Perception and common sense: a study of twentieth century direct realism

This thesis is a critical examination of the direct realist theory of perception. A common-sense analysis of perception is defended against arguments which are widely believed to rule out the direct realist's notion of a direct contact with external physical reality. I argue that a common-sense version of direct realism can adequately account for hallucinations, perceptual relativity, perceptual illusions, severe time-lags and the causal processes involved in perception. The views of prominent twentieth-century direct realists are critically examined, with the intention of identifying constraints on any plausible direct realist theory of perception. I maintain that there are representationalist tensions in the work of leading twentieth-century direct realists, and that a principal source of these representationalist tensions is their adherence to the common element thesis, the notion that hallucinations and genuine perceptions are the very same experience. Appealing to recent cognitive science experiments on the imagination, I defend a disjunctivist analysis of experience, one which holds that hallucinations and genuine perceptions involve fundamentally different experience-types, rather than sharing a common, world-independent experience. The analysis which emerges is nonepistemic in its denial that perceptual experiences are essentially cognitive. A nonintentional and non-propositional species of perceptual representational content is proposed, one which recognises qualia of perceptual experience. Recent attempts by direct realists to apply Russellian acquaintance to the direct perception of external physical reality are rejected as inconsistent with the central ideas in Russellian acquaintance. Traditional Humean difficulties about the elusiveness of the self in introspection, and the question of how we could know we perceive if we are never acquainted with the self, are addressed by appeal to Russell's largely overlooked notion of learning to be acquainted with objects

Efficient simulation of quantum evolution using dynamical coarse-graining

A novel scheme to simulate the evolution of a restricted set of observables of a quantum system is proposed. The set comprises the spectrum-generating algebra of the Hamiltonian. The idea is to consider a certain open-system evolution, which can be interpreted as a process of weak measurement of the distinguished observables performed on the evolving system of interest. Given that the observables are "classical" and the Hamiltonian is moderately nonlinear, the open system dynamics displays a large time-scales separation between the dephasing of the observables and the decoherence of the evolving state in the basis of the generalized coherent states (GCS), associated with the spectrum-generating algebra. The time scale separation allows the unitary dynamics of the observables to be efficiently simulated by the open-system dynamics on the intermediate time-scale.The simulation employs unraveling of the corresponding master equations into pure state evolutions, governed by the stochastic nonlinear Schroedinger equantion (sNLSE). It is proved that GCS are globally stable solutions of the sNLSE, if the Hamilonian is linear in the algebra elements.Comment: The version submitted to Phys. Rev. A, 28 pages, 3 figures, comments are very welcom

Restoring Ureagenesis in Hepatocytes by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Genomic Addition to Arginase-deficient Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Urea cycle disorders are incurable enzymopathies that affect nitrogen metabolism and typically lead to hyperammonemia. Arginase deficiency results from a mutation in Arg1, the enzyme regulating the final step of ureagenesis and typically results in developmental disabilities, seizures, spastic diplegia, and sometimes death. Current medical treatments for urea cycle disorders are only marginally effective, and for proximal disorders, liver transplantation is effective but limited by graft availability. Advances in human induced pluripotent stem cell research has allowed for the genetic modification of stem cells for potential cellular replacement therapies. In this study, we demonstrate a universally-applicable CRISPR/Cas9-based strategy utilizing exon 1 of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase locus to genetically modify and restore arginase activity, and thus ureagenesis, in genetically distinct patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells and hepatocyte-like derivatives. Successful strategies restoring gene function in patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cells may advance applications of genetically modified cell therapy to treat urea cycle and other inborn errors of metabolism

Two-color QCD in 3D at finite baryon density

We study the low energy phase structure of SU(2) gauge theories in three-dimensional spacetime, at finite baryon density. The pseudoreality of representations of SU(2) permits an analytic study of a real baryon chemical potential, and the restriction to 3D results in a different global symmetry breaking pattern from the corresponding 4D model studied previously by Kogut et al. We find a second-order phase transition separating the normal phase and the baryon superconducting phase. The chemical potential dependence of condensates and baryon density are computed. We find that the phase structure and the excitation spectrum are essentially the same as in 4D, despite the different symmetry groups, indicating a universality that is rooted in the properties of Riemannian symmetric spaces.Comment: 11 pp, REVTeX4, no figures. (v2) references added and a typo fixed. version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Meeting reports: Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies

Understanding the complexity of human–nature interactions is central to the quest for both human well-being and global sustainability. To build an understanding of these interactions, scientists, planners, resource managers, policymakers, and communities increasingly are collaborating across wide-ranging disciplines and knowledge domains. Scientists and others are generating new integrated knowledge on top of their requisite specialized knowledge to understand complex systems in order to solve pressing environmental and social problems (e.g., Carpenter et al. 2009). One approach to this sort of integration, bringing together detailed knowledge of various disciplines (e.g., social, economic, biological, and geophysical), has become known as the study of Coupled Human and Natural Systems, or CHANS (Liu et al. 2007a, b). In 2007 a formal standing program in Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems was created by the U.S. National Science Foundation. Recently, the program supported the launch of an International Network of Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS-Net.org). A major kick-off event of the network was a symposium on Complexity in Human–Nature Interactions across Landscapes, which brought together leading CHANS scientists at the 2009 meeting of the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology in Snowbird, Utah. The symposium highlighted original and innovative research emphasizing reciprocal interactions between human and natural systems at multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. The presentations can be found at ‹http://chans- net.org/Symposium_2009.aspx›. The symposium was accompanied by a workshop on Challenges and Opportunities in CHANS Research. This article provides an overview of the CHANS approach, outlines the primary challenges facing the CHANS research community, and discusses potential strategies to meet these challenges, based upon the presentations and discussions among participants at the Snowbird meeting

Inhibition of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Ameliorates Ocular Pseudomonas aeruginosa-Induced Keratitis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes severe sight-threatening corneal infections, with the inflammatory response to the pathogen being the major factor resulting in damage to the cornea that leads to loss of visual acuity. We found that mice deficient for macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a key regulator of inflammation, had significantly reduced consequences from acute P. aeruginosa keratitis. This improvement in the outcome was manifested as improved bacterial clearance, decreased neutrophil infiltration, and decreased inflammatory responses when P. aeruginosa-infected MIF knock out (KO) mice were compared to infected wild-type mice. Recombinant MIF applied to infected corneas restored the susceptibility of MIF deficient mice to P. aeruginosa-induced disease, demonstrating that MIF is necessary and sufficient to cause significant pathology at this immune privileged site. A MIF inhibitor administered during P. aeruginosa-induced infection ameliorated the disease-associated pathology. MIF regulated epithelial cell responses to infection by enhancing synthesis of proinflammatory mediators in response to P. aeruginosa infection and by promoting bacterial invasion of corneal epithelial cells, a correlate of virulence in the keratitis model. Our results uncover a host factor that elevates inflammation and propagates bacterial cellular invasion, and further suggest that inhibition of MIF during infection may have a beneficial therapeutic effect

G96-1287 Design of a Spring-Loaded Gate Latch For Swine Breeding Facilities

This publication offers plans and discussion of the spring-loaded gate latch used in swine breeding facilities. Swine breeding facilities function more smoothly when gates have latches that can be worked easily and quickly. A gate latch should be designed so the latch can be released (or fastened) and the gate opened (or closed) with a continuous motion using only one hand. The illustrated gate latch design has worked well in a swine breeding facility. The latch design allows a gate in the partition between two breeding pens to swing into either breeding pen

Autobiography & Postmodernism

Edited by Kathleen Ashley, Leigh Gilmore, Gerald Peters. These essays set out to explore the connections between autobiography and postmodernism. They examine the response of various writers to the culturally specific pressures of genre; how these constraints are negotiated; and what self-representation reveals about the politics of identity, Contributors are Betty Bergland, Andrei Codrescu, Michael M. J. Fischer, Leigh Gilmore, David P. Haney, Paul Jay, Shirley Neuman, Christopher Ortiz, Sidonie Smith, Kirsten Wasson, and Hertha D. Wong.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/facbooks/1185/thumbnail.jp