Truth and Tension in Science and Religion

While evolution deserves theological support and inclusion in schools, the consensus views, Darwinian or neo-Darwinian evolution, present problems. Darwin presented two arguments: 1) that evolution, descent with modification, has occurred, and 2) that its “cause” is natural selection, the focus of neo-Darwinism. However, the products of natural selection, adaptations, are often not congruent with the lineages produced by evolution and its demonstrated effects are within species. The difficulty of using natural selection to explain evolution is used by proponents of Intelligent Design (ID) to denigrate evolution and to argue for the inclusion of ID in biology classes. However, the force of the arguments in favor of ID disappear when evolution is viewed as an informational phenomenon. Evolution, like development, is a system of increasing complexity, and emergence the inevitable outcome of the transformation of matter whereby the information in DNA is expressed that accompanies energy dynamics. Evolution is witnessed by studies in comparative biology that reveal groups of related organisms and homologies, both the result of descent with modification.     

THE DIVINE CONJECTURES: A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT OF HUMAN ORIGINS AND DESTINY

Six “divine conjectures” frame the place of Theóne (The One to Whom we pray) in the creation of our universe and for its continuing development in five subsequent stages into a loving universe. The first stage, the cosmological universe, establishes the laws of nature, understood by scientists as the “standard model”. The second stage introduces life and death into the universe by a process we are only now beginning to understand. Stage 3 requires certain life forms to become conscious with a subset of those life‐forms acquiring language that results in that subset becoming self‐conscious. The next stage, Conjecture 4, identifies certain persons who become addicted to learning in their unrelenting effort to learn as much of what can be known as possible. The fifth conjecture requires individual persons to act as agents of Theóne in achieving Conjecture 6—a universe that is both loving and lawful. During the course of the exposition subsidiary discussions of the concepts of conjecture and hypothesis explicate the function of each in the advancement of knowledge and understanding. There are brief discussions of prayer and purpose in relation to the Divine.     

Preference-based belief revision for rule-based agents

Agents which perform inferences on the basis of unreliable information need an ability to revise their beliefs if they discover an inconsistency. Such a belief revision algorithm ideally should be rational, should respect any preference ordering over the agent’s beliefs (removing less preferred beliefs where possible) and should be fast. However, while standard approaches to rational belief revision for classical reasoners allow preferences to be taken into account, they typically have quite high complexity. In this paper, we consider belief revision for agents which reason in a simpler logic than full first-order logic, namely rule-based reasoners. We show that it is possible to define a contraction operation for rule-based reasoners, which we call McAllester contraction, which satisfies all the basic Alchourrón, Gärdenfors and Makinson (AGM) postulates for contraction (apart from the recovery postulate) and at the same time can be computed in polynomial time. We prove a representation theorem for McAllester contraction with respect to the basic AGM postulates (minus recovery), and two additional postulates. We then show that our contraction operation removes a set of beliefs which is least preferred, with respect to a natural interpretation of preference. Finally, we show how McAllester contraction can be used to define a revision operation which is also polynomial time, and prove a representation theorem for the revision operation.     

临床指征优先谨慎使用抗菌药物

抗菌药物是临床广泛应用的一类药物。根据卫生部全国医院感染监测网监测结果,我国临床抗菌药物使用率较高。抗菌药物压力是细菌产生耐药性最重要的原因。对于临床谨慎使用抗菌药物来说,知晓和掌握使用指征是非常重要的,在任何情况任何时候,指征是优先考虑的。抗茵药物使用指征包括治疗性用药指征和预防性用药指征,尤其是预防用药方面。本文讨论抗菌药物应用指征,包括感染诊断与治疗性用药的关系、手术前预防性使用抗菌药物预防手术部位、内科患者预防性使用抗菌药物指征与药物选择等。     

Formal modeling and analysis of cognitive agent behavior

From an external perspective, cognitive agent behavior can be described by specifying (temporal) correlations of a certain complexity between stimuli (input states) and (re)actions (output states) of the agent. From an internal perspective the agent's dynamics can be characterized by direct (causal) temporal relations between internal and mental states of the agent. The latter type of specifications can be represented in a relatively simple, executable format, which enables different types of analysis of the agent's behavior. In particular, simulations of the agent's behavior under different (environmental) circumstances can be explored. Furthermore, by applying verification techniques, automated analysis of the consequences of the agent's behavior can be carried out. To enable such types of analysis when only given an external behavioral specification, this has to be transformed first into some type of executable format. An automated procedure for such a transformation is proposed in this paper. The application of the transformation procedure is demonstrated for a number of cases, showing examples of the types of analysis as mentioned for different forms of behavior.     

The intelligent career framework as a basis for interdisciplinary inquiry

This paper examines how separate behavioral science disciplines can be brought together to more fully understand the dynamics of contemporary careers. We adopt one interdisciplinary framework – that of the “intelligent career” – and use it to examine how separate disciplinary approaches relate to one another. The intelligent career framework suggests careers unfold through three interdependent “ways of knowing” reflecting why, how and with whom people work. Breaking this framework down into six unidirectional links, we examine the contributions made by a variety of behavioral science approaches. Our review suggests that separate bodies of career-relevant theory reflect separate links from one way of knowing to another. We offer several lessons concerned with (a) the intelligent career framework; (b) evidence underlying separate theories; (c) differing definitions of career; (d) research methodologies; (e) time; and (f) interdependence among variables. We conclude with some ideas on how to better promote future interdisciplinary careers research.     

PERSONS AND THE EXTENDED-MIND THESIS

The extended-mind thesis (EM) is the claim that mentality need not be situated just in the brain, or even within the boundaries of the skin. Some versions take "extended selves" be to relatively transitory couplings of biological organisms and external resources. First, I show how EM can be seen as an extension of traditional views of mind. Then, after voicing a couple of qualms about EM, I reject EM in favor of a more modest hypothesis that recognizes enduring subjects of experience and agents with integrated bodies. Nonetheless, my modest hypothesis allows subpersonal states to have nonbiological parts that play essential roles in cognitive processing. I present empirical warrant for this modest hypothesis and show how it leaves room for science and religion to coexist.     

Experimentation on humans and nonhumans

In this article, I argue that it is wrong to conduct any experiment on a nonhuman which we would regard as immoral were it to be conducted on a human, because such experimentation violates the basic moral rights of sentient beings. After distinguishing the rights approach from the utilitarian approach, I delineate basic concepts. I then raise the classic “argument from marginal cases” against those who support experimentation on nonhumans but not on humans. After next replying to six important objections against that argument, I contend that moral agents are logically required to accord basic moral rights to every sentient being. I conclude by providing criteria for distinguishing ethical from unethical experimentation.     

Ethical considerations in the testing of biopharmaceuticals for adventitious agents

Safety testing of biological pharmaceuticals is often carried out by contract testing laboratories which perform these tests on behalf of the drug’s developer. These laboratories are confronted with a number of ethical issues related to selling their services, maintaining confidentiality, and the handling of results. This paper outlines these issues, and, by way of illustration, discusses how one such laboratory addresses them.     

Evaluating the impact of adaptive signal control technology on driver stress and behavior using real-world experimental data

While the operational and crash reduction benefits of adaptive signal control technology (ASCT) have long been investigated, the impact of this technology on driver behavior and stress is still uncertain. This study evaluated the impact of ASCT on driver behavior and stress in a real-world environment. Participants travelled through two arterial corridors, one equipped with ASCT and the other having traditional time-of-day coordinated signals. Driver stress was measured using a heart rate detector and a perceived stress scale while driver behavior was examined using vehicular trajectory data. Overall, driving behavior improved on the ASCT as compared to the non-ASCT corridor, as indicated by higher speeds and a fewer number of stops on the ASCT corridor relative to the non-ASCT corridor. Repeated measures ANOVA showed a statistically significant reduction in driver heart rate by −10 beats per minute over the ASCT corridor. A similar trend was observed for drivers’ perceived stress, analyzed by Wilcoxon sign ranked test. Driving behavior also showed significant improvement with ASCT presence, and speed was found to be negatively correlated with stress. Furthermore, the participants’ speed was controlled by the two systems i.e. ASCT and non-ASCT as expected. This study provides a significant proof of concept that ASCT can create positive improvements in driver stress and behavior that can be further investigated in the future.