The Social Burden of Witchcraft accusation and Its Victims: An Exercise in Philosophy

The killing and burning of witches in contemporary era seem to be unabated. The contemporary minds have not succeeded in ‘scienticising’ belief in witchcraft. In Africa, Canada and India, the incidence, accusations and extrajudicial sanctions against witches are routine. The phenomenon of witchcraft is justified to be real. Before a misfortune could be plausibly attributed to witchcraft, it had to be seen as the outcome of a certain type of social situation. For in a witch-case the suspect was usually a person who had been involved in a relationship of real or presumed hostility towards the victim, then an accusation of witchcraft originated with someone living in close proximity to the suspect, and was meant to explain some local and personal misfortune. We then explain the socialization of witchcraft accusation in terms of the immediate social environment of the witch and her accuser. What we have in mind is that there are a lot of socialization between the witch and her victims in such a way that witches do not attack stranger and the victim can easily guess who is socially responsible for his/her misfortunes. We shall argue therefore, that once we are able to explain witchcraft causal reasonable explanation, the kind of metaphysical change of mind on witchcraft and the subsequent incidence, accusations and extrajudicial sanctions against witches would be reduced.

Hearsay evidential marking strategy in Lhagang Tibetan

This exploratory study focuses on the use of hearsay evidential marking in the course of storytelling in a Tibetic language, Lhagang Tibetan, combining a descriptive linguistic approach with a literary-theoretic analysis. Tibetic languages generally possess a morpho-syntactically encoded evidential-epistemic system, in which the hearsay evidential represents a non-first-hand information source. However, we find a random use of the hearsay evidential marker in the oral literature of Lhagang Tibetan, although it has been transmitted from one generation to another by storytellers. The article aims to provide a reasonable explanation for the use of the hearsay evidential in storytelling. It proposes that hearsay evidential marking reflects the speaker’s attitude towards the utterance to either avoid full responsibility for the utterance or enhance the utterance’s authenticity. The former objective principally appears in telling a story based on a weak memory of the story; the latter appears in telling a legend. This explanation is supported by oral literature theory, especially the arguments regarding the difference between folktales and legends.

Retraction notice regarding several articles published in the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems

The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems retract a total of 49 articles from the journal’s online catalogue. The articles were published in different issues of the journal in the period July 2019 –April 2021. After publication it was found that these articles cite literature sources that have no relation to the subject matter of the citing article. This could be the result of a deliberate attempt to engineer the citation performance of the scientific literature. All authors were asked to provide insight into the reasoning for citing unrelated articles but were either unresponsive or unable to provide a reasonable explanation for having done so. It was decided to remove these articles from the published literature completely. This retraction is carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Analysis of Novel Oscillations of Quantized Mechanical Energy in Mass-Accreting Nano-Oscillator Systems

Quantum characteristics of a mass-accreting oscillator are investigated using the invariant operator theory, which is a rigorous mathematical tool for unfolding quantum theory for time-dependent Hamiltonian systems. In particular, the quantum energy of the system is analyzed in detail and compared to the classical one. We focus on two particular cases; one is a linearly mass-accreting oscillator and the other is an exponentially mass-accreting one. It is confirmed that the quantum energy is in agreement with the classical one in the limit ℏ→0. We showed that not only the classical but also the quantum energy oscillates with time. It is carefully analyzed why the energy oscillates with time, and a reasonable explanation for that outcome is given.

Mpemba Effect- the Effect of Time

This paper concludes that " time is one of the properties of energy, which is the flow rate of energy from object to space or from space to object. When energy flows from object to space, the time on an object is proportional to the energy density inside the object and inversely proportional to the energy density of the space in which the object is located. When energy flows from space to object, the time on an object is inversely proportional to the energy density inside the object and is proportional to the energy density of the space in which the object is located” Using this time characteristic, the Mpemba effect and "inverse" Mpamba effect are analyzed and a reasonable explanation is given.

Universal Grammar: Arguments for its Existence

The first part of this paper discusses the rationale for universal grammar (UG) theory to explain first language acquisition. It also illustrates the issues of language acquisition Chomsky argued which could not be supported by behaviourist theories and shows how Chomsky proposed a solution to this problem through his theoretical model of universal grammar. The next part outlines this theory’s key tenets, arguing that these principles must be an innate endowment of the human mind. Moreover, the study illustrates specific examples of grammatical phenomena that universal grammar seeks to explain. Lastly, it shows that certain distinct grammatical features are linked and that these connections can be explained within the Universal Grammar theoretical framework. The only reasonable explanation for the first language learning needs only limited linguistic exposure to activate them and set criteria for the language being learned for children whose minds have already been wired with essential language concepts.

Citizen science initiative points at childhood BCG vaccination as a risk factor for COVID-19

Current results do not provide conclusive evidence on the effect of BCG vaccination on COVID-19 alone or in combination with other factors. To address this limitation, in this study we used a citizen science initiative on the COVID-19 pandemic to collect data worldwide during October 2-30, 2020 (1,233 individuals) in a structured way for analyzing factors and characteristics of affected individuals in relation to BCG vaccination. For the first time, the results of our study suggested that vaccination with BCG may increase the risk for COVID-19 at certain age, particularly in individuals vaccinated at childhood. A reasonable explanation for this effect is the activation of certain innate immunity mechanisms associated with inflammatory reactions, which should be considered when analyzing the risks associated with this global pandemic. These factors should be considered when analyzing the risks associated with this global pandemic.

A Definite Explanation of the Concept of Limit in Teaching

The limit idea is the basic idea of calculus. Almost all concepts in mathematical analysis are inseparable from the limit, but the limit is a concept that is difficult to understand accurately. By assuming that there is a certain point closest to the limit value, this paper provides a reasonable explanation for the infinitesimal paradox and a new answer to the question why the limit value is accurate in teaching. At the same time, this method is applied to the derivative and used to understand a common practical problem in mathematics. The analysis shows that this method is effective for the accurate understanding of limit problems.

Mental Space Theory on Presupposition Projections in Advertisements

In this economic society in which information is prevailing, advertisements are found here and there, and play a very important role in our daily life. More and more importance is attached to the research of advertising language. This paper reveals presupposition projection problems in advertising, especially in English advertising. It aims to explore the explanation of mental space theory for cancellation or inheritability of presupposition in advertising, that is, the projection problem of presupposition. Different from how traditional presupposition theory is used in seeking for a reasonable explanation for projection problems, this paper will investigate in detail projection problems in advancing from the perspective of Fauconnier's mental space theory in combination with large quantities of advertisement examples.

Trial Day Fourteen

On Friday, September 9, the prosecutor and defense summarize the case. The judge is expected to instruct the assessors the next day. Georgiadis says the assessors must consider whether Bill caused Peppy’s death, whether it was an unlawful act or omission, and whether there was malice aforethought. Georgiadis hammers away at the inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, the failure to show any motive, and the overbearing weight of the defense medical testimony. Prosecutor Effiwat argues that the diary demonstrates Bill’s morbid state of mind, the eyewitness accounts must be believed, Dr. Dockeray’s testimony must be discounted since he is unregistered in Tanzania, and there is no reasonable explanation for why Bill had brought the pipe to the picnic.