The Limits of the Rhetorical Analysis of Science

Three case studies explore the limits of the rhetorical analysis of science. The first is a case in which scientific facts and theories eventually reach a stage where they are beyond argument and, as a consequence, beyond rhetorical analysis. The second is a case where a work is scientific, that is, moving toward facts and theories beyond argument and is, at the same time, an example of deliberative rhetoric whose claims, of course, can never be beyond argument. The third is a case in which, although the science in question is now beyond argument, its policy implications remain, and will continue to remain, well within the realm of rhetorical analysis

Technology, Hyperbole, and Irony

Except for metaphor, tropes are arguably irrelevant to the analysis of science and technology. Among tropes, moreover, hyperbole and irony seem particularly ill-suited as the former exaggerates, while the latter undermines, two strategies at odds with a language intent on closely following the contours of the world of experience. While neither hyperbole nor irony has a place in the professional discourses of science and technology, both play a role in their popular representations. Hyperbole expresses our sense that these achievements exemplify the sublime, a form of experience applied at first to feelings of awe generated by great literature, then in succession to natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, triumphs of science like Newtonian physics, and such technological achievements as the computer and the Large Hadron Collider. While the Collider, the largest and most powerful experimental apparatus ever built, is an unalloyed technological triumph worthy of hyperbole, some of the alterations in social life that the computer has ushered in are open to skeptical debate. This is especially true to the extent that computer-facilitated communication has taken the place of the face-to face interaction that makes a robust social life possible. Irony is this skepticism’s vehicle

Bibliography of the Works of Alan G. Gross

Bibliography of the Works of Alan G. Gros

Immunotherapeutic targeting of membrane Hsp70-expressing tumors using recombinant human granzyme B

Background: We have previously reported that human recombinant granzyme B (grB) mediates apoptosis in membrane heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70)-positive tumor cells in a perforin-independent manner

Equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties associated with the chiral phase transition at finite density in the Gross-Neveu Model

We study the dynamics of the chiral phase transition at finite density in the Gross-Neveu (GN) model in the leading order in large-N approximation. The phase structure of the GN model in this approximation has the property that there is a tricritical point at a fixed temperature and chemical potential separating regions where the chiral transition is first order from that where it is second order. We consider evolutions starting in local thermal and chemical equilibrium in the massless unbroken phase for conditions pertaining to traversing a first or second order phase transition. We assume boost invariant kinematics and determine the evolution of the order parameter $\sigma$, the energy density and pressure as well as the effective temperature, chemical potential and interpolating number densities as a function of the proper time $\tau$. We find that before the phase transition, the system behaves as if it were an ideal fluid in local thermal equilibrium with equation of state $p=\epsilon$. After the phase transition, the system quickly reaches its true broken symmetry vacuum value for the fermion mass and for the energy density. The single particle distribution functions for Fermions and anti-Fermions go far out of equilibrium as soon as the plasma traverses the chiral phase transition. We have also determined the spatial dependence of the "pion" Green's function $<\bar{\psi}(x) \gamma_5 \psi(x) \bar{\psi}(0) \gamma_5 \psi(0)>$ as a function of the proper time.Comment: 39 pages, 23 figure

Teaching tobacco dependence treatment and counseling skills during medical school: rationale and design of the Medical Students helping patients Quit tobacco (MSQuit) group randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Physician-delivered tobacco treatment using the 5As is clinically recommended, yet its use has been limited. Lack of adequate training and confidence to provide tobacco treatment is cited as leading reasons for limited 5A use. Tobacco dependence treatment training while in medical school is recommended, but is minimally provided. The MSQuit trial (Medical Students helping patients Quit tobacco) aims to determine if a multi-modal and theoretically-guided tobacco educational intervention will improve tobacco dependence treatment skills (i.e. 5As) among medical students. METHODS/DESIGN: 10 U.S. medical schools were pair-matched and randomized in a group-randomized controlled trial to evaluate whether a multi-modal educational (MME) intervention compared to traditional education (TE) will improve observed tobacco treatment skills. MME is primarily composed of TE approaches (i.e. didactics) plus a 1st year web-based course and preceptor-facilitated training during a 3rd year clerkship rotation. The primary outcome measure is an objective score on an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) tobacco-counseling smoking case among 3rd year medical students from schools who implemented the MME or TE. DISCUSSION: MSQuit is the first randomized to evaluate whether a tobacco treatment educational intervention implemented during medical school will improve medical students\u27 tobacco treatment skills. We hypothesize that the MME intervention will better prepare students in tobacco dependence treatment as measured by the OSCE. If a comprehensive tobacco treatment educational learning approach is effective, while also feasible and acceptable to implement, then medical schools may substantially influence skill development and use of the 5As among future physicians. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Myofunctional and Dentofacial Relationships in Second Grade Children.

One hundred and thirty-three second graders in rural public school were assessed on a number of dental, skeletal, and oral muscle function measures. Correlational analyses were conducted in order to determine whether specific myofunctional variables were associated with dentofacial development. Significant relationships were observed between open mouth posture and a narrow maxillary arch and long facial height. Labial and lingual rest and swallow patterns were also related to poor coordination of lip and tongue movements

Regularity Properties and Pathologies of Position-Space Renormalization-Group Transformations

We reconsider the conceptual foundations of the renormalization-group (RG) formalism, and prove some rigorous theorems on the regularity properties and possible pathologies of the RG map. Regarding regularity, we show that the RG map, defined on a suitable space of interactions (= formal Hamiltonians), is always single-valued and Lipschitz continuous on its domain of definition. This rules out a recently proposed scenario for the RG description of first-order phase transitions. On the pathological side, we make rigorous some arguments of Griffiths, Pearce and Israel, and prove in several cases that the renormalized measure is not a Gibbs measure for any reasonable interaction. This means that the RG map is ill-defined, and that the conventional RG description of first-order phase transitions is not universally valid. For decimation or Kadanoff transformations applied to the Ising model in dimension $d \ge 3$, these pathologies occur in a full neighborhood $\{ \beta > \beta_0 ,\, |h| < \epsilon(\beta) \}$ of the low-temperature part of the first-order phase-transition surface. For block-averaging transformations applied to the Ising model in dimension $d \ge 2$, the pathologies occur at low temperatures for arbitrary magnetic-field strength. Pathologies may also occur in the critical region for Ising models in dimension $d \ge 4$. We discuss in detail the distinction between Gibbsian and non-Gibbsian measures, and give a rather complete catalogue of the known examples. Finally, we discuss the heuristic and numerical evidence on RG pathologies in the light of our rigorous theorems.Comment: 273 pages including 14 figures, Postscript, See also ftp.scri.fsu.edu:hep-lat/papers/9210/9210032.ps.