Representing Glaciers in Icelandic Art.M. Jackson -2015 -Environment, Space, Place 7 (2):65-96.detailsGlaciers in Iceland are disappearing, and this article investigates how such glacier change might be transmitted into Icelandic culture, specifically, in art oriented around Icelandic glaciers. Utilizing cultural climatology as an approach, this article analyzes changes in spatial properties of glaciers as represented in older and newer artworks. Three central spatial characteristics of glaciers emerge and provide insights into how glacier loss can be represented and understood: 1) the compression of traditional distance; 2) the use of multiple perspectives; and 3) (...) the structural representation of the glacier body. Analysis suggests a re-positioning of glaciers in the cultural imaginary and the fluctuating nature of how individuals and societies understand themselves and their place within the glaciated landscapes. (shrink)
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Unifying Gaussian LWF and AMP Chain Graphs to Model Interference.Jose M. Peña -2020 -Journal of Causal Inference 8 (1):1-21.detailsAn intervention may have an effect on units other than those to which it was administered. This phenomenon is called interference and it usually goes unmodeled. In this paper, we propose to combine Lauritzen-Wermuth-Frydenberg and Andersson-Madigan-Perlman chain graphs to create a new class of causal models that can represent both interference and non-interference relationships for Gaussian distributions. Specifically, we define the new class of models, introduce global and local and pairwise Markov properties for them, and prove their equivalence. We also (...) propose an algorithm for maximum likelihood parameter estimation for the new models, and report experimental results. Finally, we show how to compute the effects of interventions in the new models. (shrink)
Welfare: The Social Issues in Philosophical Perspective. [REVIEW]G. M. -1973 -Review of Metaphysics 27 (1):154-154.detailsThis volume provides a clarification of the concept of welfare and an appraisal of the programs of our present welfare state. Welfare, Rescher contends, is not concerned with the whole of human happiness but with those factors necessary for minimal well-being. These factors, which include physical and mental health, material prosperity and environmental resources, are objectively determinable. Because of this, men are not necessarily the best judges of their own welfare, a view which Rescher acknowledges as heretical. Other self-acknowledged heresies (...) are that many present welfare-supportive programs are ill-conceived, that democratic processes are poor guarantors of the general welfare, and that welfare is often of less importance than such social values as freedom and justice. Certainly the gloomiest of his conclusions is that it is unrealistic to expect that continual improvement in welfare will increase human happiness. Rather than bring contentment, increases in welfare often produce increased expectations and consequent dissatisfaction at their nonfulfillment. In addition, the continual rise in our expectations may outdistance present achievements and lead to better disappointment. In appraising the welfare program of our society, Rescher argues that it has failed not only to achieve its professed goal of increasing the welfare of the poorest segment of society but also has resulted in an unfortunate change of attitude in our youth towards individual responsibility and self-reliance. Along with future success in reducing poverty, he hopes to see our society increase its concern with such non-welfare values as human excellence and creativity. Readers will find this book a stimulating, unorthodox blend of philosophical theorizing and relevant empirical material.—M. G. (shrink)
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The Five Stages of Executive Coaching: Better Process Makes Better Practice.Samuel M. Natale &Thomas Diamante -2005 -Journal of Business Ethics 59 (4):361-374.detailsThere remains a paucity of research investigating the efficacy of executive coaching. Ambiguity surrounds its definition, its methodology and outcomes. Despite this, the executive coaching remains a viable business proposition. Practitioners bring services to the business community offering services that transcend traditional performance management consultations establishing independent “performance-driven” relationships with executives. This paper examines the process of coaching suggesting that a better understanding of process will enhance practice efficacy and accelerates empirical investigations. In addition, ethical, confidential and legal issues require (...) attention when planning to utilize an executive coach. All this implicates the need to better understand coaching – and how it typically operates. Case studies are provided in the examination of coaching consultations in Fortune 100 settings. (shrink)
1965.Stephen M. Krason -2016 -Catholic Social Science Review 21:191-194.detailsThis was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns that appeared during 2015 in Crisismagazine.com and The Wanderer and at his blog site. It discusses the seminal year 1965, when so many of our current social, cultural, and political problems and our difficulties in the Church began to take shape. It discusses the nature of the “new direction” that became evident that year, how crucial trends took shape, and how the developments of that (...) year led to others in the short or long run. (shrink)
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Post-trial period surveillance for randomised controlled cardiovascular studies: submitted protocols, consent forms and the role of the ethics board.M. I. Zia,R. Heslegrave &G. E. Newton -2011 -Journal of Medical Ethics 37 (12):762-765.detailsBackground The post-trial period is the time period after the end of study drug administration. It is unclear whether post-trial arrangements for patient surveillance are routinely included in study protocols and consents, and whether research ethics boards (REB) consider the post-trial period. Objectives The objective was to determine whether trial protocols and consent forms reviewed by the REB describe procedures for post-trial period surveillance. Methods An observational study of protocols of randomised trials of chronic therapies for cardiac conditions, approved by (...) the REB of two academic institutions affiliated with the University of Toronto in Canada (University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital) from 1995 to 2007. Plans for patient surveillance in the post-trial period described in the protocol or in the consent form before and after REB approval were recorded. Results 42 studies were identified including 18 heart failure and 15 coronary artery disease trials. Only four studies planned a clinical visit after trial termination, and an additional three planned a telephone contact after trial completion. Five trials submitted consent forms to the REB with a discussion of the post-trial period. Conclusions The majority of protocols and consent forms did not discuss plans for post-trial period surveillance. The post-trial period and the REB approval process could be improved by systematic follow-up being described in the protocol and consent form. The small number of trial protocols evaluated in the study may impair the degree to which the results can be generalised. (shrink)
Computational scientific discovery and cognitive science theories.M. Addis,Peter D. Sozou,F. Gobet &Philip R. Lane -unknowndetailsThis study is concerned with processes for discovering new theories in science. It considers a computational approach to scientific discovery, as applied to the discovery of theories in cognitive science. The approach combines two ideas. First, a process-based scientific theory can be represented as a computer program. Second, an evolutionary computational method, genetic programming, allows computer programs to be improved through a process of computational trialand-error. Putting these two ideas together leads to a system that can automatically generate and improve (...) scientific theories. The application of this method to the discovery of theories in cognitive science is examined. Theories are built up from primitive operators. These are contained in a theory language that defines the space of possible theories. An example of a theory generated by this method is described. These results support the idea that scientific discovery can be achieved through a heuristic search process, even for theories involving a sequence of steps. However, this computational approach to scientific discovery does not eliminate the need for human input. Human judgment is needed to make reasonable prior assumptions about the characteristics of operators used in the theory generation process, and to interpret and provide context for the computationally generated theories. (shrink)