Specific Norm Research Articles

A new graphical visualization of n-dimensional Pareto front for decision-making in multiobjective optimization

New challenges in engineering design lead to multiobjective (multicriteria) problems. In this context, the Pareto front supplies a set of solutions where the designer (decision-maker) has to look for the best choice according to his preferences. Visualization techniques often play a key role in helping decision-makers, but they have important restrictions for more than two-dimensional Pareto fronts. In this work, a new graphical representation, called Level Diagrams, for n-dimensional Pareto front analysis is proposed. Level Diagrams consists of representing each objective and design parameter on separate diagrams. This new technique is based on two key points: classification of Pareto front points according to their proximity to ideal points measured with a specific norm of normalized objectives (several norms can be used); and synchronization of objective and parameter diagrams. Some of the new possibilities for analyzing Pareto fronts are shown. Additionally, in order to introduce designer preferences, Level Diagrams can be coloured, so establishing a visual representation of preferences that can help the decision-maker. Finally, an example of a robust control design is presented – a benchmark proposed at the American Control Conference. This design is set as a six-dimensional multiobjective problem.

Equidistribution of geodesics on homology classes and analogues for free groups

We investigate how often geodesics have homology in a fixed set of the homology lattice of a compact Riemann surface. We prove that closed geodesics are equidistributed on any set with asymptotic density with respect to a specific norm. We explain the analogues for free groups, conjugacy classes and discrete logarithms, in particular, we investigate the density of conjugacy classes with relatively prime discrete logarithms.

Reasons for constitutionalization: non-discrimination, minority rights and social rights in the Convention on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

ABSTRACT This article analyses proposals regarding non-discrimination, minority rights and social rights as discussed in the Convention on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The article first develops a typology of arguments supporting the institutionalization of human rights on the EU level: the salience of institutionalizing a specific norm on the EU level, because the integration process undermines domestic human rights provisions unless they are also secured by the EU; the internal coherence of the norm with existing EU rules; and the external coherence of the norm with international human rights instruments. The empirical sections establish to what extent these types of arguments play an important role in the argumentation process within the Charter Convention, and whether propositions justified on the basis of these arguments are successful, i.e. find their reflection in successive drafts and the final Charter text.

Adjunctive Nephrectomy at Post-Chemotherapy Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection for Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Testicular Cancer

Patients with metastatic testicular cancer with residual masses encasing the renal hilum or kidney after platin based chemotherapy may require adjunctive nephrectomy to achieve complete resection at post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. We reviewed our experience with adjunctive nephrectomy to assess the impact on cancer control and renal function. Of 647 post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection procedures performed at our institution since 1989 adjunctive nephrectomy has been performed in 32 patients (5%). Patient information was obtained from a prospective database. Median followup was 31 months. Of the adjunctive nephrectomy procedures 17 (53%) were performed in high risk settings such as post-salvage chemotherapy, desperation retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, late relapse and reoperative retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Disease was present in the adjunctive nephrectomy specimen in 21 patients (66%). Following post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection 7 patients had disease relapse and 5-year disease-free survival was 66%. No case of relapse required substitution for cisplatin due to compromised renal function. Progression to chronic renal insufficiency occurred in 3 patients, 1 of whom required hemodialysis. The calculated creatinine clearance after adjunctive nephrectomy was more than 30% below the age specific norm in 14 patients (50%) and median patient age was 40 years. Adjunctive nephrectomy at post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection is most frequently performed in patients with high risk features to ensure the completeness of resection. When indicated, adjunctive nephrectomy should be performed because residual cancer is frequently present and long-term cancer control can be achieved in 66% of patients. Although adjunctive nephrectomy did not interfere with subsequent chemotherapy, the renal reserve in these patients was substantially reduced in 50%, emphasizing the importance of preventative measures to preserve long-term renal function.

Sub-Surface Residual Stress Gradients: Advances in Laboratory XRD Methods

A new algorithm is proposed to determine the through-thickness residual stress gradient by X-ray Diffraction measurements on progressively thinned components. The procedure is based on a chemical or electrochemical attack of the component surface, which is then measured at each thinning stage. The simple algorithm provided for by a specific norm has been revised to take into account the X-ray absorption effects and the conditions of mechanical equilibrium of the component. The new procedure is illustrated for a typical case of study concerning a shot-peened metal component.

<tex>$H_infty$</tex>Design With First-Order Controllers

The problem of determining all first order controllers (C(s)=(x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> s+x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /s+x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> )) which stabilize a given single-input-single-output (SISO) linear time-invariant (LTI) plant of arbitrary order has been recently solved. In this note, these results are extended to determine the subset of controllers which also satisfy various robustness and performance specifications which can be formulated as specific H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">infin</sub> norm constraints. The problem is solved by converting the H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">infin</sub> problem into the simultaneous stabilization of the closed-loop characteristic polynomial and a family of related complex polynomials. The stability boundary of each of these polynomials can be computed explicitly for fixed x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3 </sub> by solving linear equations. The union of the resulting stability regions yields the set of all x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> and x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> which simultaneously satisfy the H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">infin</sub> condition and closed-loop stability for a fixed x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> . The entire three-dimensional set meeting specifications is obtained by sweeping x <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> over the stabilizing range

Estudo cefalométrico das alturas faciais anterior e posterior, em jovens brasileiros melanodermas, com "oclusão normal"

OBJETIVO: com o propósito de apresentar um padrão cefalométrico específico para os jovens brasileiros melanodermas, este estudo se propôs a obter os valores médios de normalidade para algumas das grandezas cefalométricas esqueléticas, no sentido vertical da face (alturas faciais anterior e posterior) e verificar a presença de dimorfismo entre os gêneros. METODOLOGIA: a amostra constituiu-se de 56 telerradiografias, em norma lateral, sendo 28 do gênero masculino, com idade média de 13,93 anos (idade mínima de 12,08 anos e máxima de 15,75 anos) e 28 do gênero feminino, com idade média de 13,79 anos (idade mínima de 12,58 anos e máxima de 15,67 anos), obtidas de amostras de jovens brasileiros, melanodermas, não submetidos a tratamento ortodôntico e que apresentavam "oclusão normal", pertencentes ao arquivo da Disciplina de Ortodontia da Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru - Universidade de São Paulo. As medidas cefalométricas empregadas foram de acordo com as Análises de Wylie, Johnson, Siriwat, Jarabak, Gebeck, Merrifield e Horn. Os valores foram submetidos à análise estatística pelo teste t independente para comparar as variáveis entre os gêneros. RESULTADOS: com base nos resultados obtidos neste estudo, verificou-se que os jovens brasileiros melanodermas apresentaram valores médios específicos para as grandezas cefalométricas esqueléticas, no sentido vertical da face. Pôde-se observar a presença de dimorfismo, com os valores das grandezas das alturas faciais anterior e posterior total e superior (AFAT; AFAS; AFPT; AFPS) e as proporções faciais superior e inferior, com a altura posterior total (AFPS/AFPT; AFPI/AFPT), apresentando um maior desenvolvimento vertical anterior da face no gênero masculino. Uma maior proporção AFPS/AFPT foi encontrada para o gênero masculino e o gênero feminino apresentou valor superior de AFPI. CONCLUSÃO: as normas cefalométricas guiam o clínico para o respeito com a morfologia e o padrão facial, considerando fatores existentes como a miscigenação racial e sua origem geográfica.

On a universal differential equation for the analytic terms of C∞-superpositions on the real line

It is proved that every continuous function on the real line can be approximated uniformly (in the sense of a specific norm) by superpositions of analytic functions, which are solutions of a single universal differential equation. Every superposition is some function belonging to C ∞( R) . This improves a former result of the author, from which the superpositions are known to be continuous.

A Pilot Study Comparing Pedometer Counts with Physical Activity Minutes in Elementary School Children

0207 Evidence based step counts standards could be used by researchers and offer health educators, parents and youngsters an easy method for monitoring activity levels. However data on step counts in children are still sparse and mostly limited to studies in the USA. Purpose: The present study aims to describe how many steps per day Belgian elementary school children take and to evaluate if children reaching the norm, based on minutes MVPA engagement, do reach standards based on pedometer counts. Methods: In 92 children (51 boys, 41 girls, age: 9.6; range 6.5–12.7) physical activity levels were registered during one week. Pedometers were worn during 7 consecutive days and simultaneously diaries were filled out with assistance of one of the parents. Results: In the present study sample the average daily step count was 15038 (sd: 4066; range: 5547–25038), and the average daily MVPA engagement in minutes was 106 (sd: 39; range: 36–248). Mean daily step counts were significantly higher in boys (16628 ± 3527 steps) than in girls (13002 ± 3644 steps) (t: 4.7; p< 0.001), while differences in mean reported daily minutes MVPA involvement were not significant (boys: 107 minutes; girls: 98 minutes; t: 1.2; p: 0.2). The norm of 11000 steps per day for both genders was compared with the time MVPA norm. Six children, not reaching the MVPA norm, did not take 11000 steps per day, whereas 72 children reached both norms. Besides this 85% agreement, a misclassification of 15 % (14 pupils) was found. When comparing the time MVPA norm with the gender specific norm of 13000 steps per day for boys and 11000 steps per day for girls, the agreement was 80 % (74 pupils) and 20 % of the pupils (18 pupils) were misclassifled. The regression equation predicting step counts by MVPA minutes for the total group was y = 13840 + 25 × for boys, y = 8917 + 40 × for girls and y = 10771+39 × for the total group. As a result, 60 minutes MVPA equals 15340 step counts in boys, 11317 step counts in girls and 13130 step counts, when not differentiating for both genders. Conclusion: Further study is necessary to empirically determine a valid criterion-referenced pedometer step per minute standard for quantifying daily MVPA engagement in children.

EQUILIBRIUM STATISTICAL MECHANICS OF FERMION LATTICE SYSTEMS

We study equilibrium statistical mechanics of Fermion lattice systems which require a different treatment compared with spin lattice systems due to the non-commutativity of local algebras for disjoint regions.Our major result is the equivalence of the KMS condition and the variational principle with a minimal assumption for the dynamics and without any explicit assumption on the potential. Its proof applies to spin lattice systems as well, yielding a vast improvement over known results.All formulations are in terms of a C*-dynamical systems for the Fermion (CAR) algebra [Formula: see text] with all or a part of the following assumptions:(I) The interaction is even, namely, the dynamics αtcommutes with the even-oddness automorphism Θ. (Automatically satisfied when (IV) is assumed.)(II) The domain of the generator δαof αtcontains the set [Formula: see text] of all strictly local elements of [Formula: see text].(III) The set [Formula: see text] is the core of δα.(IV) The dynamics αtcommutes with lattice translation automorphism group τ of [Formula: see text].A major technical tool is the conditional expectation from [Formula: see text] onto its C*-subalgebras [Formula: see text] for any subset I of the lattice, which induces a system of commuting squares. This technique overcomes the lack of tensor product structures for Fermion systems and even simplifies many known arguments for spin lattice systems.In particular, this tool is used for obtaining the isomorphism between the real vector space of all *-derivations with their domain [Formula: see text], commuting with Θ, and that of all Θ-even standard potentials which satisfy a specific norm convergence condition for the one point interaction energy. This makes it possible to associate a unique standard potential to every dynamics satisfying (I) and (II). The convergence condition for the potential is a consequence of its definition in terms of the *-derivation and not an additional assumption.If translation invariance is imposed on *-derivations and potentials, then the isomorphism is kept and the space of translation covariant standard potentials becomes a separable Banach space with respect to the norm of the one point interaction energy. This is a crucial basis for an application of convex analysis to the equivalence proof in the major result.Everything goes in parallel for spin lattice systems without the evenness assumption (I).

Expected Parent-Care Involvement of Adult Children

Normative, individual, and contextual characteristics were examined as predictors of adult children's (N = 206) expectations of being primarily responsible for the care of an ill parent if called upon in the future. Although most did affirm that adult children should provide care for aging parents, this general social norm did not predict their expectations of primary involvement in the care of their own aging parents. Among these adult children not currently experiencing parental need, a large network of sisters decreased the likelihood of expected primary involvement in parent care. In addition, greater self-reported health as well as a specific family norm of parent care increased the likelihood that a given adult child expected to acquire primary responsibility for parent care in the future. Findings demonstrate that adult children possess distinct expectations for their level of involvement in parent care prior to parental need for aid.

Validity of applying TRISS analysis to paediatric blunt trauma patients managed in a French paediatric level I trauma centre

Using a weighted combination of the Revised Trauma Score (RTS), the Injury Severity Score (ISS), the type of injury (blunt or penetrating) and patient age, the TRISS method is used to calculate the probability of survival (ps) in trauma patients. The goal of this study was to compare the ability of the American Major Trauma Outcome Study (MTOS) norm for adult blunt trauma patients (ADULT) and the specific norm for paediatric patients (PED) to estimate the ps of injured children using TRISS methodology. Retrospective analysis using a paediatric trauma patient database. A French level 1 paediatric trauma centre. Four hundred seven consecutive paediatric blunt trauma patients, treated over a 3-year period. The observed and expected survivals were compared, using the M, W and Z scores, with both ADULT and PED. The W score is the number of survivors more or less than expected from the MTOS predictions for 100 patients. A Z score, which measures the significance of W, between -1.96 and +1.96, indicates no significant difference between observed and expected survivors. A value of M less than 0.88 indicates a disparity in the severity match between the study group and the MTOS group. We calculated the standardised W score (Ws), which represents the W score that would have been observed if the case mix of severity was identical to that of the MTOS group. Accordingly, a standardised Z score (Zs) was also calculated. In addition, we calculated the area under the receiver operating curve (aROC) using both norms, while calibration was also assessed by calculation of the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit tests. Using PED, the number of actual survivors (n = 364) was not significantly different from the MTOS (n = 358). The value of M, 0.65, indicated a disparity in the severity match between the study group and the MTOS group, due to a higher proportion of patients with lower ps (TRISS < 0.95, 52 vs 27%). We was +1.06% (95% confidence interval -0.34 to 2.08) and Zs was 1.48, indicating no significant difference from the MTOS. Using ADULT, the number of observed survivors (n = 364) was significantly higher than that expected (n = 354), with a W score of +2.70% (Z = +1.98, p < 0.05). There was a disparity in the severity match (M = 0.67) between the study group and the MTOS group, due to a higher proportion of patients with lower ps. Ws was +1.32% (95% confidence interval -0.12 to 2.37) and Zs = +1.79 (NS), indicating no significant difference from the MTOS. The Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics indicated that ADULT (Cg = 7.24, p = 0.51; Hg = 4.45, p = 0.81) and PED (Cg = 6.08, p = 0.64; Hg = 3.55, p = 0.90) provided sufficient goodness-of-fit. There was no significant difference in the aROC of the TRISS between the two norms (0.935 +/- 0.050 vs 0.936 +/- 0.050; NS). Both adult and paediatric norms were equally good predictors of the probability of survival of injured children, provided that Ws and Zs are used when there is a disparity in the severity match between the study group and the MTOS group.

A postcolonial reading of mural art in South Africa

Introduction Most residents of South Africa's larger cities will, when prompted, immediately recall having noticed one or more wall paintings, or murals, somewhere in town. Fifteen years ago, it can be ascertained, the response to such a question would have been very different--mostly due to circumstances associated with South Africa's political situation under an oppressive apartheid regime. While there were a few murals in South African cities and townships during the 1970s and 80s (1), urban mural art has only recently emerged as a highly visible phenomenon and tremendously flourished ever since. This paper will focus mostly on so-called `community murals' (a term to be elaborated upon below) as opposed to muralised advertisement, graffiti, and commissioned wall decorations, often executed by a single artist, as well as all forms of traditional African rural homestead paintings (2). Community mural art is mostly a post-apartheid phenomenon, its emergence closely connected with political change and liberalisation in South Africa. Despite this close correlation with political processes, mural art appears to be strikingly unpolitical and uncritical in content. Murals are often perceived to be unchallenging, boringly re-iterating what we already know. They have a long tradition of being associated With advertisement or graffiti, justifying the fact that they are not taken seriously as art. (3) This paper will suggest that there is more to murals than meets the eye. It aims to challenge some of the common stereotypes and assumptions associated with urban community murals and question the customary (and often dismissive) ways of reading their contents. This attempt to reposition mural art is based on the premise that the reception and perceived meaning of murals may be a very different one to different communities (4) and that the current perception of mural art within academia rests solely on one societal group's reading and frames of reference. Postcolonial theory will provide the theoretical framework to first expose the subversive character of community murals as a form of visual arts practice located in opposition to `fine art', and then illustrate with reference to a few examples how a critical dimension manifests itself in the imagery of mural art in South Africa. `Community art' versus `fine art' Despite the current rapproachement of `high art' and `low art' realms in artistic practices and strategies of display, South Africa is still largely polarised between `fine art' on one end of the scale, and various forms of `low art', including craft, commercial art and what has been labelled `community art' on the other. `Fine art' usually implies academic training according to European (or more generally Western) models, although this may be substituted by more informal training if the artist is invested with great natural talent in accordance with the concept of `genius'. `Fine art' entails, knowledge and mastery of a specific norm of artistic ability, which is closely associated with Western aesthetic standards and artistic practices. `Fine art' in South Africa clearly follows international trends as evidenced, for example, by the recent 2nd Johannesburg Biennale, Trade Routes--both in terms of art production and modes of display. After the end of South Africa's pariah status under apartheid and in particular the cultural boycott, South African artists clearly enjoy taking part in and meeting the challenges of a wide international competition in a global art world. `Community art' on the other hand, of which mural art plays an important part, is a collaborative art form that may involve the participation of non-trained artists, who do not necessarily adhere to `fine art' aesthetic standards and artistic techniques. Most importantly, community mural art often places more emphasis on the artistic process than on the final product, the painting itself. As opposed to such public art works as conventional monuments or sculptures, which could be called `fine art in public places', `community art' is highly site specific and presumes an active engagement of the local community in one form or another. …

The task dilemma in human service organizations and its impact on efficacy A possible solution developed out of the theory of society of ürgen Habermas

In modern societies the professional social worker within human service organizations suffers from a phenomenon which can be called a task dilemma. According to this model, social service agencies are confronted daily with two ideal types of basic tasks: social integration and system integration. It is the paradox of these agencies that they are asked to fulfil both basic tasks, although the accomplishment of one works against the accomplishment of the other. The problem which will be discussed in this article is that both tasks must be accomplished, but each requires a different structure. Consequently, the task dilemma provokes a structure dilemma which necessarily diminishes work quality in this type of organization. The task dilemma will be explained according to specific elements of the theory of society derived from Habermas (1987a, 1987b). Using this approach, a new conceptual design will be derived which allows social work organizations to consciously and constantly determine their basic task priority. This concept is called the programme of structuration. It implies, as in a learning organization, a continuous evaluation of the specific organizational norm and basic task as well as the adaptation of the corresponding organizational structure. The implementation of this programme promises the guarantee of high efficacy in social service agencies in the long run.

Body size and developmental temperature in drosophila melanogaster: analysis of body weight reaction norm

1. Phenotypic plasticity of body weight, wing and thorax length was analysed in ten isofemale lines of D. melanogaster grown at seven different temperatures (12–31°C). 2. For each trait, concave reaction norms were observed with a maximum at low temperature. The co-ordinates of the maximum were calculated after polynomial adjustments. 3. Body weight exhibited a specific reaction norm with a temperature of maximum value (16.7°C) intermediate between those of wing (14.9°C) and thorax (17.8°C). 5. Overall phenotypic plasticity according to temperature was high for weight and wing length but much less for thorax length. 5. In several aspects wing length might be a better predictor of body size variation than thorax length.

A formulation of the aggregation problem in terms of coalition and bargaining theory

The object of this paper is to demonstrate in economic terms the equivalence of the problem of aggregation in input-output analysis with coalition and bargaining problems. Depending on the specific norm for aggregation it is shown that the aggregation criterion and the coalition forming criterion in an n-person game leads to a broadly similar situation in the market sense given that the market operates to that criterion. It is also shown that a mathematical analogue to this formulation may be obtained via the techniques of geometric programming.

Continuation for parametrized nonlinear variational inequalities

A theoretical foundation is given for a recently proposed continuation method for nonlinear variational inequalities that depend on a parameter. The use of a specific norm of the solution for the continuation permits to extend known theoretical results for this problem. Additionally extensive numerical results were obtained that not only show the effectiveness of the proposed method. They also clarify the phenomenon of discrete or spurious transition points observed earlier.

Infallibility and Specific Moral Norms: A Review Discussion

INFALLIBILITY AND SPECIFIC MORAL NORMS: A REVIEW DISCUSSION 1 FRANCIS A. SULLIVAN, S.J., who for many years ha.s been professor of ecclesiology at the Gregorian University in Rome, has written an important book on the magisterium. In it he explains and defends the teaching of Vatican I and Vatican II on apostolicity, infallibility, and unalterable dogmatic truths. Because Sullivan engages in authentic Catholic theological reflection, his work must be taken seriously . I wish to make it clear that I agree with much of Sullivan's theology of magisterium and admire his fidelity to the Catholic theologian's vocation. Here, however, I must take issue with certain aspects of his argument in chapter six: "The Infallibility of the Ordinary Universal Magisterium and the Limits of the Object of Infallibility." Sullivan criticizes a position John C. Ford, S.J., and I defended : that the received Catholic teaching on contraception (and, by implication, on many other questions about sex, marriage , and innocent life) has been taught infallibly by the ordinary magisterium. Sullivan maintains that no specific moral norm can be taught infallibly. In what follows, I try to show that he has neither refuted our position nor established his. I During the controversy following Humanae vitae, it was widely assumed that since the encyclical contains no solemn definition, the teaching it reaffirms is not proposed infallibly and could be mistaken. That assumption simply ignored the entire category of teachings infallibly proposed by the ordi1 . Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., Magisterium: Teaching Authority in the Catholic Church (New York: Paulist Press, 1983). HS INFALLIBILITY AND SPECIFIC MORAL NORMS 249 nary magisterium.2 However, in Dei filius, Vatican I definitively teaches that there is such a category: "Further, all those things are to be believed with divine and Catholic faith which are contained in the word of God, written or handed down, and which the Church either by a solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal magisterium proposes for belief as divinely revealed." 8 Because Dei filius concerns revelation, its teaching is limited to revealed truths. Still, it shows the unsoundness of the assumption that only what is defined is infallibly taught. Vatican II articulates criteria for the infallibility of the ordinary magisterium: "Although the bishops individually do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim the teaching of Christ infallibly, even when they are dispersed throughout the world, provided that they remain in communion with each other and with the successor of Peter and that in authoritatively teaching on a matter of faith and morals they agree in one judgment as that to be held definitively ." 4 Vatican II's formulation is not limited to revealed truths. It allows for a secondary object of infallibility: truths required for revelation's safeguarding and development.5 Reflecting on Vatican H's formulation, Ford and I became convinced that the received teaching on contraception meets the criteria. In an article, we clarified the conditions for the infallible exercise of the ordinary magisterium by tracing the development of Vatican H's text in the conciliar proceedings. We then argued that the facts show that the received Catholic teaching on contraception has met these conditions.6 In making our case, we did not try to show that the norm concerning contraception pertains to revelation, because Vati2 See John C. Ford, S.J., and Germain Grisez, "Contraception and the Infallibility of the Ordinary Magisterium," Theological Studies, 39 (1978), 25961 . s DS 3011/1792; my translation. 4 Lumen gentium, 25; my translation. s See Ford-Grisez, 265-69; Sullivan, 131-36. s Ford-Grisez, 263-86. 250 GERMAIN GRISEZ can II does not include that among the criteria by which infallible teachings of the ordinary magisterium are to be recognized . However, in specifying the limits of infallibility in defining , the Council states: "Now this infallibility, with which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to be endowed in defining a doctrine of faith or morals, extends as far as extends the deposit of divine revelation, which must be guarded as inviolable and expounded with fidelity." 7 This statement of the limits of infallibility makes it clear that if anything is taught infallibly, it must pertain to revelation, at...

The use of workload information to control job lateness in controlled and uncontrolled release production systems

AbstractThe performance of a workload dependent scheduling and due date assignment rule is investigated. The rule uses time‐phased workload information and time‐phased capacity information. Performance comparisons are made with a rule that uses only time‐aggregated workload information. The performance for two methods of releasing jobs to the shop is investigated: an uncontrolled method where the jobs are released at random, and a controlled method where jobs are released to maintain a specific workload norm. Computer simulation is used as the research tool. The mean and standard deviation of lateness are used as performance measures.The results indicate that the use of time‐phased workload information may decrease the variance of the lateness, as compared with the use of time‐aggregated workload information only. However, the magnitude of the effect depends on the type of sequencing rule used. Furthermore, if time‐phased information is used, control of the mean lateness requires that the amount of capacity available for loading used in the loading procedure differs from the amount of capacity actually available for production. It is shown that by selecting adequate parameter values, both a constant mean lateness and a small variance of lateness can be obtained with this type of assignment rule.These results are valid for both types of release situations. So even in the case where the workload of the shop is under strict control, and the mean operation flow time does not, therefore, vary, the use of time‐phased workload information can decrease the variance of the lateness.

On One Aspect of Law and Morals in Jewish Law: Lifnim Mishurat Hadin

In Talmudic literature the term lifnim mishurat hadin (i.e., beyond the line of the law) is mentioned a number of times. Before analyzing the various Talmudic passages where this concept is found, we will ask a number of questions, some of which we will answer in this article. Not all of the answers will be unequivocal and some questions will remain, in the end, provocative and open. Hopefully, the paper will encourage further discussion of the concept lifnim mishurat hadin.Is lifnim mishurat hadin a specific norm of behaviour which can be precisely defined, or is it rather a concept referring to recommended ethical behaviour, similar to general moral values and examples of ethical behaviour which abound in the Talmud but which have no clearly definable characteristics? If we conclude that lifnim mishurat hadin is indeed a precisely defined norm of behaviour does it stand on its own as a specific type of moral behaviour, or is it synonymous with certain other moral norms, dinei shamayim (the Laws of Heaven), midat hassidut (the degree of ethical perfection of men of piety and virtue) or one of the other ethical norms found in the Talmudic sources? If lifnim mishurat hadin is not just another term for some other moral norm, what is the difference between them? (A reasoned answer to this question cannot be given without a full discussion of all the other moral norms in the Talmud; therefore in this article we will only suggest approaches to answering this question). Are there differences of degree within the norm of lifnim mishurat hadin itself? Are there types of behaviour recorded in the Talmud, about which the phrase lifnim mishurat hadin is not used, but which are in fact examples of behaviour lifnim mishurat hadin? If so, is there a reason why such actions were not explicitly described as lifnim mishurat hadin?