A simple proof is given for the monotonicity of entropy and Fisher information associated to sums of i.i.d. random variables. The proof relies on a characterization of maximal correlation for partial sums due to Dembo, Kagan and Shepp.

In the realm of causativization, the traditional tension between explaining crosslinguistic variation while maintaining that a phenomenon has a common universal source can be stated specifically as follows: how can we explain the fact that if a certain type of verb causativizes in both languages A and B, the derived predicate usually has the same syntactic and semantic properties, while also ac...

Scatterplots have been in use for about two centuries, primarily for observing the relationship between two variables and commonly for supporting correlation analysis. In this paper, we report an empirical study that examines how humans’ perception of correlation using scatterplots relates to the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) – a commonly used statistical measure of c...

In geriatrics, driving cessation is addressed within the biopsychosocial model. This has broadened the scope of practitioners, not only in terms of assessing fitness to drive, but also by helping to maintain social engagements and provide support for transport transition. Causes can be addressed at different levels by adapting medication, improving physical health, modifying behaviour, adapting...

I welcome the chance to revisit my review of Making Things Happen and the book itself (Woodward 2003; Strevens 2007) in the light of Woodward’s response to the review (henceforth “Woodward’s reply”). In what follows I hope to provide a surer footing for some of the claims made in the original review, to address the new definition of unrelativized causation proposed in Woodward’s reply, and to e...

Exploring biological meaning from microarray data is very important but remains a great challenge. Here, we developed three new statistics: linear combination test, quadratic test and de-correlation test to identify differentially expressed pathways from gene expression profile. We apply our statistics to two rheumatoid arthritis datasets. Notably, our results reveal three significant pathways ...

However, philosophers now have no excuse for overlooking the important developments in this approach. For Judea Pearl in his landmark work (2000) has developed a theory that applies the structural equations approach to token-causation. Subsequently, in collaboration with David Halpern (2001), he has extended and simplified the theory. More recently, Christopher Hitchcock has written a series of...

KINSELLA AND TINSLEY (2004) IS beautifully written, infused with keen insights, in some ways solidly predicated upon libertarianism and praxeology, and yet, and yet, much as I enthusiastically agree with goodly portions of it and am even inspired by them, I cannot see my way clear to accepting all of their insights. The present paper is devoted to a critique of those parts of the paper with whi...

Taxation and Internal Migration: Evidence from the Swiss Census Using Community-Level Variation in Income Tax Rates We investigate the relationship between income tax rate variation and internal migration for the unique case of Switzerland, whose system of determining tax rates primarily at the community level results in enough variation to permit analysis of their influence on migration. Speci...

This essay is concerned with concentrations of entities, which play an important— albeit often overlooked—role in scientific explanation. First, I discuss an example from molecular biology to show that concentrations can play an irreducible causal role. Second, I provide a preliminary philosophical analysis of this causal role, suggesting some implications for extant theories of causation. I co...