Examining those risk and benefit perceptions utilised in the formation of attitudes and opinions about emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can be useful for both industry and policy makers involved in their development, implementation and regulation. A broad range of different socio-psychological and affective factors may influence consumer responses to different applications of nanotechnology, including ethical concerns. A useful approach to identifying relevant consumer concerns and innovation priorities is to develop predictive constructs which can be used to differentiate applications of (...) nanotechnology in a way which is meaningful to consumers. This requires elicitation of attitudinal constructs from consumers, rather than measuring attitudes assumed to be important by the researcher. Psychological factors influencing societal responses to 15 applications of nanotechnology drawn from different application areas were identified using repertory grid method in conjunction with generalised Procrustes analysis. The results suggested that people differentiate nanotechnology applications based on the extent to which they perceive them to be beneficial, useful, necessary and important. The benefits may be offset by perceived risks focusing on fear and ethical concerns. Compared to an earlier expert study on societal acceptance of nanotechnology, consumers emphasised ethical issues compared to experts but had less concern regarding potential physical contact with the product and time to market introduction. Consumers envisaged fewer issues with several applications compared to experts, in particular food applications. (shrink)

Nowadays, the whole world is facing a pandemic situation in the form of coronavirus diseases. In connection with the spread of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths, various researchers have analysed the impact of temperature and humidity on the spread of coronavirus. In this paper, a deep transfer learning-based exhaustive analysis is performed by evaluating the influence of different weather factors, including temperature, sunlight hours, and humidity. To perform all the experiments, two data sets are used: one is taken from Kaggle (...) consists of official COVID-19 case reports and another data set is related to weather. Moreover, COVID-19 data are also tested and validated using deep transfer learning models. From the experimental results, it is shown that the temperature, the wind speed, and the sunlight hours make a significant impact on COVID-19 cases and deaths. However, it is shown that the humidity does not affect coronavirus cases significantly. It is concluded that the convolutional neural network performs better than the competitive model. (shrink)

In this chapter we extend earlier work (Vinuesa et al., Nat Commun 11, 2020) on the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations (UN) for the 2030 Agenda. The present contribution focuses on three SDGs related to healthy and sustainable societies, i.e., SDG 3 (on good health), SDG 11 (on sustainable cities), and SDG 13 (on climate action). This chapter extends the previous study within those three goals and goes (...) beyond the 2030 targets. These SDGs are selected because they are closely related to the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic and also to crises like climate change, which constitute important challenges to our society. (shrink)

The literature on public perceptions of, and attitudes towards, nanotechnology used in the agrifood sector is reviewed. Research into consumer perceptions and attitudes has focused on general applications of nanotechnology, rather than within the agrifood sector. Perceptions of risk and benefit associated with different applications of nanotechnology, including agrifood applications, shape consumer attitudes, and acceptance, together with ethical concerns related to environmental impact or animal welfare. Attitudes are currently moderately positive across all areas of application. The occurrence of a negative (...) or positive incident in the agri-food sector may crystallise consumer views regarding acceptance or rejection of nanotechnology products. •Acceptance of agrifood nanotechnology based on perceptions of risk, benefit and ethics.•Attitudes towards nanotechnology in general are currently moderately positive.•Occurrence of a major nanotechnology-related "event" may crystallise consumer attitude. (shrink)

As is the case with most pre‐modern philosophers of India, very little historical information is available about Bhartṛ‐hari. There are many interesting legends, some turned into extensive plays and poems, current about him. However, it is impossible to determine on their basis even whether there was only one philosopher called Bhartṛ‐hari. The appellation “philosopher” could unquestionably be applied to the author or authors of at least two Sanskrit works that are commonly ascribed to Bhartṛ‐hari.

[D. H. Mellor] Kant's claim that our knowledge of time is transcendental in his sense, while false of time itself, is true of tenses, i.e. of the locations of events and other temporal entities in McTaggart's A series. This fact can easily, and I think only, be explained by taking time itself to be real but tenseless. /// [J. R. Lucas] Mellor's argument from Kant fails. The difficulties in his first Antinomy are due to topological confusions, not the tensed nature (...) of time. Nor are McTaggart' s difficulties due to the tensed nature of time. The ego-centricity of tensed discourse is an essential feature of communication between selves, each of whom refers himself as 'I', and is required for talking about time as well as experience and agency. Arguments based on the Special Theory are misconceived. Some rest on a confused notion of 'topological simultaneity'. In the General Theory a cosmic time is defined, as also in quantum mechanics, where a natural present is defined by a unique hyperplane of collapse into eigen-ness. (shrink)

The science of man, by A. Schaff.--The humanistic meaning of natural science, by R. Mukerjee.--The role of social sciences in the struggle for progress, by R. Schlesinger.--Scientific research in developing countries, by J. D. Bernal.--Problems of science and technology in underdeveloped countries by, D. D. Kosambi.--Priorities in scientific research for economic development, by J. Bognar.--Science and technology in underdeveloped countries, by S. H. Zaheer.--Science and scientific workers, by E. Olszewski.--Medical research in developing countries, by C. G. Pandit & N. P. (...) Gupta.--Changing society and crisis of enterprise, by Z. Tanic.--The university and society, by E. G. Edwards.--The intellectual and society, by V. B. Singh.--Indo-Soviet relations in retrospect, by K. P. S. Menon.--Fifteen years of cooperation between Indian and Soviet paediatricians, by I. N. Ussov. (shrink)

[1] Hagadah shel Pesaḥ -- [2] Pirḳe Avot -- [3] Mishle -- [4] Shir ha-shirim -- [5] Megilat Ḳohelet -- 6. Megilat Ekhah -- [7] Megilat Rut -- [8] Sefer Tehilim.

L’influence de Pierre Poiret sur le milieu piétiste en Allemagne est très hétérogène. Il a lui-même découvert les idées d’Antoinette Bourignon à Francfort et s’est chargé de diffuser ses enseignements à travers les groupes piétistes, notamment les « piétistes radicaux ». Les idées millénaristes de J. W. et J. E. Petersen sont assez comparables à celles de Poiret. La Kirchen- und Ketzerhistorie de G. Arnold a mieux fait connaître l’importance de Poiret à propos du franchissement des frontières entre les confessions (...) religieuses. Les piétistes du Wurtemberg comme J. A. Bengel et Chr. F. Oetinger ont été influencés par le projet théologique de Poiret tel qu’il est esquissé dans l’Œconomie divine. Dans l’orphelinat de Halle, les écrits de Poiret sont publiés par A. H. Francke et A. W. Böhme. En même temps, Poiret est fortement critiqué par Ph. J. Spener, J. W. Jäger et J. Lange. Il fait enfin connaître la piété mystique par les biographies de plusieurs auteurs mystiques de la fin du Moyen Âge. Via G. Tersteegen, ces biographies sont mieux connues en Allemagne. Les dirigeants du mouvement de réveil (catholique) de l’Allgäu (début du XIXe siècle) ainsi que Hedwig von Redern, écrivain de la Gemeinschaftsbewegung (fin du XIXe siècle) ont repris ces biographies mystiques dans leur enseignement de la vie pieuse. (shrink)

Temporal necessity and the subjunctive conditional appear to be related by the principle of Past Predominance, according to which past similarities and differences take priority over future similarities and differences in determining the comparative similarity of alternative possible histories with respect to the present moment. R. H. Thomason and Anil Gupta have formalized Past Predominance in a semantics that combines selection functions with branching time; in this paper I show that Past Predominance can be formalized and axiomatized using ordinary (...) possible worlds semantics (without branching time). (shrink)

Christianity affirms, with Judaism and Islam, that God is the omnipotent Creator of all things. But it diverges from them in also affirming that the Creator assumed a human nature in one figure of history, Jesus of Nazareth. Christ thus differs from other men in kind, not merely in degree; he is absolutely, not just relatively, unique. Admittedly many Christian theologians have held that the difference between Christ and other men is only one of degree. Yet the Church's traditional claim, (...) as expressed in the Chalcedonian Definition, is that Jesus was both creature and Creator, both fully man and fully God. (shrink)

Taftāzānī, Masʻūd ibn ʻUmar, 1322-1389?. Tahdhīb al-manṭiq wa-al-kalām.

Islamic ethics -- Early works to 1800. ; Kāshifī, Ḥusayn Vāʻiẓ, -1504 or 150; Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī.