, das Controlling in Fußballvereinen zu beschreiben und zu analysieren.

The modern realities of life in Ukraine, plunged into war by the Russian Federation, as well as those countries that are in a state of ontological threat, with new force actualize the problem unfolding in the social plane (we are talking about the antinomy of “chaos – stability”). In other words, modern social cataclysms – COVID-19 and war – have disrupted the stability of everyday life. The presence of the threat of nuclear escalation of the international conflict expands the metaphysical (...) horizons of thanatological and suicidal problems, the aggravation of which can destroy the established order of the civilized world, which has found itself in a borderline situation. In view of the above, the purpose of this study is to clarify the essence of the phenomenon of chaos and social processes derived from it – the end, catastrophe, according to the philosophical views of the French thinker J.Baudrillard. Achieving the specified goal will contribute to the development of modern methods and technologies of social work in the community to minimize/overcome difficult life circumstances determined by the war situation. J.Baudrillard was deeply convinced that chaos is not completely opposed to rationality. The thinker believed that the dominance of rationality over reality is limited, because in reality it is not the subject who dominates the objective world, but the competition between the subject and the object. This study is focused on the actual existential problem of a person being in a borderline situation of chaos, determined by the reality of a thanatological situation, which enables the perspective of an ontological threat of a planetary scale, the origins of which are contained in the obsessive idea of total control, the realization of which leads to the disappearance of the social and the replacement of reality with an illusion, including even the illusion of security as a fundamental basis of the rescue economy, which is clearly observed in the ideology of the russian federation, which is based on the consumption of disaster in everyday life. The social work specialist’s awareness that chaos is not the end of everything (it is better to define this phenomenon as the end of the old order transformed into disorder, an example of which can be anomie), but the beginning of a new order, will directly contribute to the achievement of effective results in his professional activities in the community, in particular, in the direction of minimizing/overcoming the consequences of anomie as a type of chaos. (shrink)

Scarce resource allocation policies vary across the United States. Little is known about regional variation in resource allocation protocols and variation in their application. We sought to evaluat...

Stanoviste deliberativne demokratije jeste da se legitimnost demokratskih odluka zasniva na prethodnoj deliberaciji onih koji ucestvuju u procesu odlucivanja. Ovo znaci da se demokratske odluke ne mogu donositi samo na osnovu proste agregacije preferencija koje se izrazavaju prilikom glasanja. Kao rezultat promisljanja podstaknutih deliberativnom komunikacijom i uzimanjem u obzir stanovista drugih ljudi, gradjani mogu da promene svoje prvobitne stavove i preferencije. Cilj ovoga rada jeste da izlozi stanoviste deliberativne demokratije, kakvo zastupaju Ejmi Gatman i Denis Tompson, kao i da iznese (...) kritike koje nastaju kao rezultat razmisljanja o prakticnoj primeni takve zamisli. (shrink)

Research regarding the drivers of acceptance of clinical decision support systems by physicians is still rather limited. The literature that does exist, however, tends to focus on problems regarding the user-friendliness of CDSS. We have performed a thematic analysis of 24 interviews with physicians concerning specific clinical case vignettes, in order to explore their underlying opinions and attitudes regarding the introduction of CDSS in clinical practice, to allow a more in-depth analysis of factors underlying acceptance of CDSS. We identified three (...) general themes from the results. First, ‘the perceived role of the AI’, including items referring to the tasks that may properly be assigned to the CDSS according to the respondents. Second, ‘the perceived role of the physician’, referring to the aspects of clinical practice that were seen as being fundamentally ‘human’ or non-automatable. Third, ‘concerns regarding AI’, including items referring to more general issues that were raised by the respondents regarding the introduction of CDSS in general and/or in clinical medicine in particular. Apart from the overall concerns expressed by the respondents regarding user-friendliness, we will explain how our results indicate that our respondents were primarily occupied by distinguishing between parts of their job that should be automated and aspects that should be kept in human hands. We refer to this distinction as ‘the division of clinical labor.’ This division is not based on knowledge regarding AI or medicine, but rather on which parts of a physician’s job were seen by the respondents as being central to who they are as physicians and as human beings. Often the respondents’ view that certain core parts of their job ought to be shielded from automation was closely linked to claims concerning the uniqueness of medicine as a domain. Finally, although almost all respondents claimed that they highly value their final responsibility, a closer investigation of this concept suggests that their view of ‘final responsibility’ was not that demanding after all. (shrink)

In Victoria, Australia, the law regulating abortion was reformed in 2008, and a clause was introduced requiring doctors with a conscientious objection to abortion to refer women to another provid...

Partnerships between businesses and nonprofit organisations are an increasingly prominent element of corporate social responsibility implementation. The paper is based on two in-depth partnership case studies (Earthwatch-Rio Tinto and Prince's Trust-Royal Bank of Scotland) that move beyond a simple stage model to reveal the deeper-level micro-processes in the selection, design and institutionalisation of business-NGO partnerships. The suggested practice-tested model is followed by a discussion that highlights management issues within partnership implementation and a practical Partnership Test to assist managers (...) in testing both the accountability and level of institutionalisation of the relationship to address any possible skill gaps. Understanding how CSR partnerships are implemented in practice contributes to the broader CSR and partnership literatures a contextspecific level of detail in a systematic way that allows for transferable learning in both theory and practice. (shrink)

BackgroundWhenever South African research institutions share human biological material and associated data for health research or clinical trials they are legally compelled to have a material transfer agreement in place that uses as framework the standard MTA newly gazetted by the South African Minister of Health.Main bodyThe article offers a legal analysis of the SA MTA and focuses on its substantive fit with the broader legal environment in South Africa, and the clarity and practicality of its terms. The following problematic (...) aspects of the SA MTA are highlighted: Where only data and no human biological material are transferred, the SA MTA does not apply, leaving a lacuna; Health Research Ethics Committees are required to be parties to a MTA despite it being outside their legal mandate and undermining their oversight function; the SA MTA’s consent provisions are not aligned with extant law; and, similarly, its provision on donor ownership is misaligned with extant law; its creation of fictitious performance can only cause frustration on the part of an injured party; its benefit-sharing provision is vague and will have little practical effect; its dispute-resolution provisions fail to adequately protect South African research institutions and research participants; it fails to provide substantive guidance regarding intellectual property as its provisions relating to intellectual property may cause practical problems; and, finally, its data privacy provision is insufficiently specific, is overbroad, and fails to provide terms that in general would facilitate the international sharing of human biological material and associated data in terms of existing privacy law.ConclusionsWhile some of the problematic aspects of the SA MTA are intricate and require consultative processes with stakeholders and others, to develop comprehensive solutions, most of the problematic aspects can be resolved immediately through amendments by the South African Minister of Health. The formulation of such amendments is proposed and, where possible, interim measures are suggested that may ameliorate the problems presented by the SA MTA. (shrink)

AI is increasingly becoming based upon Internet-dependent systems to handle the massive amounts of data it requires to function effectively regardless of the availability of stable Internet connectivity in every affected community. As such, sustainable development (SD) for rural and mountain communities will require more than just equitable access to broadband Internet connection. It must also include a thorough means whereby to ensure that affected communities gain the education and tools necessary to engage inclusively with new technological advances, whether they (...) be focused on machine learning algorithms or community infrastructure, as they will be increasingly dependent upon the automational capabilities of AI. In this essay, an exploration will be conducted into the means whereby student-engaged learning (SEL) can effectively be utilized to provide targeted, inclusive education to rural and mountain communities regarding the implications of AI for SD. (shrink)

This study examines the independent and combined influences of internal and external antecedents to upstream environmental practices. Proactive environmental strategy is considered as an internal antecedent and competitive pressure as an external antecedent. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the hypothesized relationships using data from a sample of 149 manufacturing companies located within the U.K. food industry. The results suggest that proactive strategy and competitive pressure exert both independent and combined influences on environmental supply chain practices. Proactive strategy (...) appears to be a stronger driver of these practices, suggesting that internal stakeholders such as directors, managers, and employees may be more influential in the adoption of certain practices than external stakeholder pressures. This article builds upon the recent wave of research highlighting the potential for internal and external factors to generate a combined influence on the adoption of environmental practices within companies and their supply chains. (shrink)

Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 56, Issue 1, Page 22-28, February 2022.

Putnam (Representations and reality. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1988) and Searle (The rediscovery of the mind. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1992) famously argue that almost every physical system implements every finite computation. This universal implementation claim, if correct, puts at the risk of triviality certain functional and computational views of the mind. Several authors have offered theories of implementation that allegedly avoid the pitfalls of universal implementation. My aim in this paper is to suggest that these theories are still (...) consistent with a weaker result, which is the nomological possibility of systems that simultaneously implement different complex automata. Elsewhere I (Shagrir in J Cogn Sci, 2012) argue that this simultaneous implementation result challenges a computational sufficiency thesis (articulated by Chalmers in J Cogn Sci, 2012). My focus here is on theories of implementation. After presenting the basic simultaneous implementation construction, I argue that these theories do not avoid the simultaneous implementation result. The conclusion is that the idea that the implementation of the right kind of automaton suffices for a possession of a mind is dubious. (shrink)