Taught Rules: Instruction and the Evolution of Norms

Why do we have social norms—of fairness, cooperation, trust, property, or gender? Modern-day Humeans, as I call them, believe these norms are best accounted for in cultural evolutionary terms, as adaptive solutions to recurrent problems of social interaction. In this paper, I discuss a challenge to this "Humean Program." Social norms involve widespread behaviors, but also distinctive psychological attitudes and dispositions. According to the challenge, Humean accounts of norms leave their psychological side unexplained. They explain, say, why we share equally, but not why we disapprove of those who don’t. I defend the Humean Program against this challenge. In particular, I suggest an idea for how to extend the Program to account for the psychological side of norms. Socially adaptive behaviors aren’t just likely to emerge in a group; They’re also likely to be widely taught within it. The transmission of these behaviors through instruction explains why they're associated with distinctive normative attitudes and dispositions. These attitudes play a pedagogical role in helping transmit these behaviors to children and newcomers

The SysMES Framework: System Management for Networked Embedded Systems and Clusters

Automated system management for large distributed and heterogeneous environments is a common challenge in modern computer sciences. Desired properties of such a management system are, among others, a minimal dependency on human operators for problem recognition and solution, adaptability to increasing loads, fault tolerance and the flexibility to integrate new management resources at runtime. Existing tools address parts of these requirements however there is no single integrated framework which possesses all mentioned characteristics. SysMES was developed as an integrated framework for automated monitoring and management of networked devices. In order to achieve the requirements of scalability and fault tolerance, a fully distributed and decentralized architecture has been chosen. The framework comprises a monitoring module, a rule engine and an executive module for the execution of actions. A formal language has been defined which allows administrators to define complex spatial and temporal rule conditions for failure states and according reactions. These rules are used in order to reduce the number and duration of manual interventions in the managed environment by automated problem solution. SysMES is based on standards ensuring interoperability and manufacturer independence. The object-oriented modeling of management resources allows several abstraction levels for handling the complexity of managing large and heterogeneous environments. Management resources can be extended and (re)configured without downtime for increased flexibility. Multiple tests and a reference installation demonstrate the suitability of SysMES for automated management of large heterogeneous environments

Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT) Studies: Effect of Non-Uniform Obstacle Distribution on DDT

Most of the previous work has been guided towards the understanding of this phenomenon under a uniform obstacle distribution, i.e., same obstacle shape, blockage ratio, and gap between obstacles. However, industrial facilities lack this uniform obstruction arrangement. This research aimed to gain a better understanding of which non-uniform obstacle distribution enhances or weakens the flame acceleration. For this research, a 2.77 m long detonation tube with an internal diameter of 0.04 m was utilized. For the purpose of this investigation, a rig characterization was first performed to determine if a series of explosions under the same conditions was repeatable; the obtained responses showed similar behavior. Then, a Taguchi design of experiments was used. In this matrix, the parameters that were modified were: fuel type, obstacle shape, blockage ratio, and obstacle distribution. In general, each experiment consisted of nine obstacles inserted into the first meter of the detonation tube. The obstruction in each experiment had the same shape, but different blockage ratio and spacing between the obstacles. It was found that block-shaped obstacles with a decreasing blockage ratio and a “staggered” obstacle distribution had the highest tendency to promote the flame acceleration and, consequently, minimize the run-up distance to obtain a detonation. In contrast, experiments that had ring-shaped obstacles with an increasing blockage ratio and a “variation” obstacle distribution have an adverse effect on the flame acceleration and, consequently, maximize the distance at which DDT is observed. Finally, the responses obtained from a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model were compared against data available in the literature and the experimental data obtained in this research. Even though this CFD model does not predict precisely the onset of DDT, it estimates the likelihood for having the onset of a detonation. In general, the CFD code predicts that the scenario that promotes a faster flame acceleration uses block-shaped obstacles with an equal blockage ratio and a “staggered” obstacle distribution. While the scenario that slows down the flame acceleration is given by ring-shaped obstacles with an increasing blockage ratio and a “variation” obstacle distribution. These trends agree with those from the experiment

Estudio de los efectos generados por programas sociales en los municipios de Pacho y la Palma (Cundinamarca).

Analizar los efectos socioeconómicos, ambientales y agrícolas generados por los proyectos de intervención realizados por instituciones públicas y privadas para el desarrollo del cultivo de Guadua Angustifolia Kunth en cuatro veredas del municipio de Pacho y dos del municipio de la Palma (Cundinamarca),En el presente trabajo busca revelar que a nivel nacional han existido innumerables planes y proyectos rurales de desarrollo social y económico los cuales buscan mitigar la pobreza y la desigualdad social, pero hay quienes afirman que estos programas generan dependencia a las ayudas gubernamentales generando asistencialismo lo cual promueve el desaprovechamiento de la Guadua en nivel social, económico y ambiental. El escrito busca analizar los efectos socioeconómicos, ambientales y agrícolas generados por los proyectos de intervención realizados por instituciones públicas y privadas para el desarrollo del cultivo de Guadua Angustifolia Kunth en cuatro veredas del municipio de Pacho y dos del municipio de la Palma (Cundinamarca), para su desarrollo el trabajo se basó en tres etapas; búsqueda de información; análisis de información y publicación de resultados y a través del software Atlas Ti se realizó un análisis cualitativo a las entrevistas semiestructuradas realizadas a las comunidades, en donde se identificaron variables deductivas e inductivas como interacciones de un manejo sostenible del cultivo de Guadua donde las poblaciones comprenden sus dinámicas y son capaces de generar nuevas soluciones una de estas es el manejo Agroecológico del cultivo que promueve la sostenibilidad y desarrollo económico.In this work it seeks to reveal that at the national level there have been countless rural plans and projects of social development which seek to alleviate poverty and social inequality, but some say that these programs generate which promotes the waste of Guadua on a social, economic and environmental level. The brief seeks to analyze the effects socio-economic, environmental and agricultural organizations generated by intervention projects carried out by public and private institutions for development Guadua Angustifolia Kunth cultivation on four veredas in the municipality of Pacho and two in the municipality of La Palma (Cundinamarca), for its development the work was based on three stages; search for information; analysis of information and publication of results and through software Atlas Ti conducted a qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with communities, where deductive variables were identified and inductive as interactions of sustainable management of Guadua cultivation where populations understand their dynamics and are able to generate new solutions one of these is agroecological management of cultivation that promotes sustainability and economic developmen