Do we need personalization more than normalization

Sustainability is a current buzzword, used profusely in academia, business and public life, yet it seem to be merely the latest expression of the Human Exemptionalism Paradigm: a framing that reinforces the perceived separation between humans and nature. The 1987 UN sustainability definition of meeting 'the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' is an anthropocentric perspective that also serves to further separate us from present participation in environmental change. It is future generations who will be compromised, so, by extension, the present situation must have been caused by past generations (not us!). This us-versus-them, guilt/blame narrative also encourages all-too-familiar frames such as the War on Terra. To counteract this approach, a more ecopsychological framing – that where we are is part of who we are, with sustainability emerging from wellbeing – might personalize how we understand and address environmental change

Wind Forced Variability in Eddy Formation, Eddy Shedding, and the Separation of the East Australian Current

The East Australian Current (EAC), like many other subtropical western boundary currents, is believed to be penetrating further poleward in recent decades. Previous observational and model studies have used steady state dynamics to relate changes in the westerly winds to changes in the separation behavior of the EAC. As yet, little work has been undertaken on the impact of forcing variability on the EAC and Tasman Sea circulation. Here using an eddy‐permitting regional ocean model, we present a suite of simulations forced by the same time‐mean fields, but with different atmospheric and remote ocean variability. These eddy‐permitting results demonstrate the nonlinear response of the EAC to variable, nonstationary inhomogeneous forcing. These simulations show an EAC with high intrinsic variability and stochastic eddy shedding. We show that wind stress variability on time scales shorter than 56 days leads to increases in eddy shedding rates and southward eddy propagation, producing an increased transport and southward reach of the mean EAC extension. We adopt an energetics framework that shows the EAC extension changes to be coincident with an increase in offshore, upstream eddy variance (via increased barotropic instability) and increase in subsurface mean kinetic energy along the length of the EAC. The response of EAC separation to regional variable wind stress has important implications for both past and future climate change studies

Acoustic Microfluidic Separation Techniques and Bioapplications: A Review

Microfluidic separation technology has garnered significant attention over the past decade where particles are being separated at a micro/nanoscale in a rapid, low-cost, and simple manner. Amongst a myriad of separation technologies that have emerged thus far, acoustic microfluidic separation techniques are extremely apt to applications involving biological samples attributed to various advantages, including high controllability, biocompatibility, and non-invasive, label-free features. With that being said, downsides such as low throughput and dependence on external equipment still impede successful commercialization from laboratory-based prototypes. Here, we present a comprehensive review of recent advances in acoustic microfluidic separation techniques, along with exemplary applications. Specifically, an inclusive overview of fundamental theory and background is presented, then two sets of mechanisms underlying acoustic separation, bulk acoustic wave and surface acoustic wave, are introduced and discussed. Upon these summaries, we present a variety of applications based on acoustic separation. The primary focus is given to those associated with biological samples such as blood cells, cancer cells, proteins, bacteria, viruses, and DNA/RNA. Finally, we highlight the benefits and challenges behind burgeoning developments in the field and discuss the future perspectives and an outlook towards robust, integrated, and commercialized devices based on acoustic microfluidic separation

Past, Present, and Infinite Future

I was supposed to deliver one of the speeches at Wolfgang Thomas\u27s retirement ceremony. Wolfgang had called me on the phone earlier and posed some questions about temporal logic, but I hadn\u27t had good answers at the time. What I decided to do at the ceremony was to take up the conversation again and show how it could have evolved if only I had put more effort into answering his questions. Here is the imaginary conversation with Wolfgang. The contributions are (1) the first direct translation from counter-free omega-automata into future temporal formulas, (2) a definition of bimachines for omega-words, (3) a translation from arbitrary temporal formulas (including both, future and past operators) into counter-free omega-bimachines, and (4) an automata-based proof of separation: every arbitrary temporal formula is equivalent to a boolean combination of pure future, present, and pure past formulas when interpreted in omega-words

Measuring of ∣Vub∣|V_{ub}| in the forthcoming decade

I first introduce the importance of measuring V_ub precisely. Then, from a theoretician's point of view, I review (a) past history, (b) present trials, and (c) possible future alternatives on measuring |V_ub| and/or |V_ub/V_cb|. As of my main topic, I introduce a model-independent method, which predicts \Gamma(B -> X_u l \nu) / \Gamma(B -> X_c l \nu) \equiv (\gamma_u / \gamma_c) \times | V_{ub} / V_{cb}|^2 \simeq (1.83 \pm 0.28) \times |V_ub / V_cb|^2 and |V_ub/V_cb| \equiv (\gamma_c / \gamma_u)^{1/2} \times [{\cal{B}}(B -> X_u l \nu)/{\cal{B}}(B -> X_c l \nu)]^{1/2} \simeq (0.74 \pm 0.06) \times [{\cal{B}}(B -> X_u l \nu)/ {\cal{B}}(B -> X_c l \nu)]^{1/2}, based on the heavy quark effective theory. I also explore the possible experimental options to separate B -> X_u l \nu from the dominant B -> X_c l \nu: the measurement of inclusive hadronic invariant mass distributions, and the `D - \pi' (and `K - \pi') separation conditions. I also clarify the relevant experimental backgrounds.Comment: 9 pages(LaTeX), 1 Postscript figur

A Proposed Model of Household Waste Separation Behavior: Pilot Test and Instrument Validation

Due to the increasing waste generation over the years in Malaysia, there is an urgent need to address this problem by implementing effective household waste separation initiatives. Although past studies have tried to explain the waste behavior from psychological perspective, there is little understanding as to the impact of environmental ethics and specific waste separation knowledge towards waste separation behavior. The aims of this article are to present questionnaire development based on waste separation behavior proposed model, pre-test, pilot test and findings.  After obtaining 116 valid questionnaires from households in the district of Mersing, Johor, descriptive and factor analysis were conducted. The results from pilot test indicated that both specific waste separation knowledge and waste separation at source behavior were moderate. Early findings indicate that most of households reject the anthropocentric and technocentric ethics orientation. From the factor analysis, it can be concluded that the proposed model intended to predict SAS behavior warrant minor amendments which enable the model to be used in the future study. The valid and reliable instrument has a potential to better understand the underlying SAS behavior among households in Malaysia

“There is no alternative!”—the case for a co(n)temporary English fiction: Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein

The future is the only form of temporal experience which requires us to use our speculative and imaginative capacities. However, due to the concurrent global challenges of the twenty-first century (COVID-19, populism and nationalism, climate crisis), imagining viable future scenarios for the human has become increasingly difficult. As a result, our Enlightenment conception of temporality as linear has become futile and requires an alternative approach. This article explores how two examples of contemporary English fiction, Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein, experiment with temporally marked forms to construct narratives in which the separation into past, present, and future becomes indistinguishable. The technological imagination of these narratives, in the shape of accelerated scientific progress in artificial intelligence and transcendent consciousness, produces alternative histories in the hopes of modeling a new sense of futurity. In doing so, McEwan’s and Winterson’s novels assimilate binaries such as antiquitas and modernitas, human and post-human, and ultimately past, present, and future to showcase the productive potential of speculative formalism (Eyers). I argue that such a modeling of ‘co-temporality’ (Ruffel) places the contemporary novel’s capacity for cultural inquiry on the same epistemological level as that for scientific inquiry, enabling a conception of futurity detached from temporal linearity and the logic of progress.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Analytic Representation of The Dirac Equation

In this paper we construct an analytical separation (diagonalization) of the full (minimal coupling) Dirac equation into particle and antiparticle components. The diagonalization is analytic in that it is achieved without transforming the wave functions, as is done by the Foldy-Wouthuysen method, and reveals the nonlocal time behavior of the particle-antiparticle relationship. We interpret the zitterbewegung and the result that a velocity measurement (of a Dirac particle) at any instant in time is, as reflections of the fact that the Dirac equation makes a spatially extended particle appear as a point in the present by forcing it to oscillate between the past and future at speed c. From this we infer that, although the form of the Dirac equation serves to make space and time appear on an equal footing mathematically, it is clear that they are still not on an equal footing from a physical point of view. On the other hand, the Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation, which connects the Dirac and square root operator, is unitary. Reflection on these results suggests that a more refined notion (than that of unitary equivalence) may be required for physical systems

Determining Job Requirements for the Next Aviator Generation

The aviation industry is envisioning a tremendous growth of air traffic within the next two decades. New technologies and operational concepts will be the key enablers to accommodate the increasing amount of movements in a safe, efficient and environment friendly manner. Current working concepts reach from improved interoperability of national ATM systems, via satellite based navigation, collaborative decision making, and self separation of aircraft up to fully automated air-ground-space systems. It can be expected that the introduction of such concepts will have a significant impact on the working conditions and job requirements of future air traffic controllers and pilots, who were selected on traditional job profiles reflecting the current and past operational settings. Our paper is presenting elements of a prospective job analysis of future aviators assigned to specific operational tasks within the future air transport system. Results will be based on reviews of available international concept papers, conducted future workshops with present job holders and low fidelity simulation runs of collaborative air traffic control and aircraft separation tasks. Relevant enroute and arrival scenarios will be discussed and presented at the symposium with some preliminary data of the initial tryout studies

Love’s Labour’s Lost? : Separation as a Constraint on Displays of Transnational Daughterhood

This article develops sociological knowledge on daughterhood through an analysis of how separation shapes the emotional and moral dynamics of transnational daughterhood. Building on Finch, we look at daughtering as a set of concrete social practices that constitute kinship and carry the symbolic dimension of displaying the family-like character of relationships. Within this framework, we analyse how Latin American women living in Barcelona discuss their transnational family lives and filial responsibilities. We see family as finite, evolving in the past, present and future, and develop a threefold understanding of filial love as an institution imbued with formal expectations, a strong and complex emotion, and reciprocal embodied caring. We consider persisting physical separation in migration as a circumstance that demands not only practical solutions but also ongoing moral labour that sustains transnational bonds and notions of being a ‘good enough’ daughter.Peer reviewe