The bearable lightness of being

How are philosophical questions about what kinds of things there are to be understood and how are they to be answered? This paper defends broadly Fregean answers to these questions. Ontological categories-such as object, property, and relation-are explained in terms of a prior logical categorization of expressions, as singular terms, predicates of varying degree and level, etc. Questions about what kinds of object, property, etc., there are are, on this approach, reduce to questions about truth and logical form: for example, the question whether there are numbers is the question whether there are true atomic statements in which expressions function as singular terms which, if they have reference at all, stand for numbers, and the question whether there are properties of a given type is a question about whether there are meaningful predicates of an appropriate degree and level. This approach is defended against the objection that it must be wrong because makes what there depend on us or our language. Some problems confronting the Fregean approach-including Frege's notorious paradox of the concept horse-are addressed. It is argued that the approach results in a modest and sober deflationary understanding of ontological commitments

History of nutrient inputs to the northeastern United States, 1930–2000

Humans have dramatically altered nutrient cycles at local to global scales. We examined changes in anthropogenic nutrient inputs to the northeastern United States (NE) from 1930 to 2000. We created a comprehensive time series of anthropogenic N and P inputs to 437 counties in the NE at 5 year intervals. Inputs included atmospheric N deposition, biological N2 fixation, fertilizer, detergent P, livestock feed, and human food. Exports included exports of feed and food and volatilization of ammonia. N inputs to the NE increased throughout the study period, primarily due to increases in atmospheric deposition and fertilizer. P inputs increased until 1970 and then declined due to decreased fertilizer and detergent inputs. Livestock consistently consumed the majority of nutrient inputs over time and space. The area of crop agriculture declined during the study period but consumed more nutrients as fertilizer. We found that stoichiometry (N:P) of inputs and absolute amounts of N matched nutritional needs (livestock, humans, crops) when atmospheric components (N deposition, N2 fixation) were not included. Differences between N and P led to major changes in N:P stoichiometry over time, consistent with global trends. N:P decreased from 1930 to 1970 due to increased inputs of P, and increased from 1970 to 2000 due to increased N deposition and fertilizer and decreases in P fertilizer and detergent use. We found that nutrient use is a dynamic product of social, economic, political, and environmental interactions. Therefore, future nutrient management must take into account these factors to design successful and effective nutrient reduction measures

Atom in a coherently controlled squeezed vacuum

A broadband squeezed vacuum photon field is characterized by a complex squeezing function. We show that by controlling the wavelength dependence of its phase it is possible to change the dynamics of the atomic polarization interacting with the squeezed vacuum. Such a phase modulation effectively produces a finite range temporal interaction kernel between the two quadratures of the atomic polarization yielding the change in the decay rates as well as the appearance of additional oscillation frequencies. We show that decay rates slower than the spontaneous decay rate can be achieved even for a squeezed bath in the classic regime. For linear and quadratic phase modulations the power spectrum of the scattered light exhibits narrowing of the central peak due to the modified decay rates. For strong phase modulations side lobes appear symmetrically around the central peak reflecting additional oscillation frequencies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Varieties of Limited Access Orders: The nexus between politics and economics in hybrid regimes

This article advances our understanding of differences in hybrid stability by going beyond existing regime typologies that separate the study of political institutions from the study of economic institutions. It combines the work of Douglass North, John Wallis, and Barry Weingast (NWW) on varieties of social orders with the literature on political and economic regime typologies and dynamics to understand hybrid regimes as Limited Access Orders (LAOs) that differ in the way dominant elites limit access to political and economic resources. Based on a measurement of political and economic access applied to seven post‐Soviet states, the article identifies four types of LAOs. Challenging NWW's claim, it shows that hybrid regimes can combine different degrees of political and economic access to sustain stability. Our typology allows to form theoretical expectations about the kinds of political and/or economic changes that will move different types of LAOs toward more openness or closure

Equatorial X-rays and their effect on the lower mesosphere

On the night of May 23/24, 1975, a sequence of rocket and balloon experiments was launched from Chilca Base, Peru (12.5 deg S, 76.8 deg W, magnetic dip = - 0.7 deg). Detailed analysis and comparisons of the data yielded the first direct measurement of lower mesospheric response to a galactic X-ray source. This result could only have been determined at the equator, where cosmic ray background effects are minimal. The objective of the experiments was to seek out the equatorial energetic electron belt, sporadically reported to contain fluxes near auroral levels, measure the bremsstrahlung radiation produced by this particle belt, and determine the influence of this radiation on the middle atmosphere. High altitude rocket payloads (Nike Tomahawk 18.170 and 18.171) were launched to probe the thermosphere during and following the anticipated downward drift period. Each carried an on-axis X-ray scintillation detector and Geiger Mueller energetic electron detectors. Magnetometers and lunar sensors were used to determine payload aspect

The Sun in transition? Persistence of near-surface structural changes through Cycle 24

We examine the frequency shifts in low-degree helioseismic modes from the Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON) covering the period from 1985 - 2016, and compare them with a number of global activity proxies well as a latitudinally-resolved magnetic index. As well as looking at frequency shifts in different frequency bands, we look at a parametrization of the shift as a cubic function of frequency. While the shifts in the medium- and highfrequency bands are very well correlated with all of the activity indices (with the best correlation being with the 10.7 cm radio flux), we confirm earlier findings that there appears to have been a change in the frequency response to activity during solar cycle 23, and the low frequency shifts are less correlated with activity in the last two cycles than they were in Cycle 22. At the same time, the more recent cycles show a slight increase in their sensitivity to activity levels at medium and higher frequencies, perhaps because a greater proportion of activity is composed of weaker or more ephemeral regions. This lends weight to the speculation that a fundamental change in the nature of the solar dynamo may be in progress.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by MNRAS 24 May 201

A Variational Principle for Eigenvalue Problems of Hamiltonian Systems

We consider the bifurcation problem $u'' + \lambda u = N(u)$ with two point boundary conditions where $N(u)$ is a general nonlinear term which may also depend on the eigenvalue $\lambda$. We give a variational characterization of the bifurcating branch $\lambda$ as a function of the amplitude of the solution. As an application we show how it can be used to obtain simple approximate closed formulae for the period of large amplitude oscillations.Comment: 10 pages Revtex, 2 figures include

Advancing the time of ripeness of grapes by the application of methyl 2-(ureidooxy) propionate (a growth retardant)

Methyl 2-(ureidooxy) propionate (MUP), a plant growth retardant, hastened the ripening of grape berries of Vitis vinifera L. cultivars Mataro and Sultana by about 2 weeks and 1 week, respectively. The vines were sprayed with 0.1 % solution of MUP about halfway :through the first rapid growth phase of the fruit and again 2 weeks later. Terminal and lateral shoot growth was inhibited. Ripening of berries was advanced as measured by development of colour, and changes in titratable acid and reducing sugar content. The earlier ripening of the berries may have been due to hormonal changes but the advancement was much greater than that found previously with abscisic acid or ethylene applied during the slow growth stage of berry development.Die Beschleunigung des Reifezeitpunktes von Trauben durch die Anwendung vonMethyl-2-(ureidooxy)-Propionat, einen WachstumsdämpferMethyl-2-(ureidooxy)-Propionat (MUP), welches das Pflanzenwachstum verlangsamt, beschleunigte bei den Vitis-vinifera-Sorten Mataro und Sultana die Beerenreife um etwa 2 Wochen bzw. 1 Woche. Die Reben wurden etwa in der Mitte der ersten raschen Wachstumsphase der Beeren und ein weiteres Mal 2 Wochen später mit einer 0,1%igen MUP-Lösung besprüht. Das terminale und laterale Triebwachstum war gehemmt. Die Beerenreife war beschleunigt, wie die Entwicklung der Beerenfarbe und die Veränderungen im Gehalt an titrierbarer Säure und reduzierenden Zuckern zeigten. Die frühzeitigere Beerenreife könnte auf hormonale Veränderungen zurückgehen; allerdings war die Reife viel stärker beschleunigt als im Fall früherer Versuche, in denen während der langen Wachstumsphase der Beerenentwicklung Abscisinsäure oder Äthylen angewandt worden waren