In this paper significant challenges are raised with respect to the view that explanation essentially involves unification. These objections are raised specifically with respect to the well-known versions of unificationism developed and defended by Michael Friedman and Philip Kitcher. The objections involve the explanatory regress argument and the concepts of reduction and scientific understanding. Essentially, the contention made here is that these versions of unificationism wrongly assume that reduction secures understanding.
This paper discusses the phenomenon of linguistic taboo. It contrasts that phenomenon with the truth-conditional and non-truth-conditional dimensions of meaning, paying particular attention to slurs and coarseness. It then highlights the peculiarities of taboo and its meta-semantic repercussions: taboo is a meaning-related feature that is nevertheless directly associated with the tokening process. In the conclusion, it gestures to the role of taboo within a theory of linguistic action and the standard framework for conversational exchanges. On these results, I am going to end by looking at some of the harms that epistemic injustice inflicts upon its victims.
Treated water from wastewater treatment plants that is increasingly used for irrigation may contain pharmaceuticals and, thus, contaminate soils. Therefore, this study focused on the impact of soil conditions on the root uptake of selected pharmaceuticals and their transformation in a chosen soil–plant system. Green pea plants were planted in 3 soils. Plants were initially irrigated with tap water. Next, they were irrigated for 20 days with a solution of either atenolol (ATE), sulfamethoxazole (SUL), carbamazepine (CAR), or all of these three compounds. The concentrations of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites [atenolol acid (AAC), N1-acetyl sulfamethoxazole (N1AS), N4-acetyl sulfamethoxazole (N4AS), carbamazepine 10,11-epoxide (EPC), 10,11-dihydrocarbamazepine (DHC), trans-10,11- dihydro-10,11-dihydroxy carbamazepine (RTC), and oxcarbazepine (OXC)] in soils and plant tissues were evaluated after harvest. The study confirmed high (CAR), moderate (ATE, AAC, SUL), and minor (N4AC) root uptake of the studied compounds by the green pea plants, nonrestricted transfer of the CAR species into the different plant tissues, and a very high efficiency in metabolizing CAR in the stems and leaves. The results showed neither a synergic nor competitive influence of the application of all compounds in the solution on their uptake by plants. The statistical analysis proved the negative relationships between the CAR sorption coefficients and the concentrations of CAR, EPC, and OXC in the roots (R = –0.916, –0.932, and –0.925, respectively) and stems (R = –0.837, –0.844, and –0.847, respectively).
The paper reviews recent climate change impact studies for the Slovak National Climate Program (SNKP). Basic adaptation strategies are also discussed. Priorities for future research within the SNKP are suggested. and Článok prináša prehľad o metodických postupoch, používaných v súčasnosti na určovanie možného vplyvu zmeny klímy na odtokové procesy. Nadväzuje pritom na prehľad uvedený v prácach S z o l g a y, et al. (1997), S z o l g a y a H l a v č o v á (2000), H l a v č o v á, et al. (2000) a sústreďuje sa najmä na pokrok v uvedenej problematike za posledné 4 roky, dokumentovaný na základe publikácií v niektorých vedúcich karentovaných časopisoch a výsledkov správy IPCC. Identifikuje smery výskumu v oblasti analýzy časových radov pre posudzovanie možnej zmeny podmienok tvorby odtoku, ako aj v oblasti využívania závislostí medzi odtokom a jeho podmieňujúcimi činiteľmi na určovanie možnej zmeny odtoku v dôsledku klimatickej zmeny.
This study examines the problem of flow resistance due to rigid vegetation in open channel flow. The reliability of the conventional flow resistance equations (i.e. Keulegan, Manning and Chézy-Bazin) for vegetated flows at high submergence, i.e. h/k >5, (where h = flow depth and k = vegetation height) is assessed. Several modern flow resistance equations based on a two-layer approach are examined, showing that they transform into the conventional equations at high submergences. To compare the conventional flow resistance equations at high submergences, an experimental methodology is proposed and applied to the experimental data reported in the literature and collected for this study. The results demonstrate the reliability of the Keulegan equation in predicting the flow resistance. Based on the obtained results, a model to evaluate the Nikuradse equivalent sand-grain roughness, kN, starting from the vegetation height and density, is proposed and tested.
Presented study is aimed at using additional information to improve process represen-tativity of hydrological modelling. The study region is the Haute-Mentue catchment lo-cated in the western part of Switzerland, 20 km north of Lausanne. Previous research in this catchment allowed improving of the understanding of the runoff generation by combining point soil moisture measurements (TDR) and integrating measurements both at the hillslope scale (dye tracing) and at the catchment scale (environmental tracing). In this work, environmental tracing information will be integrated into a semi-distributed hydrological model, which is a modified version of TOPMODEL taking into account a rapid stormflow generation above a less permeable soil horizon. Additional information has been incorporated by using a version of simulated annealing adapted for multi-criteria optimisation. and Štúdia je venovaná využitiu dodatkových informácií pri reálnejšej simulácii hydrologických procesov v zrážkovo-odtokovom modeli. Študovanou oblasťou je povodie Haute-Mentue, ležiace v západnej časti Švajčiarska, 20 km od Lausanne. Predchádzajúci výskum v tomto povodí, založený na kombinácii bodových meraní (TDR) a integrovaných meraní v mierke svahu (farbiace skúšky) a povodia (prirodzené stopovače), zlepšil vedomosti o tvorbe odtoku. V tejto štúdii sú informácie získané prirodzenými stopovačmi použité pri posudzovaní výsledkov simulácie odtoku pomocou semidistribuovaného hydrologického modelu (modifikovaná verzia modelu TOPMODEL, ktorá uvažuje s mechanizmom tvorby odtoku nasýtením nad vrstvou pôdy s nižšou priepustnosťou). Ďalšou dodatkovou informáciou boli výsledky automatickej optimalizácie parametrov modelu pmocou metódy vychádzajúcej z analógie medzi optimalizáciou parametrov modelu a rozdelením častíc v tuhnúcej kvapaline (tzv. simulated annealing), adaptovanej na optimalizáciu podľa viacerých kritérií.
John MacFarlane argues against objectivism about ''tasty''/''not tasty'' in the following way. If objectivism were true then, given that speakers use ''tasty''/''not tasty'' in accordance with a rule, TP, speakers would be using an evidently unreliable method to form judgements and make claims about what is tasty. Since this is implausible, objectivism must be false. In this paper, I describe a context in which speakers deviate from TP. I argue that MacFarlane’s argument against objectivism fails when applied to uses of ''not tasty'' within this context. So objectivism about ''not tasty'' is still a viable position within this context., John MacFarlane argumentuje proti objektivismu o ''chutném'' / ''ne chutném'' následujícím způsobem. Pokud by objektivismus byl pravdivý, vzhledem k tomu, že reproduktory používají ''chutné'' / ''ne chutné'' v souladu s pravidly TP, mluvčí by používali zjevně nespolehlivou metodu k tomu, aby vytvořili soudy a prohlásili, co je chutné. Protože to je nepravděpodobné, objektivismus musí být falešný. V tomto článku popisuji kontext, ve kterém se mluvčí odchýlí od TP. Argumentuji, že argument MacFarlane proti objektivismu selhal, když se v tomto kontextu vztahuje k použití ''ne chutných''. Tak objektivismus ''ne chutné'' je stále životaschopný postoj v tomto kontextu., and Alexi Davies
In bare soils of semi-arid areas, surface crusting is a rather common phenomenon due to the impact of raindrops. Water infiltration measurements under ponding conditions are becoming largely applied techniques for an approximate characterization of crusted soils. In this study, the impact of crusting on soil hydraulic conductivity was assessed in a Mediterranean vineyard (western Sicily, Italy) under conventional tillage. The BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters) algorithm was applied to the infiltration data to obtain the hydraulic conductivity of crusted and uncrusted soils. Soil hydraulic conductivity was found to vary during the year and also spatially (i.e., rows vs. interrows) due to crusting, tillage and vegetation cover. A 55 mm rainfall event resulted in a decrease of the saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, Ks, by a factor of 1.6 in the inter-row areas, due to the formation of a crusted layer at the surface. The same rainfall event did not determine a Ks reduction in the row areas (i.e., Ks decreased by a non-significant factor of 1.05) because the vegetation cover intercepted the raindrops and therefore prevented alteration of the soil surface. The
developed ring insertion methodology on crusted soil, implying pre-moistening through the periphery of the sampled surface, together with the very small insertion depth of the ring (0.01 m), prevented visible fractures. Consequently, Beerkan tests carried out along and between the vine-rows and data analysis by the BEST algorithm allowed to assess crusting-dependent reductions in hydraulic conductivity with extemporaneous measurements alone. The reliability of the tested technique was also confirmed by the results of the numerical simulation of the infiltration process in a crusted soil. Testing the Beerkan infiltration run in other crusted soils and establishing comparisons with other experimental methodologies
appear advisable to increase confidence on the reliability of the method that seems suitable for simple characterization of crusted soils.
The precise rainfall estimate with appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions is a key input to distributed hydrological models. However, networks of rain gauges are often sparsely distributed in developing countries. To overcome such limitations, this study used some of the existing gridded rainfall products to simulate streamflow. Four fridded rainfall products, including APHRODITE, CFSR, PERSIANN, and TRMM, were used as input to the SWAT distributed hydrological model in order to simulate streamflow over the Srepok River Catchment in Vietnam. Besides that, the available rain gauges data were also used for comparison. Amongst the four different datasets, the TRMM and APHRODITE data show their best match to rain gauges data in simulating the daily and monthly streamflow with satisfactory precision in the 2000–2006 period. The result indicates that the TRMM and APHRODITE data have potential applications
in driving hydrological model and water resources management in data-scarce and ungauged areas in Vietnam.