Property in the Moral Life of Human Beings

AbstractLiberal egalitarian political philosophers have often argued that private property is a legal convention dependent on the state and that complaints about taxation from entitlement theorists are therefore based on a conceptual mistake. But our capacity to grasp and use property concepts seems too embedded in human nature for this to be correct. This essay argues that many standard arguments that property is constitutively a legal convention fail, but that the opposition between conventionalists and natural rights theorists is outmoded. In doing this, the essay draws on recent literature in evolutionary biology and psychology. Even though modern property in a complex society involves legal conventions, those conventions should be sensitive to our natural dispositions concerning ownership.</jats:p

Lightning in the eastern Alps 1993-1999, part I: Thunderstorm tracks

International audienceThunderstorm tracks in the eastern Alps for the summers of 1993-1999 are investigated based on lightning data. The tracking method consists of three steps. Step one filters weak storms. Step two fixes the positions of the single cells, which are then connected. The wind at 700hPa, which approximates the steering level of the thunderstorms, is used to distinguish between six weather patterns. Maps including all discovered tracks are discussed for each flow type. While locations from which thunderstorms originate are almost similar, the track patterns are distinct for each flow type. Main initiation areas are mountain ranges of moderate altitude (?2.5km MSL) from where most of the tracks lead into flat areas

Indication of electron neutrino appearance from an accelerator-produced off-axis muon neutrino beam

The T2K experiment observes indications of nu(mu) -> nu(mu) e appearance in data accumulated with 1.43 x 10(20) protons on target. Six events pass all selection criteria at the far detector. In a three-flavor neutrino oscillation scenario with |Delta m(23)(2)| = 2.4 x 10(-3) eV(2), sin(2)2 theta(23) = 1 and sin(2)2 theta(13) = 0, the expected number of such events is 1.5 +/- 0.3(syst). Under this hypothesis, the probability to observe six or more candidate events is 7 x 10(-3), equivalent to 2.5 sigma significance. At 90% C.L., the data are consistent with 0.03(0.04) < sin(2)2 theta(13) < 0.28(0.34) for delta(CP) = 0 and a normal (inverted) hierarchy

QCD Tests in High Energy Collisions

Recent measurements and theoretical developments on the hadronic final state in deep-inelastic scattering, pp and ee collisions are presented

Assessment of the 2,4 km run as a predictor of aerobic capacity

CITATION: Burger, S.C., Bertram, S.R. & Stewart, R.I. 1990. Assessment of the 2,4 km run as a predictor of aerobic capacity. S Afr Med J, 78(9):327-329.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the 2,4 km run time test is routinely used in military training programmes as an indicator of aerobic capacity and its possible improvement, an atemtp was made to: (i) establish a regression equation of VO2(max) v. 2,4 km run time in a group of 20 young military volunteers; and (ii) determine whether this equation could be used to predict VO2(max) reliably from the 2,4 km time obtained from another group. Before and after training, VO2(max) was measured in all subjects using a treadmill test, and 2,4 km run time was determined in the field. Linear regression equations using the 2,4 km run time as the independent variable accounted for 76-92% of the variance in VO2(max), while the standard error of the estimate varied from 2,24-2,91 ml/kg/min. In the second test group, the directly measured VO2(max) was 59,89 ± 0,99 ml/kg/min, while the mean values estimated from the regression equation of the first group was 59,61 ± 1,16 ml/kg/min (P< 0.001). It was concluded that, in the population studied, the 2,4 km run time in the field reliably predicts VO2(max) measured during treadmill exercise in the laboratory.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaarPublisher’s versio

Transitions between bursting modes in the integrated oscillator model for pancreatic β-cells

Insulin-secreting $\beta$-cells of pancreatic islets of Langerhans produce bursts of electrical impulses, resulting in intracellular Ca$^{2+}$ oscillations and pulsatile insulin secretion. The mechanism for this bursting activity has been the focus of mathematical modeling for more than three decades, and as new data are acquired old models are modified and new models are developed. Comprehensive models must now account for the various modes of bursting observed in islet $\beta$-cells, which include fast bursting, slow bursting, and compound bursting. One such model is the Integrated Oscillator Model (IOM), in which $\beta$-cell electrical activity, intracellular Ca$^{2+}$ , and glucose metabolism interact via numerous feedforward and feedback pathways. These interactions can produce metabolic oscillations with a sawtooth time course or a pulsatile time course, reflecting very different oscillation mechanisms. In this report, we determine conditions favorable to one form of oscillations or the other, and examine the transitions between modes of bursting and the relationship of the transitions to the patterns of metabolic oscillations. Importantly, this work clarifies what can be expected in experimental measurements of $\beta$-cell oscillatory activity, and suggests pathways through which oscillations of one type can be converted to oscillations of another type.R. Bertram was supported by grant number DMS-1612193 from the National Science Foundatio