Liberated Presentism

(The version now posted is a revision of what was posted earlier. Final version now published.) The article gives a novel argument to show that there is sense of 'exists' suitable for posing a substantive issue between presentists and eternalists. It then seeks to invigorate a neglected variety of presentism. There are seven doctrines, widely accepted even among presentists, that create problems for presentism. Without distinguishing existence and being, presentists can comfortably reject all seven. Doing so would dispose of the majority of presentism’s problems. Further, it would enable presentists to reduce A-judgments to B-judgments, thereby insulating presentism from doubts about the intelligibility of A-theories. For reasons indicated very briefly, it might also make presentism less difficult to reconcile with special relativity, though the point is not pursued here

Nitrogen dynamics in a mature Miscanthus x giganteus crop fertilized with nitrogen over a five year period

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to investigate N dynamics and response to N fertilization in a mature crop of Miscanthus x giganteus. A crop of Miscanthus x giganteus sown in 1994 was fertilized with five N rates (0, 38, 63, 90 and 125 kg N/ha/year) over a five year period (2008–2012) in Carlow, Ireland. Foliar chlorophyll concentrations were directly related to N fertilization level throughout the study and rose after N applications until July before falling with the onset of N remobilisation. Shoot numbers were unaffected by N fertilization until the final years of the study when they increased with N level. Crop height was unaffected by fertilization in the early years of the study but in the final years of the study, it increased with N level until July after which the effect diminished. There was a small but significant stimulation of harvested biomass yields in autumn (average 15 t/ha) with increasing N fertilization, but there was no effect on harvested yields in spring (average 10.5 t/ha). The N concentration in the rhizome network gradually built up during the course of the study and was proportional to N application. Aboveground biomass N content was also proportional to N application. Nitrogen remobilisation between the October and February harvests was small; abscissed leaves accounted for most of the N loss over this period. The deleterious environmental consequences of N fertilizer may outweigh any potential economic benefits if increases in biomass production are small or non-existent

Fabrication and repair of graphite/epoxy laminates

New forming and patching methods have been developed for high-quality graphite/epoxy laminates. Laminates range in thickness from 0.012 to 0.018 in. (0.31 to 0.46 mm)

Historical Statistics of the United States Chapter on Voluntary, Nonprofit, and Religious Entities and Activities: Underlying Concepts, Concerns, and Opportunities

This paper is a draft of the introduction to the chapter on voluntary, nonprofit, and religious entities and activities slated to appear in the Millennial Edition of Historical Statistics of the United States (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press). Conceding the various problematic definitions of the "nonprofit sector," the essay offers a rationale for the broadly inclusive approach to the selection of historical statistics of institutions and activities presented in the chapter. In addition, it reviews the challenges and opportunities for researchers working on the statistical aspects of nonprofit, voluntary, and religious organizations. The essay includes samples of the statistical series that will appear in HSUS.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 14. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

America's Veterans: A Sound Investment

In this report, the authors argue that society should leverage the latest generation of men and women leaving the military, and the skills, expertise and experience they bring to the civilian workforce. The authors examine the employment challenges facing the nation's nearly 2.6 million post-9/11 combat veterans as they transition to civilian jobs. They note that recent veterans "have struggled with unemployment rates that exceed the national average" despite recent survey findings that showed "most managers felt that military veterans were "better" or "much better" than civilians in areas such as teamwork, reliability, openness to other cultures and races, and work ethic." General Caldwell and Major Burke knock down several stereotypes about recent veterans and offer recommendations that business and government can undertake to help veterans successfully navigate the civilian labor market

High Voltage CMOS Control Interface for Astronomy - Grade Charged Coupled Devices

The Pan-STARRS telescope consists of an array of smaller mirrors viewed by a Gigapixel arrays of CCDs. These focal planes employ Orthogonal Transfer CCDs (OTCCDs) to allow on-chip image stabilization. Each OTCCD has advanced logic features that are controlled externally. A CMOS Interface Device for High Voltage has been developed to provide the appropiate voltage signal levels from a readout and control system designated STARGRASP. OTCCD chip output levels range from -3.3V to 16.7V, with two different output drive strenghts required depending on load capacitance (50pF and 1000pF), with 24mA of drive and a rise time on the order of 100ns. Additional testing ADC structures have been included in this chip to evaluate future functional additions for a next version of the chip.Comment: 13 pages, 17 gigure

Continuum states from time-dependent density functional theory

Linear response time-dependent density functional theory is used to study low-lying electronic continuum states of targets that can bind an extra electron. Exact formulas to extract scattering amplitudes from the susceptibility are derived in one dimension. A single-pole approximation for scattering phase shifts in three dimensions is shown to be more accurate than static exchange for singlet electron-He$^+$ scattering.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, J. Chem. Phys. accepte

The status of music education in the public junior high schools of Massachusetts as of the year 1945-1955

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

SIEV - X: life, death and loss

This M.A. Research Project estblishes an installation artwork addressing the SIEV X tragedy. The project is based on the incident in October of 2001 when 353 illegal refugees were drowned off the coast of Australia. The term SIEV -X stands for supected illegal entry vessel - unknown. The artwork takes the form of a transient monument metaphorically representing the experiences of the refugees within the context of Australi'a official and pblic response to refugee immigration. The artwork has been situated in several different sites - the School of Art Gallery at RMIT University, Moreland Municipal Offices and in front of the Immigration Museum in Flinders Street, Melbourne. The installation included 353 translucent bottles of seawater each containing the calligraphic name of an individual lost at sea. The bottles were presented as in an industrial warehouse or container ship. After the last public presentation the majoe components of the work were taken out by boat into Port Philip Bay and each of the 353 containers has been emptied and dispersed at sea. This comprises the final phase of the project. The project has involved research into accounts by survivors, contemporary press articles (relatively few) and engagement with refugee support groups. Allied with this research the candidate has conducted a survey of contemporary art practices that address displaced and disenfranchised persons - sepecially the work of Christian Boltanski - and cultural and contemporary art practices that disperse the artefact at the conclusion of the ritual