The tragedy of the canon; or,path dependence in the history and philosophy of science

We have previously argued that historical cases must be rendered canonical before they can plausibly serve as evidence for philosophical claims, where canonicity is established through a process of negotiation among historians and philosophers of science (Bolinska and Martin, 2020). Here, we extend this proposal by exploring how that negotiation might take place in practice. The working stock of historical examples that philosophers tend to employ has long been established informally, and, as a result, somewhat haphazardly. The composition of the historical canon of philosophy of science is therefore path dependent, and cases often become stock examples for reasons tangential to their appropriateness for the purposes at hand. We show how the lack of rigor around the canonization of case studies has muddied the waters in selected philosophical debates. This, in turn, lays the groundwork for proposing ways in which they can be improved.     

Optical monitoring of activity of many neurons in invertebrate ganglia during behaviors

Optical methods for monitoring neuron activity were developed because these methods lend themselves to simultaneous multiple-site measurements. With the use of new voltage-sensitive dyes, the dye-related pharmacology and photodynamic damage appear to be relatively unimportant. Using multiple-site measurements made with a 124-element photodiode array, we estimated that approximately 30 of the 200 neurons present in the Navanax buccal ganglion make action potentials during feeding and that approximately 300 of the 1100 neurons present in the Aplysia abdominal ganglion are active during the gill-withdrawal reflex. The fact that a light mechanical touch to the siphon skin activated such a large number of neurons in the abdominal ganglion suggests that understanding the neuronal basis of the gill-withdrawal reflex and its behavioral plasticity may be forbiddingly difficult.     

转变是北京持续发展的源动力

主要是被描述为由院所、高校为中心的技术主导型的创新体制向以企业为中心的市场主导型的创新体制的转变。北京是中国的文化和科技中心，北京的高等学府吸引了全国最优秀的人才，同时高校的设施也为开展研究工作提供了支撑。     

Balancing of flexible shafts: Minimizing the maximum residual vibrations in the sense of D-metric

Based on introducing the concept of the metric induced by a set of vectors, as well as minimizing the maximum amplitude of residual vibrations in the sense of this metric, an approach for determining the balance correction for flexible shafts is presented. The advantages of the proposed method are two-fold. Firstly, the approach is available when upper bound constraints on balance corrections exist, and the resulted balance correction is approximately optimal. Secondly, the balance correction can be easily calculated by solving a linear programming problem.     

Conservation status of threatened fishes in Warner Basin, Oregon

Two federally listed fishes, the Foskett speckled dace and Warner sucker, are endemic to Warner Basin in south central Oregon. The Foskett speckled dace is native only to a single spring in Coleman Valley. A nearby spring was stocked with dace in 1979 and 1980, and now provides a second population. The present numbers of dace probably are at their highest levels since settlement of the region. The Warner sucker historically occurred throughout much of the Warner Valley, but its distribution and abundance have been reduced by construction of reservoirs and irrigation dams and the introduction of predatory game fishes. Lentic habitats have become dominated by introduced fishes, particularly white crappie, black crappie, and brown bullhead. The largest remaining population of Warner suckers occurs in Hart Lake, where successful reproduction was documented but there is no evidence of recruitment to the adult population.     

Food habits of clouded salamanders ( Aneides ferreus ) in Curry County, Oregon (Amphibia: Caudata: Plethodontidae)

Stomach contents of 650 clouded salamanders ( Aneides ferreus ), collected monthly throughout the year from Curry County, Oregon, were examined. Samples from three age classes were involved: (1) 489 adults, (2) 131 juveniles, and (3) 30 hatchlings. Foods did not vary by sex, but did vary by age and by season. Hatchlings ate small items, particularly mites, springtails, flies, and small beetles. Juveniles fed mainly on flies, isopods (sowbugs), beetles, mites, and centipedes in winter; beetles, ants, and isopods in spring; ants and beetles in summer; and isopods, beetles, and ants in fall. Adults ate isopods and beetles as their major foods in winter, spring, and fall and isopods, ants, beetles, and earwigs in summer. Four species were exceedingly important as foods for these salamanders: an unidentified isopod, the snout beetle ( Trachyphloeus bifoveatus ), the European earwig ( Forficula auricularia ), and an ant ( Lasius alienus ).       

Notes on reproduction of the side-blotched lizard Uta stansburiana stansburiana in southwest Idaho

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} In 1968 and 1973 in southwestern Idaho, 275 Uta stansburiana were collected. Uta occupies low hills with rocky outcrops and flat sparse vegetation consisting of the following shrubs: Artemisia tridentata, Grayia spinosa, Atriplex confertifolia, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, and Atriplex canescens. Emergence from hibernation occurs from mid-March to early April and the first yolked follicles appear in early April, with oviducal eggs present in late April. Testicular cycle begins with the emergence of males, and spermatozoa are produced from April through July. Uta reaches sexual maturity in one year at a SVL of 40.0 mm in males and 43 mm in females. Overall clutch size is 3.75 eggs (1–2 clutches per year). Fat body size at emergence is not known, but what is present shows a decline in males and females until July, when a substantial increase occurs. Sex ratios are about 1:1 in all months and seasons except June 1968, according to chi-square analysis.       

Waterfowl distribution and abundance during spring migration in southern Oregon and northeastern California

We used aerial surveys to study abundance and distribution of waterfowl (ducks, geese, swans, and coots) during spring in southern Oregon and northeastern California (SONEC). Total waterfowl-use days in SONEC during the 119-day, 5 January–3 May, spring period was similar during 2002 (127,977,700) and 2003 (128,076,200) and averaged 1,075,900 birds per day (bpd); these estimates should be adjusted upward 4%–10% to account for areas not surveyed. Waterfowl abundance peaked in mid-March in both years: 2,095,700 in 2002 and 1,681,700 in 2003. Northern Pintail ( Anas acuta ) was the most abundant species in both years, accounting for 25.6% of the 2002 and 24.5% of the 2003 waterfowl-use days. Pintail abundance peaked during the 13 March survey at 689,300 in 2002 and 532,100 in 2003. All other dabbling ducks accounted for 27.6% and 28.6%, diving ducks for 13.5% and 9.2%, geese for 24.6% and 29.3%, swans for 2.8% and 1.9%, and coots for 5.8% and 6.4% of the spring waterfowl-use days in SONEC during 2002 and 2003, respectively. Although use days changed little for total waterfowl (+0.08%) and dabbling ducks (–0.1%), diving duck use was lower (–32%), and goose use days were greater (+19%) in 2003 than in 2002. Distribution was similar in both years, with the most waterfowl use in the Lower (66%) and Upper (14%) Klamath subregions; 2%–6% occurred in each of the other subregions. Although the Lower Klamath subregion received the greatest overall waterfowl use, distribution among subregions varied among species and surveys, and all subregions were important during some part of the spring for 1 or more species. Peak spring abundance in SONEC during 2002 and 2003 averaged 50.3% of the midwinter abundance in California (all survey regions) and southern Oregon (69-3 survey region) for all waterfowl, 46.1% for dabbling ducks, 62.4% for diving ducks, 68.8% for geese, 109.4% for swans, and 43.8% for coots. Each spring, 75% of all waterfowl use in SONEC occurred on federal, state, or Nature Conservancy lands (i.e., protected areas). On protected areas there was a higher percentage of dabbling ducks (80.5%), geese (70.5%), and coots (81.5%) than diving ducks (60.4%) and swans (49%). Waterfowl use of Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) averaged 42% greater during spring 2002–2003 (568,500 bpd) than during 1998–2001 (Gilmer et al. 2004). Numerous factors likely impacted magnitude and distribution of waterfowl use of SONEC during spring, including weather, waterfowl populations, SONEC habitat, and species ecology. SONEC is a critical spring staging area for waterfowl that winter in the Central Valley of California and other Pacific Flyway regions and should be a major focus area for waterfowl-habitat conservation efforts.