Nietzsche\u27s Genealogy: An Historical Investigation of the Contingency of Moral Values

This work examines how values seem to be contingent on various factors which affect their growth and development. This study is based around the ethical writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Specifically, On the Genealogy of Morals serves as the foundation for my thesis. This book contains three essays which purport to show how moral values originated as a result of certain human phenomena rather than, as many people take for granted, from moral “truths.” This contribution to ethics is important because it leaves many questions regarding the value of morality untouched. In the Genealogy, there are numerous themes of Nietzsche’s philosophy which are important to note such as anti-realism and naturalism. However, one of the difficulties of reading Nietzsche is that his writing has been misinterpreted, and it can be difficult to reach a consensus on how to properly understand his meanings. In the paper, I argue that to properly interpret Nietzsche one must recognize that his Genealogy serves two purposes: 1) to shake our faith in morality as “given” or “factual;” and 2) to provide us reasons that moral values might have detrimental effects on human flourishing. To fully appreciate these aspects of the Genealogy, I argue that the historical form of the text is a crucial component which cannot be ignored. Ultimately, if Nietzsche is successful in demonstrating these factors, then it will be shown that morality is contingent upon a plethora of historical factors

Accounting for Heterogeneity in the Variance of Unobserved Effects in Mixed Logit Models

The growing popularity of mixed logit to obtain estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) has focussed on the distribution of the random parameters and the possibility of estimating deep parameters to account for heterogeneity around the mean of the distribution. However the possibility exists to add further behavioural information associated with the variance of the random parameter distribution, through parameterisation of its heterogeneity (or heteroskedasticity). In this paper we extend the mixed logit model to account for this heterogeneity and illustrate the implications this has on the moments of the willingness to pay for travel time savings in the context of commuter choice of mode. The empirical study highlights the statistical and behavioural gains but warns of the potential downside of exposing the distribution of the parameterised numerator and/or denominator of the more complex WTP function to a sign change and extreme values over the range of the distribution

The MASSIVE Survey - III. Molecular gas and a broken Tully-Fisher relation in the most massive early-type galaxies

In this work we present CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) observations of a pilot sample of 15 early-type galaxies (ETGs) drawn from the MASSIVE galaxy survey, a volume-limited integral-field spectroscopic study of the most massive ETGs ($M_* >10^{11.5}M_\odot$) within 108 Mpc. These objects were selected because they showed signs of an interstellar medium and/or star formation. A large amount of gas ($>$2$\times$10$^8$ M$_{\odot}$) is present in 10 out of 15 objects, and these galaxies have gas fractions higher than expected based on extrapolation from lower mass samples. We tentatively interpret this as evidence that stellar mass loss and hot halo cooling may be starting to play a role in fuelling the most massive galaxies. These MASSIVE ETGs seem to have lower star-formation efficiencies (SFE=SFR/M$_{\rm H2}$) than spiral galaxies, but the SFEs derived are consistent with being drawn from the same distribution found in other lower mass ETG samples. This suggests that the SFE is not simply a function of stellar mass, but that local, internal processes are more important for regulating star formation. Finally we used the CO line profiles to investigate the high-mass end of the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR). We find that there is a break in the slope of the TFR for ETGs at high masses (consistent with previous studies). The strength of this break correlates with the stellar velocity dispersion of the host galaxies, suggesting it is caused by additional baryonic mass being present in the centre of massive ETGs. We speculate on the root cause of this change and its implications for galaxy formation theories.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA

Audit of antenatal clinic for high-risk obstetric patients; activity and outcomes

A specialised clinic for the antenatal care of high-risk patients was established in Cork in January 2004. It is led by 2 specialists in materno-fetal medicine and provides care for patients from a large catchment area. Small clinic numbers, specialised midwives, ready access to medical experts and fetal assessment facilities, facilitate an efficient use of resources. We report on the experience and outcomes of this clinic after the first year in operation. A database was set up to store relevant information on patients who attended the clinic in 2004. 143 patients attended. Risk categories included maternal medical disease (62%); multiple pregnancy (11%); previous poor obstetric history (10%); fetal anomaly (8%). Average gestation; 35.9 weeks, average birth weight; 2598g. Caesarean section rate; 41%. Perinatal mortality rate 67 per 1000 (uncorrected); and 20% neonates required NICU care. This approach to highrisk obstetric care resulted in favourable outcomes. The management strategy applied in Cork may be a suitable prototype for comparable areas throughout Ireland

The Georgia justice: being a convenient directory for the justices of the peace, and various other civil officers known to the laws of the state of Georgia

From the front matter: Be it remembered, That on the twenty-fifth day of May, in the fifty-ninth year of the independence ©f the United States of America, A. D. 1835, Rhodom A. Greene and John W. Lumpkin, of said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:— “The GEORGIA JUSTICE : being a convenient Directory for the Justices of the Peace, and various other civil officers known to the Laws of the State of Georgia. Containing a Digest of the Statutes relating to the duties of said officers, and other laws of a general nature, illustrated and explained by quotations from the most eminent writers and expounders of the Common Law. In four Parts. With an Appendix, containing the Constitution of this State, and the Constitution of the United States as amended. By Rhodom A. Greene and John W. Lumpkin.” In conformity to the act of congress of the United States, entitled, “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned and also to the act entitled, “An act supplementary to an act entitled ‘An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,’ and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.” GEORGE GLEN, Clerk District Court, Georgia.https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/historic_treat/1001/thumbnail.jp

Stimulus Frequency Otoacoustic Emission Delays and Generating Mechanisms in Guinea Pigs, Chinchillas, and Simulations

According to coherent reflection theory (CRT), stimulus frequency otoacoustic emissions (SFOAEs) arise from cochlear irregularities coherently reflecting energy from basilar membrane motion within the traveling-wave peak. This reflected energy arrives in the ear canal predominantly with a single delay at each frequency. However, data from humans and animals indicate that (1) SFOAEs can have multiple delay components, (2) low-frequency SFOAE delays are too short to be accounted for by CRT, and (3) “SFOAEs” obtained with a 2nd (“suppressor”) tone ≥2 octaves above the probe tone have been interpreted as arising from the area basal to the region of cochlear amplification. To explore these issues, we collected SFOAEs by the suppression method in guinea pigs and time-frequency analyzed these data, simulated SFOAEs, and published chinchilla SFOAEs. Time-frequency analysis revealed that most frequencies showed only one SFOAE delay component while other frequencies had multiple components including some with short delays. We found no systematic patterns in the occurrence of multiple delay components. Using a cochlear model that had significant basilar membrane motion only in the peak region of the traveling wave, simulated SFOAEs had single and multiple delay components similar to the animal SFOAEs. This result indicates that multiple components (including ones with short delays) can originate from cochlear mechanical irregularities in the SFOAE peak region and are not necessarily indicative of SFOAE sources in regions ≥2 octaves basal of the SFOAE peak region. We conclude that SFOAEs obtained with suppressors close to the probe frequency provide information primarily about the mechanical response in the region that receives amplification, and we attribute the too-short SFOAE delays at low frequencies to distortion-source SFOAEs and coherent reflection from multiple cochlear motions. Our findings suggest that CRT needs revision to include reflections from multiple motions in the cochlear apex.United States. National Institute for Deafness and other Communicative Disorders (RO1 DC000235)United States. National Institute for Deafness and other Communicative Disorders (R01 DC003687)United States. National Institute for Deafness and other Communicative Disorders (T32 DC00038)United States. National Institute for Deafness and other Communicative Disorders (P30 DC005209)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Twenty years of load theory—Where are we now, and where should we go next?

Selective attention allows us to ignore what is task-irrelevant and focus on what is task-relevant. The cognitive and neural mechanisms that underlie this process are key topics of investigation in cognitive psychology. One of the more prominent theories of attention is perceptual load theory, which suggests that the efficiency of selective attention is dependent on both perceptual and cognitive load. It is now more than 20 years since the proposal of load theory, and it is a good time to evaluate the evidence in support of this influential model. The present article supplements and extends previous reviews (Lavie, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 75–82. doi:10.​1016/​j.​tics.​2004.​12.​004, 2005, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 143–148. doi:10.​1177/​0963721410370295​, 2010) by examining more recent research in what appears to be a rapidly expanding area. The article comprises five parts, examining (1) evidence for the effects of perceptual load on attention, (2) cognitive load, (3) individual differences under load, (4) alternative theories and criticisms, and (5) the future of load theory. We argue that the key next step for load theory will be the application of the model to real-world tasks. The potential benefits of applied attention research are numerous, and there is tentative evidence that applied research would provide strong support for the theory itself, as well as real-world benefits related to activities in which attention is crucial, such as driving and education

Along-margin variations in breakup volcanism at the Eastern North American Margin

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 125(12),(2020): e2020JB020040, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020040.We model the magnetic signature of rift‐related volcanism to understand the distribution and volume of magmatic activity that occurred during the breakup of Pangaea and early Atlantic opening at the Eastern North American Margin (ENAM). Along‐strike variations in the amplitude and character of the prominent East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA) suggest that the emplacement of the volcanic layers producing this anomaly similarly varied along the margin. We use three‐dimensional magnetic forward modeling constrained by seismic interpretations to identify along‐margin variations in volcanic thickness and width that can explain the observed amplitude and character of the ECMA. Our model results suggest that the ECMA is produced by a combination of both first‐order (~600–1,000 km) and second‐order (~50–100 km) magmatic segmentation. The first‐order magmatic segmentation could have resulted from preexisting variations in crustal thickness and rheology developed during the tectonic amalgamation of Pangaea. The second‐order magmatic segmentation developed during continental breakup and likely influenced the segmentation and transform fault spacing of the initial, and modern, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. These variations in magmatism show how extension and thermal weakening was distributed at the ENAM during continental breakup and how this breakup magmatism was related to both previous and subsequent Wilson cycle stages.Thanks to Anne Bécel, Dan Lizarralde, Collin Brandl, Brandon Shuck, and Mark Everett for beneficial discussion and assistance in compiling the archived data used in this study. We thank Debbie Hutchinson (USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center) for passing along her vast breadth of knowledge on the ENAM through numerous constructive suggestions to greatly strengthen our manuscript. We greatly appreciate the insightful comments from two reviewers, the Associate Editor, and the Editor that significantly improved the manuscript. Thanks to Maurice Tivey for providing codes that aided our magnetic modeling efforts. Project completed as part of J.A.G.'s Ph.D. dissertation at Texas A&M University.2021-05-1

Combining RP and SP data: Biases in using the nested logit ‘trick’ – contrasts with flexible mixed logit incorporating panel and scale effects

It has become popular practice that joint estimation of choice models that use stated preference (SP) and revealed preference (RP) data requires a way of adjusting for scale to ensure that parameter estimates across data sets are not confounded by differences in scale. The nested logit ‘trick’ presented in Hensher and Bradley (1993) continues to be widely used, especially by practitioners, to accommodate scale differences. This modelling strategy has always assumed that the observations are independent, a condition of all GEV models, which is not strictly valid within a stated preference experiment with repeated choice sets and between each SP observation and the single RP data point. This paper promotes the replacement of the NL ‘trick’ method with an error components model that can accommodate correlated observations as well as reveal the relevant scale parameter for subsets of alternatives. Such a model can also incorporate “state” or reference dependence between data types and preference heterogeneity on observed attributes. An example illustrates the difference in empirical evidence