2,991 research outputs found
Spanish epenthesis: Formal and performance perspectives
published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe
An historical explanation of the development of occupational health and safety and the important position it now occupies in society
Scientific and social (economic and ethical) dimensions of occupational health and safety (OH&S) are discussed. Three broad stages in the development of ethics in Western society are analysed in order to assist in understanding the arrival of moral relativism and constructivism under postmodernism. Against this background three recent stages in the emergence of OH&S are outlined and OH&S is shown to be of key importance to sustainable development. Comment is made about the prospects for survival, under moral relativism, of the duty of care ethic which lies at the heart of OH&S and which has until the present time catalysed professionally responsible innovation and change. It is argued that (1) because OH&S tools and techniques called up in legislation are scientific in nature and apply equally to all under law, and (2) because OH&S is increasingly understood as a profitability strategy, ongoing duty of care appeals for reform may continue to be effective even against the corrosive malaise of moral relativism. OH&S workers are reminded of the contribution their profession can make to safe and civil society and to sustainable development and their responsibility for upholding and promoting the ethical dimension expressed through duty of care
On rotationally driven meridional flows in stars
A quasi-steady state model of the consequences of rotation on the
hydrodynamical structure of a stellar radiative zone is derived, by studying in
particular the role of centrifugal and baroclinic driving of meridional motions
in angular-momentum transport. This nonlinear problem is solved numerically
assuming axisymmetry of the system, and within some limits, it is shown that
there exist simple analytical solutions. The limit of slow rotation recovers
Eddington-Sweet theory, whereas it is shown that in the limit of rapid
rotation, the system settles into a geostrophic equilibrium. The behaviour of
the system is found to be controlled by one parameter only, linked to the
Prantl number, the stratification and the rotation rate of the star.Comment: 5 pages, submitted to MNRAS Letter
The physical world as a virtual reality: a prima facie case
This paper explores the idea that the universe is a virtual reality created by information
processing, and relates this strange idea to the findings of modern physics about the physical
world. The virtual reality concept is familiar to us from online worlds, but the world as a virtual
reality is usually a subject for science fiction rather than science. Yet logically the world could be
an information simulation running on a three-dimensional space-time screen. Indeed, that the
essence of the universe is information has advantages, e.g. if matter, charge, energy and
movement are aspects of information, the many conservation laws could become a single law of
conservation of information. If the universe were a virtual reality, its creation at the big bang
would no longer be paradoxical, as every virtual system must be booted up. It is suggested that
whether the world is an objective or a virtual reality is a matter for science to resolve, and
computer science could help. If one could derive core properties like space, time, light, matter and
movement from information processing, such a model could reconcile relativity and quantum
theories, with the former being how information processing creates space-time, and the latter how
it creates energy and matter
New industry engagement mechanisms
In response to expressed industry dissatisfaction about VET skills planning and provisioning government introduced a number of new forms of industry engagement and one of them, Skills Ecosystems (Skills Formation Strategies SFS) is the subject of these notes. These brief notes were written simply to provide some background for the power point presentation
Business ethics: boardroom pressures in an age of moral relativism
Company law requires boardroom decision making to be parochial but boardrooms are pluralist by nature. It is argued that the way business is done, business contexts and strategic decision making do change over time. Factors bearing upon boardroom behaviour include inter alia preferences for the firm to act or to be seen to be acting in a socially and environmentally responsible manner: that is, to act ethically.
It is argued that conditions are favourable for the emergence of a more widespread pursuit of social and responsible business within a safe and civil society. Forces driving this emergence are discussed and barriers to its progress are outlined. Challenges for the theory of the firm are raised also
Self-Calibration of Cluster Dark Energy Studies: Observable-Mass Distribution
The exponential sensitivity of cluster number counts to the properties of the
dark energy implies a comparable sensitivity to not only the mean but also the
actual_distribution_ of an observable mass proxy given the true cluster mass.
For example a 25% scatter in mass can provide a ~50% change in the number
counts at z~2 for the upcoming SPT survey. Uncertainty in the scatter of this
amount would degrade dark energy constraints to uninteresting levels. Given the
shape of the actual mass function, the properties of the distribution may be
internally monitored by the shape of the_observable_ mass function. An
arbitrary evolution of the scatter of a mass-independent Gaussian distribution
may be self-calibrated to allow a measurement of the dark energy equation of
state of Delta w ~0.1. External constraints on the mass_variance_ of the
distribution that are more accurate than Delta var < 0.01 at z~1 can further
improve constraints by up to a factor of 2. More generally, cluster counts and
their sample variance measured as a function of the observable provide internal
consistency checks on the assumed form of the observable-mass distribution that
will protect against misinterpretation of the dark energy constraints.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Kinematics of a large-scale intraplate extending lithosphere: The Basin-Range
Upper lithospheric structure of the Cordilleran Basin Range (B-R) is characterised by an E-W symmetry of velocity layering. The crust is 25 km thick on its eastern active margin, thickening to 30 km within the central portion and thinning to approx. 25 km on the west. Pn velocities of 7.8 to 7.9 km/s characterize the upper mantle low velocity cushion, 7.4 km/s to 7.5 km/s, occurs at a depth of approx. 25 km in the eastern B-R and underlies the area of active extension. An upper-crustal low-velocity zone in the eastern B-R shows a marked P-wave velocity inversion of 7% at depths of 7 to 10 km also in the area of greatest extension. The seismic velocity models for this region of intraplate extension suggest major differences from that of a normal, thermally underformed continental lithosphere. Interpretations of seismic reflection data demonstrate the presence of extensive low-angle reflections in the upper-crust of the eastern B-R at depths from near-surface to 7 to 10 km. These reflections have been interpreted to represent low-angle normal fault detachments or reactivated thrusts. Seismic profiles across steeply-dipping normal faults in unconsolidated sediments show reflections from both planar to downward flatening (listric) faults that in most cases do not penetrate the low-angle detachments. These faults are interpreted as late Cenozoic and cataclastic mylonitic zones of shear displacement
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