Cardinal Aim Research Articles

Touching Imagination of Blind People: A Philosophical Perspective of Art

The cardinal aim of this article is to explore the philosophical elements in the literary scholarship of art and design by taking into account the specific theoretical perspectives and frameworks of representation, expressionism, form, and aestheticism. The relationship between art and philosophy is of great importance. In this study, the main objective of the researcher is to divulge blind people’s way of perceiving as well as imagining this world. The panoramic view of such people’s minds is portrayed in the particular artwork that is carried out on the basic parameters of the philosophy of art. The research also indicates how a piece of artwork in the domain of art and design can be proved very helpful as a tool to create as well as understand a particular situation while having some specific meanings. The symbolic and thematic concerns of the philosophy of artwork are also part of this research. This study concludes that the philosophy of art can help to depict a nice piece of artwork that can be further explored and analyzed while taking into account some particular critical approaches such as representation, expression, firmness, and aestheticism to unearth the hidden meanings, themes, and symbols. The symbolic significance of artworks within the paradigms of philosophy has never been ignored in any era.

An assessment of the linkages between the construction and other sectors of the Nigerian economy

PurposeThe construction sector (CNS) occupies a very unique position in any economy depending on whether developed or developing economy. The size and linkages of the CNS are expected to be high to help push or pull the economy from developing to developed economy through elaborate forward and backward linkages, a cardinal aim of developing economies. This paper aims to investigate the forward and backward linkages of the CNS in the Nigerian economy.Design/methodology/approachIn contrast to the traditional input–output analysis to assess sectoral economic performance and production interdependence, this paper used econometric techniques, including unit root test, cointegration test and Granger causality test to analyze the data. Time-series data (TSD) for the study were extracted from United Nations Statistical Department database.FindingsThe result indicated that the CNS has low forward linkages but high backward linkages to virtually all the sectors of the Nigerian economy. Thus, the outputs of construction mainly satisfy the manufacturing and other activities.Originality/valueThe paper gives an insight into the construction on backward linkages but less extensive forward linkages. The paper recommends a massive local content development of sector to deepen backward and forward linkages and thus helps pull or push weak sectors out of stagnation.

Mapping the research trends of third language acquisition: A bibliometric analysis based on Scopus.

L3 acquisition is gaining prominence in the academic community. The cardinal aim of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of research on L3 acquisition. 425 documents from the Scopus database were analyzed with Bibliometrix. To gain a general and systematic overview of research on L3 acquisition, we grounded our study on three main levels of bibliometric analysis: performance analysis, collaboration analysis, and thematic map. By doing so, we identified the most influential sources, authors, affiliations, countries, and documents, the scientific network among different constituents, as well as the evolution of research trends. The results suggest that L3 acquisition has experienced three periods: initial phase (1984-2008), development phase (2009-2014), and burst phase (2015-2022). The results also indicate that: (1) The International Journal of Multilingualism is the most steady source contributing to this field. (2) Relevant contributors for each period are recognized, including established and emerging researchers. (3) European countries such as Spain, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, and Poland are at the forefront of publication. (4) Collaboration increases over time but is becoming increasingly oriented in European and Anglophone countries. (5) The research hotspots have shifted throughout time, encompass a broad range of fields, and continue to grow. The study results provide insights into the evolving trends of L3 acquisition studies and data to assist researchers in identifying research gaps.

Regression Analysis on Compaction Characteristics of Sand Clay Soils

Soil compaction is one of the major geo technical engineering applications in infrastructure development of the nation. Large volumes of soil are used in the construction of flyovers, earth dams, and railways. There is a need to understand comprehensively in a unified and coherent manner. Thus the knowledge of compaction behavior and its characteristics of fine grained soils at different compaction energies assume great importance from they viewpoint of practical significant. In the present work, compaction parameters such as (MDD) (max) and optimum moisture content (OMC) care determined at various compaction energies by conducting the laboratory compaction tests. In the field, the compaction of soils usually involves using different compaction energies. A limited experimental investigation has been taken up in the present study. The cardinal aim of the present study is to focus on effect of compaction energy on the behavior and compaction characteristics and unconfined compressive strength (qu) of soils.

Assessment of Solid Waste Generation and Management in Eziobodo Community, Imo State, Nigeria

Solid wastes management is a major problem that has reached alarming proportions requiring drastic measures. The increasing difficulty in managing wastes in Nigeria has become one of the most intractable environmental issues. There is unprecedented increase in the rate of wastes generated by the residents. The cardinal aim of the study is to “ascertain the assessment of solid waste management generated in Eziobodo community, Owerri west, Imo state, Nigeria”. To achieve this aim, 140 copies of questionnaires were administered to the residents of Eziobodo community selected at random sampling. Of these, 112 copies of the questionnaire (80.0%) were returned and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed by simple frequency and presented by percentage. The study revealed among others that: residential buildings accounts for the highest generation source of solid wastes in the community and the solid wastes were predominantly nylon/nylon bags/ nylon sachets; food waste, plastic can/rubbers arranged in their order of severity. Consequently, the effect of the solid waste in the community were; wide and easy spread of disease vectors, soil pollution and easy breed of flies, rats and mosquitoes. Hence the study recommends, sorting of solid waste before dumping, provision of adequate skips and dustbins and ensuring regular collection of wastes. Finally, potential for a sustainable approach to management of solid wastes such as recycling, reuse, energy recovery and waste reduction.

Discourses of Corruption in Africa: Between the Colonial Past and the Decolonizing Present

:To civilize and rescue certain populations from self-destruction was a cardinal aim of colonization, which reflected the supposition that colonized people were evolutionarily, culturally, intellectually, and morally deficient and therefore incapable of attaining advanced levels of sociopolitical organization. This article explores how contemporary discourses of corruption in Africa echo these discredited narratives, which I critically analyze using a combination of postcolonial and poststructuralist approaches to discourse as an ideational structure. I conclude with two broad arguments: first, that the focus of these narratives on the perceived moral deficiencies of so-called African leaders misrepresents complex historical, social, and structural conditions; second, that, by constantly questioning Africans' capacity to govern themselves, these narratives sabotage efforts toward decolonization while providing subtextual justifications for continued neocolonial relations between the West and Africa.

Social Support, Self-Esteem and Quality of Life among People Living With HIV/AIDS in Jammu & Kashmir India

Background: The cardinal aim of the present study was to assess the level of social support, self esteem and quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Jammu and Kashmir State of India. Further, the study strived to explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Method: The study consists a sample of 460 AIDS patients selected through purposive sampling technique, out of them 177 (38.3%) were male, 283 (61.5%) were female patients; 295 (64.1%) were married and 165 (35.9%) were unmarried. Measures included Enriched Social Support Inventory by Mitchell et al., (2003), Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (1965) and Quality of Life Scale by Sharma & Nasreen (2014). For the statistical analysis of data Mean, Standard deviation, Frequency distribution, t-test, one way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and Scheffe’s post hoc test was applied by SPSS 20.0 version. Findings: The findings illustrated that majority of patients have poor social support, lower self-esteem and poor quality of life; also it reveals that patient’s social support, and self-esteem differs by age, occupation, duration of illness, gender, and marital status. However their quality of life differs only by their age, occupation, duration of illness, and marital status. Further the result shows social support and self-esteem are positively correlated with quality of life. Background: The cardinal aim of the present study was to assess the level of social support, self esteem and quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Jammu and Kashmir State of India. Further, the study strived to explore the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Method: The study consists a sample of 460 AIDS patients selected through purposive sampling technique, out of them 177 (38.3%) were male, 283 (61.5%) were female patients; 295 (64.1%) were married and 165 (35.9%) were unmarried. Measures included Enriched Social Support Inventory by Mitchell et al., (2003), Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (1965) and Quality of Life Scale by Sharma & Nasreen (2014). For the statistical analysis of data Mean, Standard deviation, Frequency distribution, t-test, one way analysis of variance, correlation analysis and Scheffe’s post hoc test was applied by SPSS 20.0 version. Findings: The findings illustrated that majority of patients have poor social support, lower self-esteem and poor quality of life; also it reveals that patient’s social support, and self-esteem differs by age, occupation, duration of illness, gender, and marital status. However their quality of life differs only by their age, occupation, duration of illness, and marital status. Further the result shows social support and self-esteem are positively correlated with quality of life.

Editorial Note: Suffrage and Beyond: Celebrating Women's History

Editorial NoteSuffrage and Beyond: Celebrating Women's History Elisa Camiscioli and Jean H. Quataert 2020 is the centennial year of the granting of women's suffrage in the United States through state ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Many diverse celebrations are planned to commemorate the anniversary, from museum exhibits and symposia to workshops and concerts. Indeed, as we write, local singers in Binghamton, New York already performed a concert called "Women of Note," featuring music composed by women and highlighting suffragist songs. The anniversary is a milestone of sorts. Suffrage was a cardinal aim of feminist mobilizations across the globe over the past two centuries, and the topic has spurred a vibrant yet increasingly critical historiography. With this issue, the JWH brings the insights of women's historians to the celebration. We open with a Special Forum that asks, provocatively, "What Difference Did the Nineteenth Amendment Make?" The Forum is guest edited by Liette Gidlow who proposed, organized, and edited it. She brings together six leading women's historians who write about the topic from different regional, class, and race perspectives. As Gidlow writes in her introduction, the authors extend the moment of 1920 "both backward and forward in time," inserting the suffrage question into the history of US imperial expansion and exploring the meanings of inclusion in—and exclusion from—the nation as the ranks of the voting public expanded. Each contribution to the Forum offers valuable documentary and historiographical details in a length easily adaptable for teaching purposes. Lori D. Ginzberg writes from the perspective of the women advocates themselves. She shows that over the decades, the consistent call for the women's vote reflected different rationales. She explores a "radical reimagining of political, religious, and marital hierarchies" inherent in suffrage claims in the antebellum era. She then examines the compromises suffrage advocates accepted around the turn of the century, a "tactical shift" that required concessions to white supremacy and to notions of women's purity. These political accommodations, Ginzberg writes, made suffrage "mainstream, respectable, and safe," setting the stage for 1920 itself—although the vote "left many things unsorted." Rosalyn Terborg-Penn looks at the outcome for African American women. Terborg-Penn, recently deceased, was a pioneer in the field of African American women's suffrage history, and Gidlow's introduction includes a fitting tribute to her pathfinding scholarship and their collaboration in this Special Forum. In her essay, Terborg-Penn examines the fraught history of suffrage for Black women and men who, soon after [End Page 7] ratification, lost the right to vote in the South. Her main story deals with Black women's formative role in the women's suffrage movement prior to 1920 and their subsequent mobilization strategies for the ballot through the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. Looking outside the formal borders of the United States, Rumi Yasutake takes us to Hawai'i, at the time a US territory. She focuses on Native Hawaiian women suffragists who seized the vote as a "means to recover their political and economic rights lost in the modern American system," including the right to hold office. In the next contribution by Cathleen D. Cahill, the vote is examined in the longer context of Native American history. Cahill explores the topic through the writings of two Native feminist intellectuals who creatively intertwined citizenship with sovereignty for Native Nations. Gidlow's own essay rounds out the Special Forum. She provides trenchant historical reassessment of the many sides to the "rise of the 'Women's Vote.'" In her telling, suffrage helped revive the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; it transformed a piecemeal strategy known as the "white primary" into a uniform policy that effectively barred "Black voters from local Democratic Party organizations"; turned the Republican Party after 1965 into a white party when southern white conservative Democrats defected to it; and shaped the "racial politics of the feminist movements." Since 1976, the women's vote, Gidlow observes, elevated Black women into a key constituency of the Democratic Party—on full display in the 2018 midterm elections in the Trump era. This issue also includes three article-length pieces. As in the Special Forum on women's suffrage...

A physical equation based image steganography with electro-magnetic embedding

Steganography is adjudged to be a boon in the field of global conveyance of sensitive information. In this paper, a novel approach is proffered where all the ensued methods are epitomized in the dimensions of physics. The cardinal aim is to promote data hiding in terms of the explicit arena of applicability concerning physics. The initial step proceeds with the application of Motion Scrambling procedure. This is done by customizing the Power Modulus Scrambling (PMS) method in such a way that it uses some of the illustrious conventions from physics to procreate unique focal values. These values, in turn administer the scrambling methodology. The Electro-magnetic insertion technique then exerts specific salient formulations that efficaciously aid and expedite the mechanism of infusing secret bits. All the principles from the physics domain are elected with discreet observation. The followed experimental results show moderate competence and adeptness of the proposed work in terms of distinct benchmarking metrics, both quantitative and qualitative.

Social Support, Quality of Life and Suicidal Ideation among People Living with HIV/AIDS in ART Center, Jammu

The cardinal aim of this study was to examine the level of social support, quality of life,and suicidal ideation among people living with HIV/AIDS. Total participants was 300 (n=300) AIDS patients, both males and females selected through purposive sampling technique. Enriched Social Support Inventory by Mitchell et al. (2003) Quality of Life Scale by Sharma and Nasreen (2014) and Suicidal Ideation Scale by Sisodia and Bhatnagar (2011) was used for measurement of social support, quality of life, and suicidal ideation among participants. Data was analyzed through Mean, t-test, one way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation by using SPSS 20.0 version. The results showed that majority of(80.33%) patients have low level of social support,(25%) moderate level of quality of life, and (73.33%) average level of suicidal ideations respectively. Finding also revealed that male, married and patients from joint famines have higher social support, and quality of life than female, unmarried and patients from nuclear families. Whereas, female, unmarried and patients from nuclear families have high suicidal ideations than male, married and patients from joint families respectively. Further the findings also confirmed that age, occupation and duration of illness has their influence on social support, quality of life, and on suicidal ideation. Simultaneously the results divulge that social support is positively significant correlated with quality of life (.654), but negatively correlated with suicidal Ideation (-.901). Negative significant correlation was found between quality of life and suicidal Ideation (-.747). Demographical variables viz gender, marital status, family type, age, occupation and duration of illness were significantly correlated with social support quality of life and suicidal ideation respectively.

Simulation based comparison of stochastic claims reserving models in general insurance

The appropriate estimation of incurred but not reported (IBNR) reserves is traditionally one of the most important task for property and casualty actuaries. As certain claims are reported considerably later after their occurrence, the amount and appropriateness of the reserves have a substantial effect on the financial results of institutions. In recent years, stochastic reserving methods have become increasingly widespread, supported by broad actuarial literature, describing development models and evaluation techniques. The cardinal aim of the present paper is to compare the appropriateness of several stochastic estimation methods, supposing different distributional underlying development models. For lack of analytical formulae in most of the model settings relevant from a practical perspective, due to the complex behavior of summed variables, simulations are performed to approximate distributions and results. Considering that the number of runoff triangles is generally limited, stochastically simulated scenarios contribute to feasible solutions. Stochastic reserving is taken into account as a stochastic forecast, thus comparison techniques developed for stochastic forecasts can be applied, opening up new informative perspectives beyond classical prediction measures, such as the mean square error of prediction.

An Experimental Investigation on FaL-G Paste

FaL-G is the product name given to a cementitious mixture composed of Fly ash (Fa), Lime (L) and Gypsum (G). It is low-cost and environmental-friendly material very useful in rural housing industry. Since it is manufactured using industrial wastes and by-products, the environmental impacts are mitigated. This paper addresses the technology of making compressed FaL-G paste blocks with low-calcium (Class F) dry fly ash procured from Raichur Thermal Power Plant, Karnataka and sponge iron plant Malur. The cardinal aim is to study the setting and strength characteristics of FaL-G paste. Its applicability as controlled low strength material is also ascertained. The FaL-G paste compressed cylinders were prepared without the use of conventional cement. The compressive strength of FaL-G cylinders were tested with different parameters. It was noticed that the strength of FaL-G paste increases with age and adequate to use it in making deferent composites. FaL-G paste can also be used as controlled low strength material as it has good relative flow area and adequate strength development with age.

Effect of diverse sire origins and environmental sensitivity in Holstein-Friesian cattle for milk yield and fertility traits between selection and production environments in Kenya

Open nucleus dairy cattle breeding schemes (ONBS) in developing countries are advantageous due to lower operational costs. However, genotype by environment interaction (GE) between the selection (SE) and production environment (PE) should be considered. Records of 5468 cows, daughters of 251 sires with at least a first lactation record between 1990 and 2007, were used to establish whether Holstein-Friesian populations in the SE and PE in Kenya were genetically similar through use of common sires. The effect of diverse sire origins on 305-day milk yield (305-day MY), age at first calving (AFC) and calving interval (CI) in the two environments was also evaluated. Environmental sensitivity of the traits was assessed using records of daughters of common sires. Genetic similarity indices between the two environments and between female progeny groups of Kenyan born sires and those from Europe and USA and Canada were 0.46, 0.31 and 0.39, respectively. Sire origin was significant (P<0.05) for 305-day MY and AFC in the PE and SE, respectively. Daughters of imported sires had more favourable average performance for both traits within and between the environments compared to those sired by Kenyan bulls. Sire variances were higher in the SE for all traits; whereas the reverse was true for residual variances. Heritability estimates for the traits were higher in the SE, and differed across environments for 305-day MY and AFC (P<0.05). Genetic correlations between the environments for 305-day MY (0.47±0.06) and AFC (0.44±0.08) were significantly different from unity (P<0.05), while that for CI (0.79±0.11) was not. Sire rank correlations were 0.48, 0.52 and 0.81, respectively. Sires ranked differently across environments for 305-day MY and AFC, leading to few common top ten bulls. Between 4 and 9 sires out of 10 top joint analysis sires per trait ranked highly in each environment. Estimates of expected response in the PE due to selection in the SE indicated about 57%, 26% and 58% less genetic gain in 305-day MY, CI and AFC, respectively, compared to gains in the SE. In the presence of severe GE, the cardinal aim of ONBSs should be genetic improvement of breeding objective traits in the PE. Sires ranking highly from joint data analysis and in specific environments should be identified. Genetic correlations were associated with large standard errors and future analyses with larger numbers of records are necessary before definitive conclusions are made.

Preliminary Assessment of Wealth Creation in Wood Products’ Business in Ghana: The Perspective of Lumber and Furniture Production and Implications for Entrepreneurship

Export values of lumber appear lesser than those of garden furniture parts, but in Ghana, lumber entrepreneurs dominate the market. This study investigated the demand trends of wood species used for garden furniture and the Free-On-Board (FOB) export values of their kiln-dried (KD) lumber and furniture. The study aimed at identifying and assessing the demand trends of wood species used for garden furniture production for exports, and making preliminary wealth creation assessment on converting lumber to garden furniture, all with the cardinal aim of arousing interests of entrepreneurs. The study covered a ten (10) year period from 2001 to 2010. Monthly export reports on wood products were reviewed to obtain relevant information for analyses. Findings indicated that, twenty-six Ghanaian hardwood species were demanded in the international garden furniture market, but Milicia excelsa (odum) wood species’ garden furniture was the most preferred. However, Pericopsis elata (afromosia) wood species’ furniture had the highest FOB value of €3,300.788/m3 and Chrysophyllum albidum (akasaa) produced the highest additional income of €2,203.09 after value addition. After processing lumber to garden furniture, one is likely to obtain additional income averaging from €188.599 (emire- Terminalia ivorensis) to €2, 203.099 (akasaa). In conclusion, further processing lumber to garden furniture before exports may be economically viable, if labour cost and expenses are managed prudently. Entrepreneurs in Ghana should consider converting lumber to furniture for exports, as one good avenue for wealth creation and development. However, further studies to factor production costs into the analyses would be necessary to confirm the profitability in processing lumber to garden furniture.

Phenomenological Model to Re-proportion the Ambient Cured Geopolymer Compressed Blocks

Geopolymer mortar compressed blocks were prepared using fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume and metakaolin as binders and sand/quarry dust/pond ash as fine aggregate. Alkaline solution was used to activate the source materials for synthesizing the geopolymer mortar. Fresh mortar was used to obtain the compressed blocks. The strength development with reference to different parameters was studied. The different parameters considered were fineness of fly ash, binder components, type of fine aggregate, molarity of alkaline solution, age of specimen, fluid-to-binder ratio, binder-to-aggregate ratio, degree of saturation, etc. The compressed blocks were tested for compression at different ages. It was observed that some of the blocks attained considerable strength within 24 h under ambient conditions. The cardinal aim was to analyze the experimental data generated to formulate a phenomenological model to arrive at the combinations of the ingredients to produce geopolymer blocks to meet the strength development desired at the specified age. The strength data was analyzed within the framework of generalized Abrams’ law. It was interesting to note that the law was applicable to the analysis of strength development of partially saturated compressed blocks when the degree of saturation was maintained constant. The validity of phenomenological model was examined with an independent set of experimental data. The blocks can replace the traditional masonry blocks with many advantages.

Flow and Strength Characteristics of CLSM Using Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag

Controlled low strength material (CLSM), as defined by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee, is a self-flowing cementitious material consisting typically of portland cement, fine aggregates, supplementary cementing materials, and water. In this present experimental study, industrial by-product, namely, ground-granulated blast-furnace slag, is used as a constituent material in CLSM. Mixture proportions were developed for CLSM containing the industrial by-product (GGBS) and were tested in the laboratory for flow and unconfined compressive strength properties. The cardinal aim is to analyze the experimental data generated to formulate a phenomenological model to arrive at the combinations of the ingredients to produce CLSM to meet the desired flow and strength. An independent set of data is generated to examine the validity of the phenomenological approach.

Rethinking Militancy and Environmental Justice: The Politics of Oil and Violence in Nigerian Popular Music

The Niger Delta question is not just the most controversial issue in postcolonial Nigeria: it has launched Nigeria into global news circuits. The delta itself, the most marginalized geopolitical zone in Nigeria, gives vibrant expression to the paradox of wealth and poverty tied to a single space. With the establishment of the amnesty policy, most mainstream media seem to have forgotten that the cardinal aim of the policy is to create a platform to ease infrastructural development in the Niger Delta and thereby to articulate the importance of ecological and human justice. What fascinates the media is the idea of militancy itself, not the postamnesty assurance of a new world for the doubly marginalized delta people. This essay examines how popular music has become the new site for political activism, especially in engaging the society and government on pressing postcolonial issues in Nigeria, specifically the Niger Delta question and the functionality of the amnesty package. The essay examines how these popular artists articulate the predicament of the delta in their songs, considering that popular music is hardly discussed among cultural art forms that give expression to the Niger Delta question. Popular music offers the Nigerian public an alternative to the hegemonic position.

The key to India?: Britain and the Herat problem 1830–1863 — part 1

The Anglo-Persian treaty of March 4, 1857,2 which ended 'John Company's last war' had a great deal to say about Herat. The key articles are 5, 6 and 7. By article 5, Persia engaged to withdraw 'from the territory and city of Herat, and from every other part of Afghanistan' all 'troops and authorities now stationed therein' within three months of the date of ratifications (that is by the beginning of August 1857). Article 6 bound Persia 'to relinquish all claims to sovereignty over the territory and city of Herat and the countries of Afghanistan, and never to demand from the Chiefs of Herat, or of the countries of Afghanistan, any marks of obedience' and to recognise their independence and never to interfere with it. In return, the British government agreed 'to exert their influence with the States of Afghanistan, to prevent any cause of umbrage being given by them, or by any of them' to Persia and to help to compose any differences. Article 7 safeguarded to Persia the right to take military action, if necessary across her eastern frontier, if that frontier was violated by the Afghans but obliged her to retire her troops as soon as possible and not use such action 'as a pretext for the permanent occupation . .. or for the annexation to the Persian dominions, of any town or portion of the said States'. So far as they reflect a developing British official attitude to Herat, these articles have a double aspect: one concerns the Herat-Persia relationship and the other Herat's relations with the Afghans to the east. The 1857 treaty marks a very small advance on Sheil's agreement of 18533 so far as Herat and Persia are concerned. The wording was greatly tightened up and much of the ambiguity removed so as to make it as clear as words could that Herat was totally independent of Persia. The 1853 reference to Persia's rights at Herat was omitted. But the spirit and intention of Sheil's agreement in this respect was not significantly changed by the events of the intervening four years. The big advance on Sheil's engagement, although more implicit than stated is in the matter of Herat's relationship with Kabul and Kandahar. The 1853 document treated each of them as a 'foreign state' just like any other which Britain promised to restrain from interfering with Herat's 'own state of independence'. The consequent need to restrain Dost Muhammad's ambitions in the Herat direction seriously inhibited Dalhousie in his attempts to enter into a treaty relationship with that ruler in 1854-5. Now Herat, although frequently distinguished from the rest, is regarded as one of the Afghan states and Britain simply promises to use her influence with all or any of them to prevent 'any cause of umbrage' being given to Persia. In 1853 the ambiguity favoured Persia. In 1857 it favoured Britain. In 1853 the exclusion of Persia from Herat was, and had been for years, a cardinal aim of British foreign policy and the agreed means to that end was the maintenance of Herat as an independent state. Now in 1857 while the end remained unchanged, the possibility of a

Does Don Juan Really Fly?

while arguing that art, like science, is cognitive, we have at best gained for a dubious victory. 'Miserable' is Hoy's word. If, however, science is in the last analysis shown to be truth-giving, much like is truth-giving, it may be replied that methods of establishing aesthetic quality in illuminate methods of establishing cognitive truth in science. This can, in turn, shed light on the meaning of truth-as-conventional. Indeed this was a cardinal aim of the paper on which Hoy is commenting, and in which Nelson Goodman is quoted approvingly: Truth and its aesthetic counterpart amount to appropriateness under different names. If we speak of hypotheses but not of works of as true, that is because we reserve the terms 'true' and 'false' for symbols in sentential form. Again: . . when we examine our tests for truth in science we find them far from alien to tests for quality in art ([12], p. 264, and [13]). If this involves us in a conception of truth (as Hoy contends), nevertheless it points a way toward further clarifying the pragmatic conception, now drawing upon criticism

Controlling the learning of diagnostic tasks

A cardinal aim of computer-assisted learning should be to devise methods which optimize its techniques of instruction, and these require a precise representation of tasks. and learners, a set of teaching operations and means-ends guidance rules. An analysis of diagnostic tasks analogous to those carried out in medicine, points to ways in which computer programs can generate tasks to fit a particular learner's competence. Such methods can also give adaptive help in teaching, but there is a need for much experiment before satisfactory means-ends guidance rules can be formulated. For this purpose a computer-controlled diagnostic game was developed in which students attempted to classify patterns of symbols which represented sets of “attribute states” of various “diseases”. The characteristics of this game, and some analyses of student performances and some measures of task difficulty are described. Preliminary results of having the computer match student performances to its own diagnostic strategies are also outlined, and the development of these to control adaptive teaching is discussed.