The Vera Causa Principle in the 18th Century Moral Philosophy

David Hume has been largely read as a philosopher but not as a scientist. In this article I discuss his work exclusively as a case of science; in particular as a case of early modern science. I compare the moral psychology of self-interest, sympathy and sentiments of humanity he argues for with the moral psychology of universal self-interest from Bernard Mandeville, presenting the controversy between the two as a case of theory choice

Is Everyone Self-Interested? Hume versus Mandeville

David Hume has been largely read as a philosopher but not as a scientist. In this article I discuss his work exclusively as a case of science; in particular as a case of early modern science. I compare the combined moral psychology of self-interest and sympathy he argues for with the moral psychology of universal self-interest from Bernard Mandeville, presenting the controversy between the two as a case of theory choice under the normative methodology of the vera causa from the eighteenth century, using inductive support, experimentum crucis and simplicity as criteria. On all three criteria I conclude that Mandeville’s theory of universal self-interest wins the controversy

How To Build An Auction Machine

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction was a new kind of auction used for the allocation of licences for the use and exploitation of the electromagnetic spectrum in The United States. This auction set a methodological standard of design and engineering in economics; its design adopted some properties from the traditional English and Dutch auctions and it also add new innovative properties, such as multiple rounds where bidders can return unwanted items. Unlike the English and the Dutch auctions, the FCC auction was designed and built by social scientists. The large revenue it raised was hailed as a proof of success of mechanism design theory. This success led some European governments to hire mechanism designers for the design and implementation of similar auctions for the allocation of licences on the electromagnetic spectrum. The success was not only due to the knowledge available from mechanism design theory but also from the practical knowledge experimental economists have, they performed the experiments testing the rules and mechanisms, which produced data crucial for the design and the implementation of the new auction. In this article, I present a methodological account of the FCC auction design discussing two main components of it, namely the blueprint produced by mechanism designers and the experiments performed for producing the data missing in the blueprint. I also evaluate this blueprint using the types of design and principles, namely minimal analogy and type-hierarchies

Communication and advertising in the beauty industry: a connection to women´s consumer behavior

The concept of advertising and the beauty industry had a significant increase in its relevance from the customer’s point of view in the 21st century. The research process was developed with a literature review explaining the concepts that determine advertising effectiveness, the applications of femvertising, and the main methods to understand women consumer behavior and purchase decision. The present investigation aims to recognize the connection between advertising and the beauty industry to understand how brands position themselves nowadays. Furthermore, identify and analyze how advertising and social media of Rihanna, singer, and owner of makeup brand Fenty Beauty, generate engagement with their female customers, fostering a positive reflection on female empowerment and the change of mindset in the beauty industry. The investigation continues with a qualitative methodology, to develop a analysis of Fenty Beauty’s first launch in 2017 and their Social Media in 2022, interpreting the defined categories to generate the results. The results show that the way the brand is positioned and how creates advertising and social media, generates a connection with women consumers through identification with diversity, inclusivity, and representativeness.O conceito de publicidade e indústria de Beleza tiveram um aumento significante no ponto de vista dos consumidores no século XXI. O processo de investigação foi desenvolvido com uma revisão de literatura explicando conceitos como eficácia da publicidade, as aplicações do Femvertising e os principais métodos para compreender o comportamento do consumidor do género feminimo e as decisões de compra. A presente investigação visa reconhecer a conexão existente entre a publicidade e indústria de Beleza tencionando perceber como as marcas se posicionam atualmente. Para além disso, identificar e analisar como a publicidade e as redes sociais da marca de maquiagem da Rihanna, cantora e dona da Fenty Beauty, geram engagamento com as consumidoras, fomentando uma reflexão positiva no empoderamento feminino e na mudança de mentalidade na indústria de Beleza. A investigação procede com uma metodologia qualitativa para desenvolver uma análise de conteúdo do lançamento da marca em 2017 e redes sociais em 2022, interpretando as categorias definidas para obter resultados. Os resultados mostram que a forma como a marca se posiciona e cria publicidade nas redes sociais, geram uma conexão com o consumidor do género feminino através da identificação pela diversidade, inclusividade e representatividade apresentadas

Diesel particulate matter quantification and reduction strategies for school buses

This thesis evaluated the contributions of school bus self pollution from both the crankcase and the tailpipe emissions to in-cabin levels of fine and ultrafine particulate matter, and determined the effectiveness of commercially available retrofit technologies towards reducing levels of particulate matter inside the school bus passenger compartment. Mobile tests were conducted with a school bus powered by an International DT466E engine on an outdoor test track. Measurements of fine and ultrafine particle concentrations within the cabin of a school bus were performed with and without retrofit technologies. The tests utilized a drive cycle using data from actual school bus routes. In-cabin particulate matter concentrations were measured using three Thermo Electron DataRAM- 4 units, and three TSI P-Trak ultrafine particle counters. Tailpipe gaseous emissions, as well as engine parameters were measured using the Sensors SEMTECH-D system. Tests were conducted using the original school bus configuration without installed retrofit technology, a single retrofit technology and combinations of a closed crankcase ventilation system (CCVS) and a tailpipe retrofit. The two tailpipe retrofits tested included a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and a Flow Through Filter (FTF). All the tests were performed using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. At minimum three runs were completed for each test configuration. This thesis presents the results of two studies. The initial study was conducted using a bus that had several leaks through faulty seals in the bus. A total of 69 runs were conducted in this initial study. In the final study 19 runs were conducted with the same bus after sealing the leaks and establishing a new testing protocol. An analysis of variance was conducted on the results to determine statistical difference among technologies. It was found that operating the bus with the windows open resulted in low concentrations of particulate matter in the cabin of the bus. Operating the bus with the windows closed resulted in higher particulate matter concentrations in the cabin of the bus compared to the particulate matter concentrations in the ambient air outside of the bus. This study confirmed that the use of tailpipe retrofit technologies resulted in large emission reductions of gaseous pollutants normally emitted from the tailpipe. All tailpipe retrofit technologies reduced CO approximately 50-65% and hydrocarbons were reduced by approximately 92 to 97%. It was found that three retrofit technology combinations reduce in-cabin net PM2.5 mass concentrations. The most effective technology was the combined DPF and CCVS. The results from the final study show that if only a DPF was used then it was 70% as effective as the combined DPF and CCVS. If the combination of FTF and CCVS were employed then this retrofit was approximately 50% as effective as the combined DPF-CCVS retrofit technology. The CCVS with no tailpipe retrofit was approximately 30% as effective as the DPF-CCVS. In-cabin net ultrafine particle concentrations as measured by the P-Trak decreased with increasing engine oil temperature. From the analysis of the ultrafine data as a function of engine oil temperature it was determined that the use of a CCVS reduces the particle count concentrations from 50 to over 100% compared to the cases without the CCVS. The DPF or FTF used without a CCVS did not significantly reduce in-cabin net ultrafines concentrations. This study gives evidence that a major source of ultrafines into the school bus is from the crankcase vent

Reduced chemical kinetic mechanism for computational fluid dynamics simulations of high brake mean effective pressure, lean-burn natural gas engines, A

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Recent developments in numerical techniques and computational processing power now permit time-dependent, multi-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations with detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms using commercially available software. Such computations have the potential to be highly effective tools for designing lean-burn, high brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) natural gas engines that achieve high fuel efficiency and low emissions. Specifically, these CFD simulations can provide the analytical tools required to design highly optimized natural gas engine components such as pistons, intake ports, pre-combustion chambers, fuel systems and ignition systems. To accurately model the transient, multi-dimensional chemically reacting flows present in these systems, detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms are needed that accurately reproduce measured combustion data at high pressures and lean conditions, but are of reduced size to enable reasonable computational times. Prior to the present study, these CFD models could not be used as accurate design tools for application in high BMEP lean-burn gas engines because existing reduced chemical kinetic mechanisms failed to accurately reproduce experimental flame speed and ignition delay data for natural gas at high pressure (40 atm and higher) and lean (0.6 equivalence ratio and lower) conditions. Existing methane oxidation mechanisms had typically been validated with experimental conditions at atmospheric and intermediate pressures (1 to 20 atm) and relatively rich stoichiometry. Accordingly, these kinetic mechanisms were not adequate for CFD simulation of natural gas combustion for which elevated pressures and very lean conditions are typical. This thesis describes an analysis, based on experimental data, of the laminar flame speed computed from numerous, detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms for methane combustion at pressures and equivalence ratios necessary for accurate high BMEP, lean-burn natural gas engine modeling. A reduced mechanism that was shown previously to best match data at moderately lean and high pressure conditions was updated for the conditions of interest by performing sensitivity analysis using CHEMKIN. The reaction rate constants from the most sensitive reactions were appropriately adjusted to obtain better agreement at high pressure lean conditions. An evaluation of two new reduced chemical kinetic mechanisms for methane combustion was performed using Converge CFD software. The results were compared to engine data and a significant improvement on combustion performance prediction was obtained with the new mechanisms

Núcleo Rondon UESC, Operação Capicongo: uma experiência pioneira de operação regional em municípios do sul da Bahia

Trabalho apresentado no II Congresso Nacional do PROJETO RONDON, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 23 a 25 de setembro de 2015 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.O Núcleo Rondon UESC é um Programa de Extensão Continuada, que tem o objetivo estratégico de viabilizar a participação do estudante universitário nos processos de desenvolvimento local sustentável e de fortalecimento da cidadania nas comunidades aonde atua, elegendo como local de intervenção imediata o Território de Identidade Litoral Sul da Bahia, composto de 26 municípios com alto grau de vulnerabilidade social. Em iniciativa pioneira, contando com a parceria de outras instituições de ensino superior situadas no eixo Ilhéus-Itabuna, além de rondonistas da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, realizou, entre os dias 13 e 21 de janeiro de 2014, a Operação Capicongo, nos Municípios de Almadina, Arataca e Barro Preto, que foram escolhidos por meio de articulação com a Gestão Territorial, órgão ligado à Secretaria de Planejamento do Estado da Bahia, e compreendem uma região que se tornou empobrecida após a catástrofe da cultura cacaueira ocorrida no final dos anos oitenta, e que ocasionou uma verdadeira mudança na dinâmica econômica e populacional da região. Em cada município foi encaminhada uma equipe composta por professores e alunos com característica multidisciplinar e multiprofissional para melhor consubstanciar a proposta de trabalho da Operação Capicongo. Nesses municípios foram realizadas ações direcionadas a lideranças comunitárias, professores, profissionais da saúde, servidores públicos, conselheiros municipais e, em algumas atividades, a população residente, visando contribuir para a sensibilização local em assuntos de interesse do desenvolvimento sustentável, como cultura, saúde, educação, gestão pública, meio ambiente, trabalho e tecnologia. Foram envolvidos 51 rondonistas da UESC, FTC, Unime, Faculdade de Ilhéus, Faculdade Madre Thaís, UNOPAR e UFPE, que atenderam nos três Municípios cerca de 1.700 pessoas, em mais de 90 atividades. O saldo foi considerado extremamente positivo, tanto por parte das prefeituras, quanto dos rondonistas. Com base nos relatórios apresentados pelas equipes, espera-se que essas comunidades de um modo geral possam: a) compreender a cidadania como participação social e política, assim como o exercício de direitos e deveres políticos, civis e sociais, adotando no dia a dia, atitudes de comprometimento, envolvimento, solidariedade, cooperação e repúdio às injustiças, respeitando o outro e exigindo para si o mesmo respeito; b) posicionar-se de maneira crítica, responsável e construtiva nas diferentes situações sociais, utilizando o diálogo como forma de mediar conflitos e de tomar decisões coletivas; c) conhecer características fundamentais de sua região nas dimensões sociais, materiais e culturais como meio para construir progressivamente a noção de identidade e o sentimento de pertinência ao seu entorno

Núcleo Rondon UESC: lição de vida e de cidadania no Território Litoral Sul da Bahia

Trabalho apresentado no II Congresso Nacional do PROJETO RONDON, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 23 a 25 de setembro de 2015 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.À Universidade cabe a formação de sujeitos capazes de se engajarem em causas que demandam uma intervenção mais efetiva para a promoção do bem-estar e a melhoria da sociedade. Para tanto, desenvolve competências cognitivas para o aprendizado de valores que se expressem em relacionamentos pautados na ética, respeito à identidade cultural e comprometimento com a promoção incessante de ações que superem as exclusões sociais, seja qual for sua natureza. Dessa forma a prática colocada a serviço da Responsabilidade Social ocupa posição estratégica no processo permanente de articulação com a sociedade, integrando as atividades de Ensino e Pesquisa às demandas sociais através da Extensão. De acordo com essa premissa, a Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz instituiu o Núcleo Rondon UESC, como Programa de Extensão Continuada, com o objetivo estratégico de viabilizar a participação do estudante universitário nos processos de desenvolvimento local sustentável e de fortalecimento da cidadania nas comunidades aonde atua, elegendo como local de intervenção imediata o Território de Identidade Litoral Sul da Bahia, composto de 26 municípios com alto grau de vulnerabilidade social. Atuando em parceria com as prefeituras municipais e outros importantes atores governamentais e não governamentais, iniciou suas atividades em 2014, tendo realizado intervenções em três municípios no mês de janeiro, na Operação Capicongo, e em dois municípios no mês de julho, na Operação Jupati, sendo oferecidas em ambas atividades educativas e de capacitação às populações alvo, que compreendem prioritariamente funcionários públicos, agentes de saúde, servidores da área de educação e líderes comunitários, sem deixar de atender às comunidades, principalmente crianças e donas de casa. Em especial na Operação Jupati, foram atendidas comunidades quilombolas no Município de Maraú e uma aldeia indígena no Município de Pau Brasil. Nessas duas operações foram atendidas cerca de cinco mil pessoas entre atividades de capacitação e ludicidade, obtendo avaliação bastante favorável tanto dos voluntários quanto das populações atendidas

Pérdida de soberanía alimentaria: una faceta actual de los países subdesarrollados.

In the current phase of the world economy - globalization - underdeveloped countries are moving even further away from achieving robust, sustainable, supportable, and balanced economic growth among the economic sectors and regions of their territories, which would allow them to reduce poverty and create societies with fewer inequalities. Underdevelopment has increased in these regions due to various economic and political causes, which, moreover, tend to perpetuate themselves. The objective of this article is to explain that one of these causes is the loss of the capacity to feed their populations with internal resources. The methods of study were comparative and deductive, to find common characteristics and to identify trends; historical-logical to address the background; and, based on the analysis of various sources of information, a framework of four variables of the causes of the non-existence of food sovereignty in underdeveloped countries was prepared ex profeso. The research found that two thirds of underdeveloped countries lack food self-sufficiency, a situation that forces them to depend on the purchase of food from the external market, where interests of large transnational agribusiness corporations prevail, which has the effect of gradually distancing them from food sovereignty, as they lack the power to decide on the food of their peoples. The main conclusion is that food insufficiency is no longer a temporary or transitory condition, but a structural or permanent one (exacerbated by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic), which is yet another obstacle to the development of these countries. Modifying this situation requires a complete change in the policies of the governments of underdeveloped countries, which have given priority to agribusiness and food security based on imports, abandoning self-sufficiency and deepening food dependence; in addition, leaving small farmers without support, who, even with their limited resources and very few incentives, are the mainstay of world food supply, generating more than 80 percent of the planet’s food.  Los países subdesarrollados en la fase actual de la economía mundial -la globalización- se apartan aún más de conseguir un robusto crecimiento económico, sostenible, sustentable y equilibrado, entre los sectores económicos y las regiones de sus territorios, que les permita reducir la pobreza y conformar sociedades con menores desigualdades. El subdesarrollo se ha acrecentado en ellos por diversas causas económicas y políticas que, además, tienden a perpetuarse. El objetivo del artículo es explicar que, una de esas causas, es la pérdida de la capacidad de alimentar a su población con recursos internos. Los métodos del estudio fueron el comparativo y deductivo, para encontrar características comunes e identificar tendencias; el histórico-lógico para abordar los antecedentes; y, con base en el análisis de diversas fuentes de información, se diseñó un marco de cuatro variables de las causas de la inexistencia de soberanía alimentaria en los países subdesarrollados. Con la investigación se encontró que dos terceras partes de los países subdesarrollados carecen de autosuficiencia alimentaria, situación que los obliga a depender de la compra de alimentos en el mercado externo, donde prevalecen los intereses de grandes corporaciones agroalimentarias transnacionales, lo que tiene como efecto un paulatino alejamiento de la soberanía alimentaria, al carecer del poder de decisión sobre la alimentación de sus pueblos. La principal conclusión es que la insuficiencia alimentaria es una condición que ha dejado de ser coyuntural o transitoria para volverse estructural o permanente (exacerbada por las consecuencias de la pandemia por COVID-19), lo que constituye una traba más para el desarrollo de esos países. Modificar esta situación requiere un viraje completo de las políticas de los gobiernos de los países subdesarrollados que han dado prioridad a las agroempresas y a la seguridad alimentaria, basada en importaciones, abandonando la autosuficiencia y profundizando la dependencia alimentaria; además, dejando sin apoyo a los pequeños agricultores, los que aún con sus limitados recursos y muy pocos estímulos, son la base primordial de la alimentación mundial, al generar más de 80 por ciento de los alimentos del planeta.

Advances on a methodology of design and engineering in economics and political science

This thesis consists of five chapters: 1.The Mechanical View, 2.Social Machines, 3.The FCC Auction Machine, 4.Self-Interested Knaves, and 5.Self-Interested but Sympathetic. In the first three chapters, I advance a methodological account of current design and engineering in economics and political science, which I call methodological mechanicism. It is not ontological or literal; it relies on a technological metaphor by describing market and state institutions as machines, and the human mind as consisting of a number of mechanisms. I introduce the Mechanical view on scientific theories as distinct from the Syntactic and the Semantic views. The electromagnetic theories from the nineteenth century are used to illustrate this view as well as the use of minimal and maximal analogies in model-building in normal and revolutionary science. The Mechanical view is extended to the social sciences, particularly to mechanism design theory and institutional design, using the International Monetary Fund, the NHS internal markets and the FCC auction as examples. Their blueprints are evaluated using criteria such as shielding and power for calculating joint effects as well as libertarian, dirigiste, egalitarian and inegalitarian properties; and the holistic and piecemeal engineering they adopt. Experimental parameter variation is introduced as a method complementing design. Any design assumes a particular moral psychology, so in chapters four and five I argue that the moral psychology of universal self-interest from Bernard Mandeville, and the related ideas on design and engineering, should be chosen over the moral psychology of self-interest, sympathy and sentiments of humanity from David Hume. Hume finds no solution for knavery in politics and civil society. He accepts egalitarianism as useful and consistent with utilitarian principles; however he rejects it because of some difficulties with its implementation. I show how those difficulties may be overcome, and I explain why his objections are unbalanced and not sufficiently justified