1,130 research outputs found
Some Legal Aspects of Cloud Computing Contracts
Cloud computing is a technological reality that is being widely adopted by large companies. This study discusses cloud computing and information security. It also includes some of the advantages and risks, models of system and service adopted, as well as key services offered by the providers of cloud computing. It also addresses the legal issues of cloud computing contracts, with a focus on the contracting parties, on their goal and main clauses that must be addressed in this atypical contract, among them the integrity and confidentiality of data plus information requirements for supplying information and the purpose of the content stored in the case of breach of contract
The ages and colours of cool helium-core white dwarf stars
The purpose of this work is to explore the evolution of helium-core white
dwarf stars in a self-consistent way with the predictions of detailed non-gray
model atmospheres and element diffusion. To this end, we consider helium-core
white dwarf models with stellar masses of 0.406, 0.360, 0.327, 0.292, 0.242,
0.196 and 0.169 solar masses and follow their evolution from the end of mass
loss episodes during their pre-white dwarf evolution down to very low surface
luminosities. We find that when the effective temperature decreases below
4000K, the emergent spectrum of these stars becomes bluer within time-scales of
astrophysical interest. In particular, we analyse the evolution of our models
in the colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams and we find that helium-core
white dwarfs with masses ranging from approx. 0.18 to 0.3 solar masses can
reach the turn-off in their colours and become blue again within cooling times
much less than 15 Gyr and then remain brighter than M_V approx. 16.5. In view
of these results, many low-mass helium white dwarfs could have had time enough
to evolve to the domain of collision-induced absorption from molecular
hydrogen, showing blue colours.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
DQ white-dwarf stars with low C abundance: Possible progenitors
The present paper focuses on the evolution of hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs
with the aim of exploring the consequences of different initial envelope
structures on the carbon abundances expected in helium-rich,
carbon-contaminated DQ white dwarfs. In particular, the evolutionary link
between the DQs with low detected carbon abundances and the PG1159, extreme
horizontal branch, and helium-rich R Coronae Borealis (RCrB) stars is explored.
We present full evolutionary calculations that take a self-consistent treatment
of element diffusion into account as well as expectations for the outer layer
chemical stratification of progenitor stars upon entering the white dwarf
regime. We find that PG1159 stars cannot be related to any DQ white dwarfs with
low C abundances. Instead, we suggest that the latter could constitute the
progeny of the giant, helium-rich RCrB stars.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Private Law and State Paternalism: Too Much Legal Regulation of Private Life?
This article analyses the adverse effect of paternalistic attitudes adopted by the State, especially the legal regulation of private life. Often, the State has adopted certain positions, especially through the issuance of rules and legal decisions in areas where Private Law and freedom of choice has prevailed, such as private contracts. Due to a protectionist position adopted by the State, legal regulation of private life has increased. The Judiciary resolves questions that arise daily in private orbit precisely because it is considered as the only social actor able to implement its own decisions. In such a way, this study seeks to analyze the possible consequences of this state altruistic posture. It is interesting to note that such a posture is authoritative at the same time, since individuals are considered eternally vulnerable and minimizes principles of Private Law. This, ultimately, could lead from a democratic system to an authoritarian one
Outer boundary conditions for evolving cool white dwarfs
White dwarf evolution is essentially a gravothermal cooling process,
which,for cool white dwarfs, sensitively depends on the treatment of the outer
boundary conditions. We provide detailed outer boundary conditions appropriate
for computing the evolution of cool white dwarfs employing detailed non-gray
model atmospheres for pure H composition. We also explore the impact on the
white dwarf cooling times of different assumptions for energy transfer in the
atmosphere of cool white dwarfs. Detailed non-gray model atmospheres are
computed taken into account non-ideal effects in the gas equation of state and
chemical equilibrium, collision-induced absorption from molecules, and the
Lyman alpha quasi-molecular opacity. Our results show that the use of detailed
outer boundary conditions becomes relevant for effective temperatures lower
than 5800 and 6100K for sequences with 0.60 and 0.90 M_sun, respectively.
Detailed model atmospheres predict ages that are up to approx 10% shorter at
log L/L_sun=-4 when compared with the ages derived using Eddington-like
approximations at tau_Ross=2/3. We also analyze the effects of various
assumptions and physical processes of relevance in the calculation of outer
boundary conditions. In particular, we find that the Ly_alpha red wing
absorption does not affect substantially the evolution of white dwarfs. White
dwarf cooling timescales are sensitive to the surface boundary conditions for
T_eff < 6000K. Interestingly enough, non-gray effects have little consequences
on these cooling times at observable luminosities. In fact, collision-induced
absorption processes, which significantly affect the spectra and colors of old
white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich atmospheres, have not noticeable effects in
their cooling rates, except throughout the Rosseland mean opacity.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The evolutionary status of the white dwarf companion of the binary pulsar PSR J1713+0747
Splaver and coworkers have measured the masses of the white dwarf and the neutron star components of the PSR J1713+0747 binary system pair by Shapiro Delay. We attempt to find the original configuration of this system performing a set of binary evolution calculations to simultaneously account for the masses of both stars and the orbital period. We considered initial masses of 1.5 and 1.4 \msun for the normal (donor) and the neutron star, respectively. We assumed two metallicity values (Z = 0.010 and 0.020), and an initial orbital period near 3 days. We assume that the neutron star is only able to retain \lesssim 0.10 of the matter transferred by the donor star. Calculations were performed employing our binary hydro code that handles the mass transfer rate in a fully implicit way together with state-of-the-art physical ingredients, diffusion and a non-grey atmospheres. We compare the structure of the resulting white dwarfs with the characteristic age of PSR J1713+0747 finding a nice agreement with observations by Lundgren et al. especially for the case of a donor star with Z= 0.010. This result indicates that the evolution of this kind of binary system is well understood. The models predict that, due to diffusion, the atmosphere of the white dwarf is an almost hydrogen-pure one. We find that such structures are unable to account for the colours measured by Lundgren et al. within their error bars. Thus, some discrepances in the white dwarf emergent radiation remain to be explained
Associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and psychological distress: results from a population-based study.
BACKGROUND: Several studies observed associations of various aspects of diet with mental health, but little is known about the relationship between following the 5-a-day recommendation for fruit and vegetables consumption and mental health. Thus, we examined the associations of the Swiss daily recommended fruit and vegetable intake with psychological distress.
METHODS: Data from 20,220 individuals aged 15+ years from the 2012 Swiss Health Survey were analyzed. The recommended portions of fruit and vegetables per day were defined as 5-a-day (at least 2 portions of fruit and 3 of vegetables). The outcome was perceived psychological distress over the previous 4 weeks (measured by the 5-item mental health index [MHI-5]). High distress (MHI-5 score ≤ 52), moderate distress (MHI-5 > 52 and ≤ 72) and low distress (MHI-5 > 72 and ≤ 100) were differentiated and multinomial logistic regression analyses adjusted for known confounding factors were performed.
RESULTS: The 5-a-day recommendation was met by 11.6 % of the participants with low distress, 9.3 % of those with moderate distress, and 6.2 % of those with high distress. Consumers fulfilling the 5-a-day recommendation had lower odds of being highly or moderately distressed than individuals consuming less fruit and vegetables (moderate vs. low distress: OR = 0.82, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.97; high vs. low distress: OR = 0.55, 95 % CI 0.41-0.75).
CONCLUSIONS: Daily intake of 5 servings of fruit and vegetable was associated with lower psychological distress. Longitudinal studies are needed to further determine the causal nature of this relationship
Loneliness is adversely associated with physical and mental health and lifestyle factors: Results from a Swiss national survey.
Loneliness is a common, emotionally distressing experience and is associated with adverse physical and mental health and an unhealthy lifestyle. Nevertheless, little is known about the prevalence of loneliness in different age groups in Switzerland. Furthermore, the existing evidence about age and gender as potential effect modifiers of the associations between loneliness, physical and mental health and lifestyle characteristics warrants further investigation. Thus, the aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of loneliness among adults in Switzerland and to assess the associations of loneliness with several physical and mental health and behavioral factors, as well as to assess the modifying effect of sex and age.
Data from 20,007 participants of the cross-sectional population-based Swiss Health Survey 2012 (SHS) were analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess associations of loneliness with physical and mental health or lifestyle characteristics (e.g. diabetes, depression, physical activity). Wald tests were used to test for interactions.
Loneliness was distributed in a slight U-shaped form from 15 to 75+ year olds, with 64.1% of participants who had never felt lonely. Lonely individuals were more often affected by physical and mental health problems, such as self-reported chronic diseases (Odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30-1.54), high cholesterol levels (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.18-1.45), diabetes (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.67), moderate and high psychological distress (OR 3.74, 95% CI 3.37-4.16), depression (OR 2.78, 95% CI 2.22-3.48) and impaired self-perceived health (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.74-2.16). Loneliness was significantly associated with most lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking; OR 1.13, 95% 1.05-1.23). Age, but not sex, moderated loneliness' association with several variables.
Loneliness is associated with poorer physical and mental health and unhealthy lifestyle, modified by age, but not by sex. Our findings illustrate the importance of considering loneliness for physical and mental health and lifestyle factors, not only in older and younger, but also in middle-aged adults. Longitudinal studies are needed in Switzerland to elucidate the causal relationships of these associations
Direito Empresarial Contemporâneo: O Caso Banksy
The interaction between business law and art galleries is hit by the work of the English artist Banksy. This article addresses new prospects for urban artists and business law in contemporary times. This paper presents, under an interdisciplinary perspective, some areas of application of business law, especially the protection, or not, of intellectual property, in the case of urban works of art. The article presents the case Banksy and his work in the urban environment, sometimes in public property, sometimes in private buildings, and, from a historical review of the protection of intellectual property, especially in the case of protection of a work of arts, this text examines the challenges that the unusual creation of Banksy presents to contemporary business law.O Direito empresarial e as grandes galerias de arte são provocados pela obra do artista inglês Banksy; este ensaio discute as novas perspectivas para os artistas urbanos e para o Direito empresarial na contemporaneidade. Este texto apresenta, sob uma perspectiva interdisciplinar, algumas áreas de aplicação do direito de empresa, especialmente quanto à proteção, ou não, da propriedade intelectual, no caso da arte urbana. O artigo apresenta o caso Banksy e suas obras em ambientes urbanos, ora públicos, ora privados, e, a partir de uma revisão histórica sobre a proteção da propriedade intelectual, ainda que se trate da proteção de uma obra de arte, analisa os desafios que a inusitada criação do autor Banksy coloca para o direito de empresa
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