Closing a Road to Immanence in Plato\u27s Phaedo

Traditionally, scholars have held that in Plato\u27s Phaedo, Forms are said to not be \u27in\u27 sensible particulars. The entities that are said to be in sensible particulars are immanent characters. Gail Fine tries to flip this narrative but does not succeed. Daniel T. Devereux attempts to show this by arguing that entities such as hotness in fire perish. I contend that Devereux\u27s argument is not enough to establish that such entities are not Forms. They are not Forms because either they are said to withdraw, and withdrawal is a genuine, non-Cambridge change. Forms cannot undergo a non-Cambridge change, so these entities cannot be Forms. Or, they are said to perish, and perishing is a change that matters, since Forms are not made up of parts. Forms cannot undergo changes that matter, so these entities cannot be Forms

Properties of blended mortars produced with recycled by-products from different waste streams

The construction industry encounters significant challenges in effectively managing solid waste produced during the extraction and production of building materials. In different countries, slurry waste generated from granite and marble processing industries, such as glass industry waste, constitutes a considerable portion of the total solid waste. Its undesirable disposal is causing unprecedented environmental damage. Using these non-biodegradable wastes to produce building materials would reduce the environmental burden and contribute to sustainable construction. This study, in detail, investigates the feasibility of utilizing Granite Powder (GP), Ground Granite Powder (GGP), and Ground Glass Waste (GGW) as partial replacements of components in blended mortar mixes. The mix modifications consist of partial replacement of cement with GGW, GP, and GGP in the range of 5–15% and fine aggregate replacement with Marble powder (MP) in 10–30% by mass. The mechanical, physical, and microstructure properties of blended and control mortar mixes were studied on the 3rd, 7th, 28th, and 91st curing days. The results demonstrate that the partial substitution of 10% GGW and 5% GP with cement and 10% MP with fine aggregates in blended mortars enhance the compressive strength at the later curing age (28 and 91 days) compared to that of a control mortar, which is associated to the development of higher pozzolanic reactivity. The XRD results showed the formation of the lowest content of calcium hydroxide (CH) and the highest content of calcium silicate gel in the blended mortars compared to the control mortar. The results enrich the data available in the literature not always univocal, as in the case of using marble and glass waste, providing also interesting information about the influence of granite powder on the hydration process in a mortar mix actually missing

Synthesis of Schiff bases derived from 2-hydroxy-1- naphth- aldehyde and their tin(II) complexes for antimicribial and antioxidant activities

The current studies were designed to prepare tin(II) complexes of various Schiff base derivatives of 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde (HN) with L-histidine and sulfamethazine have been prepared and characterized by different physiochemical studies such as elemental analysis, atomic absorption, UV-Vis spectra, FTIR spectra, 1H–NMR, 13C-NMR and conductance studies. Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also calculated. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by the agar-well diffusion method. Two Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli) and three Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus subtilis) bacterial strains were used. Antifungal activity was resolute against three fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Alternaria solani) by using the agar tube dilution method. The antioxidant activity of ligands and their complexes was measured on the basis of the radical scavenging effect of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH)-free radical activity. Ligand HNSM exhibited excellent activities as antibacterial activity (22 mm), antifungal activity (55%) and antioxidant activity (119 ppm).               KEY WORDS: Schiff base, 2-Hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde, L-Histidine and sulfamethazine, Tin(II) complexes, Antimicrobial activities, Antioxidant activities Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2017, 31(3), 445-456. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v31i3.

Implementation of ISO 27001 in Saudi Arabia – obstacles, motivations, outcomes, and lessons learned

Protecting information assets is very vital to the core survival of an organization. With the increase in cyberattacks and viruses worldwide, it has become essential for organizations to adopt innovative and rigorous procedures to keep these vital assets out of the reach of exploiters. Although complying with an international information security standard such as ISO 27001 has been on the rise worldwide, with over 7000 registered certificates, few companies in Saudi Arabia are ISO 27001 certified. In this paper, we explore the motives, obstacles, challenges, and outcomes for a Saudi organization during their implementation of ISO 27001, with the goal of shedding some light on the reason behind the low adoption of the ISO 27001 certification standard in the region of study. While customer satisfaction and good partner relationships are essential for an organization’s survival, strikingly, none of the organizations interviewed indicated that their goals included meeting consumer requirements or a partner’s mandates

Current Rural Drug Use in the US Midwest

The nature and challenge of illicit drug use in the United States continues to change rapidly, evolving in reaction to myriad social, economic, and local forces. While the use of illicit drugs affects every region of the country, most of our current information about drug use comes from large urban areas. Data on rural drug use and its harms justify greater attention. Record overdose rates, unexpected outbreaks of HIV, and a dearth of treatment facilities point to a rapidly worsening health situation. While health sciences have made considerable progress in understanding the etiology of drug use and uncovering the link between drug use and its myriad associated harms, this promising scientific news has not always translated to better health outcomes. The scope of the problem in the Central Plains of the US is growing, and can be estimated from available sources. Clear remedies for this rising level of abuse are available, but few have been implemented. Suggestions for short-term policy remedies are discussed

Current Rural Drug Use in the US Midwest

The nature and challenge of illicit drug use in the United States continues to change rapidly, evolving in reaction to myriad social, economic, and local forces. While the use of illicit drugs affects every region of the country, most of our current information about drug use comes from large urban areas. Data on rural drug use and its harms justify greater attention. Record overdose rates, unexpected outbreaks of HIV, and a dearth of treatment facilities point to a rapidly worsening health situation. While health sciences have made considerable progress in understanding the etiology of drug use and uncovering the link between drug use and its myriad associated harms, this promising scientific news has not always translated to better health outcomes. The scope of the problem in the Central Plains of the US is growing, and can be estimated from available sources. Clear remedies for this rising level of abuse are available, but few have been implemented. Suggestions for short-term policy remedies are discussed

A Compact 16-Port Fractal Shaped Slot Antenna Array for 5G Smart Phone Communications

In this manuscript, a 16-port compact multi-antenna array for fifth generation (5G) communications is presented. The proposed antenna offers high data rate communication, by using MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) wireless technology. Efficient bandwidth enhancement techniques are used to achieve wider bandwidth response i.e., 3.4-3.8 GHz within sub-6GHz. This system is realized over low-cost FR-4 laminate having dimensions of 64mm × 131mm. The fractal shape slotted radiators and open-ended square ring (OESR) isolating structures achieves at least 25dB isolations among antenna pairs while maintaining wideband response. The optimum isolation, low-cost design profile, matched scattering parameters without compromising compactness and acceptable specific absorption rate (SAR) makes this system a suitable candidate for 5G smart phone communications

Application of Genetic Algorithms in Nonlinear Heat Conduction Problems

Genetic algorithms are employed to optimize dimensionless temperature in nonlinear heat conduction problems. Three common geometries are selected for the analysis and the concept of minimum entropy generation is used to determine the optimum temperatures under the same constraints. The thermal conductivity is assumed to vary linearly with temperature while internal heat generation is assumed to be uniform. The dimensionless governing equations are obtained for each selected geometry and the dimensionless temperature distributions are obtained using MATLAB. It is observed that GA gives the minimum dimensionless temperature in each selected geometry

Diagnostic yield of transthoracic echocardiography for stroke patients in a developing country

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility and cost effectiveness of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) as part of stroke workup in a developing country. METHODS: All patients over the age of 14 years with acute stroke were prospectively enrolled in Aga Khan University stroke databank from August 1999 to May 2001 (22 month period). All patients were evaluated by a consultant neurologist and underwent standard stroke work up such as neuroimaging, TTE, carotid doppler sonography and blood tests e.g. serum glucose, lipid profile, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine. For the purpose of this study, patients with ischemic stroke were identified and their echocardiographic data was retrieved and analyzed. TOAST criteria was used to identify findings indicating cardioembolic stroke. RESULTS: Ischaemic stroke was identified in 393 (76%) patients. Of these 278 (71%) patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography as part of stroke workup. Although 199 (73%) patients had abnormal echocardiogram; only 43 (15.5%) had findings suggestive of possible cardioembolism as defined by the TOAST criteria. CONCLUSION: Tranthoracic echocardiography is a valid diagnostic modality for stroke workup. However there is a need to further investigate the specific indications which can be used to prioritize patients for undergoing echocardiography to minimize cost

Clinical profile and outcome of infective endocarditis at the Aga Khan University Hospital

Background: The spectrum of infective endocarditis (IE) is significantly different in developed and developing countries. The present study was conducted to study the clinical profile and outcome of infective endocarditis in Pakistan.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with review of medical records for 188 patients admitted to our teaching hospital with a diagnosis of IE from January 1988 to December 2001. One hundred fifty-nine subjects fulfilled the modified Duke diagnostic criteria.Results: Definite IE was found in 59.7% (95/159) patients, while the rest had possible IE. One-third of subjects had acute IE 55/159 (34.5%). Subacute IE was found in 62% (99/159) and Nosocomial IE in 3% of the cases. Eighty six (54%) were classified as having culturenegative endocarditis and 73 (46%) as culture positive. Ninty four patients (59%) had an underlying predisposing factor including congenital heart disease (31%) and rheumatic heart disease (21%). The most frequently isolated organisms were streptococci (52%) and followed by staphylococci (29%). Fourteen (8.1%) patients had right-sided cardiac involvement. Using univariate analysis, patients with heart failure, neurologic or renal complications, septicemia, nosocomial endocarditis, and prosthetic valve endocarditis were at increased risk of death (p ≤ 0.05), however no individual microorganism, or specific site, size, or morphology of vegetation seen on echocardiogram were significantly associated with death. Thirty-seven (23%) patients died of endocarditis or its complications.Conclusion: Endocarditis continues to be an important contributor to morbidity and mortality in Pakistan, especially in young adults. Our patients differ from the west in terms of epidemiology, predisposing factors, microbiology, complications, and outcom