In defense of mechanism

In Life Itself and in Essays on Life Itself, Robert Rosen (1991, 2000) argued that machines were, in principle, incapable of modeling the defining feature of living systems, which he claimed to be the existence of closed causal loops. Rosen's argument has been used to support critiques of computational models in ecological psychology. This article shows that Rosen's attack on mechanism is fundamentally misconceived. It is, in fact, of the essence of a mechanical system that it contains closed causal loops. Moreover, Rosen's epistemology is based on a strong form of indirect realism and his arguments, if correct, would call into question some of the fundamental principles of ecological psychology

Cultural Mansters

This document is written in support of the thesis exhibition, Cultural Mansters, which represents and supports the idea of using satire and non-threatening imagery as tools to create a discourse on sociopolitical topics. By placing these innocent, furry, and cute characters in situations that closely resemble the harsh realities of people who live in the United States, I am creating a platform on which to discuss the social, political, economic practices that have slowly lead us to where we are now

Oxaliplatin-Induced Neuropathy in Colorectal Cancer

Oxaliplatin use in palliative and adjuvant treatment of colon cancer is frequently limited by cumulative neurotoxicity, leading to reduced quality of life and decreased dose. The mechanism of this neurotoxicity is unclear, but may relate to neuronal voltage-gated sodium channels involving calcium chelation by a metabolite of the drug. Various preventative measures have been tested to reduce the incidence of neurotoxicity, including calcium and magnesium infusions, dose interruption of the drug, and prophylactic neuromodulatory agents. Despite the promising efficacy of these measures, they are not universally accepted. Less is known about the best way to treat established neurotoxicity, which is permanent in some patients, although venlafaxine has shown promise in small clinical trials. This paper analyzes the extent, cause and risk factors for neuropathy, and the potential preventative and therapeutic treatments for oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationClassical translations by devout English Protestants represent a valuable nexus for interpreting the effects of humanism and the Reformation in England. The Protestant reformers forced Europeans to reimagine their connection to the pagan past. Protestant translators with humanist training felt pressure to make their classical texts and authors useful for their readers' religious and moral lives, writing paratextual materials and departing from a literal rendering of the source text in order to create an imagined relationship with the past. In my introduction I contrast Tertullian's rejection of and Augustine's accommodation of pagan material as echoed by humanists and reformers with renewed urgency throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Chapter 1 places Golding's 1567 text in its religious context, arguing that Golding risked censure from his fellow Puritans by bringing Ovid's epic into English. Golding avoided criticism by offering an allegorical reading of the poem through his prefatory materials, but was careful to show that Ovid had meant his poem to be read allegorically. In Chapter 2 I examine the competing secular, religious, medieval, and early modern theories of translation that factor into Drant's 1566 book, A medicinable moral, which juxtaposes his verse translations of Horace's Satires and the book of Lamentations. I argue that Drant's text mixes medieval and early modern rhetorics and practices of translation in his version of the Satires, but uses a different set of strategies when rendering the Bible. Chapter 3 explores Hutchinson's adversarial relationship with her source text and its author. I argue that Hutchinson's preface to and translation of De rerum natura paint Lucretius as an enemy against whom she defines herself and proves her valor as a Christian author. However, Hutchinson approvingly echoes Lucretius' description of the divine nature in Order and Disorder to defend a Calvinist conception of God. In my conclusion, I argue that the Roman source-text authors were also translators who navigated some of the same waters as their Renaissance counterparts. I end by turning to Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus for a kind of metafictional commentary on the stakes of humanist and Protestant translation in Renaissance England

Developing Faculty-Staff Collaborations to Foster a Culture of Environmental Justice

As science and society better understand the challenges of global climate change, colleges and universities must prepare students to be environmentally just actors. To prepare tomorrow’s leaders, today’s educators must foster a culture of environmental justice on college campuses through independent efforts and collaborations between faculty and staff. This article examines the potential for student and academic affairs to collaborate to enhance students’ learning about environmental justice through liberal arts education. The author also provides examples of pro-environmental work done in student and academic affairs and introduces opportunities for collaboration between staff and faculty

Informal pathbreakers: civil society networks in china and vietnam

This thesis re-conceptualises civil society as a process of cross-sectoral networking and alliance building among individual activists and organisations. Civil society networks are built on personal connections and develop into flexible, often informal structures that engage in path-breaking advocacy with authorities and elites. In the challenging political contexts of China and Vietnam, civil society networks have brought about significant social change. The findings of extensive fieldwork in both countries demonstrate a wider range of advocacy techniques and strategies than previously documented in one-party authoritarian political systems. Four in-depth qualitative case studies are presented to illustrate a range of network structures, histories and advocacy strategies: the Bright Future Group of people with disabilities (Vietnam), Women’s Network against AIDS (China), the Reunification Park public space network (Vietnam), and the China Rivers Network. Research questions concern how civil society networks form, how they operate, and what strategies they select to influence and interact with state actors and other stakeholders, as well as how network members evaluate the effectiveness of their actions. The thesis concludes with comparative evaluations of the case studies and recommendations for donors and international partners to support networks that form organically

The External Tape Hypothesis: a Turing machine based approach to cognitive computation

The symbol processing or "classical cognitivist" approach to mental computation suggests that the cognitive architecture operates rather like a digital computer. The components of the architecture are input, output and central systems. The input and output systems communicate with both the internal and external environments of the cognizer and transmit codes to and from the rule governed, central processing system which operates on structured representational expressions in the internal environment. The connectionist approach, by contrast, suggests that the cognitive architecture should be thought of as a network of interconnected neuron-like processing elements (nodes) which operates rather like a brain. Connectionism distinguishes input, output and central or "hidden" layers of nodes. Connectionists claim that internal processing consists not of the rule governed manipulation of structured symbolic expressions, but of the excitation and inhibition of activity and the alteration of connection strengths via message passing within and between layers of nodes in the network. A central claim of the thesis is that neither symbol processing nor connectionism provides an adequate characterization of the role of the external environment in cognitive computation. An alternative approach, called the External Tape Hypothesis (ETH), is developed which claims, on the basis of Turing's analysis of routine computation, that the Turing machine model can be used as the basis for a theory which includes the environment as an essential part of the cognitive architecture. The environment is thought of as the tape, and the brain as the control of a Turing machine. Finite state automata, Turing machines, and universal Turing machines are described, including details of Turing's original universal machine construction. A short account of relevant aspects of the history of digital computation is followed by a critique of the symbol processing approach as it is construed by influential proponents such as Allen Newell and Zenon Pylyshyn among others. The External Tape Hypothesis is then developed as an alternative theoretical basis. In the final chapter, the ETH is combined with the notion of a self-describing Turing machine to provide the basis for an account of thinking and the development of internal representations

Slat aerodynamics and aeroacoustics with flow control

This study primarily investigated the flow and aeroacoustics associated with the slat of a three-element aerofoil in approach conditions. The study assessed importance of several factors and examined their aerodynamic impacts. The factors investigated were aerofoil incidence, slat angle, slat cusp geometry, fixing transition and blowing in the slat cove. A combination of experimental and computational techniques investigated the factors selected. The experimental work employed PIV, pressure tap, a force balance, flush mounted microphones and an acoustic array. The computational work used DES along with the FW-H acoustic analogy to obtain the far-field directivity. Tonal features occurred at high incidence and originated at the slat trailing edge, due to the blunt trailing edge and gap, and at the reattachment point. Fixing transition removes the tone at the reattachment point and reduces the slat gap tone at the trailing edge but does not remove the tone generated by the blunt trailing edge. All of the tones found, only occurred at certain slat and wing settings. Broadband sound was present in all conditions but had a strong dependence on the incidence of the wing. The sound was loudest with the wing at ? = 5o with a reduction as the wing incidence was increased. The broadband sound also reduced as the slat angel decreased from ?S = 23o. The shear incidence angle was a good indicator of the impact of these two factors on the sound generated. Extending the slat cusp reduced the broadband sound at low aerofoil incidence. However, for ? ? 10o the extension led to increased broadband sound. Neither blowing nor fixing transition had a significant impact on the broadband sound generated by the slat system. The aerodynamic loads generated by the wing were mainly dependent on the aerofoil incidence. However, other factors did influence the forces generated. Reducing the slat angle increased the lift generated by the wing especially at low aerofoil incidence but the lift to drag ratio was unaltered. At high aerofoil incidence, extending the slat cusp reduced the lift generated. Blowing and fixing transition did not significantly alter the forces generated by the wing