The 'Chemical Mechanics' of the Periodic Table

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Non-suicidal self-injury in Latin America

Background Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) is defined as the intentional direct injury of the own bodily tissue without suicidal intent. In areas with a Caucasian majority population, such as the USA, Canada and Europe, it is a rapidly increasing phenomenon, especially among young people. However, from a European point of view, little scientific information is found on NSSI in Latin America. Method A study of English, Spanish and Portuguese literature on NSSI in Latin America was conducted using electronic search engines. During a ten-month period of field work in Belo Horizonte, Brasil, a systematic search was conducted of the international press, the popular local press, television broadcasts, Internet sites and blogs. Semi-structured elite interviews were conducted of academic professionals and practitioners. Spontaneous conversations on NSSI took place with local inhabitants. Results Three reasons for the authors' prior lack of success in finding publications on NSSI in Latin America could be distinguished: the gap between academic professionals, practitioners and inhabitant population, the language of the publications, and the existing confusion in terminology and research traditions regarding NSSI. Conclusion NSSI has a high prevalence in Latin America, which can be Compared to that of the northern hemisphere. Although there are some differences in the ways of engaging in NSSI and in its functions, there are also important similarities. Scientific information on,NSSI in Latin America remains difficult to find for researchers in other parts of the world. Therefore we advocate a consensus in terminology and suggest that all publications would provide English key words and would be included in international scientific databases to ensure a world-wide dissemination. An alternative is-the construction of one centralized global Latin American database for Spanish and Portuguese publications

Multiplicative Approximations, Optimal Hypervolume Distributions, and the Choice of the Reference Point

Many optimization problems arising in applications have to consider several objective functions at the same time. Evolutionary algorithms seem to be a very natural choice for dealing with multi-objective problems as the population of such an algorithm can be used to represent the trade-offs with respect to the given objective functions. In this paper, we contribute to the theoretical understanding of evolutionary algorithms for multi-objective problems. We consider indicator-based algorithms whose goal is to maximize the hypervolume for a given problem by distributing {\mu} points on the Pareto front. To gain new theoretical insights into the behavior of hypervolume-based algorithms we compare their optimization goal to the goal of achieving an optimal multiplicative approximation ratio. Our studies are carried out for different Pareto front shapes of bi-objective problems. For the class of linear fronts and a class of convex fronts, we prove that maximizing the hypervolume gives the best possible approximation ratio when assuming that the extreme points have to be included in both distributions of the points on the Pareto front. Furthermore, we investigate the choice of the reference point on the approximation behavior of hypervolume-based approaches and examine Pareto fronts of different shapes by numerical calculations

The Block Universe: A Philosophical Investigation in Four Dimensions

The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to closely explore the nature of Einstein’s block universe and to tease out its implications for the nature of time and human freedom. Four questions, in particular, are central to this dissertation, and set out the four dimensions of this philosophical investigation: (1) Does the block universe view of time follow inevitably from the theory of special relativity? (2) Is there room for the passage of time in the block universe? (3) Can we distinguish past from future in the block universe? (4) Is there room for human freedom in the block universe? Although the answer of most philosophers would be yes, triple no, my own answer, controversially, is no, triple yes. I thereby challenge the status quo with respect to each of these metaphysical questions, and argue that none of these questions can be answered from looking at physics alone. Physics may constrain our metaphysics, but it certainly does not settle it. What is needed in order to answer these questions, are additional metaphysical assumptions that fall outside the scope of modern physics. My primary goal in this dissertation, therefore, is not to settle the debates on the nature of time and human freedom, but to clarify them by expliciting the metaphysical assumptions that are otherwise left implicit

Differences that Might Matter? A Manifesto Diffractively Read

Book chapter

Puppets on a String in a Theatre of Display? Interactions of Image, Text, Material, Space and Motion in The Family of Man (ca.1950s-1960s)

In the past few decades, increasing attention has been devoted within various disciplines to aspects previously considered trivial, among which are images, material objects and spaces. While the visual, the material and the spatial are receiving ever more consideration and the myriad issues surrounding them are being tackled, their convergence in educational settings across time and space has thus far remained underexplored. A travelling photo exhibition, The Family of Man, will serve as a starting point in this paper for addressing some of the complexities inherent in this convergence and thus highlight an essential yet neglected feature of education: its reliance on, and creative use of, multiple “modes” of communication and representation when attempting to produce learning effects. As a particular educational constellation that went on to travel throughout the world and interact with the contexts in which it moved, The Family of Man was anything but neutral in design. The paper will show just how carefully it was composed to promote meaning-, power-, and knowledge-making in accordance with its mission. This border-crossing installation thus constituted a spectacle of different interacting views, forms, surfaces, lighting effects, panoramas, movements, captions and other factors that aimed to create order among things and people. Nevertheless, the paper argues, “theatres of display” in education such as this do not imply determination and causality of effects, but rather provide “uncertain conditions” within a spectrum of “actors” and “actants”. The paper relates this to the manifold affordances of objects, images, places and so on, to disruptions of meaning in their convergence across time and space and to “emancipation” on the part of learners