In this manuscript we discuss different aspects and applications of algal biotechnology and how they are seen through the prism of bioethics. We review how algae have been considered to solve problems on Earth and to ease human suffering. We also take a look at the current state of the production of algal biomass and we offer our suggestions and considerations based on the fact that the biomass is an expensive product and yet its quality is very good.

This book founds an other Platonist beginning by repositioning Plato and Neoplatonism in Heidegger's history of metaphysics. This beginning begins with Plato and culminates in Heidegger. By revisiting Heidegger's interpretation of Plato and retrieving Neoplatonist approaches to non-discursive thinking, the other beginning that has hitherto remained dormant within the history of thought is established. The author re-thinks Heidegger's attribution of the collapse of truth (alētheia) to Plato by recovering the dialogues' deep topography, myths and inspired expression. The re-interpretation of Plato (...) is then linked to Neoplatonism, where significant parallels with Heidegger emerge. The book thoroughly and consistently explores the non-discursive thinking of Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus with Heidegger's poetic thinking. (shrink)

This article focuses on the situational and psychological approach that can enhance the effectiveness of the protection of endangered judges, prosecutors, and investigators. The idea was raised that risk assessment and the implementation of security would be more effective if the situation is viewed in a different way from the ordinary approach. The phenomenological view allows for a larger interpretation, which includes personal and external factors.

The keynote idea of the theses is contained in the author’s assumption that modern philosophy doesn’t meet its claiming pretensions: to be universal form of knowledge. First of all philosophy is connected not with knowledge but with ideas and secondly being authentic it “exists only in everyday life”.1 In orderthat philosophy could realize its innate essence corresponding conditions of social being should exist but they are still absent and therefore philosophy is absent as well. Its place is occupied by metaphysics (...) which is free movement of thinking that has no definiteness as the condition of being of any form of thought. That iswhy we watch crisis state of “philosophy” which becomes apparent in vagueness of its subject: “philosophy is not only one, there are many of them”. The author supposes that philosophy as the highest relation of mankind to objective reality is the only one. Philosophy lowered down from the heaven (Platon, Ciceron) in the field of human being must raise people not only to purity of thought, but mainly to purity of their activity both with each other and with nature. Then real interaction of men and nature will take place. This will be the beginning of spiritualization of the Universe. It may exist only under the conditions of social uniformity as historical form of Weltanschauung (world outlook) that removes religious form. Realization of its being supposes fundamental change of social life. It is necessary that private property should be replaced with social property in the sphere of social production. Only under these conditions philosophy may appear and exist as historical form of Weltanschauung. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to recover the original intention of Thomas More in creating the fictional island depicted in his book Utopia. Drawing on Erasmus’ 1519 letter, the author suggests beginning with Book II and analysing it separately from Book I. This approach allows for an exploration of the tension between its eutopian and dystopian aspects. The claim that through its unique institutions (notably the abolition of private property) Utopia has successfully eliminated pride, deemed the root of all (...) social evils, is scrutinized and revised. While Utopians are neither. (shrink)

Two aspects of the target article, (1) the extension of the equilibrium point theory to multi-joint movements, and (2) the consequence that the EMG pattern is not directly controlled by the central nervous system (CNS), are discussed in light of the experiments on upper trunk bending in humans. The principle component kinematic analysis and the analysis of the EMG data, obtained under microgravity and additional loading conditions, support the application of Feldman and Levin's for multi-joint pointing movement to equilibrium control (...) during upper trunk movement. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In recent debates about conceptual engineering, it appears that the internalist has an explanatory advantage when it comes to accounting for meaning change and conceptual change. In this paper, I argue against this impression. I show how two different varieties of externalism, originalism and anti-individualism, can coherently explain various cases of meaning change, irrespective of whether they involve proper names or kind terms; and also irrespective of whether they occur in everyday, legal, or scientific contexts. I point out which (...) mechanisms and interpretational strategies the originalist and anti-individualist can invoke, relative to their respective background assumptions about the nature of concepts. Furthermore, I offer an argument in favour of the claim that externalism as such has no implications concerning whether concepts can undergo change. I establish this by showing that originalism allows for conceptual change while anti-individualism insists on conceptual stability. (shrink)

Gender, age, and culturally specific beliefs are often considered relevant to observed variation in social interactions. At present, however, the scientific literature is mixed with respect to the significance of these factors in guiding moral judgments. In this study, we explore the role of each of these factors in moral judgment by presenting the results of a web-based study of Eastern (i.e., Russia) and Western (i.e., USA, UK, Canada) subjects, male and female, and young and old. Participants ( n = (...) 659) responded to hypothetical moral scenarios describing situations where sacrificing one life resulted in saving five others. Though men and women from both types of cultures judged (1) harms caused by action as less permissible than harms caused by omission, (2) means-based harms as less permissible than side-effects, and (3) harms caused by contact as less permissible than by non-contact, men in both cultures delivered more utilitarian judgments (save the five, sacrifice one) than women. Moreover, men from Western cultures were more utilitarian than Russian men, with no differences observed for women. In both cultures, older participants delivered less utilitarian judgments than younger participants. These results suggest that certain core principles may mediate moral judgments across different societies, implying some degree of universality, while also allowing a limited range of variation due to sociocultural factors. (shrink)

Background: Psychopathy and substance use disorders are highly co-morbid and their co-occurrence is associated with higher severity of addictive behavior and increased risk of violent offending. Both substance use disorders and psychopathy are related to prominent impairments in emotion processing, which are also central features of alexithymia. The nature of the relationship between psychopathy and alexithymia is not well understood and has been particularly understudied among substance dependent individuals. Aims: Our goal was to evaluate the levels of psychopathy and alexithymia (...) in a relatively homogeneous sample of heroin dependent individuals and healthy controls and to examine group differences in the pattern of associations between these constructs. Methods: We examined 62 participants (31 heroin dependent individuals and 31 healthy controls) with the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening version (PCL:SV, Hart et al., 1995) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20, Bagby et al., 1994). Results: Heroin dependent individuals were characterized by higher levels of both psychopathy and alexithymia as compared to the control group. In addition, heroin dependent individuals with higher levels of psychopathy reported more difficulties in identifying and verbalizing emotional states. In the heroin group, alexithymia was more strongly associated with the impulsive/antisocial characteristics (impulsivity, irresponsibility, antisocial behavior) than with the interpersonal/affective features of psychopathy (grandiosity, manipulativeness, lack of empathy and remorse). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that alexithymia may be one potential mechanism linking psychopathy with opioid use disorders. The development of interventions targeting alexithymia could have significant applications in relapse prevention programs and psychotherapy of substance use disorders with concurrent psychopathy. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 40, Issue 1, pp 104 - 115 It is intended in this study to present initial reliability and validity data for the Russian adaptation of the Multidimensional Inventory of Religious/Spiritual Well-being, as being related to personality factors and psychopathology. Therefore, the first version of the MI-RSWB-R was applied to a sample of 192 non-clinical subjects, together with the NEO Five Factor Inventory and the Symptom-Check-List. The original six-factor structure of the scale could be replicated for the MI-RSWB-R, (...) which also provides satisfying psychometric properties. In accordance with previous research the RSWB total score was linked to more favorable personality traits such as Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Agreeableness, which was paralleled by substantial negative correlations with increased psychopathology. Our findings support the reliability and structural validity of the MI-RSWB-R as a standardized instrument for addressing the spiritual dimension in Russian populations. Further research in clinical surroundings is now recommended. (shrink)

AimUnderstanding interrelations between the factors predicting students’ aggressive behavior is a priority for bullying-prevention programs. Our study explores two possible mechanisms linking school disciplinary structure and students’ aggression. We test students’ moral disengagement and bullying by teachers as mediational pathways from school authoritative discipline to students’ aggressive behavior.MethodsWe used a regionally representative sample of 213 schools that participated in a school climate survey in Kaluga Oblast (a federal subject of Russia) in 2019. The analytical sample contained the anonymous responses of (...) 16,809 students from grades 6–9 (12–15 years old); 51% of the respondents were girls. The analytical procedure consisted of structural equation modeling (SEM), which was implemented in Mplus 8.7.ResultsThe mediation model fit the data well, suggesting that the clarity and fairness of school rules negatively predicted peer aggression, while student moral disengagement and bullying by teachers independently and partially mediated this association.ConclusionWe confirm that authoritative school climate, characterized by a clear and fair disciplinary structure, is associated with a decrease in bullying. Novel result is the evidence for mediating mechanisms and the influence of teachers’ aggression on students’ behavior. Prevention programs designed to increase the fairness and consistency of school rules, eliminate bullying and humiliation from teachers, and decrease students’ moral disengagement may reduce violence and victimization at school. (shrink)

As is well known, any preorder R on a set U induces an Alexandrov topology on U. In some interesting cases related to data mining an Alexandrov topology can be transformed into different types of logico-algebraic models. In some cases, (pre)topological operators provided by Pointless Topology may define a topological space on U even if R is not a preorder. If this is the case, then we call R a crypto-preorder. The paper studies the conditions under which a (...) relation R is a crypto-preorder and how to transform a crypto-preorder into a proper preorder. (shrink)

As is well known, any preorder R on a set U induces an Alexandrov topology on U. In some interesting cases related to data mining an Alexandrov topology can be transformed into different types of logico-algebraic models. In some cases, (pre)topological operators provided by Pointless Topology may define a topological space on U even if R is not a preorder. If this is the case, then we call R a crypto-preorder. The paper studies the conditions under which a (...) relation R is a crypto-preorder and how to transform a crypto-preorder into a proper preorder. (shrink)

Shehtman introduced bimodal logics of the products of Kripke frames, thereby introducing frame products of unimodal logics. Van Benthem, Bezhanishvili, ten Cate and Sarenac generalize this idea to the bimodal logics of the products of topological spaces, thereby introducing topological products of unimodal logics. In particular, they show that the topological product of S4 and S4 is S4 ⊗ S4, i.e., the fusion of S4 and S4: this logic is strictly weaker than the frame product S4 × S4. In this (...) paper, we axiomatize the topological product of S4 and S5, which is strictly between S4 ⊗ S5 and S4 × S5. We also apply our techniques to (1) proving a conjecture of van Benthem et al concerning the logic of products of Alexandrov spaces with arbitrary topological spaces; and (2) solving a problem in quantified modal logic: in particular, it is known that standard quantified S4 without identity, QS4, is complete in Kripke semantics with expanding domains; we show that QS4 is complete not only in topological semantics with constant domains (which was already shown by Rasiowa and Sikorski), but wrt the topological space Q with a constant countable domain. (shrink)

This paper develops the model theory of normal modal logics based on partial “possibilities” instead of total “worlds,” following Humberstone [1981] instead of Kripke [1963]. Possibility semantics can be seen as extending to modal logic the semantics for classical logic used in weak forcing in set theory, or as semanticizing a negative translation of classical modal logic into intuitionistic modal logic. Thus, possibility frames are based on posets with accessibility relations, like intuitionistic modal frames, but with the constraint that the (...) interpretation of every formula is a regular open set in the Alexandrov topology on the poset. The standard world frames for modal logic are the special case of possibility frames wherein the poset is discrete. The analogues of classical Kripke frames, i.e., full world frames, are full possibility frames, in which propositional variables may be interpreted as any regular open sets. We develop the beginnings of duality theory, definability/correspondence theory, and completeness theory for possibility frames. The duality theory, relating possibility frames to Boolean algebras with operators (BAOs), shows the way in which full possibility frames are a generalization of Kripke frames. Whereas Thomason [1975a] established a duality between the category of Kripke frames with p-morphisms and the category of complete (C), atomic (A), and completely additive (V) BAOs with complete BAO-homomorphisms (these categories being dually equivalent), we establish a duality between the category of full possibility frames with possibility morphisms and the category of CV-BAOs, i.e., allowing non-atomic BAOs, with complete BAO-homomorphisms (the latter category being dually equivalent to a reflective subcategory of the former). This parallels the connection between forcing posets and Boolean-valued models in set theory, but now with accessibility relations and modal operators involved. Generalizing further, we introduce a class of principal possibility frames that capture the generality of V-BAOs. If we do not require a full or principal frame, then every BAO has an equivalent possibility frame, whose possibilities are proper filters in the BAO. With this filter representation, which does not require the ultrafilter axiom, we are lead to a notion of filter-descriptive possibility frames. Whereas Goldblatt [1974] showed that the category of BAOs with BAO-homomorphisms is dually equivalent to the category of descriptive world frames with p-morphisms, we show that the category of BAOs with BAO-homomorphisms is dually equivalent to the category of filter-descriptive possibility frames with p-morphisms. Applying our duality theory to definability theory, we prove analogues for possibility semantics of theorems of Goldblatt [1974] and Goldblatt and Thomason [1975] characterizing modally definable classes of frames. In addition, we discuss analogues for possibility semantics of first-order correspondence results in the style of Lemmon and Scott [1977], Sahlqvist [1975], and van Benthem [1976a]. Finally, applying our duality theory to completeness theory, we show that there are continuum many normal modal logics that can be characterized by full possibility frames but not by Kripke frames, that all Sahlqvist logics can be characterized by full possibility frames that contain no worlds, and that all normal modal logics can be characterized by filter-descriptive possibility frames. (shrink)

We investigate a recently devised polyhedral semantics for intermediate logics, in which formulas are interpreted in n-dimensional polyhedra. An intermediate logic is polyhedrally complete if it is complete with respect to some class of polyhedra. The first main result of this paper is a necessary and sufficient condition for the polyhedral completeness of a logic. This condition, which we call the Nerve Criterion, is expressed in terms of Alexandrov’s notion of the nerve of a poset. It affords a purely (...) combinatorial characterisation of polyhedrally complete logics. Using the Nerve Criterion we show, easily, that there are continuum many intermediate logics that are not polyhedrally complete but which have the finite model property. We also provide, at considerable combinatorial labour, a countably infinite class of logics axiomatised by the Jankov–Fine formulas of ‘starlike trees’ all of which are polyhedrally complete. The polyhedral completeness theorem for these ‘starlike logics’ is the second main result of this paper. (shrink)

Dynamic topological logic is a multi-modal logic that was introduced for reasoning about dynamic topological systems, i.e. structures of the form $\langle{\mathfrak{X}, f}\rangle $, where $\mathfrak{X}$ is a topological space and $f$ is a continuous function on it. The problem of finding a complete and natural axiomatization for this logic in the original tri-modal language has been open for more than one decade. In this paper, we give a natural axiomatization of $\textsf{DTL}$ and prove its strong completeness with respect to (...) the class of all dynamic topological systems. Our proof system is infinitary in the sense that it contains an infinitary derivation rule with countably many premises and one conclusion. It should be remarked that $\textsf{DTL}$ is semantically non-compact, so no finitary proof system for this logic could be strongly complete. Moreover, we provide an infinitary axiomatic system for the logic ${\textsf{DTL}}_{\mathcal{A}}$, i.e. the $\textsf{DTL}$ of Alexandrov spaces, and show that it is strongly complete with respect to the class of all dynamical systems based on Alexandrov spaces. (shrink)

The main result of this paper were announced in Kosheleva — Kreinovich [7, 8]; for other algorithmic aspects of Hilbert's Third Problem see Kosheleva [6]. The authors are greatly thankful to Alexandr D. Alexandrov , Vladimir G. Boltianskii and Patrick Suppes for valuable discussions, and to the anonymous referee for important suggestions. This work was partially supported by an NSF grant No. CDA-9015006.

The simplest bimodal combination of unimodal logics \ and \ is their fusion, \, axiomatized by the theorems of \ for \ and of \ for \, and the rules of modus ponens, necessitation for \ and for \, and substitution. Shehtman introduced the frame product \, as the logic of the products of certain Kripke frames: these logics are two-dimensional as well as bimodal. Van Benthem, Bezhanishvili, ten Cate and Sarenac transposed Shehtman’s idea to the topological semantics and introduced (...) the topological product \, as the logic of the products of certain topological spaces. For almost all well-studies logics, we have \, for example, \. Van Benthem et al. show, by contrast, that \. It is straightforward to define the product of a topological space and a frame: the result is a topologized frame, i.e., a set together with a topology and a binary relation. In this paper, we introduce topological-frame products \ of modal logics, providing a complete axiomatization of \, whenever \ is a Kripke complete Horn axiomatizable extension of the modal logic D: these extensions include \ and \, but not \ or \. We leave open the problem of axiomatizing \, \, and other related logics. When \, our result confirms a conjecture of van Benthem et al. concerning the logic of products of Alexandrov spaces with arbitrary topological spaces. (shrink)

Objective. Conceptualization of the definition of space as a semantic unit of language consciousness. -/- Materials & Methods. A structural-ontological approach is used in the work, the methodology of which has been tested and applied in order to analyze the subject matter area of psychology, psycholinguistics and other social sciences, as well as in interdisciplinary studies of complex systems. Mathematical representations of space as a set of parallel series of events (Alexandrov) were used as the initial theoretical basis of (...) the structural-ontological analysis. In this case, understanding of an event was considered in the context of the definition adopted in computer science – a change in the object properties registered by the observer. -/- Results. The negative nature of space realizes itself in the subject-object structure, the components interaction of which is characterized by a change – a key property of the system under study. Observer’s registration of changes is accompanied by spatial focusing (situational concretization of the field of changes) and relating of its results with the field of potentially distinguishable changes (subjective knowledge about «changing world»). The indicated correlation performs the function of space identification in terms of recognizing its properties and their subjective significance, depending on the features of the observer`s motivational sphere. As a result, the correction of the actual affective dynamics of the observer is carried out, which structures the current perception of space according to principle of the semantic fractal. Fractalization is a formation of such a subjective perception of space, which supposes the establishment of semantic accordance between the situational field of changes, on the one hand, and the worldview, as well as the motivational characteristics of the observer, on the other. -/- Conclusions. Performed structural-ontological analysis of the system formed by the interaction of the perceptual function of the psyche and the semantic field of the language made it possible to conceptualize the space as a field of changes potentially distinguishable by the observer, structurally organized according to the principle of the semantic fractal. The compositional features of the fractalization process consist in fact that the semantic fractal of space is relevant to the product of the difference between the situational field of changes and the field of potentially distinguishable changes, adjusted by the current configuration of the observer`s value-needs hierarchy and reduced by his actual affective dynamics. (shrink)

The history of philosophy is the history of entire knowledge, a definition made by Lenin.1 At the same time Lenin also pointed out that throughout the two thousand years of development of philosophy the struggle between idealism and materialism, between the lines or tendencies, has never come to a stalemate.2 Based on what Lenin had pointed out, Redanov [translation of the name in Chinese—Tr.] of the Soviet Union repudiated Alexandrov's definition of the history of philosophy. As a matter of (...) fact, in defining it as the history of knowledge, Alexandrov also drew his idea from Lenin's definition. The history of philosophy is the history of knowledge and also the history of the struggle between materialism and idealism. The two definitions should complement rather than exclude each other. However, in applying them a deviation will emerge as if the use of the one would invariably violate the other. In writing The History of Philosophy of West Europe, Alexandrov applied the idea that the history of philosophy is the history of knowledge; however, he did ignore the struggle between materialism and idealism and described the progress of knowledge as a peaceful, quantitatively gradual advance. Therefore Redanov's criticism of him was not without reason. After liberation, we accepted Redanov's definition and applied it to the study of the history of Chinese philosophy. Thus we developed another deviation: We only saw philosophers of the two camps fight with each other in the history of philosophy and devoted all our energy to assigning the previous philosophers into different camps instead of focusing our attention on the complicated course of an upward spiral of the progress of man's knowledge so as to sum up the experience and lessons of such a spiral development and its regular pattern. Some people now suggest that we repudiate Redanov's idea and revive Lenin's definition. There are also people who fear the repudiation of Redanov's definition would mean a repetition of Alexandrov's mistake. We believe Lenin's definition is correct and complete. Either Redanov or Alexandrov saw only one aspect of the matter to the neglect of the other. To overcome the one-sided emphasis in our research work, we must acquire a comprehensive understanding of what Lenin had defined. (shrink)

The conventionalistic aspects of physical world perception are reviewed with an emphasis on the constancy of the speed of light in relativity theory and the irreversibility of measurements in quantum mechanics. An appendix contains a complete proof of Alexandrov's theorem using mainly methods of affine geometry.

Volume 1 of this biography of L. E. J. Brouwer was published in 1999.1 The volume under review here covers the period from the early nineteen twenties until Brouwer's death in 1966. It also includes a short epilogue that discusses the disposition of Brouwer's estate after his death, his influence on others, the paths of some of his students and colleagues, and other matters. Van Dalen notes in the Preface that in preparing this volume he consulted some historical studies that (...) appeared after the first volume was published. He also used new material from various archives. The biography contains interesting quotations from unpublished materials in the Brouwer Archive and from correspondence. The bibliographical references to Brouwer's publications, it should be noted, are somewhat different in this volume. This volume, like the first, contains some nice photographs and reproductions. I noted that there were many typographical errors in the earlier book but Volume 2 is relatively free of them.As is the case in Volume 1, the discussion of Brouwer's mathematical and philosophical work is woven into the narrative of Brouwer's life and times. The story in this volume starts with Brouwer's first contacts with Paul Alexandrov and Paul Urysohn in 1923. The interaction began when Urysohn announced that he had found a mistake in Brouwer's definition of dimension in Brouwer's 1913 paper on natural dimension. Was it just a slip of the pen, as Brouwer always maintained , or something more substantial? Urysohn and Alexandrov ultimately came to agree with Brouwer on the matter, and Urysohn was prepared to grant Brouwer priority for the definition of dimension. There were, however, ups and downs along the way. Karl Menger, through his own work in topology and dimension theory, soon got into the picture, and Brouwer and Menger were to …. (shrink)