Belief as Willingness to Bet

We investigate modal logics of high probability having two unary modal operators: an operator $K$ expressing probabilistic certainty and an operator $B$ expressing probability exceeding a fixed rational threshold $c\geq\frac 12$. Identifying knowledge with the former and belief with the latter, we may think of $c$ as the agent's betting threshold, which leads to the motto "belief is willingness to bet." The logic $\mathsf{KB.5}$ for $c=\frac 12$ has an $\mathsf{S5}$ $K$ modality along with a sub-normal $B$ modality that extends the minimal modal logic $\mathsf{EMND45}$ by way of four schemes relating $K$ and $B$, one of which is a complex scheme arising out of a theorem due to Scott. Lenzen was the first to use Scott's theorem to show that a version of this logic is sound and complete for the probability interpretation. We reformulate Lenzen's results and present them here in a modern and accessible form. In addition, we introduce a new epistemic neighborhood semantics that will be more familiar to modern modal logicians. Using Scott's theorem, we provide the Lenzen-derivative properties that must be imposed on finite epistemic neighborhood models so as to guarantee the existence of a probability measure respecting the neighborhood function in the appropriate way for threshold $c=\frac 12$. This yields a link between probabilistic and modal neighborhood semantics that we hope will be of use in future work on modal logics of qualitative probability. We leave open the question of which properties must be imposed on finite epistemic neighborhood models so as to guarantee existence of an appropriate probability measure for thresholds $c\neq\frac 12$.Comment: Removed date from v1 to avoid confusion on citation/reference, otherwise identical to v

Vision of Dutch organic dairy farmers on animal health and welfare

Dutch organic dairy farmers expressed their opinions on animal health and welfare in order to be able to communicate it internally (within the dairy sector) and externally (to consumers). A healthy animal in their opinion is free of physical and psychological discomfort, survives in a herd, takes enough food and behaves naturally. Disease resistance, both innate and achieved, plays a crucial role in health and welfare. Breeding should aim at health criteria and high production may even be sacrificed for good health. Prevention is more important than treatment. A diseased animal should, to some extend, be given the opportunity to recover by itself. However, needless suffering should be prevented by effective treatment, which only as a last remedy, may be antibiotics. For the assessment of suffering, the intensity and duration of pain should all be taken into account, as well as the course of the disease and its prognosis, feed and water intake, survival in the herd and body reserves. Moreover, more regulations are no guarantee for a better health and welfare. Housing, adequate feeding, care and the farmers’ attitude toward his animals all contribute to animal health and welfare

Animal health in organic livestock systems: a review

Organic livestock production is a means of food production with a large number of rules directed towards a high status of animal welfare, care for the environment, restricted use of medical drugs and the production of a healthy product without residues (pesticides or medical drugs). The intentions of organic livestock production have been formulated by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and were further implemented by EU regulation 2092/91 in the year 2000. The consequences of these rules for the health of the animals were not yet fully anticipated at the time these regulations were made and it has become clear that in some cases the rules are not clear enough thereby even hampering the development of the production system. In this review we shall discuss the implications of these rules for animal health, whereby we shall focus on pig, poultry and dairy production systems. Disease prevention in organic farming is based on the principles that an animal that is allowed to exhibit natural behaviour, is not subjected to stress, and is fed optimal (organic) feed, will have a higher ability to cope with infections than animals reared in a conventional way. Fewer medical treatments would thus be necessary and if an animal would become diseased, alternative treatments instead of conventional drugs should be preferred. Although homeopathy or phytotherapy are recommended according to prevailing regulations, not many organic farmers use this treatment regimen in view of lacking scientific evidence of effectiveness. Important health problems in organic livestock farming are often related to the animals’ outdoor access area. Due to such an area the animals are exposed to various viral, bacterial and parasitic infections some of which may influence the animals’ own welfare but other ones may also endanger the health of conventional livestock (e.g. Avian Influenza) or pose a food safety (Campylobacter, Toxoplasma) problem to the consumer. Many preventive measures can be taken such as using better animal breeds, optimised rearing conditions, pre-, probiotics, addition of acids to the drinking water and in case of infectious disease, tight vaccination schedules may prevent serious outbreaks

The story of Oh: the aesthetics and rhetoric of a common vowel sound

Studies in Musical Theatre is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to musical theatre. It was launched in 2007 and is now in its seventh volume. It has an extensive international readership and is edited by Dominic Symonds and George Burrows. This article investigates the use of the ‘word’ ‘Oh’ in a variety of different performance idioms. Despite its lack of ‘meaning’, the sound is used in both conversation and poetic discourse, and I discuss how it operates communicatively and expressively through contextual resonances, aesthetic manipulation and rhetorical signification. The article first considers the aesthetically modernist work of Cathy Berberian in Bussotti’s La Passion Selon Sade; then it considers the rhetorically inflected use of ‘Oh’ to construct social resonance in popular song;finally, it discusses two important uses of the sound ‘Oh’ which bookend the Broadway musical Oklahoma!, serving to consolidate the allegorical and musico-dramatic narrative of the show

Critical Temperature and Amplitude Ratios from a Finite-Temperature Renormalization Group

We study \l\f^4 theory using an environmentally friendly finite-temperature renormalization group. We derive flow equations, using a fiducial temperature as flow parameter, develop them perturbatively in an expansion free from ultraviolet and infrared divergences, then integrate them numerically from zero to temperatures above the critical temperature. The critical temperature, at which the mass vanishes, is obtained by integrating the flow equations and is determined as a function of the zero-temperature mass and coupling. We calculate the field expectation value and minimum of the effective potential as functions of temperature and derive some universal amplitude ratios which connect the broken and symmetric phases of the theory. The latter are found to be in good agreement with those of the three-dimensional Ising model obtained from high- and low-temperature series expansions.Comment: 14 pages of LaTeX. Postscript figures available upon request form [email protected]

A generating functional for ultrasoft amplitudes in hot QCD

The effective amplitudes for gluon momentum p<<gT in hot QCD exhibit damping as a result of collisions. The whole set of n-point amplitudes is shown to be generated from one functional K(x,y;A), in addition to the induced current j(x;A).Comment: 7 pages, no figure (some comments added