The current COVID-19 pandemic and the previous SARS/MERS outbreaks of 2003 and 2012 have resulted in a series of major global public health crises. We argue that in the interest of developing effective and safe vaccines and drugs and to better understand coronaviruses and associated disease mechenisms it is necessary to integrate the large and exponentially growing body of heterogeneous coronavirus data. Ontologies play an important role in standard-based knowledge and data representation, integration, sharing, and analysis. Accordingly, we initiated the (...) development of the community-based Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology in early 2020. -/- As an Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) library ontology, CIDO is open source and interoperable with other existing OBO ontologies. CIDO is aligned with the Basic Formal Ontology and Viral Infectious Disease Ontology. CIDO has imported terms from over 30 OBO ontologies. For example, CIDO imports all SARS-CoV-2 protein terms from the Protein Ontology, COVID-19-related phenotype terms from the Human Phenotype Ontology, and over 100 COVID-19 terms for vaccines (both authorized and in clinical trial) from the Vaccine Ontology. CIDO systematically represents variants of SARS-CoV-2 viruses and over 300 amino acid substitutions therein, along with over 300 diagnostic kits and methods. CIDO also describes hundreds of host-coronavirus protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and the drugs that target proteins in these PPIs. CIDO has been used to model COVID-19 related phenomena in areas such as epidemiology. The scope of CIDO was evaluated by visual analysis supported by a summarization network method. CIDO has been used in various applications such as term standardization, inference, natural language processing (NLP) and clinical data integration. We have applied the amino acid variant knowledge present in CIDO to analyze differences between SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants. CIDO's integrative host-coronavirus PPIs and drug-target knowledge has also been used to support drug repurposing for COVID-19 treatment. -/- CIDO represents entities and relations in the domain of coronavirus diseases with a special focus on COVID-19. It supports shared knowledge representation, data and metadata standardization and integration, and has been used in a range of applications. (shrink)

Current COVID-19 pandemic and previous SARS/MERS outbreaks have caused a series of major crises to global public health. We must integrate the large and exponentially growing amount of heterogeneous coronavirus data to better understand coronaviruses and associated disease mechanisms, in the interest of developing effective and safe vaccines and drugs. Ontologies have emerged to play an important role in standard knowledge and data representation, integration, sharing, and analysis. We have initiated the development of the community-based Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO). (...) As an Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) library ontology, CIDO is an open source and interoperable with other existing OBO ontologies. In this article, the general architecture and the design patterns of the CIDO are introduced, CIDO representation of coronaviruses, phenotypes, anti-coronavirus drugs and medical devices (e.g. ventilators) are illustrated, and an application of CIDO implemented to identify repurposable drug candidates for effective and safe COVID-19 treatment is presented. (shrink)

Que diriez-vous d’une autre prise sur les riches et célèbres? Tout d’abord l’évidence - les romans de Harry Potter sont la superstition primitive qui encourage les enfants à croire en la fantaisie plutôt que d’assumer la responsabilité du monde - la norme bien sûr. JKR est tout aussi désemparé sur elle-même et le monde que la plupart des gens, mais environ200 fois plus destructeur que l’Américain moyen et environ 800 fois plus que le Chinois moyen. Elle a été responsable de (...) la destruction de peut-être 30.000 hectares de forêt pour produire ces romans trash et toute l’érosion qui s’ensuit (pas trivial car il est au moins 6 et peut-être 12 tonnes / an de sol dans l’océan pour tout le monde sur terre ou peut-être 100 tonnes par Américain, et donc environ 5000 tonnes par an pour les livres de Rowling et films et ses 3 enfants). La terre perd au moins 1% de sa terre maximale chaque année, de sorte qu’il approche de 2100, la plupart de sa capacité de culture alimentaire aura disparu. Ensuite, il ya l’énorme quantité de carburant brûlé et les déchets faits pour faire et distribuer les livres et les films, poupées en plastique, etc. Elle montre son manque de responsabilité sociale en produisant des enfants plutôt que d’utiliser ses millions pour encourager la planification familiale ou acheter la forêt tropicale, et en promouvant la stupidité libérale conventionnelle de la suprématie du 3e monde qui détruit la Grande-Bretagne, l’Amérique, le monde et l’avenir de son descendant. Bien sûr, elle n’est pas si différente des 7 autres. 8 milliards désemparés - juste plus bruyant et plus destructeur. C’est le problème de déjeuner gratuit bref grand. La foule ne peut tout simplement pas voir qu’il n’y a pas une telle chose comme aider une personne sans nuire à d’autres. Les droits ou privilèges accordés aux nouveaux arrivants dans un monde surpeuplé ne peuvent que s’affaiblir dans ceux des autres. Malgré les catastrophes écologiques massives qui se produisent partout tous les jours, ils ne peuvent pas les épingler à la maternité effrénée de "la diversité", qui explique la majeure partie de l’augmentation de la population du siècle dernier et tout cela dans celui-ci. Ils manquent d’une combinaison d’intelligence, d’éducation, d’expérience et de santé mentale nécessaires pour extrapoler les assauts quotidiens sur les ressources et le fonctionnement de la société à l’effondrement éventuel de la civilisation industrielle. Chaque repas, chaque voyage en voiture ou en bus, chaque paire de chaussures est un autre clou dans le cercueil de la terre. Il n’a probablement jamais traversé son esprit qu’un siège dans un avion de Londres à San Francisco produit environ une tonne de carbone qui fond environ 3 mètres carrés de glace de mer et comme l’un des surprivileged, elle a probablement volé des centaines de ces vols. Non seulement les riches et les célèbres, mais presque n’importe quelle personnalité publique du tout, y compris pratiquement tous les enseignants, sont poussés à être politiquement corrects, ce qui dans les démocraties occidentales, signifie maintenant social-démocrate (néomarxiste, c’est-à-dire communiste dilué) suprémacistes du tiers monde travaillant pour la destruction de leurs propres sociétés et de leurs propres descendants. Ainsi, ceux dont le manque d’éducation, d’expérience, d’intelligence (et de bon sens de base), qui devrait leur interdire de faire des déclarations publiques du tout, domine totalement tous les médias, créant l’impression que l’intelligent et civilisé doit favoriser la démocratie, la diversité et l’égalité, alors que la vérité est que ce sont les problèmes et non les solutions, et qu’ils sont eux-mêmes les principaux ennemis de la civilisation. Voir mon Suicide by Democracy 4th ed (2020). (shrink)

La présente étude utilise les outils du domaine de la méréotopologie (la théorie des parts, ensembles et frontières) pour élaborer les implications de certaines analogies entre la 'psychologie écologique' de J.J.Gibson et la phénoménologie de Edmund Husserl. On présentera une théorie ontologique de frontières spatiales et des entités possédant une extension spatiale. S'en rapportant aux exemples de la sphère de géographie, on démontre qu'aussi bien les frontières que les entités à extension spatiale appartiennent à deux vastes catégories: des objets qui (...) existent indépendamment de nos actes cognitifs (par exemple: la planète Terre, sa surface extérieure); et des objets qui existent seulement grâce à ces actes (par exemple: l'équateur, la Mer du Nord). Le champ visuel, lui aussi, peut être conçu comme un exemple d'une entité à extension spatiale qui est dépendante dans le sens proposé ci-dessus. L'étude présente suggère une extension de cette analogie en postulant les entités qui, pour les vrais jugements, seraient ce que le champ visuel est pour les actes de perception visuelle. Le champ de jugement est défini plus précisément comme une entité étendue complexe, contenant toutes les entités essentielles pour la vérité d'un (vrai) jugement donné. Il est possible de démontrer que le travail des linguistes cognitifs tel Talmy ou Langacker, si l'on l'interprète convenablement, produit une explication détaillée des structures des champs de jugement correspondant aux phrases de sortes différentes. Un genre nouveau de définition de la vérité en tant que correspondance pour les expressions de la langue naturelle peut donc être formulé sur cette base. (shrink)

The public health crisis is started with emergence of new coronavirus on 11 February 2020 which triggered as coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemics. The causative agent in COVID-19 is made up of positively wrapped single-stranded RNA viruses ~ 30 kb in size. The epidemiology, clinical features, pathophysiology, and mode of transmission have been documented well in many studies, with additional clinical trials are running for several antiviral agents. The spreading potential of COVID-19 is faster than its two previous families, the severe (...) acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Apart from clinical manifestation, comorbid status is playing key role for prevalence of COVID-19 infection and mortalities. The comorbid effects associated with COVID-19 are diabetes, cardiovascular, digestive, hepatitis-B, cerebrovascular, hypertension, liver injury, coronary heart disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and neurological impairment. Antimalarial drugs (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine), remdesivir, Tocilizumab, clopinavir/ritonavir, convalescent plasma therapy, spike protein-angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) inhibitors, human monoclonal antibodies, mRNA-1273, mesenchymal stem cells, Indian and Chinese traditional medicine, small molecules antioxidant, natural products and dietary supplements, high doses of vitamin-E, -C, -D, minerals, flavonoids,and IFN-beta are therapeutic intervention running to develop treatment against COVID-19. Although clinical usage of these therapeutic agents against COVID-19 is well documented, cytokine storms, absence of appropriate animal model have limited its therapeutic use. This review explores the clinical information currently available on COVID-19 on the mechanisms of infection, prevention, management, comorbid status, and current drug treatment options. (shrink)

Ce n’est pas un livre parfait, mais il est unique, et si vous écrémez les 400 premières pages ou plus, les 300 dernières (sur quelque 700) sont une assez bonne tentative d’appliquer ce qui est connu sur le comportement aux changements sociaux de la violence et des manières au fil du temps. Le sujet fondamental est le suivant : comment notre génétique contrôle-t-elle et limite-t-elle le changement social ? Étonnamment, il ne parvient pas à décrire la nature de la sélection (...) des parents (fitness inclusif) qui explique une grande partie de la vie sociale animale et humaine. Il n’a pas non plus (comme presque tout le monde) un cadre clair pour décrire la structure logique de la rationalité (LSR—terme préféré de John Searle) que je préfère appeler la psychologie descriptive de la pensée de haut ordre (DPHOT). Il aurait dû dire quelque chose sur les nombreuses autres façons d’abuser et d’exploiter les gens et la planète, car ceux-ci sont maintenant beaucoup plus graves que de rendre d’autres formes de violence presque hors de propos. Étendre le concept de violence pour inclure les-conséquences mondiales à long terme de la réplication des gènes de quelqu’un, et avoir une compréhension de la nature de la façon dont fonctionne l’évolution (c.-à-d., la sélection des parents) fournira une perspective très différente sur l’histoire, les événements actuels, et comment les choses sont susceptibles d’aller dans les quelques centaines d’années. On pourrait commencer par noter que la diminution de la violence physique au cours de l’histoire a été compensée (et rendue possible) par le viol sans pitié de la planète (c’est-à-dire par la destruction par les gens de l’avenir de leur propre descendant). Pinker (comme la plupart des gens la plupart du temps) est souvent distrait par les superficialités de la culture quand c’est la biologie qui compte. Voir mes critiques récentes de Wilson 'The Social Conquest of Earth' et Nowak and Highfield’s 'SuperCooperators' ici et sur le net pour un bref résumé de la vacuité de «véritable altruisme»(sélection de groupe), et le fonctionnement de la sélection des parents et l’inutilité et la superficialité de décrire le comportement en termes culturels. C’est la question classique de la nature/nourrir et la nature l’emporte nourrir - infiniment. Ce qui importe vraiment, c’est la violence faite à la terre par l’augmentation incessante de la population et de la destruction des ressources (en raison de la médecine et de la technologie et de la répression des conflits par la police et l’armée). Environ 200.000 personnes de plus par jour (un autre Las Vegas tous les 10 jours, un autre Los Angeles chaque mois), les 6 tonnes ou plus de la base va dans la mer / personne / année - environ 1% du total du monde disparaissant chaque année, etc. signifie que si un miracle se produit la biosphère et la civilisation va largement s’effondrer au cours des deux prochains siècles, et il y aura la famine, la misère et la violence de tous les types. Les manières, les opinions et les tendances des gens à commettre des actes de violence ne sont d’aucune pertinence à moins qu’ils ne puissent faire quelque chose pour éviter cette catastrophe, et je ne vois pas comment cela va se produire. Il n’y a pas de place pour les arguments, et aucun point non plus (oui je suis un fataliste), donc je vais juste faire quelques commentaires comme s’ils étaient des faits. N’imaginez pas que j’ai un intérêt personnel dans la promotion d’un groupe au détriment des autres. J’ai 78, n’ont pas de descendants et pas de proches parents et ne s’identifient à aucun groupe politique, national ou religieux et considèrent ceux que j’appartiens par défaut aussi répugnant que tout le reste. Les parents sont les pires ennemis de la vie sur Terre et, compte tenu de la vue générale des choses, les femmes sont aussi violentes que les hommes quand on considère le fait que la violence des femmes (comme la plupart de celle faite par les hommes) se fait en grande partie au ralenti, à une distance dans le temps et l’espace et la plupart du temps effectuée par procuration -par leurs descendants et par les hommes. De plus en plus, les femmes portent des enfants, qu’elles aient un compagnon ou non et que l’effet d’empêcher une femme de se reproduire est en moyenne beaucoup plus important que d’arrêter un homme, car ils constituent le goulot d’étranglement reproducteur. On peut considérer que les gens et leur progéniture méritent richement toute la misère vient leur chemin et (à de rares exceptions près) les riches et les célèbres sont les pires délinquants. Meryl Streep ou Bill Gates ou J.K Rowling et chacun de leurs enfants peuvent détruire 50 tonnes de terre d’o re plus chaque année pendant des générations dans l’avenir, tandis qu’un fermier indien et son peut détruire 1 tonne. Si quelqu’un nie que c’est très bien, et à leurs descendants, je dis "Bienvenue à l’enfer sur Terre"(WTHOE). Aujourd’hui, l’accent est toujours mis sur les droits de l’homme, mais il est clair que si la civilisation doit avoir une chance, les responsabilités humaines doivent remplacer les droits de l’homme. Personne n’obtient des droits sans être un citoyen responsable et la première chose que cela signifie est la destruction de l’environnement minimal. La responsabilité la plus fondamentale n’est pas les enfants à moins que votre société vous demande de les produire. Une société ou un monde qui permet aux gens de se reproduire au hasard sera toujours exploité par des gènes égoïstes jusqu’à ce qu’il s’effondre (ou atteint un point où la vie est si horrible qu’il ne vaut pas la peine de vivre). Si la société continue à maintenir les droits de l’homme comme primaires, à leurs descendants, on peut dire avec confiance "WTHOE". Ceux qui souhaitent un cadre complet à jour pour le comportement humain de la vue moderne de deuxemssyst peuvent consulter mon livre 'The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language in Ludwig Wittgenstein and John Searle' 2nd ed (2019). Ceux qui s’intéressent à plus de mes écrits peuvent voir «Talking Monkeys --Philosophie, Psychologie, Science, Religion et Politique sur une planète condamnée --Articles et revues 2006-2019 3e ed (2019) et Suicidal Utopian Delusions in the 21st Century 4th ed (2019) et autres. (shrink)

La première chose que nous devons garder à l’esprit est que lorsque nous disons que la Chine dit ceci ou la Chine fait cela, nous ne parlons pas du peuple chinois, mais des sociopathes qui contrôlent le PCC -- Parti communiste chinois, c’est-à-dire, les sept tueurs en série sociopathes seniles (SSSSK) du Comité permanent du PCC ou des 25 membres du Politburo etc. Les plans du PCC pour la Seconde Guerre mondiale et la domination totale sont énoncés très clairement dans (...) les publications et les discours du gouvernement chinois et c’est le « rêve chinois » de Xi Jinping. C’est un rêve seulement pour la petite minorité (peut-être quelques dizaines à quelques centaines) qui gouvernent la Chine et un cauchemar pour tout le monde (y compris 1,4 milliard de Chinois). Les 10 milliards de dollars par an leur permettent, à eux ou à leurs marionnettes, de posséder ou de contrôler des journaux, des magazines, des chaînes de télévision et de radio et de placer des fausses nouvelles dans la plupart des grands médias partout dans le monde chaque jour. En outre, ils ont une armée (peut-être des millions de personnes) qui troll tous les médias de placer plus de propagande et de noyer des commentaires légitimes (l’armée de 50 centimes). En plus de dépouiller le monde des ressources de 3rd, une poussée majeure de l’initiative de des centaines de milliards de dollars Belt and Road est la construction de bases militaires dans le monde entier. Ils forment le monde libre dans une course aux armements massive de haute technologie qui fait la guerre froide avec l’Union soviétique ressembler à un pique-nique. Bien que le SSSSK, et le reste de l’armée mondiale, dépensent des sommes énormes sur le matériel avancé, il est très probable que WW3 (ou les petits engagements qui l’ont précédé) sera dominé par les logiciels. Il n’est pas hors de question que le SSSSK, avec probablement plus de pirates (codeurs) travaillant pour eux, puis tout le reste du monde combiné, va gagner de futures guerres avec un minimum de conflit physique, juste en paralysant leurs ennemis via le net. Pas de satellites, pas de téléphones, pas de communications, pas de transactions financières, pas de réseau électrique, pas d’Internet, pas d’armes de pointe, pas de véhicules, de trains, de navires ou d’avions. Il n’y a que deux voies principales pour enlever le PCC, libérer 1,4 milliard de prisonniers chinois, et mettre fin à la marche lunatique à la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le pacifique est de lancer une guerre commerciale tous avare pour dévaster l’économie chinoise jusqu’à ce que l’armée en ait marre et démarre le PCC. Une alternative à la fermeture de l’économie chinoise est une guerre limitée, comme une frappe ciblée par dire 50 drones thermobares sur le 20e Congrès du PCC, lorsque tous les membres supérieurs sont en un seul endroit, mais qui n’aura pas lieu avant 2022 afin que l’on puisse frapper la réunion plénière annuelle. Les Chinois seraient informés, au fur et à mesure de l’attaque, qu’ils devaient déposer les armes et se préparer à organiser des élections démocratiques ou à être regroupés dans l’âge de pierre. L’autre alternative est une attaque nucléaire tous anch, une attaque nucléaire. La confrontation militaire est inévitable compte tenu de la voie actuelle du PCC. Il se produira probablement sur les îles de la mer de Chine méridionale ou Taiwan dans quelques décennies, mais comme ils établissent des bases militaires dans le monde entier, il pourrait se produire n’importe où (voir Tigre accroupi, etc.). Les conflits futurs auront des aspects difficiles et souples avec les objectifs déclarés du PCC de mettre l’accent sur la cyberguerre par le piratage et le paralysage des systèmes de contrôle de toutes les communications militaires et industrielles, l’équipement, les centrales électriques, les satellites, Internet, les banques, et tout appareil ou véhicule connecté au net. Les SS sont lentement sur le terrain d’un éventail mondial de sous-marins ou de drones sous-marins habités et autonomes capables de lancer des armes conventionnelles ou nucléaires qui peuvent rester dormants en attendant un signal de la Chine ou même à la recherche de la signature de navires ou d’avions américains. Tout en détruisant nos satellites, éliminant ainsi la communication entre les États-Unis et nos forces dans le monde entier, ils utiliseront les leurs, en conjonction avec des drones pour cibler et détruire nos forces navales actuellement supérieures. Bien sûr, tout cela se fait de plus en plus automatiquement par l’IA. De loin le plus grand allié du PCC est le parti démocrate des États-Unis. Le choix est d’arrêter le PCC maintenant ou regarder comme ils prolongent la prison chinoise sur le monde entier. Ceux qui s’intéressent à d’autres détails sur le chemin fou de la société moderne peuvent consulter mes autres œuvres telles que Suicide by Democracy-an Obituary for America and the World th Edition 2020 et Suicidal Utopian Delusions in the 21st Century: Philosophie, Nature Humaine et l’effondrement de la civilisation 4e ed (2020) . (shrink)

La première chose que nous devons garder à l'esprit est que lorsque vous dites que la Chine dit ceci ou la Chine fait cela, nous ne parlons pas du peuple chinois, mais des sociopathes qui contrôlent le PCC -- Parti communiste chinois, c'est-à-dire les sept tueurs en série sociopathiques séniles (SSSSK) de l'E e Comité permanent du PCC ou des 25 membres du Politburo, etc. -/- Les plans du PCC pour la Troiseme Guerre mondiale et la domination totale sont énoncés (...) très clairement dans les publications et les discours du gouvernement chinois et c'est le « rêve chinois » de Xi Jinping. C'est un rêve seulement pour la petite minorité (peut-être quelques dizaines à quelques centaines) qui gouvernent la Chine et un cauchemar pour tout le monde (y compris 1,4 milliard de Chinois). Les 10 milliards de dollars par an leur permettent, eux ou leurs marionnettes, de posséder ou de contrôler des journaux, des magazines, des chaînes de télévision et de radio et de placer des fausses nouvelles dans la plupart des grands médias partout chaque jour. En outre, ils ont une armée (peut-être des millions de personnes) qui troll tous les médias plaçant plus de propagande et de noyer les commentaires légitimes (l'armée de 50 cents). -/- En plus de dépouiller le 3e monde des ressources, l'une des grandes orientations de l'initiative Belt and Road, qui s'est portée à plusieurs milliards de dollars, consiste à construire des bases militaires dans le monde entier. Ils forcent le monde libre dans une course aux armements massive de haute technologie qui fait de la guerre froide avec l'Union soviétique ressembler à un pique-nique. -/- Bien que le SSSSK, et le reste de l'armée du monde, dépensent d'énormes sommes sur le matériel de pointe, il est très probable que WW3 (ou les petits engagements qui y ont précédé) sera dominé par le logiciel. Il n'est pas hors de question que le SSSSK, avec probablement plus de pirates (codeurs) travaillant pour eux, puis tout le reste du monde combiné, va gagner de futures guerres avec un conflit physique minimal, juste en paralysant leurs ennemis via le net. Pas de satellites, pas de téléphones, pas de communications, pas de transactions financières, pas de réseau électrique, pas d'Internet, pas d'armes avancées, pas de véhicules, trains, navires ou avions. -/- Il n'y a que deux voies principales à enlever le CCP, libérant 1,4 milliard de prisonniers chinois, et mettant fin à la marche folle à WW3. Le pacifique est de lancer une guerre commerciale tous adhérences pour dévaster l'économie chinoise jusqu'à ce que l'armée en ait marre et démarre le PCC. -/- Une alternative à la fermeture de l'économie de la Chine est une guerre limitée, comme une frappe ciblée par dire 50 drones thermobares sur le 20e Congrès du PCC, lorsque tous les membres supérieurs sont en un seul endroit, mais qui n'aura pas lieu jusqu'en 2022 afin on pourrait frapper à la réunion plénière annuelle. Les Chinois seraient informés, au fur et à mesure de l'attaque, qu'ils devaient déposer les armes et se préparer à tenir des élections démocratiques ou à être nuked dans l'âge de pierre. L'autre alternative est une attaque nucléaire tous adhérences. La confrontation militaire est inévitable compte tenu de la trajectoire actuelle du PCC. Il se produira probablement au-dessus des îles dans la mer de Chine méridionale ou à Taïwan dans quelques décennies, mais pendant qu'ils établissent des bases militaires dans le monde entier il pourrait se produire n'importe où (voir Tigre accroupi etc.). Les conflits futurs auront des aspects de hardkill et de softkill avec les objectifs déclarés du CCP pour souligner la cyberguerre en piratant et paralysant des systèmes de commande de toutes les communications militaires et industrielles, équipements, centrales électriques, satellites, internet, banques, et tout appareil ou véhicule connecté au réseau. Les SS sont lentement sur le terrain d'un éventail mondial de sous-marins de surface et autonomes habités et autonomes ou des drones capables de lancer des armes conventionnelles ou nucléaires qui peuvent rester en sommeil en attendant un signal de la Chine ou même à la recherche de la signature de navires ou d'avions américains. Tout en détruisant nos satellites, éliminant ainsi la communication entre les États-Unis et nos forces dans le monde entier, ils utiliseront les leurs, en conjonction avec des drones pour cibler et détruire nos forces navales actuellement supérieures. Bien sûr, tout cela est de plus en plus fait automatiquement par l'IA. (shrink)

A core challenge for contemporary bioethics is how to address the tension between respecting an individual’s autonomy and promoting their wellbeing when these ideals seem to come into conflict (Not...

As a result of the world-wide COVID-19 epidemic, an internal tension in the goals of medicine has come to the forefront of public debate. Medical professionals are continuously faced with a tug of...

In their thoughtful article, Malm and Navin (2020) raise concerns about a potentially unjust generational welfare tradeoff between children and adults when it comes to chicken pox. We share their c...

In recent years, bioethical discourse around the topic of ‘genetic enhancement’ has become increasingly politicized. We fear there is too much focus on the semantic question of whether we should call particular practices and emerging bio-technologies such as CRISPR ‘eugenics’, rather than the more important question of how we should view them from the perspective of ethics and policy. Here, we address the question of whether ‘eugenics’ can be defended and how proponents and critics of enhancement should engage with each (...) other. (shrink)

Abstract: There is a long tradition of trying to analyze art either by providing a definition (essentialism) or by tracing its contours as an indefinable, open concept (anti-essentialism). Both art essentialists and art anti-essentialists share an implicit assumption of art concept monism. This article argues that this assumption is a mistake. Species concept pluralism—a well-explored position in philosophy of biology—provides a model for art concept pluralism. The article explores the conditions under which concept pluralism is appropriate, and argues that they (...) obtain for art. Art concept pluralism allows us to recognize that different art concepts are useful for different purposes, and what has been feuding definitions can be seen as characterizations of specific art concepts. (shrink)

The study determined the influence of innate mathematical characteristics on the number sense competencies of junior high school students in a Philippine public school. The descriptive-correlational research design was used to accomplish the study involving a nonrandom sample of sixty 7th-grade students attending synchronous math sessions. Data obtained from the math-specific Learning Style and Self-Efficacy questionnaires and the modified Number Sense Test (NST) were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Chi-Square, and Simple Linear Regression analysis. The research instruments and (...) statistics were all validated and tested for reliability. The analysis revealed that the students are visual learners, had no or slight self-efficacy, and their number sense competency level is poor. They encountered difficulty in all the components and domains of the NST. Moreover, the students’ mathematical self-efficacy is significantly related and may influence their number sense competency level. Building upon the learners’ self-efficacy to further their understanding and skills in number sense is necessary. (shrink)

Human creativity generates novel ideas to solve real-world problems. This thereby grants us the power to transform the surrounding world and extend our human attributes beyond what is currently possible. Creative ideas are not just new and unexpected, but are also successful in providing solutions that are useful, efficient and valuable. Thus, creativity optimizes the use of available resources and increases wealth. The origin of human creativity, however, is poorly understood, and semantic measures that could predict the success of generated (...) ideas are currently unknown. Here, we analyze a dataset of design problem-solving conversations in real-world settings by using 49 semantic measures based on WordNet 3.1 and demonstrate that a divergence of semantic similarity, an increased information content, and a decreased polysemy predict the success of generated ideas. The first feedback from clients also enhances information content and leads to a divergence of successful ideas in creative problem solving. These results advance cognitive science by identifying real-world processes in human problem solving that are relevant to the success of produced solutions and provide tools for real-time monitoring of problem solving, student training and skill acquisition. A selected subset of information content (IC Sánchez–Batet) and semantic similarity (Lin/Sánchez–Batet) measures, which are both statistically powerful and computationally fast, could support the development of technologies for computer-assisted enhancements of human creativity or for the implementation of creativity in machines endowed with general artificial intelligence. (shrink)

Objective: There are benefits and risks of giving patients more granular control of their personal health information in electronic health record (EHR) systems. When designing EHR systems and policies, informaticists and system developers must balance these benefits and risks. Ethical considerations should be an explicit part of this balancing. Our objective was to develop a structured ethics framework to accomplish this. -/- Methods: We reviewed existing literature on the ethical and policy issues, developed an ethics framework called a “Points to (...) Consider” (P2C) document, and convened a national expert panel to review and critique the P2C. -/- Results: We developed the P2C to aid informaticists designing an advanced query tool for an electronic health record (EHR) system in Indianapolis. The P2C consists of six questions (“Points”) that frame important ethical issues, apply accepted principles of bioethics and Fair Information Practices, comment on how questions might be answered, and address implications for patient care. -/- Discussion: The P2C is intended to clarify whatis at stake when designers try to accommodate potentially competing ethical commitments and logistical realities. The P2C was developed to guide informaticists who were designing a query tool in an existing EHR that would permit patient granular control. While consideration of ethical issues is coming to the forefront of medical informatics design and development practices, more reflection is needed to facilitate optimal collaboration between designers and ethicists. This report contributes to that discussion. (shrink)

One of the moral questions concerning autonomous vehicles (henceforth AVs) is the choice between types that differ in their built-in algorithms for dealing with rare situations of unavoidable lethal collision. It does not appear to be possible to avoid questions about how these algorithms should be designed. We present the results of our study of moral preferences (N = 2769) with respect to three types of AVs: (1) selfish, which protects the lives of passenger(s) over any number of bystanders; (2) (...) altruistic, which minimizes the number of casualties, even if this leads to death of passenger(s); and (3) conservative, which abstains from interfering in such situations. We differentiate between scenarios in which participants are to make their decisions privately or publicly, and for themselves or for their offspring. We aim to answer two research questions: (1) whether the public visibility of the choice of an AV type choice make this choice more altruistic and (2) which type of situation makes it more difficult to choose altruistically: when choosing for society as a whole, when choosing only for oneself, or when choosing only for one’s offspring. Our results show that respondents exhibit a preference for an altruistic strategy for AVs and that it is reinforced when signaled to others. The altruistic preference is strongest when applies to everybody else, weaker when it reflects a solely personal choice, and weakest when choosing for one’s own child. We conclude that a public choice is considerably more likely to pressure consumers into accepting a more socially beneficial solution. (shrink)

This study is intended to provide in-depth insights into how design thinking and creativity issues are understood and possibly evolve in the course of design discussions in a company context. For that purpose, we use the seminar transcripts of the Design Thinking Research Symposium 12 (DTRS12) dataset “Tech-centred Design Thinking: Perspectives from a Rising Asia,” which are primarily concerned with how Korean companies implement design thinking and what role designers currently play. We employed a novel method of information processing based (...) on constructed dynamic semantic networks to investigate the seminar discussions according to company representatives and company size. We compared the quantitative dynamics in two seminars: the first involved managerial representatives of four companies, and the second involved specialized designers and management of a design center of single company. On the basis of dynamic semantic networks, we quantified the changes in four semantic measures—abstraction, polysemy, information content, and pairwise word similarity—in chronologically reconstructed individual design-thinking processes. Statistical analyses show that design thinking in the seminar with four companies, exhibits significant differences in the dynamics of abstraction, polysemy, and information content, compared to the seminar with the design center of single company. Both the decrease in polysemy and abstraction and the increase in information content in the individual design-thinking processes in the seminar with four companies indicate that design managers are focused on more concrete design issues, with more information and less ambiguous content to the final design product. By contrast, specialized designers manifest more abstract thinking and appear to exhibit a slightly higher level of divergence in their design processes. The results suggest that design thinking and creativity issues are articulated differently depending on designer roles and the company size. (shrink)

Although ethics is an essential component of undergraduate medical education, research suggests current medical ethics curricula face considerable challenges in improving students’ ethical reasoning. This paper discusses these challenges and introduces a promising new mode of graduate and professional ethics instruction for overcoming them. We begin by describing common ethics curricula, focusing in particular on established problems with current approaches. Next, we describe a novel method of ethics education and assessment for medical students that we have devised, the Medical Ethics (...) Bowl. Finally, we suggest pedagogical advantages to MEBs when compared to other ethics curricula. (shrink)

Neuroplasticity, the capacity of the brain to induce changes in response to environmental stimuli, entails a continuous rearrangement of the neural network through a complex interaction between genetics and environment. Within this process, the plastic brain uses its internal representations to predict future conditions and proactively proceed to actions. It can be said that plasticity demands a rethinking of the concept of determinism as the process of coming-to-be is directly related to modifications produced by experience. Pure determinism and complete randomness (...) are the two ends of a spectrum of positions relevant to the debate of the existence of free will. However, none conceptually supports free decision-making. How brain activity and the conscious experience of volition are related to one another has been a matter of significant research, with a plethora of findings indicating that early brain signals precede the self-reported time of the decision to act. The meaning of these findings, however, has been debated at both a theoretical and empirical level and the controversy is still ongoing. Consciousness is intertwined with free will along the dimension of time as it would otherwise be purposeless, taking place right at the next moment. Electrical activity of the brain is a measure of neurophysiological function and contributes to the understanding of processes that underlie high-order cognitive functions. A multidisciplinary approach in the study of free will could be designed in a way that philosophical concepts are connected to neural correlates by psychologically functionalizing them in terms of cognitive abilities. Such abilities are at the margins of conscious and nonconscious sensory information and are closely linked to brain processes of executive functions like attentional control and working memory. (shrink)

This study emphasizes the importance of enhancing food safety and hygiene practices among sidewalk vendors to safeguard public health in Balayan Public Market. Employing a mixed-methods approach, with both quantitative and qualitative components, a diverse sample of 55 consumers, 5 sidewalk vendors, and 5 market administrators was selected using a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques under non-probability sampling. Microbial investigations were conducted during both the initial sampling and testing phase (A) and subsequent sampling and testing phase (B) on (...) popular street food items at Lipa Quality Control Inc., including chicken nuggets, chicken nugget sauce (sweet and vinegar), Isaw, Isaw sauce, Proben, Proben sauce, Calamares, Calamares Vinegar Sauce, Kwek- Kwek, and Kwek-Kwek sauce. The findings reveal that “Isaw and Chicken Nuggets Sauce (Sweet)” had a result of “Too Numerous To Count (TNTC),” indicating an extraordinarily high bacteria count. This underscores the imperative need to raise awareness and provide targeted guidance to sidewalk vendors regarding essential food handling, storage, and sanitation practices. Therefore, a sanitary action plan is developed to promote community engagement, educational initiatives, and regulatory support, enhancing food safety practices among sidewalk vendors and ensuring a safer and healthier food environment. (shrink)

In this context, the study explored the relationship between organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour among food manufacturing industries in Malaysia. The study is a descriptive correlational survey research design where data is sourced out from a total of randomly sampled 260 employees. Results revealed that a favourable organizational climate on innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking is prevailing among the companies. A very high level of innovative work behaviour is emanating among the employees on idea exploration, generation, championing, and implementation. (...) Test of differences showed that employee gender, position, unit, and years of service spelt significant differences in the perception of the employees on organizational climate and innovative work behaviour. A meaningful relationship surfaced between organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour, suggesting that for food manufacturing industries to sustain innovative and competitive advantages, there is a need to promote a nurturing and encouraging entrepreneurial organizational climate. Finally, a congruency among the domains of organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour emerged. It suggests that when higher positive organizational climate surfaces, the more likely the employee's manifest innovation work behaviour. This study addressed the gap by providing organizational climate and employee innovative work behaviour among food manufacturing industries in Malaysia. (shrink)

This article synthesizes the results of several interviews with argumentation scholars from across the American continents to address three questions regarding the connections in argumentation studies between North and South/Central America: “What motivated the study of argumentation in the Americas?” “What commonalities, if any, exist in argumentation studies across the Americas?” and “What should the future of argumentation studies in the Americas look like?” Using these interviews in combination with existing textual sources, the article also provides motivated suggestions for directions (...) for the future of the community in the field. (shrink)

The Plant Ontology (PO) (http://www.plantontology.org) (Jaiswal et al., 2005; Avraham et al., 2008) was designed to facilitate cross-database querying and to foster consistent use of plant-specific terminology in annotation. As new data are generated from the ever-expanding list of plant genome projects, the need for a consistent, cross-taxon vocabulary has grown. To meet this need, the PO is being expanded to represent all plants. This is the first ontology designed to encompass anatomical structures as well as growth and developmental stages (...) across such a broad taxonomic range. While other ontologies such as the Gene Ontology (GO) (The Gene Ontology Consortium, 2010) or Cell Type Ontology (CL) (Bard et al., 2005) cover all living organisms, they are confined to structures at the cellular level and below. The diversity of growth forms and life histories within plants presents a challenge, but also provides unique opportunities to study developmental and evolutionary homology across organisms. (shrink)

This study focused on determining the attitudes and academic performance of engineering students in Technological University of the Philippines-Manila. A total of 139 male engineering and 47 female engineering students were the respondents of the study. This only dwell on the attitude in learning English Language Vocabulary in terms of their behavioral aspects, cognitive aspects, and emotional aspects. This is a quantitative study utilized by descriptive and inferential method as the research design. Based on the findings, academic grades strongly correlate (...) with their attitude in learning English vocabulary which is a negative correlation coefficient in all its components with r value of -0.3695 in behavioral, -0.5261 in Cognitive, and -0.4332 in emotional aspect. Their P values is less than .00001 which is significant at p<0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis where there is no significant relationship between their ALEV and academic performance is rejected. The researcher recommends that teachers should enhance creativity in teaching vocabulary which inculcate the positive attitudes and motivation towards learning process. Teachers and parents should encourage the learners to read and watch educational related materials. (shrink)

Defense of an account of intrinsic properties in terms of (what is now called) grounding rather than naturalness.

The attendance is taken in every organization. Traditional approach for attendance is, professor calls student name & record attendance. For each lecture this is wastage of time. To avoid these losses, we are about to use automatic process which is based on image processing. In this project approach, we are using face detection & face recognition system. The first phase is pre-processing where the face detection is processed through the step image processing. It includes the face detection and face recognition (...) process. Second phase is feature extraction. Step by step execution of these techniques (Image Processing) helps to achieve the final output. The working of this project is to detect and recognize the face and mark the attendance for the corresponding face in the database. Input of this project is face detection and recognition and output is to mark the attendance. Our project is being presented as a solution for the Automatic Attendance Marking System. It is designed to be reliable and low power. The Automatic face detection and recognition proposed to attendance marking in database acts as the solution for the automatic attendance marking system.. (shrink)

Philosophers have rightly condemned lookism—that is, discrimination in favor of attractive people or against unattractive people—in education, the justice system, the workplace and elsewhere. Surprisingly, however, the almost universal preference for attractive romantic and sexual partners has rarely received serious ethical scrutiny. On its face, it’s unclear whether this is a form of discrimination we should reject or tolerate. I consider arguments for both views. On the one hand, a strong case can be made that preferring attractive partners is bad. (...) The idea is that choosing partners based on looks seems essentially similar to other objectionable forms of discrimination. (In particular, the preference for attractive partners is arguably both unfair and harmful to a significant degree.) One can try to resist this conclusion in several ways. I consider three possible replies. The first has to do with the possibility of controlling our partner preferences. The second pertains to attractiveness and “good genes”. The last attempts to link certain aspects of attractiveness to a prospective partner’s personality and values. I argue that the first two replies fail conclusively, while the third only amounts to a limited defense of a particular kind of attractiveness preference. So the idea that we should often avoid preferring attractive partners is compelling. (shrink)

This article is a preliminary presentation of conjunctive paraconsistency, the claim that there might be non-explosive true contradictions, but contradictory propositions cannot be considered separately true. In case of true ‘p and not p’, the conjuncts must be held untrue, Simplification fails. The conjunctive approach is dual to non-adjunctive conceptions of inconsistency, informed by the idea that there might be cases in which a proposition is true and its negation is true too, but the conjunction is untrue, Adjunction fails. While (...) non-adjunctivism is a well-known option, the other view is not so much studied nowadays, but it was not unknown in the tradition, and there are some positive suggestions, in recent literature, that the position is plausible and deserves to be developed. The article compares conjunctivism, non-adjunctivism and dialetheism, then focuses on some possible justifications, costs and benefits of the conjunctive view. (shrink)

This is the first chapter to our edited collection of essays on the nature and ethics of blame. In this chapter we introduce the reader to contemporary discussions about blame and its relationship to other issues (e.g. free will and moral responsibility), and we situate the essays in this volume with respect to those discussions.

Ordinarily, we take moral responsibility to come in degrees. Despite this commonplace, theories of moral responsibility have focused on the minimum threshold conditions under which agents are morally responsible. But this cannot account for our practices of holding agents to be more or less responsible. In this paper we remedy this omission. More specifically, we extend an account of reasons-responsiveness due to John Martin Fischer and Mark Ravizza according to which an agent is morally responsible only if she is appropriately (...) receptive to and reactive to reasons for action. Building on this, we claim that the degree to which an agent is responsible will depend on the degree to which she is able to recognize and react to reasons. To analyze this, we appeal to relations of comparative similarity between possible worlds, arguing that the degree to which an agent is reasons-reactive depends on the nearest possible world in which given sufficient reason to do otherwise, she does so. Similarly, we argue that the degree to which an agent is reasons-receptive will depend on the intelligibility of her patterned recognition of reasons. By extending an account of reasons-responsiveness in these ways, we are able to rationalize our practice of judging people to be more or less responsible. (shrink)

The paper looks at the semantics and ontology of dispositions in the light of recent work on the subject. Objections to the simple conditionals apparently entailed by disposition statements are met by replacing them with so-called 'reduction sentences' and some implications of this are explored. The usual distinction between categorical and dispositional properties is criticised and the relation between dispositions and their bases examined. Applying this discussion to two typical cases leads to the conclusion that fragility is not a real (...) property and that, while both temperature and its bases are, this does not generate any problem of overdetermination. (shrink)

Vendler’s :161–173, 1979) puzzle about imagination is that the sentences ‘Imagine swimming in that water’ and ‘Imagine yourself swimming in that water’ seem at once semantically different and semantically the same. They seem semantically different, since the first requires you to imagine ’from the inside’, while the second allows you to imagine ’from the outside.’ They seem semantically the same, since despite superficial dissimilarity, there is good reason to think that they are syntactically and lexically identical. This paper sets out (...) the puzzle and offers a novel solution. Our proposal is that, just as there is knowledge-wh, there is also imagining-wh and that the inside/outside distinction Vendler points to is properly understood as a distinction within imagining-wh. In particular, to imagine swimming from the inside is to imagine what it feels like to swim, while to imagine swimming from the outside is to imagine what it looks like to swim. We show that this proposal is well grounded in both the semantics and syntax of ‘imagine.’ We also argue it makes better sense than its rivals of the data Vendler found so puzzling. (shrink)

Susan Schneider (2019) has proposed two new tests for consciousness in AI (artificial intelligence) systems, the AI Consciousness Test and the Chip Test. On their face, the two tests seem to have the virtue of proving satisfactory to a wide range of consciousness theorists holding divergent theoretical positions, rather than narrowly relying on the truth of any particular theory of consciousness. Unfortunately, both tests are undermined in having an ‘audience problem’: Those theorists with the kind of architectural worries that motivate (...) the need for such tests should, on similar grounds, doubt that the tests establish the existence of genuine consciousness in the AI in question. Nonetheless, the proposed tests constitute progress, as they could find use by some theorists holding fitting views about consciousness and perhaps in conjunction with other tests for AI consciousness. (shrink)

Mind &Language, Volume 35, Issue 1, Page 90-114, February 2020.

The relationship between economics and the philosophy of natural science has changed substantially during the last few years. What was once exclusively a one-way relationship from philosophy to economics now seems to be much closer to bilateral exchange. The purpose of this paper is to examine this new relationship. First, I document the change. Second, I examine the situation within contemporary philosophy of science in order to explain why economics might have its current appeal. Third, I consider some of the (...) issues that might jeopardize the success of this philosophical project. (shrink)

Multidimensional adjectives are ubiquitous in natural language. An adjective F is multidimensional just in case whether F applies to an object or pair of objects depends on how those objects stand with respect to multiple underlying dimensions of F-ness. Developing a semantics for multidimensional adjectives requires us to address the problem of dimensional aggregation: how do the application conditions of an adjective F in its positive and comparative forms depend on its underlying dimensions? Here we develop a semantics for multidimensional (...) adjectives that incorporates aggregation functions. We then explore an analogy between dimensional aggregation and preference aggregation, bringing results from social choice theory to bear on the number and kind of aggregation functions that are admissible in a context. These results suggest that, for any given adjective, there will often be multiple aggregation functions admissible, meaning that multidimensional comparatives are often vague. (shrink)

In A Theory of Justice, Rawls attempts to ground intergenerational justice by "virtual representation" through a thickening of the veil of ignorance. Contractors don't know to what generation they belong. This approach is flawed and will not result in the just savings principle Rawls hopes to justify. The project of grounding intergenerational duties on a social contractarian foundation is misconceived. Non-overlapping generations do not stand in relation to one another that is central to the contractarian approach.

Upshot: In our target article we claimed that, at least since Weber and Varela, enactivism has incorporated a theoretical commitment to one important aspect of Jonas’s philosophical biology, namely its anthropomorphism, which is at odds with the methodological commitments of modern science. In this general reply we want to clarify what we mean by anthropomorphism, and explain why we think it is incompatible with science. We do this by spelling out what we call the “Jonasian inference,” i.e., the idea that (...) we are entitled, based on our first-person experience of teleology, to take the appearance of teleology in other living beings at face value. (shrink)

There is consensus within the chemosciences that olfactory perception is of the molecular structure of chemical compounds, yet within philosophical theories of smell there is little agreement about the nature of smell. The paper critically assesses the current state of debate regarding smells within philosophy in the hopes of setting it upon firm scientific footing. The theories to be covered are: Naïve Realism, Hedonic Theories, Process Theory, Odor Theories, and non-Objectivist Theories. The aforementioned theories will be evaluated based on their (...) explanations of the (a) the olfactory quality of a smell, (b) smells as distal entities, and (c) our experience of smells as intentional objects. The paper concludes with a defense of Molecular Structure Theory that demonstrating its superiority in accounting for each of these three aspects of smell. (shrink)

This paper is an original attempt to understand the foundations of economic reasoning. It endeavors to rigorously define the relationship between subjective interpretations and objective valuations of such interpretations in the context of theoretical economics. This analysis is substantially expanded through a dynamic approach, where the truth of a valuation results in an updated interpretation or changes in the agent's subjective belief regarding the effectiveness of the selected action as well as the objective reality of the effectiveness of all other (...) possible actions (i.e. consequence realization). Complications arise when the economic agent is presented with a set of actions that render ambiguous preference, or when the effectiveness of an action cannot be perceived upon its selection, thereby necessitating a different theory of choice and consequence realization. (shrink)

Deductive inference is usually regarded as being “tautological” or “analytical”: the information conveyed by the conclusion is contained in the information conveyed by the premises. This idea, however, clashes with the undecidability of first-order logic and with the (likely) intractability of Boolean logic. In this article, we address the problem both from the semantic and the proof-theoretical point of view. We propose a hierarchy of propositional logics that are all tractable (i.e. decidable in polynomial time), although by means of growing (...) computational resources, and converge towards classical propositional logic. The underlying claim is that this hierarchy can be used to represent increasing levels of “depth” or “informativeness” of Boolean reasoning. Special attention is paid to the most basic logic in this hierarchy, the pure “intelim logic”, which satisfies all the requirements of a natural deduction system (allowing both introduction and elimination rules for each logical operator) while admitting of a feasible (quadratic) decision procedure. We argue that this logic is “analytic” in a particularly strict sense, in that it rules out any use of “virtual information”, which is chiefly responsible for the combinatorial explosion of standard classical systems. As a result, analyticity and tractability are reconciled and growing degrees of computational complexity are associated with the depth at which the use of virtual information is allowed. (shrink)

This article discusses the adequacy of Rawls’ theory of justice as a tool for racial justice. It is argued that critics like Charles W Mills fail to appreciate both the insights and limits of the Rawlsian framework. The article has two main parts spread out over several different sections. The first is concerned with whether the Rawlsian framework suffices to prevent racial injustice. It is argued that there are reasons to doubt whether it does. The second part is concerned with (...) whether a Rawlsian framework has the resources to rectify past racial injustice. It is argued that it has more resources to do this than Mills allows. This second part of the article centers on two Rawlsian ideas: ideal theory and the fair equality of opportunity principle. It is argued that ideal theory is essential for the kind of rectificatory work that Mills wants nonideal theory to do, and that where there is a socioeconomic legacy of past injustice, it is hard to see how FEO could be implemented if it did no rectificatory work, a result which means that there is less need to turn to nonideal theory at all. (shrink)

We discuss potential biorisks from large language models (LLMs). AI assistants based on LLMs such as ChatGPT have been shown to significantly reduce barriers to entry for actors wishing to synthesize dangerous, potentially novel pathogens and chemical weapons. The harms from deploying such bioagents could be further magnified by AI-assisted misinformation. We endorse several policy responses to these dangers, including prerelease evaluations of biomedical AIs by subject-matter experts, enhanced surveillance and lab screening procedures, restrictions on AI training data, and access (...) controls on biomedical AI. We conclude with a suggestion about future research directions in bioethics. (shrink)

We perceive smells as perduring complex entities within a distal array that might be conceived of as smellscapes. However, the philosophical orthodoxy of Odor Theories has been to deny that smells are perceived as having a distal location. Recent challenges have been mounted to Odor Theories’ veracity in handling the timescale of olfactory perception, how it individuates odors as a distal entities, and their claim that olfactory perception is not spatial. The paper does not aim to dispute these criticisms. Rather, (...) what will be shown is that Molecular Structure Theory, a refinement of Odor Theory, can be further developed to handle these challenges. The theory is further refined by focusing on distal perception that requires considering the perceptual object as mereologically complex persisting odor against a background scene conceived of as a smellscape. What will be offered is an expansion of Molecular Structure Theory to account for distal smell perception within natural environments. (shrink)

Psychopaths routinely disregard social norms by engaging in selfish, antisocial, often violent behavior. Commonly characterized as mentally disordered, recent evidence suggests that psychopaths are executing a well-functioning, if unscrupulous strategy that historically increased reproductive success at the expense of others. Natural selection ought to have favored strategies that spared close kin from harm, however, because actions affecting the fitness of genetic relatives contribute to an individual’s inclusive fitness. Conversely, there is evidence that mental disorders can disrupt psychological mechanisms designed to (...) protect relatives. Thus, mental disorder and adaptation accounts of psychopathy generate opposing hypotheses: psychopathy should be associated with an increase in the victimization of kin in the former account but not in the latter. Contrary to the mental disorder hypothesis, we show here in a sample of 289 violent offenders that variation in psychopathy predicts a decrease in the genetic relatedness of victims to offenders; that is, psychopathy predicts an increased likelihood of harming non-relatives. Because nepotistic inhibition in violence may be caused by dispersal or kin discrimination, we examined the effects of psychopathy on (1) the dispersal of offenders and their kin and (2) sexual assault frequency (as a window on kin discrimination). Although psychopathy was negatively associated with coresidence with kin and positively associated with the commission of sexual assault, it remained negatively associated with the genetic relatedness of victims to offenders after removing cases of offenders who had coresided with kin and cases of sexual assault from the analyses. These results stand in contrast to models positing psychopathy as a pathology, and provide support for the hypothesis that psychopathy reflects an evolutionary strategy largely favoring the exploitation of non-relatives. (shrink)