Not knowing a cat is a cat: analyticity and knowledge ascriptions

It is a natural assumption in mainstream epistemological theory that ascriptions of knowledge of a proposition p track strength of epistemic position vis-à-vis p. It is equally natural to assume that the strength of one’s epistemic position is maximally high in cases where p concerns a simple analytic truth (as opposed to an empirical truth). For instance, it seems reasonable to suppose that one's epistemic position vis-à-vis “a cat is a cat” is harder to improve than one's position vis-à-vis “a cat is on the mat”, and consequently, that the former is at least as unambiguous a case of knowledge as the latter. The current paper, however, presents empirical evidence which challenges this intuitive line of reasoning. Our study on the epistemic intuitions of hundreds of academic philosophers supports the idea that simple and uncontroversial analytic propositions are less likely to qualify as knowledge than empirical ones. We show that our results, though at odds with orthodox theories of knowledge in mainstream epistemology, can be explained in a way consistent with Wittgenstein's remarks on 'hinge propositions' or with Stalnaker's pragmatics of assertion. We then present and evaluate a number of lines of response mainstream theories of knowledge could appeal to in accommodating our results. Finally, we show how each line of response runs into some prima facie difficulties. Thus, our observed asymmetry between knowing “a cat is a cat” and knowing “a cat is on the mat” presents a puzzle which mainstream epistemology needs to resolve

Design considerations for RF power amplifiers demonstrated through a GSM/EDGE power amplifier module

This paper describes the design considerations for RF power amplifiers in general, including trends in systems, linearity and efficiency, the PA environment, implementation is sues and technology. As an example a triple-band (900/1800/1900MHz) dual mode (GSMIEdge) power amplifier module is described in this article. The RF transistors and biasing circuitry are implemented in silicon bipolar technology. A multi-layer LTCC substrate is used as carrier

Mutual intelligibility of Dutch-German cognates by children:The devil is in the detail

Several studies (e.g., Ház 2005) have found German to be easier to understand for Dutch listeners than Dutch for German listeners. This asymmetry has been attributed to the fact that German is an obligatory subject in Dutch secondary school and that many Dutch people watch German television. In contrast, it is much less common for German children to learn Dutch at school and for German people to watch Dutch television. It cannot be excluded, however, that in addition to the extralinguistic factor of language contact, linguistic factors also play a role in the asymmetric intelligibility between German and Dutch. The present study aimed at gaining insight into the phonetic-phonological factors playing a role in Dutch-German intelligibility at the word level for speakers of the respective languages in a first confrontation (i.e., assuming no prior language contact). We presented highly frequent Dutch and German cognate nouns, recorded by a perfect bilingual speaker, to Dutch and German children between 9 and 12 years in a word translation task. The German and Dutch children were comparable in that they did not know the other language or a related dialect and expressed equally positive attitudes towards the other language, its speakers and the country. It was thus ensured that language contact and language attitude could not play a role in the present study. Our results revealed that the Dutch subjects were significantly better at understanding the German cognates (50.2% correct translations) than the German subjects were at understanding the Dutch cognates (41.9%). Since the relevant extra-linguistic factors had been excluded, the asymmetry must have a linguistic basis. A thorough analysis of the 16 cognate pairs with an asymmetry larger than 20% showed that (combinations of) neighbors (lexical competitors), phonetic detail and asymmetric perceptions of corresponding sounds play a major role in the explanation of the asymmetry

Effects of 24 months of treatment with romosozumab followed by 12 months of denosumab or placebo in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density : a randomized, double-blind, phase 2, parallel group study

Over 12 months, romosozumab increased bone formation and decreased bone resorption, resulting in increased bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with low BMD (NCT00896532). Herein, we report the study extension evaluating 24 months of treatment with romosozumab, discontinuation of romosozumab, alendronate followed by romosozumab, and romosozumab followed by denosumab. Postmenopausal women aged 55 to 85 years with a lumbar spine (LS), total hip (TH), or femoral neck T-score =-3.5 were enrolled and randomly assigned to placebo, one of five romosozumab regimens (70 mg, 140 mg, 210 mg monthly [QM]; 140 mg Q3M; 210 mg Q3M) for 24 months, or open-label alendronate for 12 months followed by romosozumab 140 mg QM for 12 months. Eligible participants were then rerandomized 1:1 within original treatment groups to placebo or denosumab 60 mg Q6M for an additional 12 months. Percentage change from baseline in BMD and bone turnover markers (BTMs) at months 24 and 36 and safety were evaluated. Of 364 participants initially randomized to romosozumab, placebo, or alendronate, 315 completed 24 months of treatment and 248 completed the extension. Romosozumab markedly increased LS and TH BMD through month 24, with largest gains observed with romosozumab 210 mg QM (LS = 15.1%; TH = 5.4%). Women receiving romosozumab who transitioned to denosumab continued to accrue BMD, whereas BMD returned toward pretreatment levels with placebo. With romosozumab 210 mg QM, bone formation marker P1NP initially increased after treatment initiation and gradually decreased to below baseline by month 12, remaining below baseline through month 24; bone resorption marker beta-CTX rapidly decreased after treatment, remaining below baseline through month 24. Transition to denosumab further decreased both BTMs, whereas after transition to placebo, P1NP returned to baseline and beta-CTX increased above baseline. Adverse events were balanced between treatment groups through month 36. These data suggest that treatment effects of romosozumab are reversible upon discontinuation and further augmented by denosumab

Biologics in Psoriasis; a Step towards Individualized Treatment

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease with a prevalence of 2 to 3% in the Caucasian population. Since there is a better understanding of the pathogenesis of psoriasis, specific targeted therapies have been developed. The biologics have dramatically changed the management and outlook of patients with psoriasis. However, there are some difficulties with the treatment of biologics in psoriasis. One problem is that biologic monotherapy appears to loose efficacy over time which results in reduced drug survival. Another problem is that a proportion of patients with stable low disease activity on long-term maintenance treatment with biologics may be overtreated. We believe that a more individualized treatment of biologics is necessary to overcome these problems. In addition, monitoring of biologic trough concentrations (therapeutic drug monitoring, TDM) could be an useful tool to optimize individualized treatment of biologics. As result of individualized treatment, it hopefully will lead to an extended drug survival and an increase of the quality of life and treatment satisfaction. TDM of biologics can be used as tool for individualized treatment of biologics and increase drug adherence. First, evaluation of conditions for TDM is warranted before implementation of TDM in psoriasis. Current literature shows that the evidence is scarce for individualized treatment strategies of biologics in psoriasis, and we hope that this thesis will be a good start. Our final conclusions are as follows: __Combination therapies (part I):__ - Combination therapy of biologics with MTX may increase the drug survival. Therefore combination therapy of adalimumab with MTX is currently being investigated in a RCT. - Combination therapy of etanercept with fumarates results in a higher efficacy in psoriasis patients, but may be inferior to the novel IL-12 and IL-23 and IL-17 inhibitors. __Biologic dosing interval prolongations (part II):__ - In patients with sustained remission biologic dosing interval prolongations should be considered, as cost reductions are substantial. __Conditions for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) (part III):__ - Harmonization of assays for measurement of biologics is warranted to compare data on biologic trough concentrations. - The intra-patient variability of etanercept concentrations complicates TDM and should also be investigated for other biologics. The explored strategies in this thesis are just the first steps towards individualized treatment. More studies are needed for implementation of individualized treatment of biologics in psoriasis

Essays on Income Inequality: The Role of Institutions, Firms and Neighborhoods

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies closely related to income inequality. The first study focuses on the minimum wage — an important labor market institution to address income inequality at the lower end of the wage distribution. I study the effect of a 15-19% increase in the Dutch age-specific minimum wage applicable to workers aged 20-22 on the employment outcomes and earnings of those affected age groups. I use a difference-in-differences research design to trace the impact of the minimum wage increase throughout the age-specific wage distribution. I show that the increase in the age-specific minimum wage raised the wages of workers aged 20-22 in low-paid jobs, without adversely affecting the number of jobs held and total hours worked by those workers. The second study focuses on firm wage-setting (i.e. monopsony) power, which allows firms to pay wages below the competitive market wage without losing a substantial share of their employees. This can have important consequences for income inequality if firms possess more wage-setting power over certain groups of workers or when certain groups of workers are disproportionately employed in industries or occupations characterized by a higher degree of firm wage-setting power. I quantify the degree of firm wage-setting power in the Dutch labor market by estimating labor supply elasticities to firms, using a matched event-study research design. In addition, I explore whether firm wage-setting power varies across industries and different groups of workers. I find that in the Dutch labor market as a whole, firms can potentially pay wages 12% below the competitive market wage. Moreover, I find that firms possess more wage-setting power over women compared to men, potentially contributing to the gender wage gap. Additionally, firms have relatively high wage-setting power over the lowest- and highest-paid workers. The third study focuses on the relationship between the characteristics of the neighborhood in which children grow up and their educational achievement — a key determinant of future labor market prospects. I exploit a Dutch refugee dispersal policy to estimate the causal effect of the neighborhood share of individuals with a shared ethnic background as the child (i.e. co-ethnic concentration) on the education outcomes of refugee children. I show that the effect of co-ethnic concentration is moderated by the average earnings of individuals with shared ethnic background as the child in the neighborhood (i.e. co-ethnic earnings). Growing up in a neighborhood with a higher co-ethnic concentration increases the probability that refugee- children obtain an academic track diploma in secondary school or enroll in higher education when co-ethnic earnings are relatively high. The opposite effect is found when co-ethnic earnings are relatively low