25,299 research outputs found
The relational ethics of conflict and identity
The contemporary psychoanalytically inflected vocabulary of relational ethics centres on acknowledgement, witnessing and responsibility. It has become an important code for efforts to connect with otherness across fractures of hurt, oppression and suffering. One can see the deployment of this vocabulary to challenge patterns of exclusion and dehumanisation in zones of intense political conflict in many situations in which destructive hatred reigns. This paper traces some of the use of and disputes over this ‘acknowledgement-based’ relational ethics in the recent work of Jessica Benjamin and Judith Butler. The field of application is their response to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, given their position as Jews. The challenge of the acknowledgement agenda leads back to an issue of general concern – the degree to which relational ethics can prise open apparently closed and defensive psychosocial identities
Comment on "Valence QCD: Connecting QCD to the Quark Model"
I criticize certain conclusions about the physics of hadrons drawn from a
"valence QCD" approximation to QCD.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures; some minor improvements made to the tex
Decuplet baryon magnetic moments in a QCD-based quark model beyond quenched approximation
We study the decuplet baryon magnetic moments in a QCD-based quark model
beyond quenched approximation. Our approach for unquenching the theory is based
on the heavy baryon perturbation theory in which the axial couplings for baryon
- meson and the meson-meson-photon couplings from the chiral perturbation
theory are used together with the QM moment couplings. It also involves the
introduction of a form factor characterizing the structure of baryons
considered as composite particles. Using the parameters obtained from fitting
the octet baryon magnetic moments, we predict the decuplet baryon magnetic
moments. The magnetic moment is found to be in good agreement with
experiment: is predicted to be compared to the
experimental result of (2.02 0.05) .Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure
A site-specific standard for comparing dynamic solar ultraviolet protection characteristics of established tree canopies
A standardised procedure for making fair and comparable assessments of the ultraviolet protection of an established tree canopy that takes into account canopy movement and the changing position of the sun is presented for use by government, planning, and environmental health authorities. The technique utilises video image capture and replaces the need for measurement by ultraviolet radiometers for surveying shade quality characteristics of trees growing in public parks, playgrounds and urban settings. The technique improves upon tree shade assessments that may be based upon single measurements of the ultraviolet irradiance observed from a fixed point of view. The presented technique demonstrates how intelligent shade audits can be conducted without the need for specialist equipment, enabling the calculation of the Shade Protection Index (SPI) and Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) for any discreet time interval and over a full calendar year
Robust ecological pattern formation induced by demographic noise
We demonstrate that demographic noise can induce persistent spatial pattern
formation and temporal oscillations in the Levin-Segel predator-prey model for
plankton-herbivore population dynamics. Although the model exhibits a Turing
instability in mean field theory, demographic noise greatly enlarges the region
of parameter space where pattern formation occurs. To distinguish between
patterns generated by fluctuations and those present at the mean field level in
real ecosystems, we calculate the power spectrum in the noise-driven case and
predict the presence of fat tails not present in the mean field case. These
results may account for the prevalence of large-scale ecological patterns,
beyond that expected from traditional non-stochastic approaches.Comment: Revised version. Supporting simulation at:
http://guava.physics.uiuc.edu/~tom/Netlogo
Airborne laser topographic mapping results from initial joint NASA/US Army Corps of Engineers experiment
Initial results from a series of joint NASA/US Army Corps of Engineers experiments are presented. The NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) was exercised over various terrain conditions, collecting both profile and scan data from which river basin cross sections are extracted. Comparisons of the laser data with both photogrammetry and ground surveys are made, with 12 to 27 cm agreement observed over open ground. Foliage penetration tests, utilizing the unique time-waveform sampling capability of the AOL, indicate 50 cm agreement with photogrammetry (known to have difficulty in foliage covered terrain)
The Impact of Recent Banking Regulations on the Market for Corporate Control
Part II of this Article briefly discusses the historical development of the regulation of bank capital, focusing on the 1989 risk-based capital adequacy regulations as well as the 1989 highly leveraged transaction guidelines and their impact on the banking industry\u27s involvement in takeover transactions. This section also shows how the perverse incentives created by the present system of federal deposit insurance impact on the takeover market. Part III discusses the role of thrifts in corporate takeovers and the effect of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, including its prohibition on thrifts\u27 purchasing junk bonds. The concluding section speculates as to why these seemingly unwise regulations were adopted
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