An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Symbolic Logic Volume 1: Formal Logic

This textbook has developed over the last few years of teaching introductory symbolic logic and critical thinking courses. It has been truly a pleasure to have benefited from such great students and colleagues over the years. As we have become increasingly frustrated with the costs of traditional logic textbooks (though many of them deserve high praise for their accuracy and depth), the move to open source has become more and more attractive. We're happy to provide it free of charge for educational use. With that being said, there are always improvements to be made here and we would be most grateful for constructive feedback and criticism. We have chosen to write this text in LaTex and have adopted certain conventions with symbols. Certainly many important aspects of critical thinking and logic have been omitted here, including historical developments and key logicians, and for that we apologize. Our goal was to create a textbook that could be provided to students free of charge and still contain some of the more important elements of critical thinking and introductory logic. To that end, an additional benefit of providing this textbook as a Open Education Resource (OER) is that we will be able to provide newer updated versions of this text more frequently, and without any concern about increased charges each time. We are particularly looking forward to expanding our examples, and adding student exercises. We will additionally aim to continually improve the quality and accessibility of our text for students and faculty alike. We have included a bibliography that includes many admirable textbooks, all of which we have benefited from. The interested reader is encouraged to consult these texts for further study and clarification. These texts have been a great inspiration for us and provide features to students that this concise textbook does not. We would both like to thank the philosophy students at numerous schools in the Puget Sound region for their patience and helpful suggestions. In particular, we would like to thank our colleagues at Green River College, who have helped us immensely in numerous different ways. Please feel free to contact us with comments and suggestions. We will strive to correct errors when pointed out, add necessary material, and make other additional and needed changes as they arise. Please check back for the most up to date version

RAPID SURVEY OF THE HERPETOFAUNA OF ESTAÇÃO ECOLÓGICA ALTO MAUÉS: A RARELY ACCESSED AREA IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZONIA

A Amazônia representa um dos biomas mais diversos do mundo, mas uma grande parte da região permanece sub-amostrada. Aqui, apresento uma lista preliminar de anfíbios e répteis da Estação Ecológica Alto Maués (ESEC Alto Maués), município de Maués, Estado do Amazonas, Brasil. Durante um período de 14 dias (4-18 de maio de 2019), realizei levantamentos visuais e acústicas e obtive registros oportunistas na área da ESEC Alto Maués. Um total de 141 espécimes foram registrados, pertencentes a 19 espécies de anuros e 17 espécies de répteis em dez e oito famílias taxonômicas, respectivamente. Eu também comparei a diversidade na ESEC Alto Maués com outras áreas da Amazônia brasileira, e forneci novos registros de ocorrência (Boana icamiaba e Adelphobates aff. quinquevittatus) para a região.Palavras-chave: Amazônia, biodiversidade, checklist, herpetofauna, novos registros.Amazonia represents one of the most diverse biomes in the world, but a large part of the region remains under-sampled. Here, I present a preliminary checklist of amphibians and reptiles from Estação Ecológica Alto Maués (ESEC Alto Maués), Maués municipality, Amazonas State, Brazil. During a 14-day period (4-18 May 2019), I conducted visual and acoustic surveys and obtained opportunistic records within the ESEC Alto Maués area. A total of 141 specimens were recorded, belonging to 19 anuran and 17 reptile species in ten and eight taxonomic families, respectively. I also compared the diversity at ESEC Alto Maués with other areas throughout Brazilian Amazonia, and provide new occurrence records (Boana icamiaba and Adelphobates aff. quinquevittatus) for the region.Keywords: Amazonia; biodiversity; checklist; herpetofauna; new record

An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Symbolic Logic Volume 2: Informal Reasoning Assignments

This textbook is not a textbook in the traditional sense. Here, what we have attempted is compile a set of assignments and exercise that may be used in critical thinking courses. To that end, we have tried to make these assignments as diverse as possible while leaving flexibility in their application within the classroom. Of course these assignments and exercises could certainly be used in other classes as well. Our view is that critical thinking courses work best when they are presented as skills based learning opportunities. We hope that these assignments speak to that desire and can foster the kinds of critical thinking skills that are both engaging and fun Please feel free to contact us with comments and suggestions. We will strive to correct errors when pointed out, add necessary material, and make other additional and needed changes as they arise. Please check back for the most up to date version. Rebeka Ferreira and Anthony Ferrucc

The Role of Contagion in the Last American Housing Cycle

Using proprietary micro data on the complete set of housing transactions between 1993 and 2009 in 99 metropolitan areas, we investigate whether contagion was an important factor in the last housing cycle. We define contagion as the price correlation between two different housing markets following a shock to one market that is above and beyond that which can be justified by common aggregate trends. Our estimates deal with the following empirical challenges: (a) defining the timing of local housing booms in a non-ad hoc way; (b) addressing specification search bias that arises when only one aggregate series is used to estimate both the timing of the housing boom and the magnitude of price volatility during that period; and (c) controlling for common variation in economic conditions. We find strong evidence of contagion during the housing boom, but not during the bust. These effects appear to arise mostly from the closest neighboring metropolitan area, with the price elasticity ranging from 0.10 to 0.27. This is large enough to account for up to 30% of the jump in prices at the beginning of local booms, on average. Estimated elasticities are greater when transmitted from a larger to a smaller market, and also more important for the most elastically-supplied markets. Finally, local fundamentals and expectations of future fundamentals have very limited ability to account for our estimated effect, suggesting a potential role for non-rational forces

Allobates Femoralis como modelo para caracterizar Gradientes geográficos sutis e nítidos na bacia Amazônica

It is well established that the occurrence of species depends on their biological needs in given environments, and that species are distributed to favorable habitat patches which are separated from each other by unsuitable habitats. However, determining how habitat heterogeneity interacts with the distribution and density of species at various geographic scales and how historical processes and the contemporary environment has influenced gene flow across landscapes remains one of the major challenges in ecology and evolutionary biology. This type of approach is still rare in Amazonia, especially when it comes to anurans. The main goals of this thesis were to investigate the role of environmental gradients on the distribution, abundance, genetic variability and gene flow of Allobates femoralis along 880 km of heterogeneous landscape in the interfluve between the Purus and Madeira rivers (PMI). In the first chapter, we tested whether soil and forest characteristics are associated with the distribution and relative abundance of A. femoralis along PMI. We show that A. femoralis is more abundant in open forests and absent or rare in dense forests and positively associated with clay-rich soils. Our findings suggest that the distribution and relative abundance of this species is shaped by gradual ecological clines. In the second chapter, we apply a multilevel modeling approach based on genomic data and circuit theory to test whether geographic distance and environmental gradients across the heterogeneous landscape of PMI influences the genetic variability and gene flow of A. femoralis. We show that spatial patterns of genetic variability and gene flow in A. femoralis are influenced by both geographic distance and environmental gradients, thus supporting the gradient hypothesis for diversification. We also identified four genetic clusters which partly paralleled phenotypic variation (femoral spot colour), strong divergence in the northeastern part of the PMI that is likely due to historical processes, and with the presence of different forest types. We suggest that investigating the role of environmental heterogeneity in other codistributed species will provide data that can be used to better understand the role of environmental gradients in the parapatric diversification of species in the Amazon.Está bem estabelecido que a ocorrência das espécies depende das suas necessidades biológicas em determinados ambientes, e que as espécies estão distribuídas em manchas de habitats favoráveis que são separadas umas das outras por habitats inadequados. No entanto, determinar como a heterogeneidade do habitat interage com a distribuição e a densidade das espécies em várias escalas geográficas e como os processos históricos e atuais do ambiente influenciam o fluxo gênico ao longo da paisagem continua sendo um dos maiores desafios da ecologia e biologia evolutiva. Esse tipo de abordagem ainda é raro na Amazônia, especialmente quando se trata de anuros. O objetivo geral desta tese foi investigar o papel de gradientes ambientais na distribuição, abundância, variabilidade genética e fluxo gênico de Allobates femoralis ao longo de 880 km de paisagens heterogêneas que ocorrem no interflúvio entre os rios Purus e Madeira (IPM). No primeiro capítulo, testamos se as características do solo e da floresta estão associadas com a distribuição e abundância relativa de A. femoralis através do IPM. Nós mostramos que A. femoralis é mais abundante em florestas abertas e ausente ou raro em florestas densas e positivamente associado com solos ricos em argila. Nossos dados sugerem que a distribuição e abundância relativa dessa espécie é moldada por gradientes ecológicos graduais. No segundo capítulo, aplicamos uma abordagem de modelagem multinível baseada em dados genômicos e teoria dos circuitos para testar se a distância geográfica e o gradiente ambiental ao longo da paisagem heterogênea do IPM influenciam a variabilidade genética e o fluxo gênico de A. femoralis. Nós mostramos que os padrões espaciais de variabilidade genética e o fluxo gênico em A. femoralis são influenciados tanto pela distância geográfica quanto pelos gradientes ambientais, suportando assim a hipótese dos gradientes para diversificação. Nós também identificamos quatro grupos genéticos que foram associados com variações fenotípicas (cor da mancha femoral), forte divergência na parte nordeste do IPM que está relacionada a processos históricos e com a presença de diferentes tipos de floresta. Sugerimos que investigando o papel da heterogeneidade ambiental em outras espécies co-distribuídas irá fornecer dados que podem ser usados para melhor entender o papel de gradientes ambientais na diversificação parapátrica de espécies na Amazônia

Os moinhos da Abelheira: contributo para a valorização arquitetónica e patrimonial

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Arquitetura e UrbanismoA presente dissertação constitui-se como sendo um trabalho elaborado sobre um conjunto de moinhos situado na freguesia de Marinhas, concelho de Esposende. Estes moinhos, denominados de moinhos da Abelheira, encontram-se hoje classificados como património municipal. Marinhas é uma freguesia inserida num meio rural e é detentora de inúmeros elementos de Arquitetura Popular, os quais constituem um património local notável, mas que, infelizmente se tem vindo a perder ou descaracterizar por intervenções menos apropriadas ou seu abandono. Neste sentido pretende-se identificar o valor patrimonial dos Moinhos da Abelheira, e analisar estratégias de intervenção no património, que ajudem a definir um modelo concetual que esteja na base de uma posterior intervenção nos Moinhos da Abelheira, no qual os monumentos se inserem enquanto potencial arquitetónico, turístico e/ou sociocultural e económico, dada a sua reconhecida qualidade enquanto, testemunho histórico-arqueológico. O método de investigação a utilizar é o estudo multicasos. É composto no total por 4 casos de estudo que correspondem a intervenções com valor patrimonial, analisados através de fichas técnicas comparando o estado anterior e o atual. No tratamento da informação realizar-se-á uma análise de dados qualitativa, da qual se obterão os princípios e critérios de intervenção para a definição de uma proposta de intervenção. Este estudo contribuiu para aprofundar o conhecimento do objeto de estudo, usando-o enquanto alavanca para o desenvolvimento do seu entendimento e demais questões de partida. Assim sendo, para além do inventário da estrutura molinológica e análise do sistema construtivo, pretende-se ainda com este trabalho de investigação demonstrar a possibilidade de valorização da arquitetura popular presente nos moinhos e mostrar a importância de uma intervenção naqueles que são o símbolo de uma freguesia.This work is constituted as a work done on a number of mills situated in the Marinhas parish, Esposende municipality. These mills, called the Abelheira mills, are now classified as municipal heritage. Marinhas is inserted in a rural parish and holds numerous vernacular architectural elements, which constitute a remarkable local heritage, but that unfortunately has been lost or misread by less appropriate interventions or its abandonment. In this sense it is intended to identify the asset values Abelheira mills, and analyze intervention strategies that help to define a conceptual model on which to base a subsequent intervention in Abelheira mills, in which the monuments are inserted as a potential architectural, tourist and / or socio-cultural and economic, given its recognized quality while, historical and archaeological evidence. The research method used is the multicases study. It comprises a total of 4 case studies that relate to action in heritage analyzed by fact sheets comparing the previous and the current status. In information processing will be carried out a qualitative data analysis, from which it will obtain the principles and intervention criteria for the definition of an intervention proposal. This study contributed to deepen the knowledge of the subject matter, using it as leverage to develop its understanding and other starting issues. Therefore, in addition to the inventory of molinologic structure and analysis of the construction system, it is intended to further this research work demonstrated the possibility of appreciation of popular architecture present in mills and show the need for intervention in those who are the symbol of a parish

Acústica de edifícios: estudo de impacto económico associado ao método de classificação acústica

O conforto acústico nas habitações é necessário ao bem-estar e saúde dos usufrutuários. Este conforto é obtido principalmente pela ausência e isolamento de ruídos, permitindo assim um repouso tranquilo e regenerador. Como tal o conforto acústico nas habitações é um campo de estudo muito importante na engenharia civil. Uma análise global deste conforto acústico ocorre quando se consideram os fatores internos e externos à habitação. Ou seja, quando a acústica da vizinhança, do edifício e da habitação (fração) são analisadas individualmente e em conjunto. Em Portugal a análise da acústica das habitações e da sua envolvente está regulamentada pelo Regulamento dos Requisitos Acústicos dos Edifícios (RRAE) e pelo Regulamento Geral do Ruído (RGR). Nestes regulamentos são analisados os comportamentos acústicos de cada componente individual, como tal, a análise global do comportamento e conforto acústico não existe. De modo a eliminar esta ausência, em 2013, o Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) introduziu um método global de análise, o Método LNEC para avaliação e classificação da qualidade acústica de edifícios habitacionais. Este “Método LNEC” efetua a análise global pelo estudo da acústica na “Vizinhança”, no “Edifício” e na “Habitação”. Nesta análise são pontuados os resultados de vários indicadores físicos e analíticos de cada componente (elementos). Estes valores são depois integrados num único valor, o Nível de Avaliação Acústica (NAA), ao qual corresponde uma Classe Acústica LNEC que permite facilmente identificar a qualidade acústica global sentida. Esta Classe Acústica LNEC permite também comparar o conforto acústico global entre vários fogos. Contudo não existe ainda uma estimativa relativa ao custo de reabilitação necessário para ascender entre Classes Acústicas LNEC. Nesta dissertação é feita a determinação deste custo de reabilitação necessário para ascender entre classes, criando assim uma ferramenta de análise do impacto económico do Método LNEC; BUILDING ACOUSTICS: ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSOCIATED TO THE ACOUSTIC CLASSIFICATION METHOD ABSTRACT: The acoustic comfort in dwellings is necessary for the wellbeing and health of the users. This comfort is achieved mainly by the absence of noise and noise insulation, thus enabling a quiet and regenerating rest. As such the acoustic comfort in homes is a very important field in civil engineering. A global analysis of this acoustic comfort occurs when the external and internal factors are considered in the analysis. It happens when the acoustics of the vicinity, the building and the lodging are analyzed individually and together. In Portugal the acoustic analysis of houses and its surroundings is regulated by the Regulations of Acoustic Requirements for Buildings (Regulamento dos Requisitos Acústicos dos Edifícios RRAE) and by the General Regulations of Noise (Regulamento Geral do Ruído RGR). This two regulatory laws only limit the acoustics of each individual component, resulting that the global analysis of the acoustics comfort sensed in dwellings does not occur. To eliminate this problem, in 2013, the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil LNEC) introduced a comprehensive method of analysis that fulfill this void doing a global analysis. This method, the Método LNEC para avaliação e classificação da qualidade acústica de edifícios habitacionais makes the overall analysis stuying the acoustics in the “Vicinity”, in the “Building” and in the “Dwelling”. It analyses each acoustic value and scors each one of them in order to be integrated in a global value. To this global value (NAA) corresponds an LNEC Acoustic Classe (Classe Acústica LNEC). This global analysis of acoustics (envelope system) allows an easy and correct way to synthetize the acoustic comfort, also the Classe Acústica LNEC allows comparisons between different houses. Nevertheless there isn’t still a mechanism to estimate the rehabilitation cost of ascending between LNEC Acoustic Classes. On this dissertation, it is determined this important tool to evaluate the economic impact of acoustic rehabilitations

Burning of the PVB binder during window glass sintering assisted by an electric field

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Active-matrix GaN micro light-emitting diode display with unprecedented brightness

Displays based on microsized gallium nitride light-emitting diodes possess extraordinary brightness. It is demonstrated here both theoretically and experimentally that the layout of the n-contact in these devices is important for the best device performance. We highlight, in particular, the significance of a nonthermal increase of differential resistance upon multipixel operation. These findings underpin the realization of a blue microdisplay with a luminance of 10⁶ cd/m²