Reply to Nathan: How to reconstruct the causal argument

Nicholas Nathan tries to resist the current version of the causal argument for sense-data in two ways. First he suggests that, on what he considers to be the correct re-construction of the argument, it equivocates on the sense of proximate cause. Second he defends a form of disjunctivism, by claiming that there might be an extra mechanism involved in producing veridical hallucination, that is not present in perception. I argue that Nathan’s reconstruction of the argument is not the appropriate one, and that, properly interpreted, the argument does not equivocate on proximate cause. Furthermore, I claim that his postulation of a modified mechanism for hallucinations is implausibly ad hoc.     

Recent changes in A-level Mathematics: is the availability and uptake of mechanics declining yet more?

In the past 6 years changes have occurred in GCE A-levels. Inparticular, there have been several major changes in A-levelMathematics courses. As engineering students are usually requiredto have studied A-level Mathematics, or its equivalent, thesechanges have had an effect on their prior mathematical knowledge.Moreover, engineering students traditionally obtained a goodgrounding in mechanics as part of their A-level Mathematicsqualification. However, mechanics, which was once included inthe core syllabus, is now optional. This article investigatesthe current availability and uptake of mechanics modules withinA-level Mathematics courses in schools. Comparisons are drawnbetween these results and results of a survey of schools in2004 and surveys of first year engineering students conductedin 2004 and 2005. It is found that there is a decline in theavailability of mechanics modules and the uptake of more thanone mechanics module has also decreased. The implications ofthese findings for engineering educators are discussed.     

Selective excitation effects in microwave optical double resonance and phosphorescence spectroscopy of molecular crystals

The photoexcitation routes used to produce molecular crystal, triplet states are shown to have important optical and microwave spectral consequences. 2-benzoylpyridine crystals at 4.2 K have T₁ → S₀ phosphorescence spectra showing line width dependence on whether initial production of the T₁ state is through direct T₁ → S₀ absorption, or through S₁ ← S₀ absorption followed by S₁ → T₁ intersystem crossing. Striking differences are seen in the optically detected zero-field resonance spectra.     

The numbers of chiral and achiral alkanes and monosubstituted alkanes

Whereas the theory for the enumeration of the optical isomers of the lakyl radicals and the alkanes has long been understood, this is not the case for the corresponding archiral isomers. We present for the first time recurrence formulae for counting the number of archiral isomers of the alkyl radicals and the alkanes. For chiral and archiral alkanes and monosubstituted alkanes, numerical results up to C₁₄ are tabulated.After presenting the history of the problem and the necessary definitions, we proceed to derive functional equations on the various generating functions, which readily yield the more explicit recurrence formulae usefule for numerical calculations. In the process, we first re-derive Pólya's expression for planted steric trees using his classical enumeration theorem. This result is then extended to the enumeration of free steric trees using the now standard tree-counting method due to Otter and known as a dissimilarity characteristic equation.By definition, a steric tree is a quartic tree (all points having degree 1 or 4) in which the four neighbors of every carbon point are given a tetrahedral configuration. Building on the methods of the first two authors for counting chiral and archiral trees in the plane, we obtain the formula for counting achiral steric trees, thus setting a problem first enunciated by van't Hoff and Le Bel in 1874.     

Micelle studies using a metal ion/murexide indicator system

Summary Complex formation between divalent metal ions and the hydrophilic murexide anion in the presence of anionic micelles has been employed to study aspects of micelle formation, the binding of divalent metal ions to micelles, and the kinetics of metal-complex formation in the presence of micelles.

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Zusammenfassung Die Komplexbildung zweiwertiger Metallionen mit dem hydrophilen Indikator Murexid wurde in Gegenwart anionischer Mizellen untersucht. Die Indikatorreaktion wurde benutzt, um Aussagen über Mizellbildung, Bindung zweiwertiger Metallionen an Mizellen und die Kinetik der Metallkomplexbildung bei Anwesenheit von Mizellen zu erhalten.

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With 8 figures and 1 table

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Dedicated to Prof.G. Rehage on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Phototaxis in Euglena. V. Photosuppression of phototactic activity by blue light

Abstract— The phototactic response of Euglena gracilis is suppressed when the organisms are exposed to bright light of wavelength less than 650 nm. Activity returns in the dark, approximately 40 min being required for full restoration. Action spectral measurements demonstrate that the receptor pigment which mediates the suppression response may be a flavoprotein. Evidence is presented which indicates that photosuppression involves a direct action on the photo-tactic apparatus, perhaps a photobleaching of the tactic photoreceptor pigment.     

A selective gas chromatographic detector for polynuclear aromatics based on ultraviolet fluorescence

A vapor-phase fluorescence detector for the analysis of mixtures of polynuclear aromatic ring systems has been developed. This system utilizes wide bandpass excitation and wide band emission filters, thus increasing sensitivity and decreasing the complexity of previously designed instruments. The sensitivity of the detector has been demonstrated to be at the nanogram level with reasonable precision.