Reasonable Dimensions Research Articles

Spatial Econometric Models of Cross-Sectional Interdependence in Political Science Panel and Time-Series-Cross-Section Data

In this paper, we demonstrate the econometric consequences of different specification and estimation choices in the analysis of spatially interdependent data and show how to calculate and present spatial effect estimates substantively. We consider four common estimators—nonspatial OLS, spatial OLS, spatial 2SLS, and spatial ML. We examine analytically the respective omitted-variable and simultaneity biases of nonspatial OLS and spatial OLS in the simplest case and then evaluate the performance of all four estimators in bias, efficiency, and SE accuracy terms under more realistic conditions using Monte Carlo experiments. We provide empirical illustration, showing how to calculate and present spatial effect estimates effectively, using data on European governments' active labor market expenditures. Our main conclusions are that spatial OLS, despite its simultaneity, performs acceptably under low-to-moderate interdependence strength and reasonable sample dimensions. Spatial 2SLS or spatial ML may be advised for other conditions, but, unless interdependence is truly absent or minuscule, any of the spatial estimators unambiguously, and often dramatically, dominates on all three criteria the nonspatial OLS commonly used currently in empirical work in political science.

SBT Approach towards Analog Electronic Circuit Fault Diagnosis

An approach for the fault diagnosis of single and multiple faults in linear analog electronic circuits is proposed in this paper. The simulation-before-test (SBT) diagnosis approach proposed in this write up basically consists of obtaining the frequency response of fault free/faulty circuit. The peak frequency and the peak amplitude from the error response are observed and processed suitably to extract distinct signatures for faulty and nonfaulty conditions under maximum tolerance conditions for other network components. The artificial neural network classifiers are then used for the classification of fault. Networks of reasonable dimensions are shown to be capable of robust diagnosis of analog circuits including effects due to tolerances. This is a unique contribution of this paper. Fault computation time is drastically reduced from the traditional analysis techniques. This results in a direct dollar savings at test time. A comparison of the proposed work with the previous works which also employ preprocessing techniques, reveals that our algorithm performs significantly better in fault diagnosis of analog circuits due to our proposed preprocessing techniques.

Incremental online PCA for automatic motion learning of eigen behaviour

This paper presents an online learning framework for the behaviour of an articulated body by capturing its motion using real-time video. In our proposed framework, supervised learning is first utilised during an offline learning phase for small instances using principal component analysis (PCA); then we apply a new incremental PCA technique during an online learning phase. Rather than storing all the previous instances, our online method just keeps the eigenspace and reconstructs the space using only the new instance. We can add numerical new training instances while maintaining the reasonable dimensions. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and merits.

Lipschitz representations of subsets of the cube

We show that for any class of uniformly bounded functions H H with a reasonable combinatorial dimension, the vast majority of small subsets of the n n -dimensional combinatorial cube cannot be represented as a Lipschitz image of a subset of H H , unless the Lipschitz constant is very large. We apply this result to the case when H H consists of linear functionals of norm at most one on a Hilbert space.

Liquid-Fueled, Air-Breathing Pulse Detonation Engine Demonstrator:Operation Principles and Performance

A demonstrator of the liquid-fueled air-breathing pulse engine with relatively low energy requirements for repeated initiation, with no fuel preconditioning, no use of onboard oxygen, and reasonable geometrical dimensions has been designed and tested. The design of the demonstrator combined several new principles and technologies. One of the most important design principles is the use of the detonation peninsular in the tube comprising the Shchelkin spiral followed by the tube coil. For the cold startup of the demonstrator, a new method for initiation by successive triggering of two igniters was applied. The demonstrator design was optimized for attaining stable operation in the mode. The thrust was measured by the ballistic pendulum technique during the operation of the demonstrator at frequencies of 2.2, 3.1, and 3.9 Hz. The maximal measured thrust was about 30 N. Because of acceptable weight and size characteristics of the pulse engine demonstrator, the proposed process design can be regarded as promising for practical applications.

An Investigation of Factors Influencing Participation in Online Surveys by College Students

Online surveys are attracting considerable interest and will become more commonplace because of the methodological and economic advantages such as cost efficiency, speed of data collection, high response rate, short response time, and accuracy of data. To explore the reasons why respondents would respond to an online survey in college students, 293 surveys were collected from students in four undergraduate business classes. Factor analysis identified the following four dimensions of reasons: format, content, affiliation, and contact. These reasons of dimensions were used to cluster participants into two groups: “active participants” and “moderate participants.” Contact was the highest discriminator between two clusters followed by affiliation, content, and format. Then, these two groups of clusters were compared using Chi-square tests to determine if there were statistical differences between them. Percentage of respondents to an online survey was found to be only distinguishing variable between the two clusters.

Epistemic Reasoning and Adolescent Egocentrism: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Problem Youth

This investigation addressed the question of how two forms of social cognitive reasoning – epistemic reasoning and adolescent egocentrism – interface with externalizing and internalizing forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Adolescents’ epistemic reasoning (i.e., types of belief entitlement, or degree of doubt, held by an individual when confronted with contradictory sides of an issue), and imaginary audience and personal fable ideation, were assessed in a sample of 29 adolescent boys with behavioral problems and 30 of their peers without behavioral problems. To assess internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-TRF). Results revealed that, compared to those without behavior problems, boys with behavioral problems were lower in epistemic reasoning. Further analyses revealed consistent relations between dimensions of social cognitive reasoning to specific forms of psychopathology. These findings suggest that social cognitive reasoning, particularly epistemic doubt, is important in understanding problem behaviors among typical and atypical adolescents.

Composite materials in flexible multibody systems

In this work the flexible multibody dynamics formulations of complex models are extended to include elastic components made of laminated composite materials. The only limitation for the deformation of a structural member is that it must be elastic and linear when described in a body fixed frame. A finite element model for each flexible body is obtained such that the nodal coordinates are described with respect to the body fixed frame and the inertia terms involved in the mass matrix and gyroscopic force vector use a diagonalized mass description of the inertia terms. The coupling between the flexible body deformation and its rigid body motion is described using only standard finite element parameters obtained with a commercial finite element code. These elements include composite material shells and beams. For composite material beam elements, the properties of their sections are found using an asymptotic procedure proposed by Hodges. The component mode synthesis is used to reduce the number of generalized coordinates to a reasonable dimension for complex shaped structural models of flexible bodies. The kinematic constraints between the different system components are introduced and the equations of motion of the flexible multibody system are solved using an augmented Lagrangean formulation. Finally, the methodology is applied to the analysis of the deployment of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Antenna and the results are discussed.

Dispersion tailoring and soliton propagation in silicon waveguides

The dispersive properties of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides are studied by using the effective-index method. Extensive calculations indicate that an SOI waveguide can be designed to have its zero-dispersion wavelength near 1.5 microm with reasonable device dimensions. Numerical simulations show that soliton-like pulse propagation is achievable in such a waveguide in the spectral region at approximately 1.55 microm. The concept of path-averaged solitons is used to minimize the impact of linear loss and two-photon absorption.

Developmental Stages of Age and Moral Reasoning as Predictors of Juvenile Delinquents' Behavioral Intention to Steal Clothing

This study explored juvenile delinquents' moral reasoning and behavioral intention to steal clothing using age group and the aligned theories of planned behavior and cognitive developmental moralization. Participants (n = 100) were preteen and teen first-time theft/shoplifting offenders participating in a diversion program aimed at preventing future offenses. Factor analysis revealed three strongly correlated dimensions of moral reasoning: risk and need (preconventional ethics), and peers (conventional ethics). Multiple regressions predicted positive moral reasoning that justified stealing clothing for risk, need, and peers by preteens but not teens. Risk and need, but not peers or age group, predicted behavioral intention to steal clothing. Adevelopmental shift existed from preteens to teens in their moral reasoning to steal clothing. Juvenile delinquents that identified with preconventional ethics exhibited behavioral intention to steal clothing.

ADHERENCE AND NONADHERENCE TO ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATIONS

The aims of this study were to identify dimensions of reasons for adherence and nonadherence to antipsychotic medications, and their associations with clinical and demographic profiles. A total number of 106 participants with DSM-IV psychosis spectrum disorders from two larger studies in inpatient and community settings participated. The Rating of Medication Influences (ROMI) Scale was used to measure subjective reasons for adherence and nonadherence. A series of multiple regression analyses found that mood symptom scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) predicted most dimensions of reasons for adherence and nonadherence. Higher mood scores were associated with positive affinity for medications and positive relationship with clinicians. Lower mood scores predicted four out of five reasons for nonadherence. Adherence and nonadherence behaviors were determined by different variables and were not mirror opposites.

Conjectures and Manipulations. Computational Modeling and the Extra- Theoretical Dimension of Scientific Discovery

Computational philosophy (CP) aims at investigating many important concepts and problems of the philosophical and epistemological tradition in a new way by taking advantage of information-theoretic, cognitive, and artificial intelligence methodologies. I maintain that the results of computational philosophy meet the classical requirements of some Peircian 'pragmatic ambitions'. Indeed, more than a 100 years ago, the American philosopher C.S. Peirce, when working on logical and philosophical problems, suggested the concept of pragmatism ('pragmaticism', in his own words) as a logical criterion to analyze what words and concepts express through their practical meaning. Many words have been spent on creative processes and reasoning, especially in the case of scientific practices. In fact, many philosophers have usually offered a number of ways of construing hypotheses generation, but they aim at demonstrating that the activity of generating hypotheses is paradoxical, obscure, and thus not analyzable. Those descriptions are often so far from Peircian pragmatic prescription and so abstract to result completely unknowable and obscure. To dismiss this tendency and gain interesting insight about the so-called 'logic of scientific discovery' we need to build constructive procedures, which could play a role in moving the problem-solving process forward by implementing them in some actual models. The 'computational turn' gives us a new way to understand creative processes in a strictly pragmatic sense. In fact, by exploiting artificial intelligence and cognitive science tools, computational philosophy allows us to test concepts and ideas previously conceived only in abstract terms. It is in the perspective of these actual computational models that I find the central role of abduction in the explanation of creative reasoning in science. I maintain that the computational philosophy analysis of model-based and manipulative abduction and of external and epistemic mediators is important not only to delineate the actual practice of abduction, but also to further enhance the development of programs computationally adequate in rediscovering, or discovering for the first time, for example, scientific hypotheses or mathematical theorems. The last part of the paper is devoted to illustrating the problem of the extra-theoretical dimension of reasoning and discovery from the perspective of some mathematical cases derived from calculus and geometry.

Comparing the Stewart-Sprinthall Management Survey and the Defining Issues Test-2 as Measures of Moral Reasoning in Public Administration

Studies of moral reasoning in public administration have used James Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) and the Stewart-Sprinthall Management Survey (SSMS), both derived from Lawrence Kohlberg's work, to assess the moral reasoning of government managers and personnel with disparate results. For example, in previous research with public administrators the SSMS has found higher levels of law and order or maintaining norms moral reasoning than the DIT. The purposes of this article are to (1) summarize the results of published research in public administration using the SSMS and the DIT, (2) compare the results of the SSMS and DIT in the same sample of public administrators, and (3) make recommendations for the use of these instruments in research and practice. In a sample of members of the American Society for Public Administration's Section on Ethics, a comparison of DIT-2 and SSMS moral reasoning scores demonstrated no significant differences between postconventional moral reasoning scores; however, there was a significant difference between maintaining norms percentage scores. This suggests that the two instruments may tap into different dimensions of moral reasoning. Liberals and moderates scored significantly higher than conservatives did in postconventional reasoning on the DIT-2 but not on the SSMS. These results support findings of previous research demonstrating the political dimensions of the DIT, as well as reinforce the multidimensional nature of moral behavior and moral judgment. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the use of both instruments.

Investigations about Bulk Solids with Silo Centrifuge Testing

The influence of relaxation and creep for silo design and prediction of a reasonable and reliable outlet dimension for trouble‐free flow of bulk solids are presented. The use of silo centrifuge testing was chosen to reduce the model silo size and to decrease the needed amount of bulk solids. Experiments with limestone of 25 μm particle size showed good agreement between silo centrifuge testing and silo design according to Jenike method. The creeping effects could successfully demonstrated with moist gypsum with the silo centrifuge technique.

Analysis of a heat recirculating cooler for fuel gas sulfur removal in solid oxide fuel cells

When using conventional fossil fuels, most fuel cell systems require sulfur removal as part of their fuel processing. A novel approach to enable conventional sulfur removal in high-temperature fuel processing is presented. Using established principles from heat-recirculating combustors, it is suggested that high-temperature syngas can be momentarily cooled to conditions that would permit conventional sulfur removal to be carried out at relatively low temperatures. The recirculated heat is then used to heat the gas back to conditions that are minimally less than the original temperature. A model for evaluating the performance of this concept is presented, and calculations suggest that relative to fuel cell applications, reasonable physical dimensions can be expected in actual applications. For high-pressure syngas (i.e., coal gasification), the physical dimensions will rise with the operating pressure.

Analysis of a heat recirculating cooler for fuel gas sulfur removal in solid oxide fuel cells

When using conventional fossil fuels, most fuel cell systems require sulfur removal as part of their fuel processing. A novel approach to enable conventional sulfur removal in high-temperature fuel processing is presented. Using established principles from heat-recirculating combustors, it is suggested that high-temperature syngas can be momentarily cooled to conditions that would permit conventional sulfur removal to be carried out at relatively low temperatures. The recirculated heat is then used to heat the gas back to conditions that are minimally less than the original temperature. A model for evaluating the performance of this concept is presented, and calculations suggest that relative to fuel cell applications, reasonable physical dimensions can be expected in actual applications. For high-pressure syngas (i.e., coal gasification), the physical dimensions will rise with the operating pressure.

In-Situ Stripping of H 2S in Gasoil Hydrodesulphurization : Reactor Design Considerations

I n order to meet future diesel specifications the sulphur content of diesel would need to be reduced to below 50 ppm. This requirement would require improved reactor configurations. In this study we examine the benefits of counter-current contacting of gas oil with H 2 , over conventional co-current contacting in a trickle bed hydrodesulphurization (HDS) reactor. In counter-current contacting, we achieve in-situ stripping of H 2 S from the liquid phase; this is beneficial to the HDS kinetics. A comparison simulation study shows that counter-current contacting would require about 20% lower catalyst load than co-current contacting. However, counter-current contacting of gas and liquid phases in conventionally used HDS catalysts, of 1.5mm sizes, is not possible due to flooding limitations. The catalysts need to be housed in special wire gauze envelopes as in the catalytic bales or KATAPAK-S configurations. A preliminary hardware design of a counter-current HDS reactor using catalytic bales was carried out in order to determine the technical feasibility. Using a realistic sulphurcontaining feedstock, the target of 50 ppm S content of desulphurized oil could be met in a reactor of reasonable dimensions. The study also underlines the need for accurate modelling of thermal effects during desulphurization. Our study also shows that interphase mass transfer is unlikely to be a limiting factor and there is a need to develop improved reactor configurations allowing for increased catalyst loading, at the expense of gas–liquid interfacial area.

Modern Paradoxes of Aristotle’s Logic

This paper intends to explain key differences between Aristotle's understanding of the relationships between nous, episteme, and the art of syllogistic reasoning (both analytic and dialectical) and the corresponding modern conceptions of intuition, knowledge, and reason. By uncoveringparadoxa that Aristotle's understanding of syllogistic reasoning presents in relation to modern philosophical conceptions of logic and science, I highlight problems of a shift in modern philosophy-a shift that occurs most dramatically in the seventeenth century-toward a project of construction, a pervasive desire for rational certainty, and a general insistence on the reducibility of the sciences. The major motivation of this analysis is my intention to show that modern attempts to reduce science/episteme to a single science/method of inquiry occlude dialectical and ethico-political dimensions of reason and, hence, also impoverish philosophy's critical capacities.

Ricoeur versus Taylor on Language and Narrative

Abstract: Although Ricoeur and Taylor are often grouped together, their conceptions of language, literature, and practical reason are very different. The first half of this essay focuses on Ricoeur's theory of triple mimesis and narrative, showing how his attempt to synthesize Kant, Husserl, and structuralism results in a formalism that blocks out the ontological, hermeneutical, and historical dimensions of literature and practical reason. The second half of the essay develops Taylor's ontological conception of public imagination and illustrates the dynamics of this conception of language and interpretation by showing how literary works debate with each other over language, subjectivity, and reference. Narrative does not just order; it argues.

Feminism, Family, and Women's Rights: A Hermeneutic Realist Perspective

AbstractIn this article I apply the insights of hermeneutic realism to a practical‐theological ethics that addresses the international crisis of families and women's rights. Hermeneutic realism affirms the hermeneutic philosophy of Hans‐Georg Gadamer but enriches it with the dialectic of participation and distanciation developed by Paul Ricoeur. This approach finds a place for sciences such as evolutionary psychology within a hermeneutically informed ethic. It also points to a multidimensional model of practical reason that views it as implicitly or explicitly involving five levels—background metaphysical visions, some principle of obligation, assumptions about pervasive human tendencies and needs, assumptions about constraining social and natural environments, and assumed acceptable rules of conduct. The fruitfulness of this multidimensional view of practical reason is then demonstrated by applying it to practical‐theological ethics and the analysis of four theorists of women's rights—Martha Nussbaum, Susan Moller Okin, Lisa Cahill, and Mary Ann Glendon. Finally, I illustrate the importance and limits of the visional dimension of practical reason by discussing the concept of “Africanity” in relation to the family and AIDS crisis of Eastern Africa.