The Justice and Goodness of Hell

The paper considers the objections to Christianity raised by David Lewis, which accuse Christians of immorality on the grounds of their worshipping a monstrous being who punishes finite evils by the infinite punishment of hell. It distinguishes between the objection that God is a monster because such punishment would be unjust, and the objection that even if damnation is just, God is a monster because he wills or allows the dreadful evil of hell by creating beings that can be justly damned. It asserts that Aquinas’s defence of the traditional Christian doctrine of hell provides an answer to this objection. The traditional doctrine is that those who die having committed serious sins for which they have not repented will be punished by endless mental and physical suffering in hell. Aquinas argues that the endless punishment of the damned is just because the damned endlessly and freely choose evil, and that it is good because the punishment of impenitent sinners, while bad for the sinners, is good absolutely speaking. The basis for his claim that the damned freely choose evil forever is his understanding of practical reason as ultimately motivated by a choice of a particular kind of life to live, and his view that all motivations that are independent of practical reason have a physical basis. The basis for his claim that the punishment of the damned is a good thing absolutely considered is his teleological view of good and evil. The paper defends these bases and their application to the question of damnation

A nomograph for the rapid solution of the Arrhenius equation

There are presently no calculational aids for the rapid computation of the Arrhenius parameters of the chemical reaction rate equations. Two nomographs for solving the Arrhenius equation for the relative reaction rate constants at different temperatures, and for computing activation energies and frequency factors are presented. Several graphs and tables of the relative reaction rate constant as a function of activation energy and temperature are also presented. The nomographs, graphs and tables can be used, singly or combined, in lieu of numerical calculation for the solution for Arrhenius parameters, or the computation of rate constants. A computer program included in the paper may be modified to obtain many more sets of data than are presented here

Measurement error models for time series

Estimation for multivariate linear measurement error models with serially correlated observations is addressed;The asymptotic properties of some standard linear errors-in-variables regression parameter estimators are developed under an ultrastructural model in which the random components of the model follow a linear process. Under the same assumptions, the asymptotic properties of weighted method-of-moments estimators are derived. The large-sample results rest on the asymptotic properties of the sum of a linear function and a quadratic function of a sequence of serially correlated random vectors;Maximum likelihood estimation for the normal structural and functional models is addressed. For each model, first- and second-derivative matrices of the log-likelihood functions are given and Newton-Raphson maximum likelihood estimation procedures are considered. For the structural model, the assumption that the random components follow a multivariate autoregressive moving average process is used to develop autoregressive moving average and state-space models for the observation sequence. The state-space representation of the structural model leads to innovation sequences and associated derivative sequences that provide the basis for a Newton-Raphson procedure for the estimation of regression parameters and autocovariance parameters of the structural model. A modified state-space approach leads to a similar procedure for the estimation for the functional model. An extension of the state-space approach to maximum likelihood estimation for a structural model with combined time series and cross-sectional data is given

Antinucleus Production at RHIC

Light antinuclei may be formed in relativistic heavy ion collisions via final state coalescence of antinucleons. The yields of antinuclei are sensitive to primordial antinucleon production, the volume of the system at kinetic freeze-out, and space-momentum correlations among antinucleons at freeze-out. We report here preliminary STAR results on antideuteron and antihelion production in 130A GeV Au+Au collisions. These results are examined in a coalescence framework to elucidate the space-time structure of the antinucleon source.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, talk given at Quark Matter 200

Spin physics with STAR

The STAR collaboration aims to study polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC. The emphasis of the spin run this year is on transverse single spin asymmetries. Beyond 2001, we aim to determine directly and precisely the gluon polarization, as well as the polarizations of the u, $\bar{u}$, d and $\bar{d}$ quarks in the proton by measuring in addition longitudinal and double spin asymmetries. Furthermore, we aim to measure for the first time the quark transversity distributions. These measurements will improve substantially the knowledge and understanding of the spin structure of the nucleon.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Talk presented at The 3rd Circum-Pan-Pacific Symposium on "High Energy Spin Physics" October 8-13 2001, Beijing, Chin

Elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 130 GeV

We report the elliptic flow of charged and identified particles at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=130$ GeV using the STAR TPC at RHIC. The integrated elliptic flow signal, $v_2$, for charged particles reaches values of about 0.06, indicating a higher degree of thermalization than at lower energies. The differential elliptic flow signal, $v_2$($p_t$) up to 1.5 GeV/$c$, shows a behavior expected from hydrodynamic model calculations. Above 1.5 GeV/$c$, the data deviate from the hydro predictions; however the $v_2$($p_t$) is still large, suggesting finite asymmetry for the products of hard scattering. For the identified particles, elliptic flow as a function of $p_t$ and centrality differ significantly for particles of different masses. This dependence can be accounted for in hydrodynamic models, indicating that the system created shows a behavior consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, Quark Matter 200

Resonance Studies at STAR

We report on the observed signals of ${K^{\star0}(892)}\to\pi K$ and $\phi(1020)\to K^{+}K^{-}$ using the mixed-event method with powerful statistics from the large acceptance and highly efficient STAR TPC. Preliminary results from the first observation of such states from the year-one STAR data in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=130$ GeV Au-Au collisions are presented. The $K^{\star0}/h^{-}$ ratios with an assumed $K^{\star0}$ $p_{T}$ inverse slope of 300MeV are compatible with that from pp at ISR. For 14% central Au+Au collisions, we observe $K^{\star0}/h^{-}=0.060\pm0.007(stat)$ and $\bar{K^{\star0}}/h^{-}=0.058\pm0.007(stat)$. We show that $\bar{\Lambda}/\Lambda=0.77\pm0.07(stat)$ from this method is consistent with the measurement via decay topology.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Quark Matter 2001, contributed talk; typos of K*/h- numbers in abstract fixe

Qualitative investigation of the role of collaborative football and walking football groups in mental health recovery

Efforts to increase physical activity levels in people with serious mental health conditions are viewed as desirable but little is known about how best to support this group to engage in exercise over extended periods. From a personal recovery perspective, the dominant paradigm in current mental health service delivery, one promising route involves participation with, rather than administration to or supervision of, mental health service users in team sports, usually football, in order to foster sharing of common interests and experiences. We aimed to explore the factors underlying the success of four collaborative mental health football (soccer) projects and the role played by football in mental health care delivery and in personal recovery. We held semi-structured focus groups with service user (n = 18) and staff (n = 7) participants from four football groups (two 'walking' football and two regular football) in two geographical National Health Service Boards in Scotland. Thematic analysis revealed that, central to success, were perceived relational, and personal and physical recovery-related benefits; competition and collaboration-related aspects were important drivers of interest in and commitment to the groups. Further, participants identified barriers to and concerns for continued success; specifically, they expressed that they need more explicit support from senior management. The clear emerging message was that collaborative football groups were perceived by participants as a conduit for recovery and an important aspect of mental healthcare delivery. Playing football was associated with a sense of wellbeing, and enhanced relationships between service users and staff