An Age of Crisis

Originally published in 1959. This book examines the French Enlightenment by analyzing critical thought in eighteenth-centruy France. It examines the philosophes' views on evil, free will and determinism, and human nature. This is an interesting group to look at, according to Crocker, because French Enlightenment thinkers straddled two vastly different time periods

Measurement of long-range steric repulsions between microspheres due to an adsorbed polymer

We have measured the interparticle potential between pairs of micron-sized silica spheres induced by adsorbed polyethylene oxide polymer using a line-scanned optical tweezer. We found this long-range steric repulsion to be exponential over the range of energies (0.1kBT–5kBT) and polymer molecular weights (452 000–1 580 000) studied, and that the potential scaled with the polymer’s radius of gyration RG. The potential’s exponential decay length was about 0.6RG and its range was about 4RG, although both parameters varied significantly from one pair of spheres to another. The potential’s exponential prefactor was greater than mean-field predictions

German morphosyntactic gender and lexical access

Previous eye-tracking research has shown that, during spoken-word recognition, gender marking on preceding articles restricts the competitor set to gender-matching nouns: Upon hearing “Cliquez sur le[masc] bouton” (‘Click on the button’), French listeners did not take the picture of a gender-mismatching ‘bottle’ (bouteille[fem]) into consideration, despite onset similarity between bouton and bouteille (Dahan et al., 2000) In the interpretation of the gender effect, two issues need to be distinguished: When does gender information infl uence noun recognition? Do gender cues pre-activate gendermatching nouns, or does the effect set in when the noun onset is heard? At what level of processing does gender have an effect? What types of representations are involved: shallow co-occurence frequencies or deeper morphosyntactic gender categories? In another experiment, Dahan et al. (2000) found that, by itself, a gender marked article does not seem to prime all gender-matching nouns: Hearing “la[fem] louche” (‘the ladle’) did not increase fixations to a non-onsetoverlapping ‘sock’, chaussette[fem]. This goes against a pre-activation account

Les directives psychiatriques anticipées (DPA) et le rôle de l’autonomie

Bien que les directives psychiatriques anticipées (DPA) soient ancrées dans l’éthique de l’autonomie, le lien entre les deux reste imprécis. Les DPA sont des documents juridiques qui permettent aux personnes qui vivent avec un problème de santé mentale de spécifier leurs préférences de traitement advenant une incapacité future. Le rapport entre l’autonomie et les DPA a été abordé en termes tant légaux et éthiques que philosophiques, mais il n’a pas été clairement opérationnalisé sur le plan clinique. L’autonomie est une valeur éthique fondamentale qui englobe la notion d’indépendance face à des influences contrôlantes externes, ainsi que la capacité mentale de prendre ses propres décisions. Les personnes qui vivent avec un problème de santé mentale ont parfois besoin d’aide pour bien comprendre leurs droits éthiques et juridiques en matière de choix autonome, alors que les intervenants professionnels doivent être mieux formés quant à l’importance de l’autonomie dans leur pratique clinique. La capacité de consentir au traitement est le préalable d’ordre mental qui assure que les personnes ayant des troubles mentaux sont en mesure de rédiger des DPA en toute connaissance de cause, alors que l’autonomie est la valeur qui leur donne le pouvoir de contribuer à leur rétablissement.Although psychiatric advance directives (PADs) are grounded in the ethics of autonomy, the relationship between the two is unclear. PADs are legal documents that allow individuals with mental illness to record their treatment preferences should they become incompetent in the future. The relationship between autonomy and PADs has been discussed in ethical, legal, and philosophical terms, but has not been clearly operationalized for clinical purposes. Autonomy is a fundamental ethical value that includes having the independence from outside controlling influences and the mental capacity to direct one’s personal actions. Individuals with mental illness sometimes require assistance to understand their ethical and legal rights with respect to autonomous choice, and professional stakeholders need education regarding the importance of autonomy for clinical practice. Competency to consent to treatment is the mental prerequisite that ensures individuals with mental illness are able to complete PADs with insight, whereas autonomy is the value that empowers individuals to work towards their recovery.Aunque las directivas psiquiátricas anticipadas (DPA) se encuentran ancladas en la ética de la autonomía, la relación entre ambas es imprecisa. Las DPA son documentos jurídicos que permiten a las personas que viven con un problema de salud mental especificar sus preferencias de tratamiento en el caso de una incapacidad futura. La relación entre la autonomía y las DPA se aborda en términos tanto legales y éticos como filosóficos, pero no ha sido claramente puesta en operación en el plan clínico. La autonomía es un valor ético fundamental que engloba la noción de independencia frente a las influencias controladoras externas, así como la capacidad mental de tomar sus propias decisiones. Las personas que viven con un problema de salud mental en ocasiones necesitan ayuda para comprender sus derechos éticos y jurídicos en materia de elección autónoma, mientras que los interventores profesionales deben tener una mejor formación en cuanto a la importancia de la autonomía en la práctica clínica. La capacidad de consentir al tratamiento es la condición mental previa que asegura que las personas con trastornos mentales están en condiciones de redactar las DPA con todo conocimiento de causa. La autonomía les otorga el poder de contribuir a su restablecimiento.Apesar das Diretrizes Psiquiátricas Antecipadas (DPA) estarem enraizadas na ética da autonomia, o elo entre os dois ainda é vago. As DPA são documentos jurídicos que permitem às pessoas, que vivem com um problema de saúde mental, especificar suas preferências de tratamento no caso de uma inaptidão futura. A relação entre a autonomia e as DPA foi abordada em termos tanto legais e éticos quanto filosóficos, mas não foi claramente operacionalizada no plano clínico. A autonomia é um valor ético fundamental que engloba a noção de independência diante das influências controladoras externas, assim como a capacidade mental de tomar suas próprias decisões. As pessoas que vivem com um problema de saúde mental precisam, às vezes, de ajuda para compreender bem seus direitos éticos e jurídicos no que diz respeito à escolha autônoma, ao passo que os profissionais devem ser melhor formados quanto à importância da autonomia em sua prática clínica. A capacidade de consentir no tratamento é o requisito de ordem mental que garante que as pessoas que possuem transtornos mentais sejam capazes de redigir suas DPA em conhecimento de causa, já que a autonomia é o valor que lhes dá o poder de contribuir para seu próprio restabelecimento

Interaction between Faraday rotation and Cotton-Mouton effects in polarimetry modeling for NSTX

The evolution of electromagnetic wave polarization is modeled for propagation in the major radial direction in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) with retroreflection from the center stack of the vacuum vessel. This modeling illustrates that the Cotton-Mouton effect-elliptization due to the magnetic field perpendicular to the propagation direction-is shown to be strongly weighted to the high-field region of the plasma. An interaction between the Faraday rotation and Cotton-Mouton effects is also clearly identified. Elliptization occurs when the wave polarization direction is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the local transverse magnetic field. Since Faraday rotation modifies the polarization direction during propagation, it must also affect the resultant elliptization. The Cotton-Mouton effect also intrinsically results in rotation of the polarization direction, but this effect is less significant in the plasma conditions modeled. The interaction increases at longer wavelength, and complicates interpretation of polarimetry measurements.Comment: Contributed paper published as part of the Proceedings of the 18th Topical Conference on High-Temperature Plasma Diagnostics, Wildwood, New Jersey, May, 201