Introduction: Examined Live – An Epistemological Exchange Between Philosophy and Cultural Psychology on Reflection

Besides the general agreement about the human capability of reflection, there is a large area of disagreement and debate about the nature and value of “reflective scrutiny” and the role of “second-order states” in everyday life. This problem has been discussed in a vast and heterogeneous literature about topics such as epistemic injustice, epistemic norms, agency, understanding, meta-cognition etc. However, there is not yet any extensive and interdisciplinary work, specifically focused on the topic of the epistemic value of reflection. This volume is one of the first attempts aimed at providing an innovative contribution, an exchange between philosophy, epistemology and psychology about the place and value of reflection in everyday life. Our goal in the next sections is not to offer an exhaustive overview of recent work on epistemic reflection, nor to mimic all of the contributions made by the chapters in this volume. We will try to highlight some topics that have motivated a new resumption of this field and, with that, drawing on chapters from this volume where relevant. Two elements defined the scope and content of this volume, on the one hand, the crucial contribution of Ernest Sosa, whose works provide original and thought-provoking contributions to contemporary epistemology in setting a new direction for old dilemmas about the nature and value of knowledge, giving a central place to reflection. On the other hand, the recent developments of cultural psychology, in the version of the “Aalborg approach”, reconsider the object and scope of psychological sciences, stressing that “[h]uman conduct is purposeful”

Experimental study of optimal measurements for quantum state tomography

Quantum tomography is a critically important tool to evaluate quantum hardware, making it essential to develop optimized measurement strategies that are both accurate and efficient. We compare a variety of strategies using nearly pure test states. Those that are informationally complete for all states are found to be accurate and reliable even in the presence of errors in the measurements themselves, while those designed to be complete only for pure states are far more efficient but highly sensitive to such errors. Our results highlight the unavoidable tradeoffs inherent to quantum tomography.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Quantum state tomography by continuous measurement and compressed sensing

The need to perform quantum state tomography on ever larger systems has spurred a search for methods that yield good estimates from incomplete data. We study the performance of compressed sensing (CS) and least squares (LS) estimators in a fast protocol based on continuous measurement on an ensemble of cesium atomic spins. Both efficiently reconstruct nearly pure states in the 16-dimensional ground manifold, reaching average fidelities FCS = 0.92 and FLS = 0.88 using similar amounts of incomplete data. Surprisingly, the main advantage of CS in our protocol is an increased robustness to experimental imperfections

Determinación espectroquímica de impurezas en plata

Con el fin de verificar el grado de pureza de la plata empleada principalmente para la fabricación de fusibles, se ha aplicado el análisis espectroquímico por su gran sensibilidad y rapidez. Debido a la gran variedad en el diámetro de los alambres y ante la imposibilidad de disponer de los patrones standard para cada medida, fue necesario disolver la muestra y realizar el análisis sobre las sales (nitratos). Las muestras standard se prepararon por el mismo procedimiento, empleando sustancias de pureza espectroscópica (Johnson Matthey). Esta técnica de análisis nos permite determinar once elementos (Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Sn, Al, Zn, Pt, Pd, Ir, Au). Se utilizo un espectrógrafo Z-3 (Jobin-Yvon), fuente de excitación G.M.60 (de Durr) y densitómetro 21-051 (Jarrell-Ash).Because of its great sensitivity and time-saving characteristics spectrochemical analysis has "been applied to the purity control of silver to he used mainly in fuse manufacture. As wires differ widely in their diameters and it is almost impossible to obtain standards por each size, it was necessary to disolve the sample and analize the resulting salts (nitrates). Standard samples were prepared making use of the procedure on spectroscopically pure materials (Johnson Matthey). This analytical technique allows the determination of eleven elements, i.e. Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Sn, Al, Zn, Pt, Pd, Ir, Au. Instrumentation used includes Jobin-Yvon Z-3 spectrograph, Durr G.M.60 excitation source and Jarrell-Ash,model 21-051 densitometer

What triggers a microcrack in printed engineering parts produced by selective laser sintering on the first place?

The proximity of un-melted particles within Selective Laser Sintered (SLS) printed engineering parts made of Nylon-12 is found as a major triggering effect for cracking and ultimately failure. The numerical investigation, by means of the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM), was performed over samples with different arrangements of un-melted particles obtained experimentally. The onset and propagation of microcracks was simulated. This included inherently how the degree of particle melt (DPM) in SLS parts affects and controls both crack initiation and propagation. The results evidenced that a microcrack started invariably between the two closest un-melted particles in all numerical tests performed considering different arrangements of un-melted particles

Partially observable queueing systems with controlled service rates under a discounted optimality criterion

summary:We are concerned with a class of $GI/GI/1$ queueing systems with controlled service rates, in which the waiting times are only observed when they take zero value. Applying a suitable filtering process, we show the existence of optimal control policies under a discounted optimality criterion

Danos ocasionados por Edessa meditabunda (f.) E Piezodorus guildinii (West.) Hemiptera: pentatomidae) em sementes de soja.

Experimentos realizados na cultura da soja, cv. NK 3363, com E. meditabunda e P. guildinii conduzidos em campo com gaiolas (1 x 1 x 1,2 m), em Ponta Grossa, Paraná, na safra de 2010/2011, tiveram como objetivo caracterizar e avaliar os danos ocasionados pela alimentação destes insetos. As plantas foram infestadas com diferentes níveis populacionais (0, 2 e 3 adultos/m), em diferentes fases fenológicas, sendo elas: início do desenvolvimento do grão a maturação (R5.1-R9); semente completamente cheia a maturação (R6-R9); maturidade fisiológica (R7-R9). A semeadura da soja foi realizada 12/11/2010 e a colheita 08/04/2011, totalizando um ciclo de 147 dias. Os danos foram estimados pela análise de germinação e de tetrazólio, nesta última, sendo classificadas de 1-8, o número total de sementes danificadas. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância, e médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey . Entre as menores germinações encontram-se as plantas infestadas no início do desenvolvimento dos grãos (R5.1-R9), com três adultos/m de P. guildinii (66,5%), e plantas infestadas na maturidade fisiológica (R7-R9), com três adultos/m de E. meditabunda (68,7%). A maior média de sementes danificadas foram nas infestações em R5.1-R9, com dois e três adultos/m de P. guildinii, danos de 22,6% e 25,0%, de um total de 50 sementes. E. meditabunda provocou maiores danos nas infestações em R7, média de 34,0% e 41,4% de sementes danificadas