Confusion Reigns

The ethical implications of screening for HIV: whose choice reigns?

Facilitating reproducibility in scientific computing: Principles and practice∗

The foundation of scientific research is theory and experiment, carefully documented in open publications, in part so that other researchers can reproduce and validate the claimed findings. Unfortunately, the field of scientific and mathematical computing has evolved in ways that often do not meet these high standards. In published computational work, frequently there is no record of the workfl...

The Definition of Nudge and Libertarian Paternalism: Does the Hand Fit the Glove?

In recent years the concepts of ‘nudge’ and ‘libertarian paternalism’ have become popular theoretical as well as practical concepts inside as well as outside academia. But in spite of the widespread interest, confusion reigns as to what exactly is to be regarded as a nudge and how the underlying approach to behaviour change relates to libertarian paternalism. This article sets out to improve th...

The era of transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects.

The morphology of the various types of interatrial communications has been known since the early description by Rokitansky, but the clinical diagnosis was not described until 1941. Hospital mortality after surgical repair of atrial septal defects during the early years was about 3% and for many years it has been less than 1%, with correspondingly low complication rates. The era of transcatheter...

Towards a clarification of probability, possibility and plausibility: how semantics could help futures practice to improve

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the clarification of three qualifiers ‘‘probable’’, ‘‘possible’’ and ‘‘plausible’’, which are often used interchangeably in foresight and futures studies practice, but which could obtain added value through a careful distinction. In general, it shows the importance of language as the main tool for futures practitioners. Design/methodology/approa...