Saving 'ta legomena': Aristotle and the History of Philosophy

By taking seriously the extent to which Aristotle understands the things said (ta legemona) by his predecessors as genuine phenomena that express something of the truth about beings, this essay challenges the orthodox understanding of Aristotle’s approach to the history of philosophy as merely a thinly veiled attempt to legitimize the authority of his own philosophical ideas. Drawing on both the continental phenomenological approach to Aristotle and the Anglo-American analytic and pragmatic recognition of the important role an orientation toward ta phainomena play in Aristotle’s method, this article turns to two specific texts—the Physics and the Parts of Animals—to articulate how Aristotle’s engagement with his historical predecessors is itself an integral moment of his philosophical investigation into the being of natural beings. John Herman Randall and Hans Georg-Gadamer provide the conceptual vocabulary through which Aristotle’s engagement with his predecessors can be best understood; for each in his own way expresses the view that genuine philosophy opens new possibilities for the future by critically engaging the past. The essay concludes by suggesting at once the limitations of Aristotle’s approach to his predecessors and the continuing importance of his recognition that philosophy cannot be pursued in isolation from its history

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Tweet your comments to the author: @cplong. More information about Plato's Animals available at: http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/807492In this chapter from Plato's Animals, Christopher P. Long tracks the philosophical life among the wolves and dogs of Plato’s Republic. Long argues that the scent-markings of the canines in the Republic leave a trail that might itself be used as a kind of cognitive map leading us to one of the central teachings of the text itself: that the philosophical life is situated precariously between the tyrannical tendencies of the wolf and the blind obedience of the well-trained dog

A Deep \u3cem\u3eChandra\u3c/em\u3e ACIS Survey of M83

We have obtained a series of deep X-ray images of the nearby galaxy M83 using Chandra, with a total exposure of 729 ks. Combining the new data with earlier archival observations totaling 61 ks, we find 378 point sources within the D25 contour of the galaxy. We find 80 more sources, mostly background active galactic nuclei (AGNs), outside of the D25 contour. Of the X-ray sources, 47 have been detected in a new radio survey of M83 obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Of the X-ray sources, at least 87 seem likely to be supernova remnants (SNRs), based on a combination of their properties in X-rays and at other wavelengths. We attempt to classify the point source population of M83 through a combination of spectral and temporal analysis. As part of this effort, we carry out an initial spectral analysis of the 29 brightest X-ray sources. The soft X-ray sources in the disk, many of which are SNRs, are associated with the spiral arms, while the harder X-ray sources, mostly X-ray binaries (XRBs), do not appear to be. After eliminating AGNs, foreground stars, and identified SNRs from the sample, we construct the cumulative luminosity function (CLF) of XRBs brighter than 8 × 1035 erg s–1. Despite M83\u27s relatively high star formation rate, the CLF indicates that most of the XRBs in the disk are low mass XRBs

A Deep \u3cem\u3eChandra\u3c/em\u3e ACIS Survey of M83

We have obtained a series of deep X-ray images of the nearby galaxy M83 using Chandra, with a total exposure of 729 ks. Combining the new data with earlier archival observations totaling 61 ks, we find 378 point sources within the D25 contour of the galaxy. We find 80 more sources, mostly background active galactic nuclei (AGNs), outside of the D25 contour. Of the X-ray sources, 47 have been detected in a new radio survey of M83 obtained using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Of the X-ray sources, at least 87 seem likely to be supernova remnants (SNRs), based on a combination of their properties in X-rays and at other wavelengths. We attempt to classify the point source population of M83 through a combination of spectral and temporal analysis. As part of this effort, we carry out an initial spectral analysis of the 29 brightest X-ray sources. The soft X-ray sources in the disk, many of which are SNRs, are associated with the spiral arms, while the harder X-ray sources, mostly X-ray binaries (XRBs), do not appear to be. After eliminating AGNs, foreground stars, and identified SNRs from the sample, we construct the cumulative luminosity function (CLF) of XRBs brighter than 8 × 1035 erg s–1. Despite M83\u27s relatively high star formation rate, the CLF indicates that most of the XRBs in the disk are low mass XRBs

Humane Metrics/Metrics Noir

That Elsevier/RELX group has now rebranded itself as a “global provider of information and analytics,” seems indicative of the way academic publishing is increasingly moving into the highly pro table data analytics market. Here the linking of journals and scholarly social networks to the data underlying them through article level metrics, citation and download gures, usage statistics, ratings and altmetrics, serves as an opportunity to further extract value from the relationalities of scholarly publishing. Connect this to the demand of neoliberal governments for bibliometrics to index and rank scholars and their universities in order to measure impact and excellence, and enable accountability and transparency as part of national research assessment exercises, and it is clear that the logic of calculation and its accompanying mechanisms of surveillance and control is now omnipresent in scholarly publishing—and this includes requirements towards researchers to measure and monitor themselves as “brands.” The texts in this pamphlet will ask, what are the implications of this state of a airs for scholarship and for the value of expertise and democratic judgement? Is it indeed the case that, as Chris Newfield argues “with indicators ascendant over judgment itself, and tied to complicated, obscure, or proprietary procedures, metrics can pacify the interpretive powers of the public and professionals alike”? Yet the authors of this pamphlet will also explore strategies for pushing back against the metrification of scholarship and publishing

XO-5b: A Transiting Jupiter-sized Planet With A Four Day Period

The star XO-5 (GSC 02959-00729, V=12.1, G8V) hosts a Jupiter-sized, Rp=1.15+/-0.12 Rjup, transiting extrasolar planet, XO-5b, with an orbital period of P=4.187732+/-0.00002 days. The planet mass (Mp=1.15+/-0.08 Mjup) and surface gravity (gp=22+/-5 m/s^2) are significantly larger than expected by empirical Mp-P and Mp-P-[Fe/H] relationships. However, the deviation from the Mp-P relationship for XO-5b is not large enough to suggest a distinct type of planet as is suggested for GJ 436b, HAT-P-2b, and XO-3b. By coincidence XO-5 overlies the extreme H I plume that emanates from the interacting galaxy pair NGC 2444/NGC 2445 (Arp 143).Comment: 10 pages, 9 Figures, Submitted to Ap

The relationship between sedentary behavior and dry eye disease

Purpose: Sedentary behavior (SB) has been linked with low-grade systemic inflammation, which could play a role in the development of dry eye disease (DED). This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the association between SB and DED. Methods: We assessed 48,418 participants from the population-based Lifelines cohort (58% female, 18–96 years). Women's Health Study (WHS)-defined DED was the primary outcome. SB was assessed using the Marshall Sitting Questionnaire. The relationship between DED and SB was analyzed using logistic regressions, corrected for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, demographics, and 48 comorbidities. Any potential modifying effect of physical activity (PA) was also assessed, and the analyses were repeated excluding the most computer-intensive domains, investigating SB independent from screen exposure. Results: WHS-defined DED was present in 9.1% of participants. Greater SB was associated with an increased risk of DED (odds ratio (OR) 1.015 per hour/day, 95%CI 1.005–1.024, P = 0.004). The association between SB and DED was only significant for those with less than WHO-recommended PA (OR 1.022, 95%CI 1.002–1.042, P = 0.027), and not in participants meeting WHO's recommendation (OR 1.011, 95%CI 0.999–1.023, P = 0.076). Lastly, when excluding computer-related sitting, the relationship between SB and DED was attenuated, and no longer significant (OR 1.009, 95%CI 0.996–1.023, P = 0.19). Conclusions: Greater sedentary time was tied to an increased risk of DED, especially for those with lower PA levels than WHO recommendations. However, as there was no significant association when computer-intensive sitting time was excluded, screen use could explain the observed relationship and should be noted as a possible key confounder.</p

Dissecting the genetic and metabolic mechanisms of adaptation to the knockout of a major metabolic enzyme in Escherichia coli

Unraveling the mechanisms of microbial adaptive evolution following genetic or environmental challenges is of fundamental interest in biological science and engineering. When the challenge is the loss of a metabolic enzyme, adaptive responses can also shed significant insight into metabolic robustness, regulation, and areas of kinetic limitation. In this study, whole-genome sequencing and highresolution C-13-metabolic flux analysis were performed on 10 adaptively evolved pgi knockouts of Escherichia coli. Pgi catalyzes the first reaction in glycolysis, and its loss results in major physiological and carbon catabolism pathway changes, including an 80% reduction in growth rate. Following adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), the knockouts increase their growth rate by up to 3.6-fold. Through combined genomic-fluxomic analysis, we characterized the mutations and resulting metabolic fluxes that enabled this fitness recovery. Large increases in pyridine cofactor transhydrogenase flux, correcting imbalanced production of NADPH and NADH, were enabled by direct mutations to the transhydrogenase genes sthA and pntAB. The phosphotransferase system component crr was also found to be frequently mutated, which corresponded to elevated flux from pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate. The overall energy metabolism was found to be strikingly robust, and what have been previously described as latently activated Entner-Doudoroff and glyoxylate shunt pathways are shown here to represent no real increases in absolute flux relative to the wild type. These results indicate that the dominant mechanism of adaptation was to relieve the rate-limiting steps in cofactor metabolism and substrate uptake and to modulate global transcriptional regulation from stress response to catabolism

Dissemination as cultivation: scholarly communications in a digital age

Participatory web platforms have greatly enhanced the means by which students, scholars, and practitioners engage in arts and humanities research. Intuitive interfaces and content delivery systems have brought about paradigm shifts in the ways in which scholars connect and communicate, removing the need for advanced technical expertise when conducting a range of scholarly activities. Collaborative networks of both research and communications are now facilitated across ubiquitous systems that interact to form a transdisciplinary and dynamic interconnection of thought and practice. This chapter introduces readers to the underlying principles of scholarly communications and publishing in the digital age, uncovering the affordances and limitations of online public scholarship. The relationship between form and content is discussed, drawing upon relevant case studies to demonstrate how scholars should consider cultivating the habits and practices of thick collegiality. From here, an overview of relevant platforms is offered, before strategies for social media are detailed, all of which are supplemented by this chapter’s corresponding electronic materials