Value and doubt: the persuasive power of 'authenticity' in the antiquities market

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Demystifying Emergence

Are the special sciences autonomous from physics? Those who say they are need to explain how dependent special science properties could feature in irreducible causal explanations, but that’s no easy task. The demands of a broadly physicalist worldview require that such properties are not only dependent on the physical, but also physically realized. Realized properties are derivative, so it’s natural to suppose that they have derivative causal powers. Correspondingly, philosophical orthodoxy has it that if we want special science properties to bestow genuinely new causal powers, we must reject physical realization and embrace a form of emergentism, in which such properties arise from the physical by mysterious brute determination. In this paper, I argue that contrary to this orthodoxy, there are physically realized properties that bestow new causal powers in relation to their realizers. The key to my proposal is to reject causal-functional accounts of realization and embrace a broader account that allows for the realization of shapes and patterns. Unlike functional properties, such properties are defined by qualitative, non-causal specifications, so realizing them does not consist in bestowing causal powers. This, I argue, allows for causal novelty of the strongest kind. I argue that the molecular geometry of H2O—a qualitative, multiply realizable property—plays an irreducible role in explaining its dipole moment, and thereby bestows novel powers. On my proposal, special science properties can have the kind of causal novelty traditionally associated with strong emergence, without any of the mystery

Potential of series hybrid drive systems to reduce fuel use and emissions in domestic vehicles : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Energy Development at Massey University

For the last 100 years the reciprocating internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicle and the fossil oil that it is reliant upon has dominated our transport culture. In terms of land-based domestic and commercial transport, we would be completely lost without it. Most goods and services are transported by it. We use it to get to work, pick up the children, do the shopping and for some of us the domestic vehicle is an extension of our personalities. It has become an indispensable business and recreational tool of modern contemporary society. The conventional ICE powered vehicle initially gave us freedom, the ability to go wherever and whenever we wanted and to do it relatively cheaply. Now, however, our ever-increasing search for more mobility and the transport of goods and services has imprisoned modern society into high levels of emissions, pollution, increasing oil dependence, oil depletion concerns and the creation of resource wars in search of more energy (oil) to pursue our need for travel, transportation and the proper running of a modern society. This is because transport in general registers the most rapid increases in energy consumption and remains almost entirely dependent on oil because of few substitution possibilities to less carbon intensive fuels (IEA, 2000b). In most affluent countries the ICE powered vehicle meets 75 to 80 percent of personal travel (Sperling, 1996a)

Category theory applied to a radically new but logically essential description of time and space

McTaggart's ideas on the unreality of time as expressed in "The Nature of Existence" have retained great interest for many years for scholars, academics and other philosophers. In this essay, there is a brief discussion which mentions some of the high points of this philosophical interest, and goes on to apply his ideas to modern physics and neuroscience. It does not discuss McTaggart's C and D series, but does emphasise how the use of derived versions of both his A and B series can be of great virtue in discussing both the abstract physics of time, and the present and future importance of McTaggart's ideas to the subject of time. Indeed an experiment using human volunteers and dynamic systems modelling which was carried out is described, which illustrates this fact. The Many Bubble Interpretation, which also derives from McTaggart's ideas, is discussed and various examples of its use and effectiveness are referred to. The Schrodinger Cat paradox is essentially resolved in principle, the quantum Zeno effect interpretable, Kwiat's recent result referred to, and the newly discovered reverse Stickgold effect described.\u

Using Inherent Judicial Power in a State-Level Budget Dispute

State courts are in financial crisis. Since the mid-1990s, state legislatures have allowed funding for their judicial systems to stagnate or dwindle. With diminished resources, state courts have struggled to provide adequate access to justice and dispute resolution. The solution to this crisis may lie in the doctrine of inherent judicial power. Courts have historically used inherent power to request additional funds from local legislative bodies for discrete expenditures. The use of inherent power to challenge the overall sufficiency of a judicial budget, however, has proven troubling. Under the current formulation of the inherent-power doctrine, a state court contesting the adequacy of a statewide judicial budget runs into two problems. First, by invoking its inherent power to compel additional funding, the court may usurp the appropriation power of the legislature. Second, state courts threaten their own legitimacy by taking a portion of the state budget out of the political process. In response to these problems, this Note proposes a reformulation of the inherent-power doctrine. Specifically, state courts should invoke inherent power against a legislature only under a standard of absolute necessity to perform the duties required by federal and state constitutional law. This new standard limits the use of inherent power to situations that threaten the judiciary\u27s ability to perform its constitutionally mandated functions. By cabining the permitted uses of inherent power, the standard respects the separation of powers and preserves the judiciary\u27s public legitimacy

Substrate specificity and structural investigation into PepO and PepW : two peptidases from Lactobacillus rhamnosus : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biochemistry at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The proteolytic systems of lactic acid bacteria have important roles in the maturation and flavour development of cheese. Lactic acid bacteria pepetidases contribute to the taste of cheese through the production of low-molecular weight peptides and free amino acids. Although some lactic acid bacteria peptidases have been structurally and enzymatically characterised for their substrate specificity, there are some that are yet to be completely biochemically characterised. The aim of the present study was to investigate the substrate specificity and three-dimensional structure of two peptidases that could potentially be used as a tool to modify and control cheese bitterness and possibly other flavour attributes from Lactobacillus rhamnosus, PepO and PepW. The pepW gene was successfully cloned from L. rhamnosus into an E. coli expression system. Recombinant PepW was purified to homogeneity and was shown to exist as a hexamer of 50 kDa subunits. Recombinant PepO was expressed from a previously established L. lactis expression system and purified to homogeneity. PepO was shown to exist as a 70 kDa monomer, and function as a metallopeptidase. Pepo and PepW were shown to selectively hydrolyse chymosin-derived bovine β- and κ-casein peptides, and casein peptides extracted from Cheddar cheese. One conclusive PepO cleavage site that had not been previously characterised was identified. This was the β-casein peptide bond between Leu₆-Asn₇. Several possible PepO and PepW cleavage sites in αs₁-, β- and κ- casein were identified, suggesting that PepO has a broad endopeptidase activity, whilst PepW has a specific exopeptidase activity. Pepo and PepW crystals were successfully grown for structure determination by x-ray crystallography. Native data sets were collected for both PepO and PepW, and derivative data were collected for PepO. Structure determination was attempted using Multiple Isomorphous Replacement and Molecular Replacement techniques. Results from the substrate specificity and structural investigation of the L. rhamnosus peptidases, PepO and PepW, are presented in this thesis