Question Of Debate Research Articles

The Perfectionist Turn

Abstract In The Perfectionist Turn, Den Uyl and Rasmussen argue for an ethics of responsibility and oppose the prevailing ethics of respect. Political philosophy must be “tethered” ontologically, and arguments such as Moore’s open question argument that would, if correct, show that tethering is not possible do not succeed.

Modeling of electrodynamic processes by means of mechanical analogies

AbstractThis study continues the line of earlier research in mechanical models of electrodynamic processes suggested in previous works. The basic steps we take to construct these models are: to formulate equations of a special type Cosserat continuum, and then to suggest analogies between quantities characterizing the stress–strain state of the continuum and quantities characterizing electrodynamic processes. In addition to the previously introduced mechanical analogies of the electric field vector and the magnetic induction vector, in this paper we provide mechanical analogies of the magnetic field vector, the electric induction vector, the electric current density and the electric charge density. In the framework of the suggested model, we obtain a set of differential equations that coincide with the first Maxwell's equation (the one with the displacement current term), the Gauss law for electric field and the charge conservation law. As a debatable question, we discuss the possibility of modifying the Maxwell–Faraday equation and the Gauss law for magnetic field.

An Economic Approach to Religious Exemptions

Externalities caused by religious exemptions have been getting the spotlight again in light a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this term: Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Some argue that religious individuals should be required to internalize the costs they impose on third parties and thus should be denied the right to practice that harmful behavior. These new progressive theories about harm trade on rhetoric and normative intuitions regarding externalities and costs. But curiously, these theories also largely ignore an influential theoretical movement that has studied externalities and costs for the last fifty years: law and economics. This Article thus poses a thought experiment: how would normative rhetoric and doctrinal assessments change if one viewed religious externalities through the lens of economic theory? Such a perspective offers three novel normative insights. First, the mere existence of a religiously caused externality does not provide a sufficient justification for government restriction of religious rights, as because externalities are always reciprocal. Second, the government should be cautious about coercing involuntary transactions where idiosyncratic valuation or high transaction costs are involved. And third, exploring outcomes that decrease net harm can highlight government policies that are themselves creating harm. In other contexts, this analysis can force decision-makers to confront more candidly problems of incommensurability, particularly when it comes to dueling claims of dignitary harms. An economic lens can also provide a positivist account of multiple aspects of a religious exemption doctrinal framework in the context of strict scrutiny. These include balancing competing harms in recognition of reciprocal externalities, requiring the government to have a justification for coercing involuntary transactions in a similar way that property rules would, and assessing carefully whether alternatives exist to avoid harm altogether. Indeed, this latter inquiry closely resembles the type of analysis courts engage in under the “less restrictive alternatives” element of the strict scrutiny analysis. While economic theory does not provide answers to all of the difficult questions in these religious exemption debates, it can provide a clinical method of analyzing hot-button issues involving seemingly intractable conflicts. And to the extent that harm is a relevant normative consideration, this Article asserts that an under-theorized reliance on harm on just one side of the ledger, advocated under the current third-party harm theories, is a normatively unpersuasive approach.

Objective priors in the empirical Bayes framework

AbstractWhen dealing with Bayesian inference the choice of the prior often remains a debatable question. Empirical Bayes methods offer a data‐driven solution to this problem by estimating the prior itself from an ensemble of data. In the nonparametric case, the maximum likelihood estimate is known to overfit the data, an issue that is commonly tackled by regularization. However, the majority of regularizations are ad hoc choices which lack invariance under reparametrization of the model and result in inconsistent estimates for equivalent models. We introduce a nonparametric, transformation‐invariant estimator for the prior distribution. Being defined in terms of the missing information similar to the reference prior, it can be seen as an extension of the latter to the data‐driven setting. This implies a natural interpretation as a trade‐off between choosing the least informative prior and incorporating the information provided by the data, a symbiosis between the objective and empirical Bayes methodologies.

Ectogestation and the Problem of Abortion

Ectogestation involves the gestation of a fetus in an ex utero environment. The possibility of this technology raises a significant question for the abortion debate: Does a woman’s right to end her pregnancy entail that she has a right to the death of the fetus when ectogestation is possible? Some have argued that it does not Mathison & Davis (Bioeth 31:313–320, 2017). Others claim that, while a woman alone does not possess an individual right to the death of the fetus, the genetic parents have a collective right to its death Rasanen (Bioeth 31:697–702, 2017). In this paper, I argue that the possibility of ectogestation will radically transform the problem of abortion. The argument that I defend purports to show that, even if it is not a person, there is no right to the death of a fetus that could be safely removed from a human womb and gestated in an artificial womb, because there are competent people who are willing to care for and raise the fetus as it grows into a person. Thus, given the possibility of ectogestation, the moral status of the fetus plays no substantial role in determining whether there is a right to its death.

Distinguishing the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge in evaluative conditioning

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to a change in liking of a conditioned stimulus (CS) subsequent to its repeated pairing with a valent stimulus (US). Two studies that bring new light on the highly debated question of the role of awareness in EC were conducted. We developed an innovative method motivated by higher order and integration theories of consciousness to distinguish between the role of conscious and unconscious knowledge about the pairings. On each trial of the awareness test, participants had to indicate the valence of the US associated with a given CS and to make a ‘structural knowledge attribution’ by reporting the basis of their response. Valence identification accuracy was used to evaluate knowledge while the knowledge attribution was used to measure the conscious status of knowledge. Memory attribution indicated conscious knowledge about the pairings while feeling-based and random attributions indicated unconscious knowledge. A meta-analysis of the two studies revealed that valence identification accuracy was above chance level for memory and feeling-based attributions but not for the random attribution. EC was found in the three attributions. While EC effect size was medium for the memory attribution it was small for feeling-based and random attributions. Moreover, Experiment 2 included a delayed test. EC was still present 24 h after the conditioning took place. The results obtained for memory and feeling-based attributions suggest that both conscious and unconscious knowledge may underlie EC. The results obtained for random attribution suggest that EC may also occur without any knowledge of US valence.

Editorial

This JCBE issue, #3 of Volume 5, is the first under my guidance as the Acting Editor-in-Chief (EIC). Sally Johnston, the EIC since the journal's inception, is a hard act to follow. I want to thank Sally for her visionary leadership up to this time in the Journal's evolution. This issue has six articles that complement each other when clustered under two themes: (a) CBE implementation in diverse contexts and (b) assessment and grading for CBE. The articles related to CBE implementation come from diverse settings of context and program. Competency-based education in undergraduate clinical prosthodontics: A paradigm shift in training comes to JCBE from Dr. Mohamed Alkhodary and his colleagues at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. They explore student outcomes from CBE and traditional approaches in a clinical setting. Concluding that the CBE approach resulted in better outcomes and facilitated increased communication and calibration among faculty, the article contributes insights into CBE in a medical field and raises the issue of faculty subjectivity in traditional approaches to clinical practice and evaluation of student competency. Dr. Julius Keller et al. at Purdue University explore the development of core competencies for an aviation flight program in their article, Justification and development of competencies to transform a collegiate aviation flight program. Their manuscript presents their process in developing competencies in this unique program setting that contributes insights into how a program is moving toward CBE implementation through direct assessment and standards alignment. Development of competency-based training system in Assiut-ITEC: A case study illuminates how CBE is being developed in an Egyptian technical/vocational school focused on training electrical technology to meet local workforce needs. De. Adel Ahmed and his colleague at Assiut University describe how CBE was implemented throughout the training process and provide insights into the intricacies of implementation with lessons learned. The assessment-focused manuscripts raise compelling questions for discussion and debate. Frank Harrison's article, A common grading table inspiring meaningful feedback, presents a grading rubric anchored in cognitive performance. One of the intriguing points for discussion is the issue of converting a rubric level to a grade, a much-debated issue in CBE where demonstrated competency is the end goal of assessment rather than a grade. Alternative grading practices: an entry point for faculty in competency-based education distinguishes mastery- versus standards- versus specification-based grading practices. Dr. Matt Townsley and his colleague at the University of Northern Iowa suggest that grading practices can be an entry point for individual faculty to progress toward CBE prior to full institutional commitment. Dr. Mary Tkatchov and her colleagues at Western Governors University address the issue of “double” assessment in CBE in their article, Reconciling assessment quality standards and double assessment in competency-based higher education. They contrast the distinction between the need for multiple assessments of student competency with the prohibition against double assessment of a competency once demonstrated. My hope is that these diverse, but complementary, articles contribute to the global conversation about CBE, the process of implementation, the outcomes achieved in diverse settings, and the nuances of assessments and grading practices when faculty shift the paradigm from traditional approaches to the opportunities within competency-based education.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Review of Academic Literature

CSR has gained more attention in recent years in both developing and developed countries and among the ancient debate questions concerning CSR is determining if it is important for companies to pay societal demands. Still date, this query has been a vital initiate for several studies, several researchers have stated that an answer to this question is yet to be found. The difference in CSR significances calls for a literature study so as to shed light on the debate and permit the drawing of a conclusion. Although for many developing countries like Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, CSR is not yet a priority for managers of firms, this study reveals several relationships between CSR and financial performance that include; positive, negative, U-shaped and even no relationship. Some studies have different opinion about CSR and performance but they are mostly outdated materials. There has been a lot of changes since the beginning of the CSR debate, hence one can say with conviction that “Good Ethics is Good Business”. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Financial performance, Literature review DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-18-05 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

On macroeconomic instability in commodity economy in the context of external shocks: some questions of theory and Russian experience

The actual character of the research is based on the observation that the periods of financial instability during the last decade in Russia were determined by the specific features of the post-Soviet socio-economic model and their proper understanding is required for right choice of the instruments of anti-crisis policy. Such knowledge is becoming even more important under the oil shock and COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020. The purpose is to provide systemic analysis of the crisis processes in the Russian economy in 2014-2016 as the combination of several interdependent economic processes specific for the large-scale resource export oriented economy. It raises the issue of potential recovery mechanism for such type of economy and such type of the crisis and analyses theoretical and methodological foundations for choice of anti-crisis policy instruments. The research methodology includes reference to the comparative study of systemic financial crises in South East Asia in 1997-1999 and Russian Federation in 2014-2016 and derivation of specific predictions of the third generation currency crises models which are relevant for the case of the Russian Federation in 2014-2016. The result includes the conclusions on the specific features of the potential recovery mechanism in such type of the crisis and the choice of anti-crisis policy instruments on different time horizons. It also outlines the issues for further research and open questions for macroeconomic policy debates.

Surviving after Cross-Border Acquisitions: How Business Relatedness, Host Country Experience, and Cultural Distance Affect Acquired Firms

The effects of cross-border acquisitions on the survival of target firms is attracting increasing academic interest. Specifically, whether cross-border acquisitions may hamper target firms’ performance or enhance their sustainable competitiveness represents a highly debated research question. Building on the knowledge-based perspective of mergers and acquisitions, this paper directs attention to absorptive capacity and investigates the likelihood of survival of target firms acquired by foreign investors. In particular, it examines the role played by three potential antecedent conditions of an acquiring firm’s absorptive capacity on the probability of the target firm’s survival: (a) The business relatedness between acquirer and target, (b) previous experience of the acquirer in the host country, and (c) the cultural distance between the countries of the acquiring and acquired firms. Based on a sample of 396 Italian firms acquired by foreign multinationals, results suggest that target firms are more likely to survive in case the acquirer benefits from previous country-level experience and in case of business relatedness, while the cultural distance between the home country of the acquiring firm and Italy does not prove to be a significant determinant of survival versus mortality of acquired subsidiaries. Overall, our analysis confirms that context familiarity, in terms of both country and business contexts, plays a fundamental role in determining the sustainable competitiveness of acquired firms.

Cancer Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors-Based Immunotherapy Harmful or Beneficial?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently representing a global health threat especially for fragile individuals, such as cancer patients. It was demonstrated that cancer patients have an increased risk of developing a worse symptomatology upon severe acute respiratory syndrome associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, often leading to hospitalization and intensive care. The consequences of this pandemic for oncology are really heavy, as the entire healthcare system got reorganized. Both oncologists and cancer patients are experiencing rescheduling of treatments and disruptions of appointments with a concurrent surge of fear and stress. In this review all the up-to-date findings, concerning the association between COVID-19 and cancer, are reported. A remaining very debated question regards the use of an innovative class of anti-cancer molecules, the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), given their modulating effects on the immune system. For that reason, administration of ICIs to cancer patients represents a question mark during this pandemic, as its correlation with COVID-19-associated risks is still under investigation. Based on the mechanisms of action of ICIs and the current evidence, we suggest that ICIs not only can be safely administered to cancer patients, but they might even be beneficial in COVID-19-positive cancer patients, by exerting an immune-stimulating action.

Clinical potential of a rationally engineered enzyme for treatment of cocaine dependence: Long-lasting blocking of the psychostimulant, discriminative stimulus, and reinforcing effects of cocaine

It is a grand challenge to develop a truly effective treatment of substance use disorder (SUD), particularly for cocaine and other drugs without an FDA-approved treatment available, because a truly effective therapy must effectively block the drug's physiological and reinforcing effects during the entire period of treatment in order to achieve the long-time abstinence required by the FDA. Whether a biologic, such as monoclonal antibody, vaccine, or therapeutic enzyme, can be truly effective for SUD treatment or not has been the subject of extensive debate. The main debate question is whether a biologic, particularly an exogenous enzyme, can effectively block the drug's reinforcing effect. In this report, we demonstrate that a modest dose of a recently redesigned long-acting cocaine hydrolase, CocH3-Fc(M6), can be used to effectively block the psychostimulant, discriminative stimulus, and reinforcing effects of cocaine for a sufficiently long period of time. For example, a dose of 3 mg/kg CocH3-Fc(M6) completely blocked the discriminative stimulus and reinforcing effects for 24/25 days and continued to significantly attenuate/decrease the cocaine effects for at least 29 days in rats. All the animal data consistently suggest that the long-acting cocaine hydrolase is a truly promising candidate of enzyme therapy for treatment of cocaine use disorder.

Age of Acquisition of Mandarin Modulates Cortical Thickness in High-Proficient Cantonese-Mandarin Bidialectals.

Previous studies showed that the onset age of second language acquisition (AoA-L2) can modulate brain structure of bilinguals. However, the underlying mechanism of anatomical plasticity induced by AoA-L2 is still a question in debate. In order to explore the issue, we recruited two groups of native Cantonese-Mandarin speakers, the early group began to speak in Mandarin at about 3.5 and the late group at about 6.5years old. In addition, the early group had earlier experience in reading Chinese characters than the late group did. Through estimating the cortical thickness (CT), we found that (1) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in the lateral occipital region, left middle temporal gyrus, and left parahippocampal region, which are all involved in visuospatial processing, probably reflecting the effect induced by the earlier or later experiences in processing the characters of Chinese for the two groups; and (2) compared with the late group, the early group had thicker CT in left superior parietal region, which is believed to be involved in language switching, maybe for the early group had the earlier experience in switching back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin and therefore recruited the executive control network earlier. Our findings revealed the effects of the AoA-L2 in oral language acquisition as well as in written language acquisition as the main determinants of bilingual language structural representation in human brain.

Trayectorias de desarrollo profesional docente para un uso pedagógico de la argumentación a partir del uso de soportes curriculares digitales

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo describir las transformaciones de prácticas pedagógicas y uso pedagógico de la argumentación en docentes, a partir del apoyo de materiales curriculares soportados tecnológicamente con un software piloto denominado argumentApp. Se utilizó una metodología cualitativa, mediante el estudio de cuatro casos de profesores y estudiantes de cuatro escuelas de la Región Metropolitana en Chile. Los datos, recogidos mediante observaciones de clases y entrevistas en profundidad, indican que los docentes incorporaron prácticas colaborativas en el aula y produjeron un mayor número de preguntas de argumentación. Se observan diferencias en el modo de apropiarse de la herramienta tecnológica y de su aporte a la dinámica de aprendizaje en el aula. Los resultados se discuten considerando el aporte de intervenciones de desarrollo profesional situadas en un contexto concreto de práctica y las dimensiones que permiten construir una intervención que favorezca una enseñanza dialógica.

Ferromagnetic behavior of native point defects and vacancy-clusters in ZnO studied by first principle calculation

The origin of room temperature ferromagnetism in undoped ZnO is still a question of debate. Experimental and theoretical findings are inconclusive as to the predominant contributor for the magnetic behavior of undoped ZnO. First principle calculation pseudopotential method was used to systematically determine the relaxed atomic geometry, the formation energies and the magnetic properties of the native point defects (vacancies, interstitials and antisites), and vacancy clusters (VZnVO, VZn − 2VO and 2VZn − VO) in ZnO. The results show that ZnO cells consisting of the VZn and the Oi have non-zero magnetic moments, energetically favoring ferromagnetic states and close-to-room-temperature Curie temperatures (294 K). VZn and Oi are also characterized by their low formation energies, in particular in the case of n-type (i.e. Fermi level close to the conduction band minimum) and O-rich conditions. The energy differences between the ferromagnetic state and anti-ferromagnetic state for VZn and Oi are larger than kT at room temperature but still relatively small (∼34 meV). Although VZn and Oi would contribute for the room temperature ferromagnetism, the ferromagnetism states would not be robustly stable for thermal excitation to the anti-ferromagnetic states.

Drug policy’s past, present and future: Where should Australia head now?

In recent years there have been significant changes in global drug policy. This article considers these developments. I provide a brief introduction to the history of global drug policy, followed by an overview of the current state of play, both in Australia and abroad. Inspired by a recent injunction by New South Wales Deputy Coroner Harriet Grahame to think differently about drug problems, I then consider whether we are asking the right questions in current debates about the future direction of drug policy, and whether our policy priorities need to change.

The Disappearing "Advantage of Abstract Examples in Learning Math".

When teaching a novel mathematical concept, should we present learners with abstract or concrete examples? In this experiment, we conduct a critical replication and extension of a well-known study that argued for the general advantage of abstract examples (Kaminski, Sloutsky, & Heckler, 2008a). We demonstrate that theoretically motivated yet minor modifications of the learning design put this argument in question. A key finding from this study is that participants who trained with improved concrete examples performed as well as, or better than, participants who trained with abstract examples. We argue that the previously reported "advantage of abstract examples" manifested not because abstract examples are advantageous in general, but because the concrete condition employed suboptimal examples.

Paleoanthropological Characteristics of the Early Sarmatian Population of Emba Basin River According to the Data from Mortyk I Cemetery

The paper focuses on the anthropological materials obtained from the cemetery Mortyk I. This archaeological monument is located on the Emba River, which originates from the western slopes of Mugodzhar mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea. Today it is one of the southernmost studied Sauromat-Sarmatian monuments of the early nomads. Unfortunately, there are practically no studied cemeteries dating back to the VI–IV centuries BC located in this region, despite the large number of cemeteries in this region and the Northern Aral Sea region. Anthropological materials from Mortyk I cemetery were studied using the craniological and osteometric programs, comonnly used in Russian science. A statistical and individual typological analysis was performed due to small number of series and their satisfactory preservation. According to the results of the analysis, the presented series shows the closest analogies with the population of the Ural river basin of the end of VI–IV centuries BC, despite the small number of individuals. Moreover, it can be noted that the Mortyk I archaeological monument appears to be the part of the general array of Sauromat-Sarmatian monuments, which occupies not only the Ural river basin and the Ustyurt plateau, but also the region to the north of the Aral Sea. It can be assumed that forming of culture and physical characteristics shown by the early nomads of the Sauromat-Sarmatian appearance connects them with the territory of the Aral Sea region and the Southern Ural. Further study of the monuments in the arid territories of the Northern Aral Sea region will reveal a lot of answers to debatable questions about the early nomads of the Volga-Ural region and Western Kazakhstan and origin and genesis of their culture and appearance.

Moore’s Open Question Phenomenon Explained—Naturalistically

ABSTRACT G.E. Moore’s open question arguments (OQAs) have been targeted by unsympathetic philosophers for close to a century. Perhaps the most serious criticism directed towards Moore’s OQAs is that they beg the question against targeted theories. After presenting an OQA extracted from §13 of Principia Ethica, I lodge this question-begging objection before articulating Moore’s autobiographical efforts to mitigate its force. I then suggest that Moore’s OQAs are incomplete, awaiting the final stage of construction, an explanation of the ‘open question’ phenomenon—the inclination of many philosophers to endorse the central premises of Moore’s OQAs. After a brief investigation of noncognitivist attempts to explain the phenomenon, I propose a semantic explanation, a cognitivist explanation that commits its proponents neither to mysterious nonnatural properties nor to perilous positions regarding the paradox of analysis. I conclude by arguing that Moore’s completed OQAs are successful, but his deployment of them in efforts to refute metaethical naturalism, even analytic or semantic versions, is not.

METHODS FOR TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS IN THE BULGARIAN PRIVATE SECTOR

The research examines the issues related to the chosen methods for termination of employment contracts in “Perfumery Douglas Bulgaria” OOD. Based on the analysis of the normative regulation as well as the results of the conducted research, summaries, conclusions and recommendations for improvement in the company and in the Labour Code of the Republic of Bulgaria are made. Debatable questions are also raised for discussion on the basis of which a proposal is derived for a change in the National Revenue Agency (NRA) Register of Employment Contracts.