The normativity of truth for the human person: a person-centric approach

After countering claims that truth cannot be a norm of belief, this dissertation argues that truth’s normativity is grounded in personhood. It does so by attending to the fact that truth is a norm for the human person, and to the relationships between the human person and the objective goodness and value of truth. The dissertation develops this argument by critically appropriating writings of Thomas Aquinas and representatives of twentieth-century personalism on the relationship between truth and the human person. The dissertation’s initial chapters rebut objections (1) that the involuntariness of belief rules out any possibility of norms of belief, (2) that truth cannot be a norm of belief because truth is unable to provide guidance in determining what to believe, and (3) that it is incompatible with other norms of belief such as justification. It rebuts the first objection by challenging its general account of belief and outlining an alternative account. It responds to the second argument by criticizing its understanding of guidance as overly narrow and sketching an alternative notion of guidance-by-value. It counters the third objection by arguing for the primacy of the truth-norm. The dissertation then takes up the question of what grounds the truth-norm. Chapter Three surveys recent accounts, drawing from its survey a set of desiderata for any satisfactory account. Chapter Four begins the dissertation’s account of the normativity of truth. Working from Dietrich von Hildebrand’s conception of objective goods, it argues that truth is an objective good for the person by showing how deeply interwoven truth is with friendship. Given that friendship is an objective good for the person, and that truth stands in certain intimate relationships to friendship, it follows that truth is an objective good for the person. Chapter Five rounds out the argument. The objective goodness of truth entails that truth is a value. Values are normative for persons. Therefore, truth is normative for the human person. This chapter defends the claim that values are normative for persons by elucidating the dependency of the realization of personhood—in several of its various dimensions—on value-grasping and value-realizing acts

Peer-Supervision of Nursing Professionals: A Shield Against Burnout

Introduction: Burnout is a major risk in healthcare professions and is a significant contributor to the current nursing shortage. Strategies to combat burnout of healthcare professionals are in desperate need. The purpose of this project is to introduce the clinical peer supervision model as a method to alleviate burnout in nursing professionals. Approach: Eight nurses from in-patient settings participated in a peer-supervision support group, modeled after existing European nursing and mental health provider-support protocols. To assess the effect of this intervention, qualitative data analysis was conducted on the transcripts of session and the results described. All participants reported statistically high levels of dissatisfaction at work (M= 30.75, SD = 7.57, p \u3c 0.001) prior to the group study implementation. The transcripts of the subsequent group sessions were coded using a multi-phase coding scheme, generating themes related to Maslach’s burnout typology. The first-round coding resulted in 93 initial codes, which were further organized into 17 thematic categories, which were synthesized into five broad themes. Three of these themes deductively corresponded to Maslach’s theoretical concepts (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), the remaining two themes were summarized as ‘administrative stressors’ and ‘professional survival tactics’. Administrative decision making, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion were noted as predominant causes for work-related stress and burnout. However, the participants valued the peer support group and were eager to continue meeting for peer-supervision. Discussion: The peer support of the group showed promise in the relief of stress related to their helping profession. The clinical peer supervision model is frequently utilized in the United Kingdom and Europe, but rarely utilized in the United States. Based on these results, the authors recommend consideration for trial implementation of similar protocols by American nursing professionals as a mitigation to burnout

Experimental AR Fault Detection Methods for a Hydraulic Robot

This paper focuses on practical use and theoretical elaboration of the analytical redundancy technique which is used to efficiently detect faults that have been determined to be mission-hazardous by previous FMECA and fault tree analyses of the Rosie system. We believe we have contributed significant improvements to the potential overall reliability of the system. Additionally, we have expanded the applicability of the AR method to nonlinear systems in the course of our work, making this valuable fault detection method more broadly applicable.National Science FoundationSandia National Laborator

Recommended Isolated-Line Profile for Representing High-Resolution Spectroscopic Transitions (IUPAC Technical Report)

The report of an IUPAC Task Group, formed in 2011 on Intensities and line shapes in high-resolution spectra of water isotopologues from experiment and theory (Project No. 2011-022-2-100), on line profiles of isolated high-resolution rotational-vibrational transitions perturbed by neutral gas-phase molecules is presented. The well-documented inadequacies of the Voigt profile (VP), used almost universally by databases and radiative-transfer codes, to represent pressure effects and Doppler broadening in isolated vibrational-rotational and pure rotational transitions of the water molecule have resulted in the development of a variety alternative line-profile models. These models capture more of the physics of the influence of pressure on line shapes but, in general, at the price of greater complexity. The Task Group recommends that the partially Correlated quadratic-Speed-Dependent Hard-Collision profile (pCqSD-HCP) should be adopted as the appropriate model for high-resolution spectroscopy. For simplicity this should be called the Hartmann-Tran profile (HTP). The HTP is sophisticated enough to capture the various collisional contributions to the isolated line shape, can be computed in a straightforward and rapid manner, and reduces to simpler profiles, including the Voigt profile, under certain simplifying assumptions. © 2014 IUPAC & De Gruyte

Recommended isolated-line profile for representing high-resolution spectroscopic transitions (IUPAC Technical Report)

The report of an IUPAC Task Group, formed in 2011 on "Intensities and line shapes in high-resolution spectra of water isotopologues from experiment and theory" (Project No. 2011-022-2-100), on line profiles of isolated high-resolution rotational-vibrational transitions perturbed by neutral gas-phase molecules is presented. The well-documented inadequacies of the Voigt profile (VP), used almost universally by databases and radiative-transfer codes, to represent pressure effects and Doppler broadening in isolated vibrational-rotational and pure rotational transitions of the water molecule have resulted in the development of a variety of alternative line-profile models. These models capture more of the physics of the influence of pressure on line shapes but, in general, at the price of greater complexity. The Task Group recommends that the partially Correlated quadratic-Speed-Dependent Hard-Collision profile should be adopted as the appropriate model for high-resolution spectroscopy. For simplicity this should be called the Hartmann--Tran profile (HTP). The HTP is sophisticated enough to capture the various collisional contributions to the isolated line shape, can be computed in a straightforward and rapid manner, and reduces to simpler profiles, including the Voigt profile, under certain simplifying assumptions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Pure and Applied Chemistr

IUPAC Critical Evaluation of the Rotational-Vibrational Spectra of Water Vapor, Part III: Energy Levels and Transition Wavenumbers for H216O

This is the third of a series of articles reporting critically evaluated rotational-vibrational line positions, transition intensities, and energy levels, with associated critically reviewed labels and uncertainties, for all the main isotopologues of water. This paper presents experimental line positions, experimental-quality energy levels, and validated labels for rotational-vibrational transitions of the most abundant isotopologue of water, H216O. The latest version of the MARVEL (Measured Active Rotational-Vibrational Energy Levels) line-inversion procedure is used to determine the rovibrational energy levels of the electronic ground state of H216O from experimentally measured lines, together with their self-consistent uncertainties, for the spectral region up to the first dissociation limit. The spectroscopic network of H216O contains two components, an ortho (o) and a para (p) one. For o-H216O and p-H216O, experimentally measured, assigned, and labeled transitions were analyzed from more than 100 sources. The measured lines come from one-photon spectra recorded at room temperature in absorption, from hot samples with temperatures up to 3000K recorded in emission, and from multiresonance excitation spectra which sample levels up to dissociation. The total number of transitions considered is 184667 of which 182156 are validated: 68027 between para states and 114129 ortho ones. These transitions give rise to 18486 validated energy levels, of which 10446 and 8040 belong to o-H216O and p-H216O, respectively. The energy levels, including their labeling with approximate normal-mode and rigid-rotor quantum numbers, have been checked against ones determined from accurate variational nuclear motion computations employing exact kinetic energy operators as well as against previous compilations of energy levels. The extensive list of MARVEL lines and levels obtained are deposited in the supplementary data of this paper, as well as in a distributed information system applied to water, W@DIS, where they can easily be retrieved

Implementing facility-based kangaroo mother care services : lessons from a multi-country study in Africa

BACKGROUND : Some countries have undertaken programs that included scaling up kangaroo mother care. The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the implementation status of facility-based kangaroo mother care services in four African countries: Malawi, Mali, Rwanda and Uganda. METHODS : A cross-sectional, mixed-method research design was used. Stakeholders provided background information at national meetings and in individual interviews. Facilities were assessed by means of a standardized tool previously applied in other settings, employing semi-structured key-informant interviews and observations in 39 health care facilities in the four countries. Each facility received a score out of a total of 30 according to six stages of implementation progress. RESULTS : Across the four countries 95 per cent of health facilities assessed demonstrated some evidence of kangaroo mother care practice. Institutions that fared better had a longer history of kangaroo mother care implementation or had been developed as centres of excellence or had strong leaders championing the implementation process. Variation existed in the quality of implementation between facilities and across countries. Important factors identified in implementation are: training and orientation; supportive supervision; integrating kangaroo mother care into quality improvement; continuity of care; high-level buy in and support for kangaroo mother care implementation; and client-oriented care. CONCLUSION : The integration of kangaroo mother care into routine newborn care services should be part of all maternal and newborn care initiatives and packages. Engaging ministries of health and other implementing partners from the outset may promote buy in and assist with the mobilization of resources for scaling up kangaroo mother care services. Mechanisms for monitoring these services should be integrated into existing health management information systems.http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservreshb201

Membrane reformer for fuel cells.

The combined operations of a membrane reactor with ethanol reforming have the potential to produce a hydrogen stream that does not need further purification. This study found that ethanol reforming under pressure in a packed bed reactor exhibits trends similar to studies at atmospheric conditions. However, the conversion decreases with increased pressure. Due to the poor hydrogen selectivity of the palladium membrane used in the membrane reactor study, the reactants permeated through the membrane and a lower conversion was obtained. Thus, pure hydrogen was not produced in the unit. It is proposed that the study be continued with a better prepared palladium membrane