Myth and philosophy on stage in Platonic dialogues

This thesis consists of two components: first, I question and reposition the most dominant academic perspectives pertaining to the relationship between myth and philosophy; second, I analyze Plato__s use of myth to demonstrate my reevaluation of the issue by formulating and testing my own interdisciplinary methodology which I term __mutual scaffolding__. I will investigate the dynamic interaction between myth and philosophy in six dialogues and argue that the interaction is based on a unity of the forms of discourse rather than division. In other words, instead of defining the communication between myth and philosophy in terms of opposition I argue that in specific cases, particularly in my selection of Platonic dialogues, the two forms of discourse participate in an interdependent unity. It is my aim to describe how the role of myth is inserted by Plato after careful selection, interpretation and modification in order to function in multiple ways. I examine how myth operates as a hypothesis in the Meno __ a text that functions as an instruction manual to guide the reader in how to do one form of philosophy correctly. The Protagoras provides us with an advanced dual between a myth/hypothesis presented by a sophist and alternative lines of argument submitted by Socrates. In the Phaedo we are shown how myth acts as a regulating code for how to follow the arguments, opposing arguments and the connections between arguments in the text. The Phaedrus introduces myth as a device which facilitates transition from one philosophical position to another. Finally, the Atlantis myth in both the Timaeus and Critias operates as a tool for Plato__s self-reflection and criticism.UBL - phd migration 201

Transnational communities for dismantling detention: From Manus Island to the UK

Behrouz Boochani published No Friend but the Mountains: Writing From Manus Prison in 2018 which went on to win the 2019 Victorian Prize for Literature while he was still incarcerated in Manus Prison. Since its publication the book has attracted a great deal of worldwide attention, particualrly from UK academics – it was released in the UK in 2019. Prior to winning Australia’s richest literary award his film Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival and its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The feature-length film has also been screened at numerous UK universities. In February 2020 Behrouz and translator Omid Tofighian engaged with academics and activists in the UK over a series of events; this article is an edited version of various conversations that emerged from these collaborations and critically discusses the global nature of border violence and the colonial ideology at the heart of immigration detention

Multi-period Project Portfolio Selection under Risk considerations and Stochastic Income

This paper deals with multi-period project portfolio selection problem. In this problem, the available budget is invested on the best portfolio of projects in each period such that the net profit is maximized. We also consider more realistic assumptions to cover wider range of applications than those reported in previous studies. A novel mathematical model is presented to solve the problem, considering risks, stochastic incomes, and possibility of investing extra budget in each time period. Due to the complexity of the problem, an effective meta-heuristic method hybridized with a local search procedure is presented to solve the problem. The algorithm is based on genetic algorithm (GA), which is a prominent method to solve this type of problems. The GA is enhanced by a new solution representation and well selected operators. It also is hybridized with a local search mechanism to gain better solution in shorter time. The performance of the proposed algorithm is then compared with well-known algorithms, like basic genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and electromagnetism-like algorithm (EM-like) by means of some prominent indicators. The computation results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm in terms of accuracy, robustness and computation time. At last, the proposed algorithm is wisely combined with PSO to improve the computing time considerably

Myth and philosophy on stage in Platonic dialogues

This thesis consists of two components: first, I question and reposition the most dominant academic perspectives pertaining to the relationship between myth and philosophy; second, I analyze Plato__s use of myth to demonstrate my reevaluation of the issue by formulating and testing my own interdisciplinary methodology which I term __mutual scaffolding__. I will investigate the dynamic interaction between myth and philosophy in six dialogues and argue that the interaction is based on a unity of the forms of discourse rather than division. In other words, instead of defining the communication between myth and philosophy in terms of opposition I argue that in specific cases, particularly in my selection of Platonic dialogues, the two forms of discourse participate in an interdependent unity. It is my aim to describe how the role of myth is inserted by Plato after careful selection, interpretation and modification in order to function in multiple ways. I examine how myth operates as a hypothesis in the Meno __ a text that functions as an instruction manual to guide the reader in how to do one form of philosophy correctly. The Protagoras provides us with an advanced dual between a myth/hypothesis presented by a sophist and alternative lines of argument submitted by Socrates. In the Phaedo we are shown how myth acts as a regulating code for how to follow the arguments, opposing arguments and the connections between arguments in the text. The Phaedrus introduces myth as a device which facilitates transition from one philosophical position to another. Finally, the Atlantis myth in both the Timaeus and Critias operates as a tool for Plato__s self-reflection and criticism

Large eddy simulations of airflow and particle deposition in pulsating bi-directional nasal drug delivery.

Chronic rhinosinusitis is a common disease worldwide, and the frequently prescribed nasal sprays do not sufficiently deliver the topical medications to the target sites so that the final treatment in severe cases is surgery. Therefore, there is a huge demand to improve drug delivery devices that could target the maxillary sinuses more effectively. In the present study, different particle diameters and device pulsation flow rates, mainly used in pulsating aerosol delivery devices such as the PARI SINUS (R), are considered to evaluate optimal maxillary sinus deposition efficiency (DE). Numerical simulations of the particle-laden flow using a large eddy simulation with a local dynamic k-equation sub-grid scale model are performed in a patient-specific nasal cavity. By increasing the pulsation flow rate from 4 l/min to 15 l/min, nasal DE increases from 37% to 68%. Similarly, by increasing the particle size from 1 mu m to 5 mu m, nasal DE increases from 34% to 43% for a pulsation flow rate of 4 l/min. Moreover, normalized velocity, vorticities, and particle deposition pattern in different regions of the main nasal cavity and maxillary sinuses are visualized and quantified. Due to the nosepiece placement in the right nostril, more particles penetrate into the right maxillary sinus than into the left maxillary sinus despite the maxillary ostium being larger in the left cavity. Lower pulsation flow rates such as 4 l/min improve the DE in the left maxillary sinus. The use of 3 mu m particles enhances the DE in the right maxillary sinus as well as the overall total maxillary drug delivery

Pulsatile bi-directional aerosol flow affects aerosol delivery to the intranasal olfactory region: A patient-specific computational study

The nasal olfactory region is a potential route for non-invasive delivery of drugs directly from the nasal epithelium to the brain, bypassing the often impermeable blood-brain barrier. However, efficient aerosol delivery to the olfactory region is challenging due to its location in the nose. Here we explore aerosol delivery with bi-directional pulsatile flow conditions for targeted drug delivery to the olfactory region using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model on the patient-specific nasal geometry. Aerosols with aerodynamic diameter of 1 µm, which is large enough for delivery of large enough drug doses and yet potentially small enough for non-inertial aerosol deposition due to, e.g., particle diffusion and flow oscillations, is inhaled for 1.98 s through one nostril and exhaled through the other one. The bi-directional aerosol delivery with steady flow rate of 4 L/min results in deposition efficiencies (DEs) of 50.9 and 0.48% in the nasal cavity and olfactory region, respectively. Pulsatile flow with average flow rate of 4 L/min (frequency: 45 Hz) reduces these values to 34.4 and 0.12%, respectively, and it mitigates the non-uniformity of right-left deposition in both the cavity (from 1.77- to 1.33-fold) and the olfactory region (from 624- to 53.2-fold). The average drug dose deposited in the nasal cavity and the olfactory epithelium region is very similar in the right nasal cavity independent of pulsation conditions (inhalation side). In contrast, the local aerosol dose in the olfactory region of the left side is at least 100-fold lower than that in the nasal cavity independent of pulsation condition. Hence, while pulsatile flow reduces the right-left (inhalation-exhalation) imbalance, it is not able to overcome it. However, the inhalation side (even with pulsation) allows for relatively high olfactory epithelium drug doses per area reaching the same level as in the total nasal cavity. Due to the relatively low drug deposition in olfactory region on the exhalation side, this allows either very efficient targeting of the inhalation side, or uniform drug delivery by performing bidirectional flow first from the one and then from the other side of the nose