The ontology of causal process theories

There is a widespread belief that the so-called process theories of causation developed by Wesley Salmon and Phil Dowe have given us an original account of what causation really is. In this paper, I show that this is a misconception. The notion of "causal process" does not offer us a new ontological account of causation. I make this argument by explicating the implicit ontological commitments in Salmon and Dowe's theories. From this, it is clear that Salmon's Mark Transmission Theory collapses to a counterfactual theory of causation, while the Conserved Quantity Theory collapses to David Fair's phsyicalist reduction of causation

The interpretation of spikes and trends in concentration of nitrate in polar ice cores, based on evidence from snow and atmospheric measurements

Nitrate is frequently measured in ice cores, but its interpretation remains immature. Using daily snow surface concentrations of nitrate at Halley (Antarctica) for 2004 - 2005, we show that sharp spikes (> factor 2) in nitrate concentration can occur from day to day. Some of these spikes will be preserved in ice cores. Many of them are associated with sharp increases in the concentration of sea salt in the snow. There is also a close association between the concentrations of aerosol nitrate and sea salt aerosol. This evidence is consistent with many of the spikes in deposited nitrate being due to the conversion or trapping of gas- phase nitrate, i. e. to enhanced deposition rather than enhanced atmospheric concentrations of NOy. Previously, sharp spikes in nitrate concentration (with concentration increases of up to a factor 4 seen in probably just one snowfall) have been assigned to sharp production events such as solar proton events (SPEs). We find that it is unlikely that SPEs can produce spikes of the kind seen. Taken together with our evidence that such spikes can be produced depositionally, we find that it is not possible to track past SPEs without carrying out a new multi- site and multi- analyte programme. Seasonal and interannual trends in nitrate concentration in cores from any single site cannot be interpreted in terms of production changes until the recycling of nitrate from central Antarctica to coastal Antarctica is better quantified. It might be possible to assess the interannual input of NOy to the Antarctic lower troposphere by using a network of cores to estimate variability in the total annual deposition across the continent (which we estimate to be 9 +/- 2 x 10(7) kg/a - as NO3-), but it will first have to be established that the outflow across the coast can be ignored

Penerapan Metode Analytical Hierarcy Process (Ahp) Pada Pemilihan Staf Laboratorium Komputer STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma Samarinda

Dalam perkembangannya STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma Samarinda dibantu unsur pelaksana akademik yang salah satunya adalah bagian laboratorium komputer. Tugas utama dari staf laboratorium komputer diantarannya: pelayanan administrasi praktikum, persiapan praktikum, pengrekrutan dan pembinaan asisten laboratorium komputer, memantau serta mengawasi pelaksanaan praktikum dan ujian praktikum. Mengingat pentingnya peranan staf laboratorium komputer sebagai salah satu elemen organisasi laboratorium komputer untuk pencapaian tujuan dan perkembangan STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma Samarinda. Dalam penentuan staf laboratorium komputer pihak manajemen mengalami kesulitan didalam menentukan staf yang tepat untuk diposisikan pada laboratorium komputer mengingat banyaknya pelamar dari tingkat pendidikan yang sama. Pemilihan Staf Laboratorium Komputer Pada STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma Samarinda dilakukan dengan metode Analytical Hierartical Process (AHP)

Aplikasi Pengelolaan Data Praktikum Laboratorium Komputer STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma Berbasis Intranet

UPT. Laboratorium komputer STMIK Widya Cipta Dharma merupakan sebuah unit kerja yang memberikan pelayanan akademik. Laboratorium Komputer mempunyai fungsi sebagai tempat proses pembelajaran. Dalam kegiatan praktikum pada laboratorium komputer mahasiswa menggunakan komputer tetap dalam praktikum mata kuliah tersebut karena data-data praktikum hanya ada pada komputer tersebut tanpa mempunyai penyimpanan data yang baik. Apabila mahasiswa maupun dosen ingin meminta data-data tersebut meraka harus menghubungi admin laboratorium tersebut mendapatkan data-data praktikum tersebut lalu membuka komputer mahasiswa tersebut untuk disalin data-datanya. Hal ini tidak efisien dalam melakukan pertukaran data ditambah komputer digunakan oleh banyak mahasiswa membuat data -data praktikum menumpuk dan dapat tercampur dengan data mahasiswa lain. Penelitian ini dibuat untuk mengatasi berbagai kendala yang dihadapi oleh Laboratorium Komputer STMIK WICIDA. Dalam membangun aplikasi ini menggunakan metode pengembangan sistem waterfall, metode pengujian blackbox dan pengujian beta, database MYSQL dan menggunakan bahasa pemrograman PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor), dreamweaver sebagai webeditor, apache sebagai webserver local, flowchart, Data Flow Diagram dan Entity Relationship Diagram sebagai alat bantu perancangan sistem. Dengan adanya aplikasi pengelolaan data praktikum berbasis intranet ini diharapkan dapat membantu laboratorium komputer STMIK WICIDA dan memberikan kemudahan dalam pengelolaan data praktikum

An optical fiber based interferometer to measure velocity profiles in sheared complex fluids

We describe an optical fiber based interferometer to measure velocity profiles in sheared complex fluids using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). After a review of the theoretical problem of DLS under shear, a detailed description of the setup is given. We outline the various experimental difficulties induced by refraction when using a Couette cell. We also show that homodyne DLS is not well suited to measure quantitative velocity profiles in narrow-gap Couette geometries. On the other hand, the heterodyne technique allows us to determine the velocity field inside the gap of a Couette cell. All the technical features of the setup, namely its spatial resolution ($\approx 50$--$100 \mu$m) and its temporal resolution ($\approx 1$ s per point, $\approx 1$ min per profile) are discussed, as well as the calibration procedure with a Newtonian fluid. As briefly shown on oil-in-water emulsions, such a setup permits one to record both velocity profiles and rheological data simultaneouslyComment: 13 pages, 16 figures, Submitted to Eur. Phys. J. A

Oxidative stress in the etiology of age-associated decline in glucose metabolism

One of the most common pathologies in aging humans is the development of glucose metabolism dysfunction. The high incidence of metabolic dysfunction, in particular type 2 diabetes mellitus, is a significant health and economic burden on the aging population. However, the mechanisms that regulate this age-related physiological decline, and thus potential preventative treatments, remain elusive. Even after accounting for age-related changes in adiposity, lean mass, blood lipids, etc., aging is an independent factor for reduced glucose tolerance and increased insulin resistance. Oxidative stress has been shown to have significant detrimental impacts on the regulation of glucose homeostasis in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, oxidative stress has been shown to be modulated by age and diet in several model systems. This review provides an overview of these data and addresses whether increases in oxidative stress with aging may be a primary determinant of age-related metabolic dysfunction

Velocity Profiles in Slowly Sheared Bubble Rafts

Measurements of average velocity profiles in a bubble raft subjected to slow, steady-shear demonstrate the coexistence between a flowing state and a jammed state similar to that observed for three-dimensional foams and emulsions [Coussot {\it et al,}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 88}, 218301 (2002)]. For sufficiently slow shear, the flow is generated by nonlinear topological rearrangements. We report on the connection between this short-time motion of the bubbles and the long-time averages. We find that velocity profiles for individual rearrangement events fluctuate, but a smooth, average velocity is reached after averaging over only a relatively few events.Comment: typos corrected, figures revised for clarit

Interdisciplinary (retail) research: The business of geography and the geography of business

NoAt the 2005 British Academy of Management conference several well-known economic geographers, including Neil Wrigley, Gordon Clark, and Susan Christopherson, called for management researchers to engage with economic geographers on interrelated geographical and managerial issues in the study of (retail) firms. In this commentary we reflect upon the present geography -management interface.We begin by considering the term `interdisciplinary research' and its relationship to any management - geography interface. This is followed by a context-specific discussion of international retailing and the role of research on the retail transnational corporation (TNC) in developing an interdisciplinary agenda. This commentary represents an initial more business and management focused response to the call from geography academics for more/better interdisciplinary research at the geography - management interface

Slow flows of an relativistic perfect fluid in a static gravitational field

Relativistic hydrodynamics of an isentropic fluid in a gravitational field is considered as the particular example from the family of Lagrangian hydrodynamic-type systems which possess an infinite set of integrals of motion due to the symmetry of Lagrangian with respect to relabeling of fluid particle labels. Flows with fixed topology of the vorticity are investigated in quasi-static regime, when deviations of the space-time metric and the density of fluid from the corresponding equilibrium configuration are negligibly small. On the base of the variational principle for frozen-in vortex lines dynamics, the equation of motion for a thin relativistic vortex filament is derived in the local induction approximation.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figur