The Unreality of Realization

This paper argues against the realization principle, which reifies the realization relation between lower-level and higher-level properties. It begins with a review of some principles of naturalistic metaphysics. Then it criticizes some likely reasons for embracing the realization principle, and finally it argues against the principle directly. The most likely reasons for embracing the principle depend on the dubious assumption that special science theories cannot be true unless special science predicates designate properties. The principle itself turns out to be false because the realization relation fails the naturalistic test for reality: it makes no causal difference to the world.1 1This paper resulted from work done at John Heil's 2006 Mind and Metaphysics NEH Summer Seminar at Washington University in St. Louis. An early version of it was presented in a special symposium on realization at the 2007 meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. I owe thanks to all the participants in both events for helpful discussions, and I owe particular thanks to Ken Aizawa, Torin Alter, Jason Ford, Carl Gillett, John Heil, Nicholas Helms, Pete Mandik, John Post, Gene Witmer, Michelle Wrenn, Tad Zawidzki, and two anonymous referees for the AJP

DEPTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SONIC SYSTEM IN DEEP-SEA MACROURID FISHES ON THE CONTINENTAL SLOPE

Work on sound production of deep-sea fishes has been limited to anatomy, and no sounds from identified species have been recorded on the continental slope. Here I examined the sonic muscles of six species in the family Macrouridae by depth (Coelorhincus carminatus, Nezumia bairdii, Coryphaenoides rupestris, Nezumia equalis, Coryphaenoides armatus, Coryphaenoides carapinus,). Due to increasingly limited food with depth, I hypothesized that sonic muscle development would decrease with depth. Sonic muscles were intrinsic and occurred in males and females. Swimbladder and sonic muscle dimensions increased linearly with fish size, but there were no clear differences with depth suggesting sound production remains important in deeper species

An optimization study to minimize surface distortions of a hoop-column antenna

An automated procedure to lessen the tedium of manual approach currently used to minimize surface distortions in a hoop/column antenna is studied. Three fundamental elements are used for the study: (1) The finite element analysis program is used to calculate the antenna surface distortions due to externally applied loads; (2) a general purpose optimization program is used to determine the set of control cable tensions which minimize the antenna surface distortions; and (3) another program is used to calculate the best fit parabola passing through a distorted antenna shape and to calculate the RMS distortion error. The interim results of this feasibility study are given

Why There are No Epistemic Duties

An epistemic duty would be a duty to believe, disbelieve, or withhold judgment from a proposition, and it would be grounded in purely evidential or epistemic considerations. If I promise to believe it is raining, my duty to believe is not epistemic. If my evidence is so good that, in light of it alone, I ought to believe it is raining, then my duty to believe supposedly is epistemic. I offer a new argument for the claim that there are no epistemic duties. Though people do sometimes have duties to believe, disbelieve, or withhold judgment from propositions, those duties are never grounded in purely epistemic consideration

Epistemology as Engineering?

According to a common objection to epistemological naturalism, no empirical, scientific theory of knowledge can be normative in the way epistemological theories need to be. In response, such naturalists as W.V. Quine have claimed naturalized epistemology can be normative by emulating engineering disciplines and addressing the relations of causal efficacy between our cognitive means and ends. This paper evaluates that "engineering reply" and finds it a mixed success. Based on consideration of what it might mean to call a theory "normative," seven versions of the normativity objection to epistemological naturalism are formulated. The engineering reply alone is sufficient to answer only the four least sophisticated versions. To answer the others, naturalists must draw on more resources than their engineering reply alone provides

A Race to Develop: A Competing Risk Examination of the Pattern and Timing of Land Development in an Exurban County

Rural-urban fringe counties (i.e. counties adjacent to other counties with large and growing urban centers) often experience intense development pressure as a result of urban growth and expansion. While growth-initiated development can take many forms, the majority of the development that occurs in these exurban counties is in the form of single-family residential dwellings. Moreover, it is in the form of subdivision developments that range in size from very small two and three lot minor subdivisions to massive multi-phase major subdivisions with hundreds of lots and numerous amenities. In this paper, we focus on the land development patterns in Carroll County, MD, an urban-fringe county in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. metro region. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether a basic set of factors, both constant and time-dependent and acting at different spatial scales, can explain the timing and location of major versus minor subdivision developments in Carroll County. Using a micro-level panel of land parcel conversion, historical land records for subdivision development and ArcGIS software a new dataset was created that traces the entire history of the subdivision process in the county. Datasets were also created that trace the history of land preservation so that we could control for official open space and its interaction with the decision to subdivide through time. Using these data and a number of land use variables created from them from 1993-2007, we apply a competing risks duration model to analyze which factors affect major versus minor subdivision development. Visual inspection as well as a descriptive analysis of a series of landscape metrics based on distance from the metropolitan center reveals a different pattern outcome for small versus large subdivisions with larger developments following more closely to the predictions of the urban economic model. Empirically, we find further evidence that the factors affecting the timing of minor versus major subdivision developments are indeed different. Distance and access to road networks have less of an effect on minor over major developments, while surrounding preservation and the option to preserve have less of an effect on major subdivisions. To make the risk comparison relevant and to focus on areas that have experienced the most fragmentation as a result of residential land conversion as well as the most policy attention, we restrict our analysis to parcels located in minimum density zoning districts.Land Economics/Use,

Mayo Clinic: Multidisciplinary Teamwork, Physician-Led Governance, and Patient-Centered Culture Drive World-Class Health Care

Describes Fund-defined attributes of an ideal care delivery system, Mayo's model of multidisciplinary practice with salary-based compensation, and best practices, including a shared electronic health record and innovations to implement research quickly

Geisinger Health System: Achieving the Potential of System Integration Through Innovation, Leadership, Measurement, and Incentives

Presents a case study of a physician-led nonprofit healthcare group exhibiting the attributes of an ideal healthcare delivery system as defined by the Fund. Describes how its ProvenCare model improved clinical outcomes with reduced resource utilization