2,518 research outputs found
Going veg: care of the animals or care of the self?
Mainstream animal ethics theories, such as Singer’s and Regan’s, argue in favor of dietary behaviors excluding at all animal derived products. According to those accounts, in our societies and in our present conditions of life discarding food obtained from animals is mandatory according to the demands of normative ethical theories. In my paper I will present a different approach to reflective moral vegetarianism (defined in a very broad sense). Moving from some critical remarks to mainstream arguments I will suggest the idea that vegetarianism ought to be more accurately regarded as a part of the self-development and care of the self of scrupulous moral agents. Born from personal reflections about the morality of human/non-human relationships vegetarianism should be regarded a way in which the agents shapes and cultivates her own character. Such a view about vegetarianism avoids the difficulties of mainstream arguments and it is more apt to account for the variety and richness of people actual choices about vegetarianism in ordinary moral experience
Search for unusual objects in the WISE Survey
Automatic source detection and classification tools based on machine learning
(ML) algorithms are growing in popularity due to their efficiency when dealing
with large amounts of data simultaneously and their ability to work in
multidimensional parameter spaces. In this work, we present a new, automated
method of outlier selection based on support vector machine (SVM) algorithm
called one-class SVM (OCSVM), which uses the training data as one class to
construct a model of 'normality' in order to recognize novel points. We test
the performance of OCSVM algorithm on \textit{Wide-field Infrared Survey
Explorer (WISE)} data trained on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) sources.
Among others, we find sources with abnormal patterns which can be
associated with obscured and unobscured active galactic nuclei (AGN) source
candidates. We present the preliminary estimation of the clustering properties
of these objects and find that the unobscured AGN candidates are preferentially
found in less massive dark matter haloes () than the
obscured candidates (). This result contradicts the
unification theory of AGN sources and indicates that the obscured and
unobscured phases of AGN activity take place in different evolutionary paths
defined by different environments.Comment: 4 figures, 6 page
Problems of Clustering of Radiogalaxies
We present the preliminary analysis of clustering of a sample of 1157
radio-identified galaxies from Machalski & Condon (1999). We found that for
separations Mpc their redshift space autocorrelation function
can be approximated by the power law with the correlation length Mpc and slope . The correlation length for
radiogalaxies is found to be lower and the slope steeper than the corresponding
parameters of the control sample of optically observed galaxies. Analysis the
projected correlation function displays possible differences in the
clustering properties between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and starburst (SB)
galaxies.Comment: Submitted: Proceedings of IAUS 290 "Feeding Compact Objects:
Accretion on All Scales", C. M. Zhang, T. Belloni, M. Mendez & S. N. Zhang
(eds.
DESIGN TOOLS FOR LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS AND DURABILITY EVALUATION OF BUILDING SYSTEMS: A RESEARCH ON THE BUILDING ENVELOPE
The behavior and service life prediction of building systems requires to develop tools to assist the designer. The paper is focused on a research carried out in the Department of Architecture and Design with the Department of Mathematical Sciences of the Politecnico di Torino. The goal is to develop a design tool to forecast the building subsystem durability and to help the designer in design options. The method is based on FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) developed in a qualitative way as well as in a probabilistic way. The analyst assess the functional models, the failures and the consequent predicted service life of components. The designer will select materials defining the risk coming from environmental agents, design, materials and workmanship. The estimated service life has been assessed by Monte Carlo method. The external walls was the example tested using data by investigations in the area of northern Italy and from literature
Galaxy properties
We discuss the basic properties of galaxies, our present view of relations between them and their evolution
The usability of the optical parametric amplification of light for high-angular-resolution imaging and fast astrometry
High-angular-resolution imaging is crucial for many applications in modern
astronomy and astrophysics. The fundamental diffraction limit constrains the
resolving power of both ground-based and spaceborne telescopes. The recent idea
of a quantum telescope based on the optical parametric amplification (OPA) of
light aims to bypass this limit for the imaging of extended sources by an order
of magnitude or more. We present an updated scheme of an OPA-based device and a
more accurate model of the signal amplification by such a device. The
semiclassical model that we present predicts that the noise in such a system
will form so-called light speckles as a result of light interference in the
optical path. Based on this model, we analysed the efficiency of OPA in
increasing the angular resolution of the imaging of extended targets and the
precise localization of a distant point source. According to our new model, OPA
offers a gain in resolved imaging in comparison to classical optics. For a
given time-span, we found that OPA can be more efficient in localizing a single
distant point source than classical telescopes.Comment: Received: 11 November 2017, revision received: 31 January 2018,
accepted: 31 January 201
Transparency and public participation: The Albanian case of Open Government Partnership
Increasing real public participation in governance and decision making is one of the greatest challenges of modern democracies as well as of these countries seeking to elevate their level of decision making and effective participation of public and citizenship in these processes. The widely dissemination and usage of communication technologies as well a greater pressure from the public for a greater accountability towards their governors, changes the shape and tools of governance, by changing initially the philosophy of and mindset of decision makers and policy maker as well. At the same time, this calls for a revolutionary way of powers distribution in governance processes by bringing more power in the hands of public, starting by an increased transparency and aiming a real and functional participation. The case of Albania, certify how policy makers good will and successful application of best practices, can accelerate democratic processes and increase resources for a better decision making and decision application as well. The paper makes a historic and political reconstruction of the OGP process and practices by projecting the effects and potential outcomes of this governance philosophy in the Albanian social tissue and set up, taking in consideration of the political system and the governance philosophy in Albania 2011-2012
Clustering of Far-Infrared Galaxies in the AKARI All-Sky Survey
We present the first measurement of the angular two-point correlation
function for AKARI 90-m point sources, detected outside of the Milky Way
plane and other regions characterized by high Galactic extinction, and
categorized as extragalactic sources according to our far-infrared-color based
criterion (Pollo et al. 2010). This is the first measurement of the large-scale
angular clustering of galaxies selected in the far-infrared after IRAS
measurements. Although a full description of clustering properties of these
galaxies will be obtained by more detailed studies, using either spatial
correlation function, or better information about properties and at least
photometric redshifts of these galaxies, the angular correlation function
remains the first diagnostics to establish the clustering properties of the
catalog and observed galaxy population. We find a non-zero clustering signal in
both hemispheres extending up to degrees, without any significant
fluctuations at larger scales. The observed correlation function is well fitted
by a power law function. The notable differences between a northern and
southern hemisphere are found, which can be probably attributed to the
photometry problems and point out to a necessity of performing a better
calibration in the data from southern hemisphere.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Earth, Planets, and
Spac
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