Linguistic experiments and ordinary language philosophy

J.L. Austin is regarded as having an especially acute ear for fine distinctions of meaning overlooked by other philosophers. Austin employs an informal experimental approach to gathering evidence in support of these fine distinctions in meaning, an approach that has become a standard technique for investigating meaning in both philosophy and linguistics. In this paper, we subject Austin's methods to formal experimental investigation. His methods produce mixed results: We find support for his most famous distinction, drawn on the basis of his `donkey stories', that `mistake' and `accident' apply to different cases, but not for some of his other attempts to distinguish the meaning of philosophically significant terms (such as `intentionally' and `deliberately'). We critically examine the methodology of informal experiments employed in ordinary language philosophy and much of contemporary philosophy of language and linguistics, and discuss the role that experimenter bias can play in influencing judgments about informal and formal linguistic experiments.

A theory of weekly specials

Multiproduct retailers facing similar costs and serving the same public commonly announce different weekly specials. These promotional prices also seem to evolve randomly over the weeks. Here, weekly specials are viewed as the strategic outcome of an oligopolistic price competition among multiproduct retail stores facing nonconvex costs. Existence of an equilibrium in mixed strategies is proven. ldentical stores serving the same public will never charge the same price vector with probability one (cross-store price dispersion). Mixed strategies can generate random price dispersion over time in the repeated version of the mode!.

Microcrédito emancipatório no nordeste do Brasil? : estudo de caso do Crediamigo Comunidade nos municípios de Caucaia-Ce e Maranguape-Ce

This piece of work consists in a study case of Crediamigo Comunidade, a product from the portfolio of Crediamigo Program of Banco do Nordeste, that uses the methodology of the Comunitary Banks in the concession of low amount loan to poor communities. The main question consists to understand how the Crediamigo Comunidade is characterized faced to the conflict of emancipatory versus liberal paradigms, that exists in the microcredit area. The main objective will analyze how the mechanisms: social capital, empowerment, formation to credit education and better conditions for economic and social issues promoted in the specific objectives of this product, before the dipute between these paradigms. The method adopted analyzed, in a longitudinal perspective, the three years of the product s existence (jun/2005 to jul 2008). Primary and secondary data made possible to identify qualitatively, emancipatory and non emancipatory attributes in the actions and results of Crediamigo Comunidade. It is concluded that the Crediamigo Comunidade works in a liberal logic of the Crediamigo Program, consequently, his focus is not in the emancipation of the poorest clients. The empowerment is individual and not communitary or Freiriano ; the social capital relations enlarges itself in its bounding and bridging ties, but not in its linkage ties, to have access to politic actors and consequently communitary strengthen. All the formation in the Crediamigo is strictly commercial. These characteristics happen by the liberal paradigm in the Crediamigo management and of all of its products, including the Crediamigo Comunidade

Interleukin 18 messenger RNA and proIL-18 protein expression in chorioamniotic membranes from pregnant women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Competitividad y regulaciones laborales

Incluye Bibliografía

Sero-epidemiological survey for brucellosis, leptospirosis, and toxoplasmosis in free-ranging Alouatta caraya and Callithrix penicillata from Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Invasion of differentiated intestinal caco-2 cells is a sporadic property among atypical enteropathogenic escherichia coli strains carrying common intimin subtypes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Asymmetrical Dependence Between a Neotropical Mistletoe and its Avian Seed Disperser

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The intrinsic growth rate as a predictor of population viability under climate warming

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Microscopic Evidence of the Opportunistic Reproductive Strategy and Early Sexual Maturation of the Small-Sized Characin Knodus moenkhausii (Characidae, Pisces)

We investigated the reproductive biology of Knodus moenkhausii, an abundantsmall-sized characin fish with broad occurrence in the Parana River basin, Bra-zil. Specimens were collected monthly to determine fecundity, length at firstmaturity, reproductive period and spawning type. Gonads were macroscopically classified according to their form, size and texture in three different stages(immature, maturing or mature). Histological procedures were conducted toconfirm gonadal developmental stages, and it was possible to notice thatmaturing females actually presented atretic oocytes, and all males that weremacroscopically classified as immature, maturing and mature actually presentedabundant spermatozoa in their gonads. Because of these discrepancies, a reclas-sification of gonadal maturations stages was needed after histological analysis,reinforcing its importance to studies on the reproduction of small characins.Reproduction occurred throughout the year though with two peaks. The lengthof the smallest mature individuals was 13 mm SL for males and 24 mm SL for females. Despite presenting relatively small batch fecundity, some life historytraits such as early reproduction, multiple spawning throughout the year, inassociation with known opportunistic feeding habits, explain the high abun-dance of this species in locations where it occurs.

Inducción de la germinación y propagación "in vitro" de semillas de Cymodocea nodosa

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran canaria. Departamento de Bioloogía. Programa de Doctorado: Ecología y Gestión de los recursos vivos marinos ;2002-2004

Treatment of multiple adjacent Miller class I and II gingival recessions with a Modified Coronally Advanced Tunnel (MCAT) technique and a collagen matrix or palatal connective tissue graft: a randomized, controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND A newly developed collagen matrix (CM) of porcine origin has been shown to represent a potential alternative to palatal connective tissue grafts (CTG) for the treatment of single Miller Class I and II gingival recessions when used in conjunction with a coronally advanced flap (CAF). However, at present it remains unknown to what extent CM may represent a valuable alternative to CTG in the treatment of Miller Class I and II multiple adjacent gingival recessions (MAGR). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes following treatment of Miller Class I and II MAGR using the modified coronally advanced tunnel technique (MCAT) in conjunction with either CM or CTG. METHODS Twenty-two patients with a total of 156 Miller Class I and II gingival recessions were included in this study. Recessions were randomly treated according to a split-mouth design by means of MCAT + CM (test) or MCAT + CTG (control). The following measurements were recorded at baseline (i.e. prior to surgery) and at 12 months: Gingival Recession Depth (GRD), Probing Pocket Depth (PD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Keratinized Tissue Width (KTW), Gingival Recession Width (GRW) and Gingival Thickness (GT). GT was measured 3-mm apical to the gingival margin. Patient acceptance was recorded using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The primary outcome variable was Complete Root Coverage (CRC), secondary outcomes were Mean Root Coverage (MRC), change in KTW, GT, patient acceptance and duration of surgery. RESULTS Healing was uneventful in both groups. No adverse reactions at any of the sites were observed. At 12 months, both treatments resulted in statistically significant improvements of CRC, MRC, KTW and GT compared with baseline (p < 0.05). CRC was found at 42% of test sites and at 85% of control sites respectively (p < 0.05). MRC measured 71 ± 21% mm at test sites versus 90 ± 18% mm at control sites (p < 0.05). Mean KTW measured 2.4 ± 0.7 mm at test sites versus 2.7 ± 0.8 mm at control sites (p > 0.05). At test sites, GT values changed from 0.8 ± 0.2 to 1.0 ± 0.3 mm, and at control sites from 0.8 ± 0.3 to 1.3 ± 0.4 mm (p < 0.05). Duration of surgery and patient morbidity was statistically significantly lower in the test compared with the control group respectively (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The present findings indicate that the use of CM may represent an alternative to CTG by reducing surgical time and patient morbidity, but yielded lower CRC than CTG in the treatment of Miller Class I and II MAGR when used in conjunction with MCAT.

The Hidden World of Multilateralism? Treaty Commitments of Newly Democratized States in Europe

Why do new EU democracies engage in multilateralism? The dominant explanation proposes that new democracies use international treaties to lock in domestic reforms. This article offers a novel explanation as to why new EU democracies participate in multilateral treaties. We argue that ratifying a treaty serves three external signaling purposes (addressing recognition concerns; increasing strategic autonomy, and pleasing the EU). We test our argument through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. First, we apply event history analysis. Drawing on a new ratification data set comprising 76 multilateral treaties, we illustrate the prominent role of new EU democracies in multilateralism as compared to other new democracies. Second, to assess the importance of external signaling in the decision to ratify multilateral treaties, we examine parliamentary ratification debates in selected Central and Eastern European countries. Third, we compare parliamentary discussions across European and non-European new democracies to demonstrate the different motives driving their approaches toward multilateralism.