Faith as a Mustard Seed

Abstract: This investigation of the concept of faith is divided into two parts. Part One evaluates a topical philosophical interpretation of faith as irreducibly disjunctive, collecting the best fragmented ideas as to what constitutes faith in a recent family resemblance exposition as an objective for an adequate essentialist analysis of the concept of faith to achieve. Part Two offers a more extended essentialist analysis of the concept of faith as unconditional patience in the eventuality of a positive future state, and a detailed reduction of six supposedly disparate family resemblance senses of faith to this single definition. Criteria for a satisfactory analysis of faithfulness are considered and defended. In contrast with what has become a standard doxastic-epistemic interpretation of faith as persistent unjustified or even unjustifiable belief, a concept of faith is advanced that appears to satisfy the necessary and sufficient criteria identified. Systematic comparison with a variety of usages of the word “faith��� suggests that the analysis agrees with many and arguably most applications of this sometimes loosely understood term. Implications of the analysis of the concept of faith are considered and defended against anticipated objections. Pascal’s wager is critically examined in relation to matters of religious faith, along with positivist meaningfulness requirements that seem to conflict especially with epistemically ungrounded belief, the power of faith, and the metaphorical size of mustard seeds. The inquiry concludes with a synthesis of five aspects of six supposedly distinct senses of faith under the single essentialist reductive umbrella of unconditional patience in the eventuality of a positive future state.

On the Limits of Greenwich Mean Time, or The Failure of a Modernist Revolution

On the Limits of Greenwich Mean Time, or The Failure of a Modernist Revolution From the introduction of World Standard Time in 1884 to Einstein’s theory of relativity, the nature and regulation of time was a highly contested issue in modernism, with profound political, social and epistemological consequences. Modernist aesthetic sensibilities widely revolted against the increasingly strict rule of the clock, which, as Georg Simmel observed in “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” was established as the necessary basis of a capitalist, urban life. This paper will focus on the contending conceptions of time arising in key modernist texts by authors like Joyce, Woolf and Conrad. I will argue that the uniformity and regularity of time necessary to a rising capitalist society came under attack in a similar way by both modernist literary aesthetics and new scientific discoveries. However, while Einstein’s theory of relativity may have led to a subsequent change of paradigm in scientific thought, it has failed to significantly alter social and popular conceptions of time. Although alternative ways of thinking and living with time are proposed by modernist authors, they remain isolated aesthetic experiments, ineffectual against the regulatory pressure of economic and social structures. In this struggle about the nature of time, so I suggest, science and literature join force against a society that is increasingly governed by economic reason. The fact that they lost this struggle can serve as a striking illustration of an increasing shift of social influence from science and art towards economy.

An analysis of protocols and publications suggested that most discontinuations of clinical trials were not based on preplanned interim analyses or stopping rules.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the frequency of interim analyses, stopping rules, and data safety and monitoring boards (DSMBs) in protocols of randomized controlled trials (RCTs); to examine these features across different reasons for trial discontinuation; and to identify discrepancies in reporting between protocols and publications. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING We used data from a cohort of RCT protocols approved between 2000 and 2003 by six research ethics committees in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada. RESULTS Of 894 RCT protocols, 289 prespecified interim analyses (32.3%), 153 stopping rules (17.1%), and 257 DSMBs (28.7%). Overall, 249 of 894 RCTs (27.9%) were prematurely discontinued; mostly due to reasons such as poor recruitment, administrative reasons, or unexpected harm. Forty-six of 249 RCTs (18.4%) were discontinued due to early benefit or futility; of those, 37 (80.4%) were stopped outside a formal interim analysis or stopping rule. Of 515 published RCTs, there were discrepancies between protocols and publications for interim analyses (21.1%), stopping rules (14.4%), and DSMBs (19.6%). CONCLUSION Two-thirds of RCT protocols did not consider interim analyses, stopping rules, or DSMBs. Most RCTs discontinued for early benefit or futility were stopped without a prespecified mechanism. When assessing trial manuscripts, journals should require access to the protocol.

Cement distribution, volume, and compliance in vertebroplasty: some answers from an anatomy-based nonlinear finite element study

STUDY DESIGN: The biomechanics of vertebral bodies augmented with real distributions of cement were investigated using nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis. OBJECTIVES: To compare stiffness, strength, and stress transfer of augmented versus nonaugmented osteoporotic vertebral bodies under compressive loading. Specifically, to examine how cement distribution, volume, and compliance affect these biomechanical variables. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Previous FE studies suggested that vertebroplasty might alter vertebral stress transfer, leading to adjacent vertebral failure. However, no FE study so far accounted for real cement distributions and bone damage accumulation. METHODS: Twelve vertebral bodies scanned with high-resolution pQCT and tested in compression were augmented with various volumes of cements and scanned again. Nonaugmented and augmented pQCT datasets were converted to FE models, with bone properties modeled with an elastic, plastic and damage constitutive law that was previously calibrated for the nonaugmented models. The cement-bone composite was modeled with a rule of mixture. The nonaugmented and augmented FE models were subjected to compression and their stiffness, strength, and stress map calculated for different cement compliances. RESULTS: Cement distribution dominated the stiffening and strengthening effects of augmentation. Models with cement connecting either the superior or inferior endplate (S/I fillings) were only up to 2 times stiffer than the nonaugmented models with minimal strengthening, whereas those with cement connecting both endplates (S + I fillings) were 1 to 8 times stiffer and 1 to 12 times stronger. Stress increases above and below the cement, which was higher for the S + I cases and was significantly reduced by increasing cement compliance. CONCLUSION: The developed FE approach, which accounts for real cement distributions and bone damage accumulation, provides a refined insight into the mechanics of augmented vertebral bodies. In particular, augmentation with compliant cement bridging both endplates would reduce stress transfer while providing sufficient strengthening.