Logical subjects

The major concern of this essay is the subject/predicate analysis of propositions. When I say "The subject/predicate analysis" I do not assume (what is false) that there is just one such analysis; rather, I assume that there is one version of this analysis widely current in contemporary philosophy. It is the analysis of singular propositions into referring components and non-referring components. This conception of the subject/predicate distinction is exceptionally imprecise, but is not completely uninformative. We do have a rough idea of what it is to refer to something and an intuitive conception of which propositional components we use as devices of reference and which ones we do not. And this gives us an embryonic conception of what the subject/predicate analysis looks like. For the most part I will be working from this intuitive starting point (which does not, of course, rule out the drawing of counter-intuitive conclusions). And since this conception of the analysis is the received one in contemporary philosophy, my argument may be said to have a built-in conservative bias (which will make any radical conclusions all the more interesting). My major concern will be with singular propositions, that is, with those propositions to which the above conception seems to apply fairly straightforwardly. I share the common assumption that it is in terms of an analysis of singular propositions that we must turn to the analysis of general propositions, i.e. that the former are logically or analytically prior to the latter. My first chapter will be concerned with Frege, and forms an exception to the above statement of methodological stance. For, while generally I assume that the notion of reference and the notion of a logical subject go together, this assumption would clearly be out of place in a discussion of Frege, who argued or assumed that the notion of reference applies equally to the two components of his analysis. And, since his analysis (into 'proper name' and 'concept expression') is clearly in the same line of business as the subject/predicate analysis with which I am concerned, Chapter I is a convenient place to consider, and, hopefully, to reject, his alternative conception of that analysis

An evaluation of the inflammatory time course response following traditional and blood flow restriction resistance exercise measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography

Acute muscle swelling following resistance exercise can increase mCSA when assessed by pQCT. This swelling does not reflect muscle hypertrophy, but rather a fluid shift in and around the exercised musculature that may stimulate protein synthesis. This creates a need for determining the inflammatory time course response following a bout of resistance exercise to pinpoint the earliest a pQCT scan can be performed to predict mCSA with minimal error. Furthermore, the degree of muscle swelling following traditional resistance exercise and blood flow restriction resistance exercise has yet to be compared. PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the time course of increased intramuscular fluid following a traditional high-intensity resistance exercise bout and a low-intensity combined with blood flow restriction resistance exercise bout. METHODS: Ten men, aged 18-30 years, completed three experimental conditions in random order separated by at least one week: traditional resistance exercise [TRE], blood flow restriction resistance exercise [BFR], and a non-exercise control [CON]. For TRE subjects completed three sets of 8-10 repetitions on leg press, leg extension, and leg curl machines at an intensity of 75%-80% 1RM with two minutes of rest allowed between sets and exercises. For BFR, subjects wore five cm wide electronically controlled elastic pressure cuffs around their upper thighs during the exercise bout at a restrictive pressure of 160 mmHg. The same three exercises were completed during BFR but at an intensity of 20% 1RM. Subjects completed 30 repetitions for their first set, followed by three sets of 15 thereafter. Rest intervals were set at 30 seconds. For TRE, subjects remained in resting state, seated for approximately 20 minutes. Prior to exercise and 15 minutes, 75 minutes, 24h, 48h, 72h, and 96h after exercise in TRE and BFR protocols, subjects underwent a pQCT scan and thigh circumference measurement. Additionally, blood samples were collected via finger prick prior to, immediately after, and 1h after exercise to assess plasma volume. Muscle thickness of the quadriceps and hamstring were determined prior to exercise and immediately, 30 min, and 1h after exercise via ultrasound. RESULTS: MTQ for BFR was significantly greater immediately post-exercise (p < 0.001) and 30 minutes post-exercise (p = 0.001) when compared to pre-exercise. MTQ for TRE was significantly greater immediately post-exercise (p = 0.010), 30 minutes post-exercise (p = 0.007), and 60 minutes post-exercise (p = 0.019) when compared to pre-exercise. MTQ for BFR was significantly greater than TRE immediately post-exercise (p = 0.016). MTH for BFR was significantly greater immediately post-exercise (p = 0.036) when compared to pre-exercise. PV%Ä significantly decreased from pre- to immediately post-exercise in both BFR (p < 0.001) and TRE (p < 0.001) conditions. In BFR, mCSA was significantly greater at 15 minutes post-exercise (p < 0.001) and 75 minutes post-exercise when compared to pre-exercise mCSA. In TRE, mCSA was significantly greater at 15 minutes post-exercise compared to pre-exercise mCSA. Thigh circumference was significantly greater at 15 minutes post-exercise in BFR (p < 0.001), TRE (p = 0.002), and CON (p = 0.016) compared to their respective pre-exercise thigh circumference values. Additionally, thigh circumference was significantly greater at 75 minutes post-exercise in BFR (p = 0.032) and TRE (p = 0.007) compared to their respective pre-exercise thigh circumference values. CONCLUSION: Muscle swelling returns to pre-exercise levels within 24 hours after completing a moderate to high volume heavy-resistance exercise bout and a low-intensity coupled with blood flow restriction resistance exercise bout

Destruction of single species biofi lms of Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae by dextranase, lactoferrin, and lysozyme

The aim of this work was to determine the destructive activity of dextranase, lactoferrin, and lysozyme, against single species biofi lms composed of either Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae or Escherichia coli using the MBEC Assay. Luminescence measurements based on quantitation of the ATP present were used to determine the amount of biofi lm elimination and correlated with quantity of live bacteria present in the sample. The data were analyzed employing a two-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post-test. Treatments resulted in percentage reductions of E. coli biofi lms ranging from 73 to 98 %. Lactoferrin (40 &mu;g/ml) produced a signifi cantly higher-percentage reduction than lysozyme (10 &mu;g/ml) (P &lt; 0.05), no other signifi cant differences occurred. Similar treatments resulted in percentage reductions of K. pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae biofilms ranging from 51 to 100 %. Dextranase treatments produced a signifi cantly lower percentage reduction than all other materials (P &lt; 0.05), no other signifi cant differences occurred. No material was capable of complete destruction of both single species biofi lms; however, low concentrations of lactoferrin and lysozyme each removed 100 % of the K. pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae biofi lm. Low concentrations of lactoferrin or lysozyme might be benefi cial to prevent biofi lm formation by K. pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae. [Int Microbiol 2012; 15(4):183-187

Development of a double-breakaway pass-through PIT-tag antenna system for flood-prone rivers

Pass‐through passive integrated transponder (PIT) antennae are often used in river and stream habitats to monitor the movement of aquatic species. Where these habitats are prone to high flows containing suspended debris, traditional pass‐through antennae designs are particularly vulnerable to damage which can be time consuming and expensive to repair and lead to extended gaps in data collection. We designed and tested a novel pass‐through half duplex (HDX) antenna system that allows the antenna loop to (1) break away from one river bank under predetermined strain and (2) split into two separate cables, thereby shedding entangled debris that could otherwise damage or dislodge the antenna system. After break away events, our system can be rapidly reconnected and redeployed without the need for personnel to enter the water, reducing maintenance time and costs while minimizing gaps in data. In locations where pass‐through antennae are prone to flood damage, this system offers distinct advantages over traditional designs

Routine Microsecond Molecular Dynamics Simulations with AMBER on GPUs. 1. Generalized Born

We present an implementation of generalized Born implicit solvent all-atom classical molecular dynamics (MD) within the AMBER program package that runs entirely on CUDA enabled NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs). We discuss the algorithms that are used to exploit the processing power of the GPUs and show the performance that can be achieved in comparison to simulations on conventional CPU clusters. The implementation supports three different precision models in which the contributions to the forces are calculated in single precision floating point arithmetic but accumulated in double precision (SPDP), or everything is computed in single precision (SPSP) or double precision (DPDP). In addition to performance, we have focused on understanding the implications of the different precision models on the outcome of implicit solvent MD simulations. We show results for a range of tests including the accuracy of single point force evaluations and energy conservation as well as structural properties pertainining to protein dynamics. The numerical noise due to rounding errors within the SPSP precision model is sufficiently large to lead to an accumulation of errors which can result in unphysical trajectories for long time scale simulations. We recommend the use of the mixed-precision SPDP model since the numerical results obtained are comparable with those of the full double precision DPDP model and the reference double precision CPU implementation but at significantly reduced computational cost. Our implementation provides performance for GB simulations on a single desktop that is on par with, and in some cases exceeds, that of traditional supercomputers

Anxiety and depression following cumulative low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides

Previous research suggests that individuals with a prior history of pesticide poisoning are at increased risk of psychiatric disorder (Freire and Koifman, 2013), but findings regarding the impact of cumulative low-level exposure are inconsistent. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether sheep farmers with a history of low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides (1) report a higher level of psychological distress on subjective symptom questionnaires, compared to unexposed controls (2) also meet internationally agreed diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric disorder more often than unexposed controls. 127 sheep farmers were evaluated and compared to 78 unexposed controls, matched in terms of gender, education, level of intelligence, working status and area of residence. Both self-report measures and structured clinical interviews were used to assess mental health. The exposed cohort reported significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression when self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate mood, even when stressful life events, demographic and physical health factors were taken into account. However, when diagnostic interviews were used to assess mood, this pattern only held true for anxiety

Dinosaurs, ASD, and Social Skills

A collaboration between CNN Hero Dr. Wendy Ross’ Autism Inclusion Resources (AIR) and the Academy of Natural Sciences yielded an innovation social skills group for Foundations’ Lifeworks students, matching expert museum education staff such as paleontologist Jason Poole and staff at the Academy with Drs. Mitchell and Moog. The results were nothing short of inspirational. This workshop will highlight the outcomes of the group, and share poignant stories experienced along the way. Development of self-advocacy skills and future transitions will be showcased

Analysing the Suzaku Spectra of the Broad-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy CBS 126

We analysed new simultaneous \emph{Suzaku} and \emph{Swift} data of the Broad Line Seyfert 1 (BLS1) galaxy CBS 126. A clear Fe emission line and a strong soft excess are present in the source spectra. We fit the spectra with a relativistic reflection model and find the model tends to fit the data with a high iron abundance possibly due to the large soft excess present. By checking the difference and the RMS spectra, we find there is likely an absorption edge at $\sim$ 0.89 keV, which might be caused by oxygen or neon. We also produced an analysis of the time-resolved spectra in order to examine the existence of the edge. Although high iron abundance is required more in the time-resolved spectra, a model of solar iron abundance together with an absorption edge gives a more physical explanation. Variation of the ionisation parameter is an alternative, plausible explanation for the excess seen in the difference spectra. It is difficult to know if there are warm absorbers in this source from the current data. To further investigate the presence of possible warm absorbers, higher signal-to-noise low-energy data are needed. The work presented here tentatively suggests that the spectra of a BLS1 can be explained by a relativistic reflection model similar to that often seen in their narrow-line cousins.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Messy entanglements: research assemblages in heart transplantation discourses and practices

The paper engages with a variety of data around a supposedly single biomedical event, that of heart transplantation. In conventional discourse, organ transplantation constitutes an unproblematised form of spare part surgery in which failing biological components are replaced by more efficient and enduring ones, but once that simple picture is complicated by employing a radically interdisciplinary approach, any biomedical certainty is profoundly disrupted. Our aim, as a cross-sectorial partnership, has been to explore the complexities of heart transplantation by explicitly entangling research from the arts, biosciences and humanities without privileging any one discourse. It has been no easy enterprise yet it has been highly productive of new insights. We draw on our own ongoing funded research with both heart donor families and recipients to explore our different perceptions of what constitutes data and to demonstrate how the dynamic entangling of multiple data produces a constitutive assemblage of elements in which no one can claim priority. Our claim is that the use of such research assemblages and the collaborations that we bring to our project breaks through disciplinary silos to enable a fuller comprehension of the significance and experience of heart transplantation in both theory and practice