Freedom, Foreknowledge, and Dependence: A Dialectical Intervention

Recently, several authors have utilized the notion of dependence to respond to the traditional argument for the incompatibility of freedom and divine foreknowledge. However, proponents of this response have not always been so clear in specifying where the incompatibility argument goes wrong, which has led to some unfounded objections to the response. We remedy this dialectical confusion by clarifying both the dependence response itself and its interaction with the standard incompatibility argument. Once these clarifications are made, it becomes clear both (1.) that the dependence response does not beg the question against the proponent of the incompatibility argument and (2.) that the dependence response advances the dialectic whether it is developed as a version of Ockhamism or as a version of multiple-pasts compatibilism

Symbiosis through exploitation and the merger of lineages in evolution

A model for the coevolution of two species in facultative symbiosis is used to investigate conditions under which species merge to form a single reproductive unit. Two traits evolve in each species, the first affecting loss of resources from an individual to its partner, and the second affecting vertical transmission of the symbiosis from one generation to the next. Initial conditions are set so that the symbiosis involves exploitation of one partner by the other and vertical transmission is very rare. It is shown that, even in the face of continuing exploitation, a stable symbiotic unit can evolve with maximum vertical transmission of the partners. Such evolution requires that eventually deaths should exceed births for both species in the free-living state, a condition which can be met if the victim, in the course of developing its defences, builds up sufficiently large costs in the free-living state. This result expands the set of initial conditions from which separate lineages can be expected to merge into symbiotic units

An analysis of the U.T. bull evaluation test 1971-1975

Records on 383 bulls, tested at The University of Tennessee Bull Evaluation Station for five testing periods in 1971 through 1975, were studied to determine the degree to which one could predict 140-day weight. Objective measures from birth to weaning and obser-vations prior to testing were used in studying the performance of animals on test. These data indicated that the only significant prediction that can be made is predicting the first 28-day weight from the on test weight. The overall mean for adjusted 205-day weight, on test weight, and backfat at the beginning of test was 551.26 pounds, 662.24 pounds, and 3.59 millimeters, respectively. The correlations between the adjusted 205-day weight and on test weight to the five feeding periods were highly significant (P \u3c .01). The correlation between backfat at the beginning of test for the same periods were highly significant with the exception of the 112 and 140-day weights. Many of the observations in these data were a part-whole rela-tionship since the greatest contributions for predicting the 140-day weight were from on test weight, adjusted 205—day weight and backfat at the beginning of test. In order to remove the sources of environ-mental variation, the analyses were calculated on a within year-breed basis. In the data the order of inclusion of independent variable, on test weight, adjusted 205—day weight and backfat at beginning of test, were based on the readily available data. Weigh periods taken each 28 days during the 140-day full feed periods were used as dependent variables. In the 56-day weights, a decreased percent of the variation was explained, 87.86 percent. The percent of variation explained for 84, 112, and 140-day weights was 84.89, 80.78, and 74.80 percent, respectively. In these data using prediction equations for weight at the five weight periods, y, which represents 28, 56, 84, 112, and 140-day weights, is the best estimator of the population. Various combinations of independent variables could not be accurately used as predictors of 140—day weight. The percent vari-ation explained in average daily gain by various combinations of independent variables revealed that a maximum daily gain of 8.146 percent could be accounted for. The only significant prediction which can be drawn from these data is the ability to predict 28-day weight from on test weight. Accurate predictions cannot be made at any other full feed period

Hidden Motives: An Analysis of Online ESL Teacher Hiring Practices in Japan and Hong Kong

Hidden Motives: An Analysis of Online English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher Hiring Practices in Japan and Hong Kong is a qualitative research paper examines and compares two large-scale Asian English language teaching programs: Japan’s Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme (JET Programme, 2010) and Hong Kong’s Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) Scheme (NET Scheme, 2013). Both government sponsored programs recruit internationally and invite participants to work within each country’s public schools while living amongst local communities and both programs utilize their online presence to attract, inform, and recruit individuals. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the JET and NET websites are transparent with their governmental motives aside from improving their students’ English language abilities. While JET and NET websites were interrogated, the research questions were regularly revisited to determine if the two sites made any underlying motives clear to the candidates. The research, supported by academic literature, exposed the JET Programme website to be a branch of the Japanese government’s soft power campaign, whereby JET teachers were hired firstly as potential advocates for Japan and Japanese culture rather than English teachers. Conversely, the NET Scheme appeared to be solely commissioned for English language improvement as reflected by their website. Findings from the research can provide insight to applicants to help them decide if they want to participant in these programs. Without clearly understanding the background that motivates these programs, participants may unknowingly be used to support the host government’s agendas

Molecular Imaging of Brain Tumours

This chapter is a review of the most common radiotracers currently used in clinical brain tumour imaging, and an update of future potentially useful radiotracers for imaging brain tumours with positron emission tomography (PET). It will focus mainly on glioma—the most common type of primary brain tumour—and intracranial metastases, as the cause of the majority of morbidity and mortality in neurooncology. Emerging data support the use of somatostatin analogue PET in the treatment planning and surveillance of meningiomas. There is currently a limited role of PET in other non-glial brain neoplasms including neuronal tumours, pineal and pituitary tumours, germ cell tumours and embryonal tumours (PNET, neuroblastoma). Finally, the newest hybrid imaging modality of PET/MRI and the promise it holds for obtaining state-of-the-art structural and functional imaging data simultaneously, are concisely reviewed

Simulation of an enhanced TCAS 2 system in operation

Described is a computer simulation of a Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with an enhanced Traffic and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II). In particular, an algorithm is developed which permits the computer simulation of the tracking of a target airplane by a Boeing 373 which has a TCAS II array mounted on top of its fuselage. This algorithm has four main components: namely, the target path, the noise source, the alpha-beta filter, and threat detection. The implementation of each of these four components is described. Furthermore, the areas where the present algorithm needs to be improved are also mentioned

Robustness of Majorana Fermion induced Fractional Josephson Effect

It is shown in previous works that the coupling between two Majorana end states in superconducting quantum wires leads to fractional Josephson effect. However, in realistic experimental conditions, multiple bands of the wires are occupied and the Majorana end states are accompanied by other fermionic end states. This raises the question concerning the robustness of fractional Josephson effect in these situations. In this work, we show that the absence of the avoided energy crossing which gives rise to the fractional Josephson effect is robust, even when the Majorana fermions are coupled with arbitrary strengths to other fermions. Moreover, we calculate the temperature dependence of the fractional Josephson current and show that it is suppressed by thermal excitations to the other fermion bound states.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure