bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Memristive operation mode of floating gate transistors: A two-terminal MemFlash-cell
Authors: Ziegler M. , Oberländer M. , Schroeder D. , Krautschneider W. H. , Kohlstedt H.
Published: December 2012

A memristive operation mode of a single floating gate transistor is presented. The device resistance varied accordingly to the charge flow through the device. Hysteretic current-voltages including a resistance storage capability were observed. These experimental findings are theoretically supported by a capacitive based model. The presented two-terminal MemFlash-cell can be considered as a potential substitute for any memristive device (especially for reconfigurable logic, cross-bar arrays, and neuromorphic circuits) and is basically compatible with current Si-fabrication technology. The obvious trade-off between a memristive device based on a state-of-the-art silicon process technology and power consumption concerns will be discussed.
Morphology control of nanohelix by electrospinning
Authors: Chang Guoqing , Song Guoxia , Yang Jian , Huang Runsheng , Kozinda Alina , Shen Jianyi
Published: December 2012

We developed a simple approach to design and fabricate precisely controlled coiled nanofibers via the micromanufacture of electrospun nanofibers. The fabrication set-up was specially designed so that one stream of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) sol with ferric nitrate was electrospun into a fiber bundle. This bundle acted as an axis that was collected between two opposite rotating needles while another stream of PVP sol, containing copper nitrate, was electrospun around the fiber bundle axis to form a coil. By altering the elements in the precursor solution, copper microsolenoids with magnetite (Fe3O4) cores were fabricated followed by annealing and deoxidation.
Alternating domains with uniaxial and biaxial magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial Fe films on BaTiO3
Authors: Lahtinen Tuomas H. E. , Shirahata Yasuhiro , Yao Lide , Franke Kévin J. A. , Venkataiah Gorige , Taniyama Tomoyasu , van Dijken Sebastiaan
Published: December 2012

We report on domain formation and magnetization reversal in epitaxial Fe films on ferroelectric BaTiO3 substrates with ferroelastic a–c stripe domains. The Fe films exhibit biaxial magnetic anisotropy on top of c domains with out-of-plane polarization, whereas the in-plane lattice elongation of a domains induces uniaxial magnetoelastic anisotropy via inverse magnetostriction. The strong modulation of magnetic anisotropy symmetry results in full imprinting of the a–c domain pattern in the Fe films. Exchange and magnetostatic interactions between neighboring magnetic stripes further influence magnetization reversal and pattern formation within the a and c domains.
Radiofrequency plasma antenna generated by femtosecond laser filaments in air
Authors: Brelet Y. , Houard A. , Point G. , Prade B. , Arantchouk L. , Carbonnel J. , André Y.-B. , Pellet M. , Mysyrowicz A.
Published: December 2012

We demonstrate tunable radiofrequency emission from a meter-long linear plasma column produced in air at atmospheric pressure. A short-lived plasma column is initially produced by femtosecond filamentation and subsequently converted into a long-lived discharge column by application of an external high voltage field. Radiofrequency excitation is fed to the plasma by induction and detected remotely as electromagnetic radiation by a classical antenna.
Spin precession modulation in a magnetic bilayer
Authors: Stupakiewicz A. , Pashkevich M. , Maziewski A. , Stognij A. , Novitskii N.
Published: December 2012

We report on modulation of the spin precession in a Co/garnet bilayer by femtosecond laser excitation using time-resolved magneto-optical tools. Damped oscillations in the Faraday rotation transients representing precessional motion of the magnetization vector are observed in both the 2 nm Co layer and 1.8 μm garnet of the bilayer with distinct frequencies differing by about a factor of two. The excitation efficiency of these precessions strongly depends on the out-of-plane magnetic field. The modulation effect with the coupling in a magnetic bilayer can be useful for non-thermally controlling the magnetization of nanomagnets and ultrafast switching in magnetic nanodevices.
Schottky-barrier solar cell based on layered semiconductor tungsten disulfide nanofilm
Authors: Shanmugam Mariyappan , Bansal Tanesh , Durcan Chris A. , Yu Bin
Published: December 2012

We demonstrated Schottky-barrier solar cell using layer-structured semiconductor tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanofilm (NF) as the photo-active material. WS2 NFs were synthesized by chemical-vapor-deposition initiated on the surface of tungsten. The growth of WS2 NF was confirmed by Raman signature peaks representing active modes of E12g (351.5 cm−1) for in-plane and A1g (420.1 cm−1) for out-of-plane atomic vibrations, respectively. The ITO/WS2/Au Schottky-barrier solar cell was demonstrated by a layer-enabled assembling process, showing a photo-conversion efficiency of 1.7% and effective photon absorption in the wavelength range of 350 nm–950 nm. The Mott-Schottky characteristic suggests low density of bulk and interface defects in WS2 NF attributed to surfaces with negligible amount of dangling bonds which is the essential nature of layered semiconductors.
Historical variations in mutation rate in an epidemic pathogen,
Yersinia pestis
Authors: Cui Yujun , Yu Chang , Yan Yanfeng , Li Dongfang , Li Yanjun , Jombart Thibaut , Weinert Lucy A. , Wang Zuyun , Guo Zhaobiao , Xu Lizhi , Zhang Yujiang , Zheng Hancheng , Qin Nan , Xiao Xiao , Wu Mingshou , Wang Xiaoyi , Zhou Dongsheng , Qi Zhizhen , Du Zongmin , Wu Honglong , Yang Xianwei , Cao Hongzhi , Wang Hu , Wang Jing , Yao Shusen , Rakin Alexander , Li Yingrui , Falush Daniel , Balloux Francois , Achtman Mark , Song Yajun , Wang Jun , Yang Ruifu
Published: December 2012

The genetic diversity of
Yersinia pestis
, the etiologic agent of plague, is extremely limited because of its recent origin coupled with a slow clock rate. Here we identified 2,326 SNPs from 133 genomes of
Y. pestis
strains that were isolated in China and elsewhere. These SNPs define the genealogy of
Y. pestis
since its most recent common ancestor. All but 28 of these SNPs represented mutations that happened only once within the genealogy, and they were distributed essentially at random among individual genes. Only seven genes contained a significant excess of nonsynonymous SNP, suggesting that the fixation of SNPs mainly arises via neutral processes, such as genetic drift, rather than Darwinian selection. However, the rate of fixation varies dramatically over the genealogy: the number of SNPs accumulated by different lineages was highly variable and the genealogy contains multiple polytomies, one of which resulted in four branches near the time of the Black Death. We suggest that demographic changes can affect the speed of evolution in epidemic pathogens even in the absence of natural selection, and hypothesize that neutral SNPs are fixed rapidly during intermittent epidemics and outbreaks.
Natural killer cells promote immune tolerance by regulating inflammatory TH17 cells at the human maternal–fetal interface
Authors: Fu Binqing , Li Xianchang , Sun Rui , Tong Xianhong , Ling Bin , Tian Zhigang , Wei Haiming
Published: December 2012

Natural killer (NK) cells accumulate at the maternal–fetal interface in large numbers, but their exact roles in successful pregnancy remain poorly defined. Here, we provide evidence that TH17 cells and local inflammation can occur at the maternal–fetal interface during natural allogenic pregnancies. We found that decidual NK cells promote immune tolerance and successful pregnancy by dampening inflammatory TH17 cells via IFN-γ secreted by the CD56brightCD27+NK subset. This NK-cell–mediated regulatory response is lost in patients who experience recurrent spontaneous abortions, which results in a prominent TH17 response and extensive local inflammation. This local inflammatory response further affects the regulatory function of NK cells, leading to the eventual loss of maternal-fetal tolerance. Thus, our data identify NK cells as key regulatory cells at the maternal–fetal interface by suppressing TH17-mediated local inflammation.
Tangled bank of experimentally evolvedBurkholderiabiofilms reflects selection during chronic infections
Authors: Traverse Charles C. , Mayo-Smith Leslie M. , Poltak Steffen R. , Cooper Vaughn S.
Published: December 2012

How diversity evolves and persists in biofilms is essential for understanding much of microbial life, including the uncertain dynamics of chronic infections. We developed a biofilm model enabling long-term selection for daily adherence to and dispersal from a plastic bead in a test tube. Focusing on a pathogen of the cystic fibrosis lung,Burkholderia cenocepacia,we sequenced clones and metagenomes to unravel the mutations and evolutionary forces responsible for adaptation and diversification of a single biofilm community during 1,050 generations of selection. The mutational patterns revealed recurrent evolution of biofilm specialists from generalist types and multiple adaptive alleles at relatively few loci. Fitness assays also demonstrated strong interference competition among contending mutants that preserved genetic diversity. Metagenomes from five other independently evolved biofilm lineages revealed extraordinary mutational parallelism that outlined common routes of adaptation, a subset of which was found, surprisingly, in a planktonic population. These mutations in turn were surprisingly well represented among mutations that evolved in cystic fibrosis isolates of bothBurkholderiaandPseudomonas. These convergent pathways included altered metabolism of cyclic diguanosine monophosphate, polysaccharide production, tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes, global transcription, and iron scavenging. Evolution in chronic infections therefore may be driven by mutations in relatively few pathways also favored during laboratory selection, creating hope that experimental evolution may illuminate the ecology and selective dynamics of chronic infections and improve treatment strategies.
Allosteric control in a metalloprotein dramatically alters function
Authors: Baxter Elizabeth Leigh , Zuris John A. , Wang Charles , Vo Phu Luong T. , Axelrod Herbert L. , Cohen Aina E. , Paddock Mark L. , Nechushtai Rachel , Onuchic Jose N. , Jennings Patricia A.
Published: December 2012

Metalloproteins (MPs) comprise one-third of all known protein structures. This diverse set of proteins contain a plethora of unique inorganic moieties capable of performing chemistry that would otherwise be impossible using only the amino acids found in nature. Most of the well-studied MPs are generally viewed as being very rigid in structure, and it is widely thought that the properties of the metal centers are primarily determined by the small fraction of amino acids that make up the local environment. Here we examine both theoretically and experimentally whether distal regions can influence the metal center in the diabetes drug target mitoNEET. We demonstrate that a loop (L2) 20 Å away from the metal center exerts allosteric control over the cluster binding domain and regulates multiple properties of the metal center. Mutagenesis of L2 results in significant shifts in the redox potential of the [2Fe-2S] cluster and orders of magnitude effects on the rate of [2Fe-2S] cluster transfer to an apo-acceptor protein. These surprising effects occur in the absence of any structural changes. An examination of the native basin dynamics of the protein using all-atom simulations shows that twisting in L2 controls scissoring in the cluster binding domain and results in perturbations to one of the cluster-coordinating histidines. These allosteric effects are in agreement with previous folding simulations that predicted L2 could communicate with residues surrounding the metal center. Our findings suggest that long-range dynamical changes in the protein backbone can have a significant effect on the functional properties of MPs.
Changes in the local tumor microenvironment in recurrent cancers may explain the failure of vaccines after surgery
Authors: Predina Jarrod , Eruslanov Evgeniy , Judy Brendan , Kapoor Veena , Cheng Guanjun , Wang Liang-Chuan , Sun Jing , Moon Edmund K. , Fridlender Zvi Gregorio , Albelda Steven , Singhal Sunil
Published: December 2012

Each year, more than 700,000 people undergo cancer surgery in the United States. However, more than 40% of those patients develop recurrences and have a poor outcome. Traditionally, the medical community has assumed that recurrent tumors arise from selected tumor clones that are refractory to therapy. However, we found that tumor cells have few phenotypical differences after surgery. Thus, we propose an alternative explanation for the resistance of recurrent tumors. Surgery promotes inhibitory factors that allow lingering immunosuppressive cells to repopulate small pockets of residual disease quickly. Recurrent tumors and draining lymph nodes are infiltrated with M2 (CD11b
+
F4/80
hi
CD206
hi
and CD11b
+
F4/80
hi
CD124
hi
) macrophages and CD4
+
Foxp3
+
regulatory T cells. This complex network of immunosuppression in the surrounding tumor microenvironment explains the resistance of tumor recurrences to conventional cancer vaccines despite small tumor size, an intact antitumor immune response, and unaltered cancer cells. Therapeutic strategies coupling antitumor agents with inhibition of immunosuppressive cells potentially could impact the outcomes of more than 250,000 people each year.
Impact of nitrogen deposition at the species level
Authors: Payne Richard J. , Dise Nancy B. , Stevens Carly J. , Gowing David J. ,   BEGIN Partners, Duprè Cecilia , Dorland Edu , Gaudnik Cassandre , Bleeker Albert , Diekmann Martin , Alard Didier , Bobbink Roland , Fowler David , Corcket Emmanuel , Mountford J. Owen , Vandvik Vigdis , Aarrestad Per Arild , Muller Serge
Published: December 2012

In Europe and, increasingly, the rest of the world, the key policy tool for the control of air pollution is the critical load, a level of pollution below which there are no known significant harmful effects on the environment. Critical loads are used to map sensitive regions and habitats, permit individual polluting activities, and frame international negotiations on transboundary air pollution. Despite their fundamental importance in environmental science and policy, there has been no systematic attempt to verify a critical load with field survey data. Here, we use a large dataset of European grasslands along a gradient of nitrogen (N) deposition to show statistically significant declines in the abundance of species from the lowest level of N deposition at which it is possible to identify a change. Approximately 60% of species change points occur at or below the range of the currently established critical load. If this result is found more widely, the underlying principle of no harm in pollution policy may need to be modified to one of informed decisions on how much harm is acceptable. Our results highlight the importance of protecting currently unpolluted areas from new pollution sources, because we cannot rule out ecological impacts from even relatively small increases in reactive N deposition.
Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities
Authors: Rodrigues Jorge L. M. , Pellizari Vivian H. , Mueller Rebecca , Baek Kyunghwa , Jesus Ederson da C. , Paula Fabiana S. , Mirza Babur , Hamaoui George S. , Tsai Siu Mui , Feigl Brigitte , Tiedje James M. , Bohannan Brendan J. M. , Nüsslein Klaus
Published: December 2012

The Amazon rainforest is the Earth’s largest reservoir of plant and animal diversity, and it has been subjected to especially high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. This conversion has had a strongly negative effect on biological diversity, reducing the number of plant and animal species and homogenizing communities. We report here that microbial biodiversity also responds strongly to conversion of the Amazon rainforest, but in a manner different from plants and animals. Local taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of soil bacteria increases after conversion, but communities become more similar across space. This homogenization is driven by the loss of forest soil bacteria with restricted ranges (endemics) and results in a net loss of diversity. This study shows homogenization of microbial communities in response to human activities. Given that soil microbes represent the majority of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and are intimately involved in ecosystem functions, we argue that microbial biodiversity loss should be taken into account when assessing the impact of land use change in tropical forests.
Evaluation of Sample Design and Estimation Methods for Great Lakes Angler Surveys
Authors: Su Zhenming , Clapp David
Published: December 2012

The waters of the Great Lakes support outstanding recreational fishing opportunities. Total catch and effort estimates obtained from on‐site angler surveys are essential for the management of the recreational fisheries. However, quality of angler survey estimates can be greatly affected by the survey design and estimation approaches used. Using Monte Carlo simulation techniques, we evaluated the effects of two potential sources of bias (disproportional sampling of angler trips and subsampling of the fishing day) on two catch estimators: (1) a multiple‐day estimator that ignores day effects and pools the angler trip data over a multiple‐day period, and (2) a daily estimator that treats the trip data in each day separately. When catch rates are constant among different time periods of the fishing day, the daily estimator produces total catch estimates with little bias, whereas the multiple‐day estimator is prone to bias caused by disproportional sampling of angler trips. When catch rates vary among different periods of a fishing day, the daily estimator produces biased estimates of total catch when the fishing day is subsampled, whereas the multiple‐day estimator is less affected by the variation in daily time‐period catch rates and subsampling of fishing days. Quality of total catch and effort estimates, in terms of root mean square error and coverage probability of confidence intervals, is poor when the number of days sampled each month is low and fishing days are subsampled.
Lineability and spaceability for the weak form of Peano’s theorem and vector-valued sequence spaces
Authors: Barroso Cleon , Botelho Geraldo , Fávaro Vinícius , Pellegrino Daniel
Published: December 2012

Two new applications of a technique for spaceability are given in this paper. For the first time this technique is used in the investigation of the algebraic genericity property of the weak form of Peano’s theorem on the existence of solutions of the ODE

u
′

=
f
(
u
)

u’=f(u)

on

c
0

c_0

. The space of all continuous vector fields

f
f

on

c
0

c_0

is proved to contain a closed

c

\mathfrak {c}

-dimensional subspace formed by fields

f
f

for which, except for the null field, the weak form of Peano’s theorem fails to be true. The second application generalizes known results on the existence of closed

c

\mathfrak {c}

-dimensional subspaces inside certain subsets of

ℓ
p

(
X
)

\ell _p(X)

-spaces,

0
>
p
>
∞

0 > p > \infty

, to the existence of closed subspaces of maximal dimension inside such subsets.
Spaceability and algebrability of sets of nowhere integrable functions
Authors: Gła̧b Szymon , Kaufmann Pedro , Pellegrini Leonardo
Published: December 2012

We show that the set of Lebesgue integrable functions in

[
0
,
1
]

[0,1]

which are nowhere essentially bounded is spaceable, improving a result from García-Pacheco, Martín, and Seoane-Sepúlveda, and that it is strongly

c

\mathfrak {c}

-algebrable. We prove strong

c

\mathfrak {c}

-algebrability and nonseparable spaceability of the set of functions of bounded variation which have a dense set of jump discontinuities. Applications to sets of Lebesgue-nowhere-Riemann integrable and Riemann-nowhere-Newton integrable functions are presented as corollaries. In addition, we prove that the set of Kurzweil integrable functions which are not Lebesgue integrable is spaceable (in the Alexievicz norm) but not

1
1

-algebrable. We also show that there exists an infinite dimensional vector space

S
S

of differentiable functions such that each element of the

C
(
[
0
,
1
]
)

C([0,1])

-closure of

S
S

is a primitive to a Kurzweil integrable function, in connection to a classic spaceability result from Gurariy.
Inference of gene regulatory networks from genome-wide knockout fitness data
Authors: Wang Liming , Wang Xiaodong , Arkin Adam P. , Samoilov Michael S.
Published: December 2012

Motivation: Genome-wide fitness is an emerging type of high-throughput biological data generated for individual organisms by creating libraries of knockouts, subjecting them to broad ranges of environmental conditions, and measuring the resulting clone-specific fitnesses. Since fitness is an organism-scale measure of gene regulatory network behaviour, it may offer certain advantages when insights into such phenotypical and functional features are of primary interest over individual gene expression. Previous works have shown that genome-wide fitness data can be used to uncover novel gene regulatory interactions, when compared with results of more conventional gene expression analysis. Yet, to date, few algorithms have been proposed for systematically using genome-wide mutant fitness data for gene regulatory network inference.

Results: In this article, we describe a model and propose an inference algorithm for using fitness data from knockout libraries to identify underlying gene regulatory networks. Unlike most prior methods, the presented approach captures not only structural, but also dynamical and non-linear nature of biomolecular systems involved. A state–space model with non-linear basis is used for dynamically describing gene regulatory networks. Network structure is then elucidated by estimating unknown model parameters. Unscented Kalman filter is used to cope with the non-linearities introduced in the model, which also enables the algorithm to run in on-line mode for practical use. Here, we demonstrate that the algorithm provides satisfying results for both synthetic data as well as empirical measurements of GAL network in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and TyrR–LiuR network in bacteria Shewanella oneidensis.

Availability: MATLAB code and datasets are available to download at http://www.duke.edu/∼lw174/Fitness.zip and http://genomics.lbl.gov/supplemental/fitness-bioinf/

Contact:  wangx@ee.columbia.edu or mssamoilov@lbl.gov

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online
Kant
Authors: O’Neill Onora
Published: December 2012

Kant is famous for undertaking a critique of reason and for calling two of his most significant works critiques of reason. These titles raise suspicions. Kant's attempt to give an account of practical reason that offers unconditional reasons for action and provides the basis for a reasoned account of human duties is spectacularly ambitious; even if it fails in some ways it is worth the closest attention. The central concern of this article is to explicate Kant's account of how one could have unconditional practical reasons to do as morality requires. Unconditional practical reasons are those not based upon arbitrarily chosen ends. This article argues that Kant's proposal is that what makes a practical reason unconditional is its universal recognizability. An unconditional practical reason is one that can be seen to be a reason for action by any rational audience—its appeal relies on no parochial concerns.
Duty, Rationality, and Practical Reasons
Authors: McNaughton David , Rawling Piers
Published: December 2012

This article presents a view on which practical reasons are facts, such as the fact that the rubbish bin is full. This is a non-normative fact, but it is a reason for one to do something, namely take the rubbish out. This article sees rationality as a matter of consistency (failing to notice that the rubbish bin is full need not be a rational failure). And it sees duty as neither purely a matter of rationality nor of practical reason. On the one hand, the rational sociopath is immoral. But, on the other, morality does not require that one always acts on the weightiest moral reasons: one may not be reasonably expected to know what these are. This article criticizes various forms of internalism, including Williams's, and it tentatively proposes a view of duty that is neither purely subjective in Prichard's sense, nor purely objective.
Decision Theory and Morality
Authors: Dreier James
Published: December 2012

This article is about decision theory and morality. Its main point is to show how the formal apparatus of decision theory is connected to some abstract issues in moral theory. It does not aim to be comprehensive. Its preliminaries section explains how to think about utility and the advice that decision theory gives. In particular, decision theory does not assume or insist that all rational agents act in their own self-interest. The second section discusses decision theory's contributions to social contract theory, with emphasis on David Gauthier's rationalist contractualism. The third section considers a reinterpretation of the formal theory that decision theorists use: utility might represent goodness rather than preference. Finally, the last section of this article discusses Harsanyi's theorem.
Practical Reasoning and Emotion
Authors: Greenspan Patricia
Published: December 2012

This article discusses emotion as an element of practical rationality. One approach links emotion to evaluative judgment and applies some variant of the usual standards of rational belief and decision making. An alternative, “paradigm scenarios” approach would appeal to the causal history of an emotion as determining rationality. However, in order to assess the appropriateness of particular instances of emotion, there is a need to refer to their propositional content or some kind of claim they make about the situation. As factors leading to action, emotions involve an element of uncontrol that is typically seen as undermining rationality but can sometimes be part of a longer-term rational strategy to the extent that states of affect modify the agent's practical options.
Paradoxes of Rationality
Authors: Sorensen Roy A.
Published: December 2012

This article provides a panoramic view of paradoxes of theoretical and practical rationality. These puzzles are organized as apparent counterexamples to attractive principles such as the principle of charity, the transitivity of preferences, and the principle that one should maximize expected utility. This article gives an account of the following paradoxes: fearing fictions, the surprise test paradox, Pascal's Wager, Pollock's Ever Better wine, Newcomb's problem, the iterated Prisoners' Dilemma, Kavka's paradoxes of deterrence, backward inductions, the bottle imp, the preface paradox, Moore's problem, Buridan's ass, Condorcet's paradox of cyclical majorities, the St. Petersburg paradox, weakness of will, the Ellsberg paradox, Allais's paradox, and Peter Cave's puzzle of self-fulfilling beliefs.
Gender and Rationality
Authors: Jones Karen
Published: December 2012

This article explores feminist stances toward gender and rationality. These divide into three broad camps: the “classical feminist” stance, according to which what needs to be challenged are not available norms and ideals of rationality, but rather the supposition that women are unable to meet them; the “different voice” stance, which challenges available norms of rationality as either incomplete or accorded an inflated importance; and the “strong critical” stance, which finds fault with the norms and ideals themselves. This contribution focuses on assessing the various projects—some rival, some complementary—being pursued within the third, critical camp. This article offers a reconstruction of Catherine MacKinnon's critique of norms of rationality according to which they function to maintain relations of dominance by deauthorizing feminist claims to knowledge.
Rationality and Persons
Authors: Rovane Carol
Published: December 2012

This article explores eight related claims: persons are not merely rational, but possess full reflective rationality; the single overarching normative requirement that rationality places on persons is to achieve overall rational unity within themselves; beings who possess full reflective rationality can enter into distinctively interpersonal relations, which involve efforts at rational influence from within the space of reasons; a significant number of moral considerations speak in favor of defining the person as a reflective rational agent; this definition of the person has helped to distinguish personal identity from animal identity; although it is a platitude that a person has special reason to be concerned for its own well-being, it is not obvious how best to account for that platitude; groups of human beings and parts of human beings might qualify as individual persons in their own right; there is a sense in which the normative requirements of rationality are hypothetical.
Rationality, Language, and the Principle of Charity
Authors: Ludwig Kirk
Published: December 2012

This article deals with the relations between language, thought, and rationality, and especially the role and status of assumptions about rationality in interpreting another's speech and assigning contents to her psychological attitudes—her beliefs, desires, intentions, and so on. Some large degree of rationality is required for thought. Consequently, that same degree of rationality at least is required for language, since language requires thought. Thought, however, does not require language. This article lays out the grounds for seeing rationality as required for thought, and it meets some recent objections on conceptual and empirical grounds. Furthermore, it gives particular attention to Donald Davidson's arguments for the Principle of Charity, according to which it is constitutive of speakers that they are largely rational and largely right about the world, and to Davidson's arguments for the thesis that without the power of speech one lacks the power of thought.
Rationality and Science
Authors: Thagard Paul
Published: December 2012

This article provides a review and assessment of central aspects of rationality in science. It discusses the nature of the reasoning by which individual scientists accept and reject conflicting hypotheses. It also discusses the nature of practical reason in science and then turns to the question of the nature of group rationality in science. In this latter context, this article discusses, among other matters, its CCC (for consensus = coherence + communication) model, which shows how epistemic group rationality can arise in agents who communicate with each other while focusing on the explanation of observed phenomena. Furthermore, this article examines whether scientists are in fact rational—that is, whether they conform to normative standards of individual and group rationality. It considers various psychological and sociological factors that have been taken to undermine the rationality of science.
Economic Rationality
Authors: Weirich Paul.
Published: December 2012

This article examines three competing views entertained by economic theory about the instrumental rationality of decisions. The first says to maximize self-interest, the second to maximize utility, and the third to “satisfice,” that is, to adopt a satisfactory option. Critics argue that the first view is too narrow, that the second overlooks the benefits of teamwork and planning, and that the third, when carefully formulated, reduces to the second. This article defends a refined version of the principle to maximize utility. It discusses generalizations of utility theory to extend it to nonquantitative cases and other cases with nonstandard features. The study of rationality as it bears on law is typically restricted to the uses made of the notion of rationality by the “law and economics movement.” Legal economists accept the traditional economic assumption that rational agents seek primarily to maximize their personal utility.
Rationality and Evolution
Authors: Danielson Peter
Published: December 2012

The most striking fact about the relationship between evolutionary game theory and economic game theory is that, at the most basic level, a theory built of hyper-rational actors and a theory built of possibly non-rational actors in fundamental agreement. This article focuses on this “striking fact,” more generally: how game theory, the abstract theory of strategic interaction, supports new and powerful insights into the relation between rationality and evolution. First and most broadly, both rationality and evolution are optimizing processes working in a multiagent environment. This article shows that the same modern methods that undermine naive evolutionary progressivism support the claim that rationality and evolution are isomorphic optimizing processes. It contrasts a simple rational and evolutionary model, sketching the main concepts and variants of evolutionary game theory. It distinguishes biological, economic, and generalist ways of interpreting the game theory.
Political Parties in New York
Authors: Benjamin Gerald
Published: December 2012

This article discusses political parties in New York. The continued importance of these parties at the outset of the twenty-first century is at one level a testament to their successful resistance to general Progressive Era efforts to purge partisanship from American state and local governance. New York finds a place for “third parties” in its electoral system. Third parties have a great array of tactical options which in sum add to the complexity of New York politics at every level. Electoral trends and new legislative-centered party organizations have increased the independence of the legislative parties from the governor. While New York's parties are generally regarded as cohesive and different, there are tensions within each party that lead to some moderation of the general policy stances. The specifics of New York election law nurtured the emergence, and support the continuation, of a near-unique two-and-a-half party system.
Campaign Finance Policy in the State and City of New York
Authors: Malbin Michael J. , Brusoe Peter W.
Published: December 2012

This article presents a brief summary of the major proposals for campaign finance policy in New York. New York's campaign finance laws have not changed substantially since Buckley. There have been some potentially significant changes both in the state's political alignment and in the substantive positions put forward by the key leaders. New York City's multiple matching fund program had an intended effect on the proportional importance of small donors. The effect of this program clearly is in the direction its sponsors had envisioned. Constitutional constraints do not allow the use of public financing to constrain spending in politics. Public financing programs do not automatically give candidates an incentive to raise money from small donors. There is a possibility that the New York state legislature may respond to the Governor's call for a comprehensive revision of the state's campaign finance laws.
Elections and Election Management
Authors: Hayduk Ron
Published: December 2012

This article examines elections and election management in New York. Election administration in New York is highly decentralized. Republicans have pressed for greater safeguards against fraud while Democrats have promoted greater access to the ballot. The 1894 constitutional convention provided Republicans the chance to write reforms into the state constitution. The Republicans' electoral advantage translated into distinct policy consequences for the parties' different demographic and geographic bases. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) provides an opportunity and further means to upgrade election administration. Proper implementation of HAVA can institute a set of “best practices” electoral reform measures that can make New York elections more inclusive and democratic. Elections officials are the key to making elections work better in New York.
The New York State Legislature
Authors: Lane Eric , Wolf Joshua M.
Published: December 2012

This article provides a discussion on New York State Legislature. The full extent of state legislative authority is encapsulated by the dual concepts of the power of the purse and the police power. The Constitution and laws of the United States are “the supreme law of the land.” The political party is the most significant organizational unit in New York State Legislature. The Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment conducts research and other activities necessary to prepare and formulate a reapportionment plan for the reapportionment of senate and assembly districts. The legislature's unwillingness to expeditiously and uniformly self-police possible ethical violations through existing means continues to aggravate the erosion of public confidence. Despite the great strides in improving New York's legislative ethics laws through the Public Employees Ethics Reform Act of 2007 and the Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011, there remains room for improvement.
The Governor of New York
Authors: Forsythe Dall
Published: December 2012

This article describes the gubernatorial power in New York. Since the fiscal crisis, New York governors have struggled to reach the goals they set for themselves and have failed to reverse the decline into government dysfunction in Albany. The trend towards increasing stalemate and dysfunction in the governance system was evident in the administrations of Mario Cuomo and George Pataki, and accelerated during the terms of Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson. Governors Nelson Rockefeller and Hugh Carey had stretched the boundaries of gubernatorial power, but their unusual effectiveness depended on either extraordinary resources or extraordinary circumstances. The future of gubernatorial member items in the governance system is uncertain. The gap between the legislative and gubernatorial approaches to budgeting must be bridged if the governance system is to function effectively. In addition, institutional powers and legal routines matter in defining and maintaining system behavior.
The New York State Comptroller's Office
Authors: Sanzillo Thomas
Published: December 2012

This article reports the comptroller in New York State. The comptroller's office is a venerable institution of state government. New York State's comptroller is unique and possesses a much wider range of responsibilities than its counterparts in other states. Between 1915 and 1938, the most important change in the comptroller's authority came with the creation of the New York State Employee Retirement System in 1920. The functions, roles, and stresses of agency head, sole trustee, retirement administrator, chief fiscal officer, state auditor, local government audits, chief procurement officer, chief accountant and additional fund administrator are then evaluated. The concentration of responsibilities of the New York State comptroller offers the comptroller a unique view on the nexus between the public and private sector in New York State.
The New York State Attorney General
Authors: Feldman Daniel L.
Published: December 2012

This article explores the fascinating and varied tools with which the New York State attorney general exercises power over lives and property. The New York State attorney general has become a major player in the national economy, and the office a steppingstone to the governorship. It is noted that law and tradition generally give the attorney general sufficient independence to exercise judgment in any given matter as to whether the responsibility to represent the public interest prevails over the responsibility to represent the attorney general's “other” client, the state, or the state agency being sued. New York State attorneys general have employed creativity, ambition, and intelligence to realize the full potential of their office to do good, a potential that developed over history and in response to the evolving social, economic, and political complexity of American society.
The Executive Branch
Authors: Maxwell Terrence A.
Published: December 2012

This article investigates the executive function in New York State. The governor of New York is considered among the most powerful executives in the 50 states, while the actual degree of direct control that the state's chief executive wields is circumscribed by historical and structural conditions. While the governor has been given broad administrative and legislative powers, the administrative mandate is circumscribed in several areas. New York's constitution defined the governor's role more clearly than most states, and the state's governor was the first in the nation directly elected by the people. The negotiations between the governor and legislature laid the groundwork for many subsequent decisions that continue to shape New York's executive branch. The significant areas of executive branch reorganization are explained. The data on the executive branch organization and reorganization in New York show the potential success of state government restructuring efforts.
New York State and New York City Relations
Authors: Berg Bruce F.
Published: December 2012

This article investigates the range of state-city relations in order to evaluate the state's impact on the city as well as the city's ability to influence state governance. New York City is a unit of local government in New York State. New York City needed state legislature to approve parkland alienation for the building of the new Yankee Stadium. A major part of what makes New York State–New York City relations unique is the degree of influence that New York City has at the state level. Despite the natural rivalry between the two offices, mayors and governors from different parties, or positions on the political spectrum, do not necessarily experience heightened conflict. Relations between a specific mayor and governor can also change over time. New York City remains one of many New York State local governments and must function within this framework.
Health Care Politics and Policy in New York State
Authors: Gusmano Michael K. , Burke Courtney , Thompson Frank J.
Published: December 2012

This article covers the provision of public and private health insurance. Health care has major implications for the state budget and the state economy. It describes New York's policies that regulate private health insurance and shape its Medicaid program. It then describes efforts to reform Medicaid through “executive federalism.” New York offers two major cautions for health reformers who support major federal initiatives to constrain the growth in health care costs. Health care is a key driver of state and local government costs. The dominance of Medicaid in New York's health insurance market, who it covers, and its sheer size in the state budget have tended to overshadow the private health insurance market. The tools of executive federalism represent potential mechanisms for shifting control of the Medicaid program to the executive branch. New York provides a cautionary note for health and long-term care reform at the national level.
Public Safety Policy in New York State
Authors: Smith Dennis C. , Horn Martin
Published: December 2012

This article concentrates on policies that are responses to crimes that fall within the purview of the “criminal justice system”: police, prosecutors, defense counsel, courts, juries, jails, and prisons, as well as alternatives to incarceration, including probation and parole. Successes in policing New York City must be a large part of the story of public safety in New York State. Federal and state constitutions shape the structure and practice of public safety policymaking, but local government charters also play some role. The new public safety functions do not fit the traditional categories of policing. The prospect of reform in public safety system performance in the state will depend on innovations that enable it to do more with less, always a political slogan, but often a hollow one.
Economic Development in New York State
Authors: Drapkin Jonathan
Published: December 2012

This article describes development in the economy of New York State. National and international trends play a large role in the decline of New York's manufacturing economy. New York's economy has been dominated by the financial and insurance industries. The New York State economic development climate is daunting to business, especially when viewed against several key criteria. The state has at least two distinct economies, with the upstate segment containing more of the intractable locus of economic challenge in recent years. Economic development approaches that engage private sector investment have over time come to be favored over those that rely on public funding alone. In the aftermath of the “Great Recession,” and in the context of the state's current fiscal condition, New York's competitive position in economic development remains difficult to improve.
When Do Things Die?
Authors: Gilmore Cody
Published: December 2012

This chapter examines when exactly a thing dies; analyzes the metaphysically necessary and sufficient conditions for a thing to die at a time; and discusses the relevant concepts of presentism, eternalism, the termination thesis, cryptobiosis, and the irreversibility of death. It suggests that being dead means having died and not having the capacity to live, and that terminus defines the time a thing dies.
Death and the Disintegration of Personality
Authors: Feldman Fred
Published: December 2012

This chapter examines the disintegration of personality associated with death. It analyzes the Personality Argument for the Termination Thesis, which is based on the notion that death deprives us of our personalities and that no one can survive the loss of personality. The chapter discusses the biological, psychological, and moral conceptions of personality and argues that the Personality Argument is not sound, concluding that if personality is a matter of species membership, then people can continue to exist even after death.
Personal Identity and the Survival of Death
Authors: Zimmerman Dean W.
Published: December 2012

This chapter explores the possibility of surviving death and the effect of death on personal identity. It highlights the difficulty of reaching agreement about the correct criterion of identity for persons and discusses the dualism or materialism criteria of identity for persons. The chapter argues that Proteanism should make it quite easy for us to survive death and contends that dualism presents no obstacle to the possibility of survival of death.
Death and Eternal Recurrence
Authors: Bergström Lars
Published: December 2012

This chapter, which examines the concept of eternal recurrence and its relation to death, also discusses the concepts of the recurrence in linear time, closed time, and the objective and subjective perspectives in eternal recurrence. It provides arguments to show that eternal recurrence is both desirable and possible, and that it is the only intelligible version of eternal life even if it presupposes a rather nonstandard conception of time.
The Timing Problem
Authors: Johansson Jens
Published: December 2012

This chapter, which examines the argument of Epicurus about the timing problem of death, clarifies the Epicurean challenge and identifies some merits and disadvantages of the various anti-Epicurean views. It also explains the concept of several relevant principles including atemporalism, subsequentism, priorism, concurrentism, and eternalism, arguing that the Epicurean argument and its premises are valid.
Retroactive Harms and Wrongs
Authors: Luper Steve
Published: December 2012

This chapter examines the concept of the so-called retroactive harms and wrongs related to death, explaining the principle of the immunity thesis which holds that nothing that happens after we are dead harms or benefits us. It presents a case against the existence of proactively harmful postmortem events and argues that an action taken after people die may wrong them retroactively by harming them or by interfering with their desires while they are alive.