The Explication Defence of Arguments from Reference

In a number of influential papers, Machery, Mallon, Nichols and Stich have presented a powerful critique of so-called arguments from reference, arguments that assume that a particular theory of reference is correct in order to establish a substantive conclusion. The critique is that, due to cross-cultural variation in semantic intuitions supposedly undermining the standard methodology for theorising about reference, the assumption that a theory of reference is correct is unjustified. I argue that the many extant responses to Machery et al.’s critique do little for the proponent of an argument from reference, as they do not show how to justify the problematic assumption. I then argue that it can in principle be justified by an appeal to Carnapian explication. I show how to apply the explication defence to arguments from reference given by Andreasen (for the biological reality of race) and by Churchland (against the existence of beliefs and desires)

Impact of lightning-NO on eastern United States photochemistry during the summer of 2006 as determined using the CMAQ model

A lightning-nitrogen oxide (NO) algorithm is implemented in the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) and used to evaluate the impact of lightning-NO emissions (LNO<sub>x</sub>) on tropospheric photochemistry over the United States during the summer of 2006. <br><br> For a 500 mole per flash lightning-NO source, the mean summertime tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> column agrees with satellite-retrieved columns to within −5 to +13%. Temporal fluctuations in the column are moderately well simulated; however, the addition of LNO<sub>x</sub> does not lead to a better simulation of day-to-day variability. The contribution of lightning-NO to the model column ranges from ∼10% in the northern US to >45% in the south-central and southeastern US. Lightning-NO adds up to 20 ppbv to upper tropospheric model ozone and 1.5–4.5 ppbv to 8-h maximum surface layer ozone, although, on average, the contribution of LNO<sub>x</sub> to model surface ozone is 1–2 ppbv less on poor air quality days. LNO<sub>x</sub> increases wet deposition of oxidized nitrogen by 43% and total deposition of nitrogen by 10%. This additional deposition reduces the mean magnitude of the CMAQ low-bias in nitrate wet deposition with respect to National Atmospheric Deposition monitors to near zero. <br><br> Differences in urban/rural biases between model and satellite-retrieved NO<sub>2</sub> columns were examined to identify possible problems in model chemistry and/or transport. CMAQ columns were too large over urban areas. Biases at other locations were minor after accounting for the impacts of lightning-NO emissions and the averaging kernel on model columns. <br><br> In order to obtain an upper bound on the contribution of uncertainties in NO<sub>y</sub> chemistry to upper tropospheric NO<sub>x</sub> low biases, sensitivity calculations with updated chemistry were run for the time period of the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-A) field campaign (summer 2004). After adjusting for possible interferences in NO<sub>2</sub> measurements and averaging over the entire campaign, these updates reduced 7–9 km biases from 32 to 17% and 9–12 km biases from 57 to 46%. While these changes lead to better agreement, a considerable unexplained NO<sub>2</sub> low-bias remains in the uppermost troposphere

Quantifying imperfect detection in an invasive pest fish and the implications for conservation management

In managing non-native species, surveillance programmes aim to minimise the opportunity for invasions to develop from initial introductions through early detection. However, this is dependent on surveillance methods being able to detect species at low levels of abundance to avoid false-negative recordings through imperfect detection. We investigated through field experimentation the ability to detect Pseudorasbora parva, a highly invasive pest fish in Europe, in relation to their known density and sampling method. Secure pond mesocosms of area 100 m2 contained P. parva densities from 0.02 to 5.0 m"122; each density was in triplicate. These were searched using point sampling electric fishing and deployment of fish traps (non-baited and baited). No fish were captured at densities 0.5 m"122, whereas for electric fishing it only exceeded 0.95 at 5.0 m"122 using high searching effort. These data reveal that small pest fishes such as P. parva may be prone to imperfect detection when at low densities and this is consistent with a number of other invasive species. This indicates the importance of designing surveillance programmes using methods of known statistical power to optimise conservation resource expenditure and enhance management outcomes

c-erbB-4 protein expression in human breast cancer

The Type 1 family of growth factor receptors includes epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), c- erb B-2, c- erb B-3 and c- erb B-4. Overexpression of the first two members is associated with poorer prognosis in patients with breast carcinoma. In this study we examined the expression of c- erb B-4 protein using the monoclonal antibody HFR-1. A total of 127 consecutive cases of primary operable invasive breast carcinoma presenting between 1975 and 1977 were studied. All patients were managed by simple mastectomy or conservation surgery with radiotherapy and no adjuvant therapy given. Long-term follow-up was maintained. Routine, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour samples were used and sections were stained immunohistochemically using the Duet StreptABC method. Immunoreactivity was classified using a simple semi-quantitative scoring method. Protein expression was generally low but definite positive cytoplasmic, membranous and nuclear reactivity was identified in 58%, 41% and 25% of cases respectively. Expression at all three sites demonstrated significant inverse associations were histological grade. In addition, membrane accentuation correlated inversely with the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI), while cytoplasmic reactivity showed a positive association with c- erb B-3 expression. No significant associations were found with disease-free interval or survival. The results of this study demonstrate that higher levels of c- erb B-4 protein expression are associated with a more differentiated histological phenotype in contrast to the other members of the Type 1 family. Larger series with extended follow-up will be required to ascertain definitively the prognostic value of c- erb B-4 expression in breast carcinoma. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig