BEING AND STRUCTURE IN PLATO’S \u3cem\u3eSOPHIST\u3c/em\u3e

Being and Structure in Plato’s Sophist is a study of the metaphysical notion of being as it is at play in Plato’s dialogue the Sophist, and the senses in which Plato’s conception of being entails further accounts of ontological structure and goodness. While modern metaphysics primarily concerns existence, ancient metaphysics primarily concerns what grounds what, and in this dissertation I consider the nature and value of Plato’s understanding of being as a notion of ground rather than a principle of existence. I argue that Plato conceives of being in the fundamentally unified sense of participation, which entails a self-and-other and hence complex relation. For Plato, being must be understood in its context as one among many Platonic forms, or the network of mutually co-constitutive structures of determinacy that are the grounding stability necessary for the very possibilities of becoming, knowing, and discourse. I argue that Plato inherits his view in large part from Parmenides, and that the account in the Sophist makes explicit a previously implicit aspect of the Parmenidean tradition insofar as it involves a novel sense of nonbeing not as absolute nothingness, but instead as difference in the sense of constitutive and determinate otherness. I furthermore discuss the ways in which this account helps to show the connections between seemingly disparate elements of the dialogue like its dramatic setting, the method of division, and the discussion of the great ontological kinds. In this way, the dissertation entails a study of the entire dialogue and the interrelation of its parts, as well as its context among several other key Platonic and Parmenidean texts

Dialectical Methods and the Stoicheia Paradigm in Plato’s Trilogy and Philebus

Plato’s Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman exhibit several related dialectical methods relevant to Platonic education: maieutic in Theaetetus, bifurcatory division in Sophist and Statesman, and non-bifurcatory division in Statesman, related to the ‘god-given’ method in Philebus. I consider the nature of each method through the letter or element (στοιχεῖον) paradigm, used to reflect on each method. At issue are the element’s appearances in given contexts, its fitness for communing with other elements like it in kind, and its own nature defined through its relations to others. These represent stages of inquiry for the Platonic student inquiring into the sources of knowledge

New data on carbon isotopic compositions of some ureilites

We have collected new C data from high resolution stepped combustion analyses of 5 ureilites to better constrain their relationships with O and mineralogical/petrographic groupings. This may help the future development of petrogenetic models

Rural Hospital Nursing Skill Mix and Work Environment Associated with Frequency of Adverse Events.

Introduction: Though rural hospitals serve about one fifth of the United States (U.S.), few studies have investigated relationships among nursing resources and rural hospital adverse events. Objectives: The purpose was to determine relationships among nursing skill mix (proportion of Registered Nurses (RNs) to all nursing staff), the work environment and adverse events (medication errors, patient falls with injury, pressure ulcers, and urinary tract infections) in rural hospitals. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, nurse survey data from a large study examining nurse organizational factors, patient safety, and quality from four U.S. states were linked to the 2006 American Hospital Association data. The work environment was measured using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI). Nurses reported adverse event frequency. Data analyses were descriptive and inferential. Results: On average, 72% of nursing staff were RNs (range = 45% to 100%). Adverse event frequency ranged from 0% to 67%, across 76 hospitals. In regression models, a 10-point increase in the proportion of RNs among all nursing staff and a one standard deviation increase in the PES-NWI score were significantly associated with decreased odds of frequent adverse events. Conclusion: Rural hospitals that increase the nursing skill mix and improve the work environment may achieve reduced adverse event frequency

An integrated mineralogical, petrographic, light stable isotope and noble gas investigation of Sahara 99201 ureilite

New ureilite Sahara 99201 has been investigated to determine mineralogy, petrography, light stable isotopes and noble gases. The sample is a typical olivine pigeonite ureilite (Fo 78, Wo 10, En 72). C, N, O and Ar are consistent with other ureilites

Interactive Digital Television and Electronic Public Services: Emergent Issues

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been at the heart of a transformation of public services in the UK, in a process that has seen the emergence of forms of 'electronic public services' (EPS). Policy makers have hoped that EPS will bring about improved, convenient, accessible and cheaper public services. The Internet has been at the heart of attempts to deliver EPS. However, limiting factors affecting user uptake of web-based services, including skills and access issues, have encouraged service providers to consider additional delivery platforms. Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) has emerged as one possible platform, since it brings an interactive capacity to a medium that is both familiar and easy to use. This paper examines the ways in which the capabilities offered by iDTV technology have been exploited by policy makers and service providers. Reporting data from a number of research projects, this paper also explores the extent to which the technology has supported the emergence of high-quality and user-friendly services, and the extent to which users have valued and utilised such services. It concludes that while we now have a significant evidence base of provider and user experiences, the relative immaturity of the technology and the nature of the iDTV initiatives themselves has prevented a full investigation of EPS via iDTV

The Emergent ICT Culture of Parliamentarians: The Case of the Scottish Parliament

This article explores the ways in which information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become embedded within the activities of parliamentarians, by examining the experiences of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The article presents an overview of exiting research in this area and suggests that many authors do not take into account the full range of functions and activities undertaken by a modern parliamentarian and consequently cannot fully perceive the extent to which these technologies support parliamentary life. Central to the article is a discussion of new unique longitudinal research data which provides empirical evidence of a significant technological orientation, and an emergent ICT culture, that is the outcome of the intertwined relationship between the adoption and use of new communications technologies by parliamentarians, and the established norms and procedures of parliamentary activity. The research findings presented here highlight the significant role played by new ICTs in the Scottish Parliament and the emerging new democratic system in Scotland. For the new Scottish Parliamentarians interacting with ICT is an important part of their daily life, to the extent that it would not be unreasonable to assert that use of these technologies has become a core parliamentary activity, possibly even to the extent that parliamentarians, and consequently the parliamentary system, have become reliant on the informational and communications capabilities embedded in ICTs. This is because these technologies are supporting a wide range of parliamentary roles and activities, and because they are underpinning a range of communicative relationships in the parliamentary arena and wider polity

Notes on the taxonomy, iconography, and ecology of <i>Aloe pluridens</i> Haw. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), an endemic species from southeastern South Africa

The history of the discovery of Aloe pluridens Haw (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae) by the Kew collector James Bowie in 1822–23 in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and its subsequent description in 1824 is discussed. The surprising dearth of published illustrations of this long-known species is emphasised and the first known photograph dating from only 1900 is reproduced. It is also shown that a painting at Kew by George Bond that dates from 1829 does not qualify as having been associated with the species by the author of the name, Adrian Hardy Haworth and cannot supersede the specimen on which the name A. pluridens was previously effectively neo-typified. The name A. pluridens Haw. var. beckeri Schönland is lectotypified and it is shown that the name Aloe atherstonei does not have a type as it was previously typified on an apparently non-existent specimen. Additionally the species is illustrated both in habitat and in cultivation. Observations on the ecology and cultivation of the species are also included