Virtue Ethics and software development: debates and proposals

Ethical issues have a growing interest for software developers, in as much as technological developments are more andmore present in our lives, and it has become evident that technologies are morally charged (Verbeek, 2014). From aninterdisciplinary approach, gathering researchers from the fields of computer science and moral philosophy, this paperreflects on virtue ethics first defined by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle- and explores the possibilities in whichthis classical moral notion can be addressed in contemporary contexts of software development (Haggendorf, 2020;Gamez et al., 2020). Together with general values such as interaction, correctness and security, widely discussed in thefields of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, the research also highlights the importance of intentionality. Giventhe fact that most software developers usually work in a team, and they often take items of software from differentsources available, the implementation of any new software shall be understood as a complex process fragmentedamong many agents (with their consequent and perhaps hidden intentions), hence it is difficult to identify the bearer ofmoral responsibility if that software leads to unethical consequences. The paper elaborates on the notion of intentionaldependency network to name this chain of complex interactions in the context of software development. The nodes ofthese intentional dependency networks are constituted by three elements: a human being who interacts with a softwareartefact with a declared intention. Inconsistencies may arise in a node at local level, since a software artefact can producecertain effects that are incompatible with the intention declared by the human. Thus deepening in the complex ecology ofcurrent software development and its networks provides an interesting field to explore the origins and evolution of moralagency. Once thoroughly examined the topics above mentioned, the paper ends with a preliminary proposal on someethical values and attitudes which should be shared by software developers aiming to achieve moral excellence in theirprofessional performance:First, awareness and acknowledgement of the moral dimension of software development.Second, a general attitude of responsibility and preliminary investigation about implicit and declared intentions before useof any piece of already existing software.Third, intentions should be declared as non-functional requirements for any new software. This will help to assume themoral consequences of choices and decisions made in professional contexts, mainly if those consequences are harmful,discriminatory, or lead to any unexpected misuses of software

Detecting simple dynamics in Cournot-like models

AbstractWe introduced the so-called Cournot-like models, i.e. n-dimensional discrete dynamical systems which constitute the mathematical environment for modeling some economic and biological processes. The main aim of this work is to present a characterization of the dynamical simplicity for these types of systems through the property “to have zero topological entropy”. Cournot-like systems generalize the well-known economic situation of competition in a duopolistic market introduces by Cournot in 1838

De nuevo sobre el romance "Mi compadre Gómez Arias"

En este artículo analizamos algunos anacronismos contenidos en las fuentes que Diego Catalán utilizó para identificar la cronología y el contenido del romance Mi compadre Gómez Arias, uno de los más antiguos que se conservan del romancero histórico. Nos interesa especialmente el Floreto de anécdotas y noticias diversas editado por Sánchez Cantón en 1948, cuyos comentarios resultaron fundamentales para Diego Catalán.In this article we analyze some anachronisms appearing in the sources used by Diego Catalán to identify the chronology and the content of the romance Mi compadre Gómez Arias, one of the oldest that have been preserved from the “romancero histórico”. We are specially interested in the Floreto de anécdotas y noticias diversas edited by Sanchez Cantón in 1948, whose comments turned out to be fundamental for Diego Catalán

De nuevo sobre el romance "Mi compadre Gómez Arias"

En este artículo analizamos algunos anacronismos contenidos en las fuentes que Diego Catalán utilizó para identificar la cronología y el contenido del romance Mi compadre Gómez Arias, uno de los más antiguos que se conservan del romancero histórico. Nos interesa especialmente el Floreto de anécdotas y noticias diversas editado por Sánchez Cantón en 1948, cuyos comentarios resultaron fundamentales para Diego Catalán.In this article we analyze some anachronisms appearing in the sources used by Diego Catalán to identify the chronology and the content of the romance Mi compadre Gómez Arias, one of the oldest that have been preserved from the �romancero histórico�. We are specially interested in the Floreto de anécdotas y noticias diversas edited by Sanchez Cantón in 1948, whose comments turned out to be fundamental for Diego Catalán

Effect of labour flexibility on productivity in the andalusian hotel industry

In this work, we analyze the effect of labour flexibility on productivity in the Andalusian hotel industry. For this purpose, we use the data obtained by the Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness in the Hospitality Industry for Andalusia project (PO7/SEJ-02889). Using a expanded version of the Cobb-Douglas production function, the model distinguishes two employment shares: full-time permanent (standard work) and temporary plus part-time employees (non-standard work). Our results indicate that productivity in Andalusian hotels is lower the higher the percentage of temporary and part-time workers. Furthermore, there are no statistically significant differences between the negative impact on productivity of both types of labour contract. However, since the costs associated with both temporary and part-time workers are lower than those of workers with full-time permanent contracts, future studies should analyze the differential impact of all the types of contracts discussed on the mean cost per employee in hotels.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Las cartas de Blasco Ibáñez al marqués de Dosfuentes

It deals with five letters by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, adressed to the Marqués de Dosfuentes. The first letter is a manuscript and the other four, typed and signed by the author. They were drafted between 1924 and 1926.Se trata de cinco cartas de Vicente Blasco Ibáñez dirigidas al Marqués de Dosfuentes. La primera, manuscrita y las otras cuatro, a máquina con firma y rúbrica del autor. Pertenecen a los años entre 1924 y 1926

Economy and Environmental Problems in the Mexican Coastal States

A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) for environmental and economic variables was performed for 17 Mexican coastal states. The ordination method allowed us to identify three groups, namely hydroelectric energy generation (I), pollution (II) and harbours (III), which were associated to different human activities. Furthermore, CCA is efficient to help us generate hypotheses for future research. It is therefore advised that CCA should be used for routine analyses into economics.Coastal States of Mexico, Canonical Correspondence Analysis, Diversity Index, Economic Development, Environmental Variables.

Start-up of the mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of two-phase olive-mill waste and cattle manure using volatile fatty acids as process control parameter

In this work, the start-up and stabilization stages of mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of 2POMW and CM in a semi-continuously fed stirred tank reactor (SSTR) were analyzed. Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were monitored and used as the main control parameter for the start-up and stabilization stages, as well as to evaluate the potential inhibition episodes. The results showed that accumulation of propionic acid was the key factor in the inhibition of the methanogenic phase, leading to process imbalance. To avoid the problems associated with inhibition by high VFA concentrations, several reinoculations were performed using a suitable inoculum adapted to VFA degradation. The start-up phase was carried out in batch conditions for 97 days, reaching a final concentration of propionic acid of 12.77 mg/L. From that moment, the reactor was fed in a semi-continuous mode with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 40 days. A total period of 140 days was required to achieve a stable performance of the reactor with a methane productivity of 0.34 LCH4/LRd

Systems and conceptual design of a train cab front cleaning robot

This paper presents and briefly describes the methodology used to get the systems and conceptual design of a train cab front cleaning robot. While the sides of the trains are cleaned by a mechanised washer, the cab fronts are cleaned manually which imply a number of health and safety issues. The aim of this project is first to carry out an analysis of the current procedures in order to detect the possible gaps in the process, generating a list of requirements that will make possible the conceptual design of a cleaning system that fulfil those requirements. The proposed solution includes the division of the system in various subsystems where different solutions for each subsystem will be considered, analysed and selected as a final option to develop a prototype. This paper focuses in the main structure of the robot that holds the end-effector; different conceptual designs are shown that comply with the requirements set in the systems design