Making use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): rethinking issues of routinization and pressure

First mapping the main ethical issues surrounding prenatal testing, we then analyze which concerns are specific to non-invasive methods. Presupposing the privatization premise for reproductive autonomy in fundamentally liberal societies, we go on to specify common concerns about non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) covered by the term ‘routinization’, and conceptually unravel the frequently expressed worry of increasing ‘pressure’ to test and/or terminate affected pregnancies. We argue that mindful decision-making should be a key educational goal (not only) of NIPT counseling which could be achieved through stepwise disclosure. In addition, we identify indirect social pressure as the most plausible threat to reproductive freedom. While continuous efforts need to be made to prevent such pressure – not least by ensuring balanced availability of options –, restricting testing options, and thus freedom of choice, cannot be the answer to this concern. Lastly, we suggest abandoning the vague term ‘routinization’ and instead focusing on specified concerns to enable a fruitful debate.

The Hybrid Journalism That We Do Not Recognize (Anymore)

In the past 20 years the world of journalism has been swept by a wave of structural, institutional and technological changes that have shaped the journalism that we experience today. Following conceptualization of hybrid media, the term ‘hybrid journalism’ has been used to define what journalism has become. Many scholars have subjected this label to scrutiny; they consider hybridity to be a vague term that requires a more precise conceptualization. In this paper, we propose that what to date has been called ’hybrid journalism’ has moved from the periphery to the center of the field. Adopting a communicative ecology perspective, we highlight that the changes due to technologies, which too often are regarded as merely disrupting the journalistic field, have now become established and are accepted as core components of the work of journalists today. This reconstruction work is mainly discursive and is explained by considering journalism as a discursive institution. We then explain the implications of studying journalism with acknowledgement that hybrid forms of journalism that are central in the field are hybrid.

Basilar neuralgia vs. dolichoectasia: A report of three cases

Basilar artery dolichoectasia is a vague term that describe too many normality and abnormalities under one term. Basilar artery occlusion is a rare finding in a healthy patient in his 40s. This case will present the role of basilar neuralgia in forming a basilar artery occlusion which lead to many neurological events that was documented on multiple CT scans. Keywords: Basilar neuralgia; Dolichoectasia; Basilar artery occlusion; Infarctions; CT

Examination Approach to the Dizzy and Swaying Patient

Background: Dizziness is a common presenting complaint among patients in Malaysia. It is a vague term which could be associated with vertigo, imbalance, ataxia or syncope. In order to deal with this overwhelming complaint, a detailed history-taking is essential in confirming aetiology of disease and this should be followed by a meticulous clinical examination. The purpose of the video manuscript it to provide a step-by-step approach to a dizzy and swaying patient, specially catered for Malaysian medical students and trainees. Methods: A series of videos were shot, which involved the eye, ear, vestibular system, cerebellar, proprioceptive sense and gait examination. These videos, conducted in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Medical Sciences, will be first in Malaysia and will highlight the proper technique and rapport with patients and essential points of each examination. There will be summary at the end of each examination on how to report findings which is a common weakness among students. Conclusion: We hope that students and junior doctors could be apply these methods in their daily assessment of dizzy patients and ultimately, reach an accurate diagnosis.

Vagueness and Intuitionistic Logic

This chapter considers the question: should we employ intuitionistic logic, not classical logic, when reasoning with vague concepts? In his commentary on Michael Dummett’s “Wang’s Paradox,” Crispin Wright presents an apparently powerful argument in favour of an affirmative answer to this question. This chapter advocates a less conclusive answer than Wright’s. It is argued that intuitionistic logic may be the strongest logic we are entitled to use in reasoning with any vague predicate, but there may also be common and central families of vague term where we are entitled to use classical logic.

Populism

The concept of populism has generated endless controversy marked by both the contrasting political feelings it conveys and a particular problem of definition. This article—based on political speeches, academic literature, and relevant online sources, such as Google Ngram Viewer, catalogs of great libraries, and digital archives of newspapers—adopts a pragmatic approach to the concept throughout its history, from the moment when the noun appeared in North American political life in the late nineteenth century until the most recent “populist moment” in response to the economic crisis that started in 2008. The study of its changing meanings shows, however, some elements of continuity that make sense of what Margaret Canovan defined as “a notoriously vague term.”

Synonymy of economic terms in American political discourse (based on presidential election speeches of H. Clinton and D. Trump)

The paper is devoted to the issue of synonymy in English economical terminology used within American political discourse. The research has been conducted on the basis of presidential election speeches of H. Clinton and D. Trump in 2016. Although, the notion of synonymy is not desirable in professional communication, real communicative situations prove its inevitability. Despite the fact that these units bear some specific status in linguistic sphere, they still derive from the natural language stratum and, thus, share the same features and follow the same language rules. That is why the synonymy is present in the sphere of terminological system. However, it should also be noted that the level of synonymy varies depending on the knowledge sphere this terminology serves. Thus, the domain of social science is more inclined to terminological synonymy that the sphere of exact science. The conducted analysis has shown that the use of economical terminology in presidential election speeches performs basic communicative role – informing voters about candidates’ economic agenda. The observed in these cases synonyms have demonstrated the absolute level of interchangeability. Their semantic meanings do not change or change slightly having no effect on the referred item and, subsequently, on the delivered message. Some of the registered synonyms of economic terms denote quite different notions in the realm of economics but have been used with no significant difference in transmitted messages within the same context. Such usage of synonyms shows that as far as these economic terms play pure communicative role, the addresser cares little about the shades in meanings. Those terms are mostly used as a background for other candidates’ intentions like proving its competence in sphere of economics. However, in some cases the difference in variants of terms’ meaning has been deliberately used by both politicians to achieve their political objectives. This effect has been achieved through metaphorization of denoting elements of some terms leading to unclear and vague term meaning, therefore providing the denoted item with some level of assessment and positive or negative connotation. Such features of economic terminology has been caused by the pragmatic nature of political discourse itself, where every element serves the overall purpose – to gain political dividends through manipulation of addressee’s mind.

The regulatory structure and governance of forensic accountancy in the emerging market: Challenges and opportunities

Forensic accounting is a rather vague term that combines the investigative role with the adversarial role of accountants (Botes & Saadeh, 2018). Jordan lacks regulatory provisions for forensic accountants. Nevertheless, the profession is indirectly exercised in Jordan without giving special legal attention to such job title. Consequently, forensic accounting services are performed with minimal service quality from those who are not specialists in the field. Since forensics accountant involves to assist in legal matters (Arslan, 2020), this research examines the available regulations, standard laws, and codes of conduct that might guide a forensic accountant in performing forensic accounting services in Jordan. Furthermore, this article investigates the applicability of the general rules of contract and tort law in addition to the Companies Act in order to provide adequate protection for forensic accountants in Jordan. As far as the authors are aware, the issue of forensic accounting in Jordan has not been researched comprehensively in a theoretical and institutional fashion before from technical and legal standpoints. This article represents the first attempt to examine the issues arising in this difficult and important subject, and the findings of this research can serve as a prototype for other Arab and developing countries.

The Nature of the Exercise

Chapter 10 discusses conceptual analysis. It argues we should try to define terms in as non-normative a manner as possible. Whilst defining terms for specific purposes is justified we cannot expect to define important political concepts in a universal manner without acknowledging the research question that is being posed as part of that analysis. Whilst defining terms by necessary and sufficient conditions will always seem desirable, given that society changes and morality develops normative terms will evolve and change over time much like species. The chapter returns the essential contestability and suggests that some concepts are actually incoherent once we try to bring precision. This incoherence is hidden by their vagueness in application. It argues that power is not a vague term in the sense that freedom or democracy are. The analyses of power in this book is designed to give a scientific account of our folk understandings and enable a scientific description and analysis of the power and luck structure. It returns to the type-token distinction bringing out how important the distinction is to the analysis of power in the book, which is directed at type-level explanations. The analysis is comparative statics, but dynamic game theory can provide a way to examine token power struggles as they unfold. It shows how the analysis offered in the book is structural despite seeing power as measured by the resources of agents – their capacity is given by the power and luck structure. It acknowledges that deep structure goes right into the heart of the formation of human preferences.

Vague Naturalness as Ersatz Metaphysical Vagueness

This chapter isolates an argument schema, the Generalized Vagueness Argument Schema (GVAS), pervasive in metaphysical disputes. According to the GVAS, vague attributions of perfectly natural properties require metaphysical vagueness. The chapter documents the prevalence and dialectical significance of the GVAS, unifying its seemingly disparate instances under one schema. The best arguments in favor of the GVAS are unearthed and developed. These arguments are shown to rely on the hidden premise that ‘perfectly natural’ is not a vague term. With this observation in hand, the chapter proposes a novel view, Ersatz Metaphysical Vagueness, according to which the term ‘perfectly natural’ is vague. It is argued that the ersatzer can mimic genuine metaphysical vagueness and resist the GVAS. The chapter concludes that vague attributions of perfectly natural properties can be accepted without metaphysical vagueness.