Cartesian Circles and the Analytic Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-409
Author(s):  
Thomas Feeney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Approach ◽  
Analytic Method ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Original Argument ◽  
Cartesian Circle

The apparently circular arguments in Descartes’s Meditations should be read as analytic arguments, as Descartes himself suggested. This both explains and excuses the appearance of circularity. Analysis “digs out” what is already present in the meditator’s mind but not yet “expressly known” (Letter to Voetius). Once this is achieved, the meditator may take the result of analysis as an epistemic starting point independent of the original argument. That is, analytic arguments may be reversed to yield demonstrative proofs that follow an already worked-out order of ideas. The “Cartesian Circle,” for example, is circular only when Descartes’s original analytic argument is mistaken for the demonstration that it enables. This approach to Cartesian Circles is unlike the standard approach, which attempts to show that Descartes’s original arguments do work as demonstrations after all.

scholarly journals Assessing Nigerian political leadership with a democratic paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-72
Author(s):  
Ignatius C. Uzondu
Keyword(s):  
Political Leadership ◽  
Analytic Method ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right ◽  
Bad Leadership

A sober reflection or speculation on African leadership portrays the practice of authentic democracy as a perennial problem in Nigeria and in African continent. Democratic/electoral process is where citizens choose representatives in government by means of free, fair, contested and regularly scheduled elections and where adults have the right to vote and their votes count. But Nigerian democracy lacks basic trust. It is really a universal problem but Africans and Nigerians in particular got larger portion as our democratic practice is very poor. The citizens should be the starting point and focus of democracy, but this is not the case in Nigeria as many political and elected elites represent their business interest. This democratic deficit or deficiency is seen in local, state and federal levels of Nigerian government and this leads gradually to a serious decline in citizen’s active participation or active citizenship. Using expository and analytic method of inquiry, we found out that Nigerians and Africans may have been drifting from this form of government due to some of its demerit. Again, Africa has been long known for its communitarian living/communalism which we found to have enormous similarities with democracy though the difference is clear. Corruption, bad leadership, lack of originality and the likes are the causes of lack of authentic democratic practice and leadership in Africa and in Nigeria. Finally, this study concludes that the dividends of authentic democracy will be fully evident and rooted in Nigeria and Africa only when we embrace democracy in full. Keywords: Political leadership, Democracy, Communalism

scholarly journals The mysterious case of the successful appeal and the missing costs award: Competition and Markets Authority v. Flynn Pharma Limited

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 151-161
Author(s):  
Sophie Lawrance ◽  
◽  
Aimee Brookes ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Approach ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Award Competition

In May 2020 the Court of Appeal gave judgment in Competition and Markets Authority v. Flynn Pharma and Pfizer, which adjusted the starting point for costs awards following successful appeals of Competition and Markets Authority decisions. Following this judgment, such awards by the Competition Appeal Tribunal must start from the position that no order as to costs should be made against the CMA, rather than the standard approach of ‘costs follow the event’ that had been the CAT's established practice. This article examines the rationale for the CAT's past practice, the basis for the Court of Appeal's judgment altering that approach, and considers the potential implications the judgment may have.

Mosaic-Based Relevance Feedback for Image Retrieval

2011 ◽  
pp. 837-841
Author(s):  
Odej Kao ◽  
Ingo la Tendresse
Keyword(s):  
Image Retrieval ◽  
Relevance Feedback ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Standard Approach ◽  
Content Based Image Retrieval ◽  
Query Image ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Image Ranking ◽  
Image Query ◽  
Similar Sample

A standard approach for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is based on the extraction and comparison of features usually related to dominant colours, shapes, textures and layout (Del Bimbo, 1999). These features are a-priori defined and extracted, when the image is inserted into the database. At query time the user submits a similar sample image (query-by-sample-image) or draws a sketch (query-by-sketch) of the sought archived image. The similarity degree of the current query image and the target images is determined by calculation of a multidimensional distance between the corresponding features. The computed similarity values allow the creation of an image ranking, where the first k, usually k=32 or k=64, images are considered retrieval hits. These are chained in a list called ranking and then presented to the user. Each of these images can be used as a starting point for a refined search in order to improve the obtained results.

Crystal structure images of large gold clusters and growing crystals by HRTEM

1984 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 428-429
Author(s):  
L.R. Wallenberg ◽  
J.-O. Bovin ◽  
G. Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Structure ◽  
Nucleation And Growth ◽  
Close Packing ◽  
Gold Clusters ◽  
Molecular Weight Determination ◽  
Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Nucleation And Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Points Of View

Metallic clusters are interesting from various points of view, e.g. as a mean of spreading expensive catalysts on a support, or following heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic events. It is also possible to study nucleation and growth mechanisms for crystals with the cluster as known starting point.Gold-clusters containing 55 atoms were manufactured by reducing (C6H5)3PAuCl with B2H6 in benzene. The chemical composition was found to be Au9.2[P(C6H5)3]2Cl. Molecular-weight determination by means of an ultracentrifuge gave the formula Au55[P(C6H5)3]Cl6 A model was proposed from Mössbauer spectra by Schmid et al. with cubic close-packing of the 55 gold atoms in a cubeoctahedron as shown in Fig 1. The cluster is almost completely isolated from the surroundings by the twelve triphenylphosphane groups situated in each corner, and the chlorine atoms on the centre of the 3x3 square surfaces. This gives four groups of gold atoms, depending on the different types of surrounding.

Two isoprenylated flavonoids from Dorstenia psilurus activate AMPK, stimulate glucose uptake, inhibit glucose production and lower glycemia

2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (24) ◽  
pp. 3687-3704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aphrodite T. Choumessi ◽  
Manuel Johanns ◽  
Claire Beaufay ◽  
Marie-France Herent ◽  
Vincent Stroobant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Uptake ◽  
Human Cancer ◽  
Glucose Production ◽  
Liver Mitochondria ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Structural Isomer ◽  
Rat Liver Mitochondria ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Ampk Activation ◽  
Starting Point

Root extracts of a Cameroon medicinal plant, Dorstenia psilurus, were purified by screening for AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation in incubated mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). Two isoprenylated flavones that activated AMPK were isolated. Compound 1 was identified as artelasticin by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and 2D-NMR while its structural isomer, compound 2, was isolated for the first time and differed only by the position of one double bond on one isoprenyl substituent. Treatment of MEFs with purified compound 1 or compound 2 led to rapid and robust AMPK activation at low micromolar concentrations and increased the intracellular AMP:ATP ratio. In oxygen consumption experiments on isolated rat liver mitochondria, compound 1 and compound 2 inhibited complex II of the electron transport chain and in freeze–thawed mitochondria succinate dehydrogenase was inhibited. In incubated rat skeletal muscles, both compounds activated AMPK and stimulated glucose uptake. Moreover, these effects were lost in muscles pre-incubated with AMPK inhibitor SBI-0206965, suggesting AMPK dependency. Incubation of mouse hepatocytes with compound 1 or compound 2 led to AMPK activation, but glucose production was decreased in hepatocytes from both wild-type and AMPKβ1−/− mice, suggesting that this effect was not AMPK-dependent. However, when administered intraperitoneally to high-fat diet-induced insulin-resistant mice, compound 1 and compound 2 had blood glucose-lowering effects. In addition, compound 1 and compound 2 reduced the viability of several human cancer cells in culture. The flavonoids we have identified could be a starting point for the development of new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes.

Overview of Current Approaches to Aural Rehabilitation for Adults With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1175-1187
Author(s):  
Rachel Glade ◽  
Erin Taylor ◽  
Deborah S. Culbertson ◽  
Christin Ray
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Practice Patterns ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Clinical Models ◽  
Hearing Health

Purpose This clinical focus article provides an overview of clinical models currently being used for the provision of comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for adults with cochlear implants (CIs) in the Unites States. Method Clinical AR models utilized by hearing health care providers from nine clinics across the United States were discussed with regard to interprofessional AR practice patterns in the adult CI population. The clinical models were presented in the context of existing knowledge and gaps in the literature. Future directions were proposed for optimizing the provision of AR for the adult CI patient population. Findings/Conclusions There is a general agreement that AR is an integral part of hearing health care for adults with CIs. While the provision of AR is feasible in different clinical practice settings, service delivery models are variable across hearing health care professionals and settings. AR may include interprofessional collaboration among surgeons, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists with varying roles based on the characteristics of a particular setting. Despite various existing barriers, the clinical practice patterns identified here provide a starting point toward a more standard approach to comprehensive AR for adults with CIs.

Indirect Assessment of Attitudes with Response-Time-Based Measures

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Degner ◽  
Dirk Wentura ◽  
Klaus Rothermund
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Incremental Validity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Scale Theory ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Predicting Behavior ◽  
Social Cognitive Theories

Abstract: We review research on response-latency based (“implicit”) measures of attitudes by examining what hopes and intentions researchers have associated with their usage. We identified the hopes of (1) gaining better measures of interindividual differences in attitudes as compared to self-report measures (quality hope); (2) better predicting behavior, or predicting other behaviors, as compared to self-reports (incremental validity hope); (3) linking social-cognitive theories more adequately to empirical research (theory-link hope). We argue that the third hope should be the starting point for using these measures. Any attempt to improve these measures should include the search for a small-scale theory that adequately explains the basic effects found with such a measure. To date, small-scale theories for different measures are not equally well developed.

The Solidarity of Distance1

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Wicklund
Keyword(s):  
Physical Contact ◽  
Emotional Distance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Shared Emotions ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Full Interaction ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Incompetence

Abstract: Solidarity in the classic sense pertains to a cohesion among humans that entails physical contact, shared emotions, and common goals or projects. Characteristic cases are to be found among families, close friends, or co-workers. The present paper, in contrast, treats a phenomenon of the solidarity of distance, a solidarity based in fear of certain others and in incompetence to interact with them. The starting point for this analysis is the person who is motivated to interact with others who are unfamiliar or fear-provoking. Given that the fear and momentary social incompetence do not allow a full interaction to ensue, the individual will move toward solidarity with those others on a symbolic level. In this manner the motivation to approach the others is acted upon while physical and emotional distance is retained.

A Starting Point for Inquiry Into Inquiry

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Polman
Keyword(s):  
Starting Point
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