The Objectivity of Ordinary Life

Metaethics tends to take for granted a bare Democritean world of atoms and the void, and then worry about how the human world that we all know can possibly be related to it or justified in its terms. I draw on Wittgenstein to show how completely upside-down this picture is, and make some moves towards turning it the right way up again. There may be a use for something like the bare-Democritean model in some of the sciences, but the picture has no standing as the basic objective truth about the world; if anything has that standing, it is ordinary life. I conclude with some thoughts about how the notion of bare, “thin” perception of non-evaluative reality feeds a number of philosophical pathologies, such as behaviourism, and show how a “thicker”, more value-laden, understanding of our perceptions of the world can be therapeutic against them

Using DREADD to Examine the Role of Infralimbic Gq-coupled Receptors in Fear Acquisition

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after a person experiences a very traumatic event that produces a strong and long-lasting aversive memory. During any given year, approximately 8 million adults will suffer from PTSD. Existing treatments often fail to achieve a full extinction of the traumatic fear the patients re-experience. Consequently, how the brain processes and modulates fear memories continues to be an active area of research. The excitability of the infralimbic cortex (IL), a sub-region of the medial prefrontal cortex, is important for fear extinction. Previous studies done in our lab found that Gq-coupled receptors located in this region of the brain, specifically muscarinic and mGluR5 receptors play a critical role in the consolidation of extinction memory. However, their effect on the acquisition of fear is still unknown. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to determine whether the activation of Gq-coupled receptors in IL prior to the learning of fear affects fear memory. We hypothesized that stimulation of these receptors during fear conditioning would decrease acquired fear. To test this, we utilized a pharmacogenetic approach in the form of Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD), which allow for controlled manipulation of the desired area in the brain using the selective agonist CNO. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were surgically infused with a virus, which expressed a Gq-coupled DREADD. Three weeks later, the rats will be injected with CNO one hour prior to behavioral training and sacrificed for immunohistochemistry to examine neuronal activity

The Disjunctive Conception of Perceiving

John McDowell's conception of perceptual knowledge commits him to the claim that if I perceive that P then I am in a position to know that I perceive that P. In the first part of this essay, I present some reasons to be suspicious of this claim - reasons which derive from a general argument against 'luminosity' - and suggest that McDowell can reject this claim, while holding on to almost all of the rest of his conception of perceptual knowledge, by supplementing his existing disjunctive conception of experience with a new disjunctive conception of perceiving. In the second part of the essay, I present some reasons for thinking that one's justification, in cases of perceptual knowledge, consists not in the fact that one perceives that P but in the fact that one perceives such-and-such. I end by suggesting that the disjunctive conception of perceiving should be understood as a disjunctive conception of perceiving such-and-such

Eating and Exercise Behaviors, and Motivational Differences Between Kinesiology Majors and Non-Majors

Eating and exercise behaviors have garnered a substantial amount of research attention. Several health risks are known to be lower in individuals who exercise, yet only 35% of college students exercise on a regular basis (Silliman, Rodas-Fortier, & Neyman, 2004). Despite the evidence suggesting healthy eating and exercise habits to reduce chronic disease, college students typically do not meet their own stated goals for exercise and nutrition, or goals set forth by national guidelines (Walace, et al., 2000). Therefore, a college campus is a challenging yet necessary setting for people to overcome barriers and obstacles in their lives that may hinder their exercise or eating behaviors. These behaviors not only affect physical aspects, but also psychosocial aspects. Individuals who exercise on a regular basis report having higher self-esteem as compared to those who do not (Edwards et al., 2005), and an individual’s motivation to establish healthy eating and exercise habits can impact their resulting behavior. Kinesiology is a major that is primarily health and fitness based where healthy nutrition and exercise habits are generally valued by students. As such, it seems that kinesiology majors should be more motivated to exercise and eat a balanced diet when compared to non-kinesiology majors. The purpose of this study was to examine motivational components for eating and exercise behaviors, as well as individuals’ differences in these behaviors between kinesiology and non-kinesiology majors. Participants (N = 330; 58% kinesiology majors) completed psychometrically sound measures designed to assess eating and exercise behaviors and motivation toward these behaviors in the college environment. Participants’ BMI was also calculated. ANOVA was utilized to compare kinesiology majors and non-majors on the study variables. Kinesiology majors reported healthier exercise behaviors and greater motivation to exercise than non-majors (p \u3c .001), however no differences were found between the groups with regard to eating behaviors or eating motivation. Additionally, there were no significant differences found between the groups on BMI. Differences among kinesiology majors on differing degree tracks (i.e., exercise science, physical education, and recreation/sport business) was examined using ANOVA. There were no differences found with regard to eating behaviors, exercise behaviors, eating motivation, or exercise motivation. There was a significant difference between the degree tracks with regard to BMI (p \u3c .01) where exercise science majors had healthier BMIs than physical education or recreation/sport business majors. This study extends previous research by identifying differences between kinesiology majors and non-majors’ eating and exercise behaviors, motivation for such behaviors, and body mass index

Putting Civil Society on the Map: The Opportunity and the Challenge for the Broader Middle East and North Africa (English)

This paper looks at the role of Non Profit Institution

Health Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Firefighters

ABSTRACT Background: Racial/ethnic minorities are substantially underrepresented in the fire service and this situation is unique when compared to similarly mentally and physically demanding and hazardous occupations such as the military and law enforcement. There is little systematic research to provide greater clarity about this significant disparity. The purpose of this study is to examine physical and behavioral health issues of racial/ethnic minority firefighters when compared to their white, non-Hispanic counterparts and potentially identify areas for future research that might assist in improving their substantial underrepresentation. Materials and Methods: We report the results of a secondary analysis of data combining the baseline evaluations of two different firefighter health studies, the Firefighter Injury and Risk Evaluation (FIRE) and Fuel 2 Fight (F2F) studies. Male career firefighters (N=1,404) were from 31 fire departments across the US and its territories. White, non-Hispanic firefighters comprised 72.5% of the sample (n=1,018) and 27.5% classified themselves as a racial/ethnic minority. Firefighters who agreed to participate comprised 94% (F2F) and 97% (FIRE) of those available and all underwent assessments including body composition, fitness, and general/behavioral health, and job satisfaction. Results: We examined differences in health and job status between minority and non-minority firefighters and between firefighters in minority- (MDCs) and white-dominated communities (WDCs). After adjusting for potential confounds, there were significant main effects for the individual minority status vs. non-minority status on both BMI and BF%, indicating that minority firefighters had significantly higher average BMI (28.8±0.3kg/m2) and BF% (24.7± 0.7%) when compared to their white, non-Hispanic colleagues (27.7±0.2kg/m2and 23.1±0.6% for BMI and BF%, respectively). Minority firefighters also were 59% more likely to be obese (adjusted [A]OR=1.59; 95% CI=1.16-2.18). Firefighters serving in MDCs reported significantly more poor health days (Mean±SE; 3.2±0.2 days) than firefighters serving in WDCs (2.8±0.2 days; p=0.038). In addition, minority firefighters reported significantly more poor health days (3.6±0.4 days) than their non-minority colleagues (2.8±0.2 days; p=0.003), while the interaction indicates that minority firefighters in MDCs reported more poor health days than the other groups (p Conclusions: Individual and community minority status (i.e., ethnic density effect) were both significantly associated with a number of important health status indicators, with racial/ethnic minority firefighters demonstrating greater risk for unfavorable body composition and more poor physical health days. In addition, minority firefighters in WDCs reported the highest prevalence of lifetime diagnosis of depression by a physician, while minority firefighters in MDCs had the lowest. Many of these health status indicators have recently been studied within the context of experiences with discrimination, demonstrating that racial discrimination is associated with greater risk for obesity, depression, and poor physical and mental health and could be contributing to health disparities and potentially negatively impacting racial/ethnic minority firefighter health, safety, and retention

A Sampling Kaczmarz-Motzkin Algorithm for Linear Feasibility

We combine two iterative algorithms for solving large-scale systems of linear inequalities, the relaxation method of Agmon, Motzkin et al. and the randomized Kaczmarz method. We obtain a family of algorithms that generalize and extend both projection-based techniques. We prove several convergence results, and our computational experiments show our algorithms often outperform the original methods