The results of two recent articles expanding the Gibbs variational principle to encompass all of statistical mechanics, in which the role of external sources is made explicit, are utilized to further explicate the theory. Representative applications to nonequilibrium thermodynamics and hydrodynamics are presented, describing several fundamental processes, including hydrodynamic fluctuations. A coherent description of macroscopic relaxation dynamics is provided, along with an exemplary demonstration of the approach to equilibrium in a simple fluid.

There is no prospect of discovering measurable cardinals by radio astronomy, but this does not mean that higher set theory is entirely irrelevant to applied mathematics broadly construed. By way of example, the bearing of some celebrated descriptive-set-theoretic consequences of large cardinals on measurable-selection theory, a body of results originating with a key lemma in von Neumann’s work on the mathematical foundations of quantum theory, and further developed in connection with problems of mathematical economics, will be considered from a philosophical (...) point of view. (shrink)

Social work supervision is a forum in which social workers and supervisors have the opportunity to explore ethics within their practice. It is also where social workers experience ongoing learning and development regarding ethics. This article is a selective review of social work supervision and ethics literature. Key areas identified are: 1) the role of supervision in the monitoring and development of ethical social work practice; 2) supervisors’ knowledge and application of codes of ethics, ethical theories, principles and (...) ethical decision-making models; 3) ethical supervisory relationships, processes and practices. A lack of research evidence was identified regarding the application of ethics within supervision and in relation to the interactional process of ethical exploration, inquiry and dialogue within sessions. Considering this lack of evidence, we propose that ethics be integrated throughout the supervision process through the development of care ethics culture, ethical sensitivity and ethical dialogue. The article concludes with recommendations about bringing ethics to the forefront in supervision. Recommendations are also made concerning further research pertaining to the monitoring and development of ethical social work practice through supervision, supervisors’ ethics knowledge, the interactional process of ethical supervisory practice with supervisees and the influence of organisational culture upon ethics and supervision. (shrink)

Demographic Analysis - Selected Concepts, Tools, and Applications presents basic definitions, practical techniques, and methods, as well as examples of studies based on the usage of demographic analysis in various institutions and economic entities. The volume covers studies related to population distribution, urbanization, migration, population change and dynamics, aging, longevity, population theories, and population projections. It is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in advancing knowledge on diverse populations in various contexts such as public policies, public services, education, (...) and labor markets. The book aims to help students of demography as well as practitioners of other fields of social sciences and people in government, business, and nonprofit organizations. (shrink)

Purpose of the article is to present in two parts the selected aspects of application of monetary policy in the euro area pre and post 2008 as well as insitutional adaptations brought by the EU legislator. Methodology/methods In order to better explain these points, the article relies partially on a comparison with the framework and application of the monetary policy by the Federal Reserve as well as on a historic method when outlining the influence of definition of financial (...) stability from the ECB/eurosystem towards other prominent central banks. Scientific aim The article presents selected aspects of the monetary policy in the part of the EU where single currency was introduced in order to outline state of the art governance structure as well as a certain institutional creativity in application of powers conferred upon the central banks by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. The goal is to prove the hypothesis of robustness of the framework and present the limits that can only be pushed further by the legislative power. The conclusions confirm on the one hand that the framework of monetary policy based on strong institutional safeguards such as legislative power and independence is very resilient and can prove efficient and creative enough to stabilise an innovative monetary system, however, on the other hand, validate the hypothesis that certain adaptations can only be performed on the basis of a legislative adaptations. (shrink)

Purpose of the article is to present in two parts the selected aspects of application of monetary policy in the euro area pre and post 2008 as well as insitutional adaptations brought by the EU legislator. Methodology/methods In order to better explain these points, the article relies partially on a comparison with the framework and application of the monetary policy by the Federal Reserve as well as on a historic method when outlining the influence of definition of financial (...) stability from the ECB/eurosystem towards other prominent central banks. Scientific aim The article presents selected aspects of the monetary policy in the part of the EU where single currency was introduced in order to outline state of the art governance structure as well as a certain institutional creativity in application of powers conferred upon the central banks by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. The goal is to prove the hypothesis of robustness of the framework and present the limits that can only be pushed further by the legislative power. The conclusions confirm on the one hand that the framework of monetary policy based on strong institutional safeguards such as legislative power and independence is very resilient and can prove efficient and creative enough to stabilise an innovative monetary system, however, on the other hand, validate the hypothesis that certain adaptations can only be performed on the basis of a legislative adaptations. (shrink)

Abstract. Since Darwin, scholars have contemplated what our growing understanding of natural selection, combined with the fact that great suffering occurs, allows us to infer about the possibility that a benevolent God created the universe. Building on this long line of thought, I develop a model that illustrates how undesirable characteristics of the world (stylized “evils”) can influence long-run outcomes. More specifically, the model considers an evolutionary process in which each generation faces a risk from a “natural evil” (e.g., predation, (...) disease, or a natural disaster) subsequent to a basic resource allocation game. This allows both resource allocation and the natural evil to influence the number of surviving offspring. As the model shows, when the risk from the natural evil can be mitigated through the benevolent behavior of neighbors, the population may have increasing benevolence as a result of (1) greater risk from the natural evil and (2) a greater degree to which selfish individuals transfer resources to themselves in the resource allocation game. The main implication is that a world with evolutionary processes (in contrast to a world of static design) can allow two factors that have traditionally been considered “evils”—namely, the indiscriminate cruelty of the natural world and the capacity for humans to harm each other—to promote desirable long-run outcomes. (shrink)

Defective newborn children are to be considered human persons. Thus, primary duty in proxy consent is to act with the infant's best interest in mind. This duty may at times override the otherwise prima facie right to life, but only under restricted circumstances. Refinements of McCormick's “relational potential” criteria and of ordinary-extraordinary means analysis prove useful in such decisions. Utilitarian considerations of social consequences have impact but can be kept subsidiary. The importance for decision making of available child support services (...) is considered. Spina bifida is used throughout as an example of issues discussed. (shrink)

The existing numerous adaptive variants of differential evolution have been improved the search ability of classic DE to certain extent. Nevertheless, those variants of DE do not obtain the promising performance in solving black box problems with unknown features, which is mainly because the adaptive rules of those variants are designed according to their designers’ cognition on the problem features. To enhance the optimization ability of DE in optimizing black box problems with unknown features, a differential evolution with autonomous selection (...) of mutation strategies and control parameters is proposed in this paper, inspired by autonomous decision-making mechanism of reinforcement learning. In ASDE, a historical experience archive with population features is utilized to preserve accumulated historical experience of the combination of mutation strategies and control parameters. Furthermore, the accumulated historical experience can be autonomously mapped into rules repository, and the individuals can choose the combination of mutation strategies and control parameters according to those rules. Additionally, an updating and utilization mechanism of the historical experience is designed to assure that the historical experience can be effectively accumulated and utilized efficiently. Compared with some state-of-the-art intelligence algorithms on 15 functions of CEC2015, 28 functions of CEC2017, and parameter extraction problems of the photovoltaic model, ASDE has the advantages of solution accuracy, convergence speed, and robustness in solving black box problems with unknown features. (shrink)

The present study aimed to integrate findings from technology acceptance research with research on applicant reactions to new technology for the emerging selection procedure of asynchronous video interviewing. One hundred six volunteers experienced asynchronous video interviewing and filled out several questionnaires including one on the applicants’ personalities. In line with previous technology acceptance research, the data revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use predicted attitudes toward asynchronous video interviewing. Furthermore, openness revealed to moderate the relation between perceived usefulness (...) and attitudes toward this particular selection technology. No significant effects revealed for computer self-efficacy, job interview self-efficacy, extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

Anti-selection occurs when information asymmetry exists between insurers and applicants. When an applicant knows they are at high risk of loss, but the insurer does not, the applicant may try to use this knowledge differential to secure insurance at a lower premium that does not match risk.

This is an important collection of essays dealing with the foundations of probability that will be of value to philosophers of science, mathematicians, statisticians, psychologists and educationalists. The collection falls into three parts. Part I comprises five essays on the axiomatic foundations of probability. Part II contains seven articles on probabilistic causality and quantum mechanics, with an emphasis on the existence of hidden variables. The third part consists of a single extended essay applying probabilistic theories of learning to practical questions (...) of education: it incorporates extensive data analysis. Patrick Suppes is one of the world's foremost philosophers in the area of probability, and has made many contributions to both the theoretical and practical side of education. The statistician Mario Zanotti is a long-time collaborator. (shrink)

Many applications of intuitionistic fuzzy sets depend on ranking or comparing intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. This paper presents a novel ranking method for intuitionistic fuzzy numbers based on the preference attitudinal accuracy and score functions. The proposed ranking method considers not only the preference attitude of decision maker, but also all the possible values in feasible domain. Some desirable properties of preference attitudinal accuracy and score functions are verified in detail. A total order on the set of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers is (...) established by using the proposed two functions. The proposed ranking method is also applied to select renewable energy. The advantage and validity of the proposed method are shown by comparing with some representative ranking methods. (shrink)

Natural selection is commonly seen not just as an explanation for adaptive evolution, but as the inevitable consequence of “heritable variation in fitness among individuals”. Although it remains embedded in biological concepts, such a formalisation makes it tempting to explore whether this precondition may be met not only in life as we know it, but also in other physical systems. This would imply that these systems are subject to natural selection and may perhaps be investigated in a biological framework, where (...) properties are typically examined in light of their putative functions. Here we relate the major questions that were debated during a three-day workshop devoted to discussing whether natural selection may take place in non-living physical systems. We start this report with a brief overview of research fields dealing with “life-like” or “proto-biotic” systems, where mimicking evolution by natural selection in test tubes stands as a major objective. We contend the challenge may be as much conceptual as technical. Taking the problem from a physical angle, we then discuss the framework of dissipative structures. Although life is viewed in this context as a particular case within a larger ensemble of physical phenomena, this approach does not provide general principles from which natural selection can be derived. Turning back to evolutionary biology, we ask to what extent the most general formulations of the necessary conditions or signatures of natural selection may be applicable beyond biology. In our view, such a cross-disciplinary jump is impeded by reliance on individuality as a central yet implicit and loosely defined concept. Overall, these discussions thus lead us to conjecture that understanding, in physico-chemical terms, how individuality emerges and how it can be recognised, will be essential in the search for instances of evolution by natural selection outside of living systems. (shrink)

Jeremy Williams has argued that if we are committed to a liberal pro-choice stance with regard to selective abortion for disability, we will be unable to justify the prohibition of sex selective abortion. Here, I apply his reasoning to selective abortion based on other traits pregnant women may decide are undesirable. These include susceptibility to disease, level of intelligence, physical appearance, sexual orientation, religious belief and criminality—in fact any traits attributable to some degree to a genetic component. (...) Firstly, I review Williams’ argument, which claims that if a woman is granted the right to abort based on fetal impairment, then by parity of reasoning she should also be granted the right to choose sex selective abortion. I show that these same considerations that entail the permissibility of sex selective abortion are also applicable to genetic selection abortion. I then examine the objections to sex selective abortion that Williams considers and rejects, and show that they also lack force against genetic selection abortion. Finally, I consider some additional objections that might be raised, and conclude that a liberal pro-choice stance on selective abortion for disability entails the permissibility of selective abortion for most genetic traits. (shrink)

The neutrosophic cubic hesitant fuzzy set can efficiently handle the complex information in a decision-making problem because it combines the advantages of the neutrosophic cubic set and the hesitant fuzzy set. The algebraic operations based on Dombi norms and co-norms are more flexible than the usual algebraic operations as they involve an operational parameter. First, this paper establishes Dombi algebraic operational laws, score functions, and similarity measures in neutrosophic cubic hesitant fuzzy sets. Then, we proposed Dombi exponential operational laws in (...) which the exponents are neutrosophic cubic hesitant fuzzy values and bases are positive real numbers. To use neutrosophic cubic hesitant fuzzy sets in decision-making, we are developing Dombi exponential aggregation operators in the current study. In the end, we present applications of exponential aggregation operators in multiattribute decision-making problems. (shrink)

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing, SAT 2004, held in Vancouver, BC, Canada in May 2004. The 24 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully selected from 72 submissions. In addition there are 2 reports on the 2004 SAT Solver Competition and the 2004 QBF Solver Evaluation. The whole spectrum of research in propositional and quantified Boolean formula satisfiability testing is covered; bringing together the (...) fields of theoretical and experimental computer science as well as the many relevant application areas. (shrink)

This book constitutes revised selected papers from the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Dynamic Logic, DaLí 2022, held in Haifa, Israel, in July/August 2022. The 8 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 22 submissions. They deal with new trends and applications in the area of Dynamic Logic.

The correlation coefficient between two variables plays an important role in statistics. Also, the accuracy of relevance assessment depends on information from a set of discourses. The data collected from numerous statistical studies are full of exceptions. The Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft set is a parameterized family that deals with the subattributes of the parameters and an appropriate extension of the Pythagorean fuzzy soft set. It is also the generalization of the intuitionistic fuzzy hypersoft set, which is used to accurately assess (...) insufficiency, anxiety, and uncertainties in decision-making. The PFHSS can accommodate more uncertainties compared to the IFHSS, and it is the most substantial methodology to describe fuzzy information in the decision-making process. The core objective of the this study is to develop the notion and features of the correlation coefficient and the weighted correlation coefficient for PFHSS and to introduce the aggregation operators such as Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted average and Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted geometric operators under the PFHSS scenario. A prioritization technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution under PFHSS based on correlation coefficients and weighted correlation coefficients is presented. Through the developed methodology, a technique for solving multiattribute group decision-making problem is planned. Also, the importance of the developed methodology and its application in indicating multipurpose antivirus mask throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period is presented. A brief comparative analysis is described with the advantages, effectiveness, and flexibility of numerous existing studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. (shrink)

This article considers the application of sexual selection theory to the study of religion by discussing the basic concepts and theories in sexual selection and then outlines possibilities of its application to the study of the evolution of religion. The first section outlines basic principles in the sexual selection account, including the evolution of human mating strategies based on dimorphism, gender differences in human mating strategies, and the role of different cultural activities in mating dynamics. Such an overview (...) may be useful for the readers who are less familiar with the basic assumptions of the sexual selection theory. The remaining sections demonstrate how religion may function as a signal for mating qualities associated with a long-term mating strategy and how different facets of religiosity may help to support long-term mating strategies. The key idea of the article is that there are good reasons to try to explain the evolution of at least some of the components of religion in terms of sexual selection. (shrink)

The application of machine learning touches all activities of human behavior such as computer network and routing packets in LAN. In the field of our research here, emphasis was placed on extracting weights that would affect the speed of the network's response and finding the best path, such as the number of nodes in the path and the congestion on each path, in addition to the cache used for each node. Therefore, the use of these elements in building the (...) neural network is worthy, as is the exploitation of the feed forwarding and the backpropagation in the neural network in order to reach the best prediction for the best path. The goal of the proposed neural network is to minimize the network time delay within the optimization of the packet paths being addressed in this study. The shortest path is considered as the key issue in routing algorithm that can be carried out with real time of path computations. Exploiting the gaps in previous studies, which are represented in the lack of training of the system and the inaccurate prediction as a result of not taking into consideration the hidden layers' feedback, leads to great performance. This study aims to suggest an efficient algorithm that could help in selecting the shortest path to improve the existing methods using weights derived from packet ID and to change neural network iteration simultaneously. In this study, the design of the efficient neural network of appropriate output is discussed in detail including the principles of the network. The findings of the study revealed that exploiting the power of computational system to demonstrate computer simulation is really effective. It is also shown that the system achieved good results when training the neural network system to get 2.4% time delay with 5 nodes in local LAN. Besides, the results showed that the major features of the proposed model will be able to run in real time and are also adaptive to change with path topology. (shrink)

Despite a growing body of literature that attempts to draw a line between legitimate and illegitimate forms of presentism in academic history, ‘avoid presentism’ is still often preached as the first rule of historiography. Distinct from other forms of presentism is selective presentism – the practice of taking some present-day activity, event, idea, or problem as a starting point in our selection of historical facts. Throughout the paper I examine the relation of some of the most popular selection criteria (...) – selection by actor intentionality, selection by later effect, and selection by problem – to presentist practices and draw three conclusions. First, each of these selection criteria can produce presentist or non-presentist histories depending on the past of which specific activity, idea, or problem the historian is interested in. Second, the historiographic legitimacy of these selection criteria is independent from their presentist or non-presentist applications; importantly, selective presentism is not among the ‘bad’ forms of presentism and is not to be avoided. Finally, various selection criteria are best understood as complementary; pluralist history invites a variety of selection criteria that help shed light on different aspects of the past, and thus – collectively – enrich our understanding of it. (shrink)

Following the studies of Araujo et al. (AI Soc 35:611–623, 2020) and Lee (Big Data Soc 5:1–16, 2018), this empirical study uses two scenario-based online experiments. The sample consists of 221 subjects from Germany, differing in both age and gender. The original studies are not replicated one-to-one. New scenarios are constructed as realistically as possible and focused on everyday work situations. They are based on the AI acceptance model of Scheuer (Grundlagen intelligenter KI-Assistenten und deren vertrauensvolle Nutzung. Springer, Wiesbaden, 2020) (...) and are extended by individual descriptive elements of AI systems in comparison to the original studies. The first online experiment examines decisions made by artificial intelligence with varying degrees of impact. In the high-impact scenario, applicants are automatically selected for a job and immediately received an employment contract. In the low-impact scenario, three applicants are automatically invited for another interview. In addition, the relationship between age and risk perception is investigated. The second online experiment tests subjects’ perceived trust in decisions made by artificial intelligence, either semi-automatically through the assistance of human experts or fully automatically in comparison. Two task types are distinguished. The task type that requires “human skills”—represented as a performance evaluation situation—and the task type that requires “mechanical skills”—represented as a work distribution situation. In addition, the extent of negative emotions in automated decisions is investigated. The results are related to the findings of Araujo et al. (AI Soc 35:611–623, 2020) and Lee (Big Data Soc 5:1–16, 2018). Implications for further research activities and practical relevance are discussed. (shrink)

Cultural selection models aim to explain cultural phenomena as the products of a selective process, often characterising institutions, practices, norms or behaviours as adaptations. I argue that a lack of attention has been paid to the explanatory power of cultural selection frameworks. Arguments for cultural selection frequently depend on demonstrating only that selection models can in principle be applied to culture, rather than explicitly demonstrating the explanatory payoffs that could arise from their application. Understanding when and how cultural (...) selection generates powerful explanations is crucial to evaluating cultural selection, as well as realising its promised epistemic and practical benefits. I argue that the ability for cultural selection to explain ‘design without a designer’ is crucial to successful and powerful cultural selection explanations. I introduce the strategy of comparing cultural selection to goal-directed agent accounts in order to evaluate when cultural selection can provide distinctive explanatory payoffs, drawing on two case studies to illustrate the benefits of this strategy. I argue that a focus on phenomena which cannot be explained through intention or agency-based explanations in particular could provide a fruitful avenue to identifying the cases where cultural selection can be insightfully applied. (shrink)

This volume constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Fuzzy Logic and Applications held in Naples, Italy, in October 2003. The 40 revised full papers presented have gone through two rounds of reviewing and revision. All current issues of theoretical, experimental and applied fuzzy logic and related techniques are addressed with special attention to rough set theory, neural networks, genetic algorithms and soft computing. The papers are organized in topical section on fuzzy sets and systems, (...) fuzzy control, neuro-fuzzy systems, fuzzy decision theory and application, and soft computing in image processing. (shrink)

Natural selection [Darwin 1859] is perhaps the most important component of evolutionary theory, since it is the only known process that can bring about the adaptation of living organisms to their environments [Gould 2002]. And yet, its study is conceptually and methodologically complex, and much attention needs to be paid to a variety of phenomena that can limit the efficacy of selection [Antonovics 1976; Pigliucci and Kaplan 2000]. In this essay, I will use examples of recent work carried out in (...) my laboratory to illustrate basic research on natural selection as conducted using a variety of approaches, including field work, laboratory experiments, and molecular genetics. I also discuss the application of this array of tools to questions pertinent to conservation biology, and in particular to the all-important problem of what makes invasive species so good at creating the sort of problems they are infamous for [Lee 2002]. (shrink)

Despite the rapid adoption of technology in human resource departments, there is little empirical work that examines the potential challenges of algorithmic decision-making in the recruitment process. In this paper, we take the perspective of job applicants and examine how they perceive the use of algorithms in selection and recruitment. Across four studies on Amazon Mechanical Turk, we show that people in the role of a job applicant perceive algorithm-driven recruitment processes as less fair compared to human only or algorithm-assisted (...) human processes. This effect persists regardless of whether the outcome is favorable to the applicant or not. A potential mechanism underlying algorithm resistance is the belief that algorithms will not be able to recognize their uniqueness as a candidate. Although the use of algorithms has several benefits for organizations such as improved efficiency and bias reduction, our results highlight a potential cost of using them to screen potential employees during recruitment. (shrink)

We study the effects of piece selection principles on cardinal arithmetic (Shelah style). As an application, we discuss questions of Abe and Usuba. In particular, we show that if, then (a) is not (λ, 2)‐distributive, and (b) does not hold.

This essay traces the interlinked origins of two concepts found in Charles Darwin's writings: "unconscious selection," and sexual selection as applied to humanity's anatomical race distinctions. Unconscious selection constituted a significant elaboration of Darwin's artificial selection analogy. As originally conceived in his theoretical notebooks, that analogy had focused exclusively on what Darwin later would call "methodical selection," the calculated production of desired changes in domestic breeds. By contrast, unconscious selection produced its results unintentionally and at a much slower pace. Inspiration (...) for this concept likely came from Darwin's early reading of works on both animal breeding and physical ethnology. Texts in these fields described the slow and unplanned divergence of anatomical types, whether animal or human, under the guidance of contrasting ideals of physical perfection. These readings, it is argued, also led Darwin to his theory of sexual selection as applied to race, a theme he discussed mainly in his book The Descent of Man. There Darwin described how the racial version of sexual selection operated on the same principle as unconscious selection. He thereby effectively reunited these kindred concepts. (shrink)

TODIM is a well-known multiple-criteria decision-making which considers the bounded rationality of decision makers based on prospect theory. However, in the classical TODIM, the perceived probability weighting function and the difference of the risk attitudes for gains and losses are not consistent with the original idea of PT. Moreover, probabilistic hesitant fuzzy information shows its superiority in handling the situation that the DMs hesitate among several possible values with different possibilities. Hence, a novel TODIM with probabilistic hesitant fuzzy information is (...) proposed in this paper to simulate the perceptions of the DMs in PT. To show the advantages of the proposed method, a novel TODIM is combined with hesitant fuzzy information. Finally, a case study is carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method, and a series of comparative analyses and the sensitivity analyses are used to show the stability of the proposed method. (shrink)

This fifth volume on Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion collects theoretical and applied contributions of researchers working in different fields of applications and in mathematics, and is available in open-access. The collected contributions of this volume have either been published or presented after disseminating the fourth volume in 2015 in international conferences, seminars, workshops and journals, or they are new. The contributions of each part of this volume are chronologically ordered. First Part of this book presents some (...) theoretical advances on DSmT, dealing mainly with modified Proportional Conflict Redistribution Rules (PCR) of combination with degree of intersection, coarsening techniques, interval calculus for PCR thanks to set inversion via interval analysis (SIVIA), rough set classifiers, canonical decomposition of dichotomous belief functions, fast PCR fusion, fast inter-criteria analysis with PCR, and improved PCR5 and PCR6 rules preserving the (quasi-)neutrality of (quasi-)vacuous belief assignment in the fusion of sources of evidence with their Matlab codes. Because more applications of DSmT have emerged in the past years since the apparition of the fourth book of DSmT in 2015, the second part of this volume is about selected applications of DSmT mainly in building change detection, object recognition, quality of data association in tracking, perception in robotics, risk assessment for torrent protection and multi-criteria decision-making, multi-modal image fusion, coarsening techniques, recommender system, levee characterization and assessment, human heading perception, trust assessment, robotics, biometrics, failure detection, GPS systems, inter-criteria analysis, group decision, human activity recognition, storm prediction, data association for autonomous vehicles, identification of maritime vessels, fusion of support vector machines (SVM), Silx-Furtif RUST code library for information fusion including PCR rules, and network for ship classification. Finally, the third part presents interesting contributions related to belief functions in general published or presented along the years since 2015. These contributions are related with decision-making under uncertainty, belief approximations, probability transformations, new distances between belief functions, non-classical multi-criteria decision-making problems with belief functions, generalization of Bayes theorem, image processing, data association, entropy and cross-entropy measures, fuzzy evidence numbers, negator of belief mass, human activity recognition, information fusion for breast cancer therapy, imbalanced data classification, and hybrid techniques mixing deep learning with belief functions as well. (shrink)

The Bell/CHSH inequalities of quantum physics are identical with the inequalities derived in mathematical psychology for the problem of selective influences in cases involving two binary experimental factors and two binary random variables recorded in response to them. The following points are made regarding cognitive science applications: (1) compliance of data with these inequalities is informative only if the data satisfy the requirement known as marginal selectivity; (2) both violations of marginal selectivity and violations of the Bell/CHSH inequalities are (...) interpretable as indicating that at least one of the two responses is influenced by both experimental factors. (shrink)

ABSTRACTWe investigate the applicability of Rodrik’s accounts of model selection and horizontal progress to macroeconomic DSGE modelling in both academic and policy-oriented modelling contexts. We argue that the key step of identifying critical assumptions is complicated by the interconnectedness of the common structural core of DSGE models and by the ad hoc modifications introduced to model various rigidities and other market imperfections. We then outline alternative ways in which macroeconomic modelling could become more horizontally progressive.

Excerpt from Selections From Pascal Blaise pascal was born at Clermont - Ferrand, in the center of F rance, on June 19, 1623. Three years later his mother died, and his father, taking the family duties most seriously, decided to be his son's own educator. At this time the father occupied a judicial position of considerable importance, but in 1630 he retired from it, moved the household to Paris, and gave himself up entirely to his work of preceptor. He taught (...) Blaise Latin and Greek, Mathematics and Physics, Logic and Philoso phy. For scientific studies the; boy showed unusual aptitude. At the age of twelve he was so far advanced as to write an essay on acoustics, which was followed at fifteen by treatise on conic sections. At eighteen he invented machine for count ing numbers. So great was his zeal for learning that he over taxed his strength by too steady application. Disorders ap peared, headaches and neuralgia, and his sister, Mme Perier, is authority for the statement that, from this time on, he rarely passed day without pain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

Choice experiment (CE) is a questionnaire based method that the accuracy of research questionnaire determines the validity of the research outcomes. Attribute selection has a prime importance in every CE studies. If respondents do not understand or do not have preference for a certain attribute, the attribute non-attendance problem might happen that biases overall results of the research. Qualitative approaches such as literature review, focus group discussion, and in depth discussion commonly applied in CE researches. However, especially in the developing (...) countries context where ethnical and cultural diversity is a challenge in conducting survey based questionnaires, qualitative methods are not sufficient in selecting attributes. Present study investigates the application of relative importance index (RII) in respondents¡¯ preference for attributes in a modal shift study in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The 5 point Likert scale questions were employed to enhance respondents¡¯ preferences for initial 24 selected attributes. The results of this study showed that from 24 pre-selected attributes, only 18 of them had RII>0.5 and could be included in the final CE design. The results of this study could help researchers to control for unobserved problems in selecting the attributes which could not be discovered through qualitative approaches. -/- . (shrink)

It is an ongoing controversy whether natural selection is a cause of population change, or a mere statistical description of how individual births and deaths accumulate. In this paper I restate the problem in terms of the reference class problem, and propose how the structure of stable equilibrium can provide a solution in continuity with biological practice. Insofar natural selection can be understood as a tendency towards equilibrium, key statisticalist criticisms are avoided. Further, in a modification of the Newtonian-force analogy, (...) it can be suggested that a better metaphor for natural selection is that of an emergent force, similar in nature to entropic forces: with magnitude and direction, but lacking a spatiotemporal origin or point of application. (shrink)