We show that knowledge satisfies interpersonal independence, meaning that a non-trivial sentence describing one agent’s knowledge cannot be equivalent to a sentence describing another agent’s knowledge. The same property of interpersonal independence holds, mutatis mutandis, for belief. In the case of knowledge, interpersonal independence is implied by the fact that there are no non-trivial sentences that are common knowledge in every model of knowledge. In the case of belief, interpersonal independence follows from a strong interpersonal independence that knowledge does not (...) have. Specifically, there is no sentence describing the beliefs of one person that implies a sentence describing the beliefs of another person. (shrink)

Listening effort has been known to characterize speech recognition in noise regardless of hearing sensitivity and age. Whereas the behavioral measure of dual-task paradigm effectively manifests the cognitive cost that listeners exert when processing speech in background noise, there is no consensus as to a clinical procedure that might best express LE. In order to assess the cognitive load underlying speech recognition in noise and promote counselling for coping strategies, a feasible clinical paradigm is warranted. The ecological validity of such (...) a paradigm might best be demonstrated in middle-aged adults, exhibiting intact hearing sensitivity on one hand, however, experiencing difficulties in degraded listening conditions, unaware of the implicated cognitive cost of speech recognition in noise. To this end, we constructed a dual-task paradigm that consists of a primary task of sentences-in-noise recognition and a secondary task of simple visual colored-shape matching. Research objective was to develop a clinical paradigm for the assessment of LE in middle-aged adults. Participants were 17 middle-aged adults and 23 young adults. All participants had normal hearing according to age. Speech stimuli consisted of the Hebrew Matrix sentences in noise test. SRTn was obtained for 80% correct identification. Visual stimuli were colored geometric shapes. Outcome measures were obtained initially for each task separately, to establish performance ability, and then obtained simultaneously. Reaction time and accuracy in the secondary task were the defined metrics for LE. Results: LE was indicated for both groups, however, was more pronounced in the middle-aged, manifested in the visual accuracy and reaction time metrics. Both groups maintained the 80% correct recognition-in-noise in the dual-task, however, the middle-aged group necessitated a better SNR of 1.4dB than the normal hearing group. Moreover, the middle-aged group was taxed in a greater prolongation of reaction time, in order to uphold the correct recognition. Conclusion: a dual-task paradigm consisting of sentences-in-noise primary task combined with a simple secondary task successfully showed different manifestations of LE in middle-aged adults compared to young adults, thus approximating the use of such a paradigm in a clinical setting. (shrink)

The tree property at κ+ states that there are no Aronszajn trees on κ+, or, equivalently, that every κ+ tree has a cofinal branch. For singular strong limit cardinals κ, there is tension between the tree property at κ+ and failure of the singular cardinal hypothesis at κ; the former is typically the result of the presence of strongly compact cardinals in the background, and the latter is impossible above strongly compacts. In this paper, we reconcile the two. We prove (...) from large cardinals that the tree property at κ+ is consistent with failure of the singular cardinal hypothesis at κ. (shrink)

Persistent activity can be the product of mechanisms other than attractor reverberations. The single-unit data presented by Amit cannot discriminate between the different mechanisms. In fact, single-unit data do not appear to be adequate for testing neural network models.

We use a new construction of an o-minimal structure, due to Lipshitz and Robinson, to answer a question of van den Dries regarding the relationship between arbitrary o-minimal expansions of real closed fields and structures over the real numbers. We write a first order sentence which is true in the Lipshitz-Robinson structure but fails in any possible interpretation over the field of real numbers.

We construct a new class of 1 categorical structures, disproving Zilber's conjecture, and study some of their properties.

We examine the problem of generating definite noun phrases that are appropriate referring expressions; that is, noun phrases that (a) successfully identify the intended referent to the hearer whilst (b) not conveying to him or her any false conversational implicatures (Grice, 1975). We review several possible computational interpretations of the conversational implicature maxims, with different computational costs, and argue that the simplest may be the best, because it seems to be closest to what human speakers do. We describe our recommended (...) algorithm in detail, along with a specification of the resources a host system must provide in order to make use of the algorithm, and an implementation used in the natural language generation component of the IDAS system. (shrink)

Jullien's indecomposability theorem states that if a scattered countable linear order is indecomposable, then it is either indecomposable to the left, or indecomposable to the right. The theorem was shown by Montalbán to be a theorem of hyperarithmetic analysis. We identify the strength of the theorem relative to standard reverse mathematics markers. We show that it lies strictly between weak [Formula: see text] choice and [Formula: see text] comprehension.

In this Article we examine Israel’s ongoing process of bank privatization to explore the link between privatization programs and the ownership structure of public companies. Our thesis is that concentrated ownership provides regulators with a platform for exerting informal influence over corporate decision-making. This platform serves regulators as a safety valve when all else fails, especially when they would like firms to terminate senior executives or board members. Communicating with controlling shareholders increases the likelihood that both the regulatory intervention and (...) the reasons underlying it will remain confidential. Moreover, controlling shareholders can make swift decisions and implement them quickly, with no need for formal group deliberation. When informal influence is important — as in the case of banks — the government may prefer firms with controlling shareholders to widely held firms. It may therefore prefer to sell a control block in the firm undergoing privatization rather than distribute its shares through the stock market. (shrink)

The main result of this paper is the following theorem: Let M be a premouse with a top extender, F. Suppose that (a) M is linearly coarsely iterable via hitting F and its images, and (b) if M * is a linear iterate of M as in (a), then M * is coarsely iterable with respect to iteration trees which do not use the top extender of M * and its images. Then M is coarsely iterable.

Introduction The purpose of this study is to characterize a conception of prayer that plays an important role in the religious thought of the medieval ...

A first order theory T of power λ is called unidimensional if any twoλ+-saturated models of T of the same cardinality are isomorphic. We prove here that such theories are superstable, solving a problem of Shelah. The proof involves an existence theorem and a definability theorem for definable groups in stable theories, and an analysis of their relation to regular types.

We show that Mitchell order on downward closed extenders below rank-to-rank type is wellfounded.

[1]: meha-haḳdamah ṿe-ʻad pereḳ 19 --.

This study compares the argumentative writing characteristics of students from different sociocultural backgrounds. We focused on Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) students, educated in a segregated religious school for boys (yeshiva), who are now attempting to integrate in secular higher education in Israel. To better understand the unique characteristics of this population, we reviewed 92 essays written by Haredi students, and compared them with 76 essays by public education (PE) graduates. Our analysis was based on the cognitive and sociocultural perspectives of argumentation. (...) Both bottom-up and top-down criteria were used to elicit the argumentative writing characteristics either emerging from the data or based on existing theories. Our primary findings indicate that Haredi students have distinct argumentative characteristics, including the use of more complex and dialectic arguments and unique persuasive tactics. These findings are discussed in light of previous research on yeshiva learning methods and recommendations are provided for adjusting the existing higher education curricula to suit both PE and Haredi students. (shrink)

We prove determinacy for open length ω1 games. Going further we introduce, and prove determinacy for, a stronger class of games of length ω1, with payoff conditions involving the entire run, the club filter on ω1, and a sequence of ω1 disjoint stationary subsets of ω1. The determinacy proofs use an iterable model with a class of indiscernible Woodin cardinals, and we show that the games precisely capture the theory of the minimal model for this assumption.

Reviewed Works:B. I. Zil'ber, L. Pacholski, J. Wierzejewski, A. J. Wilkie, Totally Categorical Theories: Structural Properties and the Non-Finite Axiomatizability.B. I. Zil'ber, Strongly Minimal Countably Categorical Theories.B. I. Zil'ber, Strongly Minimal Countably Categorical Theories. II.B. I. Zil'ber, Strongly Minimal Countably Categorical Theories. III.B. I. Zil'ber, E. Mendelson, Totally Categorical Structures and Combinatorial Geometries.B. I. Zil'ber, The Structure of Models of Uncountably Categorical Theories.

We attempt to formulate issues around modularity and Zilber’s trichotomy in a setting that intersects additive combinatorics. In particular, we update the open problems on quasi-finite structures from [9].

Using methods of geometric stability , we determine the structure of Abelian groups definable in ACFA, the model companion of fields with an automorphism. We also give general bounds on sets definable in ACFA. We show that these tools can be used to study torsion points on Abelian varieties; among other results, we deduce a fairly general case of a conjecture of Tate and Voloch on p-adic distances of torsion points from subvarieties.

We present an approach to forcing with finite sequences of models that uses models of two types. This approach builds on earlier work of Friedman and Mitchell on forcing to add clubs in cardinals larger than $\aleph_{1}$, with finite conditions. We use the two-type approach to give a new proof of the consistency of the proper forcing axiom. The new proof uses a finite support forcing, as opposed to the countable support iteration in the standard proof. The distinction is important (...) since a proof using finite supports is more amenable to generalizations to cardinals greater than $\aleph_{1}$. (shrink)

Kueker's conjecture is proved for stable theories, for theories that interpret a linear ordering, and for theories with Skolem functions. The proof of the stable case involves certain results on coordinatization that are of independent interest.

A $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ truth for λ is a pair 〈Q, ψ〉 so that Q ⊆ Hλ, ψ is a first order formula with one free variable, and there exists B ⊆ Hλ+ such that (Hλ+; ε, B) $(H_{\lambda +};\in ,B)\vDash \psi [Q]$ . A cardinal λ is $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ indescribable just in case that for every $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ truth 〈Q, ψ〉 for λ, there exists $\overline{\lambda}<\lambda $ so that $\overline{\lambda}$ is a cardinal and $\langle Q\cap H_{\overline{\lambda}},\psi \rangle $ is a (...) $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ truth for $\overline{\lambda}$ . More generally, an interval of cardinals [κ, λ] with κ ≤ λ is $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ indescribable if for every $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ truth 〈Q, ψ〉 for λ, there exists $??\leq \overline{\lambda}<\kappa,??\subseteq H_{\overline{\lambda}}$ , and π: $H_{\overline{\lambda}}\rightarrow H_{\lambda}$ so that $??$ is a cardinal, $\langle ??,\psi \rangle $ is a $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ truth for $??$ , and π is elementary from $(H_{\overline{\lambda}};\in,??,??)$ with $\pi \,|\,??={\rm id}$ . We prove that the restriction of the proper forcing axiom to c-linked posets requires a $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ indescribable cardinal in L, and that the restriction of the proper forcing axiom to c⁺-linked posets, in a proper forcing extension of a fine structural model, requires a $\Sigma _{1}^{2}$ indescribable 1-gap [κ, κ⁺]. These results show that the respective forward directions obtained in " Hierarchies of Forcing Axioms I" by Neeman and Schimmerling are optimal. (shrink)

This collection joins a long parade of attempts to slay an aging, decrepit, beast. This beast of mythical status being the Modern Synthesis in evolutionary biology. As some of the authors in this collection note, it is far from clear whether these attempts do not in fact invigorate the beast, keeping it alert and nimble. As someone in the business of developing traps for the monster and its lookalikes, reading this collection I found myself identifying with the beast, clearly the (...) underdog here as in many philosophy of biology circles, if not in Real Life, that is, in university biology departments. I also ended up not sure if everyone is chasing the same monster or maybe we are chasing shadows, possibly, but not certainly, the multiple shadows of one beast. So instead of engaging with specific arguments developed in individual chapters concerning the evolutionary significance of phenomena such as non-genetic inheritance or the Baldwin Effect, and covering a wide terrain, I mostly dedicate this review to what the monster looks like through the eyes of the hunters here assembled and to the roles philosophers of science play vis-à-vis the sciences they study. In other words, I will restrict this review to the various answers given throughout the collection to the question of the nature of the synthesis, the nature of the challenges, and the nature of the proposed or envisioned replacement. (shrink)

Assuming AD + DC, we characterize the self-dual boldface pointclasses which are strictly larger than the pointclasses contained in them: these are exactly the clopen sets, the collections of all sets of Wadge rank [Formula: see text], and those of Wadge rank [Formula: see text] when ξ is limit.

We produce counterexamples to the unique and cofinal branches hypotheses, assuming (slightly less than) the existence of a cardinal which is strong past a Woodin cardinal.

Let o(κ) denote the Mitchell order of κ. We show how to reduce long games which run to the first ordinal admissible in the play, to iteration games on models with a cardinal κ so that (1) κ is a limit of Woodin cardinals: and (2) o(κ) = κ⁺⁺. We use the reduction to derive several optimal determinacy results on games which run to the first admissible in the play.

We define a class of finite state automata acting on transfinite sequences, and use these automata to prove that no singular cardinal can be defined by a monadic second order formula over the ordinals.

The dichotomy between Nature and Nurture, which has been dismantled within the framework of development, remains embodied in the notions of plasticity and evolvability. We argue that plasticity and evolvability, like development and heredity, are neither dichotomous nor distinct: the very same mechanisms may be involved in both, and the research perspective chosen depends to a large extent on the type of problem being explored and the kinds of questions being asked. Epigenetic inheritance leads to transgenerationally extended plasticity, and developmentally-induced (...) heritable epigenetic variations provide additional foci for selection that can lead to evolutionary change. Moreover, hereditary innovations may result from developmentally induced large-scale genomic repatterning events, which are akin to Goldschmidtian “systemic mutations”. The epigenetic mechanisms involved in repatterning can be activated by both environmental and genomic stress, and lead to phylogenetic as well as ontogenetic changes. Hence, the effects and the mechanisms of plasticity directly contribute to evolvability. (shrink)

We show that Blackwell determinacy in L(R) implies determinacy in L(R).

We are concerned with identifying by how much a finite cover of an 0-categorical structure differs from a sequence of free covers. The main results show that this is measured by automorphism groups which are nilpotent-by-abelian. In the language of covers, these results say that every finite cover can be decomposed naturally into linked, superlinked and free covers. The superlinked covers arise from covers over a different base, and to describe this properly we introduce the notion of a quasi-cover.These results (...) generalise results of the second author obtained in the case where the base of the cover is a grassmannian of a disintegrated set. They also give a complete proof of a statement of the second author extending this case to the case of a grassmannian of a modular set. To do this, we need to analyse the possible superlinked covers of such a set.We also give a combinatorial condition on the base of a cover which guarantees various chain conditions on finite covers over this base, and introduce a pregeometry which is useful in the analysis of finite covers with simple fibre groups. (shrink)