An evaluation of the assistance to local educational institutions given by the businesses of a medium-sized New England community.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Propositionalism without propositions, objectualism without objects

Propositionalism is the view that all intentional states are propositional states, which are states with a propositional content, while objectualism is the view that at least some intentional states are objectual states, which are states with objectual contents, such as objects, properties, and kinds. This paper argues that there are two distinct ways of understanding propositionalism and objectualism: (1) as views about the deep nature of the contents of intentional states, and (2) as views about the superficial character of the contents of intentional states. I argue that we should understand the views in the second way. I also argue that the propositionalism debate is fairly independent from debates over the deep nature of intentionality, and that this has implications for arguments for propositionalism and objectualism from claims about the nature of intentional content. I close with a short discussion of how related points apply to the debate over singular content

Ecological Effects of Fear: How Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity in Predation Risk Influences Mule Deer Access to Forage in a Sky‐Island System

Forage availability and predation risk interact to affect habitat use of ungulates across many biomes. Within sky‐island habitats of the Mojave Desert, increased availability of diverse forage and cover may provide ungulates with unique opportunities to extend nutrient uptake and/or to mitigate predation risk. We addressed whether habitat use and foraging patterns of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) responded to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), NDVI rate of change (green‐up), or the occurrence of cougars (Puma concolor). Female mule deer used available green‐up primarily in spring, although growing vegetation was available during other seasons. Mule deer and cougar shared similar habitat all year, and our models indicated cougars had a consistent, negative effect on mule deer access to growing vegetation, particularly in summer when cougar occurrence became concentrated at higher elevations. A seemingly late parturition date coincided with diminishing NDVI during the lactation period. Sky‐island populations, rarely studied, provide the opportunity to determine how mule deer respond to growing foliage along steep elevation and vegetation gradients when trapped with their predators and seasonally limited by aridity. Our findings indicate that fear of predation may restrict access to the forage resources found in sky islands

Negative Selection during the Peripheral Immune Response to Antigen

Thymic selection depends on positive and negative selective mechanisms based on the avidity of T cell interaction with antigen–major histocompatibility complex complexes. However, peripheral mechanisms for the recruitment and clonal expansion of the responding T cell repertoire remain obscure. Here we provide evidence for an avidity-based model of peripheral T cell clonal expansion in response to antigenic challenge. We have used the encephalitogenic, H-2 Au-restricted, acetylated NH2-terminal nonameric peptide (Ac1-9) epitope from myelin basic protein as our model antigen. Peptide analogues were generated that varied in antigenic strength (as assessed by in vitro assay) based on differences in their binding affinity for Au. In vivo, these analogues elicited distinct repertoires of T cells that displayed marked differences in antigen sensitivity. Immunization with the weakest (wild-type) antigen expanded the high affinity T cells required to induce encephalomyelitis. In contrast, immunization with strongly antigenic analogues led to the elimination of T cells bearing high affinity T cell receptors by apoptosis, thereby preventing disease development. Moreover, the T cell repertoire was consistently tuned to respond to the immunizing antigen with the same activation threshold. This tuning mechanism provides a peripheral control against the expansion of autoreactive T cells and has implications for immunotherapy and vaccine design

Effect of time and day of admission on hospital care quality for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation in England and Wales: single cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if observed increased weekend mortality was associated with poorer quality of care for patients admitted to hospital with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. DESIGN: Prospective case ascertainment cohort study. SETTING: 199 acute hospitals in England and Wales, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive COPD admissions, excluding subsequent readmissions, from 1 February to 30 April 2014 of whom 13 414 cases were entered into the study. MAIN OUTCOMES: Process of care mapped to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical quality standards, access to specialist respiratory teams and facilities, mortality and length of stay, related to time and day of the week of admission. RESULTS: Mortality was higher for weekend admissions (unadjusted OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.43), and for case-mix adjusted weekend mortality when calculated for admissions Friday morning through to Monday night (adjusted OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.43). Median time to death was 6 days. Some clinical processes were poorer on Mondays and during normal working hours but not weekends or out of hours. Specialist respiratory care was less available and less prompt for Friday and Saturday admissions. Admission to a specialist ward or high dependency unit was less likely on a Saturday or Sunday. CONCLUSIONS: Increased mortality observed in weekend admissions is not easily explained by deficiencies in early clinical guideline care. Further study of out-of-hospital factors, specialty care and deaths later in the admission are required if effective interventions are to be made to reduce variation by day of the week of admission

Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing problems and recommendations

Public health officials and journalists play a crucial role in disseminating information regarding natural disasters, terrorism and other human-initiated disasters. However, research suggests that journalists are unprepared to cover terrorism and many types of natural disasters, in part because of lack sufficient expertise in science and medicine and training. The objective of this research was to identify solutions to problems facing journalists and public health public information officer (PIOs) of communicating with the public during natural and human-initiated disasters

Exploring the Role of Retailer Image and Store Brands As Extrinsic Cues

This exploratory study conducted in the developing context of South Africa describes the role of extrinsic cues relating to the retailer's image and store brand in young urban consumers' choice of interior textile products. In adopting a phenomological approach, rich descriptive data reveals the significance of store atmosphere, price and quality perceptions, product selections and value added services as extrinsic cues. The study also provides clarity on the symbolic expressive roles of retail store brands and illustrates the importance of reference groups as basis for retail brand associations. [to cite]: Nadine Sonnenberg and Alet Erasmus http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/14094/la/v2_pdf/LA-02 [copyright notice]: This work is copyrighted by The Association for Consumer Research. For permission to copy or use this work in whole or in part, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. 71 Latin American Advances in Consumer Research Volume 2, © 2008 Exploring the Role of Retailer Image and Store Brands as Extrinsic Cues in Young Urban Consumers' Choice of Interior Textile Products Nadine C. Sonnenberg, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa Alet C. Erasmus, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa ABSTRACT This exploratory study conducted in the developing context of South Africa describes the role of extrinsic cues relating to the retailer's image and store brand in young urban consumers' choice of interior textile products. In adopting a phenomenological approach, rich descriptive data reveals the significance of store atmosphere, price and quality perceptions, product selections and value added services as extrinsic cues. The study also provides clarity on the symbolic expressive roles of retail store brands and illustrates the importance of reference groups as basis for retail brand associations

What drives sound symbolism? Different acoustic cues underlie sound-size and sound-shape mappings

Sound symbolism refers to the non-arbitrary mappings that exist between phonetic properties of speech sounds and their meaning. Despite there being an extensive literature on the topic, the acoustic features and psychological mechanisms that give rise to sound symbolism are not, as yet, altogether clear. The present study was designed to investigate whether different sets of acoustic cues predict size and shape symbolism, respectively. In two experiments, participants judged whether a given consonant-vowel speech sound was large or small, round or angular, using a size or shape scale. Visual size judgments were predicted by vowel formant F1 in combination with F2, and by vowel duration. Visual shape judgments were, however, predicted by formants F2 and F3. Size and shape symbolism were thus not induced by a common mechanism, but rather were distinctly affected by acoustic properties of speech sounds. These findings portray sound symbolism as a process that is not based merely on broad categorical contrasts, such as round/unround and front/back vowels. Rather, individuals seem to base their sound-symbolic judgments on specific sets of acoustic cues, extracted from speech sounds, which vary across judgment dimensions

Observation of the Dalitz Decay Ds∗+→Ds+e+e−D_{s}^{*+} \to D_{s}^{+} e^{+} e^{-}

Using 586 $\textrm{pb}^{-1}$ of $e^{+}e^{-}$ collision data acquired at $\sqrt{s}=4.170$ GeV with the CLEO-c detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we report the first observation of $D_{s}^{*+} \to D_{s}^{+} e^{+} e^{-}$ with a significance of $5.3 \sigma$. The ratio of branching fractions \calB(D_{s}^{*+} \to D_{s}^{+} e^{+} e^{-}) / \calB(D_{s}^{*+} \to D_{s}^{+} \gamma) is measured to be $[ 0.72^{+0.15}_{-0.13} (\textrm{stat}) \pm 0.10 (\textrm{syst})]$, which is consistent with theoretical expectations