Is a non-relativist post-modernism possible? The attempts of William Dean and Wentzel van Huyssteen

This paper aims at creating a third option to foundationalism and relativism. It criticizes William Dean’s historicist radical empiricism for going too far toward a relativist deconstructionism, and Wentzel van Huyss teen’s critical realism for not leaving modernism. Both, however, succeed in creating a third option. This paper examines their respective contributions to a non relativist, reconstructionist post-modernism.

Covalency of neptunium(IV) triscyclopentadienyl compounds from Moessbauer spectra

Isomer shifts measured from the /sup 237/Np Moessbauer spectra of NpCp/sub 3/OR (R = alkyl) NpCp/sub 3/R and NpCpAr (Ar = aryl) are used as a measure of the covalency in Np(IV) ligand bonding. The isomer shifts in NpCp/sub 3//sup n/Bu and NpCp/sub 3/C/sub 6/H/sub 4/C/sub 2/H/sub 5/ show a strong sigma character to the Np--/sup -n/Bu and Np--C/sub 6/H/sub 4/C/sub 2/H/sub 5/ bonds. The sigma character of Np--OR bonding is definite, but less pronounced. The comparatively low covalency in the bonding of NpCp/sub 4/ is ascribed to longer Np--C bonds in NpCp/sub 4/ than in NpCp/sub 3//sup +/ compounds. The /sup 237/Np isomer shift in Np(MeCp)Cl/sub 3/.2THF indicates that the MeCp ligand is sigma-bonded in this compound

Preparation and Moessbauer spectra of Np(III): alkali metal chlorocompounds

M/sub 2/NpCl/sub 5/, MNp/sub 2/Cl/sub 7/ (M = K, NH/sub 4/, Rb) and NpCl/sub 3/ 4CH/sub 3/CN were prepared by zinc amalgam reduction of NpCl/sub 4/-MCl in 50:1 acetonitrile-propionic acid solutions. The /sup 237/Np Moessbauer spectra of these compounds showed quadrupole interactions, with Moessbauer parameters delta = 3.4 to 3.5 cm/sec and 1/4eqQ = 0.5 to 0.7 cm/sec. Moessbauer spectra established that preparations analyzing as MNpCl/sub 4/ CH/sub 3/CN were mixtures of M/sub 2/NpCl/sub 5/ and NpCl/sub 3/ 4CH/sub 3/CN

Disease Systems Analysis of Bone Mineral Density and Bone Turnover Markers in Response to Alendronate, Placebo, and Washout in Postmenopausal Women

A previously established mechanism-based disease systems model for osteoporosis that is based on a mathematically reduced version of a model describing the interactions between osteoclast (bone removing) and osteoblast (bone forming) cells in bone remodeling has been applied to clinical data from women (n=1,379) receiving different doses and treatment regimens of alendronate, placebo, and washout. The changes in the biomarkers, plasma bone-specific alkaline phosphatase activity (BSAP), urinary N-telopeptide (NTX), lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD), and total hip BMD, were linked to the underlying mechanistic core of the model. The final model gave an accurate description of all four biomarkers for the different treatments. Simulations were used to visualize the dynamics of the underlying network and the natural disease progression upon alendronate treatment and discontinuation. These results complement the previous applications of this mechanism-based disease systems model to data from various treatments for osteoporosis

Nocturnal wind direction shear and its potential impact on pollutant transport

The estimation of transport and diffusion of airborne pollutants during the nighttime is challenging, especially over complex terrain where gravity driven drainage flows may be overlain with wind from a different direction. This study investigates the character of wind direction shear in the lowest 100 m using tower measurements from a complex, semi-arid site where local thermally-driven flows are common. The effects of wind direction shear on plume transport are studied by simulating a hypothetical elevated term release. This is accomplished by first simulating transport and dispersion using wind measurements from only the 12-m level from a network of towers. This case represents the approach commonly taken at many facilities where a network of short towers is available. Then the release is modeled using wind measurements made at four levels in the lowest 100 m. The differences between the two simulations are significant and would lead to very different responses in an emergency situation

Systematic Analysis: Resistance to Traffic Analysis Attacks in Tor System for Critical Infrastructures

The threat of traffic analysis attacks against the Tor System is an acknowledged and open research issue, especially in critical infrastructures, motivating the need for continuous research into the potential attacks and countermeasures against this threat. This paper aims to provide an in-depth study into the driving technical mechanisms of the current state-of-art Tor System (Browser Bundle and Network) that aim to provide its benefits to anonymity and privacy online. This work presents the countermeasures that have been proposed and/or implemented against such attacks, in a collated evaluation to determine their effectiveness, suitability to Tor Project, and its design aims/goals

Influence of grain-refiner addition on the morphology of fe-bearing intermetallics in a semi-solid processed Al-Mg-Si alloy

© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2013The three-dimensional morphologies of the Fe-bearing intermetallics in a semisolid-processed Al-Mg-Si alloy were examined after extracting the intermetallics. α -AlFeSi and β-AlFeSi are the major Fe-bearing intermetallics. Addition of Al-Ti-B grain refiner typically promotes β-AlFeSi formation. β-AlFeSi was observed with a flat, plate-like morphology with angular edges in the alloy with and without grain refiner, whereas α -AlFeSi was observed as "flower"-like morphology in the alloy with grain refiner. © 2013 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International

Recycling bins, garbage cans or think tanks? Three myths regarding policy analysis institutes

The phrase 'think tank' has become ubiquitous – overworked and underspecified – in the political lexicon. It is entrenched in scholarly discussions of public policy as well as in the 'policy wonk' of journalists, lobbyists and spin-doctors. This does not mean that there is an agreed definition of think tank or consensual understanding of their roles and functions. Nevertheless, the majority of organizations with this label undertake policy research of some kind. The idea of think tanks as a research communication 'bridge' presupposes that there are discernible boundaries between (social) science and policy. This paper will investigate some of these boundaries. The frontiers are not only organizational and legal; they also exist in how the 'public interest' is conceived by these bodies and their financiers. Moreover, the social interactions and exchanges involved in 'bridging', themselves muddy the conception of 'boundary', allowing for analysis to go beyond the dualism imposed in seeing science on one side of the bridge, and the state on the other, to address the complex relations between experts and public policy

Application of a systems pharmacology-based placebo population model to analyze long-term data of postmenopausal osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a progressive bone disease characterized by decreased bone mass resulting in increased fracture risk. The objective of this investigation was to test whether a recently developed disease systems analysis model for osteoporosis could describe disease progression in a placebo-treated population from the Early Postmenopausal Intervention Cohort (EPIC) study. First, we qualified the model using a subset from the placebo arm of the EPIC study of 222 women who had similar demographic characteristics as the 149 women from the placebo arm of the original population. Second, we applied the model to all 470 women. Bone mineral density (BMD) dynamics were changed to an indirect response model to describe lumbar spine and total hip BMD in this second population. This updated disease systems analys

Tight-binding g-Factor Calculations of CdSe Nanostructures

The Lande g-factors for CdSe quantum dots and rods are investigated within the framework of the semiempirical tight-binding method. We describe methods for treating both the n-doped and neutral nanostructures, and then apply these to a selection of nanocrystals of variable size and shape, focusing on approximately spherical dots and rods of differing aspect ratio. For the negatively charged n-doped systems, we observe that the g-factors for near-spherical CdSe dots are approximately independent of size, but show strong shape dependence as one axis of the quantum dot is extended to form rod-like structures. In particular, there is a discontinuity in the magnitude of g-factor and a transition from anisotropic to isotropic g-factor tensor at aspect ratio ~1.3. For the neutral systems, we analyze the electron g-factor of both the conduction and valence band electrons. We find that the behavior of the electron g-factor in the neutral nanocrystals is generally similar to that in the n-doped case, showing the same strong shape dependence and discontinuity in magnitude and anisotropy. In smaller systems the g-factor value is dependent on the details of the surface model. Comparison with recent measurements of g-factors for CdSe nanocrystals suggests that the shape dependent transition may be responsible for the observations of anomalous numbers of g-factors at certain nanocrystal sizes.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Fixed typos to match published versio