Empirical Interpretation Research Articles

CO Spectral Line Energy Distributions in Galactic Sources: Empirical Interpretation of Extragalactic Observations∗

Abstract The relative populations in rotational transitions of CO can be useful for inferring gas conditions and excitation mechanisms at work in the interstellar medium. We present CO emission lines from rotational transitions observed with Herschel/HIFI in the star-forming cores Orion S, Orion KL, Sgr B2(M), and W49N. Integrated line fluxes from these observations are combined with those from Herschel/PACS observations of the same sources to construct CO spectral line energy distributions (SLEDs) from 5 ≤ J u ≤ 48. These CO SLEDs are compared to those reported in other galaxies, with the intention of empirically determining which mechanisms dominate excitation in such systems. We find that CO SLEDs in Galactic star-forming cores cannot be used to reproduce those observed in other galaxies, although the discrepancies arise primarily as a result of beam filling factors. The much larger regions sampled by the Herschel beams at distances of several megaparsecs contain significant amounts of cooler gas, which dominate the extragalactic CO SLEDs, in contrast to observations of Galactic star-forming regions, which are focused specifically on cores containing primarily hot molecular gas.

ГРАНИЦЫ И СОДЕРЖАНИЕ МИГРАЦИОННОГО ПРОЦЕССА: ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКОЕ ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЕ И ОПЕРАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИЯ ОБЪЕКТОВ МИГРАЦИОННЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ

The paper is oriented toward re-thinking classical categories in migration studies developed in Russian scholarly literature. The author provides definitions adjusted for the needs of empirical sociological research. The theoretical reasoning and empirical findings presented in the paper are based on researches organized and conducted by the International Research Laboratory «Transnationalism and migration processes: comparative and institutional analysis» in 2009—2015. The author proposes his reading of the terms: «migration process» (in its theoretical and empirical interpretations), «emigrant», «immigrant», and «immigrant status». In opposition to the approach commonly practiced in Russian academic literature the paper introduces the division of the migration process into two (not three) stages: the first stage includes actions aimed at receiving the migrant status; the second stage represents actions carried out to lose the migrant status. The article contains the author’s classi- fication of immigrants according to their status: labor, education, culture, service, family or forced immigrants. The author also proposes criteria for the operation- alization of different types of immigrants according to their formal characteristics and informal practices.

Biodiversity patterns of crustacean suprabenthic assemblages along an oligotrophic gradient in the bathyal Mediterranean Sea

Crustacean suprabenthic abundance, community structure, α-diversity (both taxonomic and trophic) and β-diversity were studied along a West-East gradient of oligotrophy in the deep Mediterranean Sea. The assemblages were sampled with a suprabenthic sledge in three regions (western, central and eastern basins) at three water depths (1200, 2000 and 3000m) in May-June 2009. Environmental data were obtained at each sampling location including sediment properties, oceanographic variables near the seafloor and in the water column, and proxies of epipelagic productivity at the surface. Our results, concerning the crustacean component of the suprabenthos, showed complex trends in community structure and biodiversity across different spatial scales (longitudinal, bathymetric, and near-bottom distribution). A decrease in the number of species and abundance, accompanied by changes in the trophic structure of the assemblages were observed from West to East. In the eastern region the assemblages were impoverished in number of trophic guilds and trophic diversity. The West-East oligotrophic gradient was identified as the main driver in community structure as shown by the significant correlation with trophic environmental variables. Differences in community structure across regions were more marked at greater depths, while at the shallower sites assemblages were more similar. Within each basin, abundance, number of species and number of trophic groups decreased with depth, showing high turnover rates between 1200 and 2000m depths. The small-scale (0–150cm) vertical distribution of the suprabenthos was interpreted in relation to the species’ functional traits (e.g. swimming activity, migratory behaviour, bottom dependence, feeding habits). Bottom-dependent and more mobile components of the suprabenthos were apparently responding differently to the various environmental challenges imposed by the large-scale longitudinal and bathymetric gradients. We propose that the bathyal suprabenthos in the Mediterranean Sea may be essentially modulated by environmental sorting, but while the more mobile faunal component has more efficient dispersal mechanisms, the bottom-dependent component may be affected by limited dispersal. However, this empirical interpretation has still to be proved given the important caveats of our study (e.g. typically low densities of the Mediterranean bathyal suprabenthos; limited number of samples; difficulties in standardization inherent to suprabenthic sampling operations in the deep sea).

From Theory to Technology: The Case of Existential Psychotherapy

The psychotherapeutic technologies of the social sciences and humanities are the result of a long process that has shaped its theory and social and therapeutic practice, as part of a specific cultural and ideological context. The use of these technologies as a fundamental prerequisite has a human factor that determines the implementation of communicative mechanisms within the framework of set goals and objectives. Psychotherapeutic technologies are based on a “theory of the human,” which is not a scientific theory in the strict sense of the word, but nonetheless allows for empirical and operational interpretation.

The Two Hundred and Fifty Year Transition: How the American Empire Became Capitalist

AbstractThis paper aims to rethink United States history from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction by examining how capitalism and empire joined together as the logic of expansion increasingly became driven by the logic of capital over approximately two hundred and fifty years. Specifically, it argues that (what became) the United States originated as a ‘society with capitalism’ and became a ‘capitalist society’. This transition was a highly complex and uneven process as a variety of social forms developed and interacted, and in which there was not one road to capitalism, but a variety, depending on the historical circumstance. To accomplish this, first, the article reviews the Marx‐Weber debate to develop a theoretical and methodological approach to the historical sociology of capitalism. The remainder of the paper focuses on narrating an empirical interpretation of the transition to capitalism including the diversity of labor forms capital historically utilized.

Author’s Response: A Corruption Market More Sophisticated Than You Think

The criticisms and comments of the three distinguished participants in this roundtable cover a wide range of issues, and it is impossible to address all of them here. In the space below, I respond to three main concerns about China's Crony Capitalism: The Dynamics of Regime Decay raised in their reviews: (1) theoretical framework and arguments, (2) empirical evidence and interpretation, and (3) implications of the findings.Theoretical Framework and ArgumentsThe book's main theoretical contribution is to offer an institutional explanation for the emergence of a particular type of corruption-collusive corruption perpetuated mainly to enable political and business elites to loot nominally state-owned assets at steep discounts or no cost. It traces the rise of this type of looting to a series of changes in China's property rights regime in the post-Tiananmen era that significantly decentralized control rights without clarifying ownership rights. The main theoretical argument itself is straightforward. In the context of other significant decentralizing institutional changes that have granted local-level officials enormous discretion (most critically power over personnel appointments), the combination of decentralized control rights and unclear ownership rights (or, strictly speaking, the absence of real owners) creates an ideal environment for political and business elites to collude and loot valuable assets such as land, mining resources, and assets in state-owned enterprises (SOE). Collusion is necessitated by both the decentralization of control rights (with multiple officials empowered with approval authority) and unclear ownership (which attracts multiple claimants). The same logic and institutional conditions also apply to the widespread collusive corruption in infrastructure investments.This theoretical framework offers an original explanation for the rise of collusive looting in the post-Tiananmen era. It does not, however, claim to explain all forms of corruption, as Yan Sun implies. The type of corruption she identifies is best characterized as garden-variety theft or petty corruption, not looting. So the analytical framework centered on property rights does not explain garden-variety theft. But how do we account for the rise of collusion in corrupt activities that do not involve the looting of state-owned assets? In the book, there are three sets of cases where property rights are not directly involved: the purchase and sale of public office, collusion between law enforcement and organized crime (although in at least 20% of the cases crime bosses gained undervalued land and mines with the help of local officials), and collusive corruption in courts and regulatory agencies. It is instructive to note that in these cases the median corruption income of the chief official perpetrator ranges between 510,000 and 760,000 yuan-a fraction of the median corruption income of the chief official perpetrator colluding with businessmen (9.5 million yuan) and the median corruption income of the chief perpetrator of collusive corruption in SOEs (6.4 million yuan) (pp. 120 and 155). The huge disparity in corruption income confirms the importance of property: officials engaged in garden-variety theft get paid for services, whereas those engaged in collusive looting are rewarded much more handsomely for obtaining undervalued or costless public assets.The purchase and sale of public office constitute a critical linkage in the formation of collusive networks in the Chinese political system. Sun does not believe that China's Crony Capitalism provides evidence showing that party chiefs sold offices to subordinates explicitly to facilitate their corrupt activities (including doling out undervalued state-owned assets to their business cronies). This is not true. Of course, due to the limited information revealed in the official media and court documents, it is impossible to build an overwhelming case demonstrating this connection. …

FACTORS OF INTEGRATION AND CONFLICT IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The article is devoted to theoretical-methodological analysis of the factors of integration and conflict in the development of human potential of the South of Russia. Presents an analysis of methodological approaches to the study of human potential, problems of human development and factors influencing this process. Specifies the contents of the structural components of human potential, indicators of its measurement and assessment in Southern Russia. The approaches to understanding the conflict category in modern political science are revealed, and a theoretical and empirical interpretation of the concept of «human potential» is given. The possibilities of the deductive algorithms of the search scenario forecast for the study of integral factors that influence the development of human potential taking into account the specifics of the South of Russia are described. Detailed scenarios of human potential development in the South of Russia (intensive development, extensive, stagnation, regression, degradation) are described in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on the possibilities of measuring the ethnic and ideological components of human development as specific features of the Southern macroregion. Some results of the pilot study (Krasnodar Territory) are presented, which reflect the dependence of the innovative potential as an integral indicator of human development on social parameters, such as protest potential, migration settings, living standards, etc.

К вопросу о переоснащении теоретико-методологического аппарата исторической науки

<p>В статье рассматривается проблема научного качества исторического образа мышления. Суть проблемы, как показывает эмпирический материал, заключается в том, что теоретическое обоснование так называемого принципа историзма скрыто содержит в себе «родовой ген» тавтологического понимания идеи развития.</p><p>Настоящего интереса к данной проблеме не наблюдается, ее комплексной разработки не существует. Есть лишь разрозненные наблюдения теоретико-методологического характера, принадлежащие ученым самого разного профиля. Они либо рассыпаны по статьям и монографиям узкоспециальной направленности, либо принадлежат авторам, работы которых по тем или иным причинам (идеологическим, конъюнктурным и др.) задвинуты на периферию научного внимания.</p><p>Как следствие, методологическая ситуация в исторической науке лишена четкого языка описания. С одной стороны, имеет место инерционная приверженность массового научного сознания устаревшим, но сохраняющим видимость научности, предпосылочным установкам. С другой стороны, наблюдается возрастающий интерес к эмпирически выверенной, но не имеющей пока еще под собой полноценного теоретического обоснования фактологии. А противоречие между этими двумя подходами начинает постепенно осознаваться как проявление кризиса методологии исторических исследований.</p><p>Преодоление кризиса предлагается начать с операционализации языка его описания — с переоснащения теоретико-методологического инструментария исторической науки в когнитивистском направлении. Проще же говоря, методологической альтернативой тем априорным и тавтологическим суждениям, которые до сих пор выдаются и принимаются за «принцип историзма», должна послужить опора на эмпирический материал по исторической семантике ментально-языковых структур. </p>

Providing a Multi-fold Assessment Framework to Virtualized Collaborative Learning in Support for Engineering Education

In previous research we proposed a virtualization process of live collaborative sessions from Web discussion forums and chats with the aim to produce interactive and attractive online learning resources to be played by learners, thus having a positive effect in learner engagement. In order to enhance further learning engagement, in this paper we endow our virtualization process with a multifold assessment framework that provides effective awareness and constructive feedback to learners from the original collaborative interactions amongst group members. The re-search here presented focuses on e-assessment of collabora-tive and social learning and extends it with Learning Ana-lytics and Social Network Analysis techniques that are able to analyze and represent cognitive and social interactions underlying live collaborative sessions. The interaction data extracted from collaborative knowledge and social network-ing is integrated into the virtualized collaborative learning to produce an efficient and personalized awareness and feedback system about the collaborative activity and the so-cial behaviour of the original participants of live collabora-tion. This paper describes both the conceptual and methodological research to build our multi-fold e-assessment framework. The research is evaluated in real context of e-learning and validated by empirical data and interpretation

Suppes’s outlines of an empirical measurement theory

According to Suppes, measurement theory, like any scientific theory, should consist of two parts, a set-theoretical defined structure and the empirical interpretation of that structure. An empirical interpretation means the specification – ‘coordinating definitions’ – of a ‘hierarchy of models’ between the theory and the experimental results. But in the case of measurement theory, he defined the relationship between numerical structure and the empirical structure specifically in terms of homomorphism. This is rather a highly restrictive relation between models, and therefore he never succeeded in giving his measurement theory empirical content. This paper discusses what an empirical measurement theory will look like if we would use less restrictive ‘coordinating definitions’ to specify the relationships between the various models.

Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Identity Development in Communities of Practice: Reifications of Proportional Reasoning Teaching

Abstract In the last decade, the Study and Research Group on the Education of Teachers who teach Math – GEPEFOPEM (Brazil) investigated teacher education groups constituted as Communities of Practice – CoPs. The objective of this paper is to discuss the focus of one of these CoPs when working with Proportional Reasoning and the practice elements of four CoPs, which promoted the development of their members’ professional identity. The data was collected through an analysis of meaning negotiation processes, mobilized knowledge and the CoPs dynamics based on different groups interactions and written production of their members. The analysis showed that self-knowledge, beliefs and concepts, professional knowledge, vulnerability, and the sense of agency became the focal points of the CoPs during the study of proportional reasoning as well as the practice elements of the four CoPs that promoted the professional identity development of, namely: shared repertoires, reports and discussions on their pedagogical practices, the existence of an open and flexible work plan, the opportunity to discuss their written productions, vulnerability experiences, the search for a sense of agency balance, connections among observations and empirical interpretations and a broader theoretical background, reports and discussions on previous meetings. Factors such as respect, trust, challenge, solidarity, projects negotiations, dynamics and actions, valorization of the singularities, and professional practices of teachers are essential for the constitution of the professional identity of these professionals and for the cultivation and maintenance of these groups.

Submicrometer-scale molecular dynamics simulation of nucleation and solidification from undercooled melt: Linkage between empirical interpretation and atomistic nature

Nucleation and solidification from the undercooled iron melt are investigated from the atomistic point of view by large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations up to 12 million atoms in systems of the submicrometer-scale. There exist some amount of atoms with icosahedral configuration in the undercooled iron melt and these atoms increase with decreasing temperature. It is expected that accumulation of atoms with icosahedral configuration in the initial β-relaxation regime of nucleation is the key to initiate the formation of bcc phase. On the other hand, mobility of atoms in the undercooled melt decreases drastically with decreasing temperature. These two competing factors in the atomistic scale are considered to derive a critical temperature at which nucleation rate becomes maximum, which agrees with a classical theory for homogeneous nucleation. Moreover, the Avrami exponents during solidification are approximately estimated to be close to 3 and 4 in two- and three-dimensional grain growths, respectively, which also agrees with empirical interpretation. Our novel approach utilizing the high parallel efficiency of the GPU supercomputer successfully links the empirical interpretation in metallurgy with the atomistic behavior of nucleation and solidification, which enlarges the application range of MD simulations for the study of structural materials.

Organisational performance as a function of creativity components and innovation capability: an Indian perspective

This paper examines the reckonable associations between creativity components, innovation capability and organisational performance and investigates the potential mediating role of innovation capability between the association of creativity component and organisational performances. Grounded over the extensive review of literature, research model is proposed. This model is empirically verified in manufacturing units of Indian public sector operating in the northern region of India. Some of the empirical interpretations are that intrinsic motivation, creativity relevant skills and domain relevant skills facilitate innovation capability and are significantly associated with the performance of investigating units. The prospective mediating effect of innovation capability between the associations of intrinsic motivation on organisational performance is also empirically validated. This paper also identifies that innovation capability partially mediates the impact of creativity relevant skills and domain relevant skills on organisational performance. The findings carry theoretical implications for creativity and innovation literature.

Searching effective rotation patterns for population median using exponential type estimators in two-occasion rotation sampling

ABSTRACTThe present article is an attempt to explore the rotation patterns using exponential ratio type estimators for the estimation of finite population median at current occasion in two occasion rotation sampling. Properties of the proposed estimators including the optimum replacement strategies have been elaborated. The proposed estimators have been compared with sample median estimator when there is no matching from previous occasion as well with the ratio type estimator proposed by Singh et al. (2007) for second quantile. The behaviors of the proposed estimators are justified by empirical interpretations and validated by means of simulation study with the help of some natural populations.

Measuring Inequality in Africa's Largest Economy Through Critical Realism

Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa but the poorest people on the continent live there. With increased political stability, economists believe the country’s development indicators would further improve. However, experience and data shows that inequality gap broadens. It thus becomes necessary to further analyse the Gini Co-efficient over decades on the one hand, and determine if the Lorenz curve means anything to the ontological perception of the Nigerian people. The next argument is to determine when the Gini Coefficient turns to advanced poverty. The inequality from this empirical interpretation is then viewed within the context of the “western” realization (Lessem and Schieffer, 2010) path of their integral research model, more so, from the angle of critical realism. Thus, the research method, or rather critique is ‘critical realism’ because it “constitute ontology based on experience, as expressed in the concept of the empirical world and mediated by the ideas of the actuality of causal laws” (Bhaskar 1975) thereby exploring other poverty research methodologies.

History of Political Thought as Detective-Work

SUMMARYThis paper offers practical guidance for empirical interpretation in the history of political thought, especially uncovering what authors meant and why they wrote what they wrote. I thus seek to fill a small but significant hole in our rather abstract methodological literature. To counter this abstraction, I draw not only on methodological theorising but also on actual practice—and on detective-work, a fruitful analogy. The detective analogy seeks to capture the intuition that we can potentially find right answers but must handle fragmentary evidence that different people can plausibly read in different ways. Placing the focus on evidence, and on combining different types of evidence, suggests that orthodox categories like ‘contextualist’ and ‘Marxist’ too often accentuate differences between scholars. This paper instead highlights core principles that unite us—ideas that underpin good textual interpretation across all ‘schools of thought’.

The Sustainability of Public Finance in Nigeria

This article studies the sustainability of public finance in Nigeria by analyzing the relationship between the budget deficit and economic growth over a period 1986-2014. We used unit root and cointegration test to apply the conditions of the present value of budget constraint. This methodology is generally employed in the empirical interpretation of fiscal sustainability process. To conduct this study we use two variables (GDP and budget deficit) and in somehow it indicates that public finance is not sustainable in Nigeria.

Transformation of mathematic models in empirical interpretation

The subject of mathematics is spatial forms and quantitative relations. The problem is how real objects becomе “spatial forms” or how qualitative determinacy of objects of study transforms into quantity and qualitatively determined relations between objects turn into qualitatively determined. The paper tackles the problem of correspondence of mathematical and empirical models as well as associated with it, transformation of model elements that leads to a phasal change of models in the course of empirical interpretation.

Nonlocal theory for heat transport at high frequencies

We develop a nonlocal theory for heat conduction under high-frequency temperature fields and apply the theory to explain reductions of the apparent thermal conductivity observed in recent experiments. Our nonlocal theory is an analytical solution of the Boltzmann transport equation for phonons in a semi-infinite solid, similar to a prior nonlocal theory for heat conduction under a high-temperature gradient but subjected to periodic heating at the surface. The boundary condition of periodic heating, as opposed to prior calculations of heating by a single laser pulse, better mimics time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) and broadband frequency-domain thermoreflectance (BB-FDTR) measurements. We find that, except for pure crystals at high frequencies, the effective thermal conductivity derived using the nonlocal theory compares well with calculations of a modified Callaway model that includes an upper limit on the phonon mean-free path at twice the thermal penetration depth. For pure crystals, however, the effective thermal conductivity derived from the out-of-phase calculations are independent of frequency, in agreement with prior TDTR measurements, due to the countereffect of reduced heat flux and diminished relative phase between the heat flux and temperature oscillations at high frequencies. Our results suggest that empirical interpretation of ballistic phonons not contributing to heat conduction is not general and can only be applied to measurements on alloys and not pure crystals, even when a large laser spot size is used in the experiments and the interfacial thermal resistance is negligible.

A Class of Estimators for Population Median in Two Occasion Rotation Sampling

The present work deals with the problem of estimation of finite population median at current occasion, in two occasion successive (rotation) sampling. A class of estimators has been proposed for the estimation of population median at current occasion, which includes many existing estimators as a particular case. Asymptotic properties including the asymptotic convergence of proposed class of estimators are elaborated. Optimum replacement strategies are also discussed. The proposed class of estimators at optimum condition is compared with the sample median estimator when there is no matching from the previous occasion as well as with some other members of the class. Theoretical results have been justified through empirical interpretation with the help of some natural populations. 2000 AMS Classification: 62D05