•  177
    Measuring Causal Specificity
    with Paul E. Griffiths, Arnaud Pocheville, Brett Calcott, Karola Stotz, and Rob Knight
    Philosophy of Science 82 (4): 529-555. 2015.
    Several authors have argued that causes differ in the degree to which they are ‘specific’ to their effects. Woodward has used this idea to enrich his influential interventionist theory of causal explanation. Here we propose a way to measure causal specificity using tools from information theory. We show that the specificity of a causal variable is not well-defined without a probability distribution over the states of that variable. We demonstrate the tractability and interest of our proposed mea…Read more
  •  9
    Disruption of hydroecological equilibrium in southwest Amazon mediated by drought
    with E. E. Maeda, Leoc Aragão, J. S. Famiglietti, and T. Oki
    © 2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The impacts of droughts on the Amazon ecosystem have been broadly discussed in recent years, but a comprehensive understanding of the consequences is still missing. In this study, we show evidence of a fragile hydrological equilibrium in the western Amazon. While drainage systems located near the equator and the western Amazon do not show water deficit in years with average climate conditions, this equilibrium can be broken during drought …Read more
  •  8
    Multifunctional cellulase catalysis targeted by fusion to different carbohydrate-binding modules
    with J. A. Walker, T. E. Takasuka, K. Deng, C. M. Bianchetti, H. S. Udell, B. M. Prom, P. D. Adams, T. R. Northen, and B. G. Fox
    © 2015 Walker et al.Background: Carbohydrate binding modules bind polysaccharides and help target glycoside hydrolases catalytic domains to their appropriate carbohydrate substrates. To better understand how CBMs can improve cellulolytic enzyme reactivity, representatives from each of the 18 families of CBM found in Ruminoclostridium thermocellum were fused to the multifunctional GH5 catalytic domain of CelE, which can hydrolyze numerous types of polysaccharides including cellulose, mannan, and …Read more
  •  4
    Very Long Shifts and Cardiovascular Strain in Firefighters: a Theoretical Framework
    with B. Choi, P. L. Schnall, M. Dobson, J. Garcia-Rivas, F. Zaldivar, L. Israel, and D. Baker
    Shift work and overtime have been implicated as important work-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Many firefighters who contractually work on a 24-hr work schedule, often do overtime which can result in working multiple, consecutive 24-hr shifts. Very little research has been conducted on firefighters at work that examines the impact of performing consecutive 24-hr shifts on cardiovascular physiology. Also, there have been no standard field methods for assessing in firefighters the…Read more