On multivariate quantiles under partial orders

This paper focuses on generalizing quantiles from the ordering point of view. We propose the concept of partial quantiles, which are based on a given partial order. We establish that partial quantiles are equivariant under order-preserving transformations of the data, robust to outliers, characterize the probability distribution if the partial order is sufficiently rich, generalize the concept of efficient frontier, and can measure dispersion from the partial order perspective. We also study several statistical aspects of partial quantiles. We provide estimators, associated rates of convergence, and asymptotic distributions that hold uniformly over a continuum of quantile indices. Furthermore, we provide procedures that can restore monotonicity properties that might have been disturbed by estimation error, establish computational complexity bounds, and point out a concentration of measure phenomenon (the latter under independence and the componentwise natural order). Finally, we illustrate the concepts by discussing several theoretical examples and simulations. Empirical applications to compare intake nutrients within diets, to evaluate the performance of investment funds, and to study the impact of policies on tobacco awareness are also presented to illustrate the concepts and their use.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-AOS863 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

“Let It Be.” Heidegger’s Conception of Technology Between Enframing and Releasement

In Heidegger on Technology untersuchen Aaron James Wendland, Christopher Merwin und Christos Hadjioannou Martin Heideggers vielseitige Auseinandersetzung mit moderner Technik unter Miteinbeziehung erst kürzlich ins Englische übertragener und veröffentlichter Texte. Der Band versammelt 17 Beiträge von ausgewiesenen Expert_innen, die Heideggers Einsichten in unser technologisches Zeitalter interpretieren und weiterentwickeln. Darüber hinaus sondiert der Sammelband die fruchtbare Anwendung von Heideggers Technikphilosophie in der Study of Culture.In Heidegger on Technology, Aaron James Wendland, Christopher Merwin, and Christos Hadjioannou analyze Martin Heidegger’s multifaceted engagement with modern technology by taking into account texts on the subject only recently translated and published in English. The volume brings together 17 contributions by renowned experts who develop and interpret Heidegger’s thoughts on our technological age. Furthermore, this essay collection probes fruitful appropriations of Heidegger’s philosophy of technology in the study of culture

Tailored interior and boundary parameter transformations for iterative inversion in electrical impedance tomography

Electrical impedance tomography is a non-invasive method for imaging the electrical conductivity of an object from electrode measurements on its surface. The underlying mathematical problem is highly nonlinear, severely ill-posed, and several model parameters are usually not known accurately. Despite the strong nonlinearity, iterative Newton-type methods are widely used to tackle the problem numerically. This work presents and analyzes tailored transformations for the conductivity and for electrode parameters which are favourable in two regards: they remove the constrainedness of the unknown parameters and simultaneously decrease the nonlinearity of the underlying problem. We study the impact of various transformations on the nonlinearity of the problem and demonstrate improved speed of convergence for Newton-type methods while avoiding local minima in the solution space. The presented transformations can conveniently be incorporated into existing iterative solvers as they improve stability and do not require hand-tuned regularization parameters or line-search strategies, thereby bridging a gap between a variety of established conductivity estimation methods and practical applications

Rapid pre-gel visualization of proteins with mass spectrometry compatibility

Despite all of the prophecies of doom, gel electrophoresis is still prevalent in modern proteomic workflows. However, the currently used protein staining methods represent a serious bottleneck for a quick subsequent protein analysis using mass spectrometry. Substituting traditional protein stains by pre-gel derivatization with visible and mass spectrometry compatible reagents eliminates several processing steps and drastically reduces the sample preparation time. A defined chemistry permits seamless integration of such covalent protein staining methods into standardized bioinformatic pipelines. Using Uniblue A we could covalently stain simple to complex protein samples within 1 minute. Protein profiles on the gels were not compromised and MS/MS based sequence coverages higher than 80% could be obtained. In addition, the visual tracking of covalently stained proteins and peptides facilitates method development and validation. Altogether, this new chemo-proteomic approach enables true "at-line" analysis of proteins

The Proper Motion of the Central Compact Object RX J0822-4300 in the Supernova Remnant Puppis A

Using the High Resolution Camera (HRC) aboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory, we have re-examined the proper motion of the central compact object RX J0822-4300 in the supernova remnant Puppis A. New data from 2010 August, combined with three archival data sets from as early as 1999 December, provide a baseline of 3886 days (more than 10 1/2 years) to perform the measurement. Correlating the four positions of RX J0822-4300 measured in each data set implies a projected proper motion of mu 71 \pm 12 masy. For a distance of 2 kpc this proper motion is equivalent to a recoil velocity of 672 \pm 115 km/s. The position angle is found to be 244 \pm 11 degrees. Both the magnitude and direction of the proper motion are in agreement with RX J0822-4300 originating near the optical expansion center of the supernova remnant. For a displacement of 371 \pm 31 arcsec between its birth place and today's position we deduce an age of (5.2 \pm 1.0) 10^3 yrs for RX J0822-4300. The age inferred from the neutron star proper motion and filament motions can be considered as two independent measurements of the same quantity. They average to 4450 \pm 750 yrs for the age of the supernova remnant Puppis A.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

“You too, Brutus?” Michel Foucault’s Relation to Neoliberalism

In Foucault and Neoliberalism historisieren der Historiker Michael C. Behrent und der Soziologe Daniel Zamora Michel Foucaults Auseinandersetzung mit (neo-)liberaler Theoriebildung um seinen Status als linker Denker und die damit einhergehende Prävalenz seiner Ansätze zu kritisieren. Dieser Band versammelt sieben kritische Perspektiven auf die intellektuelle und politische Entwicklung des 'späten' Foucault um die Möglichkeiten einer effektiveren linken Kritik zu erörtern; anstatt seinen außergewöhnlichen Einfluss zu negieren, werden stimulierende analytische Ansätze zur Fusion des Foucaultschen 'Gouvernementalitäts'-Konzepts mit marxistischer Ideologiekritik dargeboten.In Foucault and Neoliberalism Michael C. Behrent, historian, and Daniel Zamora, sociologist, historicize Michel Foucault's intellectual engagement with (neo-)liberal theory in order to criticize his status as left thinker – and the concordant prevalence of his approaches. This volume brings together seven critical perspectives on the intellectual and political development of the 'late' Foucault in order to open up the possibility of a more effective, left critical theory; instead of dismissing his extra-ordinary influence, this essay collection delineates thought-provoking analytical approaches that fuse Foucault's 'governmentality' framework with Marxist ideology critique

Media Technology as a Blessing or a Curse? Re/Discovering Friedrich A. Kittler

Der Literaturwissenschaftler Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht hat in dieser Aufsatzsammlung 23 kürzere Texte von Kittler versammelt, welche die gesamte Bandbreite seiner oftmals unorthodoxen Medienuntersuchungen widerspiegeln. Diese Ausgabe macht einige der Essays zum ersten Mal einem englischsprachigen Publikum zugänglich; darüber hinaus gelingt es dem Herausgeber überzeugend darzustellen, dass Kittlers Werk auf Martin Heideggers Konzeption moderner Technologie fußt.Literary scholar Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht has compiled 23 essays, which cover the entire range of Kittler’s unorthodox explorations of Western media networks and discourses. This edited volume makes some of Kittler's essays available for the first time for the English-speaking public; furthermore, the editor convincingly explicates Martin Heidegger's conception of modern technology as common ground of Kittler's entire oeuvre.&nbsp

The Ugly Face of Whiteness in the Contemporary US – And How to Encounter It

In Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America verarbeitet George Yancy, afroamerikanischer Professor für Philosophie, die rassistischen Angriffe, die ihn als Reaktion auf seinen offenen Brief „Dear White America“ ereilten. Der Band beinhaltet nicht nur den Brief – ein entschiedener Appell für eine ehrliche Auseinandersetzung mit weißem Rassismus in den USA – sondern setzt sich auch entschlossen mit den vielfältigen rassistischen Manifestationen auseinander, die er hervorgerufen hat. Darüber hinaus entwickelt Yancy theoretisch weiter, wie eine kohärente antirassistische Subjektposition aussehen könnte und wie er sie in einigen der positiven Repliken auf seinen Brief verwirklicht sieht.In Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America, George Yancy, scholar of the philosophy of race, shares the racist backlash he encountered as a reaction to his open letter “Dear White America.” Besides reproducing the original letter – a decisive call for an honest contestation of white racism in the US – the volume courageously engages with the various manifestations of hate speech it elicited. Most importantly, Yancy further conceptualizes the possibility of forging a coherent antiracist white subject position which he finds exemplified in some of the positive responses to his letter. &nbsp

The White Man’s Burden? How to Come to Terms With Whiteness as Identity Category

In White Self-Criticality beyond Anti-racism arbeitet George Yancy, Spezialist für philosophische Konzeptionen von race, heraus, was es heutzutage bedeutet in den USA weiß zu sein und somit ein weißes Problem für all jene darzustellen, die diese privilegierte Identitätskategorie nicht teilen. Dieser Band versammelt vierzehn weiße Experten im Bereich der critical whiteness studies und ermöglicht somit kritische Perspektiven auf das unabgeschlossene Projekt, eine antirassistische weiße Identität zu entwerfen. Dem_der Leser_in werden so die kontinuierlichen persönlichen Herausforderungen dieses Unterfanges vor Augen geführt; darüberhinaus erhält man stimulierende Einblicke in analytische Ansätze, welche die Demontage weißer Privilegien in der Universität und auch darüber hinaus möglich machen sollen.In White Self-Criticality beyond Anti-Racism George Yancy, scholar of the philosophy of race, further develops his insights into the nature of being white, and hence being a white problem for all those not sharing this privileged identity category. By assembling fourteen white scholars in the field of critical whiteness studies, this volume provides a critical perspective on the unfinished project of and ongoing personal struggles with forging an anti-racist white identity. Furthermore, this essay collection delineates thought-provoking analytical approaches to dismantling white privilege in the academy and beyond

Do Racists Play Video Games? The Dialectic Relation of White Supremacists to Popular Culture

Die Kulturkritiker C. Richard King und David J. Leonard beleuchten das komplexe Verhältnis von White-Power-Communities und Populärkultur in der zeitgenössischen Gesellschaft der USA. Durch die Untersuchung von Diskussionen in einschlägigen Foren der White-Power-Communities zeichnen sie deren dialektische Einstellung zur Populärkultur nach. Die diversen populärkulturellen Segmente wie Musik, Sport oder Videospiele werden einerseits abgelehnt, andererseits angeeignet. Darüberhinaus zeigen King und Leonard die diskursiven Überschneidungen zwischen in der Gesellschaft breit akzeptierten Einstellungen gegenüber der Populärkultur und entsprechenden Vorstellungen innerhalb der White-Power-Community auf.Cultural critics C. Richard King and David J. Leonard shed light on the complex relation of white power and popular culture in the contemporary US. By analysing online discussion forums of white supremacists, the authors trace the dialectics of rejecting and re-appropriating popular culture commodities in fields as diverse as music, sports, and video games; furthermore, King and Leonard lay bare the at times thin red line between mainstream discourses around popular culture and white nationalist attitudes towards this phenomenon