Rescuing Ontological Individualism

Standard defences of ontological individualism are challenged by arguments that exploit the dependence of social facts on material facts – i.e. facts that are not about human individuals. In this paper I discuss Brian Epstein’s “materialism” in The Ant Trap: granting Epstein’s strict definition of individualism, I show that his arguments depend crucially on a generous conception of social properties and social facts. Individualists however are only committed to the claim that projectible properties are individualistically realized, and materialists have not undermined this claim.

The role of the notion of a proper answer in the logic of questions

The observations in the article mainly concern the role of the concept of the so-called right answer in question logic. The purpose of these remarks is to justify the postulate that any logic of questions should be based on a conception of the structure of questions and answers, in which the notion of a proper answer is strictly defined. This postulate is addressed to any question logic, although it is mainly supported and illustrated by analyses and comparative remarks referring to concepts based on Ajdukiewicz’s question theory and to recent approaches of inferential erotetic logic (IEL). The analyses confirm that the concept of proper answer is fundamental in question theories, as it is assumed in the definitions of almost all concepts relating to questions and answers. In Ajdukiewicz’s concept, it is used explicitly, for example, in the definitions of the conditions of proper questioning and of complete and exhaustive answers. In IEL, it appears explicitly in the definitions of: the pertinent question, the notion of the presupposition of a question (and its variations), the relations of evoking a question (by a set of indicative sentences) and implying a question (by another question), etc. This basic concept should therefore be well defined. This postulate applies especially to such theories of questions in which assertions about questions and answers are proved in symbolic language – as is the case in IEL, which, however, lacks a strict definition of the concept of proper answer (there are only vague, pragmatic terms formulated in natural language). There is, however, a definition that is closer to the idea of the proper answer, adopted by Ajdukiewicz as well as in the concepts related to it, that a proper answer is one the structure of which is determined by the scheme of the question structure. However, this definition should be complemented by an accurate and general conception of question structure, which is lacking in the existing concepts. In order to confirm the validity of the formulated postulate, the article proposes new results achieved in the theory of questions, in which Ajdukiewicz’s ideas are developed and supplemented by a full account of the structure of questions and well-defined, i.e. formulated in a general and strict way as is the idea of proper answer.

Poor ovarian reserve and male infertility in a rural in vitro fertilization setup: a case report

Female fertility begins to decline many years prior to the onset of menopause despite continued regular ovulatory cycles. Although there is no strict definition of advanced reproductive age in women, infertility becomes more pronounced after the age of 35. In the female, the number of oocytes decreases with age until the menopause. Oocyte quality also diminishes, due in part to increased aneuploidy because of factors such as changes in spindle integrity. Although older male age affects the likelihood of conception, abnormalities in sperm chromosomes and in some components of the semen analysis are less important than the frequency of intercourse. Age is as accurate as any other predictor of conception with assisted reproductive technology.

Comparative evaluation of contribution-value plots for machine learning understanding

The field of explainable artificial intelligence aims to help experts understand complex machine learning models. One key approach is to show the impact of a feature on the model prediction. This helps experts to verify and validate the predictions the model provides. However, many challenges remain open. For example, due to the subjective nature of interpretability, a strict definition of concepts such as the contribution of a feature remains elusive. Different techniques have varying underlying assumptions, which can cause inconsistent and conflicting views. In this work, we introduce local and global contribution-value plots as a novel approach to visualize feature impact on predictions and the relationship with feature value. We discuss design decisions and show an exemplary visual analytics implementation that provides new insights into the model. We conducted a user study and found the visualizations aid model interpretation by increasing correctness and confidence and reducing the time taken to obtain an insight. Graphic Abstract

Petrographic structures: Khibiny ijolites and urtites

In addition to the standard description of the structures and textures of crystalline rocks the mathematical approaches have been proposed based on a rigorous determination of the petrographic structure through the probabilities of binary intergrain contacts. In general, the petrographic structure is defined as an invariant aspect of rock organization, algebraically expressed by the canonical diagonal form of the symmetric Pij matrix and geometrically visualized by structural indicatrices - surfaces of the 2nd order. The agreed nomenclature of possible petrographic structures for an n-mineral rock is simple: the symbol Snm means that there are exactly m positive numbers in the canonical diagonal form of the Pij matrix. New types of barycentric diagrams have been proposed. To describe the massive texture, the concept of Hardy - Weinberg equilibrium has been proposed. This boundary classifies barycentric diagrams into areas within which canonical types of Рij matrices and topological types of structural indicatrices are preserved. The change in the organization of the rock within a type is quantitative, the transition from one type to another means structural restructuring. The methods are used to describe ijolites and urtites of the Khibiny massif, the Kola Peninsula. In the modern taxonomy of rocks, the boundaries between them are mostly conditional and are drawn according to the contents of rock-forming minerals, for example, between ijolites and urtites - according to the contents of nepheline and pyroxene. The strict definition of the petrographic structure proposed by the authors makes it possible to introduce into petrography the constitutional principle (structure + composition), which is successfully acting in mineralogy.

The Haunting Temporalities of Transplantation

This article examines the temporality of organ transplantation with a focus on memoirs where the recipient has received an organ from a deceased donor. I argue that death constitutes life. That is, this absent presence – that the organ is materially present but the person is dead and therefore absent – is the foundation for rethinking relationality as constituted through the haunting presence of those who remain central to the continuity of life but who are not alive in any strict definition of the term. This article is therefore attentive to the various meanings of haunting, drawing on queer theory to show how narratives of haunting are derealised experiences and thus a struggle for epistemological authority over specifically transplantation and relationality more broadly. It draws out how these epistemological challenges reimagine ontology as a haunted experience, and thus an intimate tie between the living and the unknown – and somewhat present – dead.

Towards resolving the problematic status of the digenean genus Astiotrema Looss, 1900: An updated concept and revision of species composition for Astiotrema (sensu stricto)

Species of Astiotrema Looss, 1900 (sensu lato) infect a wide range of fishes, amphibians and reptilians. They also possess a considerably wide spectrum of morphological features. Several species were recognized for variable, confusing, overlapping and unspecialized morphological characters rather than for unique distinguishing features, causing continuing dispute around the validity of several species. Following comprehensive review, a revised restricted concept of Astiotrema is proposed including a morphologically strict definition. Both Tremiorchis Mehra & Negi, 1926 and Astioglossimetra Bilqees, Khatoon & Khan, 2002 are synonymized with Astiotrema (sensu stricto). Several nominal species are synonymized, others are excluded and characters for each recognized species are presented and explained. Only eight species are recognized: Astiotrema cyclemysi Siddiqi, 1965, Astiotrema emydis Ejsmont, 1930, Astiotrema fotedari Dhar, 1977, Astiotrema impletum (Looss, 1899) Looss, 1900, Astiotrema karachiensis (Bilqees, Khatoon & Khan, 2002) n. comb., Astiotrema odhneri Bhalerao, 1936, Astiotrema ranarum (Mehra & Negi, 1926) Fotedar, 1971 and Astiotrema reniferum (Looss, 1898) Looss, 1900. A key to the species of Astiotrema (sensu stricto) is presented, a comprehensive list of all host-locality records is included and host-parasite specificity is elucidated.

The arity of convex spaces

The arity of convex spaces is a numerical feature which shows the ability of finite subsets spanning to the whole space via the hull operators. This paper gives it a formal and strict definition by introducing the truncation of convex spaces. The relations that between the arity of quotient spaces and the original spaces, that between the arity of subspaces and superspaces, that between the arity of product spaces and factors spaces, and that between the arity of disjoint sums and term spaces, are systematically studied. A mistake of a formula in [M. Van De Vel, Theory of Convex Structures, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1993] is corrected. It is shown that a convex space is Alexandrov iff its arity is 1. The convex structures with arity ≤n are equivalent to structured sets with n-restricted hull operators.

Surgery for Bowen Disease: Clinicopathological Factors Associated With Incomplete Excision

Background: One common treatment for Bowen’s disease (BD) is surgical excision, but there is no international consensus on the appropriate surgical margins. Objectives: This study examined what factors affect the rate of incomplete excision of BD. Methods: Clinicopathological data potentially linked to surgical outcome (complete or incomplete excision) were retrospectively collected from medical and histopathological records on all surgically excised BD lesions diagnosed at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden during 2014-2015. Data were analyzed with two definitions of incomplete excision: less strict (ie, BD present at the surgical margin) and strict (ie, dysplasia present at the surgical margin). Results: In total, 463 BD lesions among 408 patients were included. With the less strict definition, 3 factors were associated with significantly higher rates of incomplete excision: surgical margins <3 mm, a less experienced surgeon, and use of punch biopsy excision. The same factors plus a tumor location on the head and neck area or upper extremities were associated with significantly higher rates of incomplete excision using the strict definition. After adjustment for confounders, less experience was independently associated with incomplete excision using the less strict definition, whereas less experience and location on the head and neck area or upper extremities were independently associated with incomplete excision using the strict definition. Surgeon specialty was not associated with incomplete excision regardless of the definition. Conclusions: When removing BD surgically, an elliptical excision with surgical margins ≥3 mm carried out by an experienced surgeon should be recommended. Surgical margins may need to be adjusted depending on body site.