Inter-species variation in colour perception

Inter-species variation in colour perception poses a serious problem for the view that colours are mind-independent properties. Given that colour perception varies so drastically across species, which species perceives colours as they really are? In this paper, I argue that all do. Specifically, I argue that members of different species perceive properties that are determinates of different, mutually compatible, determinables. This is an instance of a general selectionist strategy for dealing with cases of perceptual variation. According to selectionist views, objects simultaneously instantiate a plurality of colours, all of them genuinely mind-independent, and subjects select from amongst this plurality which colours they perceive. I contrast selectionist views with relationalist views that deny the mind-independence of colour, and consider some general objections to this strategy

News at the Crossroads

In this circular, created by the Agriculture Extension Service by South Dakota State College, the information provided focuses on the idea that farms do not receive enough recognition within the pages of a newspaper. This information is provided through the guidance of the Agriculture Department during the year of 1929

Follow that plant!

A report on the talks presented at the Cold Spring Harbor 2000 Meeting on Arabidopsis Genomics, New York, 7-10 December, 2000

Solution to the problem of the poor cyclic fatigue resistance of bulk metallic glasses

The recent development of metallic glass-matrix composites represents a particular milestone in engineering materials for structural applications owing to their remarkable combination of strength and toughness. However, metallic glasses are highly susceptible to cyclic fatigue damage, and previous attempts to solve this problem have been largely disappointing. Here, we propose and demonstrate a microstructural design strategy to overcome this limitation by matching the microstructural length scales (of the second phase) to mechanical crack-length scales. Specifically, semisolid processing is used to optimize the volume fraction, morphology, and size of second-phase dendrites to confine any initial deformation (shear banding) to the glassy regions separating dendrite arms having length scales of ≈2 μm, i.e., to less than the critical crack size for failure. Confinement of the damage to such interdendritic regions results in enhancement of fatigue lifetimes and increases the fatigue limit by an order of magnitude, making these “designed” composites as resistant to fatigue damage as high-strength steels and aluminum alloys. These design strategies can be universally applied to any other metallic glass systems

Comparing the utilization and cost of health services between veterans experiencing brief and ongoing episodes of housing instability

Housing instability is associated with costly patterns of health and behavioral health service use. However, little prior research has examined patterns of service use associated with higher costs among those experiencing ongoing housing instability. To address this gap, we compared inpatient and outpatient medical and behavioral health service utilization and costs between veterans experiencing brief and ongoing episodes of housing instability. We used data from a brief screening instrument for homelessness and housing instability that has been implemented throughout the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system to identify a national sample of veterans experiencing housing instability. Veterans were classified as experiencing either brief or ongoing housing instability, based on two consecutive responses to the instrument, and we used a series of two-part regression models to conduct adjusted comparisons of costs between veterans experiencing brief and ongoing episodes of housing instability. Among 5794 veterans screening positive for housing instability, 4934 (85%) were experiencing brief and 860 (15%) ongoing instability. The average total annual incremental cost associated with ongoing versus brief episodes of housing instability was estimated at $7573, with the bulk of this difference found in inpatient services. Cost differences resulted more from a higher probability of service use among those experiencing ongoing episodes of housing instability than from higher costs among service users. Our findings suggest that VA programmatic efforts aimed at preventing extended episodes of housing instability could potentially result in substantial cost offsets for the VA health care system.This study was supported by funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) grant IIR 13-334-3 and from the VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans

Laser application to measure vertical sea temperature and turbidity, design phase

An experiment to test a new method was designed, using backscattered radiation from a laser beam to measure oceanographic parameters in a fraction of a second. Tyndall, Rayleigh, Brillouin, and Raman scattering all are utilized to evaluate the parameters. A beam from a continuous argon ion laser is used together with an interferometer and interference filters to gather the information. The results are checked by direct measurements. Future shipboard and airborne experiments are described

DETERMINANTS OF WHOLESALE BEEF-CUT PRICES

Key determinants of monthly wholesale prices for 12 beef cuts include the quantity of the specific cut, stickiness in prices, marketing costs, quantities of pork and chicken, and seasonality. Seasonal patterns across the respective cuts are very different. Relative to the price in December, prices at the wholesale level in other months can be as much as 6 percent lower to as much as 21 percent higher.Wholesale prices, Beef cuts, Seasonality, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

Pump less wearable microfluidic device for real time pH sweat monitoring

This paper presents the fabrication and the performance of a novel, wearable, robust, flexible and disposable microfluidic device which incorporates micro-Light Emitting Diodes (μ-LEDs) as a detection system, for monitoring in real time mode the pH of the sweat generated during an exercising period

Human Factors and ISS Medical Systems: Highlights of Procedures and Equipment Findings

As part of the Space Human Factors Engineering Critical Questions Roadmap, a three year Technology Development Project (TDP) was funded by NASA Headquarters to examine emergency medical procedures on ISS. The overall aim of the emergency medical procedures project was to determine the human factors issues in the procedures, training, communications and equipment, and to recommend solutions that will improve the survival rate of crewmembers in the event of a medical emergency. Currently, each ISS crew remains on orbit for six month intervals. As there is not standing requirement for a physician crewmember, during such time, the maintenance of crew health is dependant on individual crewmembers. Further, in the event of an emergency, crew will need to provide prolonged maintenance care, as well as emergency treatment, to an injured crewmember while awaiting transport to Earth. In addition to the isolation of the crew, medical procedures must be carried out within the further limitations imposed by the physical environment of the space station. For example, in order to administer care on ISS without the benefit of gravity, the Crew Medical Officers (CMOs) must restrain the equipment required to perform the task, restrain the injured crewmember, and finally, restrain themselves. Both the physical environment and the physical space available further limit the technology that can be used onboard. Equipment must be compact, yet able to withstand high levels of radiation and function without gravity. The focus here is to highlight the human factors impacts from our three year project involving the procedures and equipment areas that have been investigated and provided valuable to ISS and provide groundwork for human factors requirements for medical applications for exploration missions