2,821 research outputs found
TRADITION, CULTURE, AND THE PROBLEM OF INCLUSION IN PHILOSOPHY
Many today agree that philosophy, as an academic discipline, must, for the sake of its very survival, become more inclusive of a wider range of perspectives, coming from a more diverse pool of philosophers. Yet there has been little serious reflection on how our very idea of what philosophy is might be preventing this change from taking place. In this essay I would like to consider the ways in which our ideas about philosophy\u27s relation to tradition, and its relation to other dimensions of human culture, influence efforts to promote greater diversity in the field
La génération spontanée et le problÚme de la reproduction des espÚces avant et aprÚs Descartes
Dans cet article je mets en Ă©vidence quelques problĂšmes conceptuels importants posĂ©s par le prĂ©tendu phĂ©nomĂšne de la gĂ©nĂ©ration spontanĂ©e, en montrant comment ils Ă©taient liĂ©s historiquement Ă la question thĂ©orique des origines et de lâontologie des espĂšces biologiques. Au XVIe et XVIIe siĂšcle tout particuliĂšrement, la possibilitĂ© que des formes organiques soient gĂ©nĂ©rĂ©es dans la matiĂšre inorganique supposait la possibilitĂ© que le hasard gouverne non seulement lâapparition dâune anguille ou dâune souris, mais quâil gouverne lâapparition originelle de leurs espĂšces mĂȘmes. En outre, dans la conception de la reproduction sexuelle que le mĂ©canisme parvient Ă rĂ©pandre, toute gĂ©nĂ©ration, des ĂȘtres humains aussi bien que des anguilles, menace de ne plus sâexpliquer autrement que par ce que Descartes appelle « les causes mineures ». Ainsi, comme je tenterai de le prouver, les problĂšmes thĂ©oriques que la gĂ©nĂ©ration spontanĂ©e, telle que le dĂ©but de la modernitĂ© la concevait, posaient Ă la comprĂ©hension de lâontologie des espĂšces, nâĂ©taient pas essentiellement diffĂ©rents de ceux soulevĂ©s par lâexplication mĂ©caniste de la reproduction sexuelle, et si nous nâaccordons pas Ă ce fait lâattention nĂ©cessaire, nous perdons de vue, je pense, un facteur important dans le rejet ultime de la gĂ©nĂ©ration spontanĂ©e.In this article I shall draw out some of the important conceptual problems posed by the purported phenomenon of spontaneous generation, showing how these problems were historically connected with the theoretical question of the origins and nature of biological species, and above all with the problem of their boundaries. In the 16th- and 17th- centuries in particular, the possibility of organic forms arising from inorganic matter carried with it the possibility that chance governs not only the emergence of an individual eel or mouse, but indeed governs the original emergence of the mouse- and eel-kinds. Moreover, on the newly ascendant mechanist understanding of sexual reproduction, all generation, whether of eels or of horses and men, now threatened to be exhaustively accounted for in terms of what Descartes called âminor causesâ. Thus, I argue, the sort of problems that spontaneous generation was perceived to bring about for the early modern understanding of the ontology of species were not in principle any different from the problems posed by the mechanist account of sexual reproduction, and if we fail to note this, I show, we overlook an important factor in the eventual demise of spontaneous-generation theory
Nuance and behavioral cogency: How the Visible Burrow System inspired the Stress-Alternatives Model and conceptualization of the continuum of anxiety
By creating the Visible Burrow System (VBS) Bob Blanchard found a way to study the interaction of genetics, physiology, environment, and adaptive significance in a model with broad validity. The VBS changed the way we think about anxiety and affective disorders by allowing the mechanisms which control them to be observed in a dynamic setting. Critically, Blanchard used the VBS and other models to show how behavioral systems like defense are dependent upon context and behavioral elements unique to the individual. Inspired by the VBS, we developed a Stress Alternatives Model (SAM) to further explore the multifaceted dynamics of the stress response with a dichotomous choice condition. Like the VBS, the SAM is a naturalistic model built upon risk assessment and defensive behavior, but with a choice of response: escape or submission to a large conspecific aggressor. The anxiety of novelty during the first escape must be weighed against fear of the aggressor, and a decision must be made. Both outcomes are adaptively significant, evidenced by a 50/50 split in outcome across several study systems. By manipulating the variables of the SAM, we show that a gradient of anxiety exists that spans the contextual settings of escaping an open field, escaping from aggression, and submitting to aggression. These findings correspond with increasing levels of corticosterone and increasing levels of NPS and BDNF in the central amygdala as the context changes.Whereas some anxiolytics were able to reduce the latency to escape for some animals, only with the potent anxiolytic drug antalarmin (CRF1R-blocker) and the anxiogenic drug yohimbine (α2 antagonist) were we able to reverse the outcome for a substantial proportion of individuals. Our findings promote a novel method for modeling anxiety, offering a distinction between low-and-high levels, and accounting for individual variability. The translational value of the VBS is immeasurable, and it guided us and many other researchers to seek potential clinical solutions through a deeper understanding of regional neurochemistry and gene expression in concert with an ecological behavioral model
Susceptibility Provision Enhances Effective De-escalation (SPEED): utilizing rapid phenotypic susceptibility testing in Gram-negative bloodstream infections and its potential clinical impact
Abstract
Objectives
We evaluated the performance and time to result for pathogen identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of the Accelerate Phenoâą system (AXDX) compared with standard of care (SOC) methods. We also assessed the hypothetical improvement in antibiotic utilization if AXDX had been implemented.
Methods
Clinical samples from patients with monomicrobial Gram-negative bacteraemia were tested and compared between AXDX and the SOC methods of the VERIGENEÂź and Bruker MALDI BiotyperÂź systems for ID and the VITEKÂź 2 system for AST. Additionally, charts were reviewed to calculate theoretical times to antibiotic de-escalation, escalation and active and optimal therapy
Results
ID mean time was 21âh for MALDI-TOF MS, 4.4âh for VERIGENEÂź and 3.7âh for AXDX. AST mean time was 35âh for VITEKÂź 2 and 9.0âh for AXDX. For ID, positive percentage agreement was 95.9% and negative percentage agreement was 99.9%. For AST, essential agreement was 94.5% and categorical agreement was 93.5%. If AXDX results had been available to inform patient care, 25% of patients could have been put on active therapy sooner, while 78% of patients who had therapy optimized during hospitalization could have had therapy optimized sooner. Additionally, AXDX could have reduced time to de-escalation (16 versus 31âh) and escalation (19 versus 31âh) compared with SOC.
Conclusions
By providing fast and reliable ID and AST results, AXDX has the potential to improve antimicrobial utilization and enhance antimicrobial stewardship
Correlation between microstructure and magnetotransport in organic semiconductor spin valve structures
We have studied magnetotransport in organic-inorganic hybrid multilayer
junctions. In these devices, the organic semiconductor (OSC) Alq
(tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum) formed a spacer layer between ferromagnetic
(FM) Co and Fe layers. The thickness of the Alq layer was in the range of
50-150 nm. Positive magnetoresistance (MR) was observed at 4.2 K in a current
perpendicular to plane geometry, and these effects persisted up to room
temperature. The devices' microstructure was studied by X-ray reflectometry,
Auger electron spectroscopy and polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR). The
films show well-defined layers with modest average chemical roughness (3-5 nm)
at the interface between the Alq and the surrounding FM layers.
Reflectometry shows that larger MR effects are associated with smaller
FM/Alq interface width (both chemical and magnetic) and a magnetically dead
layer at the Alq/Fe interface. The PNR data also show that the Co layer,
which was deposited on top of the Alq, adopts a multi-domain magnetic
structure at low field and a perfect anti-parallel state is not obtained. The
origins of the observed MR are discussed and attributed to spin coherent
transport. A lower bound for the spin diffusion length in Alq was estimated
as nm at 80 K. However, the subtle correlations between
microstructure and magnetotransport indicate the importance of interfacial
effects in these systems.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures and 2 table
A Bichromatic Incidence Bound and an Application
We prove a new, tight upper bound on the number of incidences between points
and hyperplanes in Euclidean d-space. Given n points, of which k are colored
red, there are O_d(m^{2/3}k^{2/3}n^{(d-2)/3} + kn^{d-2} + m) incidences between
the k red points and m hyperplanes spanned by all n points provided that m =
\Omega(n^{d-2}). For the monochromatic case k = n, this was proved by Agarwal
and Aronov.
We use this incidence bound to prove that a set of n points, no more than n-k
of which lie on any plane or two lines, spans \Omega(nk^2) planes. We also
provide an infinite family of counterexamples to a conjecture of Purdy's on the
number of hyperplanes spanned by a set of points in dimensions higher than 3,
and present new conjectures not subject to the counterexample.Comment: 12 page
A Comprehensive Economic Stimulus for our Failing Economy
This paper presents a comprehensive plan to fix the ailing American economy, through a five-step approach. First, the Federal Reserve must continue to broaden the scope of monetary policy, by purchasing and selling long-term securities. Manipulating expectations through FOMC statements is another tool at the Federal Reserveâs disposal. Secondly, the government must enact fiscal stimulus to stabilize the economy in the short and medium runs, through investment in infrastructure projects, green technology, fusion technology, and science education. Additionally, the new fiscal policy must tackle the mortgage meltdown, which is weighing down the entire economy. Third, the regulatory system must be changed to reduce the likelihood of another financial collapse, starting with the nationalization of the ratings agencies. Ratings should be updated faster, with a numeric grading system rather than the pre-existing letter grades. Fourth, our globalized economy insures that a coordinated globalized response is necessary to recover. Global cooperation to reduce inflation and avoid protectionist policies is vital. Finally, the American bailout policy must be made clear, only giving bailouts to companies that are sound but financially strapped and those that are too big to fail
Non-Perturbative Production of Multi-Boson States and Quantum Bubbles
The amplitude of production of on-mass-shell scalar bosons by a highly
virtual field is considered in a theory with weak
coupling and spontaneously broken symmetry. The amplitude of this
process is known to have an growth when the produced bosons are exactly at
rest. Here it is shown that for the process goes through
`quantum bubbles', i.e. quantized droplets of a different vacuum phase, which
are non-perturbative resonant states of the field . The bubbles provide a
form factor for the production amplitude, which rapidly decreases above the
threshold. As a result the probability of the process may be heavily suppressed
and may decrease with energy as , where the power
depends on the number of space dimensions. Also discussed are the quantized
states of bubbles and the amplitudes of their formation and decay.Comment: 20 pages in LaTeX + 3 figures (fugures not included, hardcopy
available on request), TPI-MINN-93/20-
- âŠ