Towards a Phenomenology of Objects: Husserl and the Life-World

In this paper, I explore Edmund Husserl's account of the life-world for evidence that he posits it as the living flesh of the transcendental ego and thus as our primordial object-relation. In so doing, I attempt to rehabili­tate and defend Husserl's notion of transcendental subjectivity, of the a priori, by noting how one's embodiment in many concrete experiences calls for and bears witness to this transcendental foundation of itself. After developing my reading of Husserl's account of the life-world, I then turn to the phenomenological psychology of John Russon in his book Human Experience to show how Husserl's life-world as the pri­mordial object-relation opens us onto a very concrete vision of intersubjectivity

Poverty and Employment in Timber-Dependent Counties

One of the most controversial aspects of federal and state policies aimed at protecting old-growth ecosystems has been the potential impact of job losses on local economies. A fundamental question for historically timber-dependent communities is whether these policies will result in local economic stagnation and enduring pockets of poverty. In this paper, we examine the long-run impact of changes in timber-related employment on other types of employment and participation in major federal poverty programs. We use monthly, multi-county time series data to estimate a vector autoregressive model of the experience of northern California counties during the 1980s and 1990s. We find that employment base multiplier effects of timber employment on other types of employment in each county are small, and state economic conditions rather than local employment conditions are the principal driver behind local poverty.

Can Zipf's law be adapted to normalize microarrays?

BACKGROUND: Normalization is the process of removing non-biological sources of variation between array experiments. Recent investigations of data in gene expression databases for varying organisms and tissues have shown that the majority of expressed genes exhibit a power-law distribution with an exponent close to -1 (i.e. obey Zipf's law). Based on the observation that our single channel and two channel microarray data sets also followed a power-law distribution, we were motivated to develop a normalization method based on this law, and examine how it compares with existing published techniques. A computationally simple and intuitively appealing technique based on this observation is presented. RESULTS: Using pairwise comparisons using MA plots (log ratio vs. log intensity), we compared this novel method to previously published normalization techniques, namely global normalization to the mean, the quantile method, and a variation on the loess normalization method designed specifically for boutique microarrays. Results indicated that, for single channel microarrays, the quantile method was superior with regard to eliminating intensity-dependent effects (banana curves), but Zipf's law normalization does minimize this effect by rotating the data distribution such that the maximal number of data points lie on the zero of the log ratio axis. For two channel boutique microarrays, the Zipf's law normalizations performed as well as, or better than existing techniques. CONCLUSION: Zipf's law normalization is a useful tool where the Quantile method cannot be applied, as is the case with microarrays containing functionally specific gene sets (boutique arrays)

Compton Scattering in Ultra-Strong Magnetic Fields: Numerical and Analytical Behavior in the Relativistic Regime

This paper explores the effects of strong magnetic fields on the Compton scattering of relativistic electrons. Recent studies of upscattering and energy loss by relativistic electrons that have used the non-relativistic, magnetic Thomson cross section for resonant scattering or the Klein-Nishina cross section for non-resonant scattering do not account for the relativistic quantum effects of strong fields ($> 4 \times 10^{12}$ G). We have derived a simplified expression for the exact QED scattering cross section for the broadly-applicable case where relativistic electrons move along the magnetic field. To facilitate applications to astrophysical models, we have also developed compact approximate expressions for both the differential and total polarization-dependent cross sections, with the latter representing well the exact total QED cross section even at the high fields believed to be present in environments near the stellar surfaces of Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars. We find that strong magnetic fields significantly lower the Compton scattering cross section below and at the resonance, when the incident photon energy exceeds $m_ec^2$ in the electron rest frame. The cross section is strongly dependent on the polarization of the final scattered photon. Below the cyclotron fundamental, mostly photons of perpendicular polarization are produced in scatterings, a situation that also arises above this resonance for sub-critical fields. However, an interesting discovery is that for super-critical fields, a preponderance of photons of parallel polarization results from scatterings above the cyclotron fundamental. This characteristic is both a relativistic and magnetic effect not present in the Thomson or Klein-Nishina limits.Comment: AASTeX format, 31 pages included 7 embedded figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Carcass Characteristics of Bulls, Heifers and Steers as Influenced by Ration and Market Weight

High feed grain prices, a growing worldwide demand for animal protein, and increasing demand for lean, high quality beef make it imperative that beef volume and production efficiency increase. Because of high feed costs it is important to know how concentrate level in the ration and market weight influence production efficiency and carcass composition of different sex groups. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of market weight and ration concentrate level on the quant itative and qualitative carcass traits of yearling bulls, bull calves, heifers and steers

Zur Phänomenologie des Übergangs: Charlotte\u27s Web von E. B. White und der Prozess des kindlichen Selbsteinschreibens in den Roman

This paper brings together phenomenology and a kind of reader-response criticism in order to explicate E.B. White’s famous children’s novel, Charlotte’s Web. The paper has three main parts. In the first, the paper highlights some important themes of Edmund Husserl’s work – i.e. perception, intersubjectivity, and temporality. In the second part, the paper relates the author’s act of reading the novel together with a young child, the author’s daughter, and foregrounds her own responses to the text. In the third, the paper presents what the author takes to be a new reading of White’s story by means of both the conversation with the child and the previously presented phenomenological concepts. In addition, the paper intersects with insights of the Philosophy for Children movement and with the development of its narrative of a community of inquiry.U radu se povezuju fenomenologija i određena vrsta teorije čitateljeva odgovora u pokušaju tumačenja poznatoga dječjega romana Charlottina mreža E. B. Whitea. Rad je podijeljen na tri dijela: prvi dio razmatra neke od važnijih tema u radu Edmunda Husserla, točnije percepciju, intersubjektivnost i temporalnost. Drugi dio opisuje čin autorova čitanja romana s kćeri, postavljajući u prvi plan njezine reakcije na tekst. Treći dio prikazuje novo čitanje Whiteove priče nastalo u razgovoru s djetetom te na temelju prethodno predstavljenih fenomenoloških koncepata. Nadalje, rad se oslanja na uvide pokreta „filozofije za djecu“ i razvoja njegova narativa zajednice istraživanja i propitkivanjaIm Beitrag werden Phänomenologie und eine bestimme Art der Reader-Response-Theorie zwecks Deutung des Kinderromans Charlotte’s Web von E. B. White verbunden. Der Beitrag besteht aus drei Teilen: Im ersten werden einige der wichtigeren Themen im Werk Edmund Husserls besprochen, genauer genommen, jene der Perzeption, der Intersubjektivität und der Temporalität. Im zweiten Teil wird der Lesevorgang beschrieben, wie der Roman seitens des Beitragsautors seiner Tochter vorgelesen wurde, weshalb auch die Reaktionen der Tochter in den Vordergrund gerückt werden. Im dritten Teil wird eine neue Lesart von Whites Geschichte dargeboten, die ein Ergebnis des Gespräches mit dem Kinde und der im Beitrag davor vorgestellten phänomenologischen Konzepte ist. Der Beitrag fußt ferner auf den Einsichten der „Philosophie für Kinder“-Bewegung sowie auf der Entwicklung ihres Narrativs in Form einer Forschungs- und Hinterfragungsgemeinschaft

Mechanical thrombectomy for intermediate risk pulmonary embolism

An informed consent article using a set of publications to develop an informed consent conversation for a patient with an acute pulmonary embolism being considered for pulmonary artery thrombolysis

Implementation of Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Unionized Workplace

Society has long been troubled by illegal drug and alcohol abuse