The rhetoric of Pascal. A study of Pascal's "Art of Persuasion" with particular reference to the Provinciales and the Pensees

Pascal's essays De l'esprit geometrique and De l'art de persuader, together with fragments found amongst his notes for an Apology, constitute his literary theory or Rhetoric. This Rhetoric is basically psychological. Pascal recognises that in order to persuade his reader he must sway his emotions as well as convince him intellectually. The character or temperament of the person or group to be persuaded determines the adoption of a particular method. This theory is essentially similar to Ancient Rhetoric. Though the Ancients tend to be remembered only for their lists of figures and tropes, they also emphasised the orator's need, to vary his approach according to his audience, devoting as much space to "moving the passions" as to "proof". Analysis of both the Provinciales and the Pensees - aimed primarily at the honnetes gens shows how Pascal put his precepts into practice. In the Provinciales he does not simply, as critics sometimes suggest, present his reader with models of logical and cogent reasoning. By the extensive use of irony, invective, ridicule, innuendo and all the standard means of disparagement he builds up an atmosphere of hostility to the Jesuit cause and conditions his reader's reaction against it. In apologetics he rejects metaphysical proofs: intellectual conviction alone, he fears, leads todeism and not Christianity. Though he makes some appeal to the unbeliever's reason, he seeks especially to induce in him certain moods and to convince him emotionally of the desirability of belief in the Christian god. He belongs to the Augustinian tradition of apologetics. The Provinciales and the Pensees are linked by Pascal's forceful and ardently religious temperament, which is reflected in his Rhetoric. In the Provinciales his personality is an asset: in the Pensees it modifies his success as an apologist, but raises him, occasionally, to the stature of poet.<p

Latency Performance for Real-Time Audio on BeagleBone Black

In this paper we present a set of tests aimed at evaluating the responsiveness of a BeagleBone Black board in real-time interactive audio applications. The default Angstrom Linux distribution was tested without modifying the underlying kernel. Latency measurements and audio quality were compared across the combination of different audio interfaces and audio synthesis models. Data analysis shows that the board is generally characterised by a remarkably high responsiveness; most of the tested configurations are affected by less than 7ms of latency and under-run activity proved to be contained using the correct optimisation techniques

Properties of length-apodized phase-shifted lpgs operating at the phase matching turning point

The characteristics of length-apodized phase-shifted fiber optic long period gratings with full and partial nanostructured coatings have been explored theoretically and experimentally. The twin rejection bands that are characteristic of length-apodized phase-shifted long period gratings are studied for a long period grating (LPG) operating at the phase matching turning point. When one half of the length of the LPG is coated, complex bandgap like structure appears within the transmission spectrum, which may be of benefit to spectral filter design and for sensing applications

Particle features at the equatorward edge of the cusp

This thesis investigates particle features observed at the equatorward edge of the Earth's magnetospheric cusp regions by instruments onboard NASA's POLAR spacecraft. Two years of data from the TIMAS instrument, a mass-resolved electrostatic ion analyser, are used to identify the location of the cusp. Different types of cusp particle signatures are discussed. The effect of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) orientation on cusp location is investigated, and results are found to generally agree with previous, lower-altitude studies. For southward IMF, magnetosheath plasma can enter the magnetosphere through low-latitude reconnection. Examination of HYDRA electron data reveals that only 3% of POLAR cusp crossings have a magnetosheath 'electron-only' region at the equatorward edge of the cusp. Electron spectra within this region suggest that an electric field above POLAR is retarding the electrons in order to maintain charge neutrality. We discuss the validity of deducing the presence of electric fields from single point electron spectrum measurements. Intermittent conic distributions, occasionally peaked close to 90 pitch-angle at the equatorward edge of the cusp, reveal that ionospheric ions are locally accelerated over a 5 to 8 RE altitude range. Evidence of multiple, mass-specific acceleration processes, acting in distinct regions of the cusp is presented. Enhanced wave activity coincides with the period in which intermittent conics are detected. However, no correlation between the appearance of individual conic distributions and peaks in wave power is found. Low-frequency waves of an irregularly pulsed nature are detected at discrete frequencies. Split, or 'butterfly' ion dispersion signatures, detected during periods of northward IMF, have previously been reported and interpreted as evidence of magnetosheath plasma entry by cross-field diffusion. We develop a simple model of reconnection at high latitudes, which shows that these dispersions can be produced on reconnected field lines which accelerate as they move sunward into regions of lower magnetosheath flow velocity

Depressed youth, suicidality and antidepressants

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Robert D Goldney, Peter R Mansfield, Melissa K Raven, Jon N Jureidini, Joseph M Rey, Michael J Dudley, Duncan Toplis

Look Here! Measuring the Attentional Demand of Near-Future Full Windshield Vehicle Displays

Driving a road vehicle is a task which requires and demands visual attention. Despite this, information on a vehicle’s state, the road environment, or the entertainment features have commonly been conveyed to the driver via visual means because the information can quickly be received and responded to as desired by the driver. Current vehicle displays commonly consist of digital displays presented in the centre console (between the two front seats, under the windshield), and at the instrument cluster (above the steering wheel). Such displays are sometimes referred to as Head-down Displays (HDDs) as they encourage the driver to look down and within the vehicle. The attentional demand and corresponding distraction arising from HDDs is a longstanding component of research largely due to safety concerns. Conducting secondary tasks with such displays (where the driver performs a task in addition to primary task of driving e.g., changing the vehicle’s climate controls) is associated with degraded driving performance and therefore an increased crash risk. More recent developments in display technology have led to the inclusion of Head-up Displays (HUDs) within vehicles. These displays present imagery in a translucent form over the road environment typically by reflecting or projecting graphics onto the windshield or another treated glass component. Since they position information closer to the drivers’ view of the road environment, they are considered to encourage more beneficial attentive behaviours than HDDs, by ensuring the driver is looking up and out of the vehicle towards the road ahead. HUDs within road vehicles are expected to expand in size so that information can be presented across the whole windshield; these are commonly referred to as a full Windshield Displays (WSDs). Presently, the types of tasks that have been investigated on these displays have been limited. Equally, the attentional demand of these novel displays needs to be ascertained, as well as how this varies when imagery has the potential to be located across the whole windshield. Consequently, this thesis aimed to: establish the demand of near-future ecologically valid tasks on windshield displays, develop approaches to investigate visual demand, and ascertain how this demand varies when imagery is presented across expansive windshield locations. A series of four driving simulator-based studies were conducted to address these aims. The first study examined twenty-six participants using an after-market HUD device at the Virginia Tech Cogent Lab. Participants completed tasks on the display which contained components likely to be within the interfaces of near-future HUDs or WSDs (text reading and menu navigation). The analysis showed interactions between task type and the task complexity significantly impacted driver eye-movement and specific longitudinal measures of driving performance. Thus, the exact attributes of the tasks presented on a HUD appear to influence the display’s attentional demand. The second study used two after-market HUD devices to simulate display imagery appearing across the windshield. Twenty-six participants were recruited, and a visually demanding task was used to begin to assess visual demand across windshield displays. The measures showed that increasing display eccentricity resulted in poorer driving performance, thereby indicating greater demand. The third study recruited sixty participants to expansively investigate the impact of display imagery presented in fifty-one display locations. The WSD was simulated using projection. An innovative approach was developed to establish how long a driver could make a continuous glance to these locations before unsafe driving occurred. Graphical depictions of these time thresholds were produced for several dependent measures; they illustrate the visual demand implications of displays across the windshield area. The final study recruited eighteen participants to compare three display locations (two windshield displays and a HDD). Two display tasks were used to establish how drivers manage their engagement with these displays. The observed interactions indicated that drivers were more enticed to attend to the windshield displays than the HDD. Overall, this thesis demonstrates novel approaches to assessing visual demand across display positions. It concludes that windshield display demand is dependent on display location eccentricity and the nature of the task being displayed. The outcome of this demand depends on how drivers respond to these features. Finally, future work and the future of vehicle displays is discussed

Some observations on classical QSAR

Classical QSAR began almost 30 years ago. This article briefly traces its development, use and impact in relation to drug design and medicinal chemistry. Particular aspects discussed include hydrophobicity, relative potency in a series, tissue selectivity, central nervous system penetration, pharmacokinetics, potency optimization, bioisosterism, mechanistic insights, synthesis termination, receptor mapping, and the design of marketed drugs and late-stage drug candidates. In addition, some recent QSAR studies and examples of the use of the Free-Wilson approach are reviewed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43354/1/11091_2005_Article_BF02174527.pd

Water wave impact on structures.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX184928 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo