De Biedermann por Andorra hasta Biografie. La obra dramática de Frisch en España

This paper dels with the reception in Spain of three works by Frisch (1911-1991), namely, Biedermann y los incendiarios (Biedermann und die Brandstifter), 1958, Andorra, 1961, and Biografía (Biografie), 1967. These three plays have been produced for the stage in Spain by professional or commercial companies. Both the reception and the interpretation of the plays are seen from the perspective of comparativist methodologies. One the one hand, the way in which critics in its native tongue considered them is taken into account; on the other hand careful attention is paid to the peculiar way in which these works were received in Spain as a direct consequence of specific literary, cultural and historical conditions. Conflation of these two disparate analyses has brought about a new form of understanding

Artificial diet sandwich reveals subsocial behavior in the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

An artificial diet sandwich, consisting of coffee berry borer artificial diet within two glass plates, has been developed to elucidate the behaviour of the coffee berry borer, an insect that in nature spends most of its life cycle inside the coffee berry. Various types of behaviour have been observed for the first time, including gallery construction, oviposition, gallery blocking, mating and most remarkably, subsocial tasks such as maternal sanitation and tending of eggs and larvae. This observational technique is a breakthrough for studies and manipulations of the coffee berry borer's social behaviour and could be applicable to other bark beetles, consequently yielding important insights into the origin of parental care in scolytine beetles

DNA, statistics and the law : a cross-disciplinary approach to forensic inference

The use of results of DNA analyses in the legal process is a highly ambivalent topic. On the one hand, scientists have never been in a better position to analyse biological matter of various natures, even in limited quantities and degraded conditions. On the other hand, the increasing amounts of scientific data that can be gen-erated through modern analytical processes do not necessarily imply that evaluative questions that arise in the legal context are given more satisfactory answers. A fundamental question that has accompanied DNA analyses since the early days of their use in the legal process thus remains: how do we handle the challenges presented to us by the use of contemporary scientific and tech-nological developments in the field of law? Under the general theme “DNA, statistics and the law, ” the collection of articles in this Frontiers Research Topic pursues the goal of investigating this question from an interdisciplinary perspective, and with a

Step roughness on Ag(111) investigated by STM: a systematic study of tip influence

We have investigated monatomic steps on Ag(111) by STM at different temperatures. At room temperature, the rough appearance of these steps is usually attributed to thermal step fluctuations. We have investigated the influence of the tip systematically. Applying a new test, we demonstrate that even subtle influences can lead to wrong results in statistical analysis

Chemical ordering and composition fluctuations at the (001) surface of the Fe-Ni Invar alloy

We report on a study of (001) oriented fcc Fe-Ni alloy surfaces which combines first-principles calculations and low-temperature STM experiments. Density functional theory calculations show that Fe-Ni alloy surfaces are buckled with the Fe atoms slightly shifted outwards and the Ni atoms inwards. This is consistent with the observation that the atoms in the surface layer can be chemically distinguished in the STM image: brighter spots (corrugation maxima with increased apparent height) indicate iron atoms, darker ones nickel atoms. This chemical contrast reveals a c2x2 chemical order (50% Fe) with frequent Fe-rich defects on Invar alloy surface. The calculations also indicate that subsurface composition fluctuations may additionally modulate the apparent height of the surface atoms. The STM images show that this effect is pronounced compared to the surfaces of other disordered alloys, which suggests that some chemical order and corresponding concentration fluctuations exist also in the subsurface layers of Invar alloy. In addition, detailed electronic structure calculations allow us to identify the nature of a distinct peak below the Fermi level observed in the tunneling spectra. This peak corresponds to a surface resonance band which is particularly pronounced in iron-rich surface regions and provides a second type of chemical contrast with less spatial resolution but one that is essentially independent of the subsurface composition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Observer design for a class of nonlinear systems combining dissipativity with interconnection and damping assignment

A nonlinear observer design approach is proposed that exploits and combines port-Hamiltonian systems and dissipativity theory. First, a passivity-based observer design using interconnection and damping assignment for time variant state affine systems is presented by applying output injection to the system such that the observer error dynamics takes a port-Hamiltonian structure. The stability of the observer error system is assured by exploiting its passivity properties. Second, this setup is extended to develop an observer design approach for a class of systems with a time varying state affine forward and a nonlinear feedback contribution. For a class of nonlinear systems, the theory of dissipative observers is adapted and combined with the results for the passivity-based observer design using interconnection and damping assignment. The convergence of the compound observer design is determined by a linear matrix inequality. The performance of both observer approaches is analyzed in simulation examples

Towards a Bayesian evaluation of features in questioned handwritten signatures

In this work, we propose the construction of a evaluative framework for supporting experts in questioned signature examinations. Through the use of Bayesian networks, we envision to quantify the probative value of well defined measurements performed on questioned signatures, in a way that is both formalised and part of a coherent approach to evaluation. At the current stage, our project is explorative, focusing on the broad range of aspects that relate to comparative signature examinations. The goal is to identify writing features which are both highly discriminant, and easy for forensic examiners to detect. We also seek for a balance between case-specific features and characteristics which can be measured in the vast majority of signatures. Care is also taken at preserving the interpretability at every step of the reasoning process. This paves the way for future work, which will aim at merging the different contributions to a single probabilistic measure of strength of evidence using Bayesian networks

The BlackHat Library for One-Loop Amplitudes

We present recent next-to-leading order (NLO) results in perturbative QCD obtained using the BlackHat software library. We discuss the use of n-tuples to separate the lengthy matrix-element computations from the analysis process. The use of n-tuples allows many analyses to be carried out on the same phase-space samples, and also allows experimenters to conduct their own analyses using the original NLO computation.Comment: Talk given at ACAT 2013, Beijing, China, May 16--21, 2013; 6 pages, 2 figures; added reference

Prediction in forensic science: a critical examination of common understandings

In this commentary, we argue that the term 'prediction' is overly used when in fact, referring to foundational writings of de Finetti, the correspondent term should be inference. In particular, we intend (i) to summarize and clarify relevant subject matter on prediction from established statistical theory, and (ii) point out the logic of this understanding with respect practical uses of the term prediction. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, associating statistics and forensic science as an example, this discussion also connects to related fields such as medical diagnosis and other areas of application where reasoning based on scientific results is practiced in societal relevant contexts. This includes forensic psychology that uses prediction as part of its vocabulary when dealing with matters that arise in the course of legal proceedings