The Myths of the Self-Ownership Thesis

As a result, every reasonable or remotely plausible theory of justice will have to recognize some role for the self-ownership thesis. And disputes between libertarians and left-liberals are not really about whether individuals are self-owners, but rather about which conception of self-ownership is the correct one. So, self-ownership is not a myth. But there are a number of myths about it, including A) that’s a foundational premise in libertarian, especially Robert Nozick’s, thought, and B) that left-liberals deny it while libertarians accept it.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/philosophy_books/1025/thumbnail.jp

In Defense of Openness

The topic of global justice has long been a central concern within political philosophy and political theory, and there is no doubt that it will remain significant given the persistence of poverty on a massive scale and soaring global inequality. Yet, virtually every analysis in the vast literature of the subject seems ignorant of what developmental economists, both left and right, have to say about the issue. In Defense of Openness illuminates the problem by stressing that that there is overwhelming evidence that economic rights and freedom are necessary for development, and that global redistribution tends to hurt more than it helps. Bas van der Vossen and Jason Brennan instead ask what a theory of global justice would look like if it were informed by the facts that mainstream development and institutional economics have brought to light.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/philosophy_books/1022/thumbnail.jp

Designing and Testing a Mobile Application for Collecting WhatsApp Chat Data While Preserving Privacy

It is common practice for researchers to join public WhatsApp chats and scrape their contents for analysis. However, research shows collecting data this way contradicts user expectations and preferences, even if the data is effectively public. To overcome these issues, we outline design considerations for collecting WhatsApp chat data with improved user privacy by heightening user control and oversight of data collection and taking care to minimize the data researchers collect and process off a user's device. We refer to these design principles as User-Centered Data Sharing (UCDS). To evaluate our UCDS principles, we implemented a mobile application representing one possible instance of these improved data collection techniques and evaluated the viability of using the app to collect WhatsApp chat data. Second, we surveyed WhatsApp users to gather user perceptions on common existing WhatsApp data collection methods as well as UCDS methods. Our results show that we were able to glean similar informative insights into WhatsApp chats using UCDS principles in our prototype app to common, less privacy-preserving methods. Our survey showed that methods following the UCDS principles are preferred by users because they offered users more control over the data collection process. Future user studies could further expand upon UCDS principles to overcome complications of researcher-to-group communication in research on WhatsApp chats and evaluate these principles in other data sharing contexts

Machine Learning Based Alignment For LCLS-II-HE Optics

The hard X-ray instruments at the Linac Coherent Light Source are in the design phase for upgrades that will take full advantage of the high repetition rates that will become available with LCLS-II-HE. The current X-ray Correlation Spectroscopy instrument will be converted to the Dynamic X-ray Scattering instrument, and will feature a meV-scale high-resolution monochromator at its front end with unprecedented coherent flux. With the new capability come many engineering and design challenges, not least of which is the sensitivity to long-term drift of the optics. With this in mind, we have estimated the system tolerance to angular drift and vibration for all the relevant optics ($\sim$10 components) in terms of how the central energy out of the monochromator will be affected to inform the mechanical design. Additionally, we have started planning for methods to correct for such drifts using available (both invasive and non-invasive) X-ray beam diagnostics. In simulations, we have demonstrated the ability of trained Machine Learning models to correct misalignments to maintain the desired central energy and optical axis within the necessary tolerances. Additionally, we exhibit the use of Bayesian Optimization to minimize the impact of thermal deformations of crystals as well as beam alignment from scratch. The initial results are very promising and efforts to further extend this work are ongoing

Hamstring Injury Prevention in Soccer:Before or After Training?

We examined the effects of a 12-week program of Nordic hamstring exercises (NHE), administered before or after football training, upon eccentric hamstring strength, muscle activity, and architectural adaptations. Amateur soccer players were randomized into three groups. The control group (CON; n=11) undertook core stability exercises, whereas a periodized NHE program was delivered either before (NHEBEF; n=10) or after (NHEAFT; n=14) biweekly training sessions. Outcome measures included peak torque and concomitant normalized peak surface electromyography signals (sEMG) of the biceps femoris (BF) and medial hamstring (MH) muscles during knee flexor maximal eccentric contractions, performed at 30°.s-1. Ultrasonography was used to determine BF muscle thickness, muscle fiber pennation angle, and fascicle length. Performing the NHE derived likely moderate peak torque increases in both NHEBEF (+11.9%; 90% confidence interval: 3.6%-20.9%) and NHEAFT (+11.6%; 2.6%-21.5%) vs CON. Maximum sEMG increases were moderately greater in the BF of both NHE training groups vs CON. There were likely moderate increases in BF muscle thickness (+0.17 cm; 0.05-0.29 cm) and likely small pennation angle increases (+1.03°; -0.08° to 2.14°) in NHEAFT vs CON and NHEBEF. BF fascicle length increases were likely greater in NHEBEF (+1.58 cm; 0.48-2.68 cm; small effect) vs CON and NHEAFT. A 12-week eccentric hamstring strengthening program increased strength and sEMG to a similar magnitude irrespective of its scheduling relative to the football training session. However, architectural adaptations to support the strength gains differed according to the timing of the injury prevention program

Reviews

Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ed. Douglas A. Anderson. Reviewed by John D. Rateliff. The Magician\u27s Book: A Skeptic\u27s Adventures In Narnia. Laura Miller. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. Projecting Tolkien\u27s Musical Worlds: A Study of Musical Affect in Howard Shore\u27s Soundtrack to Lord of the Rings. Matthew Young. Reviewed by Jason Fisher. Esotericism, Art, and Imagination. Eds. Arthur Versluis, Lee Irwin, John Richards, and Melinda Weinstein. Reviewed by Emily E. Auger. The Annotated Wind in the Willows. By Kenneth Grahame; introduction by Brian Jacques; edited with a preface and notes by Annie Gauger. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. The Wind in the Willows: An Annotated Edition. By Kenneth Grahame; edited by Seth Lerer. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. The Illustrators of The Wind in the Willows, 1908-2008. Carolyn Hares-Stryker. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Truths Breathed Through Silver: The Inklings\u27 Moral and Mythopoeic Legacy. Ed. Jonathan B. Himes Joe R. Christopher, Salwa Khoddam. Reviewed by John D. Rateliff. Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review. Volume vi. Edited by Douglas A. Anderson, Michael D.C. Drout, and Verlyn Flieger. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft

Benzoyl­dicarbon­yl(η5-inden­yl)ruthenium(II)

In the title mol­ecule, [Ru(C9H7)(C7H5O)(CO)2], the dihedral angle between the mean plane of the indene ring system and the phenyl ring is 86.28 (8)°. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π(arene) inter­actions. The Ru—η5-cyclopentadienyl centroid bond length is 1.946 (11)