Is Global Truth-Relativism Self-Refuting?

This paper argues that Global Truth-Relativism (GTR) is not self-refuting. To arrive at this conclusion, I will begin by providing an account of GTR using MacFarlane's semantic framework for Truth-Relativism. After formulating GTR, three distinct variations of the self-refutation charge (SR) will be examined. Thefirst, due to Mackie and Siegel will be shown to be question begging as a result of it being shown that GTR is an intelligible position, deserving of the truth predicate. Next, Hales strengthened SR will be shown to rest on a faulty principle, while further appeals to make a strengthened SR that rely on trans-perspectival truth will be shown to be question begging as well. Finally, Cappelen and Lepore's challenge to the proponent of GTR will be met by showing that the challenge relies on a principle of tolerance that can consistently be rejected by the proponent of GTR. In this way, it will be shown that the proponent of GTR can avoid SR

Saving Armchair Metaphysics from A Posteriori Problems

In this paper I will claim that conceptual analysis can plausibly be held to play an essential role in “serious metaphysics” in spite of skeptical arguments concerning our epistemic access to A‐ intensions. Before arguing for this claim, I will present Frank Jackson’s conception of “serious metaphysics” and show why Jackson thinks that doing conceptual analysis is a necessary part of doing “serious metaphysics”. Furthermore, I will canvass Jackson’s distinction between A‐ intensions and C intensions, show the role this distinction plays in Jackson’s account of conceptual ‐ analysis and explain why the thesis that we have a priori access to A intensions is crucial to ‐ Jackson’s program. Once this has been covered, I will present an argument against our a priori access to A intensions and then show that this argument is too strong by providing two thought ‐ experiments. Next, I will suggest another argument against our a priori access to A intensions from ‐ the a posteriori nature of our theories. However, I will show that this argument need not pose a problem for Jackson provided that Jackson’s A intensions consist of the right kind of description. In ‐ this way, because Jackson can evade the skeptical arguments, Jackson can still claim that we have a priori access to A intensions and, therefore, that conceptual analysis can still be considered a ‐ necessary condition of “serious metaphysics”

Examining the Role of Episodic and Semantic Networks in Anhedonia: Applying the Accessibility Model of Emotional Self-report to Psychometrically-defined Schizotypy

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit a range of abnormalities in self-reported non-current experience of pleasure, but undisrupted current experience of pleasure. Several researchers have sought to address the mechanism of this deficit, yielding useful models of anhedonia. The accessibility model of emotional self-report suggests that deficits in hedonic response are due to differential activation of, and reliance upon, semantic and episodic memory systems. While this model has been proposed as an explanation of the deficits in hedonic response in schizophrenia, it has not been experimentally validated, and it remains to be seen whether the model will hold across the schizophrenia spectrum. The neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia emphasizes the importance of understanding these deficits in individuals who are prone to psychosis, but may never manifest diagnosable disorder. The current study therefore sought to experimentally test the accessibility model of hedonic deficit in a sample of 92 individuals. Participants performed a task examining memory of emotionally valenced words designed to elicit semantically related emotional information. Overall, schizotypy was unrelated to abnormalities in memory performance in response to semantically congruent information. However, in disorganized schizotypy, semantic bias was a significant partial mediator of the relationship between schizotypy and current affective ratings. This result suggests the presence of abnormalities in semantic networks that contribute to differential current affective ratings to positively valenced stimuli

Attentional Deployment, Cognitive Control, and Reappraisal in Schizophrenia

Recent studies posit that deficits in emotion regulation may lead to increased negative emotional experience in schizophrenia. While individuals with schizophrenia evidence a number of abnormalities in emotion regulation, it is unclear whether these deficits are discrete or related; furthermore, the mechanisms underlying these deficits are not clear. Cognitive control has been posited as an important mechanism supporting emotion regulation. The current study examined the relationship between attentional deployment and both lexical and self-reported indices of reappraisal, as well as the mediating role of cognitive control on this relationship in a sample of 22 individuals with psychotic disorders. A novel eye-tracking paradigm was used in which participants were asked to view thematically related positive and negative images while verbal reappraisals were elicited in order to examine the relationship between attentional deployment and reappraisal. Cognitive control was measured by the AX-CPT. Results indicated that cognitive control alone was not a significant mediator in the relationship between attentional deployment and reappraisal. However, post hoc analyses indicated cognitive control was a significant mediator in a group of individuals who rated positive stimuli as more intense than negative stimuli, suggesting that individual differences in emotional reactivity may moderate this relationship between lower- and higher-order emotion regulation strategies

MIDWEST GRAIN PRODUCTS: A CHANGE IN STRATEGY DUE TO TRADE ISSUES

Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Tidal Disruptions of Stars by Black Hole Remnants in Dense Star Clusters

In a dense stellar environment, such as the core of a globular cluster (GC), dynamical interactions with black holes (BHs) are expected to lead to a variety of astrophysical transients. Here we explore tidal disruption events (TDEs) of stars by stellar-mass BHs through collisions and close encounters. Using state-of-the-art $N$-body simulations, we show that these TDEs occur at significant rates throughout the evolution of typical GCs and we study how their relative rates relate to cluster parameters such mass and size. By incorporating a realistic cosmological model of GC formation, we predict a BH - main-sequence-star TDE rate of approximately $3\,\rm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\rm{yr}^{-1}$ in the local universe ($z<0.1$) and a cosmological rate that peaks at roughly $25\,\rm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\rm{yr}^{-1}$ for redshift 3. Furthermore, we show that the ejected mass associated with these TDEs could produce optical transients of luminosity $\sim 10^{41} - 10^{44}\rm\,erg\,s^{-1}$ with timescales of about a day to a month. These should be readily detectable by optical transient surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility. Finally, we comment briefly on BH - giant encounters and discuss how these events may contribute to the formation of BH - white-dwarf binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Comments welcom

Virtual Reality: An Evidence-Based Guide for Occupational Therapy

Problem: Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology that serves to position the user in control of a virtual environment to maximize interest and function. VR is a context for intervention included in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process 3rd edition (OTPF-3; AOTA, 2014). It is crucial that occupational therapy (OT) practitioners enhance their knowledge about VR technology used by their clients to provide effective client-centered practice (AOTA, 2010). There is a lack of organization of the literature and research evidence regarding the use of VR as an intervention modality. While there has been a significant increase in recent literature supporting the use of VR in OT, there is a need for manuals and resources to guide clinicians in using VR as a therapeutic modality (Levac & Miller, 2013; Proffitt & Lange, 2015). Methods: An extensive literature review for articles regarding the use of the Xbox Kinect and Nintendo Wii within OT was conducted using five databases. Relevant data was extracted from each article related to the use of the Xbox Kinect or Nintendo Wii in intervention to synthesize the findings into charts. The construction of the charts followed the organization of the OTPF-3 (AOTA, 2014). Product: The authors of this product created an evidence-based resource to guide OT practitioners\u27 use of VR. The intended purpose of this product, Virtual Reality: An Evidence-Based Guide, is to assist OT practitioners\u27 adaptation and/or modification of VR activities to address individual client needs. Using this product as a guide to current knowledge and evidence regarding intervention in the context of VR, OT practitioners will be better equipped to make safe and effective choices. To further support development of literature regarding VR, the authors of this product recommended areas for future research

From Old Spice to the Texas Law Hawk: How Inbound Marketing, Content Leadership and Social Media Can Level the Playing Field for Solo Practitioners

The advent of technological tools such as social media present the legal industry with the potential for both perilous liability and unparalleled rainmaking. However, the full potential of social media remains untapped in the legal field because the topic has yet to be fully integrated into a broader understanding of inbound marketing and content leadership. The current treatment of social media in the legal literature is uneven-it tends to disproportionately emphasize the potential liabilities over the benefits, and it fails to provide a thorough framework to guide its optimal use. This article aims to rectify this uneven treatment by situating social media as but a single element within an inbound marketing scheme driven by content leadership. More precisely, this article presents a hub-and-spoke model of inbound marketing in which attorneys establish themselves as content leaders (the content hub) and then create and cultivate client relationships through the spokes of social media, blogging, and search engine optimization (SEO). To support this model, this article provides a brief history of marketing along with an introduction to foundational marketing theory augmented by recent technology. Those principles are then applied to law firms through the examination of case studies in both traditional businesses and law firms. Finally, this article concludes by arguing that utilizing this model provides solo practitioners with the ability to establish a more pronounced voice for themselves, which, in effect, puts them on equal footing with larger more established firms

Production of Propylene Oxide from Propylene Using Patented Silver Based Catalyst

Propylene oxide (PO) is an important intermediate in the manufacture of propylene glycol (PG), polyether polyols and many other products. Conventional production of propylene oxide has many drawbacks. The most common method, the chlorohydrin process produces chlorinated by products which must be disposed of. Other processes produce a co-product, like styrene, which adversely affects production economics. A team of scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi has recently applied for a patent for a catalyst that oxidizes propylene to PO in high yield. The primary motivation behind this project was the production of PO without the unwanted side products of traditional methods by using the direct oxidation in CSIR’s patent. Our proposed plant design produces 200 million lb/year of propylene oxide from propylene and will be located on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Our plant is divided into four sections, namely feed material pretreatment, direct oxidation reaction, initial separation, and final distillation. The byproducts include CO2, Acetal, Acrylic Acid, and Acrolein. CO2 is separated through adsorption-desorption cycle with monoethanolamine (MEA), other byproducts are separated by distillation, and PO product is 99.9822% pure by mass. The cost of purchase of propylene is $1,100/tonne and the selling cost of PO is$2500/tonne. The process has an estimated IRR of 81.91% and an NPV of $262,808,900.This report provides a detailed design and economic analysis for PO production in the Gulf Coast. Process flow sheets, energy and utility requirements and reactor design have been considered during our analysis below. The total cost of equipment is$35,715,726. Except for the most extreme variations of the price of PO, variable costs, fixed costs, and total permanent investment, the IRR remains strongly positive indicating the high chance of this project’s success even if factors outside of the group’s control negatively affect its economics. Due to its low risk and high reward, a license for the catalyst described in the patent should be acquired, and this process should be developed