15,051 research outputs found
A note on selecting maximals in finite spaces
Given a choice problem, the maximization rule may select many alternatives. In such
cases, it is common practice to interpret that the final choice will end up being made by
some random procedure, assigning to any maximal alternative the same probability of
being chosen. However, there may be reasons based on the same original preferences
for which it is suitable to select certain maximal alternatives over others. This paper
introduces two choice criteria induced by the original preferences such that maximizing
with respect to each of them may give a finer selection of alternatives than maximizing
with respect to the original preferences. Those criteria are built by means of several
preference relations induced by the original preferences, namely, two (weak) dominance
relations, two indirect preference relations and the dominance relations defined with the
help of those indirect preferences. It is remarkable that as the original preferences
approach being complete and transitive, those criteria become both simpler and closer to
such preferences. In particular, they coincide with the original preferences when these
are complete and transitive, in which case they provide the same solution as those
preference
Building and Using Models as Examples
Sometimes, theoreticians explicitly state that they consider their models as examples. When this is not the case, it is fairly common for theoreticians to attribute to their models the characteristics and objectives of illustrative examples. However, this way of understanding models has not received enough attention in the methodological literature focused on economics. Given that didactic examples and their properties are extremely familiar in practice, considering theoretical models as examples can offer a useful perspective on models and their properties. On the basis of both explanatory and exemplifying role played by the deductive arguments by which results are proved, the paper emphasizes also the importance of understanding in theoretical work, the analogical and tentative character of the application of models, the central role played by the above mentioned arguments in such application, the didactic function of theory, and the transmision of plausibility from those arguments to the results obtained.models; examples; explanatory arguments; theoretical understanding; analogical application
A non-proposition-wise variant of majority voting for aggregating judgments
Majority voting is commonly used in aggregating judgments. The literature to date on judgment
aggregation (JA) has focused primarily on proposition-wise majority voting (PMV). Given a set of issues
on which a group is trying to make collective judgments, PMV aggregates individual judgments issue by
issue, and satisfies a salient property of JA rulesâindependence. This paper introduces a variant of
majority voting called holistic majority voting (HMV). This new variant also meets the condition of
independence. However, instead of aggregating judgments issue by issue, it aggregates individual
judgments en bloc. A salient and straightforward feature of HMV is that it guarantees the logical
consistency of the propositions expressing collective judgments, provided that the individual points of
view are consistent. This feature contrasts with the known inability of PMV to guarantee the consistency
of the collective outcome. Analogously, while PMV may present a set of judgments that have been
rejected by everyone in the group as collectively accepted, the collective judgments returned by HMV
have been accepted by a majority of individuals in the group and, therefore, rejected by a minority of
them at most. In addition, HMV satisfies a large set of appealing properties, as PMV also does. However,
HMV may not return any complete proposition expressing the judgments of the group on all the issues at
stake, even in cases where PMV does. Moreover, demanding completeness from HMV leads to
impossibility results similar to the known impossibilities on PMV and on proposition-wise JA rules in
genera
Automated Functional Testing based on the Navigation of Web Applications
Web applications are becoming more and more complex. Testing such
applications is an intricate hard and time-consuming activity. Therefore,
testing is often poorly performed or skipped by practitioners. Test automation
can help to avoid this situation. Hence, this paper presents a novel approach
to perform automated software testing for web applications based on its
navigation. On the one hand, web navigation is the process of traversing a web
application using a browser. On the other hand, functional requirements are
actions that an application must do. Therefore, the evaluation of the correct
navigation of web applications results in the assessment of the specified
functional requirements. The proposed method to perform the automation is done
in four levels: test case generation, test data derivation, test case
execution, and test case reporting. This method is driven by three kinds of
inputs: i) UML models; ii) Selenium scripts; iii) XML files. We have
implemented our approach in an open-source testing framework named Automatic
Testing Platform. The validation of this work has been carried out by means of
a case study, in which the target is a real invoice management system developed
using a model-driven approach.Comment: In Proceedings WWV 2011, arXiv:1108.208
A pooling approach to judgment aggregation
The literature has focused on a particular way of aggregating judgments: Given a set of yes or no
questions or issues, the individualsâ judgments are then aggregated separately, issue by issue.
Applied in this way, the majority method does not guarantee the logical consistency of the set of
judgments obtained. This fact has been the focus of critiques of the majority method and similar
procedures. This paper focuses on another way of aggregating judgments. The main difference is
that aggregation is made en bloc on all the issues at stake. The main consequence is that the
majority method applied in this way does always guarantee the logical consistency of the
collective judgments. Since it satisfies a large set of attractive properties, it should provide the
basis for more positive assessment if applied using the proposed pooling approach than if used
separately. The paper extends the analysis to the pooling supermajority and plurality rules, with
similar result
Energy-Entropy-Momentum integration of discrete thermo-visco-elastic dynamics.
A novel time integration scheme is presented for the numerical solution of the dynamics of discrete systems consisting of point masses and thermo-visco-elastic springs. Even considering fully coupled constitutive laws for the elements, the obtained solutions strictly preserve the two laws of thermo dynamics and the symmetries of the continuum evolution equations. Moreover, the unconditional control over the energy and the entropy growth have the effect of stabilizing the numerical solution, allowing the use of larger time steps than those suitable for comparable implicit algorithms. Proofs for these claims are provided in the article as well as numerical examples that illustrate the performance of the method
Diseño completo de un mecanismo de palancas articuladas mediante software SOLIDWORKS/COSMOS
Proyecto de un mecanismo divisor sinusoidal.
Project of a senoidal dividerIngenierĂa TĂ©cnica en MecĂĄnic
El impacto de la crisis de los alimentos en América Latina y el Caribe
a crisis alimentaria supone un fuerte retroceso en la lucha contra el hambre en América Latina y el Caribe.
La crisis alimentaria no es de disponibilidad, es de carestĂa de los alimentos. El cambio de tendencia implica precios promedio superiores en los años venideros y ruptura de la seguridad de un abaratamiento continuado del abastecimiento alimentario, y un fuerte retroceso en la lucha contra el hambre en AmĂ©rica Latina y el Caribe. Entre 2005 y 2007 el numero de personas subnutridas creciĂł en 6 millones, alcanzando los 51 millones. Con las fuertes subidas de precios durante la primera parte de 2008 (cuyo efecto en la inflaciĂłn sigue presente) es posible que hayamos retornado a los 53 millones de subnutridos de comienzos de los años 90. Las polĂticas sociales iniciadas en la dĂ©cada de 1990 en algunos paĂses han evitado que ese impacto haya sido mĂĄs extenso y de mayor gravedad, si bien la sostenibilidad de dichos sistemas puede quedar comprometida en los paĂses mĂĄs vulnerables. Las oportunidades que abrirĂa para la agricultura familiar y campesina un escenario de precios mĂĄs elevados, se ven disminuidas por el riesgo de permanencia de una alta volatilidad y por la carencia o insuficiencia de polĂticas y medios para ayudar a esos sectores a mejorar sus capacidades tĂ©cnicas y de inserciĂłn a los mercados. En tĂ©rminos de integraciĂłn, la variedad de polĂticas ad hoc que han adoptado los paĂses constituirĂĄn una dificultad adicional para avanzar en los procesos de integraciĂłn. Igualmente la crisis ha favorecido la adopciĂłn del concepto de soberanĂa alimentaria por muchos paĂses y dirigentes polĂticos, lo que a su vez tendrĂĄ consecuencias dentro y fuera de la regiĂłn
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