Motivation matters in mobile language learning : A brief commentary

In this paper I offer a brief commentary on motivational issues in mobile language learning, drawing on empirical insights from the articles in this special issue

Early Decay of Peccei-Quinn Fermion and the IceCube Neutrino Events

IceCube observed high-energy neutrino flux in the energy region from TeV to PeV. The decay of a massive long-lived particle in the early universe can be the origin of the IceCube neutrino events, which we call an "early decay scenario." In this paper, we construct a particle physics model that contains such a massive long-lived particle based on the Peccei-Quinn model. We calculate the present neutrino flux, taking account of realistic initial energy distributions of particles produced by the decay of the massive long-lived particle. We show that the early decay scenario naturally fits into the Peccei-Quinn model, and that the neutrino flux observed by IceCube can be explained in such a framework. We also see that, based on that model, a consistent cosmological history that explains the abundance of the massive long-lived particle is realized.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures; v2: references added; v3: version accepted for publication in PL

Explosive Axion Production from Saxion

The dynamics of saxion in a supersymmetric axion model and its effect on the axion production is studied in detail. We find that the axion production is very efficient when the saxion oscillation amplitude is much larger than the Peccei-Quinn scale, due to a spike-like behavior of the effective axion mass. We also consider the axino production and several cosmological consequences. The possibility of detection of gravitational waves from the non-linear dynamics of the saxion and axion is discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Critical considerations on defining and measuring performance in public organizations

Performance evaluation plays a central role in improving public service quality and increasing efficiency and accountability in the public sector. New Public Management recommends performance evaluation as a tool for rationalizing public budgeting, promoting better reporting systems and developing internal diagnosis systems. This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of performance evaluation and to highlight its influences in public organizations. The study is based on review and analysis of academic research, government documents and personal perspectives. The paper argues that managerial practices and tools for defining and evaluating performance can be used for cultivating the “achievement culture” in public sector organizations.Public management, performance, evaluation, indicators

An Overview on Institutionalism and Decentralized Decision-Making

Human actions, interactions and decisions should have a certain degree of predictability that can be obtained by establishing rules. Institutions, in general, are defined by sets of rules known by the public and applicable for the community. Their existence is essential for the economic activity, as it cannot develop in a vacuum. At the same time, the type and the quality of institutions make the difference in implementing economic aspirations of individuals and in supporting economic overall growth. Institutions provide a minimum of regulations that in conjunction with the particularities and the interests of individuals and communities become the foundation for economic, political and social decision-making processes.institutions, institutionalism, decision-making, decentralization

Fictional persuasion, transparency, and the aim of belief

In this chapter we argue that some beliefs present a problem for the truth-aim teleological account of belief, according to which it is constitutive of belief that it is aimed at truth. We draw on empirical literature which shows that subjects form beliefs about the real world when they read fictional narratives, even when those narratives are presented as fiction, and subjects are warned that the narratives may contain falsehoods. We consider Nishi Shah’s teleologist’s dilemma and a response to it from Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen which appeals to weak truth regulation as a feature common to all belief. We argue that beliefs from fiction indicate that there is not a basic level of truth regulation common to all beliefs, and thus the teleologist’s dilemma remains. We consider two objections to our argument. First, that the attitudes gained through reading fiction are not beliefs, and thus teleologists are not required to account for them in their theory. We respond to this concern by defending a doxastic account of the attitudes gained from fiction. Second, that these beliefs are in fact appropriately truth-aimed, insofar as readers form beliefs upon what they take to be author testimony. We respond to this concern by suggesting that the conditions under which one can form justified beliefs upon testimony are not met in the cases we discuss. Lastly, we gesture towards a teleological account grounded in biological function, which is not vulnerable to our argument. We conclude that beliefs from fiction present a problem for the truth-aim teleological account of belief

Another Failed Refutation of Scepticism

Jessica Wilson has recently offered a more sophisticated version of the self-defeat objection to Cartesian scepicism. She argues that the assertion of Cartesian scepticism results in an unstable vicious regress. The way out of the regress is to not engage with the Cartesian sceptic at all, to stop the regress before it starts, at the warranted assertion that the external world exists. We offer three reasons why this objection fails: first, the sceptic need not accept Wilson’s characterization of the sceptical thesis and thus need not start her regress; second, even if she did commit to the regress, it would not undermine scepticism in the way Wilson envisages; and third, the appeal to mental state scepticism which is necessary to generate the second and subsequent steps in the regress is not justified

Unitarity constraint on the K\"ahler curvature

In supersymmetric theories, the signs of quartic terms in the K\"ahler potential control the stability of non-supersymmetric field configurations. In particular, in supersymmetric inflation models, the signs are important for the stability of an inflationary trajectory as well as for the prediction of the spectral index. In this paper, we clarify what properties of a UV theory determine the sign from unitarity arguments of scattering amplitudes. As non-trivial examples, we discuss the sign of a four-meson term in large $N$ supersymmetric gauge theories and also those of the quartic terms obtained in the intersecting D-brane models in superstring theory. The UV origins of inflationary models and supersymmetry breaking models are constrained by this discussion.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures; published version, minor changes, references adde