bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Grammar Error Detection Tool for Medical Transcription using Stop Words Parts-of-Speech Tags Ngram Based Model
Authors: B R Ganesh , Gupta Deepa , T Sasikala
Published: June 2019

Medical transcription is the process of conversion of audio files, dictated by medical experts, to electronic data files in a predetermined format. The doctor ‘s thoughts are documented, covering medical procedures carried out on a patient starting from the time the patient enters the clinic or hospital, up until the ailment is treated. A grammar checker is an important asset to hospitals to scrutinize medical transcripts. The transcripts are important to track a patient’s medical history and need to be error free. The available existing tools are specifically designed to detect faulty grammatical constructs in the generic English language. It is important to improve the intelligence of a grammar checker in a relatively unknown domain and to improve the level of accuracy set by the existing tools which mostly rely on a set of non-exhaustive rulesets. These are the driving factors to propose a new approach to an old problem. Stop words are most commonly occurring words in any language. By exploiting the fact that stop words form the backbone of a sentence and by figuring out the common parts-of-speech tags which surround them, a sentence’s grammatical structure can be better understood using statistical methods.
Implementation of PC Controlled Wireless Video Transmitting Vehicle
Authors: P Ramanathan
Published: June 2019

Remote PC controlled video transmitting Surveillance Car is a microcontroller based configuration which send serial information from PC by means of chip to the auto. This auto works as indicated by the guideline given from PC. Remote transmission is behavior through transmitter to send the information and direction to the auto so it will work as indicated by the guideline given. It transmits continuous video back to PC to screen the whereabouts of the auto and to see the items and the obstructions in the way. It additionally peruses an entire picture from camera and sends it to the PC with the objective that we can surveillance through video transmission.
Design and Simulation of Automatic Temperature Control and Alert System Based PIC16F887
Authors: Shaati Jahlool Jabbar
Published: June 2019

In this research, the design and simulation of an automatic system for temperature control using embedded system in order to automatically control of multi appliances depend on the temperature value. The appliances will be controlled are ventilation, cooling, heating and alert. This is an order to avoid or reduce to human intervention and increase system reliability. An important feature of this automation process is to reduce or eliminate the possibility of relying on the human factor operator for industries, warehouses and laboratories, and to improve working and performance environments. The system in this paper used the microcontroller PIC16F887 as the central control unit, LM35 temperature sensor as a temperature source,16x2 liquid crystal display (LCD) as indicator to display the different system working status an addition to some of drivers, relay and light emitting diodes (LED) as indicators to display the corresponding working appliance driver. The implementation and simulation of the system work has been achieved by using Proteus professional software v8.0 and mikroc pro for pic v.6.6.1 software to write the equivalent program and generate. Hex file for system working.
A New Secure Hybrid Algorithm for QR-Code Images Encryption and Steganography
Authors: Soltani Mohammad , Khatibi Bardsiri Amid
Published: June 2019

Encryption is a method, for the protection of useful information, which is used as one of the security purposes and steganography is the art of hiding the fact that communication is taking place, by hiding information in other Information. In this article at first, plain text message as a security information is converted to the (Quick Response Code) QR-code image and then we proposed a new secure hybrid algorithm for the encryption and steganography of generated QR-code. In this article image encryption is based on two-dimensional logistic chaotic map and AES algorithm and steganography technique is based on LSB algorithm. In addition, Huffman algorithm has come out as the most efficient compression technique and we can use Huffman algorithm to compress encrypted QR-code. Experimental results show that the scheme proposed in this article has a high security and better QR-Code images encryption and steganography quality.
BNIMS: Block-based Non-iterative Mean-shift Segmentation algorithm for Medical Images
Authors: Pedda Sadhu Naik P. , Gopal T. Venu
Published: June 2019

This paper proposed a novel Block based Mean Shift Image Segmentation Algorithm to significantly reduce the computation and improve the segmentation accuracy for high resolution Medical Image. One of the challenging tasks in the image analysis and computer vision area is to correctly classify the pixels as there are no crisp borders among entities in an image. In this proposed methodology, it is observed that the computational complexity of the procedure is diminished by combining the pixels of an image of size MXN into non overlapping image blocks of size 3x3 by eliminating the iterative way of the mean shift procedure. This proposed algorithm shrinks the size of the image by one third of its original image for the computational purpose and then equalizes the number of computations for each new image pixel by constructing links between pixels using their first mean-shift vectors without any iteration process. The accurateness and effectiveness of the proposed methodology is matched with the existing Iterative Mean Shift Algorithm by accomplishing the empherical experiments on the Medical Images (Pathologies Buccales and Eye Retina) composed along with the similarity measures.
Graph Management Systems: A Qualitative Survey
Authors: Nolé Maurizio , Sartiani Carlo
Published: June 2019

In the recent years many real-world applications have been modeled by graph structures (e.g., social networks, mobile phone networks, web graphs, etc.), and many systems have been developed to manage, query, and analyze these datasets. These systems could be divided into specialized graph database systems and large-scale graph analytics systems. The first ones consider end-to-end data management issues including storage representations, transactions, and query languages, whereas the second ones focus on processing specific tasks over large data graphs. In this paper we provide an overview of several  graph database systems and graph processing systems, with the aim of assisting the reader in identifying the best-suited solution for her application scenario.
Notice of Retraction Coupled Tree Parity Machines: Synchronized Secured Session Key based Encryption in Online Transaction
Authors: Sarkar Arindam , Dey Joydeep , Karforma Sunil , Bhowmik Anirban
Published: June 2019

Notice of Retraction-----------------------------------------------------------------------After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of APTIKOM's Publication Principles.We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting ij.aptikom@gmail.com.----------------------------------------------------------------------- In this paper, tree parity synchronized session key validation followed by encryption has been proposed for online data communication. Tree Parity Machine transmitting systems at both ends accepted an identical input vector, generated an output bit, validated the weight vector and the networks were trained accordingly based on the output bit which was used to form a protected variable length secret key. Existence of a better degree of coupling between the two topological same tree parity machines has been reflected in this paper. Instead of sharing the entire weight vector, the proposed technique guided the partial transmission and validation of session key. A string of sub key has been derived from the synchronized session key for initial ciphering matrix. The plain text was encrypted through single columnar transposition ciphering at first round of encryption followed by successive cascaded XORing of TPM generated session key. If size of the final block of plain text was less than the size of the key then this block was treated unaltered.  Recipient used identical generated session key for performing deciphering process for getting the plain text. Brute force attacks analysis has been implemented which determines a higher amount of time to decrypt by the intruders. Such long computational operations were not feasible by any of randomly selected fast networks at the intruders’ terminals.
Wireless Transport Protocol Variants for Cognitive Radio Networks
Authors: Let G Shine , Bala G Josemin , Magdalene W.
Published: June 2019

Scarce wireless resources, lead to development of cognitive radio network as a solution to unlicensed users communication in the licensed frequency band. In response to the behavior of licensed users communication, unlicensed users communication need to change from one frequency band to another band. In this communication paradigm, the performance of unlicensed users transmission control protocol gets degraded due to the features of cognitive radio network. To overcome this, several authors suggested quite a few modifications in the existing wireless transport protocol for cognitive radio network environment. This paper gives an overview of different transport protocols used for unlicensed users’ communication in cognitive radio networks
Comparison of Parametric representations of Birdcall in Gaussian Mixture model
Authors: Mohanty Ricky , Singh Solanki Sandeep
Published: June 2019

This paper focuses on the methods of automatic classifications of birds into different species based on feature extraction methods & audio recordings of their sounds. The recognition system uses Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to model 14 poultry bird species calls. Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) parameters & wavelet parameters are used for feature vector extraction. The paper briefly explains the methods &  also evaluates the performance of these methods in Gaussian Mixture Model classification .The results depicts the performance of  Gaussian Mixture Model classification using wavelet was more efficient in terms of percentage of accuracy  at around 80% and computation was also faster.
Survey on Health Monitoring of Elderly Using IoT
Authors: R Geethanjali
Published: June 2019

Most of the elderly citizens are either living by themselves or locked up at home when the family members go to work. Health of the elderly deteriorate gradually with age, but we fail to notice these changes in everyday life. The elderly are at a risk of not being attended immediately in case of emergencies. Internet of Things can be used to alert the family members and health personnel immediately when an abnormality in their health is sensed to prevent such emergencies. It can be used to detect abnormalities in the health condition by monitoring the parameters like heart pulse rate, body temperature, body movement and position, location and raise an alert to take immediate preventive actions. This approach has led to an evolution in the world of medicine. It allows for prognosis of diseases at a much earlier stage using this proactive paradigm compared to the existing retroactive diagnose-and-treat reactive paradigm. It also helps to personalize the treatment options available to meet the specific needs of the person. The early detection of abnormalities in the health condition can help in slowing down the progression of the condition and have everything under control. This article highlights the opportunities and challenges in utilizing the power of Internet of Things for remote healthcare of elderly and chronic patients.
Denoising of image using bilateral filtering in multiresolution
Authors: Ali Alaa Abid Muslam Abid , Dohan Mohammed Iqbal , Musluh Saif Khalid
Published: June 2019

One of the very efficient and resource conservative image processing methodology is with the help of bilateral filters. This technique filters the image without the help of edge smoothing but it does employs spatial averaging in a non-linear way. The filtering technique discussed above is very much dependent on the parameters of its filters. A very slight change in filter parameter values effects the outputs and results in a most drastic manner. In this paper, the author has worked on two contributions. In the applications concerning image denoising, the author has contributed in study of the parameter selection of bilateral filters which are optimal in nature. The contribution number two is about extending the present work i.e. extension of the filters which are bilateral in nature. In this process, the bilateral filtering of images is applied to the lower frequency sub-bands which is also known as approximation sub-band. This sub-band is obtained by using the wavelet transformations. Hence, a new framework for image denoising will be created which will be combination of multiresolution bilateral filtering and wavelets transformation techniques. As a matter of fact, this combination is efficient in contradicting noise from an image.
Decision Support System Based on Benefit Cost Ratio Method for Project Tender
Authors: Rukmana Siti Hardiyanti , Muslim Much Aziz
Published: June 2019

The procurement process became one of the important aspects for PT. PLN (Persero) to operate the company. One way to meet these needs is through the project tender. The tender process aims to get high-grade materials with the lowest prices that meet the criteria of efficiency PT. PLN (Persero). In order to simplify the bidding process required a decision support system. The method used in this system is Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR). Input in this application are the documents and the tender offer price from bidders with complete tender documents that have been validated by prospective bidders and then selected by the tender committee to make an assessment and validation winner. The output of this process is the winner of the tender project based on calculations Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR). Therefore, the method Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) can be used as a decision support system to determine the winner of the project tender.
PINHEIROS: AS RESILIÊNCIAS DE UM SÍTIO URBANO
Authors: Fritsch Noemi Yolan Nagy
Published: June 2019

O presente artigo tem como objetivo verificar se a área envoltória do que conhecemos hoje como Largo da Batata, no bairro de Pinheiros, é um ponto de resiliência social e urbana dentro da cidade de São Paulo. As análises das diversas ocupações do sítio urbano de Pinheiros, tradicional bairro paulistano, desde a sua ocupação oficial, em 1560, pelos padres jesuítas, pertencentes à Companhia de Jesus, até as ocupações informais de coletivos urbanos que dela se apropriaram a partir de 2014, são imprescindíveis para tal propósito. Através deles, traçam-se paralelos entre as políticas públicas e conectividades urbanas e movimentos sociais delas decorrentes. Da mesma forma, a abordagem de conceitos como topofilia, locus e genius loci são essenciais para a compreensão dos fenômenos de resiliência, apontados no decorrer desta explanação, ocasionados pelas diversas formas de apropriação deste sítio, considerado um dos mais antigos da cidade de São Paulo.
POTENCIAL DE APLICAÇÃO DE INFRAESTRUTURA VERDE NA BACIA DE DRENAGEM DO CÓRREGO BELINI
Authors: Pereira Maria Cristina Santana , Martins José Rodolfo Scarati , Martins Rafael Sampaio
Published: June 2019

Este estudo analisa a potencialidade de aplicação de infraestrutura verde na bacia de drenagem do córrego Belini. É uma área ocupada por residências que, embora sejam de alto padrão, apresenta problemas, poucos em relação ao resto da cidade, mas típicos de áreas urbanas, como inundações e precariedade dos sistemas de mobilidade. Devido à presença de muitas áreas verdes, é uma região propícia para a implementação de infraestrutura verde. Assim sendo, será apresentado um plano com diretrizes, que foi adaptado do zoneamento ambiental desenvolvido por Schutzer e aplicado por Bonzi, em busca de que os processos naturais convivam de forma mais harmoniosa com a ocupação da bacia.
Individual and Combined Impact of Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation on Ischemic Stroke Outcomes
Authors: Pana Tiberiu A. , McLernon David J. , Mamas Mamas A. , Bettencourt-Silva Joao H. , Metcalf Anthony K. , Potter John F. , Myint Phyo K.
Published: June 2019

Background and Purpose—

We aimed to determine individual and combined effects of atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) on acute ischemic stroke outcomes: in-hospital mortality, length-of-stay, and poststroke disability; long-term mortality and stroke recurrence.

Methods—

Prospective cohort study of patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to a UK center with a catchment population of ≈900 000 between 2004 and 2016. Exposure groups were patients with neither AF nor HF (reference group), those with AF but without HF, those with HF but without AF, and those with AF+HF. Logistic and Cox regressions were used to model in-hospital and long-term outcomes, respectively.

Results—

A total of 10 816 patients with a mean age±SD =77.9±12.1 years, 48% male were included. Only 30 (4.9%) of the patients with HF but not AF were anticoagulated at discharge. Both AF (odds ratio, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.07–1.43]), HF (odds ratio, 1.40 [1.10–1.79]), and their combination (odds ratio, 2.23 [1.83–2.72]) were associated with increased odds of in-hospital mortality. All 3 exposure groups were associated with increased length-of-stay, while only AF predicted increased disability (1.36 [1.12–1.64]). Patients were followed for a median of 5.5 and 3.7 years for mortality and recurrence, respectively. Long-term mortality was associated with AF (hazard ratio, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.33–1.59]), HF (2.07 [1.83–2.36]), and their combination (2.20 [1.96–2.46]). Recurrent stroke was associated with AF 1.50 (1.26–1.78), HF (1.33 [1.01–1.75]), and AF with HF (1.62 [1.28–2.07]).

Conclusions—

The AF-associated excess risk of stroke recurrence was independent of comorbid HF. HF without AF was also associated with a significant risk of recurrence. Anticoagulation for secondary stroke prevention in patients with HF without AF may require further evaluation in a clinical trial setting.
Determining the Scope of the Local Remedies Rule in unclos Disputes
Authors: Marotti Loris
Published: June 2019

Art. 295 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (unclos) embodies the rule of prior exhaustion of local remedies by making a renvoi to cases where the application of the rule is required by international law. In the practice of the International Tribunal for the Law of Sea (itlos) and Annex vii Tribunals, States continuously raise preliminary objections based on Art. 295. However, such tribunals have never found the local remedies rule applicable. In this paper, it is argued that the approach taken by unclos Tribunals towards the applicability of the local remedies rule is not persuasive since, absent proper reasoning, it fails to align with – or expressly depart from – what appears to be the present state of international law on the topic. Furthermore, the above practice undermines the effectiveness of Art. 295 and calls into question the actual relevance of the local remedies rule within unclos disputes. In the present article the approach followed by unclos Tribunals with respect to the applicability of the local remedies rule is assessed against a reconsideration of the issue of mixed claims and the specific regime set forth in the Law of the Sea Convention. In the concluding section the approach taken in unclos Tribunals’ case law is considered in light of recent criticisms pointing out the current improper expansion of the jurisdiction under unclos Part xv.
To Convene or Not to Convene? The Future Status of the Articles on State Responsibility: Recent Developments
Authors: Paddeu Federica I.
Published: June 2019

This article reviews the recent developments concerning the future status of the ars at the Sixth Committee and critically appraises the arguments put forward by States both in favour and against convening a conference to negotiate a treaty on State responsibility.
Self-Determination and Democracy in Post-Conflict Africa: Moving from Procedure to Substance
Authors: Okechukwu Nneka A.
Published: June 2019

This article reviews the application of the principle of self-determination to postconflict rule of law developments in Africa. Popular conceptions of the principle or right of self-determination often associate it with so-called ‘self-determination’ or ‘sovereignty-based’ conflicts, that is, those fought with the aim of separation or secession. This link with secession has experienced a recent resurgence with the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, and the arguments put forward by the Kremlin in defence of its actions. However, focus on the relationship between secession and selfdetermination tends to overshadow other understandings and approaches. This article focuses upon a too often neglected aspect of self-determination – the application of internal self-determination, with a focus on African post-conflict States. The specific concern here is the ways and means by which self-determination governs the relationship between the ‘people’ of a State in entirety and the State itself, especially during periods of political transition. The principle of internal self-determination is argued here to consist of three critical facets: representation, accountability and responsiveness. These facets in turn require a move away from liberal-democratic approaches, which equate (internal) self-determination with ‘democracy’ expressed via elections, and a focus instead on the ways and means by which effective participation of an entire population might be advanced.
Interactions between International Investment Law and Constitutional Law: Promoting the Dialogue. A European Perspective on Judicial Cooperation and Deference
Authors: Witte Inga
Published: June 2019

There are manifold constellations of potential conflict between international investment law and constitutional law. The ordering paradigm for that interaction is an unresolved and underexplored question, which is currently coming up in a number of proceedings. As prominently evidenced by the recent Achmea judgment, we seem to be steering towards supremacy claims of one system over the other with each adjudicative body claiming the final say in the matter. This approach is in line with the classic ordering paradigm of hierarchy. However, this contribution shall argue that hierarchy is ill-suited to properly conceptualize the relationship between the two systems. Instead, it proposes to embrace the heterarchical reality, along with its call for judicial dialogue, as a normatively desirable paradigm. The relationship between international investment law and constitutional law need not be and should not be perceived as inherently antagonistic because their mutual endeavour is to promote the rule of law. Precisely this realization should guide the relationship between the two systems.
Between Artefacts, Fragments, and Texts: An Analysis of 4Q266 Column I
Authors: Tucker James M. , Porzig Peter
Published: June 2019

In this article, we propose a new reconstruction of column I of 4Q266 (4QDa), which is part of our new edition of the Damascus Document. Our proposed reconstruction results from a careful assessment of previous reconstructions of this column, as it pertains to fragment 1b and its relationship to frag. 1a. Specifically, we argue that the DJD line 1 reading of ב]נ֯י̇ אור לה̇נז֯ר֯ מדר֯[כי is better understood as a scribal gloss and not as the first line of the column. We conclude the article by discussing the compositional history of the Damascus Document, especially in terms of how our new reconstruction relates to the Cairo Genizah Codex CD A.
Is All That Glitters the Lex Oppia?
Authors: Ehrman Radd K.
Published: June 2019

The lex Oppia of 215 bc is known largely through Livy’s report of the debate centering on its repeal 20 years later. The details of the legislation are somewhat sketchy but it has become a focal point for discussing fragments of the fabulae togatae which refer to gold and purple. In this piece pertinent fragments of the Barbatus of Titinius are examined to see whether or not perceived allusions to the law are sound.
ATΗΣ ΑΤΕΡ. A Note on Sophocles, Antigone 2-6
Authors: Agosto Mauro
Published: June 2019

In this paper the author deals with Sophocles’ Antigone 2-6 suggesting two slight changes in Ant. 3 (ὁµοῖον pro ὁποῖον) and Ant. 4 (οὖσ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ pro οὔτ᾽ ἄτης ἄτερ) and he argues in defence of the transmitted words ἄτης ἄτερ. He also discusses Earle’s interpretation of τῶν ἀπ᾽ Οἰδίπου (l. 2) and the translation of νῷν ἔτι ζώσαιν τελεῖ (l. 3).

In addition, he points out the exact attribution of some conjectures.
The Changing Opportunities of Professionalization for Graduate Occupations
Authors: Tholen Gerbrand
Published: June 2019

In recent times, rapidly changing occupational contexts have altered professional trajectories. While sociologists have emphasized that abstract knowledge acquired in higher education is an important characteristic of professionalism, it is not clear whether the expansion of higher education has affected the possibility of individuals and groups to monopolize their university credentials. In this article the author argues that the emergence of new graduate occupations and the growth of a university-educated labour force have made occupational closure in the professions more difficult. The changing relationship between education, skills, jobs and credentials limits possibilities for the creation and maintenance of professionalization trajectories as a professional status and a professional knowledge base becomes harder to achieve. Due to the decreasing opportunities of using formal educational credentials to achieve professional closure, aspiring occupations will have to rely more on what is called ‘symbolic closure’.
Šihāb al-Dīn al-Marǧānī on the Divine Attributes: A Study in Kalām in the 19th Century
Authors: Spannaus Nathan
Published: June 2019

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, very vibrant debates regarding the question of the divine attributes (ṣifāt), one of the central issues in the history of Islamic theology, arose among the Muslims of the Russian Empire. A continuation of pre-existing debates taking place at the time in Central Asia, the controversy over the attributes revolved around the question of their ontological relationship to the divine essence (ḏāt), and whether the predominant view, that of Saʿd al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī, rendered the attributes too distinct from the essence, thus violating God’s oneness. One very prominent participant was the Tatar scholar Šihāb al-Dīn al-Marǧānī (d. 1889), who crafted a sophisticated critique of Taftāzānī and articulated a novel view of the attributes, based on the work of another Tatar scholar, Abū Naṣr Qūrṣāwī (d. 1812). This paper argues that not only do these debates show the continuation of the kalām tradition into the modern era, but they also represent important developments of that tradition in their own right, against the view that post-classical theology had become repetitive and derivative.
Esotericist Reading Communities and the Early Circulation of the Sufi Occultist Aḥmad al-Būnī’s Works
Authors: Gardiner Noah
Published: June 2019

The Ifrīqiyan cum Cairene Sufi Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. ca 622/1225 or 630/1232-1233) is a key figure in the history of the Islamicate occult sciences, particularly with regard to the “science of letters and names” (ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ). Drawing on textual and manuscript evidence, this paper examines the role of esotericism—religious secrecy and exclusivity—in al-Būnī’s thought and in the promulgation and early circulation of his works in Egypt and environs. It is argued that al-Būnī intended his works only for elite Sufi initiates, and that, in the century or so after his death, they indeed circulated primarily in “esotericist reading communities,” groups of learned Sufis who guarded their contents from those outside their own circles. This tendency toward esotericism, and the eventual exposure of al-Būnī’s texts to a wider readership, are contextualized in relation to broader developments in late-medieval Mediterranean culture.
Physiognomy (ʿilm-i firāsat) and Ottoman Statecraft: Discerning Morality and Justice
Authors: Lelić Emin
Published: June 2019

In the tenth/sixteenth century six treatises on physiognomy (ʿilm-i firāsat)—a science widely considered able to predict inner moral dispositions (aḫlāq-i bāṭina) based on external appearances (aḥwāl-i ẓāhira)—were written for the Ottoman court. In a world in which statecraft and politics were ultimately based on questions of morality (aḫlāq), physiognomy was presented as a particularly useful skill for the Ottoman court due to its ability to evaluate inner moral character with scientific precision. Based on such knowledge, a partial conception of justice could be implemented with an instrumental coating of impartiality. Moreover, men with prized moral qualities could be selected for the ruling elite. The science also offered the sultan and his court a modus operandi for attaining self-knowledge and, if combined with moral self-disciplining (riyāḍat), a way to acquire divine characteristics.
In Defense of Geomancy: Šaraf al-Dīn Yazdī Rebuts Ibn Ḫaldūn’s Critique of the Occult Sciences
Authors: Melvin-Koushki Matthew
Published: June 2019

The late 8th/14th century saw a renaissance of high occultism throughout Islamdom—a development alarming to puritan scholars. This includes Ibn Ḫaldūn (d. 808/1406), whose anti-occultist position in the Muqaddima is often assumed to be an example of his visionary empiricism; yet his goal is simply the recategorization of all occult sciences under the twin rubrics of magic and divination, and his veto persuades more on religious and social grounds than natural-scientific. Restoring the historian’s argument to its original state of debate with the burgeoning occultist movement associated with the Mamluk sultan Barqūq’s (r. 784/1382-791/1389 and 792/1390-801/1399) court reveals it to be not forward-thinking but rather conservative, fideist and indeed reactionary, as such closely allied with Ibn Qayyim al-Ǧawziyya’s (d. 751/1350) puritanical project in particular; and in any event, the eager patronage and pursuit of the occult sciences by early modern ruling and scholarly elites suggests that his appeal could only fall on deaf ears. That it also flatly opposed the forms of millennial sovereignty that would define the post-Mongol era was equally disqualifying. I here take Šaraf al‑Dīn ʿAlī Yazdī (d. 858/1454), Ibn Ḫaldūn’s younger colleague and fellow resident in Cairo, as his sparring partner from the opposing camp: the Timurid historian was a card-carrying occultist and member of the Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ network of neopythagorean-neoplatonic-monist thinkers then gaining prominence from India to Anatolia via Egypt. I further take geomancy (ʿilm al-raml) as a test case, since Yazdī wrote a tract in defense of the popular divinatory science that directly rebuts Ibn Ḫaldūn’s arguments in the Muqaddima. To set the stage for their debate, I briefly introduce contemporary geomantic theory and practice, then discuss Ibn Ḫaldūn’s and Yazdī’s respective theories of occultism with a view toward establishing points of agreement and disagreement; I also append a translation of Yazdī’s tract as a basis for this comparison.
Predestination and Free Will in Mudejar Polemics: The Kitāb al-Mujādala maʿa-l-Yahūd wa-l-Naṣārā [The book called the disputation with the Jews and the Christians] and its Historical and Intellectual Background
Authors: Colominas Aparicio Mònica
Published: June 2019

Predestination and free will were two issues widely debated in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, and were subject to different interpretations by Muslims, Christians and Jews. A case in point is the Kitāb al-Mujādala maʿa-l-Yahūd wa-l-Naṣārā [The book called the disputation with the Jews and the Christians], a Mudejar polemic of which the only known manuscript was copied in 808 H (= 1405 CE). I use the discussion of predestination and free will to illustrate the polemical use of these two concepts in this treatise. I also examine how the author addresses his discourse to a learned Mudejar audience by placing the acquisition of proper knowledge of philosophy at the center of the debate. This article uses examples from the Kitāb al-Mujādala to argue that the author’s worldview is not exceptional but seems to be connected with that of contemporary Christians and Jews. Moreover, it is indebted to the legacy of Almohad thought among Muslims living in the Iberian Peninsula.
Swearing by God: Muslim Oath-Taking in Late Medieval and Early Modern Christian Iberia
Authors: Vicens Belen
Published: June 2019

Abstract

This paper examines Muslim oaths found in Christian legal texts in late medieval and early modern Iberia, especially in the Crown of Aragon. Whereas lawmakers in Castile used Castilian to record Muslim oaths, in the kingdoms of Aragon and Valencia these formulas appeared in Arabic, though written in Latin characters. This paper traces the evolution of these Arabic formulas during four centuries, from the abbreviated forms of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, such as “baylle ylloe,” to the more elaborate forms of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which include references to the qibla (the direction of prayer), the Qurʾān, and Ramadan. Comparing these formulas with those found in Muslim legal compilations produced in Christian Iberia shows that despite different emphases (on location, timing, and manner of oath taking), both Christian and Muslim legal texts recognized and established that Muslims swear by God. Although attitudes towards Muslims grew increasingly hostile in the latter Middle Ages, this analysis of Muslim oaths shows that Arabic continued to mediate the legal interaction between the two communities and that Islamic rituals, as mentioned in the oaths, were still very much a part of the multicultural landscape of late medieval and early modern Iberia.
Reflections on the Debate: What Does Philosophy Have to Do with the Cognitive Study of Religion?
Authors: Visala Aku
Published: June 2019

Why should the study of religion in general and cognitive study of religion in particular be interested in philosophy in the first place, and vice versa? The paper offers some responses to the debate between John Shook and his respondents. It will suggest that such debates are useful, as it is a philosophical task to reflect upon the basic assumptions, inference patterns and theories of the study of religion. Furthermore, cognitive study of religion and other approaches in the study of religion should be of great interest to philosophers of religion. The paper puts the debate in a larger context of the dialogue of philosophy and cognitive science of religion and introduces two central themes: debates about psychological explanations and debunking arguments.
Spain and Marine Protected Areas: Recent Developments
Authors: Aznar Mariano J.
Published: June 2019

Spain has just declared a new marine protected area in the Mediterranean. This follows a protective trend taken by Spanish authorities during the last decades and has permitted Spain to honour its international compromises under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It contributes to a framework of protected areas established under conventional regimes such as OSPAR, RAMSAR or EU Natura 2000. The new area protects a ‘cetacean corridor’ and will be inscribed in the list of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance under the Barcelona Convention regional framework.
Childhood Immunisation: Mandate or Persuasion? Italian Lawmakers Have Opted for the Former, What about European Legislators?
Authors: Montanari Vergallo Gianluca , di Luca Natale Mario , Zaami Simona
Published: June 2019

Over the past decades, the number of effective and safe child vaccines available has increased. Yet, more and more parents have become concerned about vaccine safety. The authors address the following question: are vaccinations, especially in children, to be considered as mandatory treatment or should parents be entitled to choose whether to have their children vaccinated or not? In Europe, eleven countries have instituted mandates, whereas others have opted for mere recommendations and rely on information campaigns. Italy is one of those which have recently enacted legislation designed to broaden the scope of mandatory vaccinations. The paper’s authors argue that it is certainly hard to draw the line between individual and collective rights, yet it is incumbent upon state authorities to foster the common interest and the public good, which gives governments a right and an obligation to promote immunisation, at least until the safety threshold is reached.
Indonesia’s Human Rights Court: Need for Reform
Authors: Dewi Yustina Trihoni Nalesti , Niemann Grant R , Triatmodjo Marsudi
Published: June 2019

This article reviews the need to provide greater human rights protections through Indonesia’s Human Rights Court mechanism. Despite the Court gaining momentum with the emergence of greater democratic freedoms, there is still quite a long way to go before the Court can function in a transparent and accountable way. The opportunity to do this was missed when political interests were put ahead of human rights protections when the legislation creating the Court paid no attention to the investigating and procedural complexities of categories of the crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Court. Moreover, the lack of protection for victims and witnesses has had an adverse impact on prosecutions. This article recommends that some legislative reform is desirable but legislative reform alone will not bring about the equally important cultural change required to achieve this objective. This transformation can only be achieved by ensuring that all the relevant actors operating within the system are held accountable and required to operate in a professional manner.
Expanding the Role of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights for the Protection of Gender Equality in the Workplace
Authors: Salcedo Emily Sanchez
Published: June 2019

The multi-layered system of human rights protection complemented by a comprehensive campaign for human rights promotion in Canada can provide strategic guidance for the Philippine Commission on Human Rights as it manifests unfortunate hesitation to exercise its statutory mandate to protect and promote women’s rights. Originally created for the primary purpose of investigating all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights lacks the capacity and has insufficient resources to extend its reach. The three main functions of mediation, investigation, and referral to adjudication, of the human rights commissions in various Canadian provinces and territories, as well as at the federal level, readily offer an appropriate and affordable model that can be easily emulated in the Philippine setting.
Same Spirit, Different Structure: Francis Bacon on Inanimate and Animate Matter
Authors: Rusu Doina-Cristina
Published: June 2019

This article argues that for Francis Bacon there is only one type of spiritual matter, which acquires different qualities and performs different functions within bodies depending on the structure it has. In order to prove this hypothesis, the paper takes as a case study the process of spontaneous generation, where there is no pre-existent spirit, as contrary to the case of the generation out of seed. For Bacon, tangible matter is prepared to produce certain species, leaving to the spirits the function of shaping what lies in matter in potency.
Athanasius Kircher and Vegetal Magnetism: Analogy as a Method
Authors: Čermáková Lucie
Published: June 2019

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, plants were the object of a primarily descriptive approach: naturalists were concerned mainly with collecting and classifying. When confronted with the splendour of great herbals and florilegia, one can easily overlook the works which deal with plants from a more theoretical or philosophical perspective. This paper examines a chapter on vegetal magnetism in Athanasius Kircher’s treatise Magnes sive de arte magnetica. My analysis shows how Kircher uses the analogy with magnets to describe the various features of plants. He uses analogy as an epistemological tool. In Kircher’s view, analogy is not merely an illustration, it also helps him to show how plants with all their more-or-less peculiar morphological and physiological properties can be included in the whole order of creation.
Appetitive Matter and Perception in Ralph Austen’s Projects of Natural History of Plants
Authors: Matei Oana
Published: June 2019

In this article I argue that, through the use of experimental practice and by following Bacon’s general prescriptions for natural history, Ralph Austen developed an appetitive theory of matter of Baconian inspiration. There are at least three areas of similarity between the two authors’ theories of matter: the presence and activity of spirits as the main entities animating matter; the relations of sympathy and antipathy between different elements of matter; and perception as an appetitive property of plants that can produce motion. I conclude that Austen developed his theory of matter on the basis of these three central points, which bear a significant resemblance to Bacon’s own theory, a connection that is best exemplified by its appetitive character.
Plant and Soil Chemistry in Seventeenth-Century England: Worsley, Boyle and Coxe
Authors: Clericuzio Antonio
Published: June 2019

In seventeenth-century England agriculturalists, projectors and natural philosophers devoted special attention to the chemical investigation of plants, of soil composition and of fertilizers. Hugh Plat’s and Francis Bacon’s works became particularly influential in the mid-seventeenth century, and inspired much of the Hartlib Circle’s schemes and research for improving agriculture. The Hartlibians turned to chemistry in order to provide techniques for improving soil and to investigate plant generation and growth. They drew upon the Paracelsian chemistry of salts, as well as upon the works of van Helmont and Glauber. Benjamin Worsley, Boyle’s scientific companion in the 1640s and 1650s, played a leading role in the Hartlib Circle’s research on saltpetre and on fertilizers. The Hartlib Circle’s research in agricultural chemistry shaped much of the research carried out by the Royal Society in the 1660s and in the 1670s. Daniel Coxe, who adopted Boyle’s chemical theories and pursued original experimental research on the composition of plants, played a central part in the early Royal Society’s agricultural projects and notably in the investigations of plants.
Ethnicity, Social Identity, and the Transposable Body of Christ
Authors: Goroncy Jason
Published: June 2019

This essay attends to the relationship between our ethnic, social, and cultural identities, and the creation of the new communal identity embodied in the Christian community. Drawing upon six New Testament texts – Ephesians 2:11–22; Galatians 3:27–28; 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 and 10:17; 1 Peter 2:9–11; and Revelation 21:24–26 – it is argued that the creation of a new and prime identity in Christ does not abrogate other creaturely identities, even as it calls for the removal of such as boundary markers. Catholicity, in other words, is intrinsically related to the most radical particularity, and demands an ongoing work of discernment and of judgement vis-à-vis the gospel itself. Those baptized into Christ are now to live in the reality of Christ who is both the boundary and center of their existence, a boundary which includes all humanity in its cultural, ethnic, gendered, social and historical particularities.

本文关注的是种族、社会及文化身份与具体化的基督教新群体身份的创造之间的关系。从新约里的六段经文里 – 弗2:11–22; 加3:27–28; 林前7:17–24; 10:17; 彼前2:9–11; 启21:24–26 – 本文辩称在基督里新造的身份，即使会抹去其存在的边界线，但并不废除其被造身份的特殊性。换句话说，大公教会本质上与最根本的个体性有关，需要透过福音本身作出持续不断的辨明与判断。那些在基督里受洗了的，现在活在他们存在的边界和中心，这边界包括了所有带着文化、种族、性别、社会及历史个体性的人类。

Este ensayo se ocupa de la relación entre nuestras identidades étnicas, sociales y culturales y la creación de una nueva identidad comunal encarnada en la comunidad cristiana. Basado en seis pasajes del Nuevo Testamento: Efesios 2: 11–22; Gálatas 3: 27–28; 1 Corintios 7: 17–24 y 10:17; 1 Pedro 2: 9–11 y Apocalipsis 21: 24–26 se argumenta que la creación de una identidad nueva y principal en Cristo no anula otras identidades del ser humano, aún cuando pide que se eliminen tales barreras. La catolicidad, en otras palabras, está intrínsecamente relacionada con la particularidad más radical, y exige un trabajo continuo de discernimiento y de juicio frente al evangelio mismo. Los bautizados en Cristo ahora deben vivir en la realidad de Cristo quien es a la vez el límite y el centro de sus existencias, un límite que incluye a toda la humanidad en sus particularidades culturales, étnicas, de género, sociales e históricas.

This article is in English.
Basel Mission and Revolutions in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century China: Debating Societal Renewal
Authors: Brandner Tobias
Published: June 2019

This article analyzes how the Basel missionaries interpreted the nineteenth- and twentieth-century revolutionary changes in China. After a short historical overview, it assesses the different aspects and roots of what implicitly constituted the political theology of the Basel Mission. In the body part of the essay it analyzes documents written by missionaries (letters, reports written to the home committee) to understand how the missionaries saw the epochal changes that they witnessed: the Taiping Rebellion in the nineteenth century and the political changes taking place between 1911–1949. A final section considers how timely the past Basel missionaries’ political views are in present-day China and how they are reflected in parts of recent Chinese political theology.
Reading Romans in a Globalized and Increasingly Urban World
Authors: Wu Siu Fung
Published: June 2019

There have been many studies on urbanization, migration, and globalization in recent years. While the Scripture is often used in these studies, it is not common that Paul’s letter to the Romans is the primary focus of discussion. But Rome was the largest urban center in the ancient world, with a multicultural society that is not unlike many cities today. This means that Romans is very relevant to our globalized and increasingly urban world. This paper will show that Romans provides important resources for urban mission practitioners. In particular, it will propose that Paul envisions a love-centered multicultural community of shalom that is called to fulfil the mission of God by living out the death and life of Jesus in a world of chaos.
Medicine in the Chinese Buddhist Canon
Authors: Salguero C. Pierce , Toleno Robban , Giddings William J. , Capitanio Joshua , Bingenheimer Marcus
Published: June 2019

The excerpts below were selected to introduce a number of disparate genres and types of discourses about healing, illness, and cure that are embedded within the Chinese Buddhist canon. They include an excerpt from a monastic disciplinary code concerning the storage of medicines, a scripture with a story of an encounter between a bodhisattva and a famous physician, a liturgy dedicated to a major healing deity, an author’s advice to doctors from a Buddhist perspective, and a devotional verse that plays on medical metaphors. Taken together, they indicate some of the diversity of perspectives and approaches of Buddhist materials and suggest the potential importance of often-overlooked Buddhist materials for the study of Asian medicine.