El sūtra de la sección de los infiernos (Narakaparivartanāmasūtra). Traducción del primer capítulo de la obra budista Mahāvastu

This is the first translation into Spanish of the first chapter of the Buddhist work Mahāvastu from the beginning of the Common Era, composed in mixed Sanskrit. “The Sūtra on the Section of Hells” (Narakaparivartanāmasūtra) offers descriptions of the eight hells, explaining the causal connections between the punishments and the behaviors that lead beings to experience them. The text stands out by presenting one of the oldest systematic arrangements of the hells within Buddhism, revealing the interest of ancient Buddhists in fashioning a meticulous and well-structured cosmography.

Polymer Degradation through Chemical Change: A Quantum-based Test of Inferred Reactions in Irradiated Polydimethylsiloxane

Chemical reaction schemes are key conceptual tools for interpreting the results of experiments and simulations, but often carry implicit assumptions that remain largely unverified for complicated systems. Established schemes for chemical damage through crosslinking in irradiated silicone polymers comprised of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) date to the 1950's and correlate small-molecule off-gassing with specific crosslink features. In this regard, we use a somewhat reductionist model to develop a general conditional probability and correlation analysis approach that tests these types of causal connections between proposed experimental observables to reexamine this chemistry through quantum-based molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. Analysis of the QMD simulations suggests that the established reaction schemes are qualitatively reasonable, but lack strong causal connections under a broad set of conditions that would enable making direct quantitative connections between off-gassing and crosslinking. Further assessment of the QMD data uncovers a strong (but nonideal) quantitative connection between exceptionally hard-to-measure chain scission events and the formation of silanol (Si-OH) groups. Our analysis indicates that conventional notions of radiation damage to PDMS should be further qualified and not necessarily used ad hoc. In addition, our efforts enable independent quantum-based tests that can inform confidence in assumed connections between experimental observables without the burden of fully elucidating entire reaction networks.

The Origin and Functioning of Myth: Linguistic Conditions

The article identifies two approaches to determining the linguistic conditions of the emergence and functioning of the myth. The first approach assumes that the myth is a manifestation of unconscious (M. Müller) or conscious (E. Cassirer, R. Barthes) distortion of language. Within this approach it is impossible to escape from myth because the presentation of the facts of the world in language is inescapable, which is always imperfect. These distortions are meant for political influence, as according to the proponents of the conscious mythologizing of language. Philosophy is tasked with resisting such distortions and, consequently, myth creation in general. This approach seems simplified, because the myth is identified here with the linguistic form of its distribution, reduced to the analysis of distortions of language presentation. At the same time, the psychological and epistemological preconditions of the myth, its unique status in the life of communities are lost. Conditions for the development of the second approach arise through the critique of classical rationality by several influential thinkers who undermined the belief in the exclusive ability of discursive language to present the truth (F. Nietzsche, L. Wittgenstein, M. Heidegger). The second approach assumes that the myth emerges and continues to exist due to the inability of the logos to present some important aspects of reality, especially its existential dimension (P. Tillich, H. Blumenberg, L. Hatab, K. Morgan). In this case, myth and logos become alternative and at the same time closely connected linguistic ways of presenting the truth. Logos (the language of science) presents primarily abstract causal connections of essences. At the same time, mythical narratives are better than science at presenting the mysteries of origin and existence, creating a hierarchy of values for communities.

Developing a Theory of Implementation for Better Chronic Healthcare Management: A Cognitive Mapping and System Dynamics Approach

<p><b>While chronic disease is viewed by some as the ‘healthcare challenge of this century’, and academics and practitioners around the world extol the virtues of chronic care management programmes, we are still a long way from fully specifying the causal connections that are needed to design and implement them successfully. Whilst the factors that are important in such systems of care are well articulated in the literature, it is less clear what the relationships between them are, and it is unclear how those factors can be implemented in a way that retains the integrity of the system they are a part of. The result is that despite strong clinical and management support, progress in implementing such programmes is slow.</b></p> <p>The goals of this research are therefore to:• develop a better understanding of the system of causality underpinning the key factors known to be important in implementing new models of chronic health care management,• understand how context influences this system, and• use the answers to the above questions to provide a model of implementation that can inform both theory and practiceThe research uses in-depth interviews with seven clinical, management and policy leaders within the New Zealand health system to develop a ‘theory of implementation’ that is described using System Dynamics. The research uses the cognitive mapping method to elicit the key concepts in the ‘expert’ theories by analysing both the individual maps and a composite map developed by combining data from all seven interviews. The cognitive maps are then used to inform the development of a causal loop diagram that depicts the key causal connections that are seen to be important in implementing such programmes and provides the basis for a simulation model.</p> <p>The findings from this research fall into two groups. The first group are findings that relate directly to the challenge of implementing programmes to improve care for people with chronic conditions. Within this group are findings that emphasise the importance of clinicians’ self-efficacy, the paradox that striving to implement best practice may, in some contexts, decrease performance and the acknowledgement that implementation will always be a ‘local affair’. The second group of findings relate to the process of implementation research. The world of implementation is a world of multiple, interacting variables that change over time and this research provides an approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data, that can be used in other contexts where the interest is in understanding how innovative ideas are implemented in practice.</p> <p>The research has therefore some implications for the practice of implementing new health innovations in primary care and provides a set of heuristics to inform such endeavours. The research also describes an approach for those who want to conduct research into the complex world of practice, by exploring the dynamics of many interacting factors, rather than isolating individual factors from each other and the context within which they exist.</p>

Developing a Theory of Implementation for Better Chronic Healthcare Management: A Cognitive Mapping and System Dynamics Approach

<p><b>While chronic disease is viewed by some as the ‘healthcare challenge of this century’, and academics and practitioners around the world extol the virtues of chronic care management programmes, we are still a long way from fully specifying the causal connections that are needed to design and implement them successfully. Whilst the factors that are important in such systems of care are well articulated in the literature, it is less clear what the relationships between them are, and it is unclear how those factors can be implemented in a way that retains the integrity of the system they are a part of. The result is that despite strong clinical and management support, progress in implementing such programmes is slow.</b></p> <p>The goals of this research are therefore to:• develop a better understanding of the system of causality underpinning the key factors known to be important in implementing new models of chronic health care management,• understand how context influences this system, and• use the answers to the above questions to provide a model of implementation that can inform both theory and practiceThe research uses in-depth interviews with seven clinical, management and policy leaders within the New Zealand health system to develop a ‘theory of implementation’ that is described using System Dynamics. The research uses the cognitive mapping method to elicit the key concepts in the ‘expert’ theories by analysing both the individual maps and a composite map developed by combining data from all seven interviews. The cognitive maps are then used to inform the development of a causal loop diagram that depicts the key causal connections that are seen to be important in implementing such programmes and provides the basis for a simulation model.</p> <p>The findings from this research fall into two groups. The first group are findings that relate directly to the challenge of implementing programmes to improve care for people with chronic conditions. Within this group are findings that emphasise the importance of clinicians’ self-efficacy, the paradox that striving to implement best practice may, in some contexts, decrease performance and the acknowledgement that implementation will always be a ‘local affair’. The second group of findings relate to the process of implementation research. The world of implementation is a world of multiple, interacting variables that change over time and this research provides an approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data, that can be used in other contexts where the interest is in understanding how innovative ideas are implemented in practice.</p> <p>The research has therefore some implications for the practice of implementing new health innovations in primary care and provides a set of heuristics to inform such endeavours. The research also describes an approach for those who want to conduct research into the complex world of practice, by exploring the dynamics of many interacting factors, rather than isolating individual factors from each other and the context within which they exist.</p>

Centrifugal and Centripetal Thinking About the Biopsychosocial Model in Psychiatry

The biopsychosocial model, which was deeply influential on psychiatry following its introduction by George L. Engel in 1977, has recently made a comeback. Derek Bolton and Grant Gillett have argued that Engel’s original formulation offered a promising general framework for thinking about health and disease, but that this promise requires new empirical and philosophical tools in order to be realized. In particular, Bolton and Gillett offer an original analysis of the ontological relations between Engel’s biological, social, and psychological levels of analysis. I argue that Bolton and Gillett’s updated model, while providing an intriguing new metaphysical framework for medicine, cannot resolve some of the most vexing problems facing psychiatry, which have to do with how to prioritize different sorts of research. These problems are fundamentally ethical, rather than ontological. Without the right prudential motivation, in other words, the unification of psychiatry under a single conceptual framework seems doubtful, no matter how compelling the model. An updated biopsychosocial model should include explicit normative commitments about the aims of medicine that can give guidance about the sorts of causal connections to be prioritized as research and clinical targets.

Reduced Effective Connectivity in the Motor Cortex in Parkinson’s Disease

Fast rhythms excess is a hallmark of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). To implement innovative, non-pharmacological, neurostimulation interventions to restore cortical-cortical interactions, we need to understand the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying these phenomena. Here, we investigated effective connectivity on source-level resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) signals in 15 PD participants and 10 healthy controls. First, we fitted multivariate auto-regressive models to the EEG source waveforms. Second, we estimated causal connections using Granger Causality, which provide information on connections’ strength and directionality. Lastly, we sought significant differences connectivity patterns between the two populations characterizing the network graph features—i.e., global efficiency and node strength. Causal brain networks in PD show overall poorer and weaker connections compared to controls quantified as a reduction of global efficiency. Motor areas appear almost isolated, with a strongly impoverished information flow particularly from parietal and occipital cortices. This striking isolation of motor areas may reflect an impaired sensory-motor integration in PD. The identification of defective nodes/edges in PD network may be a biomarker of disease and a potential target for future interventional trials.

Homicide, Inequality, and Climate: Untangling the Relationships

Researchers debate the causal connections between homicide, inequality, and temperature. This study examines these relationships globally based on country-level data. A new measure of inequality is introduced that provides a more granular measure of inequality patterns than commonly used metrics. The approach allows estimation of risk sensitive decision-making that helps to explain how class impacts violence under different climate conditions. The results indicate that homicide rates are higher when poorer segments of populations are disproportionately influenced by temperature, middle class segments are influenced by inequality, and the wealthy are influenced by middle and impoverished class dynamics.

Attitudes and the (dis)continuity between memory and imagination

The current dispute between causalists and simulationists in philosophy of memory has led to opposing attempts to characterize the relationship between memory and imagination. In a recent overview of this debate, Perrin and Michaelian (2017) have suggested that the dispute over the (dis)continuity between memory and imagination boils down to the question of whether a causal connection to a past event is necessary for remembering. By developing an argument based on an analogy to perception, I argue that this dispute should instead be viewed as a dispute about the nature of the attitudes involved in remembering and imagining. The focus on attitudes, rather than on causal connections, suggests a new way of conceiving of the relationship between memory and imagination that has been overlooked in recent philosophy of memory.