Because the evolution of speech production is beyond our expertise (and perhaps beyond everyone's expertise) we restrict our comments to areas in which data actually exist. We provide articulatory evidence consistent with the claims made about syllable structure in adult speech and infant babbling, but we also voice some disagreement about speech errors and the typing data.

Public health emergencies, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, put great pressure on healthcare workers (HCW) across the world, possibly increasing the risk of experiencing ethically challenging situations (ECS). Whereas experiencing ECS as a HCW in such situations is likely unavoidable, mitigation of their adverse effects (e.g., moral distress) is necessary to reduce the risk of long-term negative consequences. One possible route of mitigation of these effects is via work environmental factors. The current study aimed to examine: [1] risk factors associated (...) with ECS among HCW [2], intensity of moral distress associated with ECS across various occupational factors (i.e., profession, degree of exposure to patients with Covid-19), and [3] the impact of work environmental factors on this association, in a sample of HCW during the pandemic. We employed multiple logistic and linear regression to self-report data from 977 HCWs at four Norwegian hospitals responding to a survey at the fourth wave of the pandemic. About half of HCW in this study had experienced ECS during the pandemic, and levels of moral distress associated with such were higher than in previous studies using similar assessment methods. Younger age, female sex, geographical work area (mid-north of Norway), and profession (nurse) were all associated with higher odds (range of OR: 1.30–2.59) of experiencing ECS, as were direct contact with patients with Covid-19. Among those participants who reported that they had experienced ECS during the pandemic, moral distress levels when recalling those situations were moderate (Mean 5.7 on a 0–10 scale). Men reported somewhat lower intensity of moral distress (partial eta squared; ηp2 = 0.02). Reporting a manageable workload (ηp2 = 0.02), and greater opportunity to work according to best practice (ηp2 = 0.02), were associated with lower levels of moral distress. Our findings suggest that moral distress could potentially be mitigated on an organizational level, particularly by focusing on ensuring a manageable workload, and an ability to work according to best practice. To build sustainable healthcare systems robust enough to withstand future public health emergencies, healthcare organizations should implement measures to facilitate these aspects of HCWs’ work environment. (shrink)

Equality is a concept that is often used in health care discussions about the allocation of resources and the design of health care systems. In secular discussions and debates the concept of equality is highly controverted and can take on many different specifications. One might think that Christians hold a common understanding of equality. A more careful study, though, makes it quite clear that equality is just as controversial among different Christian communities as it is in the secular world.

This essay delineates points of agreement and disagreement between Plato and Nietzsche with respect to the original Heraclitean argument that the underlying dynamic connective structure of the whole is ‘strife’. Also discussed is the issue of how each philosopher understands life itself, as a general process, to be related to the wider processive whole. The paper analyses how the Heraclitean understanding of the natural whole influences each philosopher's interpretation of the political structures of man. The analysis attempts to demonstrate why (...) for Nietzsche, on one hand, the value forms of the traditional polis are more in accord with human nature and nature in toto than is philosophy and why for Plato, on the other hand, when the value forms of the polis are superseded by those of philosophy it is a natural process rather than contrary to nature. (shrink)

Stone, J. Thoughts on supposed "Death of law".--Krishna Iyer, V. R. Jurisprudence and jurisconscience.--Sharma, G. S. Law and social change in India.--Sharma, S. D. The concept of justice in Manu.--Chand, H. Legal values for a developing country.--Ramarao, T. S. The new international law relating to the rights and duties of States.--Sinha, B. S. Custom and customary law in Indian jurisprudence.--Mazumdar, D. L. Techno-economic structure of our industrial society.--Subrahamanian, N. Law and social change.

Level statistics and nodal point distribution in a rectangular semiconductor quantum dot are studied for different degrees of spin-orbit coupling. The chaotic features occurring from the spin-orbit coupling have no classical counterpart. Using experimental values for GaSb/InAs/GaSb semiconductor quantum wells we find that level repulsion can lead to the semi-Poisson distribution for nearest level separations. Nodal lines and nodal points are also investigated. Comparison is made with nodal point distributions for fully chaotic states.

Open peer commentary on the article “Designing Constructionist E-Books: New Mediations for Creative Mathematical Thinking?” by Chronis Kynigos. Upshot: Chronis Kynigos’s article invites us to explore how to make familiar objects for learning — namely, books — more constructionist. In my response, I ask questions about the affordances and potential limitations of books as central objects, particularly about the role of the learner in relation to the objects.

Artiklen analyser de tre centrale borgerlige meningsdannere Søren Krarups, Bertel Haarders og Henning Fonsmarks forestillingsverden gennem deres ideer om folket og eliten, som kom til udtryk gennem kritik af demokratiet. Mere specifikt angreb den borgerlige demokratikritik forståelsen af demokrati som en livsform med vægt på samtale og dannelse til demokrati og anskuede den senere danmarkshistorie som en konflikt mellem folket og eliten, hvad end den var politisk, offentligt ansat eller kulturlivet. Artiklen fokuserer på et udvalg af deres tekster fra slutningen (...) af 1960’erne til begyndelsen af 1990’erne. Med udgangspunkt i Quentin Skinners be- greb om de “innovative ideologer”, anskuer artiklen Krarup, Haarder og Fonsmark som aktører, der på hver sin vis ønskede at redefinere betydningen af demokratibe- grebet og sætte klarere grænser for politikernes handlerum. Således kombinerede de liberale ønsker om at markedsliggøre den offentlige sektor med et konservativt modoplysningsprojekt for at bekæmpe venstrefløjens udvidede demokratisyn. Fæl- les for deres forestillingsunivers var kritikken af den såkaldte “demokratisme” og fremhævelsen af folket som et offer for en politisk og kulturel elites visioner for at omforme samfundet. (shrink)