The Paradox of Thought: A Proof of God’s Existence from the Hard Problem of Consciousness

This paper uses a paradox inherent in any solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness to argue for God’s existence. The paper assumes we are “thought machines”, reading the state of a relevant physical medium and then outputting corresponding thoughts. However, the existence of such a thought machine is impossible, since it needs an infinite number of point-representing sensors to map the physical world to conscious thought. This paper shows that these sensors cannot exist, and thus thought cannot come solely from our physical world. The only possible explanation is something outside, argued to be God

To Read or Not to Read; That is the Question

To Read or Not to Read; That is the Question Christopher Latourrette, Depts. of Psychology and Sociology, and Morgan Haas, with Dr. Jeffrey Green, Dept. of Psychology Do regular leisure readers have a different psychological profile from non-readers? We investigated whether particular positive psychological traits (i.e., greater subjective well-being, self-esteem, meaning in life, and lower loneliness) and leisure motivational variables (i.e., intellectual pursuits or distraction source) would distinguish undergraduate readers from non-readers. In support of a larger ongoing research study exploring the psychological benefits of reading and re-reading novels, we conducted a k-means cluster analysis followed by an analysis of variance to determine the clustering group membership that exists based on various psychological trait measures and motivational factors, and the subsequent effect of the clusters on reading frequency. People with higher positive personality traits, specifically subjective well-being and presence of meaning in life, are more motivated to read leisurely for intellectual gains and as a source of distraction read significantly more often, compared to people with less positive personality traits or who are unmotivated to read for intellectual gains and a source of distraction.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1319/thumbnail.jp

Has food price volatility risen?

The high food prices experienced over recent years have led to the widespread view that food price volatility has increased. However, volatility has generally been lower over the two most recent decades than previously. Variability over the most recent period has been high but, with the important exception of rice, not out of line with historical experience. There is weak evidence that the volatility of grains and vegetable oils prices may be increasing but it is too early to make a definite statement. Important open issues remain with respect to biofuels, climate change and the possible effects of the financialization of agricultural food markets

Covering Kids & Families Evaluation: Case Study of Illinois: Exploring Links Between Policy, Practice and the Trends in New Medicaid/SCHIP Enrollments

Evaluates the impact in Illinois of the RWJF project to increase enrollment in Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs. Outlines state policy changes; outreach, simplification, and coordination activities; and 1999-2005 enrollment trends

Trust in Direct Leader and Employee Outcomes: The Moderating Effects of Leaders’ Perceived Emotional Sincerity

Emotional sincerity, an emerging construct in the trust in leadership literature, refers to the congruence between emotions internally experienced and externally expressed. With regard to attribution theory, observers (employees) can use the emotional expressions of others (supervisors) as an information source for making judgments. Although previous research has examined the uniqueness and explanatory power of the leaders’ perceived emotional sincerity construct (LPES), relatively few studies have examined LPES as a moderator. The present study examined the moderating effects of LPES on well-established relationships between trust in direct leader (TDL) and several employee outcomes (i.e., turnover intentions, altruistic behaviors, and organizational commitment). Data were collected from 185 participants representing 13 industries. The results demonstrated that, after controlling for personality and demographic factors, LPES moderated the positive relationship between TDL and altruistic behaviors. More generally, the results demonstrate that employees’ perceptions of their leaders are related to employee outcomes

Gas sensing with carbon nanotube networks

PhDCarbon nanotubes are an exciting new material with exemplary mechanical and electronic properties. Carbon nanotubes can be either metallic or semiconducting; either type has properties which rival conventional materials. The one-dimensional electronic nature of these materials leads to extreme sensitivity to the local energy landscape, a desirable property for a sensing element. Production of carbon nanotubes currently has no method of growing nanotubes with a speci c electronic property, any di erentiation occurs through processing a heterogenous ensemble. Recently, networks of carbon nanotubes have shown attractive properties for electronic applications. The self-selecting current path has properties averaged from the ensemble of nanotubes providing repeatability in addition to exibility and transparency. This thesis is a study of the transport properties of thin and thick networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes and their electrical response to oxygen adsorption in both a simple resistive geometry and as the gate layer in a nanotube-metal-oxide-silicon capacitor. The thickness of network was found to determine the electrical characteristics of the network ensemble, thin networks displaying semiconducting transport characteristics, thick networks becoming more metallic. The response of the nanotube networks to oxygen exposure was found to be dependent on UV treatment. UV-desorbed networks exhibited an increased conductance upon oxygen-exposure, adsorbed networks exhibited a decrease in conductance upon further oxygen-exposure. Thinner, more semiconducting nanotube networks exhibited a greater change in conductance upon oxygen exposure. The nanotube-metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor also showed a greater change in at-band capacitance for thin nanotube networks. The capacitance of the nanotube device at the nanotube network at-band voltage is shown to be in uenced by both oxygen and nitrogen gases. The origin of the behaviour of the at-band voltage is attempted to be understood and future work is suggested.

Micrornas and the Sex Specific Development of the Neonatal Brain: A Point of Vulnerability to the Programming Effects of Prenatal Stress

Epidemiological studies have linked prenatal stress to increases in the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders, associations that are often sex-dependent. In addition, biological sex is a strong predictor of many aspects of these disorders, including incidence, presentation, and therapeutic outcomes. While many factors contribute to these effects, sex-specific responses to fetal antecedents during key developmental windows are likely involved. The male brain is organized in a sex specific manner by a surge of testes-synthesized testosterone during the perinatal period. In appropriate cell populations this testosterone is converted to estrogen by a neuronal-specific aromatase where it acts through estrogen receptors to masculinize the neural substrate. While the primary effector, estrogen, is shared, the cellular processes responsible for this divergent development vary widely across brain regions. miRNAs, with their ability to regulate the expression of hundreds of genes, may be an exciting and novel regulatory mechanism poised to translate this estrogen signal into brain region-specific responses. The work in this dissertation identifies sexual differentiation of the brain as a point of sex-specific vulnerability to the multigenerational programming effects of early prenatal stress. Paternal (F1) prenatal stress exposure attenuates the perinatal testosterone surge, leading to dysmasculinized physiology, including increased stress sensitivity, in second-generation (F2) male offspring. Further, we reveal a novel role for the miRNA environment in programming the neurodevelopmental effects of paternal stress exposure and, more generally, in organizing the sexually dimorphic brain. Finally, we empirically map miRNA recognition elements across the transcriptome of the neonatal hypothalamus by Argonaute HITS-CLIP, and identify a network of genes targeted by organizational estrogen with functional relevance to sexual differentiation of the brain. Together these findings point to a developmental window of susceptibility during which the programming effects of early prenatal stress exposure may manifest. As such, identifying sex-specific developmental processes affected during this window, such as the dynamic changes in the miRNA environment we have highlighted, may lead to novel therapeutic targets or biomarkers predictive for neurodevelopmental disorders

From Structure to Function: From the Development of a Curved Hetero-Oligomer to the Development of an Actuated Glucose Sensor

The Schafmeister research group has developed a technology for synthesizing bis-peptide oligomers that adopt well defined structure dependent upon the rich stereochemistry of the independent bis-amino acid monomers used in its construction. These bis-amino acid monomers are designed to construct rigid bis-peptide scaffolds by utilizing a pair of amide bonds that form a 2,5 diketopiperazine (DKP) ring linkage between two monomers. It is hoped to be able to precisely position functionality within our rigid scaffolds so as to allow us to explore potential applications with our bis-peptide oligomers. Developing new bis-amino acid monomers will help achieve this goal. The first part of this thesis outlines the synthesis of the pip5(2R5R) and pip5(2R5S) bis-amino acid monomers. The newly synthesized pip5(2R5S) monomer was then coupled into a bis-peptide sequence with the previously synthesized pip5(2S5R) monomer. Molecular modeling predicted that this particular sequence formed a tight turn in space; a useful structural motif for the exploration of small cavities and clefts. The solution structure of this bis-peptide oligomer was determined by 2D-NMR techniques including a ROESY to determine important close contact information between protons on the same monomer and protons on adjacent monomers. In addition, two powerful 2D-NMR techniques that have begun their integration into our lab for structure determination were used to provide more NMR restraints on the bis-peptide structural model. These included amplitude-constrained multiplet evaluation of 3JHH coupling constants and the use of residual dipolar coupling (RDC) constants. Lastly, I have recently begun work on synthesizing a glucose sensitive molecular actuator. This molecular actuator is a water-soluble rod-hinge-rod motif that converts from its disordered "open" form to an ordered "closed" form upon reversible binding to glucose through the 4,6 and 1,2 diol pairs. It is envisioned that these rod-hinge-rod motifs can eventually be used for potential applications such as nanovalves

MICRO ELECTRO-DISCHARGE MACHINING: TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES FOR MICRO FABRICATION

Using a Panasonic MG-72 Micro Electro-Discharge Machine, techniques and procedures are developed to fabricate complex microstructures in conductive materials and engineered ceramics