Must We Be Perfect?: A Case Against Supererogation

In this paper we offer an argument against supererogation and in favour of moral perfectionism. We argue three primary points: 1) That the putative moral category is not generated by any of the main normative ethical systems, and it is difficult to find space for it in these systems at all; 2) That the primary support for supererogation is based on intuitions, which can be undercut by various other pieces of evidence; and 3) That there are better reasons to favour perfectionism, including competing intuitions about the good-ought tie-up, and the epistemic preference for theoretical simplicity

Polyhedral computational geometry for averaging metric phylogenetic trees

This paper investigates the computational geometry relevant to calculations of the Frechet mean and variance for probability distributions on the phylogenetic tree space of Billera, Holmes and Vogtmann, using the theory of probability measures on spaces of nonpositive curvature developed by Sturm. We show that the combinatorics of geodesics with a specified fixed endpoint in tree space are determined by the location of the varying endpoint in a certain polyhedral subdivision of tree space. The variance function associated to a finite subset of tree space has a fixed $C^\infty$ algebraic formula within each cell of the corresponding subdivision, and is continuously differentiable in the interior of each orthant of tree space. We use this subdivision to establish two iterative methods for producing sequences that converge to the Frechet mean: one based on Sturm's Law of Large Numbers, and another based on descent algorithms for finding optima of smooth functions on convex polyhedra. We present properties and biological applications of Frechet means and extend our main results to more general globally nonpositively curved spaces composed of Euclidean orthants.Comment: 43 pages, 6 figures; v2: fixed typos, shortened Sections 1 and 5, added counter example for polyhedrality of vistal subdivision in general CAT(0) cubical complexes; v1: 43 pages, 5 figure

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Internal Wave Interactions on Conch Reef, Florida Keys

Internal waves breaking on continental shelves play a significant role in mixing and nutrient delivery to coral reef ecosystems. As internal solitary waves, or solitons, propagate shoreward onto continental slopes, they can become unstable and break into turbulent bores that bring cool, nutrient-rich sub-thermocline water shoreward onto coral reefs. The propagation of turbulent bores generated by internal waves interacting with a complex surface creates high-frequency variabilities in the thermal and nutrient environment of Conch Reef in the Florida Keys, which has been studied previously. Here, I have created a three-dimensional model using ANSYS Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to simulate the interaction of breaking internal waves and the complex bottom topography of a well-studied spur and groove reef. Modeling the dispersion and retention of cold, nutrient-rich water on three-dimensional reef topography can increase our understanding of bathymetry-induced mixing from internal waves and how this plays a role in benthic community structure and a reef’s resilience to heat stress

Analysis of Factors Contributing to a Facebook Presence

Analysis of Factors Contributing to a Facebook Presence Individuals living with a disability may have trouble finding the resources they need when living in rural communities. Offering another way to access these resources would help many, and now we have the technology to do so. Through today’s technology, online communities can help bring people with disabilities from rural areas together (Dobransky). There are many factors that go into building and maintaining an online community. Through analyzing literature, I have developed the following hypotheses. I specifically looked at Facebook as a platform for social media and compared followers, reactions, comments, shares, and tags that occur through certain posts and interventions. Followers are people who have liked our page, and therefore see our posts. Reaction, comments, shares and tags occur on individual posts and the more we have of each of these the more reach our posts get. The reach is the audience each post is made available to. Possible interventions that could help with further growth of our online community include utilizing Facebook “boosts”. Facebook boosts exist for those who are administrators of a page, who pay a set fee, Facebook will advertise your page to specified members in the community (demographics such as age, race, list more, social networks) who have had activity on similar pages. I hypothesize that there will be more activity on a status update with videos rather than just text alone (Luarn). Videos can provide more visual cues for viewers and therefore can provide information in different ways. Videos are more likely to be viewed rather than just a plain status with text because it is something different. To measure this, I will compare the amount of activity of a status with text, a status with a photo, a status with a link, and status with a video. Progressive activity I hypothesize that there will be more activity when an outside organization or individual is tagged in the post. When someone else is tagged in a post, they are more likely to react to it (Rossmann). This also “shares” with other followers of that organization’s page, therefore creating increased opportunity for others to interact with it. To measure this, I will look at posts which have tags and compared the amount of activity to those posts without tags. To measure this, I will look at posts with tags of outside organizations. So far, the results have shown that pictures include the most activity, along with having more activity if there are tags within the post. This research is still on going and more data will continue to be monitored. By knowing what people like to see on social media platforms, we can figure out what to post to spread information faster and gain community support. The results of this study can help to provide an example of how to start on online community for nonprofit organizations and research studies. Works Cited Dobransky, K., & Hargittai, E. (2006). The disability divide in internet access and use. Information, Communication & Society,9(3), 313-334. doi:10.1080/13691180600751298 Luarn, P., Lin, Y.-F. and Chiu, Y.-P. (2015) ‘Influence of Facebook brand-page posts on online engagement’, Online Information Review, 39(4), pp. 505–519. doi: 10.1108/oir-01-2015-0029. Rossmann, D. and Young, S.W.H. (2015) ‘Social media optimization: Making library content shareable and engaging’, Library Hi Tech, 33(4), pp. 526–544. doi: 10.1108/lht-05-2015-0053

Comparing Monarchical Use of Religion and Popular Responses in England and Russia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This thesis compares the use of religion by Russian and English monarchies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the response of the public in each country. It examines official religion in each state, as well as the kinds of toleration each extended to other religions. In both cases, the outlook of the monarchy changed over the course of the period under study; while both monarchies clearly understood the key role religion played in the lives of their subjects and the power it afforded the state and its sovereigns, the “official” use of religion continued in Russia and ultimately dwindled in England in the eighteenth century. The fate of competing religious tendencies in each society also contrasted during these key centuries. Drawing on scholarly literature on religion and politics in Russia and England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this essay argues that the two cases can be usefully contrasted. One country, Russia, focused on changing religious forms of practice, while the other, England, focused more on changing the substance of the religion itself. The Russian monarchy explicitly sought to use religion as a tool, preserving its position in society and the people’s beliefs. The monarchy in England sought to make substantive changes in religious belief and worship, clearing the way for the rise of other popular religions

Psychology Doctoral Students’ Perspectives on Addressing Spirituality and Religion with Clients: Associations with Personal Preferences and Training

Students (n = 543) in doctoral clinical and counseling psychology programs were surveyed about training experiences with regard to addressing the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices (SRBP) of their patients. About one fourth of the respondents indicated they had received no training related to patients’ SRBP. Another half had only read material on their own or discussed such issues with a supervisor. Nonetheless, respondents almost universally endorsed the idea that patients should be asked about spirituality and religiousness. Participants also rated the appropriateness of spiritual and religious queries that might be asked of patients. As expected, queries about the relevance of SRBP were rated as the most appropriate, whereas queries that implied a disrespectful or challenging tone were rated as the least appropriate. Participants’ personal SRBP and training that was specific to patients’ SRBP were weakly but significantly associated with appropriateness ratings. The results suggest that students are formulating ideas about how to ask patients about their spiritual and religious issues despite potentially inadequate formal instruction

A TEXTBOOK CASE: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TEXTBOOKS, STANDARDIZED TESTING, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

The textbooks physical presence, though, is marginal compared to their theoretical presence, as textbooks can drive almost every decision a teacher makes when preparing for a day, a week, a month, the year. For example, in my 11th-grade English classes at Grafton High School in York County, Virginia, there are two levels of understanding. One is that I am teaching American literature, its development, importance, people, and purpose; the other is that everything I teach will, in some way, better prepare my students for their SOL test at the end of the year. The textbook has been laid out to accommodate these dual interests, and the ancillary materials like workbooks, test materials, vocabulary guides, and supplementary videos all follow suit. And therein lies a larger point—textbooks serve a distinct purpose, but it’s not necessarily to provide the best, most well-rounded, most useful education to the students using them. Rather, their purpose is to help students pass the state Standards of Learning (SOL) test, and the materials are calibrated to that end. The test is the focus; the SOL is the goal. And the textbooks are produced as much for the Virginia Board of Education, who decides the SOL standards, as for the students who will spend ten months using them. This arrangement impacts a student’s education in multiple ways, few of them for the better

Development of a Serological Diagnostic assay for \u3ci\u3eElaeophora schneideri\u3c/i\u3e infection in moose (\u3ci\u3eAlces alces\u3c/i\u3e)

Elaeophora schneideri is a nematode which inhabits the arteries of its domestic and free-ranging ungulate hosts. It is the etiological agent of elaeophorosis, a proven cause of morbidity and mortality in ungulates, including moose. Moose numbers are declining in several U.S. states and Canadian provinces, and recent research suggests that Elaeophora schneideri is a factor in these declines. At this time, the only conclusive method for diagnosing elaeophorosis requires finding nematodes or arterial lesions in recently deceased moose. The lack of a serological diagnostic test has made the prevalence, significance, and geographical distribution of this parasite difficult to assess. This research is an investigation of antigenic potential of E. schneideri proteins. Ultimately, these proteins will be utilized in developing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect anti-Elaeophora antibodies in moose sera. Genome sequencing and transcriptome analysis were effective in identifying two genes encoding peptides that are predicted to be immunogenic.We prepared the synthetic genes encoding these peptides and used them to transform TOPO-brand E. coli cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, California). Despite successful transformation and culturing in LB Broth with 0.05 % [percent] ampicillin, attempts to isolate the polyhistidine-tagged proteins were unsuccessful. However, one western blot did result in distinct bands when probed with 6x anti-histidine monoclonal antibody. One of these bands was the approximate weight of the smaller of the two recombinant proteins (8.94 kDa); this band also appeared when the blot was probed with E. schneideri-positive moose serum, but did not appear when probed with E. schneideri-negative deer serum. This result was unable to be replicated, but may indicate this protein is a useful antigen. Future research will utilize sub-cloning procedures to insert PCR-amplified synthetic, optimized genes into pETBlue-2 cells. This should produce effective recombinant proteins which can be isolated using the his-tags on the proteins. These proteins will be able to be used in an ELISA to detect current or previous E. schneideri infection in moose