The interest of reason is to go without God:Jacobi's Polemic against philosophical theology

Jacobi’s polemics against philosophical theology is meant to show that neither Spinoza, nor Kant, nor Fichte and Schelling have been able to think God as a person, that is as a free, intelligent being. In order to elucidate Jacobi’s position I focus on two less well-known texts of his, viz., A Few Comments Concerning Pious Fraud (1788) and Of Divine Things and Their Revelation (1811). In the second section I situate two key philosophical theological concepts – deism and theism – against the broader context of modern philosophy. The third section analyses Jacobi’s polemic against deism, followed by an examination of his positive attitude towards theism and an explanation of the reasons why he, at the end of his life, came to identify theism with deism and extended the negative meaning of the latter term to the former. In the final section, I give an outline of Jacobi’s alternative idea of philosophical theology

Evidence of estrogenic mixture effects on the reproductive performance of fish

The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright @ 2007 American Chemical SocietyRecent research into the effects of mixtures of estrogenic chemicals has revealed the capacity for similarly acting chemicals to act in combination, according to the principles of concentration addition. This means that, collectively, they may pose a significant environmental risk, even when each component is present at a low and individually ineffective concentration. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecological significance of mixture effects at low-effect concentrations by assessing the combined effect of estrogenic chemicals on the reproductive performance of fish. Pairs of fathead minnows were exposed to five estrogenic chemicals. Endpoints analyzed included fecundity, the expression of male secondary sexual characteristics, somatic indices, and vitellogenin induction. In the first phase of the study, a concentration-response analysis was performed to investigate the relative sensitivity of these endpoints. In the second phase, mixture effects at low-effect concentrations were explored by exposing fish to each of the mixture components, individually and in combination. Data from these experiments provide evidence of mixture effects on fitness and fecundity, demonstrating the capacity for chemicals to act together to affect reproductive performance, even when each component is present belowthe threshold of detectable effects. This has important implications for hazard assessment and contributes to our understanding of mixture effects at increasing levels of biological complexity.This work was funded by the European Commission, under contract EVK1-2001-00091

Benoemen van acties door Alzheimerpatiënten:Effect van instrumentaliteit en naamsverwantschap

De ziekte van Alzheimer is de meest voorkomende vorm van dementie, een neurodegeneratieve ziekte. De ziekte wordt gekenmerkt door een achteruitgang in de cognitieve functies, waaronder taal. Taalstoornissen komen dan ook bij vrijwel alle Alzheimerpatiënten voor. Veel onderzoek is gedaan naar de precieze aard van de taalstoornissen. Het blijkt dat de taal van Alzheimerpatiënten zich vooral uit in problemen met de lexicaal-semantische verwerking, en dat vooral het ophalen en gebruiken van semantische informatie problemen oplevert. Eerdere onderzoeken naar het oproepen van zelfstandige naamwoorden en werkwoorden door Alzheimerpatiënten laten tegengestelde resultaten zien. Vanuit onderzoek naar het benoemen bij afasiepatiënten is bekend dat er meer verschillen zijn tussen zelfstandige naamwoorden en werkwoorden dan een verschil in woordklasse alleen en dat er verschillende factoren zijn die de werkwoordsvinding beïnvloeden, waaronder instrumentaliteit en naamsverwantschap. In het huidig onderzoek zijn deze twee kenmerken van werkwoorden onderzocht bij het benoemen van acties door Alzheimerpatiënten. Uit dit onderzoek blijkt een significant positief effect van instrumentaliteit te bestaan, maar is geen significant effect van naamsverwantschap naar voren gekomen. Dit duidt erop dat de taalproblemen voorkomen op het niveau van conceptuele representatie. Dit bevestigt resultaten uit eerdere onderzoeken waaruit naar voren komt dat problemen met de lexicaal-semantische verwerking op de voorgrond staan binnen de taalstoornissen bij de ziekte van Alzheimer

Magnetoresistance of a semiconducting magnetic wire with domain wall

We investigate theoretically the influence of the spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type on the magnetoresistance of a semiconducting ferromagnetic nanostructure with a laterally constrained domain wall. The domain wall is assumed sharp (on the scale of the Fermi wave length of the charge carriers). It is shown that the magnetoresistance in such a case can be considerably large, which is in a qualitative agreement with recent experimental observations. It is also shown that spin-orbit interaction may result in an increase of the magnetoresistance. The role of localization corrections is also briefly discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Characterisation of plasmas produced by the "torche à injection axiale"

Two different kinds of plasmas created by the microwave driven Torche a' Injection Axiale (TIA) are investigated: one with helium and the other with argon as the main gas. By using abs. line intensity measurements, the densities of the excited states are detd. Applying the ideal gas law gives the ground state d. It is found that both plasmas are ionizing and that the excitation temps. range from 3000 to 11,000 K. The electron temp. and the electron d. are detd. using Thomson scattering. In the plasma with helium as the main gas, av. densities between 0.64 and 5.1 x 1020 m-3 and temps. around 25,000 K are found. In an argon plasma, the electron temp. is lower and the electron d. is higher: 17,000 K and around 1021 m-3 resp. Radial profiles of the electron d., obtained by focusing the laser beam, appear to have a donut-like shape. [on SciFinder (R)

A comparative analysis of the publication behaviour of MSCA fellows

MSCA applicants from South and Eastern European countries underperform researchers from North Western Europe before receiving the grant. However, the median difference disappears by the time of the grant and in the period after this. Due to a higher number of outliers (top performers) among the researchers from North Western Europe, the mean impact scores do remain significantly higher

Electrons in a ferromagnetic metal with a domain wall

We present theoretical description of conduction electrons interacting with a domain wall in ferromagnetic metals. The description takes into account interaction between electrons. Within the semiclassical approximation we calculate the spin and charge distributions, particularly their modification by the domain wall. In the same approximation we calculate local transport characteristics, including relaxation times and charge and spin conductivities. It is shown that these parameters are significantly modified near the wall and this modification depends on electron-electron interaction.Comment: 10 pages with 4 figure

Meer dan transport alleen

Economics; Transport; Technolog

Care trajectories of chronically ill older adult patients discharged from hospital:a quantitative cross-sectional study using health insurance claims data

Background For older adults, a good transition from hospital to the primary or long-term care setting can decrease readmissions. This paper presents the 6-month post-discharge healthcare utilization of older adults and describes the numbers of readmissions and deaths for the most frequently occurring aftercare arrangements as a starting point in optimizing the post-discharge healthcare organization. Methods This cross-sectional study included older adults insured with the largest Dutch insurance company. We described the utilization of healthcare within 180 days after discharge from their first hospital admission of 2015 and the most frequently occurring combinations of aftercare in the form of geriatric rehabilitation, community nursing, long-term care, and short stay during the first 90 days after discharge. We calculated the proportion of older adults that was readmitted or had died in the 90-180 days after discharge for the six most frequent combinations. We performed all analyses in the total group of older adults and in a sub-group of older adults who had been hospitalized due to a hip fracture. Results A total of 31.7% of all older adults and 11.4% of the older adults with a hip fracture did not receive aftercare. Almost half of all older adults received care of a community nurse, whereas less than 5% received long-term home care. Up to 18% received care in a nursing home during the 6 months after discharge. Readmissions were lowest for older adults with a short stay and highest in the group geriatric rehabilitation + community nursing. Mortality was lowest in the total group of older aldults and subgroup with hip fracture without aftercare. Conclusions The organization of post-discharge healthcare for older adults may not be organized sufficiently to guarantee appropriate care to restore functional activity. Although receiving aftercare is not a clear predictor of readmissions in our study, the results do seem to indicate that older adults receiving community nursing in the first 90 days less often die compared to older adults with other types of aftercare or no aftercare. Future research is necessary to examine predictors of readmissions and mortality in both older adult patients discharged from hospital.</p