Dispelling a few false-positives: A reply to MacGregor and McNamee on doping

McGregor and MacNamee recently, in this journal, offered several criticisms of an earlier article in which I attempted to refute a number of arguments for the claim that doping in sports is morally wrong. Their criticisms are numerous, but focus on four domains. First, they sketch a view on which the risk profiles of different sports may make doping permissible in some and impermissible in others. Second, they suggest that my criticisms of safety-based arguments assume that doping opponents are bent on harm elimination, rather than harm management. Finally, they offer two methodological criticisms, the first pertaining to my use of analogical arguments, and the second pertaining to the general difficulties of making revisionist arguments in ethics. I defend my criticisms of safety-based arguments by showing that these do not rest on the assumptions McGregor and MacNamee attribute to me and by noting that their own view about the variable relevance of safety considerations is underdeveloped. As for their methodological arguments, I endeavor to show that these are misplaced, in that they either rest on misinterpretations of my earlier article or on an excessively high standard for ethical argumentation

Physician aid-in-dying and suicide prevention in psychiatry: a moral crisis?

Journal ArticleInvoluntary psychiatric commitment for suicide prevention and physician aid-in-dying (PAD) in terminal illness combine to create a moral dilemma. If PAD in terminal illness is permissible, it should also be permissible for some who suffer from non-terminal psychiatric illness: suffering provides much of the justification for PAD, and the suffering in mental illness can be as severe as in physical illness. But involuntary psychiatric commitment to prevent suicide suggests that the suffering of persons with mental illness does not justify ending their own lives, ruling out PAD. Since both practices have compelling underlying justifications, the most reasonable accommodation might seem to be to allow PAD for persons with mental illness whose suffering is severe enough to justify self-killing, but prohibit PAD for persons whose suffering is less severe. This compromise, however, would require the articulation of standards by which persons' mental as well as physical suffering could be evaluated. Doing so would present a serious philosophical challenge

Memory Effects in Granular Material

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of memory effects in vibration-induced compaction of granular materials. In particular, the response of the system to an abrupt change in shaking intensity is measured. At short times after the perturbation a granular analog of aging in glasses is observed. Using a simple two-state model, we are able to explain this short-time response. We also discuss the possibility for the system to obey an approximate pseudo-fluctuation-dissipation theorem relationship and relate our work to earlier experimental and theoretical studies of the problem.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, reference list change

Energy relaxation in disordered charge and spin density waves

We investigate collective effects in the strong pinning model of disordered charge and spin density waves (CDWs and SDWs) in connection with heat relaxation experiments. We discuss the classical and quantum limits that contribute to two distinct contribution to the specific heat (a $C_v \sim T^{-2}$ contribution and a $C_v \sim T^{\alpha}$ contribution respectively), with two different types of disorder (strong pinning versus substitutional impurities). From the calculation of the two level system energy splitting distribution in the classical limit we find no slow relaxation in the commensurate case and a broad spectrum of relaxation times in the incommensurate case. In the commensurate case quantum effects restore a non vanishing energy relaxation, and generate stronger disorder effects in incommensurate systems. For substitutional disorder we obtain Friedel oscillations of bound states close to the Fermi energy. With negligible interchain couplings this explains the power-law specific heat $C_v \sim T^{\alpha}$ observed in experiments on CDWs and SDWs combined to the power-law susceptibility $\chi(T)\sim T^{-1+\alpha}$ observed in the CDW o-TaS$_3$.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, improvements in the presentatio

Cutting tool tracking and recognition based on infrared and visual imaging systems using principal component analysis (PCA) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) combined with neural networks

The implementation of computerised condition monitoring systems for the detection cutting tools’ correct installation and fault diagnosis is of a high importance in modern manufacturing industries. The primary function of a condition monitoring system is to check the existence of the tool before starting any machining process and ensure its health during operation. The aim of this study is to assess the detection of the existence of the tool in the spindle and its health (i.e. normal or broken) using infrared and vision systems as a non-contact methodology. The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated using both types of data in order to establish an effective and reliable novel software program for tool tracking and health recognition. Infrared and visual cameras are used to locate and track the cutting tool during the machining process using a suitable analysis and image processing algorithms. The capabilities of PCA and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated in recognising the tool’s condition by comparing the characteristics of the tool to those of known conditions in the training set. The experimental results have shown high performance when using the infrared data in comparison to visual images for the selected image and signal processing algorithms

Numerical Study of Aging in the Generalized Random Energy Model

Magnetizations are introduced to the Generalized Random Energy Model (GREM) and numerical simulations on ac susceptibility is made for direct comparison with experiments in glassy materials. Prominent dynamical natures of spin glasses, {\it i.e.}, {\em memory} effect and {\em reinitialization}, are reproduced well in the GREM. The existence of many layers causing continuous transitions is very important for the two natures. Results of experiments in other glassy materials such as polymers, supercooled glycerol and orientational glasses, which are contrast to those in spin glasses, are interpreted well by the Single-layer Random Energy Model.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, to be submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Aging and memory effects in beta-hydrochinone-clathrate

The out-of-equilibrium low-frequency complex susceptibility of the orientational glass methanol(73%)-beta-hydrochinone-clathrate is studied using temperature-stop protocols in aging experiments . Although the material does not have a sharp glass transition aging effects including rejuvenation and memory are found at low temperatures. However, they turn out to be much weaker, however, than in conventional magnetic spin glasses.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 6 eps-figures include

Public mental health during and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Opportunities for intervention via emotional self-efficacy and resilience

ImportanceDuring the pandemic, the number of United States adults reporting clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression sky-rocketed, up from 11% in 2020 to more than 40% in 2021. Our current mental healthcare system cannot adequately accommodate the current crisis; it is therefore important to identify opportunities for public mental health interventions.ObjectiveAssess whether modifiable emotional factors may offer a point of intervention for the mental health crisis.Design, setting, and participantsFrom January 13 to 15, 2022, adults living in the United States were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete an anonymous survey.Main outcomes and measuresLinear regressions tested whether the primary outcomes during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (depressive and anxiety symptoms, burnout) were associated with hypothesized modifiable risk factors (loneliness and need for closure) and hypothesized modifiable protective factors (the ability to perceive emotions and connect with others emotionally; emotion-regulation efficacy; and resilience, or the ability to “bounce back” after negative events).ResultsThe sample included 1,323 adults (mean [SD] age 41.42 [12.52] years; 636 women [48%]), almost half of whom reported clinically significant depressive (29%) and/or anxiety (15%) symptoms. Approximately 90% of participants indicated feeling burned out at least once a year and nearly half of participants (45%) felt burned out once a week or more. In separate analyses, depressive symptoms (Model A), anxiety symptoms (Model B), and burnout (Model C) were statistically significantly associated with loneliness (βModel A, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.33–0.43; βModel B, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.26–0.36; βModel C, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.28–0.41), need for closure (βModel A, 0.09; 95% CI, 1.03–1.06; βModel B, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.97–0.17; βModel C, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.07–0.16), recent stressful life events (βModel A, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.10–0.17; βModel B, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.11–0.18; βModel C, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.06–0.15), and resilience (βModel A, −0.10; 95% CI, −0.15 to −0.05; βModel B, −0.18; 95% CI, −0.23 to −0.13; βModel C, −0.11; 95% CI, −0.17 to −0.05). In addition, depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated with emotional self-efficacy (βModel A, −0.17; 95% CI, −0.22 to −0.12; βModel B, −0.11; 95% CI, −0.17 to −0.06), and beliefs about the malleability of emotions (βModel A, −0.08; 95% CI, −0.12 to −0.03; βModel B, −0.09; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.04). Associations between loneliness and symptoms were weaker among those with more emotional self-efficacy, more endorsement of emotion malleability beliefs, and greater resilience, in separate models. Analyses controlled for recent stressful life events, optimism, and social desirability.Conclusion and relevancePublic mental health interventions that teach resilience in response to negative events, emotional self-efficacy, and emotion-regulation efficacy may protect against the development of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and burnout, particularly in the context of a collective trauma. Emotional self-efficacy and regulation efficacy may mitigate the association between loneliness and mental health, but loneliness prevention research is also needed to address the current mental health crisis

Glassy systems under time-dependent driving forces: application to slow granular rheology

We study the dynamics of a glassy model with infinite range interactions externally driven by an oscillatory force. We find a well-defined transition in the (Temperature-Amplitude-Frequency) phase diagram between (i) a `glassy' state characterized by the slow relaxation of one-time quantities, aging in two-time quantities and a modification of the equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation; and (ii) a `liquid' state with a finite relaxation time. In the glassy phase, the degrees of freedom governing the slow relaxation are thermalized to an effective temperature. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we investigate the effect of trapping regions in phase space on the driven dynamics. We find that it alternates between periods of rapid motion and periods of trapping. These results confirm the strong analogies between the slow granular rheology and the dynamics of glasses. They also provide a theoretical underpinning to earlier attempts to present a thermodynamic description of moderately driven granular materials.Comment: Version accepted for publication - Physical Review

Mean-field theory of temperature cycling experiments in spin-glasses

We study analytically the effect of temperature cyclings in mean-field spin-glasses. In accordance with real experiments, we obtain a strong reinitialization of the dynamics on decreasing the temperature combined with memory effects when the original high temperature is restored. The same calculation applied to mean-field models of structural glasses shows no such reinitialization, again in accordance with experiments. In this context, we derive some relations between experimentally accessible quantities and propose new experimental protocols. Finally, we briefly discuss the effect of field cyclings during isothermal aging.Comment: Some misprints corrected, references updated, final version to apper in PR