Reference-free ground truth metric for metal artifact evaluation in CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kratz, Baerbel; Ens, Svitlana; Mueller, Jan; Buzug, Thorsten M.

2011-01-01

Purpose: In computed tomography (CT), metal objects in the region of interest introduce data inconsistencies during acquisition. Reconstructing these data results in an image with star shaped artifacts induced by the metal inconsistencies. To enhance image quality, the influence of the metal objects can be reduced by different metal artifact reduction (MAR) strategies. For an adequate evaluation of new MAR approaches a ground truth reference data set is needed. In technical evaluations, where phantoms can be measured with and without metal inserts, ground truth data can easily be obtained by a second reference data acquisition. Obviously, this is not possible for clinical data. Here, an alternative evaluation method is presented without the need of an additionally acquired reference data set. Methods: The proposed metric is based on an inherent ground truth for metal artifacts as well as MAR methods comparison, where no reference information in terms of a second acquisition is needed. The method is based on the forward projection of a reconstructed image, which is compared to the actually measured projection data. Results: The new evaluation technique is performed on phantom and on clinical CT data with and without MAR. The metric results are then compared with methods using a reference data set as well as an expert-based classification. It is shown that the new approach is an adequate quantification technique for artifact strength in reconstructed metal or MAR CT images. Conclusions: The presented method works solely on the original projection data itself, which yields some advantages compared to distance measures in image domain using two data sets. Beside this, no parameters have to be manually chosen. The new metric is a useful evaluation alternative when no reference data are available.

First- and third-party ground truth for key frame extraction from consumer video clips

Science.gov (United States)

Costello, Kathleen; Luo, Jiebo

2007-02-01

Extracting key frames (KF) from video is of great interest in many applications, such as video summary, video organization, video compression, and prints from video. KF extraction is not a new problem. However, current literature has been focused mainly on sports or news video. In the consumer video space, the biggest challenges for key frame selection from consumer videos are the unconstrained content and lack of any preimposed structure. In this study, we conduct ground truth collection of key frames from video clips taken by digital cameras (as opposed to camcorders) using both first- and third-party judges. The goals of this study are: (1) to create a reference database of video clips reasonably representative of the consumer video space; (2) to identify associated key frames by which automated algorithms can be compared and judged for effectiveness; and (3) to uncover the criteria used by both first- and thirdparty human judges so these criteria can influence algorithm design. The findings from these ground truths will be discussed.

Validation of neural spike sorting algorithms without ground-truth information.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Alex H; Magland, Jeremy F; Greengard, Leslie F

2016-05-01

The throughput of electrophysiological recording is growing rapidly, allowing thousands of simultaneous channels, and there is a growing variety of spike sorting algorithms designed to extract neural firing events from such data. This creates an urgent need for standardized, automatic evaluation of the quality of neural units output by such algorithms. We introduce a suite of validation metrics that assess the credibility of a given automatic spike sorting algorithm applied to a given dataset. By rerunning the spike sorter two or more times, the metrics measure stability under various perturbations consistent with variations in the data itself, making no assumptions about the internal workings of the algorithm, and minimal assumptions about the noise. We illustrate the new metrics on standard sorting algorithms applied to both in vivo and ex vivo recordings, including a time series with overlapping spikes. We compare the metrics to existing quality measures, and to ground-truth accuracy in simulated time series. We provide a software implementation. Metrics have until now relied on ground-truth, simulated data, internal algorithm variables (e.g. cluster separation), or refractory violations. By contrast, by standardizing the interface, our metrics assess the reliability of any automatic algorithm without reference to internal variables (e.g. feature space) or physiological criteria. Stability is a prerequisite for reproducibility of results. Such metrics could reduce the significant human labor currently spent on validation, and should form an essential part of large-scale automated spike sorting and systematic benchmarking of algorithms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The evaluation of a population based diffusion tensor image atlas using a ground truth method

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hecke, Wim; Leemans, Alexander; D'Agostino, Emiliano; De Backer, Steve; Vandervliet, Evert; Parizel, Paul M.; Sijbers, Jan

2008-03-01

Purpose: Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is increasingly being used to detect diffusion tensor (DT) image abnormalities in patients for different pathologies. An important requisite for these VBM studies is the use of a high-dimensional, non-rigid coregistration technique, which is able to align both the spatial and the orientational information. Recent studies furthermore indicate that high-dimensional DT information should be included during coregistration for an optimal alignment. In this context, a population based DTI atlas is created that preserves the orientational DT information robustly and contains a minimal bias towards any specific individual data set. Methods: A ground truth evaluation method is developed using a single subject DT image that is deformed with 20 deformation fields. Thereafter, an atlas is constructed based on these 20 resulting images. Thereby, the non-rigid coregistration algorithm is based on a viscous fluid model and on mutual information. The fractional anisotropy (FA) maps as well as the DT elements are used as DT image information during the coregistration algorithm, in order to minimize the orientational alignment inaccuracies. Results: The population based DT atlas is compared with the ground truth image using accuracy and precision measures of spatial and orientational dependent metrics. Results indicate that the population based atlas preserves the orientational information in a robust way. Conclusion: A subject independent population based DT atlas is constructed and evaluated with a ground truth method. This atlas contains all available orientational information and can be used in future VBM studies as a reference system.

Field Ground Truthing Data Collector - a Mobile Toolkit for Image Analysis and Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, X.

2012-07-01

Field Ground Truthing Data Collector is one of the four key components of the NASA funded ICCaRS project, being developed in Southeast Michigan. The ICCaRS ground truthing toolkit entertains comprehensive functions: 1) Field functions, including determining locations through GPS, gathering and geo-referencing visual data, laying out ground control points for AEROKAT flights, measuring the flight distance and height, and entering observations of land cover (and use) and health conditions of ecosystems and environments in the vicinity of the flight field; 2) Server synchronization functions, such as, downloading study-area maps, aerial photos and satellite images, uploading and synchronizing field-collected data with the distributed databases, calling the geospatial web services on the server side to conduct spatial querying, image analysis and processing, and receiving the processed results in field for near-real-time validation; and 3) Social network communication functions for direct technical assistance and pedagogical support, e.g., having video-conference calls in field with the supporting educators, scientists, and technologists, participating in Webinars, or engaging discussions with other-learning portals. This customized software package is being built on Apple iPhone/iPad and Google Maps/Earth. The technical infrastructures, data models, coupling methods between distributed geospatial data processing and field data collector tools, remote communication interfaces, coding schema, and functional flow charts will be illustrated and explained at the presentation. A pilot case study will be also demonstrated.

Improving the Quality of Satellite Imagery Based on Ground-Truth Data from Rain Gauge Stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana F. Militino

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Multitemporal imagery is by and large geometrically and radiometrically accurate, but the residual noise arising from removal clouds and other atmospheric and electronic effects can produce outliers that must be mitigated to properly exploit the remote sensing information. In this study, we show how ground-truth data from rain gauge stations can improve the quality of satellite imagery. To this end, a simulation study is conducted wherein different sizes of outlier outbreaks are spread and randomly introduced in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI and the day and night land surface temperature (LST of composite images from Navarre (Spain between 2011 and 2015. To remove outliers, a new method called thin-plate splines with covariates (TpsWc is proposed. This method consists of smoothing the median anomalies with a thin-plate spline model, whereby transformed ground-truth data are the external covariates of the model. The performance of the proposed method is measured with the square root of the mean square error (RMSE, calculated as the root of the pixel-by-pixel mean square differences between the original data and the predicted data with the TpsWc model and with a state-space model with and without covariates. The study shows that the use of ground-truth data reduces the RMSE in both the TpsWc model and the state-space model used for comparison purposes. The new method successfully removes the abnormal data while preserving the phenology of the raw data. The RMSE reduction percentage varies according to the derived variables (NDVI or LST, but reductions of up to 20% are achieved with the new proposal.

Skepticism, truth as coherence, and constructivist epistemology: grounds for resolving the discord between science and religion?

Science.gov (United States)

Staver, John R.

2010-03-01

Science and religion exhibit multiple relationships as ways of knowing. These connections have been characterized as cousinly, mutually respectful, non-overlapping, competitive, proximate-ultimate, dominant-subordinate, and opposing-conflicting. Some of these ties create stress, and tension between science and religion represents a significant chapter in humans' cultural heritage before and since the Enlightenment. Truth, knowledge, and their relation are central to science and religion as ways of knowing, as social institutions, and to their interaction. In religion, truth is revealed through God's word. In science, truth is sought after via empirical methods. Discord can be viewed as a competition for social legitimization between two social institutions whose goals are explaining the world and how it works. Under this view, the root of the discord is truth as correspondence. In this concept of truth, knowledge corresponds to the facts of reality, and conflict is inevitable for many because humans want to ask which one—science or religion—gets the facts correct. But, the root paradox, also known as the problem of the criterion, suggests that seeking to know nature as it is represents a fruitless endeavor. The discord can be set on new ground and resolved by taking a moderately skeptical line of thought, one which employs truth as coherence and a moderate form of constructivist epistemology. Quantum mechanics and evolution as scientific theories and scientific research on human consciousness and vision provide support for this line of argument. Within a constructivist perspective, scientists would relinquish only the pursuit of knowing reality as it is. Scientists would retain everything else. Believers who hold that religion explains reality would come to understand that God never revealed His truth of nature; rather, He revealed His truth in how we are to conduct our lives.

Ground-truth aerosol lidar observations: can the Klett solutions obtained from ground and space be equal for the same aerosol case?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ansmann, Albert

2006-01-01

Upcoming multiyear satellite lidar aerosol observations need strong support by a worldwide ground-truth lidar network. In this context the question arises as to whether the ground stations can deliver the same results as obtained from space when the Klett formalism is applied to elastic backscatter lidar data for the same aerosol case. This question is investigated based on simulations of observed cases of simple and complex aerosol layering. The results show that the differences between spaceborne and ground-based observations can be as large as20% for the backscatter and extinction coefficients and the optimum estimates of the column lidar ratios. In cases with complex aerosol layering, the application of the two-layer approach can lead to similar results (space, ground) and accurate products provided that horizontally homogeneous aerosol conditions are given

A Method for Assessing Ground-Truth Accuracy of the 5DCT Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dou, Tai H.; Thomas, David H.; O'Connell, Dylan P.; Lamb, James M.; Lee, Percy; Low, Daniel A.

2015-01-01

Purpose: To develop a technique that assesses the accuracy of the breathing phase-specific volume image generation process by patient-specific breathing motion model using the original free-breathing computed tomographic (CT) scans as ground truths. Methods: Sixteen lung cancer patients underwent a previously published protocol in which 25 free-breathing fast helical CT scans were acquired with a simultaneous breathing surrogate. A patient-specific motion model was constructed based on the tissue displacements determined by a state-of-the-art deformable image registration. The first image was arbitrarily selected as the reference image. The motion model was used, along with the free-breathing phase information of the original 25 image datasets, to generate a set of deformation vector fields that mapped the reference image to the 24 nonreference images. The high-pitch helically acquired original scans served as ground truths because they captured the instantaneous tissue positions during free breathing. Image similarity between the simulated and the original scans was assessed using deformable registration that evaluated the pointwise discordance throughout the lungs. Results: Qualitative comparisons using image overlays showed excellent agreement between the simulated images and the original images. Even large 2-cm diaphragm displacements were very well modeled, as was sliding motion across the lung–chest wall boundary. The mean error across the patient cohort was 1.15 ± 0.37 mm, and the mean 95th percentile error was 2.47 ± 0.78 mm. Conclusion: The proposed ground truth–based technique provided voxel-by-voxel accuracy analysis that could identify organ-specific or tumor-specific motion modeling errors for treatment planning. Despite a large variety of breathing patterns and lung deformations during the free-breathing scanning session, the 5-dimensionl CT technique was able to accurately reproduce the original helical CT scans, suggesting its

A Method for Assessing Ground-Truth Accuracy of the 5DCT Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dou, Tai H., E-mail: tdou@mednet.ucla.edu; Thomas, David H.; O' Connell, Dylan P.; Lamb, James M.; Lee, Percy; Low, Daniel A.

2015-11-15

Purpose: To develop a technique that assesses the accuracy of the breathing phase-specific volume image generation process by patient-specific breathing motion model using the original free-breathing computed tomographic (CT) scans as ground truths. Methods: Sixteen lung cancer patients underwent a previously published protocol in which 25 free-breathing fast helical CT scans were acquired with a simultaneous breathing surrogate. A patient-specific motion model was constructed based on the tissue displacements determined by a state-of-the-art deformable image registration. The first image was arbitrarily selected as the reference image. The motion model was used, along with the free-breathing phase information of the original 25 image datasets, to generate a set of deformation vector fields that mapped the reference image to the 24 nonreference images. The high-pitch helically acquired original scans served as ground truths because they captured the instantaneous tissue positions during free breathing. Image similarity between the simulated and the original scans was assessed using deformable registration that evaluated the pointwise discordance throughout the lungs. Results: Qualitative comparisons using image overlays showed excellent agreement between the simulated images and the original images. Even large 2-cm diaphragm displacements were very well modeled, as was sliding motion across the lung–chest wall boundary. The mean error across the patient cohort was 1.15 ± 0.37 mm, and the mean 95th percentile error was 2.47 ± 0.78 mm. Conclusion: The proposed ground truth–based technique provided voxel-by-voxel accuracy analysis that could identify organ-specific or tumor-specific motion modeling errors for treatment planning. Despite a large variety of breathing patterns and lung deformations during the free-breathing scanning session, the 5-dimensionl CT technique was able to accurately reproduce the original helical CT scans, suggesting its

FIELD GROUND TRUTHING DATA COLLECTOR – A MOBILE TOOLKIT FOR IMAGE ANALYSIS AND PROCESSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Meng

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Field Ground Truthing Data Collector is one of the four key components of the NASA funded ICCaRS project, being developed in Southeast Michigan. The ICCaRS ground truthing toolkit entertains comprehensive functions: 1 Field functions, including determining locations through GPS, gathering and geo-referencing visual data, laying out ground control points for AEROKAT flights, measuring the flight distance and height, and entering observations of land cover (and use and health conditions of ecosystems and environments in the vicinity of the flight field; 2 Server synchronization functions, such as, downloading study-area maps, aerial photos and satellite images, uploading and synchronizing field-collected data with the distributed databases, calling the geospatial web services on the server side to conduct spatial querying, image analysis and processing, and receiving the processed results in field for near-real-time validation; and 3 Social network communication functions for direct technical assistance and pedagogical support, e.g., having video-conference calls in field with the supporting educators, scientists, and technologists, participating in Webinars, or engaging discussions with other-learning portals. This customized software package is being built on Apple iPhone/iPad and Google Maps/Earth. The technical infrastructures, data models, coupling methods between distributed geospatial data processing and field data collector tools, remote communication interfaces, coding schema, and functional flow charts will be illustrated and explained at the presentation. A pilot case study will be also demonstrated.

Strategies for cloud-top phase determination: differentiation between thin cirrus clouds and snow in manual (ground truth) analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchison, Keith D.; Etherton, Brian J.; Topping, Phillip C.

1996-12-01

Quantitative assessments on the performance of automated cloud analysis algorithms require the creation of highly accurate, manual cloud, no cloud (CNC) images from multispectral meteorological satellite data. In general, the methodology to create ground truth analyses for the evaluation of cloud detection algorithms is relatively straightforward. However, when focus shifts toward quantifying the performance of automated cloud classification algorithms, the task of creating ground truth images becomes much more complicated since these CNC analyses must differentiate between water and ice cloud tops while ensuring that inaccuracies in automated cloud detection are not propagated into the results of the cloud classification algorithm. The process of creating these ground truth CNC analyses may become particularly difficult when little or no spectral signature is evident between a cloud and its background, as appears to be the case when thin cirrus is present over snow-covered surfaces. In this paper, procedures are described that enhance the researcher's ability to manually interpret and differentiate between thin cirrus clouds and snow-covered surfaces in daytime AVHRR imagery. The methodology uses data in up to six AVHRR spectral bands, including an additional band derived from the daytime 3.7 micron channel, which has proven invaluable for the manual discrimination between thin cirrus clouds and snow. It is concluded that while the 1.6 micron channel remains essential to differentiate between thin ice clouds and snow. However, this capability that may be lost if the 3.7 micron data switches to a nighttime-only transmission with the launch of future NOAA satellites.

How Many Subjects are Needed for a Visual Field Normative Database? A Comparison of Ground Truth and Bootstrapped Statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Phu, Jack; Bui, Bang V; Kalloniatis, Michael; Khuu, Sieu K

2018-03-01

The number of subjects needed to establish the normative limits for visual field (VF) testing is not known. Using bootstrap resampling, we determined whether the ground truth mean, distribution limits, and standard deviation (SD) could be approximated using different set size ( x ) levels, in order to provide guidance for the number of healthy subjects required to obtain robust VF normative data. We analyzed the 500 Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA) SITA-Standard results of 116 healthy subjects and 100 HFA full threshold results of 100 psychophysically experienced healthy subjects. These VFs were resampled (bootstrapped) to determine mean sensitivity, distribution limits (5th and 95th percentiles), and SD for different ' x ' and numbers of resamples. We also used the VF results of 122 glaucoma patients to determine the performance of ground truth and bootstrapped results in identifying and quantifying VF defects. An x of 150 (for SITA-Standard) and 60 (for full threshold) produced bootstrapped descriptive statistics that were no longer different to the original distribution limits and SD. Removing outliers produced similar results. Differences between original and bootstrapped limits in detecting glaucomatous defects were minimized at x = 250. Ground truth statistics of VF sensitivities could be approximated using set sizes that are significantly smaller than the original cohort. Outlier removal facilitates the use of Gaussian statistics and does not significantly affect the distribution limits. We provide guidance for choosing the cohort size for different levels of error when performing normative comparisons with glaucoma patients.

Government Applications Task Force ground truth study of WAG 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evers, T.K.; Smyre, J.L.; King, A.L.

1997-06-01

This report documents the Government Applications Task Force (GATF) Buried Waste Project. The project was initiated as a field investigation and verification of the 1994 Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program's (SERDP) Buried Waste Identification Project results. The GATF project team included staff from three US Department of Energy (DOE) Laboratories [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC)] and from the National Exploitation Laboratory. Similar studies were conducted at each of the three DOE laboratories to demonstrate the effective use of remote sensing technologies. The three locations were selected to assess differences in buried waste signatures under various environmental conditions (i.e., climate, terrain, precipitation, geology, etc.). After a brief background discussion of the SERDP Project, this report documents the field investigation (ground truth) results from the 1994--1995 GATF Buried Waste Study at ORNL's Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 4. Figures for this report are located in Appendix A

Community detection algorithm evaluation with ground-truth data

Science.gov (United States)

Jebabli, Malek; Cherifi, Hocine; Cherifi, Chantal; Hamouda, Atef

2018-02-01

Community structure is of paramount importance for the understanding of complex networks. Consequently, there is a tremendous effort in order to develop efficient community detection algorithms. Unfortunately, the issue of a fair assessment of these algorithms is a thriving open question. If the ground-truth community structure is available, various clustering-based metrics are used in order to compare it versus the one discovered by these algorithms. However, these metrics defined at the node level are fairly insensitive to the variation of the overall community structure. To overcome these limitations, we propose to exploit the topological features of the 'community graphs' (where the nodes are the communities and the links represent their interactions) in order to evaluate the algorithms. To illustrate our methodology, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of overlapping community detection algorithms using a set of real-world networks with known a priori community structure. Results provide a better perception of their relative performance as compared to classical metrics. Moreover, they show that more emphasis should be put on the topology of the community structure. We also investigate the relationship between the topological properties of the community structure and the alternative evaluation measures (quality metrics and clustering metrics). It appears clearly that they present different views of the community structure and that they must be combined in order to evaluate the effectiveness of community detection algorithms.

Ground Truth Studies - A hands-on environmental science program for students, grades K-12

Science.gov (United States)

Katzenberger, John; Chappell, Charles R.

1992-01-01

The paper discusses the background and the objectives of the Ground Truth Studies (GTSs), an activity-based teaching program which integrates local environmental studies with global change topics, utilizing remotely sensed earth imagery. Special attention is given to the five key concepts around which the GTS programs are organized, the pilot program, the initial pilot study evaluation, and the GTS Handbook. The GTS Handbook contains a primer on global change and remote sensing, aerial and satellite images, student activities, glossary, and an appendix of reference material. Also described is a K-12 teacher training model. International participation in the program is to be initiated during the 1992-1993 school year.

A Robust Bayesian Truth Serum for Small Populations

OpenAIRE

Parkes, David C.; Witkowski, Jens

2012-01-01

Peer prediction mechanisms allow the truthful elicitation of private signals (e.g., experiences, or opinions) in regard to a true world state when this ground truth is unobservable. The original peer prediction method is incentive compatible for any number of agents n >= 2, but relies on a common prior, shared by all agents and the mechanism. The Bayesian Truth Serum (BTS) relaxes this assumption. While BTS still assumes that agents share a common prior, this prior need not be known to the me...

Assessment of infrasound signals recorded on seismic stations and infrasound arrays in the western United States using ground truth sources

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Junghyun; Hayward, Chris; Stump, Brian W.

2018-06-01

Ground truth sources in Utah during 2003-2013 are used to assess the contribution of temporal atmospheric conditions to infrasound detection and the predictive capabilities of atmospheric models. Ground truth sources consist of 28 long duration static rocket motor burn tests and 28 impulsive rocket body demolitions. Automated infrasound detections from a hybrid of regional seismometers and infrasound arrays use a combination of short-term time average/long-term time average ratios and spectral analyses. These detections are grouped into station triads using a Delaunay triangulation network and then associated to estimate phase velocity and azimuth to filter signals associated with a particular source location. The resulting range and azimuth distribution from sources to detecting stations varies seasonally and is consistent with predictions based on seasonal atmospheric models. Impulsive signals from rocket body detonations are observed at greater distances (>700 km) than the extended duration signals generated by the rocket burn test (up to 600 km). Infrasound energy attenuation associated with the two source types is quantified as a function of range and azimuth from infrasound amplitude measurements. Ray-tracing results using Ground-to-Space atmospheric specifications are compared to these observations and illustrate the degree to which the time variations in characteristics of the observations can be predicted over a multiple year time period.

Ground truth methods for optical cross-section modeling of biological aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Kalter, J.; Thrush, E.; Santarpia, J.; Chaudhry, Z.; Gilberry, J.; Brown, D. M.; Brown, A.; Carter, C. C.

2011-05-01

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems have demonstrated some capability to meet the needs of a fastresponse standoff biological detection method for simulants in open air conditions. These systems are designed to exploit various cloud signatures, such as differential elastic backscatter, fluorescence, and depolarization in order to detect biological warfare agents (BWAs). However, because the release of BWAs in open air is forbidden, methods must be developed to predict candidate system performance against real agents. In support of such efforts, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) has developed a modeling approach to predict the optical properties of agent materials from relatively simple, Biosafety Level 3-compatible bench top measurements. JHU/APL has fielded new ground truth instruments (in addition to standard particle sizers, such as the Aerodynamic particle sizer (APS) or GRIMM aerosol monitor (GRIMM)) to more thoroughly characterize the simulant aerosols released in recent field tests at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG). These instruments include the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS), the Ultraviolet Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (UVAPS), and the Aspect Aerosol Size and Shape Analyser (Aspect). The SMPS was employed as a means of measuring smallparticle concentrations for more accurate Mie scattering simulations; the UVAPS, which measures size-resolved fluorescence intensity, was employed as a path toward fluorescence cross section modeling; and the Aspect, which measures particle shape, was employed as a path towards depolarization modeling.

Evaluation of event-based algorithms for optical flow with ground-truth from inertial measurement sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bodo eRückauer

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In this study we compare nine optical flow algorithms that locally measure the flow normal to edges according to accuracy and computation cost. In contrast to conventional, frame-based motion flow algorithms, our open-source implementations compute optical flow based on address-events from a neuromorphic Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS. For this benchmarking we created a dataset of two synthesized and three real samples recorded from a 240x180 pixel Dynamic and Active-pixel Vision Sensor (DAVIS. This dataset contains events from the DVS as well as conventional frames to support testing state-of-the-art frame-based methods. We introduce a new source for the ground truth: In the special case that the perceived motion stems solely from a rotation of the vision sensor around its three camera axes, the true optical flow can be estimated using gyro data from the inertial measurement unit integrated with the DAVIS camera. This provides a ground-truth to which we can compare algorithms that measure optical flow by means of motion cues. An analysis of error sources led to the use of a refractory period, more accurate numerical derivatives and a Savitzky-Golay filter to achieve significant improvements in accuracy. Our pure Java implementations of two recently published algorithms reduce computational cost by up to 29% compared to the original implementations. Two of the algorithms introduced in this paper further speed up processing by a factor of 10 compared with the original implementations, at equal or better accuracy. On a desktop PC, they run in real-time on dense natural input recorded by a DAVIS camera.

Ground truth measurements plan for the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garrett, A.J.

2000-01-03

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) have developed a diverse group of algorithms for processing and analyzing the data that will be collected by the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) after launch late in 1999. Each of these algorithms must be verified by comparison to independent surface and atmospheric measurements. SRTC has selected 13 sites in the continental U.S. for ground truth data collections. These sites include a high altitude cold water target (Crater Lake), cooling lakes and towers in the warm, humid southeastern US, Department of Energy (DOE) climate research sites, the NASA Stennis satellite Validation and Verification (V and V) target array, waste sites at the Savannah River Site, mining sites in the Four Corners area and dry lake beds in the southwestern US. SRTC has established mutually beneficial relationships with the organizations that manage these sites to make use of their operating and research data and to install additional instrumentation needed for MTI algorithm V and V.

UAS-Borne Photogrammetry for Surface Topographic Characterization: A Ground-Truth Baseline for Future Change Detection and Refinement of Scaled Remotely-Sensed Datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Coppersmith, R.; Schultz-Fellenz, E. S.; Sussman, A. J.; Vigil, S.; Dzur, R.; Norskog, K.; Kelley, R.; Miller, L.

2015-12-01

While long-term objectives of monitoring and verification regimes include remote characterization and discrimination of surficial geologic and topographic features at sites of interest, ground truth data is required to advance development of remote sensing techniques. Increasingly, it is desirable for these ground-based or ground-proximal characterization methodologies to be as nimble, efficient, non-invasive, and non-destructive as their higher-altitude airborne counterparts while ideally providing superior resolution. For this study, the area of interest is an alluvial site at the Nevada National Security Site intended for use in the Source Physics Experiment's (Snelson et al., 2013) second phase. Ground-truth surface topographic characterization was performed using a DJI Inspire 1 unmanned aerial system (UAS), at very low altitude (clouds. Within the area of interest, careful installation of surveyed ground control fiducial markers supplied necessary targets for field collection, and information for model georectification. The resulting model includes a Digital Elevation Model derived from 2D imagery. It is anticipated that this flexible and versatile characterization process will provide point cloud data resolution equivalent to a purely ground-based LiDAR scanning deployment (e.g., 1-2cm horizontal and vertical resolution; e.g., Sussman et al., 2012; Schultz-Fellenz et al., 2013). In addition to drastically increasing time efficiency in the field, the UAS method also allows for more complete coverage of the study area when compared to ground-based LiDAR. Comparison and integration of these data with conventionally-acquired airborne LiDAR data from a higher-altitude (~ 450m) platform will aid significantly in the refinement of technologies and detection capabilities of remote optical systems to identify and detect surface geologic and topographic signatures of interest. This work includes a preliminary comparison of surface signatures detected from varying

Combining Ground-Truthing and Technology to Improve Accuracy in Establishing Children's Food Purchasing Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Coakley, Hannah Lee; Steeves, Elizabeth Anderson; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Hopkins, Laura; Braunstein, Nadine; Mui, Yeeli; Gittelsohn, Joel

Developing nutrition-focused environmental interventions for youth requires accurate assessment of where they purchase food. We have developed an innovative, technology-based method to improve the accuracy of food source recall among children using a tablet PC and ground-truthing methodologies. As part of the B'more Healthy Communties for Kids study, we mapped and digitally photographed every food source within a half-mile radius of 14 Baltimore City recreation centers. This food source database was then used with children from the surrounding neighborhoods to search for and identify the food sources they frequent. This novel integration of traditional data collection and technology enables researchers to gather highly accurate information on food source usage among children in Baltimore City. Funding is provided by the NICHD U-54 Grant #1U54HD070725-02.

Shy and Ticklish Truths as Species of Scientific and Artistic Perception

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... recognize a 'gay science' (Nietzsche) not as an eccentric construction of merely poetic insights and expressions, but as a necessary part of the fundamentals of knowledge. It is a truth of the human condition that its truths are grounded in a personal embodiment of individuality, ontogeny, momentariness and situationality.

A new device for acquiring ground truth on the absorption of light by turbid waters

Science.gov (United States)

Klemas, V. (Principal Investigator); Srna, R.; Treasure, W.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. A new device, called a Spectral Attenuation Board, has been designed and tested, which enables ERTS-1 sea truth collection teams to monitor the attenuation depths of three colors continuously, as the board is being towed behind a boat. The device consists of a 1.2 x 1.2 meter flat board held below the surface of the water at a fixed angle to the surface of the water. A camera mounted above the water takes photographs of the board. The resulting film image is analyzed by a micro-densitometer trace along the descending portion of the board. This yields information on the rate of attenuation of light penetrating the water column and the Secchi depth. Red and green stripes were painted on the white board to approximate band 4 and band 5 of the ERTS MSS so that information on the rate of light absorption by the water column of light in these regions of the visible spectrum could be concurrently measured. It was found that information from a red, green, and white stripe may serve to fingerprint the composition of the water mass. A number of these devices, when automated, could also be distributed over a large region to provide a cheap method of obtaining valuable satellite ground truth data at present time intervals.

Assessment of MTI Water Temperature Retrievals with Ground Truth from the Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station Cooling Lake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurzeja, R.J.

2002-01-01

Surface water temperatures calculated from Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) brightness temperatures and the robust retrieval algorithm, developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), are compared with ground truth measurements at the Squaw Creek reservoir at the Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station near Granbury Texas. Temperatures calculated for thirty-four images covering the period May 2000 to March 2002 are compared with water temperatures measured at 10 instrumented buoy locations supplied by the Savannah River Technology Center. The data set was used to examine the effect of image quality on temperature retrieval as well as to document any bias between the sensor chip arrays (SCA's). A portion of the data set was used to evaluate the influence of proximity to shoreline on the water temperature retrievals. This study found errors in daytime water temperature retrievals of 1.8 C for SCA 2 and 4.0 C for SCA 1. The errors in nighttime water temperature retrievals were 3.8 C for SCA 1. Water temperature retrievals for nighttime appear to be related to image quality with the largest positive bias for the highest quality images and the largest negative bias for the lowest quality images. The daytime data show no apparent relationship between water temperature retrieval error and image quality. The average temperature retrieval error near open water buoys was less than corresponding values for the near-shore buoys. After subtraction of the estimated error in the ground truth data, the water temperature retrieval error was 1.2 C for the open-water buoys compared to 1.8 C for the near-shore buoys. The open-water error is comparable to that found at Nauru

Behavioral pragmatism: No place for reality and truth

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

2000-01-01

The current article begins by reviewing L. J. Hayes's claim that pragmatism relies on a correspondence-based truth criterion. To evaluate her claim, the concept of the observation sentence, proposed by the pragmatist philosopher W. V. Quine, is examined. The observation sentence appears to remove the issue of correspondence from Quine's pragmatist philosophy. Nevertheless, the issue of correspondence reemerges, as the problem of homology, when Quine appeals to agreement between or among observation sentences as the basis for truth. Quine also argues, however, that the problem of homology (i.e., correspondence) should be ignored on pragmatic grounds. Because the problem is simply ignored, but not resolved, there appears to be some substance to Hayes's claim that pragmatism relies ultimately on correspondence as a truth criterion. Behavioral pragmatism is then introduced to circumvent both Hayes's claim and Quine's implicit appeal to correspondence. Behavioral pragmatism avoids correspondence by appealing to the personal goals (i.e., the behavior) of the scientist or philosopher as the basis for establishing truth. One consequence of this approach, however, is that science and philosophy are robbed of any final or absolute objectives and thus may not be a satisfactory solution to philosophers. On balance, behavioral pragmatism avoids any appeal to correspondence-based truth, and thus it cannot be criticized for generating the same philosophical problems that have come to be associated with this truth criterion. PMID:22478346

Unveiling the truth: warnings reduce the repetition-based truth effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadarevic, Lena; Aßfalg, André

2017-07-01

Typically, people are more likely to consider a previously seen or heard statement as true compared to a novel statement. This repetition-based "truth effect" is thought to rely on fluency-truth attributions as the underlying cognitive mechanism. In two experiments, we tested the nature of the fluency-attribution mechanism by means of warning instructions, which informed participants about the truth effect and asked them to prevent it. In Experiment 1, we instructed warned participants to consider whether a statement had already been presented in the experiment to avoid the truth effect. However, warnings did not significantly reduce the truth effect. In Experiment 2, we introduced control questions and reminders to ensure that participants understood the warning instruction. This time, warning reduced, but did not eliminate the truth effect. Assuming that the truth effect relies on fluency-truth attributions, this finding suggests that warned participants could control their attributions but did not disregard fluency altogether when making truth judgments. Further, we found no evidence that participants overdiscount the influence of fluency on their truth judgments.

"#Factsmustfall"?--Education in a Post-Truth, Post-Truthful World

Science.gov (United States)

Horsthemke, Kai

2017-01-01

Taking its inspiration from the name of the recent "#FeesMustFall" movement on South African university campuses, this paper takes stock of the apparent disrepute into which truth, facts and also rationality have fallen in recent times. In the post-truth world, the blurring of borders between truth and deception, truthfulness and…

Methods of extending signatures and training without ground information. [data processing, pattern recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, R. G.; Thomas, G. S.; Nalepka, R. F.

1975-01-01

Methods of performing signature extension, using LANDSAT-1 data, are explored. The emphasis is on improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of large area wheat surveys. Two methods were developed: ASC, and MASC. Two methods, Ratio, and RADIFF, previously used with aircraft data were adapted to and tested on LANDSAT-1 data. An investigation into the sources and nature of between scene data variations was included. Initial investigations into the selection of training fields without in situ ground truth were undertaken.

Biometric correspondence between reface computerized facial approximations and CT-derived ground truth skin surface models objectively examined using an automated facial recognition system.

Science.gov (United States)

Parks, Connie L; Monson, Keith L

2018-05-01

This study employed an automated facial recognition system as a means of objectively evaluating biometric correspondence between a ReFace facial approximation and the computed tomography (CT) derived ground truth skin surface of the same individual. High rates of biometric correspondence were observed, irrespective of rank class (R k ) or demographic cohort examined. Overall, 48% of the test subjects' ReFace approximation probes (n=96) were matched to his or her corresponding ground truth skin surface image at R 1 , a rank indicating a high degree of biometric correspondence and a potential positive identification. Identification rates improved with each successively broader rank class (R 10 =85%, R 25 =96%, and R 50 =99%), with 100% identification by R 57 . A sharp increase (39% mean increase) in identification rates was observed between R 1 and R 10 across most rank classes and demographic cohorts. In contrast, significantly lower (p0.05) performance differences were observed across demographic cohorts or CT scan protocols. Performance measures observed in this research suggest that ReFace approximations are biometrically similar to the actual faces of the approximated individuals and, therefore, may have potential operational utility in contexts in which computerized approximations are utilized as probes in automated facial recognition systems. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluation of digital image correlation techniques using realistic ground truth speckle images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cofaru, C; Philips, W; Van Paepegem, W

2010-01-01

Digital image correlation (DIC) has been acknowledged and widely used in recent years in the field of experimental mechanics as a contactless method for determining full field displacements and strains. Even though several sub-pixel motion estimation algorithms have been proposed in the literature, little is known about their accuracy and limitations in reproducing complex underlying motion fields occurring in real mechanical tests. This paper presents a new method for evaluating sub-pixel motion estimation algorithms using ground truth speckle images that are realistically warped using artificial motion fields that were obtained following two distinct approaches: in the first, the horizontal and vertical displacement fields are created according to theoretical formulas for the given type of experiment while the second approach constructs the displacements through radial basis function interpolation starting from real DIC results. The method is applied in the evaluation of five DIC algorithms with results indicating that the gradient-based DIC methods generally have a quality advantage when using small sized blocks and are a better choice for calculating very small displacements and strains. The Newton–Raphson is the overall best performing method with a notable quality advantage when large block sizes are employed and in experiments where large strain fields are of interest

Status of the undisturbed mangroves at Brunei Bay, East Malaysia: a preliminary assessment based on remote sensing and ground-truth observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behara Satyanarayana

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Brunei Bay, which receives freshwater discharge from four major rivers, namely Limbang, Sundar, Weston and Menumbok, hosts a luxuriant mangrove cover in East Malaysia. However, this relatively undisturbed mangrove forest has been less scientifically explored, especially in terms of vegetation structure, ecosystem services and functioning, and land-use/cover changes. In the present study, mangrove areal extent together with species composition and distribution at the four notified estuaries was evaluated through remote sensing (Advanced Land Observation Satellite—ALOS and ground-truth (Point-Centred Quarter Method—PCQM observations. As of 2010, the total mangrove cover was found to be ca. 35,183.74 ha, of which Weston and Menumbok occupied more than two-folds (58%, followed by Sundar (27% and Limbang (15%. The medium resolution ALOS data were efficient for mapping dominant mangrove species such as Nypa fruticans, Rhizophora apiculata, Sonneratia caseolaris, S. alba and Xylocarpus granatum in the vicinity (accuracy: 80%. The PCQM estimates found a higher basal area at Limbang and Menumbok—suggestive of more mature vegetation, compared to Sundar and Weston. Mangrove stand structural complexity (derived from the complexity index was also high in the order of Limbang > Menumbok > Sundar > Weston and supporting the perspective of less/undisturbed vegetation at two former locations. Both remote sensing and ground-truth observations have complementarily represented the distribution of Sonneratia spp. as pioneer vegetation at shallow river mouths, N. fruticans in the areas of strong freshwater discharge, R. apiculata in the areas of strong neritic incursion and X. granatum at interior/elevated grounds. The results from this study would be able to serve as strong baseline data for future mangrove investigations at Brunei Bay, including for monitoring and management purposes locally at present.

Status of the undisturbed mangroves at Brunei Bay, East Malaysia: a preliminary assessment based on remote sensing and ground-truth observations

Science.gov (United States)

Izzaty Horsali, Nurul Amira; Mat Zauki, Nurul Ashikin; Otero, Viviana; Nadzri, Muhammad Izuan; Ibrahim, Sulong; Husain, Mohd-Lokman; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2018-01-01

Brunei Bay, which receives freshwater discharge from four major rivers, namely Limbang, Sundar, Weston and Menumbok, hosts a luxuriant mangrove cover in East Malaysia. However, this relatively undisturbed mangrove forest has been less scientifically explored, especially in terms of vegetation structure, ecosystem services and functioning, and land-use/cover changes. In the present study, mangrove areal extent together with species composition and distribution at the four notified estuaries was evaluated through remote sensing (Advanced Land Observation Satellite—ALOS) and ground-truth (Point-Centred Quarter Method—PCQM) observations. As of 2010, the total mangrove cover was found to be ca. 35,183.74 ha, of which Weston and Menumbok occupied more than two-folds (58%), followed by Sundar (27%) and Limbang (15%). The medium resolution ALOS data were efficient for mapping dominant mangrove species such as Nypa fruticans, Rhizophora apiculata, Sonneratia caseolaris, S. alba and Xylocarpus granatum in the vicinity (accuracy: 80%). The PCQM estimates found a higher basal area at Limbang and Menumbok—suggestive of more mature vegetation, compared to Sundar and Weston. Mangrove stand structural complexity (derived from the complexity index) was also high in the order of Limbang > Menumbok > Sundar > Weston and supporting the perspective of less/undisturbed vegetation at two former locations. Both remote sensing and ground-truth observations have complementarily represented the distribution of Sonneratia spp. as pioneer vegetation at shallow river mouths, N. fruticans in the areas of strong freshwater discharge, R. apiculata in the areas of strong neritic incursion and X. granatum at interior/elevated grounds. The results from this study would be able to serve as strong baseline data for future mangrove investigations at Brunei Bay, including for monitoring and management purposes locally at present. PMID:29479500

Status of the undisturbed mangroves at Brunei Bay, East Malaysia: a preliminary assessment based on remote sensing and ground-truth observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Satyanarayana, Behara; M Muslim, Aidy; Izzaty Horsali, Nurul Amira; Mat Zauki, Nurul Ashikin; Otero, Viviana; Nadzri, Muhammad Izuan; Ibrahim, Sulong; Husain, Mohd-Lokman; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2018-01-01

Brunei Bay, which receives freshwater discharge from four major rivers, namely Limbang, Sundar, Weston and Menumbok, hosts a luxuriant mangrove cover in East Malaysia. However, this relatively undisturbed mangrove forest has been less scientifically explored, especially in terms of vegetation structure, ecosystem services and functioning, and land-use/cover changes. In the present study, mangrove areal extent together with species composition and distribution at the four notified estuaries was evaluated through remote sensing (Advanced Land Observation Satellite-ALOS) and ground-truth (Point-Centred Quarter Method-PCQM) observations. As of 2010, the total mangrove cover was found to be ca. 35,183.74 ha, of which Weston and Menumbok occupied more than two-folds (58%), followed by Sundar (27%) and Limbang (15%). The medium resolution ALOS data were efficient for mapping dominant mangrove species such as Nypa fruticans , Rhizophora apiculata , Sonneratia caseolaris , S. alba and Xylocarpus granatum in the vicinity (accuracy: 80%). The PCQM estimates found a higher basal area at Limbang and Menumbok-suggestive of more mature vegetation, compared to Sundar and Weston. Mangrove stand structural complexity (derived from the complexity index) was also high in the order of Limbang > Menumbok > Sundar > Weston and supporting the perspective of less/undisturbed vegetation at two former locations. Both remote sensing and ground-truth observations have complementarily represented the distribution of Sonneratia spp. as pioneer vegetation at shallow river mouths, N. fruticans in the areas of strong freshwater discharge, R. apiculata in the areas of strong neritic incursion and X. granatum at interior/elevated grounds. The results from this study would be able to serve as strong baseline data for future mangrove investigations at Brunei Bay, including for monitoring and management purposes locally at present.

In-situ remediation of contaminated ground water using the MAG*SEPSM technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunn, M.J.

1994-01-01

Argonne National Laboratory is leading a project for demonstration of in-situ remediation of contaminated ground water utilizing MAG*SEP SM technology developed by Bradtec. This technology is being considered for eventual application at sites involving groundwater contaminated with heavy metals and/or radionuclides, such as the Savannah River Site (SRS) and Berkeley Pit. The MAG*SEP SM technology uses specially coated magnetic particles to selectively adsorb contaminants from ground water. Particles are mixed with ground water, contaminants are adsorbed onto the particles, and the particles are removed by magnetic filtration. The technology can recover low levels of radioactive and/or inorganic hazardous contamination (in the ppm range), leaving nonradioactive/nonhazardous species essentially unaffected. The first phase of this project has involved the optimization of MAG*SEP SM process chemistry for a selected site at SRS. To date this work has identified a candidate adsorber material (the amino form of iminodicarboxylic acid) for selective removal of lead, cadmium, and mercury from this site's ground water. Decontamination factors of 170, 270, and 235, respective, for each contaminant have been achieved. Further process chemistry optimization work for this adsorber material is planned. The project will eventually lead to an in-situ demonstration of the MAG*SEP SM technology, integrated with the EnviroWall trademark barrier technology developed by Barrier Member Containment Corporation (BMC)

Land Use and Land Cover, Existing land use derived from orthoimagery. Ground-truthing from discussion with local plan commission members., Published in 2000, 1:12000 (1in=1000ft) scale, Portage County Government.

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — Land Use and Land Cover dataset current as of 2000. Existing land use derived from orthoimagery. Ground-truthing from discussion with local plan commission members..

Geographic information system for fusion and analysis of high-resolution remote sensing and ground truth data

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Anthony; Way, Jo Bea; Dubois, Pascale; Leberl, Franz

1992-01-01

We seek to combine high-resolution remotely sensed data with models and ground truth measurements, in the context of a Geographical Information System, integrated with specialized image processing software. We will use this integrated system to analyze the data from two Case Studies, one at a bore Al forest site, the other a tropical forest site. We will assess the information content of the different components of the data, determine the optimum data combinations to study biogeophysical changes in the forest, assess the best way to visualize the results, and validate the models for the forest response to different radar wavelengths/polarizations. During the 1990's, unprecedented amounts of high-resolution images from space of the Earth's surface will become available to the applications scientist from the LANDSAT/TM series, European and Japanese ERS-1 satellites, RADARSAT and SIR-C missions. When the Earth Observation Systems (EOS) program is operational, the amount of data available for a particular site can only increase. The interdisciplinary scientist, seeking to use data from various sensors to study his site of interest, may be faced with massive difficulties in manipulating such large data sets, assessing their information content, determining the optimum combinations of data to study a particular parameter, visualizing his results and validating his model of the surface. The techniques to deal with these problems are also needed to support the analysis of data from NASA's current program of Multi-sensor Airborne Campaigns, which will also generate large volumes of data. In the Case Studies outlined in this proposal, we will have somewhat unique data sets. For the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest (Case I) calibrated DC-8 SAR data and extensive ground truth measurement are already at our disposal. The data set shows documented evidence to temporal change. The Belize Forest Experiment (Case II) will produce calibrated DC-8 SAR and AVIRIS data, together with

Southwest U.S. Seismo-Acoustic Network: An Autonomous Data Aggregation, Detection, Localization and Ground-Truth Bulletin for the Infrasound Community

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, K. R.; Arrowsmith, S.

2013-12-01

The Southwest U.S. Seismo-Acoustic Network (SUSSAN) is a collaborative project designed to produce infrasound event detection bulletins for the infrasound community for research purposes. We are aggregating a large, unique, near real-time data set with available ground truth information from seismo-acoustic arrays across New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, Texas and Hawaii. The data are processed in near real-time (~ every 20 minutes) with detections being made on individual arrays and locations determined for networks of arrays. The detection and location data are then combined with any available ground truth information and compiled into a bulletin that will be released to the general public directly and eventually through the IRIS infrasound event bulletin. We use the open source Earthworm seismic data aggregation software to acquire waveform data either directly from the station operator or via the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Data Management Center (IRIS DMC), if available. The data are processed using InfraMonitor, a powerful infrasound event detection and localization software program developed by Stephen Arrowsmith at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Our goal with this program is to provide the infrasound community with an event database that can be used collaboratively to study various natural and man-made sources. We encourage participation in this program directly or by making infrasound array data available through the IRIS DMC or other means. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. R&A 5317326

A procedure used for a ground truth study of a land use map of North Alabama generated from LANDSAT data

Science.gov (United States)

Downs, S. W., Jr.; Sharma, G. C.; Bagwell, C.

1977-01-01

A land use map of a five county area in North Alabama was generated from LANDSAT data using a supervised classification algorithm. There was good overall agreement between the land use designated and known conditions, but there were also obvious discrepancies. In ground checking the map, two types of errors were encountered - shift and misclassification - and a method was developed to eliminate or greatly reduce the errors. Randomly selected study areas containing 2,525 pixels were analyzed. Overall, 76.3 percent of the pixels were correctly classified. A contingency coefficient of correlation was calculated to be 0.7 which is significant at the alpha = 0.01 level. The land use maps generated by computers from LANDSAT data are useful for overall land use by regional agencies. However, care must be used when making detailed analysis of small areas. The procedure used for conducting the ground truth study together with data from representative study areas is presented.

Airflow resistivity instrument for in situ measurement on the earth's ground surface

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerwar, A. J.

1983-01-01

An airflow resistivity instrument features a novel specimen holder, especially designed for in situ measurement on the earth's ground surface. This capability eliminates the disadvantages of prior intrusive instruments, which necessitate the removal of a test specimen from the ground. A prototype instrument can measure airflow resistivities in the range 10-5000 cgs rayl/cm, at specimen depths up to 15.24 cm (6 in.), and at differential pressures up to 2490.8 dyn sq cm (1 in. H2O) across the specimen. Because of the close relationship between flow resistivity and acoustic impedance, this instrument should prove useful in acoustical studies of the earth's ground surface. Results of airflow resistivity measurements on an uncultivated grass field for varying values of moisture content are presented.

Ground truthing for methane hotspots at Railroad Valley, NV - application to Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Detweiler, A. M.; Kelley, C. A.; Bebout, B.; McKay, C. P.; DeMarines, J.; Yates, E. L.; Iraci, L. T.

2011-12-01

.7%. Temperature and relative humidity sensors were placed in the playa at 5, 20, and 30 cm below the surface. Since the relative humidity neared 100% (down to 20 cm below the surface), high enough to support microbial life, the observed absence of methane production in the playa itself is likely due to the low POC content, compared to other methane-producing environments. The spatial distribution of methane in combination with the spectral reflectance at the RRV dry lakebed makes it a good Mars analog. The ground truthing and satellite calibration work accomplished at RRV is a good exercise in preparation to identifying the origins of methane observed in the atmosphere of Mars during the upcoming 2012 Mars Science Laboratory and 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter missions.

In Situ Production of Chlorine-36 in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer, Idaho: Implications for Describing Ground-Water Contamination Near a Nuclear Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cecil, L. D.; Knobel, L. L.; Green, J. R.; Frape, S. K.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this report is to describe the calculated contribution to ground water of natural, in situ produced 36Cl in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and to compare these concentrations in ground water with measured concentrations near a nuclear facility in southeastern Idaho. The scope focused on isotopic and chemical analyses and associated 36Cl in situ production calculations on 25 whole-rock samples from 6 major water-bearing rock types present in the eastern Snake River Plain. The rock types investigated were basalt, rhyolite, limestone, dolomite, shale, and quartzite. Determining the contribution of in situ production to 36Cl inventories in ground water facilitated the identification of the source for this radionuclide in environmental samples. On the basis of calculations reported here, in situ production of 36Cl was determined to be insignificant compared to concentrations measured in ground water near buried and injected nuclear waste at the INEEL. Maximum estimated 36Cl concentrations in ground water from in situ production are on the same order of magnitude as natural concentrations in meteoric water

Frege on Truths, Truth and the True

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolfgang Künne

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The founder of modern logic and grandfather of analytic philosophy was 70 years old when he published his paper 'Der Gedanke' (The Thought in 1918. This essay contains some of Gottlob Frege's deepest and most provocative reflections on the concept of truth, and it will play a prominent role in my lectures. The plan for my lectures is as follows. What is it that is (primarily true or false? 'Thoughts', is Frege's answer. In §1, I shall explain and defend this answer. In §2, I shall briefly consider his enthymematic argument for the conclusion that the word 'true' resists any attempt at defining it. In §3, I shall discuss his thesis that the thought that things are thus and so is identical with the thought that it is true that things are thus and so. The reasons we are offered for this thesis will be found wanting. In §4, I shall comment extensively on Frege's claim that, in a non-formal language like the one I am currently trying to speak, we can say whatever we want to say without ever using the word 'true' or any of its synonyms. I will reject the propositional-redundancy claim, endorse the assertive-redundancy claim and deny the connection Frege ascribes to them. In his classic 1892 paper 'Über Sinn und Bedeutung' (On Sense and Signification Frege argues that truth-values are objects. In §5, I shall scrutinize his argument. In §6, I will show that in Frege's ideography (Begriffsschrift truth, far from being redundant, is omnipresent. The final §7 is again on truth-bearers, this time as a topic in the theory of intentionality and in metaphysics. In the course of discussing Frege's views on the objecthood, the objectivity of thoughts and the timelessness of truth(s, I will plead for a somewhat mitigated Platonism.

Reliable cost effective technique for in situ ground stress measurements in deep gold mines.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Stacey, TR

1995-07-01

Full Text Available on these requirements, an in situ stress measurement technique which will be practically applicable in the deep gold mines, has been developed conceptually. Referring to the figure on the following page, this method involves: • a borehole-based system, using... level mines have not been developed. 2 This is some of the background to the present SIMRAC research project, the title ofwhich is “Reliable cost effective technique for in-situ ground stress measurements in deep gold mines”. A copy of the research...

Redefining Religious Truth as a Challenge for Philosophy of Religion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, P.H.A.I.

2012-01-01

One of the most important features of contemporary Western societies is the rise of (religious) pluralism. Whereas (philosophical) theism used to serve as a common ground to discuss the truth-claims of religion, this approach seems to have lost much of its plausibility. What I want to argue in this

The Truth of Wikipedia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathaniel Tkacz

2012-05-01

Full Text Available What does it mean to assert that Wikipedia has a relation to truth? That there is, despite regular claims to the contrary, an entire apparatus of truth in Wikipedia? In this article, I show that Wikipedia has in fact two distinct relations to truth: one which is well known and forms the basis of existing popular and scholarly commentaries, and another which refers to equally well-known aspects of Wikipedia, but has not been understood in terms of truth. I demonstrate Wikipedia's dual relation to truth through a close analysis of the Neutral Point of View core content policy (and one of the project's 'Five Pillars'. I conclude by indicating what is at stake in the assertion that Wikipedia has a regime of truth and what bearing this has on existing commentaries.

Ground-Truthing of Airborne LiDAR Using RTK-GPS Surveyed Data in Coastal Louisiana's Wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Lauve, R. M.; Alizad, K.; Hagen, S. C.

2017-12-01

Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data are used by engineers and scientists to create bare earth digital elevation models (DEM), which are essential to modeling complex coastal, ecological, and hydrological systems. However, acquiring accurate bare earth elevations in coastal wetlands is difficult due to the density of marsh grasses that prevent the sensors reflection off the true ground surface. Previous work by Medeiros et al. [2015] developed a technique to assess LiDAR error and adjust elevations according to marsh vegetation density and index. The aim of this study is the collection of ground truth points and the investigation on the range of potential errors found in existing LiDAR datasets within coastal Louisiana's wetlands. Survey grids were mapped out in an area dominated by Spartina alterniflora and a survey-grade Trimble Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS device was employed to measure bare earth ground elevations in the marsh system adjacent to Terrebonne Bay, LA. Elevations were obtained for 20 meter-spaced surveyed grid points and were used to generate a DEM. The comparison between LiDAR derived and surveyed data DEMs yield an average difference of 23 cm with a maximum difference of 68 cm. Considering the local tidal range of 45 cm, these differences can introduce substantial error when the DEM is used for ecological modeling [Alizad et al., 2016]. Results from this study will be further analyzed and implemented in order to adjust LiDAR-derived DEMs closer to their true elevation across Louisiana's coastal wetlands. ReferencesAlizad, K., S. C. Hagen, J. T. Morris, S. C. Medeiros, M. V. Bilskie, and J. F. Weishampel (2016), Coastal wetland response to sea-level rise in a fluvial estuarine system, Earth's Future, 4(11), 483-497, 10.1002/2016EF000385. Medeiros, S., S. Hagen, J. Weishampel, and J. Angelo (2015), Adjusting Lidar-Derived Digital Terrain Models in Coastal Marshes Based on Estimated Aboveground Biomass Density, Remote Sensing, 7

Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: The Whole Truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Parikh, Ujas; Chhor, Chloe M; Mercado, Cecilia L

2018-02-01

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a noninvasive malignant breast disease traditionally described as a precursor lesion to invasive breast cancer. With screening mammography, DCIS now accounts for approximately 20% of newly diagnosed cancer cases. DCIS is not well understood because of its heterogeneous nature. Studies have aimed to assess prognostic factors to characterize its risk of invasive potential; however, there still remains a lack of uniformity in workup and treatment. We summarize current knowledge of DCIS and the ongoing controversies.

Feasibility of In-Situ Aeration of Old Dumping Ground for Land Reclamation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huan-Huan Tong

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Dumping grounds are characterized by the absence of engineering controls such as base liners and cover layer. Consequently, these dumping grounds present risks for surrounding resources such as soil, groundwater and air. The concern for groundwater contamination by leachate from tropical dumping grounds is heightened due to the greater amounts of rainfall and subsequent infiltration and percolation through the waste mass. The emergent demand for old dumping grounds reclamation drives the need to employ remediation technologies. Generally, in-situ aeration is a remediation method that promotes aerobic conditions in the later stage of dumping ground. It accelerates carbon transfer, reduces remaining organic load, and generally shortens the post closure period. However, high rainfall in tropical areas straitens this technique. For example, pollutants could be easily flushed out and more energy should be required to overcome hydrostatic pressure. Although heavy rainfall could supply sufficient water to the substrate and accelerate degradation of organic matter, it may inhibit aerobic activities due to limited air transfer. The waste characterization from Lorong Halus Dumping Ground (closed dumping ground in Singapore showed that the waste materials were stabilized after 22 years closure. According to the Waste Acceptance Criteria set by European Communities Council, the waste materials could be classified as inert wastes. One interesting finding was that leachate layer detected was about of 5 - 8 meter depth, which entirely soaked the waste materials. Hence, the reclamation design and operation should be carefully adjusted according to these characters. Lorong Halus Dumping Ground case study can provide a guideline for other tropical closed landfills or dumping grounds.

Towards ground-truthing of spaceborne estimates of above-ground biomass and leaf area index in tropical rain forests

Science.gov (United States)

Köhler, P.; Huth, A.

2010-05-01

The canopy height of forests is a key variable which can be obtained using air- or spaceborne remote sensing techniques such as radar interferometry or lidar. If new allometric relationships between canopy height and the biomass stored in the vegetation can be established this would offer the possibility for a global monitoring of the above-ground carbon content on land. In the absence of adequate field data we use simulation results of a tropical rain forest growth model to propose what degree of information might be generated from canopy height and thus to enable ground-truthing of potential future satellite observations. We here analyse the correlation between canopy height in a tropical rain forest with other structural characteristics, such as above-ground biomass (AGB) (and thus carbon content of vegetation) and leaf area index (LAI). The process-based forest growth model FORMIND2.0 was applied to simulate (a) undisturbed forest growth and (b) a wide range of possible disturbance regimes typically for local tree logging conditions for a tropical rain forest site on Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia) in South-East Asia. It is found that for undisturbed forest and a variety of disturbed forests situations AGB can be expressed as a power-law function of canopy height h (AGB=a·hb) with an r2~60% for a spatial resolution of 20 m×20 m (0.04 ha, also called plot size). The regression is becoming significant better for the hectare wide analysis of the disturbed forest sites (r2=91%). There seems to exist no functional dependency between LAI and canopy height, but there is also a linear correlation (r2~60%) between AGB and the area fraction in which the canopy is highly disturbed. A reasonable agreement of our results with observations is obtained from a comparison of the simulations with permanent sampling plot data from the same region and with the large-scale forest inventory in Lambir. We conclude that the spaceborne remote sensing techniques have the potential to

Truth as a Mathematical Object

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Yves Béziau

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we discuss in which sense truth is considered as a mathematical object in propositional logic. After clarifying how this concept is used in classical logic, through the notions of truth-table, truth-function and bivaluation, we examine some generalizations of it in non-classical logics: many-valued matrix semantics with three and four values, non-truth-functional bivalent semantics, Kripke possible world semantics.

Truth Obviousness in Ancient Greek Philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halyna I. Budz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines the features of the axiomatic approach to the truth understanding in ancient Greek philosophy. Truth in the works by ancient philosophers has axiomatic essence, basing on divine origin of truth. As the truth has a divine origin, it is in reality. The reality, created by Gods is the solemn reality. Therefore, understanding of reality by man is the display of divine reality, which is true and clever. In of the context of ancient Greek philosophy, to know truth is to know something, existing in reality, in other words, something, truly existing, eternal reality. Consequently, to know truth is it to know the substantial reality base. That’s why the justification of the reality origin is the axiomatic doctrine of truth at the same time, because only fundamental principle “truly” exists and is the truth itself. The idea of fundamental principle in ancient Greek philosophy is the axiom, universal principle, which is the base of reality as a substance from ontological perspective and is realized as the truth from gnosiological perspective. Fundamental principle, as Greeks understand it, coincides with the truth, in other words, reality and thinking are identical. The idea of reality source is the universal criterion of world perception at the same time, in other words, it is the truth, which is perceived axiomatically.

Truthful Monadic Abstractions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brock-Nannestad, Taus; Schürmann, Carsten

2012-01-01

indefinitely, finding neither a proof nor a disproof of a given subgoal. In this paper we characterize a family of truth-preserving abstractions from intuitionistic first-order logic to the monadic fragment of classical first-order logic. Because they are truthful, these abstractions can be used to disprove...

Truth and Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasenbrock, Reed Way

1995-01-01

Examines literary theory's displacing of "method" in the New Historicist criticism. Argues that Stephen Greenblatt and Lee Paterson imply that no objective historical truth is possible and as a result do not give methodology its due weight in their criticism. Questions the theory of "truth" advanced in this vein of literary…

Automated Breast Ultrasound for Ductal Pattern Reconstruction: Ground Truth File Generation and CADe Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Manousaki, D.; Panagiotopoulou, A.; Bizimi, V.; Haynes, M. S.; Love, S.; Kallergi, M.

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was the generation of ground truth files (GTFs) of the breast ducts from 3D images of the Invenia™ Automated Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS) system (GE Healthcare, Little Chalfont, UK) and the application of these GTFs for the optimization of the imaging protocol and the evaluation of a computer aided detection (CADe) algorithm developed for automated duct detection. Six lactating, nursing volunteers were scanned with the ABUS before and right after breastfeeding their infants. An expert in breast ultrasound generated rough outlines of the milk-filled ducts in the transaxial slices of all image volumes and the final GTFs were created by using thresholding and smoothing tools in ImageJ. In addition, a CADe algorithm automatically segmented duct like areas and its results were compared to the expert’s GTFs by estimating true positive fraction (TPF) or % overlap. The CADe output differed significantly from the expert’s but both detected a smaller than expected volume of the ducts due to insufficient contrast (ducts were partially filled with milk), discontinuities, and artifacts. GTFs were used to modify the imaging protocol and improve the CADe method. In conclusion, electronic GTFs provide a valuable tool in the optimization of a tomographic imaging system, the imaging protocol, and the CADe algorithms. Their generation, however, is an extremely time consuming, strenuous process, particularly for multi-slice examinations, and alternatives based on phantoms or simulations are highly desirable.

An existential theory of truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dale Cannon

1993-01-01

Full Text Available This article is an attempt to present a simplified account of the theory of truth expressed in the writings of certain existentialist writers - namely, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Jaspers, and Marcel. It is designed to serve as a supplement to conventional textbook treatments of the nature of truth, which typically ignore the contributions that existentialists have made to the topic. An existential theory of truth stresses the epistemological (not ontological indeterminateness of meaning and truth, apart from one’s personal participation in determining them. Contrary to superficial interpretations, this theory does not do away either with a transcendent reality or with objectivity. What is rejected is anything that would circumvent the necessary task of participating, oneself, in the epistemological determination of truth.

In-situ transesterification of wet spent coffee grounds for sustainable biodiesel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jeongseok; Kim, Bora; Lee, Jae W

2016-12-01

This work addresses in-situ transesterification of wet spent coffee grounds (SCGs) for the production of biodiesel. For in-situ transesterification process, the methanol, organic solvent and acid catalyst were mixed with wet SCG in one pot and the mixture was heated for simultaneous lipid extraction and transesterification. Maximum yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) was 16.75wt.% based on the weight of dry SCG at 95°C. Comprehensive experiments were conducted with varying temperatures and various amounts of moisture, methanol, co-solvent and acid catalyst. Moderate polar and alcohol-miscible organic solvent is suitable for the high FAME yield. Unsaturated FAMEs are subject to oxidative cleavage by nitric acid and shorter chain (C6 and C10) FAMEs were mainly produced while sulfuric acid yielded long chain unsaturated FAMEs (C16 and C18). Utilization of wet SCGs as a biodiesel feedstock gives economic and environmental benefits by recycling the municipal waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The end of truth?

OpenAIRE

C. W. du Toit

1997-01-01

As we are approaching the end of the century, many ideas, systems, and certainties, previously taken for granted, seem to be questioned, altered and rejected. One of these is the notion of truth, which pervades the very fibre of Western thinking. Rejecting the relevant critique as simply a postmodem fad, this article proceeds to give attention to the questions regarding the end of religious, scientific, and metaphysical truth. Truth and power are dealt with, as well as the narrative nature of...

THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES OF TRUTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Peter Grosshans

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Examining some theological and philosophical theories of truth, the author concentrates his attention on the experience of giving concrete reality to the Christian discourse about truth and at the same time contrasting this search with the attempts of philosophy to define truth. He draws the reader’s attention to the understanding of truth in language and communication. In his article he discusses the essential theories of truth which are characteristic of western philosophy: classical, correspondent, coherent, pragmatic, communicative and ontic. The author notes the specific traits of a theological understanding of truth and contends that it is based on an ontologically higher level than that of the classic definition of truth viewed simply in relation to reality and the understanding. The knowledge of God given to the Christian faith by the activity of the triune God, is in itself perfect and therefore in no need of further development. It is on this basis that theology develops its knowledge of faith, sweeping aside everything which is not in accord with this fundamental affirmation of faith or with the witness of revealed truth

An Empirical Study of Atmospheric Correction Procedures for Regional Infrasound Amplitudes with Ground Truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, J. E.

2014-12-01

This study focusses on improving methods of accounting for atmospheric effects on infrasound amplitudes observed on arrays at regional distances in the southwestern United States. Recordings at ranges of 150 to nearly 300 km from a repeating ground truth source of small HE explosions are used. The explosions range in actual weight from approximately 2000-4000 lbs. and are detonated year-round which provides signals for a wide range of atmospheric conditions. Three methods of correcting the observed amplitudes for atmospheric effects are investigated with the data set. The first corrects amplitudes for upper stratospheric wind as developed by Mutschlecner and Whitaker (1999) and uses the average wind speed between 45-55 km altitudes in the direction of propagation to derive an empirical correction formula. This approach was developed using large chemical and nuclear explosions and is tested with the smaller explosions for which shorter wavelengths cause the energy to be scattered by the smaller scale structure of the atmosphere. The second approach isa semi-empirical method using ray tracing to determine wind speed at ray turning heights where the wind estimates replace the wind values in the existing formula. Finally, parabolic equation (PE) modeling is used to predict the amplitudes at the arrays at 1 Hz. The PE amplitudes are compared to the observed amplitudes with a narrow band filter centered at 1 Hz. An analysis is performed of the conditions under which the empirical and semi-empirical methods fail and full wave methods must be used.

Laboratory studies on natural restoration of ground water after in-situ leach uranium mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, N.E.; Deutsch, W.J.; Serne, R.J.

1983-05-01

When uranium is mined using in-situ leach techniques, the chemical quality of the ground water in the ore-zone aquifer is affected. This could lead to long-term degradation of the ground water if restoration techniques are not applied after the leaching is completed. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), is conducting an NRC-sponsored research project on natural restoration and induced-restoration techniques. Laboratory studies were designed to evaluate the ability of the natural system (ore-zone sediments and groundwater) to mitigate the effects of mining on aquifer chemistry. Using batch and flow-through column experiments [performed with lixiviant (leaching solution) and sediments from the reduced zone of an ore-zone aquifer], we found that the natural system can lower uranium and bicarbonate concentrations in solutions and reduce the lixiviant redox potential (Eh). The change in redox potential could cause some of the contaminants that were dissolved during the uranium leaching operation to precipitate, thereby lowering their solution concentration. The concentrations of other species such as calcium, potassium, and sulfate increased, possibly as a result of mineral dissolution and ion exchange. In this paper, we describe the experimentally determined mobility of contaminants after in-situ leach mining, and discuss the possible chemical process affecting mobility

Laboratory studies on natural restoration of ground water after in-situ leach uranium mining

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bell, N.E.; Deutsch, W.J.; Serne, R.J.

1983-05-01

When uranium is mined using in-situ leach techniques, the chemical quality of the ground water in the ore-zone aquifer is affected. This could lead to long-term degradation of the ground water if restoration techniques are not applied after the leaching is completed. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), is conducting an NRC-sponsored research project on natural restoration and induced-restoration techniques. Laboratory studies were designed to evaluate the ability of the natural system (ore-zone sediments and groundwater) to mitigate the effects of mining on aquifer chemistry. Using batch and flow-through column experiments (performed with lixiviant (leaching solution) and sediments from the reduced zone of an ore-zone aquifer), we found that the natural system can lower uranium and bicarbonate concentrations in solutions and reduce the lixiviant redox potential (Eh). The change in redox potential could cause some of the contaminants that were dissolved during the uranium leaching operation to precipitate, thereby lowering their solution concentration. The concentrations of other species such as calcium, potassium, and sulfate increased, possibly as a result of mineral dissolution and ion exchange. In this paper, we describe the experimentally determined mobility of contaminants after in-situ leach mining, and discuss the possible chemical process affecting mobility.

Towards ground-truthing of spaceborne estimates of above-ground life biomass and leaf area index in tropical rain forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Köhler

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The canopy height h of forests is a key variable which can be obtained using air- or spaceborne remote sensing techniques such as radar interferometry or LIDAR. If new allometric relationships between canopy height and the biomass stored in the vegetation can be established this would offer the possibility for a global monitoring of the above-ground carbon content on land. In the absence of adequate field data we use simulation results of a tropical rain forest growth model to propose what degree of information might be generated from canopy height and thus to enable ground-truthing of potential future satellite observations. We here analyse the correlation between canopy height in a tropical rain forest with other structural characteristics, such as above-ground life biomass (AGB (and thus carbon content of vegetation and leaf area index (LAI and identify how correlation and uncertainty vary for two different spatial scales. The process-based forest growth model FORMIND2.0 was applied to simulate (a undisturbed forest growth and (b a wide range of possible disturbance regimes typically for local tree logging conditions for a tropical rain forest site on Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia in South-East Asia. In both undisturbed and disturbed forests AGB can be expressed as a power-law function of canopy height h (AGB = a · h^b with an r² ~ 60% if data are analysed in a spatial resolution of 20 m × 20 m (0.04 ha, also called plot size. The correlation coefficient of the regression is becoming significant better in the disturbed forest sites (r² = 91% if data are analysed hectare wide. There seems to exist no functional dependency between LAI and canopy height, but there is also a linear correlation (r² ~ 60% between AGB and the area fraction of gaps in which the canopy is highly disturbed. A reasonable agreement of our results with observations is obtained from a

Towards ground-truthing of spaceborne estimates of above-ground life biomass and leaf area index in tropical rain forests

Science.gov (United States)

Köhler, P.; Huth, A.

2010-08-01

The canopy height h of forests is a key variable which can be obtained using air- or spaceborne remote sensing techniques such as radar interferometry or LIDAR. If new allometric relationships between canopy height and the biomass stored in the vegetation can be established this would offer the possibility for a global monitoring of the above-ground carbon content on land. In the absence of adequate field data we use simulation results of a tropical rain forest growth model to propose what degree of information might be generated from canopy height and thus to enable ground-truthing of potential future satellite observations. We here analyse the correlation between canopy height in a tropical rain forest with other structural characteristics, such as above-ground life biomass (AGB) (and thus carbon content of vegetation) and leaf area index (LAI) and identify how correlation and uncertainty vary for two different spatial scales. The process-based forest growth model FORMIND2.0 was applied to simulate (a) undisturbed forest growth and (b) a wide range of possible disturbance regimes typically for local tree logging conditions for a tropical rain forest site on Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia) in South-East Asia. In both undisturbed and disturbed forests AGB can be expressed as a power-law function of canopy height h (AGB = a · hb) with an r2 ~ 60% if data are analysed in a spatial resolution of 20 m × 20 m (0.04 ha, also called plot size). The correlation coefficient of the regression is becoming significant better in the disturbed forest sites (r2 = 91%) if data are analysed hectare wide. There seems to exist no functional dependency between LAI and canopy height, but there is also a linear correlation (r2 ~ 60%) between AGB and the area fraction of gaps in which the canopy is highly disturbed. A reasonable agreement of our results with observations is obtained from a comparison of the simulations with permanent sampling plot (PSP) data from the same region and with the

The vital role of transcendental truth in science.

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton, Bruce G

2009-04-01

I have come to believe that science depends for its long-term success on an explicit and pervasive pursuit of the ideal of transcendental truth. 'Transcendental' implies that a value is ideal and ultimate - it is aimed-at but can only imperfectly be known, achieved or measured. So, transcendental truth is located outside of science; beyond scientific methods, processes and peer consensus. Although the ultimate scientific authority of a transcendental value of truth was a view held almost universally by the greatest scientists throughout recorded history, modern science has all-but banished references to truth from professional scientific discourse - these being regarded as wishful, mystical and embarrassing at best, and hypocritical or manipulative at worst. With truth excluded, the highest remaining evaluation mechanism is 'professional consensus' or peer review - beyond which there is no higher court of appeal. Yet in Human accomplishment, Murray argues that cultures which foster great achievement need transcendental values (truth, beauty and virtue) to be a live presence in the culture; such that great artists and thinkers compete to come closer to the ideal. So a scientific system including truth as a live presence apparently performs better than a system which excludes truth. Transcendental truth therefore seems to be real in the pragmatic sense that it makes a difference. To restore the primacy of truth to science a necessary step would be to ensure that only truth-seekers were recruited to the key scientific positions, and to exclude from leadership those who are untruthful or exhibit insufficient devotion to the pursuit of truth. In sum, to remain anchored in its proper role, science should through 'truth talk' frequently be referencing normal professional practice to transcendental truth values. Ultimately, science should be conducted at every level, from top to bottom, on the basis of what Bronowski termed the 'habit of truth'. Such a situation currently

Two Pilot Plant Reactors Designed for the In Situ Bioremediation of Chlorobenzene-contaminated Ground Water: Hydrogeological and Chemical Characteristics and Bacterial Consortia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogt, Carsten, E-mail: vogt@umb.ufz.de; Alfreider, Albin [UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Environmental Microbiology (Germany); Lorbeer, Helmut [University of Technology Dresden, Institute of Waste Management and Contaminated Site Treatment (Germany); Ahlheim, Joerg; Feist, Bernd [UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Industrial and Mining Landscapes (Germany); Boehme, Olaf [GFE GmbH Halle (Germany); Weiss, Holger [UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Industrial and Mining Landscapes (Germany); Babel, Wolfgang; Wuensche, Lothar [UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Environmental Microbiology (Germany)

2002-05-15

The SAFIRA in situ pilot plant in Bitterfeld, Saxonia-Anhalt, Germany, currently serves as the test site for eight different in situ approaches to remediate anoxic chlorobenzene (CB)-contaminated ground water. Two reactors, both filled with original lignite-containing aquifer material, are designed for the microbiological in situ remediation of the ground water by the indigenous microbial consortia. In this study, the hydrogeological, chemical and microbiological conditions of the in flowing ground water and reactor filling material are presented,in order to establish the scientific basis for the start of the bioremediation process itself. The reactors were put into operation in June 1999. In the following, inflow CB concentrations in the ground water varied between 22 and 33 mg L{sup -1}; a chemical steady state for CB in both reactors was reached after 210 till 260 days operation time. The sediments were colonized by high numbers of aerobic, iron-reducing and denitrifying bacteria, as determined after 244 and 285 days of operation time. Furthermore, aerobic CB-degrading bacteria were detected in all reactor zones. Comparative sequence analysis of16S rDNA gene clone libraries suggest the dominance of Proteobacteria (Comamonadaceae, Alcaligenaceae, Gallionella group, Acidithiobacillus) and members of the class of low G+C gram-positive bacteria in the reactor sediments. In the inflowing ground water, sequences with phylogenetic affiliation to sulfate-reducing bacteria and sequences not affiliated with the known phyla of Bacteria, were found.

Two Pilot Plant Reactors Designed for the In Situ Bioremediation of Chlorobenzene-contaminated Ground Water: Hydrogeological and Chemical Characteristics and Bacterial Consortia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogt, Carsten; Alfreider, Albin; Lorbeer, Helmut; Ahlheim, Joerg; Feist, Bernd; Boehme, Olaf; Weiss, Holger; Babel, Wolfgang; Wuensche, Lothar

2002-01-01

The SAFIRA in situ pilot plant in Bitterfeld, Saxonia-Anhalt, Germany, currently serves as the test site for eight different in situ approaches to remediate anoxic chlorobenzene (CB)-contaminated ground water. Two reactors, both filled with original lignite-containing aquifer material, are designed for the microbiological in situ remediation of the ground water by the indigenous microbial consortia. In this study, the hydrogeological, chemical and microbiological conditions of the in flowing ground water and reactor filling material are presented,in order to establish the scientific basis for the start of the bioremediation process itself. The reactors were put into operation in June 1999. In the following, inflow CB concentrations in the ground water varied between 22 and 33 mg L -1 ; a chemical steady state for CB in both reactors was reached after 210 till 260 days operation time. The sediments were colonized by high numbers of aerobic, iron-reducing and denitrifying bacteria, as determined after 244 and 285 days of operation time. Furthermore, aerobic CB-degrading bacteria were detected in all reactor zones. Comparative sequence analysis of16S rDNA gene clone libraries suggest the dominance of Proteobacteria (Comamonadaceae, Alcaligenaceae, Gallionella group, Acidithiobacillus) and members of the class of low G+C gram-positive bacteria in the reactor sediments. In the inflowing ground water, sequences with phylogenetic affiliation to sulfate-reducing bacteria and sequences not affiliated with the known phyla of Bacteria, were found

Evaluating the truth brand.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Price, Simani; Blahut, Steven

2005-03-01

The American Legacy Foundation developed the truth campaign, an aspirational antismoking brand for adolescents. This study tested whether a multidimensional scale, brand equity in truth, mediates the relationship between campaign exposure and youth smoking. We collected brand equity responses from 2,306 youth on a nationally representative telephone survey. Factor analysis indicates that the scale has excellent psychometric properties and effectively measures brand equity. We developed a structural equation model to test the mediation hypothesis. Results show that brand equity mediates the relationship between truth and smoking. Analyses of potential cofounders show this relationship is robust. Behavioral branding (brands about a behavior or a lifestyle) is an important public health strategy.

Remote sensing, hydrological modeling and in situ observations in snow cover research: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Chunyu

2018-06-01

Snow is an important component of the hydrological cycle. As a major part of the cryosphere, snow cover also represents a valuable terrestrial water resource. In the context of climate change, the dynamics of snow cover play a crucial role in rebalancing the global energy and water budgets. Remote sensing, hydrological modeling and in situ observations are three techniques frequently utilized for snow cover investigations. However, the uncertainties caused by systematic errors, scale gaps, and complicated snow physics, among other factors, limit the usability of these three approaches in snow studies. In this paper, an overview of the advantages, limitations and recent progress of the three methods is presented, and more effective ways to estimate snow cover properties are evaluated. The possibility of improving remotely sensed snow information using ground-based observations is discussed. As a rapidly growing source of volunteered geographic information (VGI), web-based geotagged photos have great potential to provide ground truth data for remotely sensed products and hydrological models and thus contribute to procedures for cloud removal, correction, validation, forcing and assimilation. Finally, this review proposes a synergistic framework for the future of snow cover research. This framework highlights the cross-scale integration of in situ and remotely sensed snow measurements and the assimilation of improved remote sensing data into hydrological models.

Withholding truth from patients.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Sullivan, Elizabeth

2012-01-31

The issue of whether patients should always be told the truth regarding their diagnosis and prognosis has afforded much debate in healthcare literature. This article examines telling the truth from an ethical perspective. It puts forward arguments for and against being honest with patients, using a clinical example to illustrate each point.

Estimation of snowpack matching ground-truth data and MODIS satellite-based observations by using regression kriging

Science.gov (United States)

Juan Collados-Lara, Antonio; Pardo-Iguzquiza, Eulogio; Pulido-Velazquez, David

2016-04-01

The estimation of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is essential for an appropriate assessment of the available water resources in Alpine catchment. The hydrologic regime in these areas is dominated by the storage of water in the snowpack, which is discharged to rivers throughout the melt season. An accurate estimation of the resources will be necessary for an appropriate analysis of the system operation alternatives using basin scale management models. In order to obtain an appropriate estimation of the SWE we need to know the spatial distribution snowpack and snow density within the Snow Cover Area (SCA). Data for these snow variables can be extracted from in-situ point measurements and air-borne/space-borne remote sensing observations. Different interpolation and simulation techniques have been employed for the estimation of the cited variables. In this paper we propose to estimate snowpack from a reduced number of ground-truth data (1 or 2 campaigns per year with 23 observation point from 2000-2014) and MODIS satellite-based observations in the Sierra Nevada Mountain (Southern Spain). Regression based methodologies has been used to study snowpack distribution using different kind of explicative variables: geographic, topographic, climatic. 40 explicative variables were considered: the longitude, latitude, altitude, slope, eastness, northness, radiation, maximum upwind slope and some mathematical transformation of each of them [Ln(v), (v)^-1; (v)^2; (v)^0.5). Eight different structure of regression models have been tested (combining 1, 2, 3 or 4 explicative variables). Y=B0+B1Xi (1); Y=B0+B1XiXj (2); Y=B0+B1Xi+B2Xj (3); Y=B0+B1Xi+B2XjXl (4); Y=B0+B1XiXk+B2XjXl (5); Y=B0+B1Xi+B2Xj+B3Xl (6); Y=B0+B1Xi+B2Xj+B3XlXk (7); Y=B0+B1Xi+B2Xj+B3Xl+B4Xk (8). Where: Y is the snow depth; (Xi, Xj, Xl, Xk) are the prediction variables (any of the 40 variables); (B0, B1, B2, B3) are the coefficients to be estimated. The ground data are employed to calibrate the multiple regressions. In

TRUTH AS DETERMINANT OF RELIGIOUS FAITH

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Admin

of values like any other institution”. Our concern here is how religious truth that ought to be absolute has become relative thus producing many different religions in the world. Relativity of Religious Truths As Determinant. Of Religious Faith. Truth has been defined as that which conforms to essential reality, but is it absolute?

The use of the truth and deception in dementia care amongst general hospital staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Alex; Eccles, Fiona; Keady, John; Simpson, Jane; Elvish, Ruth

2017-08-01

Deceptive practice has been shown to be endemic in long-term care settings. However, little is known about the use of deception in dementia care within general hospitals and staff attitudes towards this practice. This study aimed to develop understanding of the experiences of general hospital staff and explore their decision-making processes when choosing whether to tell the truth or deceive a patient with dementia. This qualitative study drew upon a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyse data gathered from semi-structured interviews with a range of hospital staff. A model, grounded in participant experiences, was developed to describe their decision-making processes. Participants identified particular triggers that set in motion the need for a response. Various mediating factors influenced how staff chose to respond to these triggers. Overall, hospital staff were reluctant to either tell the truth or to lie to patients. Instead, 'distracting' or 'passing the buck' to another member of staff were preferred strategies. The issue of how truth and deception are defined was identified. The study adds to the growing research regarding the use of lies in dementia care by considering the decision-making processes for staff in general hospitals. Various factors influence how staff choose to respond to patients with dementia and whether deception is used. Similarities and differences with long-term dementia care settings are discussed. Clinical and research implications include: opening up the topic for further debate, implementing staff training about communication and evaluating the impact of these processes.

Evaluation of chemical sensors for in situ ground-water monitoring at the Hanford Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murphy, E.M.; Hostetler, D.D.

1989-03-01

This report documents a preliminary review and evaluation of instrument systems and sensors that may be used to detect ground-water contaminants in situ at the Hanford Site. Three topics are covered in this report: (1) identification of a group of priority contaminants at Hanford that could be monitored in situ, (2) a review of current instrument systems and sensors for environmental monitoring, and (3) an evaluation of instrument systems that could be used to monitor Hanford contaminants. Thirteen priority contaminants were identified in Hanford ground water, including carbon tetrachloride and six related chlorinated hydrocarbons, cyanide, methyl ethyl ketone, chromium (VI), fluoride, nitrate, and uranium. Based on transduction principles, chemical sensors were divided into four classes, ten specific types of instrument systems were considered: fluorescence spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), spark excitation-fiber optic spectrochemical emission sensor (FOSES), chemical optrodes, stripping voltammetry, catalytic surface-modified ion electrode immunoassay sensors, resistance/capacitance, quartz piezobalance and surface acoustic wave devices. Because the flow of heat is difficult to control, there are currently no environmental chemical sensors based on thermal transduction. The ability of these ten instrument systems to detect the thirteen priority contaminants at the Hanford Site at the required sensitivity was evaluated. In addition, all ten instrument systems were qualitatively evaluated for general selectivity, response time, reliability, and field operability. 45 refs., 23 figs., 7 tabs.

Evaluation of chemical sensors for in situ ground-water monitoring at the Hanford Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, E.M.; Hostetler, D.D.

1989-03-01

This report documents a preliminary review and evaluation of instrument systems and sensors that may be used to detect ground-water contaminants in situ at the Hanford Site. Three topics are covered in this report: (1) identification of a group of priority contaminants at Hanford that could be monitored in situ, (2) a review of current instrument systems and sensors for environmental monitoring, and (3) an evaluation of instrument systems that could be used to monitor Hanford contaminants. Thirteen priority contaminants were identified in Hanford ground water, including carbon tetrachloride and six related chlorinated hydrocarbons, cyanide, methyl ethyl ketone, chromium (VI), fluoride, nitrate, and uranium. Based on transduction principles, chemical sensors were divided into four classes, ten specific types of instrument systems were considered: fluorescence spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), spark excitation-fiber optic spectrochemical emission sensor (FOSES), chemical optrodes, stripping voltammetry, catalytic surface-modified ion electrode immunoassay sensors, resistance/capacitance, quartz piezobalance and surface acoustic wave devices. Because the flow of heat is difficult to control, there are currently no environmental chemical sensors based on thermal transduction. The ability of these ten instrument systems to detect the thirteen priority contaminants at the Hanford Site at the required sensitivity was evaluated. In addition, all ten instrument systems were qualitatively evaluated for general selectivity, response time, reliability, and field operability. 45 refs., 23 figs., 7 tabs

The Incoherence of Post-Truth

OpenAIRE

Taylor, Dom

2018-01-01

Ostensibly, there has been a recent rise in ‘post-truth’ thinking (Higgins, 2016; Rochlin, 2017; Speed & Mannion, 2017; Suiter, 2016). The Oxford English Dictionary, which made ‘post-truth’ its word of the year for 2016, defines post-truth as “[r]elating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping political debate or public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief” (“Post-truth,” 2017). Going into more detail, post-truth is described not ju...

An existential theoiy of truth

African Journals Online (AJOL)

of the theory of truth expressed in the writings of certain existentialist writers ... gical) indeterminateness of meaning and truth, apart from one's .... dual human perspective and the unavoidable existential tasks of deciphering for oneself what is ...

In situ Volcanic Plume Monitoring with small Unmanned Aerial Systems for Cal/Val of Satellite Remote Sensing Data: CARTA-UAV 2013 Mission (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, J. A.; Pieri, D. C.; Bland, G.; Fladeland, M. M.

2013-12-01

The development of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) with a variety of sensor packages, enables in situ and proximal remote sensing measurements of volcanic plumes. Using Costa Rican volcanoes as a Natural Laboratory, the University of Costa Rica as host institution, in collaboration with four NASA centers, have started an initiative to develop low-cost, field-deployable airborne platforms to perform volcanic gas & ash plume research, and in-situ volcanic monitoring in general, in conjunction with orbital assets and state-of-the-art models of plume transport and composition. Several gas sensors have been deployed into the active plume of Turrialba Volcano including a miniature mass spectrometer, and an electrochemical SO2 sensor system with temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and GPS sensors. Several different airborne platforms such as manned research aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, tethered balloons, as well as man-portable in-situ ground truth systems are being used for this research. Remote sensing data is also collected from the ASTER and OMI spaceborne instruments and compared with in situ data. The CARTA-UAV 2013 Mission deployment and follow up measurements successfully demonstrated a path to study and visualize gaseous volcanic emissions using mass spectrometer and gas sensor based instrumentation in harsh environment conditions to correlate in situ ground/airborne data with remote sensing satellite data for calibration and validation purposes. The deployment of such technology improves on our current capabilities to detect, analyze, monitor, model, and predict hazards presented to aircraft by volcanogenic ash clouds from active and impending volcanic eruptions.

Truth and the Capability of Learning

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Hinchliffe, Geoffrey

2007-01-01

This paper examines learning as a capability, taking as its starting point the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. The paper is concerned to highlight the relation between learning and truth, and it does so by examining the idea of a genealogy of truth and also Donald Davidson's coherence theory. Thus the notion of truth is understood to be…

Normativity and deflationary theories of truth

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Bruno Mölder

2008-12-01

Full Text Available It has been argued that deflationary theories of truth stumble over the normativity of truth. This paper maintains that the normativity objection does not pose problems to at least one version of deflationism, minimalism. The rest of the paper discusses truth-related norms, showing that either they do not hold or they are not troublesome for deflationism.

Japanese attitudes towards truth disclosure in cancer.

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Tanida, N

1994-03-01

Despite the increasing concerns of truth disclosure, most cancer patients are not told the truth about their disease in Japan. The author has tried to provide some insight into this issue by evaluating results from questionnaires given to hospital patients, clients in a mass cancer survey, and doctors of a college hospital. Results showed that 72% of patients and 83% of clients wanted to be told the truth, but only 33% and 34% of them thought that the truth should be told to cancer patients. These attitudes of patients and clients regarding truth disclosure were more positive than those of the general public and health care workers in previous studies. At present, 13% of doctors inform cancer patients of their disease. These trends indicate that the Japanese attitude toward avoiding truth disclosure stems primarily from paternalism but is also influenced by social characteristics including insufficient understanding of this issue. Open discussion involving all factions of society is necessary to attain a better understanding of this issue and to promote eventual truth disclosure.

Ground-truthing the Foraminifera-bound Nitrogen Isotope Paleo-proxy in the Modern Sargasso Sea

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Smart, S.; Ren, H. A.; Fawcett, S. E.; Conte, M. H.; Rafter, P. A.; Ellis, K. K.; Weigand, M. A.; Sigman, D. M.

2016-02-01

We present the nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N) of planktonic foraminifera, a type of calcifying zooplankton, collected from surface ocean net tows, moored sediment traps and core-top sediments at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site in the Sargasso Sea between 2009 and 2013. Consistent with previous measurements from low-latitude core-top sediments, the annually averaged δ15N of organic matter bound within the shells of euphotic zone-dwelling foraminifera approximates that of thermocline nitrate, the dominant source of new nitrogen to Sargasso Sea surface waters. Based on net tow collections in the upper 200 m of the water column, we observe no systematic difference between the biomass δ15N and shell-bound δ15N of a given foraminifera species. For multiple species, the δ15N of net tow-collected upper ocean shells is lower than shells from sediment traps (by 0.5-2.1‰) and lower than shells from seafloor sediments (by 0.5-1.4‰). We are currently investigating whether these differences reflect actual processes affecting shell-bound δ15N or instead relate to the different time periods over which the three sample types integrate. The foraminiferal biomass δ15N time-series from the surface Sargasso Sea exhibits significant seasonal variations, with the lowest values in fall and the highest values in spring. The roles of hydrography, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem dynamics in driving these seasonal variations will be discussed. These data from the modern subtropical ocean form part of a greater effort to ground-truth the use of foram-bound δ15N to reconstruct past nutrient conditions, not only as a recorder of the isotopic composition of nitrogen supply in oligotrophic environments but also as a recorder of the degree of nitrate consumption in high-latitude regions such as the Southern Ocean.

OMI and Ground-Based In-Situ Tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide Observations over Several Important European Cities during 2005–2014

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Spiru Paraschiv

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this work we present the evolution of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2 content over several important European cities during 2005–2014 using space observations and ground-based in-situ measurements. The NO2 content was derived using the daily observations provided by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI, while the NO2 volume mixing ratio measurements were obtained from the European Environment Agency (EEA air quality monitoring stations database. The European cities selected are: Athens (37.98° N, 23.72° E, Berlin (52.51° N, 13.41° E, Bucharest (44.43° N, 26.10° E, Madrid (40.38° N, 3.71° W, Lisbon (38.71° N, 9.13° W, Paris (48.85° N, 2.35° E, Rome (41.9° N, 12.50° E, and Rotterdam (51.91° N, 4.46° E. We show that OMI NO2 tropospheric column data can be used to assess the evolution of NO2 over important European cities. According to the statistical analysis, using the seasonal variation, we found good correlations (R > 0.50 between OMI and ground-based in-situ observations for all of the cities presented in this work. Highest correlation coefficients (R > 0.80 between ground-based monitoring stations and OMI observations were calculated for the cities of Berlin, Madrid, and Rome. Both types of observations, in-situ and remote sensing, show an NO2 negative trend for all of locations presented in this study.

Assessment of trace ground-water contaminants release from south Texas in-situ uranium solution-mining sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kidwell, J.R.; Humenick, M.J.

1981-01-01

The future of uranium solution mining in south Texas depends heavily on the industry's ability to restore production zone ground water to acceptable standards. This study investigated the extent of trace contaminant solubilization during mining and subsequent restoration attempts, first through a literature search centered on uranium control mechanisms, and then by laboratory experiments simulating the mining process. The literature search indicated the complexity of the situation. The number of possible interactions between indigenous elements and materials pointed on the site specificity of the problem. The column studies evaluated three different production area ores. Uranium, molybdenum, arsenic, vanadium, and selenium were analyzed in column effluents. After simulated mining operations were completed, uranium was found to be the most persistent trace element. However, subsequent ground water flushing of the columns could restore in-situ water to EPA recommended drinking water concentrations. Limited data indicated that ground water flowing through mined areas may solubilize molybdenum present in down gradient areas adjacent to the production zone due to increased oxidation potential of ground water if adequate restoration procedures are not followed.

Lying relies on the truth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Debey, E.; De Houwer, J.; Verschuere, B.

2014-01-01

Cognitive models of deception focus on the conflict-inducing nature of the truth activation during lying. Here we tested the counterintuitive hypothesis that the truth can also serve a functional role in the act of lying. More specifically, we examined whether the construction of a lie can involve a

In-Situ and Remote-Sensing Data Fusion Using Machine Learning Techniques to Infer Urban and Fire Related Pollution Plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, P. B.; Segal-Rozenhaimer, M.; Schmid, B.; Redemann, J.; Livingston, J. M.; Flynn, C.J.; Johnson, R. R.; Dunagan, S. E.; Shinozuka, Y.; Kacenelenbogen, M.;

Level set segmentation of bovine corpora lutea in ex situ ovarian ultrasound images

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Adams Gregg P

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The objective of this study was to investigate the viability of level set image segmentation methods for the detection of corpora lutea (corpus luteum, CL boundaries in ultrasonographic ovarian images. It was hypothesized that bovine CL boundaries could be located within 1–2 mm by a level set image segmentation methodology. Methods Level set methods embed a 2D contour in a 3D surface and evolve that surface over time according to an image-dependent speed function. A speed function suitable for segmentation of CL's in ovarian ultrasound images was developed. An initial contour was manually placed and contour evolution was allowed to proceed until the rate of change of the area was sufficiently small. The method was tested on ovarian ultrasonographic images (n = 8 obtained ex situ. A expert in ovarian ultrasound interpretation delineated CL boundaries manually to serve as a "ground truth". Accuracy of the level set segmentation algorithm was determined by comparing semi-automatically determined contours with ground truth contours using the mean absolute difference (MAD, root mean squared difference (RMSD, Hausdorff distance (HD, sensitivity, and specificity metrics. Results and discussion The mean MAD was 0.87 mm (sigma = 0.36 mm, RMSD was 1.1 mm (sigma = 0.47 mm, and HD was 3.4 mm (sigma = 2.0 mm indicating that, on average, boundaries were accurate within 1–2 mm, however, deviations in excess of 3 mm from the ground truth were observed indicating under- or over-expansion of the contour. Mean sensitivity and specificity were 0.814 (sigma = 0.171 and 0.990 (sigma = 0.00786, respectively, indicating that CLs were consistently undersegmented but rarely did the contour interior include pixels that were judged by the human expert not to be part of the CL. It was observed that in localities where gradient magnitudes within the CL were strong due to high contrast speckle, contour expansion stopped too early. Conclusion The

AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE. TRUTH COMMISSIONS AND CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS

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Michael DELOACH

2015-04-01

Full Text Available For societies suffering in the wake of a repressive regime, truth commissions may be a necessary compromise regarding the form of transitional justice pursued, but they can still play a far-reaching role in the democratization of civil-military relations. Because the perpetrators of past abuses are likely to continue to wield some level of power at the time of transition, prosecution of these members may be politically infeasible. Lacking the mandate to prosecute guilty parties or implement recommendations, truth commissions can still lay the foundation for a new era of civil-military relations. By distinguishing contemporary institutions from their past acts, revealing the patterns that allowed abuses to be carried out , and helping garner the political will for reforms, truth commissions can provide the impetus for the security sector reforms necessary to ensure a democratic future.

A Bayesian truth serum for subjective data.

Science.gov (United States)

Prelec, Drazen

2004-10-15

Subjective judgments, an essential information source for science and policy, are problematic because there are no public criteria for assessing judgmental truthfulness. I present a scoring method for eliciting truthful subjective data in situations where objective truth is unknowable. The method assigns high scores not to the most common answers but to the answers that are more common than collectively predicted, with predictions drawn from the same population. This simple adjustment in the scoring criterion removes all bias in favor of consensus: Truthful answers maximize expected score even for respondents who believe that their answer represents a minority view.

Goedel, truth and proof

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peregrin, Jaroslav

2007-01-01

The usual way of interpreting Goedel's (1931) incompleteness result is as showing that there is a gap between truth and provability, i.e. that we can never prove everything that is true. Moreover, this result is supposed to show that there are unprovable truths which we can know to be true. This, so the story goes, shows that we are more than machines that are restricted to acting as proof systems. Hence our minds are 'not mechanical'

TRUTH AS DETERMINANT OF RELIGIOUS FAITH

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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engendered by either the myths of the religion or the historical personages. The truth we intend to .... personage and source of Islamic religion was an orphan boy Muhammad, born ... The Fundamental Truth about Some Religions of the World.

Heart Truth

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... health! Get a free badge or banner to post to your website or blog. Are you at risk for heart disease? Here's how to find out . Planning to use The Heart Truth logo? Check out our logo guidelines and downloads. ...

The Logic of Truth in Paraconsistent Internal Realism

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Manuel Bremer

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses which modal principles should hold for a truth operator answering to the truth theory of internal realism. It turns out that the logic of truth in internal realism is isomorphic to the modal system S4.

[Medicine and truth: between science and narrative].

Science.gov (United States)

Materia, Enrico; Baglio, Giovanni

2009-01-01

To which idea of truth may medicine refer? Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is rooted in the scientific truth. To explain the meaning and to trace the evolution of scientific truth, this article outlines the history of the Scientific Revolution and of the parable of Modernity, up to the arrival of pragmatism and hermeneutics. Here, the concept of truth becomes somehow discomfiting and the momentum leans towards the integration of different points of view. The fuzzy set theory for the definition of disease, as well as the shift from disease to syndrome (which has operational relevance for geriatrics), seems to refer to a more complex perspective on knowledge, albeit one that is less defined as compared to the nosology in use. Supporters of narrative medicine seek the truth in the interpretation of the patients' stories, and take advantage of the medical humanities to find the truth in words, feelings and contact with the patients. Hence, it is possible to mention the parresia, which is the frank communication espoused by stoicism and epicureanism, a technical and ethical quality which allows one to care in the proper way, a true discourse for one's own moral stance. Meanwhile, EBM and narrative medicine are converging towards a point at which medicine is considered a practical knowledge. It is the perspective of complexity that as a zeitgeist explains these multiple instances and proposes multiplicity and uncertainty as key referents for the truth and the practice of medicine.

STS, symmetry and post-truth.

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Lynch, Michael

2017-08-01

This essay takes up a series of questions about the connection between 'symmetry' in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and 'post-truth' in contemporary politics. A recent editorial in this journal by Sergio Sismondo argues that current discussions of 'post-truth' have little to do with conceptions of 'symmetry' or with concerns about 'epistemic democracy' in STS, while others, such as Steve Fuller and Harry Collins, insist that there are such connections. The present essay discusses a series of questions about the meaning of 'post-truth' and 'symmetry', and the connections of those concepts to each other and to 'epistemic democracy'. The essay ends with a series of other questions about STS and contemporary politics, and an invitation to further discussions.

Evaluation of MODIS Land Surface Temperature with In Situ Snow Surface Temperature from CREST-SAFE

Science.gov (United States)

Perez Diaz, C. L.; Lakhankar, T.; Romanov, P.; Munoz, J.; Khanbilvardi, R.; Yu, Y.

2016-12-01

This paper presents the procedure and results of a temperature-based validation approach for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Surface Temperature (LST) product provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Terra and Aqua Earth Observing System satellites using in situ LST observations recorded at the Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center - Snow Analysis and Field Experiment (CREST-SAFE) during the years of 2013 (January-April) and 2014 (February-April). A total of 314 day and night clear-sky thermal images, acquired by the Terra and Aqua satellites, were processed and compared to ground-truth data from CREST-SAFE with a frequency of one measurement every 3 min. Additionally, this investigation incorporated supplementary analyses using meteorological CREST-SAFE in situ variables (i.e. wind speed, cloud cover, incoming solar radiation) to study their effects on in situ snow surface temperature (T-skin) and T-air. Furthermore, a single pixel (1km2) and several spatially averaged pixels were used for satellite LST validation by increasing the MODIS window size to 5x5, 9x9, and 25x25 windows for comparison. Several trends in the MODIS LST data were observed, including the underestimation of daytime values and nighttime values. Results indicate that, although all the data sets (Terra and Aqua, diurnal and nocturnal) showed high correlation with ground measurements, day values yielded slightly higher accuracy ( 1°C), both suggesting that MODIS LST retrievals are reliable for similar land cover classes and atmospheric conditions. Results from the CREST-SAFE in situ variables' analyses indicate that T-air is commonly higher than T-skin, and that a lack of cloud cover results in: lower T-skin and higher T-air minus T-skin difference (T-diff). Additionally, the study revealed that T-diff is inversely proportional to cloud cover, wind speed, and incoming solar radiation. Increasing the MODIS window size

Truth, not truce: "common ground" on abortion, a movement within both movements.

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Kelly, J R

1995-01-01

This sociological study examines the "common ground" movement that arose among abortion activists in the US during the 1980s. The first application of the term "common ground" to joint efforts by abortion activists on both sides of the issue is traced, and its meaning to early organizers is described. Discussion continues on the complicated and elusive efforts on the part of grassroots organizations and conflict resolution groups to practice the common ground approach to abortion. The five characteristics of the seminal common ground group in St. Louis were that it resulted from a combined pro-life and pro-choice initiative, it involved activists who publicly distinguished common ground from moral compromise or political accommodation, the activists remained loyal to their abortion activities, the activists agreed to cooperate in efforts aimed at reducing the pressures on women to abort, and common ground involved identifying the overlaps in emerging social thinking. The conceptual difficulties involved with use of the term are included in the reasons given for its virtual disappearance from abortion reporting in the press, which was busy relaying incidents of violence at abortion clinics. The election of President Clinton also stole the momentum from the common ground movement. While the future of movements based on the concept of "common ground" as envisioned by the St. Louis group remains precarious, depending for success as it does on actually changing society, this use of the term bears witness that conflicting loyalties do not preclude the promotion of common good. This meaning of the term is worth pursuing in cultural controversies such as that posed by abortion.

Go fly a kite : air truthing replaces ground truthing for environmental investigations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eaton, S.

2008-05-15

This article discussed the use of kite aerial photography (KAP) in oil and gas exploration activities. KAP exhibits a minimal environmental footprint while providing high resolution airborne data of the Earth's surface in infrared and a variety of other media. The cost-effective technology is being employed by Alberta's oil and gas operators as well as by the environmental consulting sector. The kites fly at lower elevations than other remote sensing tools, and yield better spatial resolution on the ground. KAP can map the Earth's surface at a scale of investigation on the order of 5 to 10 centimetres. The images are placed into a geo-referenced mosaic along with poorer resolution remote sensing tools. A KAP kit can be assembled for under $1000. By using infrared KAP images, operators are able to determine the health of muskeg and swamp areas and measure the rate of photosynthesis of plants. KAP is also used to evaluate troublesome wellsite by reclamation groups. The next generation of sensors will include radio-controlled drones and miniature aircraft. 6 figs.

The Truth and Harriet Martineau: Interpreting a Life.

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Weiner, Gaby

This paper explores the difficulty of claims to truth in the analysis of the life of the Victorian feminist, reformer, educationist, and celebrity, Harriet Martineau (1802-76). She was widely known as a truthful person. For example, her contemporary, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote in 1845 that "her love of the truth is proverbial…

Power and Truth in Foucault and Habermas

OpenAIRE

Oliveira, Amurabi; Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

2014-01-01

Current paper examines how truth is enmeshed with power in Foucault´s and Habermas´s theories, highlighting similarities and differences within the two theoretical perspectives. If, on the one hand, truth in Foucault is based on a monologic imposition, on the other hand, Habermas insists on the dialogic understanding of the truth, although in both cases, related to power, at opposite positions, as Habermas himself points out in ‘The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity’. Foucault takes on a c...

Comparison of GOME tropospheric NO2 columns with NO2 profiles deduced from ground-based in situ measurements

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Schaub, D.; Boersma, K. F.; Kaiser, J. W.; Weiss, A. K.; Folini, D.; Eskes, H. J.; Buchmann, B.

2006-08-01

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) vertical tropospheric column densities (VTCs) retrieved from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) are compared to coincident ground-based tropospheric NO2 columns. The ground-based columns are deduced from in situ measurements at different altitudes in the Alps for 1997 to June 2003, yielding a unique long-term comparison of GOME NO2 VTC data retrieved by a collaboration of KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) and BIRA/IASB (Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy) with independently derived tropospheric NO2 profiles. A first comparison relates the GOME retrieved tropospheric columns to the tropospheric columns obtained by integrating the ground-based NO2 measurements. For a second comparison, the tropospheric profiles constructed from the ground-based measurements are first multiplied with the averaging kernel (AK) of the GOME retrieval. The second approach makes the comparison independent from the a priori NO2 profile used in the GOME retrieval. This allows splitting the total difference between the column data sets into two contributions: one that is due to differences between the a priori and the ground-based NO2 profile shapes, and another that can be attributed to uncertainties in both the remaining retrieval parameters (such as, e.g., surface albedo or aerosol concentration) and the ground-based in situ NO2 profiles. For anticyclonic clear sky conditions the comparison indicates a good agreement between the columns (n=157, R=0.70/0.74 for the first/second comparison approach, respectively). The mean relative difference (with respect to the ground-based columns) is -7% with a standard deviation of 40% and GOME on average slightly underestimating the ground-based columns. Both data sets show a similar seasonal behaviour with a distinct maximum of spring NO2 VTCs. Further analysis indicates small GOME columns being systematically smaller than the ground-based ones. The influence of different shapes in the a priori and

Truth, body and religion

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Jarl-Thure Eriksson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is based on the words of welcome to the symposium on Religion and the Body on 16 June 2010. In a religious context ‘truth’ is like a mantra, a certain imperative to believe in sacred things. The concept of truth and falseness arises, when we as humans compare reality, as we experience it through our senses, with the representation we have in our memory, a comparison of new information with stored information. If we look for the truth, we have to search in the human mind. There we will also find religion.

Ethics and Truth in Archival Research

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Tesar, Marek

2015-01-01

The complexities of the ethics and truth in archival research are often unrecognised or invisible in educational research. This paper complicates the process of collecting data in the archives, as it problematises notions of ethics and truth in the archives. The archival research took place in the former Czechoslovakia and its turbulent political…

Truth and falsehood an inquiry into generalized logical values

CERN Document Server

Shramko, Yaroslav

2012-01-01

Here is a thoroughly elaborated logical theory of generalized truth-values, presenting the idea of a trilattice of truth values - a specific algebraic structure with information ordering and two distinct logical orderings, one for truth and another for falsity.

Heart Health: The Heart Truth Campaign 2009

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... Bar Home Current Issue Past Issues Cover Story Heart Health The Heart Truth Campaign 2009 Past Issues / Winter 2009 Table ... one of the celebrities supporting this year's The Heart Truth campaign. Both R&B singer Ashanti (center) ...

Estimating Daily Maximum and Minimum Land Air Surface Temperature Using MODIS Land Surface Temperature Data and Ground Truth Data in Northern Vietnam

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Phan Thanh Noi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to evaluate quantitatively the land surface temperature (LST derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer MOD11A1 and MYD11A1 Collection 5 products for daily land air surface temperature (Ta estimation over a mountainous region in northern Vietnam. The main objective is to estimate maximum and minimum Ta (Ta-max and Ta-min using both TERRA and AQUA MODIS LST products (daytime and nighttime and auxiliary data, solving the discontinuity problem of ground measurements. There exist no studies about Vietnam that have integrated both TERRA and AQUA LST of daytime and nighttime for Ta estimation (using four MODIS LST datasets. In addition, to find out which variables are the most effective to describe the differences between LST and Ta, we have tested several popular methods, such as: the Pearson correlation coefficient, stepwise, Bayesian information criterion (BIC, adjusted R-squared and the principal component analysis (PCA of 14 variables (including: LST products (four variables, NDVI, elevation, latitude, longitude, day length in hours, Julian day and four variables of the view zenith angle, and then, we applied nine models for Ta-max estimation and nine models for Ta-min estimation. The results showed that the differences between MODIS LST and ground truth temperature derived from 15 climate stations are time and regional topography dependent. The best results for Ta-max and Ta-min estimation were achieved when we combined both LST daytime and nighttime of TERRA and AQUA and data from the topography analysis.

Does the Truth Matter in Science?

Science.gov (United States)

Lipton, Peter

2005-01-01

Is science in the truth business, discovering ever more about an independent and largely unobservable world? Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, two of the most important figures in science studies in the 20th century, gave accounts of science that are in some tension with the truth view. Their central claims about science are considered here, along with…

Objective Truth Institution in Criminal Procedure

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Voltornist O. A.

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the category of objective truth in criminal procedure, its importance for correct determination of criminal court procedure aims. The author analyzes also the bill draft offered by the RF Committee of Inquiry “On amending in the RF Criminal Procedure Code due to the implementation ofobjective truth institution in criminal procedure”

Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis without truth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henkelman, R.M.; Kay, I.; Bronskill, M.J.

1990-01-01

Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis, the preferred method of evaluating diagnostic imaging tests, requires an independent assessment of the true state of disease, which can be difficult to obtain and is often of questionable accuracy. A new method of analysis is described which does not require independent truth data and which can be used when several accurate tests are being compared. This method uses correlative information to estimate the underlying model of multivariate normal distributions of disease-positive and disease-negative patients. The method is shown to give results equivalent to conventional ROC analysis in a comparison of computed tomography, radionuclide scintigraphy, and magnetic resonance imaging for liver metastasis. When independent truth is available, the method can be extended to incorporate truth data or to evaluate the consistency of the truth data with the imaging data

Evaporation from bare ground with different water-table depths based on an in-situ experiment in Ordos Plateau, China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zaiyong; Wang, Wenke; Wang, Zhoufeng; Chen, Li; Gong, Chengcheng

2018-03-01

The dynamic processes of ground evaporation are complex and are related to a multitude of factors such as meteorological influences, water-table depth, and materials in the unsaturated zone. To investigate ground evaporation from a homogeneous unsaturated zone, an in-situ experiment was conducted in Ordos Plateau of China. Two water-table depths were chosen to explore the water movement in the unsaturated zone and ground evaporation. Based on the experimental and calculated results, it was revealed that (1) bare ground evaporation is an atmospheric-limited stage for the case of water-table depth being close to the capillary height; (2) the bare ground evaporation is a water-storage-limited stage for the case of water-table depth being beyond the capillary height; (3) groundwater has little effect on ground-surface evaporation when the water depth is larger than the capillary height; and (4) ground evaporation is greater at nighttime than that during the daytime; and (5) a liquid-vapor interaction zone at nearly 20 cm depth is found, in which there exists a downward vapor flux on sunny days, leading to an increasing trend of soil moisture between 09:00 to 17:00; the maximum value is reached at midday. The results of this investigation are useful to further understand the dynamic processes of ground evaporation in arid areas.

Combining Remote Temperature Sensing with in-Situ Sensing to Track Marine/Freshwater Mixing Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaul, Margaret; Barland, Jack; Cleary, John; Cahalane, Conor; McCarthy, Tim; Diamond, Dermot

2016-08-31

The ability to track the dynamics of processes in natural water bodies on a global scale, and at a resolution that enables highly localised behaviour to be visualized, is an ideal scenario for understanding how local events can influence the global environment. While advances in in-situ chem/bio-sensing continue to be reported, costs and reliability issues still inhibit the implementation of large-scale deployments. In contrast, physical parameters like surface temperature can be tracked on a global scale using satellite remote sensing, and locally at high resolution via flyovers and drones using multi-spectral imaging. In this study, we show how a much more complete picture of submarine and intertidal groundwater discharge patterns in Kinvara Bay, Galway can be achieved using a fusion of data collected from the Earth Observation satellite (Landsat 8), small aircraft and in-situ sensors. Over the course of the four-day field campaign, over 65,000 in-situ temperatures, salinity and nutrient measurements were collected in parallel with high-resolution thermal imaging from aircraft flyovers. The processed in-situ data show highly correlated patterns between temperature and salinity at the southern end of the bay where freshwater springs can be identified at low tide. Salinity values range from 1 to 2 ppt at the southern end of the bay to 30 ppt at the mouth of the bay, indicating the presence of a freshwater wedge. The data clearly show that temperature differences can be used to track the dynamics of freshwater and seawater mixing in the inner bay region. This outcome suggests that combining the tremendous spatial density and wide geographical reach of remote temperature sensing (using drones, flyovers and satellites) with ground-truthing via appropriately located in-situ sensors (temperature, salinity, chemical, and biological) can produce a much more complete and accurate picture of the water dynamics than each modality used in isolation.

Enhanced Site Characterization of the 618-4 Burial Ground

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murray, Christopher J.; Last, George V.; Chien, Yi-Ju

2001-09-25

This report describes the results obtained from deployment of the Enhanced Site Characterization System (ESCS) at the Hanford Site's 618-4 Burial Ground. The objective of this deployment was to use advanced geostatistical methods to integrate and interpret geophysical and ground truth data, to map the physical types of waste materials present in unexcavated portions of the burial ground. One issue of particularly interest was the number of drums (containing depleted uranium metal shavings or uranium-oxide powder) remaining in the burial ground and still requiring removal.Fuzzy adaptive resonance theory (ART), a neural network classification method, was used to cluster the study area into 3 classes based on their geophysical signatures. Multivariate statistical analyses and discriminant function analysis (DFA) indicated that the drum area as well as a second area (the SW anomaly) had similar geophysical signatures that were different from the rest of the burial ground. Further analysis of the drum area suggested that as many as 770 drums to 850 drums may remain in that area. Similarities between the geophysical signatures of the drum area and the SW anomaly suggested that excavation of the SW anomaly area also proceed with caution.Deployment of the ESCS technology was successful in integrating multiple geophysical variables and grouping these observations into clusters that are relevant for planning further excavation of the buried ground. However, the success of the technology could not be fully evaluated because reliable ground truth data were not available to enable calibration of the different geophysical signatures against actual waste types.

This Is My (Post) Truth, Tell Me Yours

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Martin

2017-01-01

This is a commentary on the article ‘The rise of post-truth populism in pluralist liberal democracies: challenges for health policy.’ It critically examines two of its key concepts: populism and ‘post truth.’ This commentary argues that there are different types of populism, with unclear links to impacts, and that in some ways, ‘post-truth’ has resonances with arguments advanced in the period at the beginning of the British National Health Service (NHS). In short, ‘post-truth’ populism’ may be ‘déjà vu all over again,’ and there are multiple (post) truths: this is my (post) truth, tell me yours. PMID:29172380

Comparison of GOME tropospheric NO2 columns with NO2 profiles deduced from ground-based in situ measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Schaub

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen dioxide (NO2 vertical tropospheric column densities (VTCs retrieved from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME are compared to coincident ground-based tropospheric NO2 columns. The ground-based columns are deduced from in situ measurements at different altitudes in the Alps for 1997 to June 2003, yielding a unique long-term comparison of GOME NO2 VTC data retrieved by a collaboration of KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and BIRA/IASB (Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy with independently derived tropospheric NO2 profiles. A first comparison relates the GOME retrieved tropospheric columns to the tropospheric columns obtained by integrating the ground-based NO2 measurements. For a second comparison, the tropospheric profiles constructed from the ground-based measurements are first multiplied with the averaging kernel (AK of the GOME retrieval. The second approach makes the comparison independent from the a priori NO2 profile used in the GOME retrieval. This allows splitting the total difference between the column data sets into two contributions: one that is due to differences between the a priori and the ground-based NO2 profile shapes, and another that can be attributed to uncertainties in both the remaining retrieval parameters (such as, e.g., surface albedo or aerosol concentration and the ground-based in situ NO2 profiles. For anticyclonic clear sky conditions the comparison indicates a good agreement between the columns (n=157, R=0.70/0.74 for the first/second comparison approach, respectively. The mean relative difference (with respect to the ground-based columns is −7% with a standard deviation of 40% and GOME on average slightly underestimating the ground-based columns. Both data sets show a similar seasonal behaviour with a distinct maximum of spring NO2 VTCs. Further analysis indicates small GOME columns being systematically smaller than the ground-based ones. The influence of different shapes in the a

La verità scientifica - Scientific truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Mazzeo

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A scientific theory is not a speculation. On the contrary it is based on facts and observations. Nevertheless the facts and the observations are unable to show us the truth about the world. Indeed to understand the facts or even to discover them through experiments we need a starting theory about the world. Therefore the world is not only discovered by us, but we can say that it is created by our brain. Facts are the constraints for the possible theories and theories are creations of our minds to understand the facts. There are no facts without a theory in mind, and there are no scientific theories about the world without facts. It is obvious therefore that science cannot give any absolute truth but “only” temporary truths which will change with new discoveries and theories. The scientific truth is therefore unstable: after few decades the concepts become unable to explain the news discoveries and become old, but the new concepts will include the old ones. This is called science progress. In this work we analyze all these points discussing the historical creation of the gravitational theory from Aristotle to Newton.

Verifiably Truthful Mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Branzei, Simina; Procaccia, Ariel D.

2015-01-01

the computational sense). Our approach involves three steps: (i) specifying the structure of mechanisms, (ii) constructing a verification algorithm, and (iii) measuring the quality of verifiably truthful mechanisms. We demonstrate this approach using a case study: approximate mechanism design without money...

Can partisan voting lead to truth?

Science.gov (United States)

Masuda, Naoki; Redner, S.

2011-02-01

We study an extension of the voter model in which each agent is endowed with an innate preference for one of two states that we term as 'truth' or 'falsehood'. Due to interactions with neighbors, an agent that innately prefers truth can be persuaded to adopt a false opinion (and thus be discordant with its innate preference) or the agent can possess an internally concordant 'true' opinion. Parallel states exist for agents that inherently prefer falsehood. We determine the conditions under which a population of such agents can ultimately reach a consensus for the truth, reach a consensus for falsehood, or reach an impasse where an agent tends to adopt the opinion that is in internal concordance with its innate preference with the outcome that consensus is never achieved.

The Medawar Lecture 2004 the truth about science.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipton, Peter

2005-06-29

The attitudes of scientists towards the philosophy of science is mixed and includes considerable indifference and some hostility. This may be due in part to unrealistic expectation and to misunderstanding. Philosophy is unlikely directly to improve scientific practices, but scientists may find the attempt to explain how science works and what it achieves of considerable interest nevertheless. The present state of the philosophy of science is illustrated by recent work on the 'truth hypothesis', according to which, science is generating increasingly accurate representations of a mind-independent and largely unobservable world. According to Karl Popper, although truth is the aim of science, it is impossible to justify the truth hypothesis. According to Thomas Kuhn, the truth hypothesis is false, because scientists can only describe a world that is partially constituted by their own theories and hence not mind-independent. The failure of past scientific theories has been used to argue against the truth hypothesis; the success of the best current theories has been used to argue for it. Neither argument is sound.

On authenticity: the question of truth in construction and autobiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Sara

2011-12-01

Freud was occupied with the question of truth and its verification throughout his work. He looked to archaeology for an evidence model to support his ideas on reconstruction. He also referred to literature regarding truth in reconstruction, where he saw shifts between historical fact and invention, and detected such swings in his own case histories. In his late work Freud pondered over the impossibility of truth in reconstruction by juxtaposing truth with 'probability'. Developments on the role of fantasy and myth in reconstruction and contemporary debates over objectivity have increasingly highlighted the question of 'truth' in psychoanalysis. I will argue that 'authenticity' is a helpful concept in furthering the discussion over truth in reconstruction. Authenticity denotes that which is genuine, trustworthy and emotionally accurate in a reconstruction, as observed within the immediacy of the analyst/patient interaction. As authenticity signifies genuineness in a contemporary context its origins are verifiable through the analyst's own observations of the analytic process itself. Therefore, authenticity is about the likelihood and approximation of historical truth rather than its certainty. In that respect it links with Freud's musings over 'probability'. Developments on writing 'truths' in autobiography mirror those in reconstruction, and lend corroborative support from another source. Copyright © 2011 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

An inconvenient truth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al, Gore

2007-01-01

Our climate crisis may at times appear to be happening slowly, but in fact it is happening very quickly-and has become a true planetary emergency. The Chinese expression for crisis consists of two characters. The first is a symbol for danger; the second is a symbol for opportunity. In order to face down the danger that is stalking us and move through it, we first have to recognize that we are facing a crisis. So why is it that our leaders seem not to hear such clarion warnings? Are they resisting the truth because they know that the moment they acknowledge it, they will face a moral imperative to act? Is it simply more convenient to ignore the warnings? Perhaps, but inconvenient truths do not go away just because they are not seen. Indeed, when they are responded to, their significance does not diminish; it grows. (author)

IN-SITU BIOREMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED GROUND WATER

Science.gov (United States)

This document is one in a series of Ground Water Issue papers which have been prepared in response to needs expressed by the Ground Water Forum. It is based on findings from the research community in concert with experience gained at sites undergoing remediation. the intent of th...

The application of in situ air sparging as an innovative soils and ground water remediation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marley, M.C.; Hazebrouck, D.J.; Walsh, M.T.

1992-01-01

Vapor extraction (soil venting) has been demonstrated to be a successful and cost-effective remediation technology for removing VOCs from the vadose (unsaturated) zone. However, in many cases, seasonal water table fluctuations, drawdown associated with pump-and-treat remediation techniques, and spills involving dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLS) create contaminated soil below the water table. Vapor extraction alone is not considered to be an optimal remediation technology to address this type of contamination. An innovative approach to saturated zone remediation is the use of sparging (injection) wells to inject a hydrocarbon-free gaseous medium (typically air) into the saturated zone below the areas of contamination. The contaminants dissolved in the ground water and sorbed onto soil particles partition into the advective air phase, effectively simulating an in situ air-stripping system. The stripped contaminants are transported in the gas phase to the vadose zone, within the radius of influence of a vapor extraction and vapor treatment system. In situ air sparging is a complex multifluid phase process, which has been applied successfully in Europe since the mid-1980s. To date, site-specific pilot tests have been used to design air-sparging systems. Research is currently underway to develop better engineering design methodologies for the process. Major design parameters to be considered include contaminant type, gas injection pressures and flow rates, site geology, bubble size, injection interval (areal and vertical) and the equipment specifications. Correct design and operation of this technology has been demonstrated to achieve ground water cleanup of VOC contamination to low part-per-billion levels

This Is My (Post) Truth, Tell Me Yours Comment on "The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy".

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Martin

2017-05-15

This is a commentary on the article 'The rise of post-truth populism in pluralist liberal democracies: challenges for health policy.' It critically examines two of its key concepts: populism and 'post truth.' This commentary argues that there are different types of populism, with unclear links to impacts, and that in some ways, 'post-truth' has resonances with arguments advanced in the period at the beginning of the British National Health Service (NHS). In short, 'post-truth' populism' may be 'déjà vu all over again,' and there are multiple (post) truths: this is my (post) truth, tell me yours. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Generation of Ground Truth Datasets for the Analysis of 3d Point Clouds in Urban Scenes Acquired via Different Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Y.; Sun, Z.; Boerner, R.; Koch, T.; Hoegner, L.; Stilla, U.

2018-04-01

In this work, we report a novel way of generating ground truth dataset for analyzing point cloud from different sensors and the validation of algorithms. Instead of directly labeling large amount of 3D points requiring time consuming manual work, a multi-resolution 3D voxel grid for the testing site is generated. Then, with the help of a set of basic labeled points from the reference dataset, we can generate a 3D labeled space of the entire testing site with different resolutions. Specifically, an octree-based voxel structure is applied to voxelize the annotated reference point cloud, by which all the points are organized by 3D grids of multi-resolutions. When automatically annotating the new testing point clouds, a voting based approach is adopted to the labeled points within multiple resolution voxels, in order to assign a semantic label to the 3D space represented by the voxel. Lastly, robust line- and plane-based fast registration methods are developed for aligning point clouds obtained via various sensors. Benefiting from the labeled 3D spatial information, we can easily create new annotated 3D point clouds of different sensors of the same scene directly by considering the corresponding labels of 3D space the points located, which would be convenient for the validation and evaluation of algorithms related to point cloud interpretation and semantic segmentation.

Using ground penetrating radar in levee assessment to detect small scale animal burrows

Science.gov (United States)

Chlaib, Hussein K.; Mahdi, Hanan; Al-Shukri, Haydar; Su, Mehmet M.; Catakli, Aycan; Abd, Najah

2014-04-01

Levees are civil engineering structures built to protect human lives, property, and agricultural lands during flood events. To keep these important structures in a safe condition, continuous monitoring must be performed regularly and thoroughly. Small rodent burrows are one of the major defects within levees; however, their early detection and repair helps in protecting levees during flooding events. A set of laboratory experiments was conducted to analyze the polarity change in GPR signals in the presence of subsurface voids and water-filled cavities. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys using multi frequency antennas (400 MHz and 900 MHz) were conducted along an 875 meter section of the Lollie Levee near Conway, Arkansas, USA, to assess the levee's structural integrity. Many subsurface animal burrows, water-filled cavities, clay clasts, and metallic objects were investigated and identified. These anomalies were located at different depths and have different sizes. To ground truth the observations, hand dug trenches were excavated to confirm several anomalies. Results show an excellent match between GPR interpreted anomalies and the observed features. In-situ dielectric constant measurements were used to calculate the feature depths. The results of this research show that the 900 MHz antenna has more advantages over the 400 MHz antenna.

Effects of the truth FinishIt brand on tobacco outcomes

OpenAIRE

Evans, W. Douglas; Rath, Jessica M.; Hair, Elizabeth C.; Snider, Jeremy Williams; Pitzer, Lindsay; Greenberg, Marisa; Xiao, Haijun; Cantrell, Jennifer; Vallone, Donna

2017-01-01

Since 2000, the truth campaign has grown as a social marketing brand. Back then, truth employed branding to compete directly with the tobacco industry. In 2014, the launch of truth FinishIt reflected changes in the brand's strategy, the tobacco control environment, and youth/young adult behavior.Building on a previous validation study, the current study examined brand equity in truth FinishIt, as measured by validated multi-dimensional scales, and tobacco related attitudes, beliefs, and behav...

The Philosophical Problem of Truth in Librarianship

Science.gov (United States)

Labaree, Robert V.; Scimeca, Ross

2008-01-01

The authors develop a framework for addressing the question of truth in librarianship and in doing so attempt to move considerations of truth closer to the core of philosophical debates within the profession. After establishing ways in which philosophy contributes to social scientific inquiry in library science, the authors examine concepts of…

Review of commonly used remote sensing and ground-based ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This review provides an overview of the use of remote sensing data, the development of spectral reflectance indices for detecting plant water stress, and the usefulness of field measurements for ground-truthing purposes. Reliable measurements of plant water stress over large areas are often required for management ...

In-situ high-resolution gamma-spectrometric survey of burial ground-monitoring wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowman, W.W.

1981-09-01

In situ high resolution gamma-ray spectrometry with an intrinsic germanium detector assembly of special design surveyed the burial ground monitoring wells to locate and identify gamma emitters that may have migrated from the burial trenches toward the water table. Gamma-ray spectra were acquired as a function of depth in each well and recorded on magnetic tape. These spectra were reduced by a series of computer programs to produce count rate versus depth profiles for natural and man-made activities. The original spectra and the profiles have been archived on magnetic tape for comparison with similar future surveys. Large amounts of man-made activities were observed in some of the burial trenches; however, below the trench bottoms, only very low but detectable amounts of 60 Co and 137 Cs were observed in eleven wells. The highest level of man-made gamma activity observed below the trench bottoms has a count rate roughly equal to that observed for uranium daughter activities which are natural to the subsoil

On a Philosophical Motivation for Mutilating Truth Tables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Silva

2016-06-01

Full Text Available One of the reasons colours, or better the conceptual organisation of the colour system, could be relevant to the philosophy of logic is that they necessitate some mutilation of truth tables by restricting truth functionality. This paper argues that the so-called ‘Colour Exclusion Problem’, the first great challenge for Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, is a legitimate philosophical motivation for a systematic mutilation of truth tables. It shows how one can express, through these mutilations, some intensional logical relations usually expressed by the Aristotelian Square of Oppositions, as contrariety and subcontrariety.

CRITERIA OF TRUTHFULNESS AND THE SCIENTIFIC QUALITY IN POST-MODERN KNOWLEDGE

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Olga Mukha

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This article examines the criteria of truth in post-modern philosophy, taking into account the ways it is defined in both the classical and non-classical traditions. Specific to post-modern philosophy is the absence of a universal language of narration and the traditional methods in which knowledge is recognized as legitimate. Basing himself on these concepts, the author examines the problem of the ideal of scientific quality and the transformations this idea has undergone in contemporary philosophy. Truth is understood basically through two means which govern our relation to truth: the will to truth and the concern for truth. These also appear as defining factors of truth in various types of post-modern philosophy: social-operative, social-political, and aesthetic

Truth and opinion in climate change discourse: the Gore-Hansen disagreement.

Science.gov (United States)

Russill, Chris

2011-11-01

In this paper, I discuss the "inconvenient truth" strategy of Al Gore. I argue that Gore's notion of truth upholds a conception of science and policy that narrows our understanding of climate change discourse. In one notable exchange, Gore and NASA scientist, James Hansen, disagreed about whether scientific statements based on Hansen's computer simulations were truth or opinion. This exchange is featured in An Inconvenient Truth, yet the disagreement is edited from the film and presented simply as an instance of Hansen speaking "inconvenient truth". In this article, I compare the filmic representation of Hansen's testimony with the congressional record. I place their exchange in a broader historical perspective on climate change disputation in order to discuss the implications of Gore's perspective on truth.

DID RAMSEY EVER ENDORSE A REDUNDANCY THEORY OF TRUTH?

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María J. Frápolli

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with Ramsey´s theory of truth and its aim is twofold: on the one hand, it will explain what position about truth Ramsey actually defended, and, on the other hand, we will pursue Ramsey’s insight in the XXth century. When the name of Frank Ramsey is mentioned, one of the things that comes to mind is the theory of truth as redundancy. In the following pages we will argue that Ramsey never supported such a theory, but rather an analysis of truth noticeably similar to the prosentential account. In fact, the very word “pro-sentence” appears for the first time in the XXth Century in Ramsey´s unfinished work “The nature of truth”, written around 1929. Besides, we will show that the prosentential account of truth is a neglected trend throughout the history of analytic philosophy, even though relevant analytic philosophers, such as Prior, Strawson, Williams, Grover and Brandom, have endorsed it.

Women's Heart Disease: Join the Heart Truth Community

Science.gov (United States)

... this page please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Women's Heart Disease Join The Heart Truth Community Past Issues / Winter 2014 Table of Contents National Symbol The centerpiece of The Heart Truth ® is The Red Dress ® which was introduced ...

The truth on journalism: relations between its practice and discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daiane Bertasso Ribeiro

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a theoretically approach over the relations that journalism establishes with the concept of truth. The notion of truth in Foucault leads the debate. This reflection centers on how journalism builds discursive strategies that produces effects of truth on itsreports. The journalist discourse presents itselfas truthful, although its constructive discourse of the world is a result of rules, practices and values. The debate of “truth” allows us to comprehend the complexity and particularities of journalism as a discursive practice that has reflection in the social knowledge of reality.

Realism without truth: a review of Giere's science without laws and scientific perspectivism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hackenberg, Timothy D

2009-05-01

An increasingly popular view among philosophers of science is that of science as action-as the collective activity of scientists working in socially-coordinated communities. Scientists are seen not as dispassionate pursuers of Truth, but as active participants in a social enterprise, and science is viewed on a continuum with other human activities. When taken to an extreme, the science-as-social-process view can be taken to imply that science is no different from any other human activity, and therefore can make no privileged claims about its knowledge of the world. Such extreme views are normally contrasted with equally extreme views of classical science, as uncovering Universal Truth. In Science Without Laws and Scientific Perspectivism, Giere outlines an approach to understanding science that finds a middle ground between these extremes. He acknowledges that science occurs in a social and historical context, and that scientific models are constructions designed and created to serve human ends. At the same time, however, scientific models correspond to parts of the world in ways that can legitimately be termed objective. Giere's position, perspectival realism, shares important common ground with Skinner's writings on science, some of which are explored in this review. Perhaps most fundamentally, Giere shares with Skinner the view that science itself is amenable to scientific inquiry: scientific principles can and should be brought to bear on the process of science. The two approaches offer different but complementary perspectives on the nature of science, both of which are needed in a comprehensive understanding of science.

REALISM WITHOUT TRUTH: A REVIEW OF GIERE'S SCIENCE WITHOUT LAWS AND SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVISM

Science.gov (United States)

Hackenberg, Timothy D

2009-01-01

An increasingly popular view among philosophers of science is that of science as action—as the collective activity of scientists working in socially-coordinated communities. Scientists are seen not as dispassionate pursuers of Truth, but as active participants in a social enterprise, and science is viewed on a continuum with other human activities. When taken to an extreme, the science-as-social-process view can be taken to imply that science is no different from any other human activity, and therefore can make no privileged claims about its knowledge of the world. Such extreme views are normally contrasted with equally extreme views of classical science, as uncovering Universal Truth. In Science Without Laws and Scientific Perspectivism, Giere outlines an approach to understanding science that finds a middle ground between these extremes. He acknowledges that science occurs in a social and historical context, and that scientific models are constructions designed and created to serve human ends. At the same time, however, scientific models correspond to parts of the world in ways that can legitimately be termed objective. Giere's position, perspectival realism, shares important common ground with Skinner's writings on science, some of which are explored in this review. Perhaps most fundamentally, Giere shares with Skinner the view that science itself is amenable to scientific inquiry: scientific principles can and should be brought to bear on the process of science. The two approaches offer different but complementary perspectives on the nature of science, both of which are needed in a comprehensive understanding of science. PMID:19949495

Truthfulness in science teachers’ bodily and verbal actions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugbjerg, Peer

2013-01-01

A dramaturgical approach to teacher’s personal bodily and verbal actions is applied through the vocabulary of truthfulness. Bodily and verbal actions have been investigated among Danish primary and lower secondary school science teachers based on their narratives and observations of their classroom...... actions. The analysis shows how science teachers engage truthfully in pupil relations through an effort of applying classroom management, among other things. In all, this indicates that if science education research wants to understand science teachers’ personal relations to teaching science it could...... be beneficial to address the truthfulness of science teachers’ narratives and actions....

The Truth of Sacred Scripture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Jelonek

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Article presents the history of contradiction between science and the Bible and how it was solved in Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum of the II Vatican Council. Since biblical truth was given to us “for the sake of our salvation,” and not in order to teach us natural science or history for their own sake, Sacred Scripture cannot be fairly judged to be in error when it sometimes presents historical or scientific truth in a less complete, less detailed, more popular, or more imprecise (i.e. merely approximate fashion than would be acceptable in modern texts dedicated formally to those disciplines.

The Metaphysical Assumptions of the Conception of Truth in Martin Smiglecki’s Logic

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Tomasz Pawlikowski

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The central element of the concept of truth in Smiglecki’s Logica (1618 is his approach to formulating definitions. Where the establishing of the truth is concerned, he always points to compliance at the level of the community (conformitas in respect of whether the intellectual recognition of a thing or things is in accordance with its intellectual equivalent, or the principles behind the latter, where these are understood as designating the corresponding idea inherent in the intellect of God. This is a form of the classical definition of truth --- similar to that used by St. Thomas Aquinas --- with a wide scope of applicability: to the field of existence (transcendental truth, to cognition and language (logical truth, and even to moral beliefs (moral rightness. Smiglecki distinguishes three types of truth: truth assigned to being, truth assigned to cognition, and truth assigned to moral convictions. Of these, the first is identified with transcendental truth, while the second is attributed not only to propositions and sentences, but also to concepts. The truth of concepts results from compliance with things by way of representation, while the truth of propositions and sentences issues from a compliance with things involving the implementation of some form of expression or other. Logical truth pertains to propositions rather than concepts. The kind of moral truth he writes about is what we would now be more likely to call “truthfulness”. With the exception of moral truth, which he defined as compliance of a statement with someone’s internal thoughts, Smiglecki considers every kind of truth to be a conditioned state of the object of knowledge. He says (a that the ultimate object of reference of human cognitive functioning is a real being, absolutely true by virtue of compliance with its internal principles and their idea as present in the intellect of God, and (b that the compatibility of human cognition with a real being is the ultimate

A Robust Bayesian Truth Serum for Non-binary Signals

OpenAIRE

Radanovic, Goran; Faltings, Boi

2013-01-01

Several mechanisms have been proposed for incentivizing truthful reports of a private signals owned by rational agents, among them the peer prediction method and the Bayesian truth serum. The robust Bayesian truth serum (RBTS) for small populations and binary signals is particularly interesting since it does not require a common prior to be known to the mechanism. We further analyze the problem of the common prior not known to the mechanism and give several results regarding the restrictions ...

Descartes on the Creation of the Eternal Truths

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Danielle Macbeth

2017-06-01

Full Text Available On 15 April 1630, in a letter to Mersenne, Descartes announced that on his view God creates the truths of mathematics. Descartes returned to the theme in subsequent letters and some of his Replies but nowhere is the view systematically developed and defended. It is not clear why Descartes came to espouse the creation doctrine, nor even what exactly it is. Some have argued that his motivation was theological, that God creates the eternal truths, including the truths of logic, because and insofar as God is omnipotent andthe creator of all things. I develop and defend a different reading according to which Descartes was led to espouse the creation doctrine by a fundamental shift in his understanding of the correct mode of inquiry in metaphysics and mathematics: by 1630, the God-created truths came to play the role in inquiry that until then, in the Rules for the Direction of the Mind, had been played by images.

The source of the truth bias: Heuristic processing?

Science.gov (United States)

Street, Chris N H; Masip, Jaume

2015-06-01

People believe others are telling the truth more often than they actually are; this is called the truth bias. Surprisingly, when a speaker is judged at multiple points across their statement the truth bias declines. Previous claims argue this is evidence of a shift from (biased) heuristic processing to (reasoned) analytical processing. In four experiments we contrast the heuristic-analytic model (HAM) with alternative accounts. In Experiment 1, the decrease in truth responding was not the result of speakers appearing more deceptive, but was instead attributable to the rater's processing style. Yet contrary to HAMs, across three experiments we found the decline in bias was not related to the amount of processing time available (Experiments 1-3) or the communication channel (Experiment 2). In Experiment 4 we found support for a new account: that the bias reflects whether raters perceive the statement to be internally consistent. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Truth in Philosophy

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Tibor R. Machan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Can there be truth in philosophy? A problem: it is philosophy, its various schools, that advances what counts as true versus false, how to go about making the distinction. This is what I wish to focus on here and see if some coherent, sensible position could be reached on the topic.

Use of in-situ Dual Vacuum Extraction trademark for remediation of soil and ground water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodson, M.E.; Trowbridge, B.E.; Ott, D.

1994-01-01

Dual Vacuum Extraction trademark provides a rapid and cost-effective method of remediating soil and ground water contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The system involves the removal of both water and vapors through the same borehole by use of entrainment. This technology provides for the remediation of the vadose zone, capillary fringe, smear zone, and existing water table. The effectiveness of this technology is shown in a case study. A release from an underground storage tank was responsible for a hydrocarbon plume spreading over approximately 50,000 ft 2 . The release produced vadose-zone contamination in the silty and sandy clays from 10 to 30 ft below ground surface (bgs) with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations up to 1,400 mg/kg. In addition, a layer of free-floating liquid hydrocarbon was present on a shallow aquifer located at 25 ft bgs in thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 ft. An in-situ dual-extraction system was installed to remediate the soils and ground water to levels as required by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). The system operated 24 hr a day, with an operating efficiency of over 99%. After 196 days (28 weeks), over 17,000 lb of hydrocarbons had been extracted from the soils. Seven confirmatory soil borings in the area of highest initial hydrocarbon concentrations indicated that TPH and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene (BTEX) concentrations had decreased over 99% from initial soil concentrations

Highly Sensitive Tunable Diode Laser Spectrometers for In Situ Planetary Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Vasudev, Ram; Mansour, Kamjou; Webster, Christopher R.

2013-01-01

This paper describes highly sensitive tunable diode laser spectrometers suitable for in situ planetary exploration. The technology developed at JPL is based on wavelength modulated cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. It is capable of sensitively detecting chemical signatures of life through the abundance of biogenic molecules and their isotopic composition, and chemicals such as water necessary for habitats of life. The technology would be suitable for searching for biomarkers, extinct life, potential habitats of extant life, and signatures of ancient climates on Mars; and for detecting biomarkers, prebiotic chemicals and habitats of life in the outer Solar System. It would be useful for prospecting for water on the Moon and asteroids, and characterizing its isotopic composition. Deployment on the Moon could provide ground truth to the recent remote measurements and help to uncover precious records of the early bombardment history of the inner Solar System buried at the shadowed poles, and elucidate the mechanism for the generation of near-surface water in the illuminated regions. The technology would also be useful for detecting other volatile molecules in planetary atmospheres and subsurface reservoirs, isotopic characterization of planetary materials, and searching for signatures of extinct life preserved in solid matrices.

Keep Changing Your Beliefs, Aiming for the Truth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baltag, Alexandru; Smets, Sonja

We investigate the process of truth-seeking by iterated belief revision with higher-level doxastic information. We elaborate further on the main results in Baltag and Smets (Proceedings of TARK, 2009a, Proceedings of WOLLIC'09 LNAI 5514, 2009b), applying them to the issue of convergence to truth. We

In-Situ Load System for Calibrating and Validating Aerodynamic Properties of Scaled Aircraft in Ground-Based Aerospace Testing Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Commo, Sean A. (Inventor); Lynn, Keith C. (Inventor); Landman, Drew (Inventor); Acheson, Michael J. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

An In-Situ Load System for calibrating and validating aerodynamic properties of scaled aircraft in ground-based aerospace testing applications includes an assembly having upper and lower components that are pivotably interconnected. A test weight can be connected to the lower component to apply a known force to a force balance. The orientation of the force balance can be varied, and the measured forces from the force balance can be compared to applied loads at various orientations to thereby develop calibration factors.

Optimized autonomous space in-situ sensor web for volcano monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Song, W.-Z.; Shirazi, B.; Huang, R.; Xu, M.; Peterson, N.; LaHusen, R.; Pallister, J.; Dzurisin, D.; Moran, S.; Lisowski, M.; Kedar, S.; Chien, S.; Webb, F.; Kiely, A.; Doubleday, J.; Davies, A.; Pieri, D.

2010-01-01

In response to NASA's announced requirement for Earth hazard monitoring sensor-web technology, a multidisciplinary team involving sensor-network experts (Washington State University), space scientists (JPL), and Earth scientists (USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO)), have developed a prototype of dynamic and scalable hazard monitoring sensor-web and applied it to volcano monitoring. The combined Optimized Autonomous Space In-situ Sensor-web (OASIS) has two-way communication capability between ground and space assets, uses both space and ground data for optimal allocation of limited bandwidth resources on the ground, and uses smart management of competing demands for limited space assets. It also enables scalability and seamless infusion of future space and in-situ assets into the sensor-web. The space and in-situ control components of the system are integrated such that each element is capable of autonomously tasking the other. The ground in-situ was deployed into the craters and around the flanks of Mount St. Helens in July 2009, and linked to the command and control of the Earth Observing One (EO-1) satellite. ?? 2010 IEEE.

Combining Remote Temperature Sensing with in-Situ Sensing to Track Marine/Freshwater Mixing Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret McCaul

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The ability to track the dynamics of processes in natural water bodies on a global scale, and at a resolution that enables highly localised behaviour to be visualized, is an ideal scenario for understanding how local events can influence the global environment. While advances in in-situ chem/bio-sensing continue to be reported, costs and reliability issues still inhibit the implementation of large-scale deployments. In contrast, physical parameters like surface temperature can be tracked on a global scale using satellite remote sensing, and locally at high resolution via flyovers and drones using multi-spectral imaging. In this study, we show how a much more complete picture of submarine and intertidal groundwater discharge patterns in Kinvara Bay, Galway can be achieved using a fusion of data collected from the Earth Observation satellite (Landsat 8, small aircraft and in-situ sensors. Over the course of the four-day field campaign, over 65,000 in-situ temperatures, salinity and nutrient measurements were collected in parallel with high-resolution thermal imaging from aircraft flyovers. The processed in-situ data show highly correlated patterns between temperature and salinity at the southern end of the bay where freshwater springs can be identified at low tide. Salinity values range from 1 to 2 ppt at the southern end of the bay to 30 ppt at the mouth of the bay, indicating the presence of a freshwater wedge. The data clearly show that temperature differences can be used to track the dynamics of freshwater and seawater mixing in the inner bay region. This outcome suggests that combining the tremendous spatial density and wide geographical reach of remote temperature sensing (using drones, flyovers and satellites with ground-truthing via appropriately located in-situ sensors (temperature, salinity, chemical, and biological can produce a much more complete and accurate picture of the water dynamics than each modality used in isolation.

Helping medical students to acquire a deeper understanding of truth-telling.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Samia A; Baroffio, Anne; Ummel, Marinette; Burn, Carine Layat

2015-01-01

Truth-telling is an important component of respect for patients' self-determination, but in the context of breaking bad news, it is also a distressing and difficult task. We investigated the long-term influence of a simulated patient-based teaching intervention, integrating learning objectives in communication skills and ethics into students' attitudes and concerns regarding truth-telling. We followed two cohorts of medical students from the preclinical third year to their clinical rotations (fifth year). Open-ended responses were analysed to explore medical students' reported difficulties in breaking bad news. This intervention was implemented during the last preclinical year of a problem-based medical curriculum, in collaboration between the doctor-patient communication and ethics programs. Over time, concerns such as empathy and truthfulness shifted from a personal to a relational focus. Whereas 'truthfulness' was a concern for the content of the message, 'truth-telling' included concerns on how information was communicated and how realistically it was received. Truth-telling required empathy, adaptation to the patient, and appropriate management of emotions, both for the patient's welfare and for a realistic understanding of the situation. Our study confirms that an intervention confronting students with a realistic situation succeeds in making them more aware of the real issues of truth-telling. Medical students deepened their reflection over time, acquiring a deeper understanding of the relational dimension of values such as truth-telling, and honing their view of empathy.

News, truth and crime: the Westray disaster and its aftermath

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McMullan, J.L. [Saint Mary' s University, Halifax, NS (Canada). Department of Sociology and Criminology

2005-07-01

A study of the way the media portrayed the Westray Mine disaster and its aftermath over the period 1992 to 2002 is presented. The chapters titles are; power, discourse, and the production of news as truth; the explosion and its aftermath; studying the press and Westray; the press and the presentation of Westray's truth; and the politics of truth and the invisibility of corporate crime. News articles reporting the accident and outcome were sampled, coded, and evaluated by content analysis. It is concluded that the various media represented alternative truths, but did not label the corporation as criminal. This was missing from the media's reporting of the disaster.

Bargaining for Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: A Game ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bargaining for Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: A Game-Theoretic Analysis. ... Using game-theoreticanalysis, the authors model the truth-amnesty game and predict the optimal commission strategy. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

The Autobiographical Photo-textual Devices. Rhetorics and Truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberta Coglitore

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The case of autobiographical photo-texts is to be analyzed, first of all, as an autobiographical writing that feels the need to express by other means; secondly, as a specific rhetoric practice that chooses the image, next to the word, as a further persuasive force; finally, as a very special case of icono-texts, which uses some variety of the connection between the verbal and the visual. It is not only a matter of analyzing how it works the cooperation between photographs and autobiographical writing, that is, through which connectors – frames, white space, overlays and captions –, but also of understanding what are the functions of the photographs in relation to literature. This is in order to understand what truth is affirmed in the examples chosen: Franca Valeri, Grégoire Bouillier, Roland Barthes, Winfried G. Sebald, Lalla Romano, Jovanotti, Edward Said, Azar Nafisi, Vladimir Nabokov, André Breton, Hannah Höch, Annie Ernaux. Do photographs expose, confirm, add or resist the truth expressed by the literary side? And if narrative expresses the truth and the resistance to the truth of the author himself, what does the photo resist to, while showing?

Design and Feasibility Testing of the truth FinishIt Tobacco Countermarketing Brand Equity Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Rath, Jessica; Pitzer, Lindsay; Hair, Elizabeth C; Snider, Jeremy; Cantrell, Jennifer; Vallone, Donna

2016-07-01

The original truth campaign was a branded, national smoking prevention mass media effort focused on at-risk youth ages 12-17. Today the truth brand focuses on the goal of finishing tobacco (truth FinishIt). There have been significant changes in the tobacco control landscape, leading FinishIt to focus on 15- to 21-year-olds. The present article reports on formative research and media monitoring data collected to pilot test a new truth FinishIt brand equity scale. The goals of this study were to (a) content analyze truth FinishIt mass media ads, (b) assess truth's social media and followers' perceptions of truth's digital brand identity, and (c) develop and feasibility test a new version of the truth FinishIt brand equity scale using data from an existing Truth Initiative media monitoring study. Through factor analysis, we identified a brand equity scale, as in previous research, consisting of 4 main constructs: brand loyalty, leadership/satisfaction, personality, and awareness. Targeted truth attitudes and beliefs about social perceptions, acceptability, and industry-related beliefs were regressed on the higher order factor and each of the 4 individual brand equity factors. Ordinary least squares regression models generally showed associations in the expected directions (positive for anti-tobacco and negative for pro-tobacco) between targeted attitudes/beliefs and truth FinishIt brand equity. This study succeeded in developing and validating a new truth FinishIt brand equity scale. The scale may be a valuable metric for future campaign evaluation. Future studies should examine the effects of truth FinishIt brand equity on tobacco use behavioral outcomes over time.

Bargaining for Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: A Game ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bargaining for Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: A Game-Theoretic Analysis. ... Using game-theoretic analysis, the authors model the truth-amnesty game and predict the optimal commission strategy. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Thoughts on Chemistry and Scientific Truth in Post-Factual Times.

Science.gov (United States)

Schreiner, Peter R

2018-04-19

"… The value and meaning of scientific truth has not been overcome by postmodernism or post-factual tendencies. Just because politics is mostly a representation of opinions, this does not imply that truth has become irrelevant. Quite the opposite, the value of truth is growing in turbulent times and for scientists it constitutes the currency of credibility and accountability …" Read more in the Guest Editorial by Peter R. Schreiner. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Truth telling in medical practice: students' opinions versus their observations of attending physicians' clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Woung-Ru; Fang, Ji-Tseng; Fang, Chun-Kai; Fujimori, Maiko

2013-07-01

Truth telling or transmitting bad news is a problem that all doctors must frequently face. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate if medical students' opinions of truth telling differed from their observations of attending physicians' actual clinical practice. The subjects were 275 medical clerks/interns at a medical center in northern Taiwan. Data were collected on medical students' opinions of truth telling, their observations of physicians' clinical practice, students' level of satisfaction with truth telling practiced by attending physicians, and cancer patients' distress level when they were told the truth. Students' truth-telling awareness was significantly higher than the clinical truth-telling practice of attending physicians (pmedical students' opinions on truth telling and attending physicians' actual clinical practice. More research is needed to objectively assess physicians' truth telling in clinical practice and to study the factors affecting the method of truth telling used by attending physicians in clinical practice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Midlatitude ice-rich ground on mars as a target in the search for evidence of life and for in situ resource utilization on human missions.

Science.gov (United States)

Heldmann, J L; Schurmeier, L; McKay, C; Davila, A; Stoker, C; Marinova, M; Wilhelm, M B

2014-02-01

Midlatitude ground ice on Mars is of significant scientific interest for understanding the history and evolution of ice stability on Mars and is relevant for human exploration as a possible in situ resource. For both science and exploration, assessing the astrobiological potential of the ice is important in terms of (1) understanding the potential for life on Mars and (2) evaluating the presence of possible biohazards in advance of human exploration. In the present study, we review the evidence for midlatitude ground ice on Mars, discuss the possible explanations for its occurrence, and assess its potential habitability. During the course of study, we systematically analyzed remote-sensing data sets to determine whether a viable landing site exists in the northern midlatitudes to enable a robotic mission that conducts in situ characterization and searches for evidence of life in the ice. We classified each site according to (1) presence of polygons as a proxy for subsurface ice, (2) presence and abundance of rough topographic obstacles (e.g., large cracks, cliffs, uneven topography), (3) rock density, (4) presence and abundance of large boulders, and (5) presence of craters. We found that a suitable landing site exists within Amazonis Planitia near ground ice that was recently excavated by a meteorite impact.

Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yann Allard-Tremblay

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a conception of corruption informed by epistemic democratic theory. I first explain the view of corruption as a disease of the political body. Following this view, we have to consider the type of actions that debase a political entity of its constitutive principal in order to assess corruption. Accordingly, we need to consider what the constitutive principle of democracy is. This is the task I undertake in the second section where I explicate democratic legitimacy. I present democracy as a procedure of social inquiry about what ought to be done that includes epistemic and practical considerations. In the third section, I argue that the problem of corruption for a procedural conception of democracy is that the epistemic value of the procedure is diminished by corrupted agents’ lack of concern for truth. Corruption, according to this view, consists in two deformities of truth: lying and bullshit. These deformities corrupt since they conceal private interests under the guise of a concern for truth. In the fourth section, I discuss the difficulties a procedural account may face in formulating solutions to the problem of corruption.

Experience, Poetry and Truth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gahrn-Andersen, Rasmus

2017-01-01

of philosophical thinking. Specifically, I show that, beneath a highly poetic and obscure prose, Jünger posits how subjective experience and poetry allow individuals to realize truth. I relate parts of Jünger’s insights to contributions by Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, arguing that Jünger offers a unique...

In-situ Calibration of Ground -based Lidar instrument

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georgieva Yankova, Ginka; Villanueva, Héctor

This report presents the result of the lidar in-situ calibration performed at DTU’s test site for large wind turbine at Østerild, Denmark. Calibration is here understood as the establishment of a relation between the reference wind speed measurements with measurement uncertainties provided by mea...

Helping medical students to acquire a deeper understanding of truth-telling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samia A. Hurst

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Problem: Truth-telling is an important component of respect for patients’ self-determination, but in the context of breaking bad news, it is also a distressing and difficult task. Intervention: We investigated the long-term influence of a simulated patient-based teaching intervention, integrating learning objectives in communication skills and ethics into students’ attitudes and concerns regarding truth-telling. We followed two cohorts of medical students from the preclinical third year to their clinical rotations (fifth year. Open-ended responses were analysed to explore medical students’ reported difficulties in breaking bad news. Context: This intervention was implemented during the last preclinical year of a problem-based medical curriculum, in collaboration between the doctor–patient communication and ethics programs. Outcome: Over time, concerns such as empathy and truthfulness shifted from a personal to a relational focus. Whereas ‘truthfulness’ was a concern for the content of the message, ‘truth-telling’ included concerns on how information was communicated and how realistically it was received. Truth-telling required empathy, adaptation to the patient, and appropriate management of emotions, both for the patient's welfare and for a realistic understanding of the situation. Lessons learned: Our study confirms that an intervention confronting students with a realistic situation succeeds in making them more aware of the real issues of truth-telling. Medical students deepened their reflection over time, acquiring a deeper understanding of the relational dimension of values such as truth-telling, and honing their view of empathy.

The seventh servant: the implications of a truth drive in Bion's theory of 'O'.

Science.gov (United States)

Grotstein, James S

2004-10-01

Drawing upon Bion's published works on the subjects of truth, dreaming, alpha-function and transformations in 'O', the author independently postulates that there exists a 'truth instinctual drive' that subserves a truth principle, the latter of which is associated with the reality principle. Further, he suggests, following Bion's postulation, that 'alpha-function' and dreaming/phantasying constitute unconscious thinking processes and that they mediate the activity of this 'truth drive' (quest, pulsion), which the author hypothesizes constitutes another aspect of a larger entity that also includes the epistemophilic component drive. It purportedly seeks and transmits as well as includes what Bion (1965, pp. 147-9) calls 'O', the 'Absolute Truth, Ultimate Reality, O' (also associated with infinity, noumena or things-in-themselves, and 'godhead') (1970, p. 26). It is further hypothesized that the truth drive functions in collaboration with an 'unconscious consciousness' that is associated with the faculty of 'attention', which is also known as 'intuition'. It is responsive to internal psychical reality and constitutes Bion's 'seventh servant'. O, the ultimate landscape of psychoanalysis, has many dimensions, but the one that seems to interest Bion is that of the emotional experience of the analysand's and the analyst's 'evolving O' respectively (1970, p. 52) during the analytic session. The author thus hypothesizes that a sense of truth presents itself to the subject as a quest for truth which has the quality and force of an instinctual drive and constitutes the counterpart to the epistemophilic drive. This 'truth quest' or 'drive' is hypothesized to be the source of the generation of the emotional truth of one's ongoing experiences, both conscious and unconscious. It is proposed that emotions are beacons of truth in regard to the acceptance of reality. The concepts of an emotional truth drive and a truth principle would help us understand why analysands are able to

Bio-chemical remediation of under-ground water contaminated by uranium in-situ leaching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Qingliang; Li Qian; Zhang Hongcan; Hu Eming; Chen Yongbo

2014-01-01

In the process of uranium in-situ leaching, it was serious that strong acid, uranium and heavy metals, and SO_4"2"-, NO_3"- could contaminate underground water. To remedy these pollutants, conventional methods are high-cost and low-efficient, so a bio-chemical remediation method was proposed to cope with the under-ground water pollution in this study. The results showed, in the chemical treatment with Ca(OH)_2 neutralization, pH went up from 2.0 to 7.0, the removal rates of U, Mn"2"+, Zn"2"+, Pb"2"+, SO_4"2"-, NO_3"- were 91.5%, 78.3%, 85.1%, 100%, 71.4% and 2.6% respectively, SO_4"2"- and NO_3"- need to be treated again by bio-method. In the biological process, the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of bioreactor was controlled at 42 h, and 100% NO_3"- and 70% SO_4"2"- in the contaminated water were removed; Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. f) liquid to H_2S showed better absorption effect, can fully meet the process requirements of H_2S removal. (authors)

The Experience of Truth in Jazz Improvisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Jens Skou

2015-01-01

This is a book on truth, experience, and the interrelations between these two fundamental philosophical notions. The questions of truth and experience have their roots at the very heart of philosophy, both historically and thematically. This book gives an insight into how philosophers working...... in the fields of philosophical phenomenology and hermeneutics respond to challenges posed by these questions, not only in relation to the history of philosophy, but to philosophy itself. The book contains texts written by distinguished professors and in particular by young scholars. It is the result...

Truth, laws and the progress of science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Dorato

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper I analyze the difficult question of the truth of mature scientific theories by tackling the problem of the truth of laws. After introducing the main philosophical positions in the field of scientific realism, I discuss and then counter the two main arguments against realism, namely the pessimistic meta-induction and the abstract and idealized character of scientific laws. I conclude by defending the view that well-confirmed physical theories are true only relatively to certain values of the variables that appear in the laws.

How Does Telling the Truth Help Educational Action Research?

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Erik

2010-01-01

A number of key constructs underpin educational action research. This paper focuses on the concept of "truth" and by doing so hopes to highlight some debate in this area. In reflecting upon what "truth" might mean to those involved in action research, I shall critically evaluate Thorndike's "Law of Effect" and Bruner's "Three Forms of…

TESTING OF THE TRUTH IN ANDREI PLATONOV’S TALE THE FOUNDATION PIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Vladimirovna Zavarkina

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Analyzing the manuscript of Andrei Platonov’s tale The Foundation Pit and his early journalism the author traces the evolution of Platonov’s views on the problem of the search for the truth. Analysis of the dynamic transcription of the The Foundation Pit manuscript enabled to show that by the end of the 1920s Platonov had abandoned rationalistic interpretations of the concept of «truth», including in its "Bogdanov’s edition". Platonov increasingly questioned the capabilities of socialist science, based on materialism, to fi nd out the truth about the world, and changed his views on work as the only method of learning the truth. He departed from the materialistic concept of learning and shifted towards the religious and philosophical tradition: in the end the formula of P. Florensky "truth-estina (to be in existence" is getting more and more essential and it is outlined a shift of the concept of “truth” from a cognitive-materialistic category (“invent” / “to do” truth to an ontological and moral category.

What Justice for Rwanda? Gacaca versus Truth Commission?

OpenAIRE

Reuchamps, Min

2008-01-01

In post-genocide Rwanda, in addition to gacaca courts, a truth commission is needed in order to promote justice and foster reconciliation. In the context of transitional justice, retributive justice, which seeks justice and focuses on the perpetrators, appears to be inadequate to lead a society towards reconciliation. Therefore, some forms of restorative justice, which emphasize the healing of the whole society, seem necessary. In Rwanda, gacaca courts and a truth commission are complementary...

Sojourner Truth as an Essential Part of Rhetorical Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Romans, Bevin A.

To affirm Sojourner Truth as a powerful rhetor who advanced the equality and empowerment of women, a study examined several of her speeches on women's suffrage. Although the value of using such role models as Sojourner Truth has been demonstrated in various grade levels, and in the study of history and English, the approach is too seldom employed…

Does Truth Exist? Insights from Applied Linguistics for the Rationalism/Postmodern Debate

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, David A.

2008-01-01

The question of whether or not truth exists is at the center of the rationalism versus postmodern debate. Noting the difficulty of defining truth, the author uses the principles of linguistics to show that semantic skewing has resulted in the concept of truth being encoded as a noun, while it is really an attribute (true). The introduction of a…

Knowledge does not protect against illusory truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Lisa K; Brashier, Nadia M; Payne, B Keith; Marsh, Elizabeth J

2015-10-01

In daily life, we frequently encounter false claims in the form of consumer advertisements, political propaganda, and rumors. Repetition may be one way that insidious misconceptions, such as the belief that vitamin C prevents the common cold, enter our knowledge base. Research on the illusory truth effect demonstrates that repeated statements are easier to process, and subsequently perceived to be more truthful, than new statements. The prevailing assumption in the literature has been that knowledge constrains this effect (i.e., repeating the statement "The Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth" will not make you believe it). We tested this assumption using both normed estimates of knowledge and individuals' demonstrated knowledge on a postexperimental knowledge check (Experiment 1). Contrary to prior suppositions, illusory truth effects occurred even when participants knew better. Multinomial modeling demonstrated that participants sometimes rely on fluency even if knowledge is also available to them (Experiment 2). Thus, participants demonstrated knowledge neglect, or the failure to rely on stored knowledge, in the face of fluent processing experiences. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Literature and Truth : Imaginative Writing as a Medium for Ideas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lansdown, Richard

2017-01-01

In Literature and Truth Richard Lansdown continues a discussion concerning the truth-bearing status of imaginative literature that pre-dates Plato. The book opens with a general survey of contemporary approaches in philosophical aesthetics, and a discussion of the contribution to the question made

Monitoring of electrokinetic in-situ-decontamination

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldmann, T. [INTUS Inst. fuer Technologie und Umweltschutz e.V., Berlin (Germany)

2001-07-01

The need for a monitoring system for in-situ soil decontamination is two-fold: Firstly, to ensure that remediation is attained and secondly to minimize costs and treatment time. A further reason is the potential risk of unexpected mobilization or chemical generation of hazardous compounds which could result in an extension of the contamination into other regions of soil, the ground water or the atmosphere. Electrokinetic in-situ decontamination is based on transport processes in the ground that proceed with relatively low velocity. This results in treatment times of several months. Since the transport processes can be described by a mathematical model, monitoring should always be combined with qualified mathematical processing. This makes it possible to estimate treatment time and costs to be expected. The challenge of in-situ monitoring is to identify relevant parameters describing the state of the ground. These parameters must be independent from influences like weather but they must be sensitive to changes of soil characteristics. In the case of electrokinetic soil remediation, probes and sensors must be resistant to influences of electric fields. The function of sensors or measuring systems can be disturbed or even damaged or destroyed by electric fields (for example by electro-corrosion). (orig.)

Effects of the truth FinishIt brand on tobacco outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Rath, Jessica M; Hair, Elizabeth C; Snider, Jeremy Williams; Pitzer, Lindsay; Greenberg, Marisa; Xiao, Haijun; Cantrell, Jennifer; Vallone, Donna

2018-03-01

Since 2000, the truth campaign has grown as a social marketing brand. Back then, truth employed branding to compete directly with the tobacco industry. In 2014, the launch of truth FinishIt reflected changes in the brand's strategy, the tobacco control environment, and youth/young adult behavior. Building on a previous validation study, the current study examined brand equity in truth FinishIt , as measured by validated multi-dimensional scales, and tobacco related attitudes, beliefs, and behavior based on two waves of the Truth Longitudinal Cohort data from 2015 and 2016. A fixed effects logistic regression was used to estimate the change in brand equity between panel survey waves 3 and 4 on past 30-day smoking among ever and current smokers. Additional models determined the effects of brand equity predicting tobacco attitudes/use at follow up among the full sample. All analyses controlled for demographic factors. A one-point increase in the brand equity scale between the two waves was associated with a 66% greater chance of not smoking among ever smokers (OR 1.66, CI 1.11-2.48, p  effects of brand equity on tobacco use and how tobacco control can optimize the use of branding in campaigns.

[Truth telling and advance care planning at the end of life].

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Wen-Yu; Yang, Chia-Ling

2009-02-01

One of the core values in terminal care the respect of patient 'autonomy'. This essay begins with a discussion of medical ethics principles and the Natural Death Act in Taiwan and then summarizes two medical ethical dilemmas, truth telling and advance care planning (ACP), faced in the development of hospice and palliative care in Taiwan. The terminal truth telling process incorporates the four basic principles of Assessment and preparation, Communication with family, Truth-telling process, and Support and follow up (the so-called "ACTs"). Many experts suggest practicing ACP by abiding by the following five steps: (1) presenting and illustrating topics; (2) facilitating a structured discussion; (3) completing documents with advanced directives (ADs); (4) reviewing and updating ADs; and (5) applying ADs in clinical circumstances. Finally, the myths and challenges in truth telling and ADs include the influence of healthcare system procedures and priorities, inadequate communication skills, and the psychological barriers of medical staffs. Good communication skills are critical to truth telling and ACP. Significant discussion about ACP should help engender mutual trust between patients and the medical staffs who take the time to establish such relationships. Promoting patient autonomy by providing the opportunity of a good death is an important goal of truth telling and ACP in which patients have opportunities to choose their terminal treatment.

Midlatitude Ice-Rich Ground on Mars: An Important Target for Science and In Situ Resource Utilization on Human Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Stoker, Carol; Heldmann, Jennifer

2015-01-01

The region of ROI is characterized by proven presence of near surface ground ice and numerous periglacial features. Midlatitude ground ice on Mars is of significant scientific interest for understanding the history and evolution of ice stability on Mars, the impact that changes in insolation produced by variations in Mars’ orbital parameters has on the regions climate, and could provide human exploration with a reliable and plentiful in situ resource. For both science and exploration, assessing the astrobiological potential of the ice is important in terms of (1) understanding the potential for life on Mars and (2) evaluating the presence of possible biohazards in advance of human exploration. Heldmann et al. (2014) studied locations on Mars in the Amazonis Planitia region where near surface ground ice was exposed by new impact craters (Byrne et al. 2009). The study examined whether sites in this region were suitable for human exploration including reviewing the evidence for midlatitude ground ice, discussing the possible explanations for its occurrence, assessing its potential habitability for modern life, and evaluating the resource potential. They systematically analyzed remote-sensing data sets to identify a viable landing site. Five sites where ground ice was exposed were examined with HiRise imaging and were classified according to (1) presence of polygons as a proxy for subsurface ice, (2) presence and abundance of rough topographic obstacles (e.g., large cracks, cliffs, uneven topography), (3) rock density, (4) presence and abundance of large boulders, and (5) presence of craters. A suitable landing site was found having ground ice at only 0.15m depth, and no landing site hazards within a 25 km landing ellipse. This paper presents results of that study and examines the relevance of this ROI to the workshop goals.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Children’s Choices, Categorizations, and Evaluations of Truths and Lies

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Genyue; Xu, Fen; Cameron, Catherine Ann; Heyman, Gail; Lee, Kang

2008-01-01

This study examined cross-cultural differences and similarities in children’s moral understanding of individual- or collective-oriented lies and truths. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old Canadian and Chinese children were read stories about story characters facing moral dilemmas about whether to lie or tell the truth to help a group but harm an individual or vice versa. Participants chose to lie or to tell the truth as if they were the character (Experiments 1 and 2) and categorized and evaluated the story characters’ truthful and untruthful statements (Experiments 3 and 4). Most children in both cultures labeled lies as lies and truths as truths. The major cultural differences lay in choices and moral evaluations. Chinese children chose lying to help a collective but harm an individual, and they rated it less negatively than lying with opposite consequences. Chinese children rated truth telling to help an individual but harm a group less positively than the alternative. Canadian children did the opposite. These findings suggest that cross-cultural differences in emphasis on groups versus individuals affect children’s choices and moral judgments about truth and deception. PMID:17352539

Micro CT based truth estimation of nodule volume

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnard, L. M.; Gavrielides, M. A.; Myers, K. J.; Zeng, R.; Whiting, B.; Lin-Gibson, S.; Petrick, N.

2010-03-01

With the advent of high-resolution CT, three-dimensional (3D) methods for nodule volumetry have been introduced, with the hope that such methods will be more accurate and consistent than currently used planar measures of size. However, the error associated with volume estimation methods still needs to be quantified. Volume estimation error is multi-faceted in the sense that there is variability associated with the patient, the software tool and the CT system. A primary goal of our current research efforts is to quantify the various sources of measurement error and, when possible, minimize their effects. In order to assess the bias of an estimate, the actual value, or "truth," must be known. In this work we investigate the reliability of micro CT to determine the "true" volume of synthetic nodules. The advantage of micro CT over other truthing methods is that it can provide both absolute volume and shape information in a single measurement. In the current study we compare micro CT volume truth to weight-density truth for spherical, elliptical, spiculated and lobulated nodules with diameters from 5 to 40 mm, and densities of -630 and +100 HU. The percent differences between micro CT and weight-density volume for -630 HU nodules range from [-21.7%, -0.6%] (mean= -11.9%) and the differences for +100 HU nodules range from [-0.9%, 3.0%] (mean=1.7%).

Truthful approximations to range voting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filos-Ratsika, Aris; Miltersen, Peter Bro

We consider the fundamental mechanism design problem of approximate social welfare maximization under general cardinal preferences on a finite number of alternatives and without money. The well-known range voting scheme can be thought of as a non-truthful mechanism for exact social welfare...

Effects of the truth FinishIt brand on tobacco outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Douglas Evans

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Since 2000, the truth campaign has grown as a social marketing brand. Back then, truth employed branding to compete directly with the tobacco industry. In 2014, the launch of truth FinishIt reflected changes in the brand's strategy, the tobacco control environment, and youth/young adult behavior.Building on a previous validation study, the current study examined brand equity in truth FinishIt, as measured by validated multi-dimensional scales, and tobacco related attitudes, beliefs, and behavior based on two waves of the Truth Longitudinal Cohort data from 2015 and 2016. A fixed effects logistic regression was used to estimate the change in brand equity between panel survey waves 3 and 4 on past 30-day smoking among ever and current smokers. Additional models determined the effects of brand equity predicting tobacco attitudes/use at follow up among the full sample. All analyses controlled for demographic factors.A one-point increase in the brand equity scale between the two waves was associated with a 66% greater chance of not smoking among ever smokers (OR 1.66, CI 1.11–2.48, p<0.05 and an 80% greater chance of not smoking among current smokers (OR 1.80, CI 1.05–3.10, p<0.05. Higher overall truth brand equity at wave 3 predicted less smoking at wave 4 and more positive anti-tobacco attitudes. Being male, younger, and non-white predicted some of the tobacco related attitudes.Future research should examine long-term effects of brand equity on tobacco use and how tobacco control can optimize the use of branding in campaigns. Keywords: Tobacco, Smoking, Social marketing, Branding, Prevention

Public relations and journalism: truth, trust, transparency and integrity

OpenAIRE

Davies, Frank

2008-01-01

Truth, trust, integrity and reputation are key concepts for understanding the relationship between journalists and public relations practitioners. This the paper: first, considers the current debate on the inter-relationship between journalism and public relations; second distinguishes varieties of public relations and journalism; third, analyses the Editorial Intelligence controversy; fourth, deconstructs aspects of "truth" and "trust" in the context of that debate; fifth, considers why the ...

In situ vitrification: application analysis for stabilization of transuranic waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oma, K.H.; Farnsworth, R.K.; Rusin, J.M.

1982-09-01

The in situ vitrification process builds upon the electric melter technology previously developed for high-level waste immobilization. In situ vitrification converts buried wastes and contaminated soil to an extremely durable glass and crystalline waste form by melting the materials, in place, using joule heating. Once the waste materials have been solidified, the high integrity waste form should not cause future ground subsidence. Environmental transport of the waste due to water or wind erosion, and plant or animal intrusion, is minimized. Environmental studies are currently being conducted to determine whether additional stabilization is required for certain in-ground transuranic waste sites. An applications analysis has been performed to identify several in situ vitrification process limitations which may exist at transuranic waste sites. Based on the process limit analysis, in situ vitrification is well suited for solidification of most in-ground transuranic wastes. The process is best suited for liquid disposal sites. A site-specific performance analysis, based on safety, health, environmental, and economic assessments, will be required to determine for which sites in situ vitrification is an acceptable disposal technique. Process economics of in situ vitrification compare favorably with other in-situ solidification processes and are an order of magnitude less than the costs for exhumation and disposal in a repository. Leachability of the vitrified product compares closely with that of Pyrex glass and is significantly better than granite, marble, or bottle glass. Total release to the environment from a vitrified waste site is estimated to be less than 10 -5 parts per year. 32 figures, 30 tables

Culture, Truth, and Science After Lacan.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillett, Grant

2015-12-01

Truth and knowledge are conceptually related and there is a way of construing both that implies that they cannot be solely derived from a description that restricts itself to a set of scientific facts. In the first section of this essay, I analyse truth as a relation between a praxis, ways of knowing, and the world. In the second section, I invoke the third thing-the objective reality on which we triangulate as knowing subjects for the purpose of complex scientific endeavours like medical science and clinical care. Such praxes develop robust methods of "keeping in touch" with disease and illness (like biomarkers). An analysis drawing on philosophical semantics motivates the needed (anti-scientistic) account of meaning and truth (and therefore knowledge) and underpins the following argument: (i) the formulation and dissemination of knowledge rests on language; (ii) language is selective in what it represents in any given situation; (iii) the praxes of a given (sub)culture are based on this selectivity; but (iv) human health and illness involve whole human beings in a human life-world; therefore, (v) medical knowledge should reflectively transcend, where required, biomedical science towards a more inclusive view. Parts three and four argue that a post-structuralist (Lacanian) account of the human subject can avoid both scientism and idealism or unconstrained relativism.

Love the Truth in the Franciscan School (XIIIth century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Lázaro Pulido

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Love to the truth is a fundamental question in the Franciscan School. It has your origin on the Franciscan practical needs to transmit the evangelical message to all the men. The universality of the message inspires the concept of wisdom as a base to love the truth. The truth appears as occasion of reference to God, the significatio never subordinates to the res. The article exposes the fundamental milestones of this construction from the origins of the Franciscan School to the ends of the 13th century with Gonzalo Hispano, indicating the common points and the internal discussions of a School according Anthony of Lisbon/Padua, Alexander of Hales, Odo Rigaldus, William of Melitona, Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, Bonaventure, Matthew of Aquasparta, Peter John Olivi and Gonsalvus of Spain

Surface Properties and Characteristics of Mars Landing Sites from Remote Sensing Data and Ground Truth

Science.gov (United States)

Golombek, M. P.; Haldemann, A. F.; Simpson, R. A.; Furgason, R. L.; Putzig, N. E.; Huertas, A.; Arvidson, R. E.; Heet, T.; Bell, J. F.; Mellon, M. T.; McEwen, A. S.

2008-12-01

Surface characteristics at the six sites where spacecraft have successfully landed on Mars can be related favorably to their signatures in remotely sensed data from orbit and from the Earth. Comparisons of the rock abundance, types and coverage of soils (and their physical properties), thermal inertia, albedo, and topographic slope all agree with orbital remote sensing estimates and show that the materials at the landing sites can be used as ground truth for the materials that make up most of the equatorial and mid- to moderately high-latitude regions of Mars. The six landing sites sample two of the three dominant global thermal inertia and albedo units that cover ~80% of the surface of Mars. The Viking, Spirit, Mars Pathfinder, and Phoenix landing sites are representative of the moderate to high thermal inertia and intermediate to high albedo unit that is dominated by crusty, cloddy, blocky or frozen soils (duricrust that may be layered) with various abundances of rocks and bright dust. The Opportunity landing site is representative of the moderate to high thermal inertia and low albedo surface unit that is relatively dust free and composed of dark eolian sand and/or increased abundance of rocks. Rock abundance derived from orbital thermal differencing techniques in the equatorial regions agrees with that determined from rock counts at the surface and varies from ~3-20% at the landing sites. The size-frequency distributions of rocks >1.5 m diameter fully resolvable in HiRISE images of the landing sites follow exponential models developed from lander measurements of smaller rocks and are continuous with these rock distributions indicating both are part of the same population. Interpretation of radar data confirms the presence of load bearing, relatively dense surfaces controlled by the soil type at the landing sites, regional rock populations from diffuse scattering similar to those observed directly at the sites, and root-mean-squared slopes that compare favorably

Competence and Performance in Belief-Desire Reasoning across Two Cultures: The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth about False Belief?

Science.gov (United States)

Yazdi, Amir Amin; German, Tim P.; Defeyter, Margaret Anne; Siegal, Michael

2006-01-01

There is a change in false belief task performance across the 3-5 year age range, as confirmed in a recent meta-analysis [Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory mind development: The truth about false-belief. "Child Development," 72, 655-684]. This meta-analysis identified several performance factors influencing…

This Is My (Post) Truth, Tell Me Yours

OpenAIRE

Powell, Martin

2017-01-01

This is a commentary on the article ‘The rise of post-truth populism in pluralist liberal democracies: challenges for health policy.’ It critically examines two of its key concepts: populism and ‘post truth.’ This commentary argues that there are different types of populism, with unclear links to impacts, and that in some ways, ‘post-truth’ has resonances with arguments advanced in the period at the beginning of the British National Health Service (NHS). In short, ‘post-truth’ populism’ may b...

Truth as determinant of religious faith | Emeng | Global Journal of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigates how varying religious truth has determined different religious faiths in the world. One God created all human kind and placed them in their different environments, but the allegiance, service, worship and honour to him varies due to the different truths at the foundations of the many faiths. This article ...

Groundwater restoration with in situ uranium leach mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charbeneau, R.J.

1984-01-01

In situ leach mining of uranium has developed into a major mining technology. Since 1975, when the first commercial mine was licensed in the United States, the percentage or uranium produced by in situ mining has steadily grown from 0.6 to 10 percent in 1980. Part of the reason for this growth is that in situ mining offers less initial capital investment, shorter start-up times, greater safety, and less labor than conventional mining methods. There is little disturbance of the surface terrain or surface waters, no mill tailings piles, and no large open pits, but in situ leaching mining does have environmental disadvantages. During the mining, large amounts of ground water are cirulated and there is some withdrawal from an area where aquifers constitute a major portion of the water supply for other purposes. When an ammonia-based leach system is used, the ammonium ion is introduced into an area where cation exchange on clays (and some production of nitrate) may occur. Also, injection of an oxidant with the leach solution causes valence and phase changes of indigenous elements such as As, Cu, Fe, Mo, Se, S, and V as well as U. Furthermore, the surrounding ground water can become contaminated by escape of the leach solution from the mining zone. This chapter presents an overview of the in situ mining technology, including uranium deposition, mining techniques, and ground water restoration alternatives. The latter part of the chapter covers the situation in South Texas. Economics and development of the industry, groundwater resources, regulation, and restoration activities are also reviewed

THE RULE OF TRUTH AND “WHITE LIE” IN MODERN MEDICINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhanna V. Chashina

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The article focuses on a topical conflict in contemporary medical practice – truthful patient’s information. Analysis of the problem is considered in historical perspective, by bringing the views of both domestic and foreign authors. Various opinions and arguments for and against providing information to the patient about his health discussions to this day by physicians, despite the legalization provision of truthful information about the state of health. Materials and Methods. Material for the article was the ethical and regulatory documents that include provisions on the right of the patient in receiving truthful information. On the basis of the dialectical approach in the article, the object of the research is a rule of truthfulness in medicine, the analysis which takes place in the framework of medical ethics and its modern model of bioethics. The application of integrated approach allowed us to consider the problem from a position of morality and law, society, medicine and the individual. Using the following methods: comparative-historical, axiological, document analysis, and synthesis of the functionality, efficiency and appropriateness of the rules of veracity at the present stage of development of medicine. Results. In the course of the study it was revealed that the issue of the rule of truthfulness in modern medical practice, justifying from the perspective of modern model of medical ethics – bioethics and the law, is the inalienable right of the patient. In addition, you specify the inextricable link between the rule and the truthfulness rule of informed consent. These regulations removed the controversial question of the presence of the “holy lie” in medicine. But due to the absolutely inviolable rules of “no harm” in medicine it is necessary to consider the ethical and legal aspects of rules of veracity: the duty, the right, the opportunity and feasibility to speak the truth, allowing not only the law

Towards a pragmatics of non-fictional narrative truth: Gricean and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper focuses on a particular kind of truth that falls within this category, namely non-fictional narrative truth. “Narrative truth” is defined as a judgement of verisimilitude accorded to the meaning of a narrative as a whole. This narrative meaning is neither rationally nor empirically verifiable, but rather arrived at by a ...

Truth and modes of cognition in Boethius: a Neoplatonic approach

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José María Zamora Calvo

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Boethius does not accept the principle of realism that considers truth as the adaptation – or adequation – of the subject to the knowable object, and instead defends that knowledge should be studied by relating it to the capacity of the cognoscente subject. Thus, truth is relative to the faculty or level of knowledge in which we stand, since each faculty -each level of knowledge- has its own object: the material figure for the senses, the figure without matter for the Imagination, the universal for reason and the simple form for intelligence. But this epistemological relativism is moderate, precisely because of its hierarchical character. Therefore, although in a sense truth is manifold, the perfect truth, proper to divine knowledge, includes and surpasses all others. In order to cement the architecture of this system of relativisation of knowledge, Boethius starts from a Neoplatonic interpretation of the simile of the line of the Republic (VI.510a-b and Plato's Timaeus, but not completely tied to it. The beings endowed with knowledge are ordered according to the Neoplatonic hierarchy of cosmic realities.

Solvo-thermal in situ transesterification of wet spent coffee grounds for the production of biodiesel.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jeongseok; Kim, Bora; Son, Jeesung; Lee, Jae W

2018-02-01

This work addresses non-catalytic biodiesel production from spent coffee ground (SCG) by integrating solvo-thermal effect of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) with in situ transesterification over 160 °C. The SCG water content has a positive effect on the DCE hydrolysis up to 60 wt% due to the bimolecular substitution mechanism. The hydrolysis gives an acidic environment favorable for cellulose decomposition, SCG particle size reduction and lipid conversion. The optimal fatty acid ethyl ester yield was 11.8 wt% based on the mass of dried SCG with 3.36 ml ethanol and 3.16 ml DCE at 196.8 °C through the response surface methodology. Using the solvo-thermal effect, direct utilization of wet SCG as a biodiesel feedstock provides not only economic feasibility without using drying process and additional acid catalyst but also environmental advantage of recycling the municipal waste. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In situ air stripping using horizontal wells. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-04-01

In-situ air stripping employs horizontal wells to inject or sparge air into the ground water and vacuum extract VOC'S from vadose zone soils. The horizontal wells provide better access to the subsurface contamination, and the air sparging eliminates the need for surface ground water treatment systems and treats the subsurface in-situ. A full-scale demonstration was conducted at the Savannah River Plant in an area polluted with trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Results are described

The Social Sciences and their compromisse with truth and justice

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Mauro W. Barbosa de Almeida

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the social scientists responsability in relation to justice and truth, based in the practical and theoretical experiences of the author in the field of Social Anthropology. Although the text adresses the Social Sciences from the perspective of Social Anthropology, it deals with topics in which the researchers and ativists activities require a cooperative action of lawyers, engineers and biologists among the work of sociologists and geographers – all that is involved in the situations when it is necessary to tell the truth and also to judge about justice and injustice in social life. Justice and truth notions are social scientists weapons and they can not be abandoned in the hands of conservative thought.

Truth Commissions, Education, and Positive Peace: An Analysis of Truth Commission Final Reports (1980-2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Paulson, Julia; Bellino, Michelle J.

2017-01-01

Transitional justice and education both occupy increasingly prominent space on the international peacebuilding agenda, though less is known about the ways they might reinforce one another to contribute towards peace. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of truth commission (TC) reports spanning 1980-2015, exploring the range of…

Truth Commissions in Latin America. The hope of a new future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Molina Valencia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents the implementation of the right to the truth of the victims, through the creation of eleven Commissions of Truth, established in Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras and Brasil, which emerged as the product of peace agreements or transitional processes. The Commissions of Truth received the assignment to investigate violations of Human Rights and breaches of International Humanitarian Law by military dictatorships, authoritarian regimes or internal armed conflicts. This review shows, that in addition to the subjects that constitute the Commissions, they work due to eight conditions: determined duration; legitimacy; themes; working methodologies; media of dissemination of results; attention to Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration processes; repair strategies, request for forgiveness and reconciliation. The existence of the Commissions of Truth, while transforming the conflicts they serve, have not reached, as a strategy, the integral promotion of connivance and reconciliation.

Finding a single point of truth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sokolov, S.; Thijssen, H. [Autodesk Inc, Toronto, ON (Canada); Laslo, D.; Martin, J. [Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, CA (United States)

2010-07-01

Electric utilities collect large volumes of data at every level of their business, including SCADA, Smart Metering and Smart Grid initiatives, LIDAR and other 3D imagery surveys. Different types of database systems are used to store the information, rendering data flow within the utility business process extremely complicated. The industry trend has been to endure redundancy of data input and maintenance of multiple copies of the same data across different solution data sets. Efforts have been made to improve the situation with point to point interfaces, but with the tools and solutions available today, a single point of truth can be achieved. Consolidated and validated data can be published into a data warehouse at the right point in the process, making the information available to all other enterprise systems and solutions. This paper explained how the single point of truth spatial data warehouse and process automation services can be configured to streamline the flow of data within the utility business process using the initiate-plan-execute-close (IPEC) utility workflow model. The paper first discussed geospatial challenges faced by utilities and then presented the approach and technology aspects. It was concluded that adoption of systems and solutions that can function with and be controlled by the IPEC workflow can provide significant improvement for utility operations, particularly if those systems are coupled with the spatial data warehouse that reflects a single point of truth. 6 refs., 3 figs.

Gödel, Truth and Proof

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Peregrin, Jaroslav

-, č. 82 (2007), s. 1-10 E-ISSN 1742-6596 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA401/04/0117 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z90090514 Keywords : Gödel * incompleteness of arithmetic * proof vs. truth Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion http://www.iop.org/EJ/ toc /1742-6596/82/1

Fuzzy logic of quasi-truth an algebraic treatment

CERN Document Server

Di Nola, Antonio; Turunen, Esko

2016-01-01

This book presents the first algebraic treatment of quasi-truth fuzzy logic and covers the algebraic foundations of many-valued logic. It offers a comprehensive account of basic techniques and reports on important results showing the pivotal role played by perfect many-valued algebras (MV-algebras). It is well known that the first-order predicate Łukasiewicz logic is not complete with respect to the canonical set of truth values. However, it is complete with respect to all linearly ordered MV –algebras. As there are no simple linearly ordered MV-algebras in this case, infinitesimal elements of an MV-algebra are allowed to be truth values. The book presents perfect algebras as an interesting subclass of local MV-algebras and provides readers with the necessary knowledge and tools for formalizing the fuzzy concept of quasi true and quasi false. All basic concepts are introduced in detail to promote a better understanding of the more complex ones. It is an advanced and inspiring reference-guide for graduate s...

In situ bioremediation using horizontal wells. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-04-01

In Situ Bioremediation (ISB) is the term used in this report for Gaseous Nutrient Injection for In Situ Bioremediation. This process (ISB) involves injection of air and nutrients (sparging and biostimulation) into the ground water and vacuum extraction to remove Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the vadose zone concomitant with biodegradation of the VOCs. This process is effective for remediation of soils and ground water contaminated with VOCs both above and below the water table. A full-scale demonstration of ISB was conducted as part of the Savannah River Integrated Demonstration: VOCs in Soils and Ground Water at Nonarid Sites. This demonstration was performed at the Savannah River Site from February 1992 to April 1993

An in situ survey of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and surrounding area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoover, R.A.

1994-02-01

An in situ survey of the area surrounding the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was conducted between May 17 and 24, 1990. The survey consisted of in situ measurements and of ground sampling. A High Purity Germanium detector was used for the in situ measurements. The ground samples were taken to the, laboratory at EG ampersand G Energy Measurements, Inc., in Santa Barbara, California, for a radionuclide assay on a laboratory system. Results of the in situ measurements found evidence of naturally occurring radioisotopes, cesium-137 from international fallout, and some evidence of anomalous uranium-238. The soil sampling results show only the presence of naturally occurring radioisotopes, cesium-137, and also anomalous uranium-238

Truthfulness in science teachers’ corporeal performances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugbjerg, Peer

2014-01-01

, sincerity and trustworthiness in dealing with classroom management. Jane shows effort, fidelity and honesty in developing outdoor teaching. Simon shows transparency, objectivity and sincerity in his support of colleagues. By addressing the relations in the vocabulary of truthfulness the teachers...

Matters of Fact: Language, Science, and the Status of Truth in Late Colonial Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher P. Hanscom

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the status of the fact in literary and historical discourses in late colonial Korea, focusing on the elaboration of the relationship between scientific and literary truths primarily in the work of philosopher and critic Sŏ Insik (1906–?. It points to a growing tendency in late 1930s and early 1940s Korea to question the veracity of the fact (or of empiricism more broadly in an environment where the enunciation of the colonial subject had been rendered problematic and objective statements had arguably lost their connection with social reality. In a period when the relationship between signifier and referent had come into question, how did this major critic understand the relationship between science and literature, or between truth and subjectivity? Sŏ warns against a simplistic apprehension of the notion of truth as unilaterally equivalent with what he calls “scientific truth” (kwahakchŏk chilli—a nomological truth based on objective observation and confirmation by universal principles—and argues that a necessary complement to apparently objective truth is “literary truth” (munhakchŏk chinsil. Against the fixed, conceptual form of scientific thought, literary truth presents itself as an experiential truth that returns to the sensory world of the sociolinguistic subject (chuch’e as a source of credibility.

The socio-rhetorical force of 'truth talk' and lies: The case of 1 John ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article canvassed Greek and Roman sources for discussions concerning truth talk and lies. It has investigated what social historians and/or anthropologists are saying about truth talking and lying and has developed a model that will examine the issue of truth and lying in socio-religious terms as defined by the ...

Truthfulness in transplantation: non-heart-beating organ donation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Potts Michael

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract The current practice of organ transplantation has been criticized on several fronts. The philosophical and scientific foundations for brain death criteria have been crumbling. In addition, donation after cardiac death, or non-heartbeating-organ donation (NHBD has been attacked on grounds that it mistreats the dying patient and uses that patient only as a means to an end for someone else's benefit. Verheijde, Rady, and McGregor attack the deception involved in NHBD, arguing that the donors are not dead and that potential donors and their families should be told that is the case. Thus, they propose abandoning the dead donor rule and allowing NHBD with strict rules concerning adequate informed consent. Such honesty about NHBD should be welcomed. However, NHBD violates a fundamental end of medicine, nonmaleficience, "do no harm." Physicians should not be harming or killing patients, even if it is for the benefit of others. Thus, although Verheijde and his colleages should be congratulated for calling for truthfulness about NHBD, they do not go far enough and call for an elimination of such an unethical procedure from the practice of medicine.

Corporate truth: the limits to transparency

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Henriques, Adrian

2007-01-01

... plc What the directors' report should cover Conditions of use of the Rio Tinto website Practical complicity 75 83 90 95 98 160 FIGURES 3.1 7.1 7.2 7.3 The ring of truth The global trend in non-fi...

Evidence of the Impact of the truth FinishIt Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallone, Donna; Cantrell, Jennifer; Bennett, Morgane; Smith, Alexandria; Rath, Jessica M; Xiao, Haijun; Greenberg, Marisa; Hair, Elizabeth C

2018-04-02

Over the past decade, public education mass media campaigns have been shown to be successful in changing tobacco-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors among youth and young adults. In 2014, the national truth® campaign re-launched a new phase of the campaign targeted at a broad audience of youth and young adults, aged 15-21, to help end the tobacco epidemic. The study sample for this analysis is drawn from the Truth Longitudinal Cohort (TLC), a probability-based, nationally representative cohort designed to evaluate the relationship between awareness of truth media messages and changes in targeted attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors over time. The sample for this study was limited to those with data at baseline and three subsequent follow-up surveys (n = 7536). Logistic regression models indicate that truth ad awareness is significantly associated with increases in targeted anti-tobacco attitudes as well as reduced intentions to smoke over time, holding constant baseline attitudes and intentions. Results also suggest a dose-response relationship in that higher levels of truth ad awareness were significantly associated with higher likelihood of reporting agreement across all five attitudinal constructs: anti-smoking imagery, anti-social smoking sentiment, anti-tobacco social movement, anti-tobacco industry sentiment, and independence. Longitudinal results indicate a significant dose-response relationship between awareness of the new phase of the truth campaign and campaign-targeted attitudes and intentions not to smoke among youth and young adults. Findings from this study confirm that a carefully designed anti-tobacco public education campaign aimed at youth and young adults is a key population-level intervention within the context of an expanding tobacco product landscape and a cluttered media environment. As tobacco use patterns shift and new products emerge, evidence-based public education campaigns can play a central role in helping the next generation to

Love and Truth in Social Involvement of the Church

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henryk Szmulewicz

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This study begins with a brief outline of the essence of the whole encyclical Caritas in veritate . Benedict XVI expresses the desire for „the dialogue with the world”. He understands this dialogue as a special kind of the service of the Church towards eternal love and truth, fully revealed in Christ. The dialogue of the Church with the world, in the spirit of love and truth, is accomplished every day at the level of so-called official relations. There are numerous opinions that in the past the Church repeatedly neglected the dialogue with the world. Indeed, the Church historians point out the existence of examples of the fall of the authority of the Holy See in particular countries and circumstances. Similarly, the Church is the sign of objection in the contemporary world. Instructed by past experiences the Church is aware that what is necessary for the renewal of culture and society, is evangelical love and truth.

Estimation of Leaf Area Index (LAI) Through the Acquisition of Ground Truth Data in Yosemite National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Basson, G.; Hawk, A.; Lue, E.; Ottman, D.; Schiffman, B.; Ghosh, M.; Melton, F.; Schmidt, C.; Skiles, J.

2007-12-01

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important indicator of ecosystem health. Remote sensing offers the only feasible method of estimating LAI at global and regional scales. Land managers can efficiently monitor changes in vegetation by using NASA data products such as the MODIS LAI 1km product. To increase confidence in use of the MODIS LAI product in Yosemite National Park, we investigated the accuracy of remotely sensed LAI data and created LAI maps using three optical in-situ instruments: the LAI-2000 instrument, digital hemispheric photography (DHP), and the Tracing Radiation and Architecture of Canopies (TRAC) instrument. We compared our in-situ data with three spectral vegetation indices derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery: Reduced Simple Ratio (RSR), Simple Ratio (SR), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to produce models which created LAI maps at 30m and 1km resolution. The strongest correlations occurred between DHP LAI values and RSR. Pixel values from the 1km LAI map were then compared to pixel values from a MODIS LAI map. A strong correlation exists between our in-situ data and MODIS LAI values which confirms its accuracy for use by the National Park Service as a decision support tool in Yosemite. The MODIS LAI product is particularly useful because of its high temporal resolution of 1-2 days and can be used to monitor current and future vegetation changes. The model created using the in-situ data can also be applied to Landsat data to provide thirty years of historical LAI values.

Aquifer restoration at uranium in situ leach sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anastasi, F.S.; Williams, R.E.

1985-01-01

In situ mining of uranium involves injection of a leaching solution (lixiviant) into an ore-bearing aquifer. Frequently, the ground water in the mined aquifer is a domestic or livestock water supply. As the lixiviant migrates through the ore body, uranium and various associated elements such as arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, vanadium and radium-226 are mobilized in the ground water. Aquifer restoration after in situ mining is not fully understood. Several methods have been developed to restore mined aquifers to pre-mining (baseline) quality. Commonly used methods include ground water sweeping, clean water injection, and treatment by ion exchange and reverse osmosis technologies. Ammonium carbonate lixiviant was used at one RandD in situ mine. Attempts were made to restore the aquifer using a variety of methods. Efforts were successful in reducing concentrations of the majority of contaminants to baseline levels. Concentrations of certain parameters, however, remained at levels above baseline six months after restoration ceased. Relatively large quantities of ground water were processed in the restoration attempt considering the small size of the project (1.25 acre). More thorough characterization of the hydrogeology of the site may have enhanced the effectiveness of restoration and reduced potential environmental impacts associated with the project. This paper presents some of the findings of a research project conducted by the Mineral Resources Waste Management Team at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Views contained herein do not reflect U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission policy

Addressing the social dimensions of citizen observatories: The Ground Truth 2.0 socio-technical approach for sustainable implementation of citizen observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Wehn, Uta; Joshi, Somya; Pfeiffer, Ellen; Anema, Kim; Gharesifard, Mohammad; Momani, Abeer

2017-04-01

Owing to ICT-enabled citizen observatories, citizens can take on new roles in environmental monitoring, decision making and co-operative planning, and environmental stewardship. And yet implementing advanced citizen observatories for data collection, knowledge exchange and interactions to support policy objectives is neither always easy nor successful, given the required commitment, trust, and data reliability concerns. Many efforts are facing problems with the uptake and sustained engagement by citizens, limited scalability, unclear long-term sustainability and limited actual impact on governance processes. Similarly, to sustain the engagement of decision makers in citizen observatories, mechanisms are required from the start of the initiative in order to have them invest in and, hence, commit to and own the entire process. In order to implement sustainable citizen observatories, these social dimensions therefore need to be soundly managed. We provide empirical evidence of how the social dimensions of citizen observatories are being addressed in the Ground Truth 2.0 project, drawing on a range of relevant social science approaches. This project combines the social dimensions of citizen observatories with enabling technologies - via a socio-technical approach - so that their customisation and deployment is tailored to the envisaged societal and economic impacts of the observatories. The projects consists of the demonstration and validation of six scaled up citizen observatories in real operational conditions both in the EU and in Africa, with a specific focus on flora and fauna as well as water availability and water quality for land and natural resources management. The demonstration cases (4 EU and 2 African) cover the full 'spectrum' of citizen-sensed data usage and citizen engagement, and therefore allow testing and validation of the socio-technical concept for citizen observatories under a range of conditions.

Optimized Autonomous Space In-situ Sensor-Web for volcano monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Song, W.-Z.; Shirazi, B.; Kedar, S.; Chien, S.; Webb, F.; Tran, D.; Davis, A.; Pieri, D.; LaHusen, R.; Pallister, J.; Dzurisin, D.; Moran, S.; Lisowski, M.

2008-01-01

In response to NASA's announced requirement for Earth hazard monitoring sensor-web technology, a multidisciplinary team involving sensor-network experts (Washington State University), space scientists (JPL), and Earth scientists (USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO)), is developing a prototype dynamic and scaleable hazard monitoring sensor-web and applying it to volcano monitoring. The combined Optimized Autonomous Space -In-situ Sensor-web (OASIS) will have two-way communication capability between ground and space assets, use both space and ground data for optimal allocation of limited power and bandwidth resources on the ground, and use smart management of competing demands for limited space assets. It will also enable scalability and seamless infusion of future space and in-situ assets into the sensor-web. The prototype will be focused on volcano hazard monitoring at Mount St. Helens, which has been active since October 2004. The system is designed to be flexible and easily configurable for many other applications as well. The primary goals of the project are: 1) integrating complementary space (i.e., Earth Observing One (EO-1) satellite) and in-situ (ground-based) elements into an interactive, autonomous sensor-web; 2) advancing sensor-web power and communication resource management technology; and 3) enabling scalability for seamless infusion of future space and in-situ assets into the sensor-web. To meet these goals, we are developing: 1) a test-bed in-situ array with smart sensor nodes capable of making autonomous data acquisition decisions; 2) efficient self-organization algorithm of sensor-web topology to support efficient data communication and command control; 3) smart bandwidth allocation algorithms in which sensor nodes autonomously determine packet priorities based on mission needs and local bandwidth information in real-time; and 4) remote network management and reprogramming tools. The space and in-situ control components of the system will be

Wet in situ transesterification of spent coffee grounds with supercritical methanol for the production of biodiesel.

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Jeesung; Kim, Bora; Park, Jeongseok; Yang, Jeongwoo; Lee, Jae W

2018-07-01

This work introduces biodiesel production from wet spent coffee grounds (SCGs) with supercritical methanol without any pre-drying process. Supercritical methanol and subcritical water effectively produced biodiesel via in situ transesterification by inducing more porous SCG and enhancing the efficiency of lipid extraction and conversion. It was also found that space loading was one of the critical factors for biodiesel production. An optimal biodiesel yield of 10.17 wt% of dry SCG mass (86.33 w/w% of esterifiable lipids in SCG) was obtained at reaction conditions of 270 °C, 90 bars, methanol to wet SCG ratio 5:1, space loading 58.4 ml/g and reaction time 20 min. Direct use of wet SCG waste as feedstock for supercritical biodiesel production eliminates the conventional dying process and the need of catalyst and also reduces environmental problems caused by landfill accumulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Science Behind the Academy for Eating Disorders' Nine Truths About Eating Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaumberg, Katherine; Welch, Elisabeth; Breithaupt, Lauren; Hübel, Christopher; Baker, Jessica H; Munn-Chernoff, Melissa A; Yilmaz, Zeynep; Ehrlich, Stefan; Mustelin, Linda; Ghaderi, Ata; Hardaway, Andrew J; Bulik-Sullivan, Emily C; Hedman, Anna M; Jangmo, Andreas; Nilsson, Ida A K; Wiklund, Camilla; Yao, Shuyang; Seidel, Maria; Bulik, Cynthia M

2017-11-01

In 2015, the Academy for Eating Disorders collaborated with international patient, advocacy, and parent organizations to craft the 'Nine Truths About Eating Disorders'. This document has been translated into over 30 languages and has been distributed globally to replace outdated and erroneous stereotypes about eating disorders with factual information. In this paper, we review the state of the science supporting the 'Nine Truths'. The literature supporting each of the 'Nine Truths' was reviewed, summarized and richly annotated. Most of the 'Nine Truths' arise from well-established foundations in the scientific literature. Additional evidence is required to further substantiate some of the assertions in the document. Future investigations are needed in all areas to deepen our understanding of eating disorders, their causes and their treatments. The 'Nine Truths About Eating Disorders' is a guiding document to accelerate global dissemination of accurate and evidence-informed information about eating disorders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

An Exchange on "Truth and Methods."

Science.gov (United States)

Caughie, Pamela L.; Dasenbrock, Reed Way

1996-01-01

Takes issue with Reed Way Dasenbrock's criticism of literary theory and the terms under which literary interpretation and discussion take place. Presents Dasenbrock's reply, which discusses his understanding of certain terms (evidence, truth, debate), his description of the problem, and the logical contradictions he finds internal to…

76 FR 18354 - Truth in Lending

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-04

... extent that a creditor imposed charges that were inconsistent with Regulation Z while the account was... amounts charged during the period the account was exempt or to provide disclosures regarding transactions...) amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) by increasing the threshold for exempt consumer credit...

76 FR 11319 - Truth in Lending

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-02

... Congress enacted the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) based on findings that economic stability would be... Final Rule Congress enacted TILA based on findings that economic stability would be enhanced and... Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), also provides that its principal obligation limitations are subject...

On Truth and Emancipation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Hjort Bundgaard

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This article has two main currents. First, it argues that an affinity or similarity can be identified between the philosophy of Gianni Vattimo (the so-called “Weak Thinking” and the “Discourse Theory” of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The two theorizations are engaged with related problems, but have conceptualized them differently; they share central insights, but understand them with different vocabularies. The article furthermore illuminates as regards what this affinity consists in, and it discusses the differences and similarities between the two theoretical positions. The second current of the article takes the ‘postmodern’ philosophical problems of anti-foundationalism and nihilism as its point of departure. It raises the questions of: 1 how it is possible at the same time to take the critique of universality and objectivity seriously and still believe in the value of ethics and science; and, 2 how we are to understand emancipation if there is no necessary relationship between truth and freedom. The article investigates the status, meaning and interconnection of the categories of truth, knowledge, ethics, politics and emancipation in the light of the absence of metaphysical first principles. The article concludes that: A faith can constitute a “weak foundation” of knowledge and ethics; and, B nihilism can be combined with the political and ethical ambitions of universal human emancipation and radical democracy.

Rhetoric and Truth: A Note on Aristotle, Rhetoric 1355a 21-24

Science.gov (United States)

Grimaldi, William M. A.

1978-01-01

A passage from Aristotle is discussed and interpreted. Rhetoric represents truth and justice in any situation for the auditor through the use of language. The usefulness of rhetoric lies in its ability to assure an adequate and competent articulation of truth and justice. (JF)

Groundwater restoration of in-situ uranium mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

In-situ leaching is a relatively new uranium production technology that is expected to account for a growing share of future output. Depending upon the leaching solution used, the process may have considerable impact on the ground water. Since restoration of ground water quality is required in most countries and since this restoration is by far the most costly aspect of reclamation of an in-situ mine, it is necessary to utilize a process that lends itself both to the efficiency of the leaching process and the restoration process. This article examines a number of techniques that may be used in the restoration efforts. These include: (1) groundwater sweep, (2) reverse osmosis, (3) chemical restoration, and (4) electrodialysis. The article also discusses disposal of the excess fluids used in the restoration process

Climate science, truth, and democracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Evelyn Fox

2017-08-01

This essay was written almost ten years ago when the urgency of America's failure as a nation to respond to the threats of climate change first came to preoccupy me. Although the essay was never published in full, I circulated it informally in an attempt to provoke a more public engagement among my colleagues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. In particular, it was written in almost direct response to Philip Kitcher's own book, Science, Truth and Democracy (2001), in an attempt to clarify what was special about Climate Science in its relation to truth and democracy. Kitcher's response was immensely encouraging, and it led to an extended dialogue that resulted, first, in a course we co-taught at Columbia University, and later, to the book The Seasons Alter: How to Save Our Planet in Six Acts (W. W. Norton) published this spring. The book was finished just after the Paris Climate Accord, and it reflects the relative optimism of that moment. Unfortunately events since have begun to evoke, once again, the darker mood of this essay. I am grateful to Greg Radick for suggesting its publication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The ethics of truth in the era of technological civilization and the information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Nesprava

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The technological civilization and information society give a lot of advantages to a modern man in various fields. However, at the same time, we do not see a decrease in hostility and injustice in the society. Moreover, technological progress has led to the fact that human civilization is on the verge of a serious challenge caused by environmental disasters and opportunity for unprecedented disastrous consequences of the World War III. In these circumstances, the search for the causes of the current crisis is actual as well as the development of concepts that can contribute to overcoming this crisis. One of the most promising theories in this context is the ethics of truth. In modern civilization the issue of the importance of truth is shifted to the periphery of the intellectual discourse. Modern civilization uses only substitutes of the issue. Veracity in science together with popular opinions in the field of information circulating are such substitutes of truth. However, these substitutes do not fully reflect the true contents of the truth issue. The truth is not confined to the veracity of a celebrity’s opinion. Analyzing the theories by H. Jonas, В. Hübner, V. Stepin and T. Voronina, the study argues that the processes of losing of the meaning of life are intensifying in the modern civilization. We argue that a lack of a proper attention in modern civilization to the issue of truth inevitably stimulates processes of diluting the meaning of human life. Based on the theories by G. Hegel, H.-G. Gadamer and J. Neidleman T. Osborne, the study demonstrates that without thinking about the issue of the truth one cannot come near to the transcendent, and thus, his life could not be convincingly endowed with meaning, fullness and a purpose of existence. Understanding the issue of truth is especially important in conditions of the modern civilization, because our civilization is facing the possibility of self-destruction as a result of its

A Bridge to Reconciliation: A Critique of the Indian Residential School Truth Commission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc A. Flisfeder

2010-05-01

Full Text Available In the past year, the Government of Canada has established the Indian Residential Schools (IRS Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC to address the deleterious effect that the IRS system has had on Aboriginal communities. This paper argues that the TRC as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism is flawed since it focuses too much on truth at the expense of reconciliation. While the proliferation of historical truths is of great importance, without mapping a path to reconciliation, the Canadian public will simply learn about the mistakes of the past without addressing the residual, communal impacts of the IRS system that continue to linger. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission must therefore approach its mandate broadly and in a manner reminiscent of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples of 1996.

Beauty, a road to the truth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuipers, T.A.F.

In this article I give a naturalistic-cum-formal analysis of the relation between beauty, empirical success, and truth. The analysis is based on the one hand on a hypothetical variant of the so-called 'mere-exposure effect' which has been more or less established in experimental psychology regarding

75 FR 81836 - Truth in Lending

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-29

... the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) based on findings that economic stability would be enhanced and... MDIA is contained in Sections 2501 through 2503 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289, enacted on July 30, 2008. The MDIA was later amended by the Emergency Economic...

A novel rumor diffusion model considering the effect of truth in online social media

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ling; Liu, Yun; Zeng, Qing-An; Xiong, Fei

2015-12-01

In this paper, we propose a model to investigate how truth affects rumor diffusion in online social media. Our model reveals a relation between rumor and truth — namely, when a rumor is diffusing, the truth about the rumor also diffuses with it. Two patterns of the agents used to identify rumor, self-identification and passive learning are taken into account. Combining theoretical proof and simulation analysis, we find that the threshold value of rumor diffusion is negatively correlated to the connectivity between nodes in the network and the probability β of agents knowing truth. Increasing β can reduce the maximum density of the rumor spreaders and slow down the generation speed of new rumor spreaders. On the other hand, we conclude that the best rumor diffusion strategy must balance the probability of forwarding rumor and the probability of agents losing interest in the rumor. High spread rate λ of rumor would lead to a surge in truth dissemination which will greatly limit the diffusion of rumor. Furthermore, in the case of unknown λ, increasing β can effectively reduce the maximum proportion of agents who do not know the truth, but cannot narrow the rumor diffusion range in a certain interval of β.

Truth and beauty in contemporary urban photography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Colistra

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Does city still need photography? Or does it show itself more effectively through other forms of communication? The question brings us back almost two hundred years ago, at the time of the spread of the first daguerreotypes, when the query was: Does city still need painting? The question raises several other issues - truth and beauty, analogical and digital, truth and photo editing - that this essay examines by comparing some images. We are convinced that “the more we can speak of a picture, the more unlikely it is to speak of photography” (R. Barthes. The essay describes the work of some artists/photographers who have addressed the issue of urban photography. Works in which the figurative and visionary component is based on the interaction of traditional shooting techniques and processes of digital post-production.

Concepts and Relations in Neurally Inspired In Situ Concept-Based Computing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Velde, Frank; van der Velde, Frank

2016-01-01

In situ concept-based computing is based on the notion that conceptual representations in the human brain are “in situ.” In this way, they are grounded in perception and action. Examples are neuronal assemblies, whose connection structures develop over time and are distributed over different brain

In situ influence of coal ash dump on the quality of neighboring surface and ground waters by applying correlation statistic analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jasna M. Djinovic; Aleksandar R. Popovic [University of Belgrade, Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro). Center of Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy

2007-01-15

The aim of this study was to establish the real in situ influence of coal ash and slag transport and storage on the quality of neighboring surface and ground waters by applying correlation statistic analysis. It was found that the waste waters from the coal ash dump do not have any influence on the quality of the Danube river water. The Danube and the waste waters, however, influence the quality of the ground waters of the Petka spring. Changes in the concentrations of elements in the Danube or in the waste waters can have immediate or delayed impact on the quality of the spring waters. The immediate impact has calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, vanadium, cobalt from Danube; magnesium, vanadium from overflow and drainage waters; copper from drainage water. And the delayed impact has calcium, magnesium, vanadium and silicon from the Danube waters, cobalt from drainage waters, chromium and silicon from overflow waters and magnesium and vanadium from both overflow and drainage waters. 20 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.

Lost Academic Souls and the Truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Birenbaum, William M.

The connection between knowing the truth and some version of how men should live has always guided those who would lead the university. Walls around a campus or geographic isolation cannot prevent social pressures from affecting the institution. Colleges and universities have always been politicalized. The danger lies not in that fact but in the…

Computer aided detection in prostate cancer diagnostics: A promising alternative to biopsy? A retrospective study from 104 lesions with histological ground truth.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anika Thon

Full Text Available Prostate cancer (PCa diagnosis by means of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI is a current challenge for the development of computer-aided detection (CAD tools. An innovative CAD-software (Watson Elementary™ was proposed to achieve high sensitivity and specificity, as well as to allege a correlate to Gleason grade.To assess the performance of Watson Elementary™ in automated PCa diagnosis in our hospital´s database of MRI-guided prostate biopsies.The evaluation was retrospective for 104 lesions (47 PCa, 57 benign from 79, 64.61±6.64 year old patients using 3T T2-weighted imaging, Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC maps and dynamic contrast enhancement series. Watson Elementary™ utilizes signal intensity, diffusion properties and kinetic profile to compute a proportional Gleason grade predictor, termed Malignancy Attention Index (MAI. The analysis focused on (i the CAD sensitivity and specificity to classify suspect lesions and (ii the MAI correlation with the histopathological ground truth.The software revealed a sensitivity of 46.80% for PCa classification. The specificity for PCa was found to be 75.43% with a positive predictive value of 61.11%, a negative predictive value of 63.23% and a false discovery rate of 38.89%. CAD classified PCa and benign lesions with equal probability (P 0.06, χ2 test. Accordingly, receiver operating characteristic analysis suggests a poor predictive value for MAI with an area under curve of 0.65 (P 0.02, which is not superior to the performance of board certified observers. Moreover, MAI revealed no significant correlation with Gleason grade (P 0.60, Pearson´s correlation.The tested CAD software for mpMRI analysis was a weak PCa biomarker in this dataset. Targeted prostate biopsy and histology remains the gold standard for prostate cancer diagnosis.

Truth-telling contra perfectionist liberalism: Muslim parrhēsíastes in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Renders, Johannes

In this paper, I first offer a general outline and reflection on the notion of parrhēsía (truth-telling), as popularized by Foucault. Secondly, I discuss Foucault’s history of problematizations, with comments on what he called “games of truth” and the Cartesian conception of truth-telling. Thirdly......, I sketch a trend in the current Danish public and political sphere, defining the notion of “perfectionist liberalism” and how it translates to the Danish context, including concrete examples and notes on “liberal intolerance arguments”. Lastly, I address the condition of Muslim parrhēsíastes (truth...

An inconvenient truth; Une verite qui derange

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al, Gore

2007-01-15

Our climate crisis may at times appear to be happening slowly, but in fact it is happening very quickly-and has become a true planetary emergency. The Chinese expression for crisis consists of two characters. The first is a symbol for danger; the second is a symbol for opportunity. In order to face down the danger that is stalking us and move through it, we first have to recognize that we are facing a crisis. So why is it that our leaders seem not to hear such clarion warnings? Are they resisting the truth because they know that the moment they acknowledge it, they will face a moral imperative to act? Is it simply more convenient to ignore the warnings? Perhaps, but inconvenient truths do not go away just because they are not seen. Indeed, when they are responded to, their significance does not diminish; it grows. (author)

[The duty to tell the truth with regard to a person with Alzheimer's disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Neyen, Octavie; Cornet, Marielle; Zeringer, Marie; Neyen, Constance

2014-01-01

In the framework of a project relating to ethical questioning, pupils in their penultimate year at Mabillon des Ardennes high school gathered testimonies which revealed that the truth is sometimes hidden from people with Alzheimer's disease. Why is this right to the truth not always respected? In what circumstances does it happen? What are the reasons? What are the potential consequences? Reflection is required around the question of the respect of the right to the truth for people with cognitive disorders.

Scientific revolution, incommensurability and truth in theories ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Scientific revolution, incommensurability and truth in theories: objection to Kuhn's perspective. ... AFRREV STECH: An International Journal of Science and Technology ... The core of our discussion is, ultimately, to provide a clearer and broader picture of the general characteristics of scientific revolution or theory change.

A Linguistic Truth-Valued Temporal Reasoning Formalism and Its Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhirui; Liu, Jun; Augusto, Juan C.; Wang, Hui

Temporality and uncertainty are important features of many real world systems. Solving problems in such systems requires the use of formal mechanism such as logic systems, statistical methods or other reasoning and decision-making methods. In this paper, we propose a linguistic truth-valued temporal reasoning formalism to enable the management of both features concurrently using a linguistic truth valued logic and a temporal logic. We also provide a backward reasoning algorithm which allows the answering of user queries. A simple but realistic scenario in a smart home application is used to illustrate our work.

In situ observations of Pc1 pearl pulsations by the Van Allen Probes

Science.gov (United States)

Paulson, K. W.; Smith, C. W.; Lessard, M. R.; Engebretson, M. J.; Torbert, R. B.; Kletzing, C. A.

2014-03-01

We present in situ observations of Pc1 pearl pulsations using the Van Allen Probes. These waves are often observed using ground-based magnetometers, but are rarely observed by orbiting satellites. With the Van Allen Probes, we have seen at least 14 different pearl pulsation events during the first year of operations. These new in situ measurements allow us to identify the wave classification based on local magnetic field conditions. Additionally, by using two spacecraft, we are able to observe temporal changes in the region of observation. The waves appear to be generated at an overall central frequency, as often observed on the ground, and change polarization from left- to right-handedness as they propagate into a region where they are resonant with the crossover frequency (where R- and L-mode waves have the same phase velocity). By combining both in situ and ground-based data, we have found that the region satisfying electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave generation conditions is azimuthally large while radially narrow. The observation of a similar modulation period on the ground as in the magnetosphere contradicts the bouncing wave packet mechanism of generation.

The Politics of Violence, Truth, and Reconciliation in the Arab Middle East

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book treats political and cultural attempts to create truth and reconciliation processes in the Arab Middle Eat. It contains studies of Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria.......This book treats political and cultural attempts to create truth and reconciliation processes in the Arab Middle Eat. It contains studies of Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria....

Being asked to tell an unpleasant truth about another person activates anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Littlefield, Melissa M; Dietz, Martin J; Fitzgerald, Des; Knudsen, Kasper J; Tonks, James

2015-01-01

"Truth" has been used as a baseline condition in several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of deception. However, like deception, telling the truth is an inherently social construct, which requires consideration of another person's mental state, a phenomenon known as Theory of Mind. Using a novel ecological paradigm, we examined blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses during social and simple truth telling. Participants (n = 27) were randomly divided into two competing teams. Post-competition, each participant was scanned while evaluating performances from in-group and out-group members. Participants were asked to be honest and were told that their evaluations would be made public. We found increased BOLD responses in the medial prefrontal cortex, bilateral anterior insula and precuneus when participants were asked to tell social truths compared to simple truths about another person. At the behavioral level, participants were slower at responding to social compared to simple questions about another person. These findings suggest that telling the truth is a nuanced cognitive operation that is dependent on the degree of mentalizing. Importantly, we show that the cortical regions engaged by truth telling show a distinct pattern when the task requires social reasoning.

Prosecuting International Crimes at National Level: Lessons from the Argentine ‘Truth-Finding Trials’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Maculan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Truth-finding trials (juicios por la verdad constitute a novel solution devised by the Argentine judicial system to cope with crimes committed by the past military dictatorship. This mechanism uses criminal courts as well as criminal procedure in order to investigate the truth about the dictatorship's crimes; however, the trials allow judges neither to establish criminal responsibility nor to punish the perpetrators of crimes. This limitation is due to the inability, imposed by the Full Stop and Due Obedience Laws, to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes.From the perspective of criminal law, truth-finding trials present two problematic features: firstly, their creation and regulation are set by judges, which has caused the development of many non-homogeneous local solutions and, secondly, their hybrid nature, which entails a possible subversion of conventional forms and goals in the context of the criminal trial.The paper also describes the current situation, since the Argentine impunity laws were declared unconstitutional and criminal proceedings reopened. The new framework provokes questions about the relationship between the reopened criminal trials and the truth-finding investigations, not only with regard to evidentiary issues but also with respect to the reason why the truth-finding investigations are still held.Finally, the shift from a non-punitive approach to the current full criminal accountability seems to suggest that truth-finding trials were merely a temporary solution, while the notion of the full prosecution and punishment of State crimes was never really set aside.

Davidson, Dualism, and Truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathaniel Goldberg

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Happy accidents happen even in philosophy. Sometimes our arguments yield insights despite missing their target, though when they do others can often spot it more easily. Consider the work of Donald Davidson. Few did more to explore connections among mind, language, and world. Now that we have critical distance from his views, however, we can see that Davidson’s accomplishments are not quite what they seem. First, while Davidson attacked the dualism of conceptual scheme and empirical content, he in fact illustrated a way to hold it. Second, while Davidson used the principle of charity to argue against the dualism, his argument in effect treats the principle as constitutive of a conceptual scheme. And third, while Davidson asserted that he cannot define what truth ultimately is—and while I do not disagree—his work nonetheless allows us to saymore about truth than Davidson himself does. I aim to establish these three claims. Doing so enriches our understanding of issues central to the history of philosophy concerning how, if at all, to divvy up the mental or linguistic contribution, and the worldly contribution, to knowledge. As we see below, Davidson was right in taking his work to be one stage of a dialectic begun by Immanuel Kant.1 He was just wrong about what that stage is. Reconsidering Davidson’s views also moves the current debate forward, as they reveal a previously unrecognized yet intuitive notion of truth—even if Davidson himself remained largely unaware of it. We begin however with scheme/content dualism and Davidson’s argument against it.

About the notion of truth in quantum mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omnes, R.

1991-01-01

The meaning of truth in quantum mechanics is considered in order to respond to some objections raised by B. d'Espagnat against a logical interpretation of quantum mechanics recently proposed by the author. A complete answer is given. It is shown that not only can factual data be said to be true, but also some of their logical consequences, so that the definition of truth given by Heisenberg is both extended and refined. Some nontrue but reliable propositions may also be used, but they are somewhat arbitrary because of the complementarity principle. For instance, the propositions expressing wave packet reduction can be either true or reliable, according to the case under study. Separability is also discussed: as far as the true properties of an individual system are concerned, quantum mechanics is separable

A logical approach to fuzzy truth hedges

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Esteva, F.; Godo, L.; Noguera, Carles

2013-01-01

Roč. 232, č. 1 (2013), s. 366-385 ISSN 0020-0255 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : Mathematical fuzzy logic * Standard completeness * Truth hedges Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 3.893, year: 2013 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2016/MTR/noguera-0469148.pdf

Truth and (self) censorship in military memoirs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleinreesink, E.; Soeters, J.M.M.L.

2016-01-01

It can be difficult for researchers from outside the military to gain access to the field. However, there is a rich source on the military that is readily available for every researcher: military memoirs. This source does provide some methodological challenges with regard to truth and (self)

The Inconvenient Truth. Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Athanasiou, T.

2007-01-01

Essay-type of publication on what should happen next after Al Gore's presentations on the Inconvenient Truth about the impacts of climate change. The essay states in the first lines: 'We've seen the movie, so we know the first part - we're in trouble deep. And it's time, past time, for at least some of us to go beyond warning to planning, to start talking seriously about a global crash program to stabilize the climate

Is socioeconomic status associated with awareness of and receptivity to the truth campaign?

Science.gov (United States)

Vallone, Donna M; Allen, Jane A; Xiao, Haijun

2009-10-01

The truth campaign is credited with preventing approximately 450,000 youth from starting to smoke, from 2000 through 2004 [Farrelly, M.C., Nonnemaker, J., Davis, K.C., Hussin, A., 2009. The Influence of the National Truth Campaign on Smoking Initiation. Am. J. Prev. Med. February 9 [Epub ahead of print

Cost-utility analysis of the National truth campaign to prevent youth smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Holtgrave, David R; Wunderink, Katherine A; Vallone, Donna M; Healton, Cheryl G

2009-05-01

In 2005, the American Journal of Public Health published an article that indicated that 22% of the overall decline in youth smoking that occurred between 1999 and 2002 was directly attributable to the truth social marketing campaign launched in 2000. A remaining key question about the truth campaign is whether the economic investment in the program can be justified by the public health outcomes; that question is examined here. Standard methods of cost and cost-utility analysis were employed in accordance with the U.S. Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine; a societal perspective was employed. During 2000-2002, expenditures totaled just over $324 million to develop, deliver, evaluate, and litigate the truth campaign. The base-case cost-utility analysis result indicates that the campaign was cost saving; it is estimated that the campaign recouped its costs and that just under $1.9 billion in medical costs was averted for society. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the basic determination of cost effectiveness for this campaign is robust to substantial variation in input parameters. This study suggests that the truth campaign not only markedly improved the public's health but did so in an economically efficient manner.

No funeral bells: Public reason in a 'post-truth' age.

Science.gov (United States)

Jasanoff, Sheila; Simmet, Hilton R

2017-10-01

The label 'post-truth' signals for many a troubling turn away from principles of enlightened government. The word 'post', moreover, implies a past when things were radically different and whose loss should be universally mourned. In this paper, we argue that this framing of 'post-truth' is flawed because it is ahistorical and ignores the co-production of knowledge and norms in political contexts. Debates about public facts are necessarily debates about social meanings, rooted in realities that are subjectively experienced as all-encompassing and complete, even when they are partial and contingent. Facts used in policy are normative in four ways: They are embedded in prior choices of which experiential realities matter, produced through processes that reflect institutionalized public values, arbiters of which issues are open to democratic contestation and deliberation, and vehicles through which polities imagine their collective futures. To restore truth to its rightful place in democracy, governments should be held accountable for explaining who generated public facts, in response to which sets of concerns, and with what opportunities for deliberation and closure.

Twardowski On Truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Simons

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Of those students of Franz Brentano who went on to become professional philosophers, Kazimierz Twardowski (1866-1938 is much less well-known than his older contemporaries Edmund Husserl and Alexius Meinong. Yet in terms of the importance of his contribution to the history of philosophy, he ranks among Brentano’s students behind at most those two, possibly only behind Husserl. The chief contribution of Twardowski to global philosophy came indirectly, through the influence of his theory of truth on his students, and they on their students, and so on. The most important of these grandstudents is one whom Twardowski presumably knew but never taught, and whose adopted name is obtained by deleting four letters from his own: Tarski.

CONCEPT OF "TRUTH" IN THE NOVEL OF MIKHAIL BULGAKOV'S MASTER AND MARGARITA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasiya Sergeevna Korneenko

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The subject of our study was the concept of "truth" in Bulgakov's novel Master and Margarita. S. Stepanov gave the defi nition of a concept. The concept is like a clot of culture in human consciousness; that is the manner, in which culture becomes a part of the mental world of a man. And, on the other hand, the concept is a way for a man as an ordinary, normal person, not a "creator of cultural values" to be included in the culture, and in some cases, to affects it. In the analysis of the concept of "truth" we start from its cultural-and-etymological understanding of the word "truth". The aim of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the three editions of the novel and to fi nd out what semantic meanings Bulgakov deals with in a particular case and how it aff ects the transformation of the idea of the novel from edition to edition.Three editions of the novel were the material for the research: the first is "Engineer Hoof " (1930–1932, the second is Grand Chancellor (1932–1934 and the fi nal version of "The Master and Margarita." In these three editions Yeshua involves everyone who he is talking to in the dialogue. In the editions Engineer Hoof and Grand Chancellor M. A. Bulgakov uses the concept of "truth" in scientific- philosophical and sacred meanings (plans. In the final text Yeshua appears as a philosopher who is in search of the truth.

Hyperspectral Imaging and K-Means Classification for Histologic Evaluation of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasser Khouj

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Hyperspectral imaging (HSI is a non-invasive optical imaging modality that shows the potential to aid pathologists in breast cancer diagnoses cases. In this study, breast cancer tissues from different patients were imaged by a hyperspectral system to detect spectral differences between normal and breast cancer tissues. Tissue samples mounted on slides were identified from 10 different patients. Samples from each patient included both normal and ductal carcinoma tissue, both stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain and unstained. Slides were imaged using a snapshot HSI system, and the spectral reflectance differences were evaluated. Analysis of the spectral reflectance values indicated that wavelengths near 550 nm showed the best differentiation between tissue types. This information was used to train image processing algorithms using supervised and unsupervised data. The K-means method was applied to the hyperspectral data cubes, and successfully detected spectral tissue differences with sensitivity of 85.45%, and specificity of 94.64% with true negative rate of 95.8%, and false positive rate of 4.2%. These results were verified by ground-truth marking of the tissue samples by a pathologist. In the hyperspectral image analysis, the image processing algorithm, K-means, shows the greatest potential for building a semi-automated system that could identify and sort between normal and ductal carcinoma in situ tissues.

Hyperspectral Imaging and K-Means Classification for Histologic Evaluation of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.

Science.gov (United States)

Khouj, Yasser; Dawson, Jeremy; Coad, James; Vona-Davis, Linda

2018-01-01

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a non-invasive optical imaging modality that shows the potential to aid pathologists in breast cancer diagnoses cases. In this study, breast cancer tissues from different patients were imaged by a hyperspectral system to detect spectral differences between normal and breast cancer tissues. Tissue samples mounted on slides were identified from 10 different patients. Samples from each patient included both normal and ductal carcinoma tissue, both stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain and unstained. Slides were imaged using a snapshot HSI system, and the spectral reflectance differences were evaluated. Analysis of the spectral reflectance values indicated that wavelengths near 550 nm showed the best differentiation between tissue types. This information was used to train image processing algorithms using supervised and unsupervised data. The K-means method was applied to the hyperspectral data cubes, and successfully detected spectral tissue differences with sensitivity of 85.45%, and specificity of 94.64% with true negative rate of 95.8%, and false positive rate of 4.2%. These results were verified by ground-truth marking of the tissue samples by a pathologist. In the hyperspectral image analysis, the image processing algorithm, K-means, shows the greatest potential for building a semi-automated system that could identify and sort between normal and ductal carcinoma in situ tissues.

Chinese Children's Moral Evaluation of Lies and Truths-Roles of Context and Parental Individualism-Collectivism Tendencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Genyue; Brunet, Megan K; Lv, Yin; Ding, Xiaopan; Heyman, Gail D; Cameron, Catherine Ann; Lee, Kang

2010-10-01

The present study examined Chinese children's moral evaluations of truths and lies about one's own pro-social acts. Children ages 7, 9, and 11 were read vignettes in which a protagonist performs a good deed and is asked about it by a teacher, either in front of the class or in private. In response, the protagonist either tells a modest lie, which is highly valued by the Chinese culture, or tells an immodest truth, which violates the Chinese cultural norms about modesty. Children were asked to identify whether the protagonist's statement was the truth or a lie, and to evaluate how 'good' or 'bad' the statement was. Chinese children rated modest lies more positively than immodest truths, with this effect becoming more pronounced with age. Rural Chinese children and those with at least one nonprofessional parent rated immodest truths less positively when they were told in public rather than in private. Furthermore, Chinese children of parents with high collectivism scores valued modest lies more than did children of parents with low collectivism scores. These findings suggest that both macro- and micro-cultural factors contribute significantly to children's moral understanding of truth and lie telling.

BUSTED BUTTE TEST FACILITY GROUND SUPPORT CONFIRMATION ANALYSIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonabian, S.

1998-01-01

The main purpose and objective of this analysis is to confirm the validity of the ground support design for Busted Butte Test Facility (BBTF). The highwall stability and adequacy of highwall and tunnel ground support is addressed in this analysis. The design of the BBTF including the ground support system was performed in a separate document (Reference 5.3). Both in situ and seismic loads are considered in the evaluation of the highwall and the tunnel ground support system. In this analysis only the ground support designed in Reference 5.3 is addressed. The additional ground support installed (still work in progress) by the constructor is not addressed in this analysis. This additional ground support was evaluated by the A/E during a site visit and its findings and recommendations are addressed in this analysis

Deploying in situ bioremediation at the Hanford Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Truex, M.J.; Johnson, C.D.; Newcomer, D.R.; Doremus, L.A.; Hooker, B.S.; Peyton, B.M.; Skeen, R.S.; Chilakapati, A.

1994-11-01

An innovative in-situ bioremediation technology was developed by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) to destroy nitrate and carbon tetrachloride (CC1 4 ) in the Hanford ground water. The goal of this in-situ treatment process is to stimulate native microorganisms to degrade nitrate and CCl 4 . Nutrient solutions are distributed in the contaminated aquifer to create a biological treatment zone. This technology is being demonstrated at the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site to provide the design, operating, and cost information needed to assess its effectiveness in contaminated ground water. The process design and field operations for demonstration of this technology are influenced by the physical, chemical, and microbiological properties observed at the site. A description of the technology is presented including the well network design, nutrient injection equipment, and means for controlling the hydraulics and microbial reactions of the treatment process

A Truthful Incentive Mechanism for Online Recruitment in Mobile Crowd Sensing System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate emerging mobile crowd sensing (MCS systems, in which new cloud-based platforms sequentially allocate homogenous sensing jobs to dynamically-arriving users with uncertain service qualities. Given that human beings are selfish in nature, it is crucial yet challenging to design an efficient and truthful incentive mechanism to encourage users to participate. To address the challenge, we propose a novel truthful online auction mechanism that can efficiently learn to make irreversible online decisions on winner selections for new MCS systems without requiring previous knowledge of users. Moreover, we theoretically prove that our incentive possesses truthfulness, individual rationality and computational efficiency. Extensive simulation results under both real and synthetic traces demonstrate that our incentive mechanism can reduce the payment of the platform, increase the utility of the platform and social welfare.

A Truthful Incentive Mechanism for Online Recruitment in Mobile Crowd Sensing System.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiao; Liu, Min; Zhou, Yaqin; Li, Zhongcheng; Chen, Shuang; He, Xiangnan

2017-01-01

We investigate emerging mobile crowd sensing (MCS) systems, in which new cloud-based platforms sequentially allocate homogenous sensing jobs to dynamically-arriving users with uncertain service qualities. Given that human beings are selfish in nature, it is crucial yet challenging to design an efficient and truthful incentive mechanism to encourage users to participate. To address the challenge, we propose a novel truthful online auction mechanism that can efficiently learn to make irreversible online decisions on winner selections for new MCS systems without requiring previous knowledge of users. Moreover, we theoretically prove that our incentive possesses truthfulness, individual rationality and computational efficiency. Extensive simulation results under both real and synthetic traces demonstrate that our incentive mechanism can reduce the payment of the platform, increase the utility of the platform and social welfare.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Children's Choices, Categorizations, and Evaluations of Truths and Lies

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Genyue; Xu, Fen; Cameron, Catherine Ann; Leyman, Gail; Lee, Kang

2007-01-01

This study examined cross-cultural differences and similarities in children's moral understanding of individual- or collective-oriented lies and truths. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old Canadian and Chinese children were read stories about story characters facing moral dilemmas about whether to lie or tell the truth to help a group but harm an…

Ground rubber: Sorption media for ground water containing benzene and O-xylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kershaw, D.S.; Pamukcu, S.

1997-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to examine the ability of ground rubber to sorb benzene and O-xylene from water contained with aromatic hydrocarbons. The study consisted of running both batch and packed bed column tests to determine the sorption capacity, the required sorption equilibration time, and the flow through utilization efficiency of ground rubber under various contact times when exposed to water contaminated with various amounts of benzene or O-xylene. Initial batch test results indicate that ground rubber can attain equilibrium sorption capacities up to 1.3 or 8.2 mg of benzene or O-xylene, respectively, per gram of tire rubber at solution equilibrium concentrations of 10 mg/L. Packed bed column tests indicate that ground tire rubber has on the average a 40% utilization rate when a hydraulic residence time of 15 min is used. Possible future uses of round rubber as a sorption media could include, but are not limited to, the use of ground rubber as an aggregate in slurry cutoff walls that are in contact with petroleum products. Ground rubber could also be used as a sorption media in pump-and-treat methodologies or as a sorption media in in-situ reactive permeable barriers

Extrametodical truth and ontology of the praxis: The mediator rationality of the phronesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaetano Chiurazzi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Gadamer’s vindication of the extra-methodical feature of truth in the human sciences put forward in Truth and Method does not mean a mere refusal of method: rather, it arises from the awareness that there are truths which are not reducible to the conditions of repeatability and commensurability set up by methodical thinking. In fact, the truths of the human sciences refer to the ontological dimension of the contingent and the accidental, i.e. to the dimension of the historical. In this essay I aim at highlighting this ontological dimension, which for Aristotle is eminently that of the praxis and of human action. I will show that such an ontology is a consequence of the logical and ontological discussions which crisscrossed Greek thought after the discovery of the incommensurable magnitudes. The ontology of praxis is an ontology which takes into account the “irrationality” represented by the contingent, the accidental, to which a new form of rationality corresponds: that of phrónesis. Phrónesis is in fact not a commensurative but a mediative rationality

Visual truths of citizen reportage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Allan, Stuart; Peters, Chris

2015-01-01

In striving to better understand issues associated with citizen contributions to newsmaking in crisis situations, this article identifies and elaborates four specific research problematics – bearing witness, technologies of truth-telling, mediating visualities and affectivities of othering...... – in order to recast more familiar modes of enquiry. Specifically, it provides an alternative heuristic to theorize the journalistic mediation of citizen imagery, and the myriad ways this process of negotiation maintains, repairs and at times disrupts the interstices of professional–amateur boundaries...

Dydaktyki filozofii kłopoty z prawdą [The teaching of philosophy and its troubles with truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zbigniew Zdunowski

2014-03-01

Full Text Available I. We can talk about the crisis of the truth (in the meaning of the classical cor- respondence theory in the contemporary philosophy (of the 20th century. II. In the wake of philosophy the teaching of philosophy reconciled with the destruction of the truth. Then the didactics of philosophy resigned from the placing the aim to the truth among the objectives, which should serve to philosophical education. III. The absence and understatement of the disinterested pursuit to the truth among the objectives or requirements of education impoverish the philosophical education and cause damage to the children, pupils and wards. IV. Therefore the truth understood as an epistemological category, the purpose of education and moral value, should be restored to our didactic and educational activities.

To Tell the Truth: The Challenge of Military Leadership

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Henderson, Jr, Ronald H

1998-01-01

The story of Regulus, while certainly apocryphal, nevertheless illustrates a fundamental tension of military leadership -- the moral imperative for military leaders to tell the truth, even when that...

THE JOURNEY OF TRUTH: FROM PLATO TO ZOLA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ribut Basuki

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Western theater theory and criticism is generally considered to be set forth by the Greeks. Plato was "the first theater critic" with his negative comments about theater owing to his idealistic views about "the truth." Then came Aristotle who used a different viewpoint from that of Plato, saying that there is "truth" in theater. However, hostile criticism on theater came back in the Middle Ages, championed by Tertulian before Aristotelian theory was revived by the neo-classicists such as Scaliger and Castelvetro. Theater theory and criticism discourse was then made more alive by the romanticists who disagreed with the neo-classicists' rigid rules on theater. As the influence of science became dominant in the theater world, naturalism and realism emerged and became the mainstream of theater theory and criticism until well into the twentieth century.

Accelerated Aging Experiments for Prognostics of Damage Growth in Composite Materials

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

builds on current understanding of fault modes in composites. This paper investigates faults in laminated ply composites. Such structures mainly...experiments where intermittent ground truth and in-situ characteristics are collected. Growth patterns are analyzed for damage types typical of laminated ...2: [0/902/45/-45/90], and Layup 3: [902/45/-45]2. Torayca T700G uni-directional carbon- prepreg material was used for 15.24 cm x 25.4 cm coupons with

Should physicians tell the truth without taking social complications into account? A striking case.

Science.gov (United States)

Avci, Ercan

2018-03-01

The principle of respect for autonomy requires informing patients adequately and appropriately about diagnoses, treatments, and prognoses. However, some clinical cases may cause ethical dilemmas regarding telling the truth. Under the existence especially of certain cultural, social, and religious circumstances, disclosing all the relevant information to all pertinent parties might create harmful effects. Even though the virtue of telling the truth is unquestionable, sometimes de facto conditions compel physicians to act paternalistically to protect the patient/patients from imminent dangers. This article, which aims to study the issue of whether a physician should always tell the truth, analyzes an interesting case that represents the detection of misattributed paternity during pre-transplant tests for a kidney transplant from the son to the father in Turkey, where social, cultural, and religious factors have considerable impact on marital infidelity. After analyzing the concept of telling the truth and its relationship with paternalism and two major ethical theories, consequentialism and deontology, it is concluded that the value of the integrity of life and survival overrides the value of telling the truth. For this reason, in the case of a high possibility of severe and imminent threats, withholding some information is ethically justifiable.

Facing the truth: An appraisal of the potential contributions ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Facing the truth: An appraisal of the potential contributions, paradoxes and challenges of implementing the United Nations conventions on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) in Nigeria.

The Development and Deployment of a Ground-Based, Laser-Induced Fluorescence Instrument for the In Situ Detection of Iodine Monoxide Radicals

Science.gov (United States)

Thurlow, M. E.; Co, D. T.; O'Brien, A. S.; Hannun, R. A.; Lapson, L. B.; Hanisco, T. F.; Anderson, J. G.

2014-01-01

High abundances of iodine monoxide (IO) are known to exist and to participate in local photochemistry of the marine boundary layer. Of particular interest are the roles IO plays in the formation of new particles in coastal marine environments and in depletion episodes of ozone and mercury in the Arctic polar spring. This paper describes a ground-based instrument that measures IO at mixing ratios less than one part in 1012. The IO radical is measured by detecting laser-induced fluorescence at wavelengths longer that 500 nm. Tunable visible light is used to pump the A23/2 (v = 2) ? X23/2 (v = 0) transition of IO near 445 nm. The laser light is produced by a solid-state, Nd:YAG-pumped Ti:Sapphire laser at 5 kHz repetition rate. The laser-induced fluorescence instrument performs reliably with very high signal-to-noise ratios (>10) achieved in short integration times (<1 min). The observations from a validation deployment to the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, ME are presented and are broadly consistent with in situ observations from European Coastal Sites. Mixing ratios ranged from the instrumental detection limit (<1 pptv) to 10 pptv. These data represent the first in situ point measurements of IO in North America.

A gamma-spectrometer determining equilibrium factor in situ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Weiheng

1992-01-01

The author expounds main function, scientific value and practical significance of Model SY500 gamma-spectrometer, which can determine radioactive factor equilibrium (k p ) in-situ. Accuracy, steadiness and differential of the technology has been proved on the models of Radiometric Measurement Station of China Nuclear Industry Corporation. The author enumerates several examples such as k p survey at gold-bearing glebe, at uranium-bearing glebe, at the ground above ground water and 21 stations of Beijing subway

Intelligible genders in scene: the cinema and the truth production about bodies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciene Galvão

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to discuss how cinematographic language produces truths about men and women. Throughout the text, we have used to illustrate some iconic films that bring notions of masculinity and femininity. The film we have chosen are works that have a distinct esthetic and markets, they are able to raise issues related to gender and sexuality in discussions against romantic love, identity, homosexuality, violence and techniques confession of truths, among others. We analyze the films from Michel Foucault perspective concern sexuality and power relations and Judith Butler about gender intelligible. The plots of the films show that such truths are constantly negotiated and further indicate that norms about sex, desire, pleasure, masculinity and femininity are not only reproduced as its effects on private plots do not end with the end of the film.

Truth and victims’ rights: Towards a legal epistemology of international criminal justice

OpenAIRE

Aguilera, Edgar R.

2013-01-01

The author advances the thesis that the now well established international crime victims' right to know the truth creates an opportunity for an applied epistemology reflection regarding international criminal justice. At the heart of the project lies the author's argument that this victims' right -if taken seriously- implies both the right that the international criminal justice system's normative structures or legal frameworks and practices feature a truth-promoting profile, or in other word...

First observations of tropospheric δD data observed by ground- and space-based remote sensing and surface in-situ measurement techniques at MUSICA's principle reference station (Izaña Observatory, Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

González, Yenny; Schneider, Matthias; Christner, Emanuel; Rodríguez, Omaira E.; Sepúlveda, Eliezer; Dyroff, Christoph; Wiegele, Andreas

2013-04-01

The main goal of the project MUSICA (Multiplatform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water) is the generation of a quasi global tropospheric water vapor isototopologue dataset of a good and well-documented quality. Therefore, new ground- and space-based remote sensing observations (NDACC-FTIR and IASI/METOP) are combined with in-situ measurements. This work presents the first comparison between in-situ and remote sensing observations made at the Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain). The in-situ measurements are made by a Picarro L2120-i water vapor isotopologue analyzer. At Izaña the in-situ data are affected by local small-scale mixing processes: during daylight, the thermally buoyant upslope flow prompts the mixing between the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) and the low Free Troposphere (FT). However, the remote sensors detect δD values averaged over altitudes that are more representative for the free troposphere. This difference has to be considered for the comparison. In general, a good agreement between the MUSICA remote sensing and the in situ H2O-versus-δD plots is found, which demonstrates that the MUSICA δD remote sensing products add scientifically valuable information to the H2O data.

What Truth in Lending Means to You.

Science.gov (United States)

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC.

Designed for the general public and possibly suitable also for high school economics students, this pamphlet discusses the provisions of the Truth in Lending Law. The act requires that creditors state credit charges in a uniform way. The pamphlet provides a brief description of finance charges and annual percentage rates. It also focuses on…

Heart Health: Learn the Truth About Your Heart

Science.gov (United States)

... Bar Home Current Issue Past Issues Cover Story Heart Health Learn the Truth About Your Heart Past Issues / Winter 2009 Table of Contents For ... turn Javascript on. Photo: iStock February is American Heart Month. Now is the time to make sure ...

Florida's "truth" campaign: a counter-marketing, anti-tobacco media campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Zucker, D; Hopkins, R S; Sly, D F; Urich, J; Kershaw, J M; Solari, S

2000-05-01

The "truth" campaign was created to change youth attitudes about tobacco and to reduce teen tobacco use throughout Florida by using youth-driven advertising, public relations, and advocacy. Results of the campaign include a 92 percent brand awareness rate among teens, a 15 percent rise in teens who agree with key attitudinal statements about smoking, a 19.4 percent decline in smoking among middle school students, and a 8.0 percent decline among high school students. States committed to results-oriented youth anti-tobacco campaigns should look to Florida's "truth" campaign as a model that effectively places youth at the helm of anti-tobacco efforts.

Interdependence versus Truth and Justice: Lessons from Reconciliation Processes in Maluku

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diah Kusumaningrum

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Truth commissions and trials have been applauded as the way to move on from a violent past. Yet, some post-conflict societies managed to move toward reconciliation without the presence, or the effective presence of such formal institutions. This article discusses a number of lessons learned from Maluku, where reconciliation took the interdependence path. Taking on an interpretive, emic approach, it elaborates on the sites and mechanisms of interpendence. It argues that interdependence can be as viable as truth and justice procedures in bringing about reconciliation.

Pilot-scale feasibility of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil in situ bioremediation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, J.F. Jr.; Walker, A.B.

1995-01-01

An environmental project was conducted to evaluate in situ bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils on Kwajalein Island, a US Army Kwajalein Atoll base in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Results of laboratory column studies determined that nutrient loadings stimulated biodegradation rates and that bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils at Kwajalein was possible using indigenous microbes. The column studies were followed by an ∼10-month on-site demonstration at Kwajalein to further evaluate in situ bioremediation and to determine design and operating conditions necessary to optimize the process. The demonstration site contained low levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (diesel fuel) in the soil near the ground surface, with concentrations increasing to ∼10,000 mg/kg in the soil near the groundwater. The demonstration utilized 12 in situ plots to evaluate the effects of various combinations of water, air, and nutrient additions on both the microbial population and the hydrocarbon concentration within the treatment plots as a function of depth from the ground surface

The impact of culture and religion on truth telling at the end of life.

Science.gov (United States)

de Pentheny O'Kelly, Clarissa; Urch, Catherine; Brown, Edwina A

2011-12-01

Truth telling, a cardinal rule in Western medicine, is not a globally shared moral stance. Honest disclosure of terminal prognosis and diagnosis are regarded as imperative in preparing for the end of life. Yet in many cultures, truth concealment is common practice. In collectivist Asian and Muslim cultures, illness is a shared family affair. Consequently, decision making is family centred and beneficence and non-malfeasance play a dominant role in their ethical model, in contrast to patient autonomy in Western cultures. The 'four principles' are prevalent throughout Eastern and Western cultures, however, the weight with which they are considered and their understanding differ. The belief that a grave diagnosis or prognosis will extinguish hope in patients leads families to protect ill members from the truth. This denial of the truth, however, is linked with not losing faith in a cure. Thus, aggressive futile treatment can be expected. The challenge is to provide a health care service that is equable for all individuals in a given country. The British National Health Service provides care to all cultures but is bound by the legal principles and framework of the UK and aims for equity of provision by working within the UK ethical framework with legal and ethical norms being explained to all patients and relatives. This requires truth telling about prognosis and efficacy of potential treatments so that unrealistic expectations are not raised.

Problematizing Religious Truth: Implications for Public Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenblith, Suzanne; Priestman, Scott

2004-01-01

The question motivating this paper is whether or not there can be standards governing the evaluation of truth claims in religion. In other areas of study such as physics, math, history, and even value-laden realms like morality there is some widespread agreement as to what constitutes good thinking. If such a standard existed in religion, then our…

Communicating Truthfully and Positively in Appraising Work Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, C. Glenn; And Others

1989-01-01

Explores the issue of acceptable behavior for managers when giving feedback to their subordinates. Notes that feedback can be either truthful or untruthful, and can be communicated either positively or negatively. Describes the advantages and disadvantages for each feedback approach to work performance. (MM)

78 FR 25818 - Truth in Lending (Regulation Z)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-03

... BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 12 CFR Part 1026 [Docket No. CFPB-2012-0039] RIN 3170-AA28 Truth in Lending (Regulation Z) AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. ACTION: Final rule; official interpretations. SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) issues this final...

Authenticity, Post-truth and Populism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vintilă Mihăilescu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the fake news phenomenon as a social act, analyzed together with what has caused it and what accompanies it: the culture of authenticity, digital communication and its specificity (emphasis on image, not on concepts, post-truth and populism (with its emotional dimension. The premise is that fake news is immanent to the social space, but in the context of globalization and under the development of information technology and social media, it has a greater social impact and carries higher risks for the society.

In situ bioremediation of chlorinated solvent with natural gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabold, D.E.

1996-01-01

A bioremediation system for the removal of chlorinated solvents from ground water and sediments is described. The system involves the the in-situ injection of natural gas (as a microbial nutrient) through an innovative configuration of horizontal wells

Comparison between ex situ and in situ measurement methods for the assessment of radioactively contaminated land. Comparison between measurement methods for the characterisation of radioactively contaminated land

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rostron, Peter D.; Ramsey, Michael H.; Heathcote, John A.

2012-01-01

In the UK, it is estimated that there may be 20,000,000 cubic metres of contaminated land at Sellafield alone. Harwell and Dounreay are known to have significant amounts of radioactive or nonradioactive contaminated land (NDA, 2006). It is therefore important to devise optimal methods for the characterisation of areas of land for radionuclide content, in order to enable cost-effective decommissioning. With chemical contaminants, ex situ measurements are made on a larger volume of soil than are in situ measurements, such as PXRF. However, the opposite is often true for the characterisation of radioactive contamination, when this involves the detection of penetrating radiation from γ-emitting radionuclides. This means that when investigating for hotspots of radioactive contamination at or near the ground surface, better coverage can be obtained using in situ methods. This leads to the question, what is the optimal strategy (e.g. percentage coverage, counting time) for in situ characterisation of radioactively contaminated land' Surveys on light-moderate contaminated areas of ground were conducted at Dounreay in order to compare the relative effectiveness of in situ and ex situ methods, both for the detection of radioactive hotspots and also for estimating the average radionuclide content of an area of ground. These surveys suggest that continuous coverage by in situ devices is more effective at hotspot detection, with ex situ laboratory measurements being less effective, although in one case elevated activity below 10 cm depth that was identified by ex situ measurement was not located by in situ measurement. The surveys also highlighted that careful choice of an appropriate spatial model is critical to the estimation of activity concentrations over averaging areas. Whereas continuous coverage may be considered necessary for hotspot identification, in the particular case of the detection of hot particles (where the particle is very small compared to the sampling

Unearthing Truth: Forensic Anthropology, Translocal Memory, and “Provention” in Guatemala

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colette G. Mazzucelli

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This article deliberately examines the search for truth after decades of conflict in Guatemala. Excavations of mass gravesites and the painstaking exhumation processes carried out by professional forensic anthropology teams continue to allow families to locate lost relatives—reclaiming truth and supporting calls for justice. For Guatemalans, the search for truth now transcends national borders, especially among migrant communities in the United States. The family remains the central unit through which the work of Guatemalan forensic anthropologists is undertaken. In an effort to engender deeper insights about these exhumation processes from a social science perspective, this analysis promotes the use of specific “tools” in Guatemalan forensic anthropology investigations. The first is an exhumations concept map, which yields important questions meant to stimulate meaningful analysis. The second, Story Maps, is a technology application with the potential to mediate digital access to the emerging Guatemalan translocal space. The research in this analysis suggests that these “tools” strengthen Burton’s notion of “provention” in Guatemala.

The Notion of Truth and Our Evolving Understanding of Sexual Harassment.

Science.gov (United States)

Recupero, Patricia R

2018-03-01

The notion of truth and its determination in legal proceedings is contingent on the cultural setting in which a claim is argued or disputed. Recent years have demonstrated a dramatic shift in the public dialogue concerning sexual harassment. This shift reflects changing cultural mores and standards in the workplace and society as a whole, particularly with respect to the validity of women's voices. The subjective reality experienced by victims of sexual harassment is inherently tied to the legal system's treatment of women throughout history. In determinations of truth, our understanding of which information and perspectives are relevant, and our expectations regarding the credibility of complainants and the accused, are undergoing a period of rapid change. The discourse surrounding the #MeToo movement suggests that the "reasonable-person" standard so often applied by courts is poorly suited to sexual-harassment litigation. As our understanding of what constitutes "severe," "pervasive," and "unwelcome" conduct continues to evolve, forensic psychiatrists must strive to uphold the values of respect for persons in the search for the truth. © 2018 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Portable in situ NaI(Tl) γ spectroscopy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bairong; Dong Binjiang; Zeng Liping; Shen Tingyun

2000-01-01

The author describes a portable in situ NaI(Tl) γ spectroscopy system, which consists of a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector, an integrative spectroscopy card, a notebook computer and spectroscopy software. The spectrometer addresses applications in environmental or nuclear accident in situ γ spectroscopy measurements, and gives valid quantitative results of radionuclide concentrations per unit volume (Bq/kg) or unit area (Bq/cm 2 ) in the soil and absorbed dose rate in air at 1 m above ground (Gy/h)

Leadership for reconciliation: A Truth and Reconciliation Commission perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. G. J. Meiring

2002-08-01

Full Text Available As important as the need for authentic leadership in the fields of politics, economy and education in Africa may be, the continent is also in dire need of leadership for reconciliation. Against the backdrop of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC, the author � who served on the Commission � discusses five characteristics of leaders for reconciliation. Leaders need to be: leaders with a clear understanding of the issues at stake; leaders with respect for the truth; leaders with a sense of justice; leaders with a comprehension of the dynamics of forgiveness; and leaders with a firm commitment. The insights and experiences of both the chairperson of the TRC, Desmond Tutu, and the deputy chair, Alex Boraine, form the backbone of the article.

The Victim, the International Criminal Court and the Search for Truth: on the Interdependence and Incompatibility of Truths about Mass Atrocity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stolk, S.

2015-01-01

In the debate on the place of victims in international criminal proceedings, the 'search for truth' takes centre stage as an important concern of victims, international criminal tribunals and the wider international community. However, the various claims about the importance of telling and receiving

Overcoming Relativism and Absolutism: Dewey's Ideals of Truth and Meaning in Philosophy for Children

Science.gov (United States)

Bleazby, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Different notions of truth imply and encourage different ideals of thinking, knowledge, meaning, and learning. Thus, these concepts have fundamental importance for educational theory and practice. In this paper, I intend to draw out and clarify the notions of truth, knowledge and meaning that are implied by P4C's pedagogical ideals. There is some…

75 FR 58505 - Regulation Z; Truth in Lending

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-24

.... Reasons for the Proposed Rule Congress enacted TILA based on findings that economic stability would be... and Regulation Z Congress enacted the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) based on findings that economic stability would be enhanced and competition among consumer credit providers would be strengthened by the...

Ground Truthing Orbital Clay Mineral Observations with the APXS Onboard Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, C.; Gellert, R.; VanBommel, S.; Clark, B. C.; Ming, D. W.; Mittlefehldt, D. S.; Yen, A. S.

2016-01-01

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been exploring approximately 22 km diameter Endeavour crater since 2011. Its rim segments predate the Hesperian-age Burns formation and expose Noachian-age material, which is associated with orbital Fe3+-Mg-rich clay mineral observations [1,2]. Moving to an orders of magnitude smaller instrumental field of view on the ground, the clay minerals were challenging to pinpoint on the basis of geochemical data because they appear to be the result of near-isochemical weathering of the local bedrock [3,4]. However, the APXS revealed a more complex mineral story as fracture fills and so-called red zones appear to contain more Al-rich clay minerals [5,6], which had not been observed from orbit. These observations are important to constrain clay mineral formation processes. More detail will be added as Opportunity is heading into her 10th extended mission, during which she will investigate Noachian bedrock that predates Endeavour crater, study sedimentary rocks inside Endeavour crater, and explore a fluid-carved gully. ESA's ExoMars rover will land on Noachian-age Oxia Planum where abundant Fe3+-Mg-rich clay minerals have been observed from orbit, but the story will undoubtedly become more complex once seen from the ground.

Cognitive dissonance, social comparison, and disseminating untruthful or negative truthful eWOM messages

OpenAIRE

Liu, Y-L; Keng, Ching-Jui

2014-01-01

In this research we explored consumers' intentions to provide untruthful or negative truthful electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages when undergoing conflicting cognitive dissonance and after experiencing social comparison. We recruited 480 Taiwanese Internet users to participate in a scenario-based experiment. The findings show that after making downward comparisons on the Internet, consumers with high cognitive dissonance were more inclined to disseminate negative truthful eWOM messages c...

The Asse. On inconvenient truths and the suppression of disagreeable principles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gellermann, Rainer

2016-01-01

The retrieval of radioactive wastes and the closure of the repository Asse II is a very complex project: not only with respect to technical aspects but also with respect to public information. The information brochure no 29 edited by the Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz BfS is dealing with the rather philosophic questions knowledge and truth. The German expert on constitutional law Peter Bull answered to the question whether subjectively assumed health hazards could inhibit a reasonable solution: it has to be expected from the public to bear inconvenient truth. Clarification is necessary instead of wrong populism and suppression of obnoxious findings.

Combined in-situ and ex-situ bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils by closed-loop soil vapor extraction and air injection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, S.S.; Buckler, M.J.

1993-01-01

Treatment and restoration of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils at a bulk petroleum above-ground storage tank (AST) site in Michigan is being conducted through in-situ and ex-situ closed-loop soil vapor extraction (SVE), soil vapor treatment, and treated air injection (AI) processes. The soil vapor extraction process applies a vacuum through the petroleum hydrocarbon affected soils in the ex-situ bio-remediation pile (bio-pile) and along the perimeter of excavated area (in-situ area) to remove the volatile or light petroleum hydrocarbons. This process also draws ambient air into the ex-situ bio-pile and in-situ vadose zone soil along the perimeter of excavated area to enhance biodegradation of light and heavy petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil. The extracted soil vapor is treated using a custom-designed air bio-remediation filter (bio-filter) to degrade the petroleum hydrocarbon compounds in the soil vapor extraction air streams. The treated air is then injected into a flush grade soil bed in the backfill area to perform final polishing of the air stream, and to form a closed-loop air flow with the soil vapor extraction perforated pipes along the perimeter of the excavated area

THE USE OF UAS FOR ASSESSING AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN AN WETLAND IN TANZANIA IN THE DRY- AND WET-SEASON FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND PROVIDING GROUND TRUTH FOR TERRA-SAR X DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.-P. Thamm

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the assessment of the vegetation and the land use systems of the Malinda Wetland in the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania with the parachute UAS (unmanned aerial system SUSI 62. The area of investigation was around 8 km2. In two campaigns, one in the wet season and one in the dry season, approximately 2600 aerial photos of the wetland were taken using the parachute UAS SUSI 62; of these images, ortho-photos with a spatial resolution of 20 cm x 20 cm, were computed with an advanced block bundle approach. The block bundles were geo-referenced using control points taken with differential GPS. As well a digital surface model (DSM of the wetland was created out of the UAS photos. Using the ortho-photos it is possible to assess the different land use systems; the differences in the phenology of the vegetation between wet and dry season can be investigated. In addition, the regionalisation of bio mass samples on smaller test plots was possible. The ortho-photos and the DSM derived from the UAS proved to be a valuable ground truth for the interpretation of Terra-SAR X images. The campaigns demonstrated that SUSI 62 was a suitable, robust tool to obtain the valuable information under harsh conditions.

Armastusest: tõerežiimid, kultuurilised kujutelmad ja kehaline ilmakogemus / On Love: Regimes of Truth, Cultural Imaginaries and the Bodily Experience of Being in the World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Epp Annus

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Teesid: Artikkel lähtub teesist, et armastus kui tunne on lahutamatu sellest, kuidas seda tunnet sõnastatakse ja mõistetakse, ning analüüsib armastust kui kultuurilist kujutelma, mille äratundmine toimub vastavalt ühiskondlikele tõerežiimidele. Analüüsin armastusekujutust kirjandusteostes Alain Badiou armastusmudelite abil ning lisan juurde „omailma-armastuse mudeli“, mis rõhutab armastatu lahutamatust teda ümbritsevast ruumist: armastus ei hõlma vaid armastatut kui kindlalt piiritletud kehalist üksust, vaid ka seda, kuidas armastatu suhestub teda ümbritseva ruumiga ja inimestega.   This article presents and analyses Western cultural models for speaking and thinking about love. According to Michel Foucault, each society establishes its regimes of truth: certain types of discourses are approved as truthful while others are declared unreliable. Each society includes mechanisms of control, which distinguish true statements from false, and assign some people (but not others the authority to judge the true and the false, the acceptable and the unacceptable. Regimes of truth also establish paradigms for judging the truthfulness of love: according to the romantic regime, for example, love is something ephemeral, ungraspable and immeasurable, it transgresses established boundaries and norms; according to the pragmatic regime, by contrast, love can be expressed in economic terms and thus measured: a precious gift expresses commitment (else it would be a waste of money. There may be no common ground for one regime to concede legitimacy to a value asserted by a competing regime. In the view of the romantic regime, for example, the pragmatic regime might be judged as cynical and failing to grasp the essence of love – such weighing of feelings belongs to modern regimes of truth. Both romantic and pragmatic regimes of truth belong to the larger field of cultural imaginaries. Regimes of truth order and systematize the sphere of cultural

Propositional matrices as alternative representation of truth values ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper considered the subject of representation of truth values in symbolic logic. An alternative representation was given based on the rows and columns properties of matrices, with the operations involving the logical connectives subjected to the laws of algebra of propositions. Matrices of various propositions detailing ...

The development and deployment of a ground-based, laser-induced fluorescence instrument for the in situ detection of iodine monoxide radicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thurlow, M. E., E-mail: thurlow@huarp.harvard.edu; Hannun, R. A.; Lapson, L. B.; Anderson, J. G. [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Co, D. T. [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3113 (United States); O' Brien, A. S. [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 (United States); Hanisco, T. F. [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 614, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States)

2014-04-15

High abundances of iodine monoxide (IO) are known to exist and to participate in local photochemistry of the marine boundary layer. Of particular interest are the roles IO plays in the formation of new particles in coastal marine environments and in depletion episodes of ozone and mercury in the Arctic polar spring. This paper describes a ground-based instrument that measures IO at mixing ratios less than one part in 10{sup 12}. The IO radical is measured by detecting laser-induced fluorescence at wavelengths longer that 500 nm. Tunable visible light is used to pump the A{sup 2}Π{sub 3/2} (v{sup ′} = 2) ← X{sup 2}Π{sub 3/2} (v{sup ″} = 0) transition of IO near 445 nm. The laser light is produced by a solid-state, Nd:YAG-pumped Ti:Sapphire laser at 5 kHz repetition rate. The laser-induced fluorescence instrument performs reliably with very high signal-to-noise ratios (>10) achieved in short integration times (<1 min). The observations from a validation deployment to the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, ME are presented and are broadly consistent with in situ observations from European Coastal Sites. Mixing ratios ranged from the instrumental detection limit (<1 pptv) to 10 pptv. These data represent the first in situ point measurements of IO in North America.

The development and deployment of a ground-based, laser-induced fluorescence instrument for the in situ detection of iodine monoxide radicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurlow, M. E.; Hannun, R. A.; Lapson, L. B.; Anderson, J. G.; Co, D. T.; O'Brien, A. S.; Hanisco, T. F.

2014-01-01

High abundances of iodine monoxide (IO) are known to exist and to participate in local photochemistry of the marine boundary layer. Of particular interest are the roles IO plays in the formation of new particles in coastal marine environments and in depletion episodes of ozone and mercury in the Arctic polar spring. This paper describes a ground-based instrument that measures IO at mixing ratios less than one part in 10 12 . The IO radical is measured by detecting laser-induced fluorescence at wavelengths longer that 500 nm. Tunable visible light is used to pump the A 2 Π 3/2 (v ′ = 2) ← X 2 Π 3/2 (v ″ = 0) transition of IO near 445 nm. The laser light is produced by a solid-state, Nd:YAG-pumped Ti:Sapphire laser at 5 kHz repetition rate. The laser-induced fluorescence instrument performs reliably with very high signal-to-noise ratios (>10) achieved in short integration times (<1 min). The observations from a validation deployment to the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, ME are presented and are broadly consistent with in situ observations from European Coastal Sites. Mixing ratios ranged from the instrumental detection limit (<1 pptv) to 10 pptv. These data represent the first in situ point measurements of IO in North America

Archaeogeophysical data acquisition and analysis at Tel Burna, Israel: a valuable opportunity for ongoing ground-truth investigation and collaboration (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Pincus, J. A.

2013-12-01

, acquired in a zigzag east-west direction, proceeding south. The area extended from the present excavation border to the north and east. The following paper will discuss the method of data acquisition, post-processing, and analysis of the results. The final conclusions of the survey show a continuation of several key walls to the east, a valuable sub-surface tracing of the limestone bedrock, and the limit to which the archaeological material is present spatially in Area B to the north. These results play a major role in determining where to focus excavation efforts in the 2014 excavation season. This unique collaboration with the archaeological team and ongoing opportunity for archaeological ground-truthing will be documented and published as the site develops. As there is a limited presence of such data within the corpus of published archaeogeophysical research, we look forward to further investigations at the site in the coming years.

Ex-situ and in-situ mineral carbonation as a means to sequester carbon dioxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerdemann, Stephen J.; Dahlin, David C.; O' Connor, William K.; Penner, Larry R.; Rush, G.E.

2004-01-01

The U. S. Department of Energy's Albany Research Center is investigating mineral carbonation as a method of sequestering CO2 from coal-fired-power plants. Magnesium-silicate minerals such as serpentine [Mg3Si2O5(OH)4] and olivine (Mg2SiO4) react with CO2 to produce magnesite (MgCO3), and the calcium-silicate mineral, wollastonite (CaSiO3), reacts to form calcite (CaCO3). It is possible to carry out these reactions either ex situ (above ground in a traditional chemical processing plant) or in situ (storage underground and subsequent reaction with the host rock to trap CO2 as carbonate minerals). For ex situ mineral carbonation to be economically attractive, the reaction must proceed quickly to near completion. The reaction rate is accelerated by raising the activity of CO2 in solution, heat (but not too much), reducing the particle size, high-intensity grinding to disrupt the crystal structure, and, in the case of serpentine, heat-treatment to remove the chemically bound water. All of these carry energy/economic penalties. An economic study illustrates the impact of mineral availability and process parameters on the cost of ex situ carbon sequestration. In situ carbonation offers economic advantages over ex situ processes, because no chemical plant is required. Knowledge gained from the ex situ work was applied to long-term experiments designed to simulate in situ CO2 storage conditions. The Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), a multi-layered basaltic lava formation, has potentially favorable mineralogy (up to 25% combined concentration of Ca, Fe2+, and Mg cations) for storage of CO2. However, more information about the interaction of CO2 with aquifers and the host rock is needed. Core samples from the CRBG, as well as samples of olivine, serpentine, and sandstone, were reacted in an autoclave for up to 2000 hours at elevated temperatures and pressures. Changes in core porosity, secondary mineralizations, and both solution and solid chemistry were measured.

Reaction and Transport Processes Controlling In Situ Chemical Oxidation of DNAPLs

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Siegrist, Robert L; Crimi, Michelle; Munakata-Marr, Junko; Illangasekare, Tissa; Dugan, Pamela; Heiderscheidt, Jeff; Jackson, Shannon; Petri, Ben; Sahl, Jason; Seitz, Sarah

2006-01-01

In situ chemical oxidation involves the introduction of chemical oxidants into the subsurface to destroy organic contaminants in soil and ground water, with the goal being to reduce the mass, mobility...

The Value of Instruction for a Commitment to Truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Bugeja, Michael J.

1997-01-01

Describes the redesign of a media ethics course in which students analyze such topics as truth, falsehood, manipulation, temptation, unfairness, and power. Notes that students keep an ethics journal in the course, and discusses sample journal topics. (PA)

Truth telling and informed consent: is "primum docere" the new motto of clinical practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Byk, Christian

2007-09-01

Autonomy has become in many countries a key concept in the patient-physician relationship, leaving the old paternalistic medical attitude out of the realm of common good clinical practice. Consequently, the validity of the informed consent procedure which is related to any medical intervention, should imply that the information given is true. Raising the question as such obliges us to consider the truth not for itself but in regard to the validity of the consent to a medical intervention. Although a clinical approach reveals that loyalty should guide the patient-physician relationship, there are still some situations in which informed consent and truth telling may be controversial: in some circumstances, the physician should or may not tell the truth, in others he can simply forget to tell.

The use of field redox measurements in assessing remediation of ground water containing petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated organic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warner, S.D.; Gallinatti, J.D.; Honniball, J.H.

1995-01-01

Field measurements of the reduction-oxidation (redox) condition of ground water were used to assess the effects of in situ remediation of ground water affected by petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated organic compounds at multiple sites in northern California. The redox condition of ground water, traditionally measured quickly and inexpensively using a meter that measures electrode potential (Eh), is a valuable parameter by which to assess the conditions that affect the relative stability of various chemicals in ground water. Although not specific to a given redox couple measurements obtained using the traditional Eh meter give a sense of the relative tendency for a ground water to be reducing or oxidizing by providing a measurement of the system Eh. Two cases demonstrate the use of ground water Eh measurements in assessing the effects of in situ ground water remediation. In the first case, ground water affected by petroleum hydrocarbons-gasoline (TPHg), and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) (ambient Eh of -100 to +100 millivolts [mv]) was treated by injecting hydrogen peroxide to supply oxygen to the subsurface environment and stimulate microbial activity. The second case involved remediation of ground water containing chlorinated organic compounds. In this case, a subsurface permeable ground water treatment wall containing granular iron was installed across the flow path of the affected ground water. The in situ chemical treatment, which successfully dechlorinates compounds such as trichloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride, caused reducing conditions in the ground water, which resulted in the decrease in ground water Eh from am ambient reading of about -50 mv to about -400 mv

A Critical View of Kenya´s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Agenda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owiso, Michael

2016-01-01

assassinations, killings, torture, denial of basic needs, and other kinds of human rights abuses perpetrated under successive regimes since the country´s independence in 1963. The truth, justice and reconciliation process, whose report was presented to the president on May 21, 2013, after four years of work....... The paper concludes that the approach so far taken is compromised for elite motivated political purposes and may not foster reconciliation and build a stable Kenya. In so doing the paper contributes to intellectual debate around truth commissions and their role in promoting democracy....

Assessment of Electronic Circuits Reliability Using Boolean Truth Table Modeling Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EI-Shanshoury, A.I.

2011-01-01

This paper explores the use of Boolean Truth Table modeling Method (BTTM) in the analysis of qualitative data. It is widely used in certain fields especially in the fields of electrical and electronic engineering. Our work focuses on the evaluation of power supply circuit reliability using (BTTM) which involves systematic attempts to falsify and identify hypotheses on the basis of truth tables constructed from qualitative data. Reliability parameters such as the system's failure rates for the power supply case study are estimated. All possible state combinations (operating and failed states) of the major components in the circuit were listed and their effects on overall system were studied

An Audience Study on PTT Gossiping and the Politics of Truth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szuping Lin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Through the audience research approach of in-depth interviews with users of the internet PTT Gossiping forum, this papers employs the concept of “politics of truth” to examine the “gossip” culture in the forum as well as the operation of truth/power politics within it. User interviews provide understandings of the meanings, operations, subject positions and social practices of the forum and how they interact with power politics in society. The gossip forum has expanded what gossip culture represents from collective imagination to social practices, renewing the perspectives derived from it, while engaging in a dialogue with the concept of politics of truth.

75 FR 58469 - Regulation Z; Truth in Lending

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-24

... Congress enacted the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) based on findings that economic stability would be... 2503 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Public Law 110-289, enacted on July 30, 2008. The MDIA was later amended by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Public Law 110-343...

A portable in situ NaI(Tl) γ spectroscopy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bairong; Dong Binjiang; Zeng Liping

1999-01-01

The author describes a portable in situ NaI(Tl) γ spectroscopy system, which consists of a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector, an integrative spectroscopy card, a notebook computer and the spectroscopy software. The spectrometer addresses applications in environmental or nuclear accident in situ γ spectroscopy measurements, and gives valid quantitative results of radionuclide concentrations per unit volume (Bq/kg) or per unit area (Bq/cm 2 ) in the soil and absorbed dose rate in air 1 m above ground (Gy/h)

78 FR 18795 - Truth in Lending (Regulation Z)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-28

... of credit at account opening. The consumer is also required to pay a cash advance fee that is equal... amount equal to any fees the consumer was required to pay with respect to the account that exceed 25... Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, and the Official Interpretations of the regulation...

Discerning truth from deception: The sincere witness profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fiorella Giusberti

2009-01-01

Full Text Available During the last twenty years, we have assisted to a growing interest in the detection of verbal cues under deception. In this context, we focused our attention on the truth vs. deception topic in adults. In particular, we were interested in discrepant findings concerning some verbal indicators. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether different experimental designs may yield different results regarding the presence or absence of CBCA criteria. Forty participants were shown a video of a robbery and were asked to give a truthful and a deceitful statement of the criminal event. The participants’ performances were recorded in order to analyze content of the reports. Results showed more changes in verbal behaviour under within-subjects design compared to between-subjects one, though the presence/absence of some criteria was the same across the two statistical procedures. The different results yielded by between- and within-subjects analyses can provide some hints as regards the discrepancy in deception literature on verbal cues. Implications for applied settings are discussed.

Truth comes into play: Adorno, Kant and Aesthetics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berta M. Pérez

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This paper departs from the verification of the centrality that, in Adorno’s recognition of the aesthetic field, the rehabilitation of its bond to knowledge and truth has. Adorno’s criticism to the Kantian aesthetic theory is, this way, reconstructed starting from his dismissal of the separation, established by Kant, between the aesthetic and the epistemological fields. This criticism, which accuses the Kantian aesthetics of subjectivism, is finally taken back to Adorno’s dissatisfaction regarding the transcendental approach, for not being dialectic. At this point, the need of determining the specificity of his own understanding of the aesthetic and dialectics becomes apparent. Surprisingly it is then discovered an unexpected proximity between his position and the one represented by the Kantian aesthetics itself, a proximity that let recognize in the latter some features which go beyond the limits of the Critical System towards the Adornian approach. But this proximity proves also the immanence and legitimacy of the (ambiguous Adornian criticism to Kant, and, as a result of this, the unsatisfactory quality of the Kantian determination of knowledge and truth.

PENGEMBANGAN MEDIA PERMAINAN TRUTH AND DARE BERVISI SETS GUNA MEMOTIVASI BELAJAR SISWA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mita Rosyda Attaqiana

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Penelitian ini menggunakan media kartu permainan Truth and Dare bervisi SETS yang mengajak siswa untuk dapat menghubungkan dan mengkaitkan antara sains, teknologi, serta dampak pada lingkungan dan masyarakat. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kelayakan, kepraktisan, dan keefektifan media permainan Truth and Dare bervisi SETS dalam pembelajaran kimia larutan penyangga. Desain penelitian yang digunakan yaitu Four-D Models yang disederhanakan menjadi Three-D Model, terdiri dari Define, Design, and Develop. Kelayakan awal media ditentukan oleh ahli media dan ahli materi yang terdiri dari dosen dan guru kimia. Kelayakan akhir media ditentukan dengan melibatkan hasil penelitian. Keefektifan media ditentukan dari hasil post test dan hasil angket motivasi belajar siswa. Kepraktisan media dilihat dari hasil angket tanggapan siswa dan guru terhadap penggunaan media permainan Truth and Dare bervisi SETS. Berdasarkan hasil validasi awal ahli media, ahli materi, analisis hasil penelitian, media dinyatakan sangat layak untuk pembelajaran kimia. Hasil analisis angket tanggapan siswa dan guru menyatakan bahwa media termasuk dalam kategori sangat praktis. Media dinyatakan efektif karena dapat membantu 35 dari 42 siswa mencapai nilai Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM. Hal itu melebihi harapan 30 dari 42 siswa mencapai KKM. Oleh karena itu dapat disimpulkan bahwa media permainan Truth and Dare bervisi SETS dapat memotivasi belajar siswa untuk mencapai kompetensi dasar larutan penyangga.This research is using a game card media of Truth and Dare with SETS vision that invites students to be able to connect and relate between science, technology, and the impact on the environment and society. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility, practicality, and effectiveness of media visionary game of Truth and Dare SETS in chemistry learning of buffer solution. The study used Four-Design model which was reduced into Three-D Model consisting of

Freedom of Expression, Diversity, and Truth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kappel, Klemens; Hallsson, Bjørn Gunnar; Møller, Emil Frederik Lundbjerg

2016-01-01

The aim of this chapter is to examine how diversity benefits deliberation, information exchange and other socio-epistemic practices associated with free speech. We separate five distinct dimensions of diversity, and discuss a variety of distinct mechanisms by which various forms of diversity may...... be thought to have epistemically valuable outcomes. We relate these results to the moral justification of free speech. Finally, we characterise a collective action problem concerning the compliance with truth-conducive norms of deliberation, and suggest what may solve this problem....

A test of the ADV-based Reynolds flux method for in situ estimation of sediment settling velocity in a muddy estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, Grace M.; Friedrichs, Carl T.; Smith, S. Jarrell

2013-12-01

Under conditions common in muddy coastal and estuarine environments, acoustic Doppler velocimeters (ADVs) can serve to estimate sediment settling velocity ( w s) by assuming a balance between upward turbulent Reynolds flux and downward gravitational settling. Advantages of this method include simple instrument deployment, lack of flow disturbance, and relative insensitivity to biofouling and water column stratification. Although this method is being used with increasing frequency in coastal and estuarine environments, to date it has received little direct ground truthing. This study compared in situ estimates of w s inferred by a 5-MHz ADV to independent in situ observations from a high-definition video settling column over the course of a flood tide in the bottom boundary layer of the York River estuary, Virginia, USA. The ADV-based measurements were found to agree with those of the settling column when the current speed at about 40 cm above the bed was greater than about 20 cm/s. This corresponded to periods when the estimated magnitude of the settling term in the suspended sediment continuity equation was four or more times larger than the time rate of change of concentration. For ADV observations restricted to these conditions, ADV-based estimates of w s (mean 0.48±0.04 mm/s) were highly consistent with those observed by the settling column (mean 0.45±0.02 mm/s). However, the ADV-based method for estimating w s was sensitive to the prescribed concentration of the non-settling washload, C wash. In an objective operational definition, C wash can be set equal to the lowest suspended solids concentration observed around slack water.

In-situ thermeolectric stabilization of radioactive wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brouns, R.A.; Timmerman, C.L.

1982-01-01

Current analysis indicates that in situ vitrification is applicable to many wastes and soil types at a cost an order of magnitude less than exhumation, processing, and transportation to a deep geological disposal site. Once the waste materials have been solidified, future ground subsidence, wind erosion and plant or animal intrusion are virtually eliminated. Furthermore, the waste form is extremely durable

Critical Inquiry for the Social Good: Methodological Work as a Means for Truth-Telling in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kuntz, Aaron M.; Pickup, Austin

2016-01-01

This article questions the ubiquity of the term "critical" in methodological scholarship, calling for a renewed association of the term with projects concerned with social justice, truth-telling, and overt articulations of the social good. Drawing on Michel Foucault's work with parrhesia (or truth-telling) and Aristotle's articulation of…

Understanding a sentence does not entail knowing its truth-conditions : Why the epistemological determination argument fails

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cohnitz, Daniel; Kangilaski, Jaan

The determination argument is supposed to show that a sentence's meaning is at least a truth-condition. This argument is supposed to rest on innocent premises that even a deflationist about truth can accept. The argument comes in two versions: one is metaphysical and the other is epistemological. In

Which model of truth and reconciliation applies to former Yugoslavia?: Some thoughts on the closing panel discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tošić Jelena

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper represents a reflection on the final panel discussion of the conference "Which Model of Truth and Reconciliation applies to ex-Yugoslavia?". By the means of sequential and hierarchical analysis of the argumentative structure of the discussion, the author «extracts» key dimensions of the expert discourse on truth and reconciliation using the case of the mentioned panel discussion. By identifying the points of consensus the author seeks to describe the notion of truth and reconciliation as it emerged in the closing panel discussion of the conference.

Climate: 15 inconvenient truths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marko, Istvan E.; Furfari, Samuel; Masson, Henri; Preat, Alain; Debeil, Anne; Delory, Ludovic; Godefridi, Drieu; Myren, Lars; Ripa di Meana, Carlo

2013-01-01

Proposed by professionals of various disciplines, this book is considered as the bible of climate sceptics. It proposes a synthesis of arguments which deny prevailing views in the domain of climate. The authors show how, since fifteen years, reality has systematically denied projections made by the IPCC and its numerous political relays and media coverage. A first objective is therefore to unlatch the debate on the climate issue in front of a systematic practice of monopolization of truth at the expense of an authentic scientific approach, and to restore a democratic debate. A second objective is to put into question again the IPCC scientific character, scientific views which are at the heart of the last report published by the IPCC, and the political, media and economic reception of IPCC reports

Truth commissions and gender: A South African case study ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

South Africa's gendered past was never substantially addressed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) despite attempts by women's groups to ensure its inclusion.. The TRC's treatment of gender was in part constrained by its 'gender-blind' mandate, which ignored the different experiences and ...

Ground Control for Emplacement Drifts for SR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Y. Sun

2000-01-01

This analysis demonstrates that a satisfactory ground control system can be designed for the Yucca Mountain site, and provides the technical basis for the design of ground support systems to be used in repository emplacement and non-emplacement drifts. The repository ground support design was based on analytical methods using acquired computer codes, and focused on the final support systems. A literature review of case histories, including the lessons learned from the design and construction of the ESF, the studies on the seismic damages of underground openings, and the use of rock mass classification systems in the ground support design, was conducted (Sections 6.3.4 and 6.4). This review provided some basis for determining the inputs and methodologies used in this analysis. Stability of the supported and unsupported emplacement and non-emplacement drifts was evaluated in this analysis. The excavation effects (i.e., state of the stress change due to excavation), thermal effects (i.e., due to heat output from waste packages), and seismic effects (i.e., from potential earthquake events) were evaluated, and stress controlled modes of failure were examined for two in situ stress conditions (k 0 =0.3 and 1.0) using rock properties representing rock mass categories of 1 and 5. Variation of rock mass units such as the non-lithophysal (Tptpmn) and lithophysal (Tptpll) was considered in the analysis. The focus was on the non-lithophysal unit because this unit appears to be relatively weaker and has much smaller joint spacing. Therefore, the drift stability and ground support needs were considered to be controlled by the design for this rock unit. The ground support systems for both emplacement and non-emplacement drifts were incorporated into the models to assess their performance under in situ, thermal, and seismic loading conditions. Both continuum and discontinuum modeling approaches were employed in the analyses of the rock mass behavior and in the evaluation of the

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CONNECTIONS IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANDREEA CONSTANTINESCU

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Following the distancing of current policy from economic rigors and ethical demands aimed at redistribution of wealth, modern societies are parasitized by post-truth of actual facts. It distorts the shape and content of general interest data, for example political distortion of scientific evidence proving anthropogenic climate change. Under these circumstances, the question "to what extent economist’s truth stating what you cannot measure you cannot manage is sustained?" becomes absolutely legitimate. Regarding sustainable development management, monitoring the degree of achievement of Sustainable Development Goals is no longer sufficient to track progress in this area. Therefore, experts propose to introduce as much as possible qualitative data which, combined with quantitative data, will enhance their relevance and make them harder to be diverted for political purposes. This paper follows this direction, trying to prove that protection of data’s real meaning can be achieved by systemic analysis of all data originating from monitoring certain processes, which can be aggregated, with applicability in sustainable development. Thus, analyzing together data on sustainable development and those that indicates the state of human development emphasizes on one hand, the intrinsic link between these concepts and, on the other, maintain the sense of sustainability even in the post-truth era.

Constructing the truth: from 'confusion of tongues' to 'constructions in analysis'.

Science.gov (United States)

Press, Jacques

2006-04-01

The author hypothesizes that the papers Freud wrote in the period 1934-9 constitute a final turning point in his work resulting from an attempt to work through, by means of self-analysis, early traumatic elements reactivated by the conditions of his life in the 1930s. The author emphasizes that the ups and downs of Freud's relationship with Sándor Ferenczi and the mourning which followed his death in 1933 played an important role in this traumatic situation. He suggests that through these last works, Freud pursued a posthumous dialogue with Ferenczi. This working through led Freud, in Moses and monotheism, to an ultimate revision of his theory of trauma, a revision which the author examines in full, in the light of the works of the Egyptologist, Jan Assmann. A new analytical paradigm emerges: that of constructions in analysis developed in the article of the same name. The activity of construction appears as an alternative to the mutual analysis proposed by Ferenczi and is closely bound up with the notion of historical truth. In psychoanalysis, it would mean constructing a historical truth whose anchoring in the material truth of the past is essential, though it should not be confused with it.

Leaf Area Index Estimation in Vineyards from Uav Hyperspectral Data, 2d Image Mosaics and 3d Canopy Surface Models

Science.gov (United States)

Kalisperakis, I.; Stentoumis, Ch.; Grammatikopoulos, L.; Karantzalos, K.

2015-08-01

The indirect estimation of leaf area index (LAI) in large spatial scales is crucial for several environmental and agricultural applications. To this end, in this paper, we compare and evaluate LAI estimation in vineyards from different UAV imaging datasets. In particular, canopy levels were estimated from i.e., (i) hyperspectral data, (ii) 2D RGB orthophotomosaics and (iii) 3D crop surface models. The computed canopy levels have been used to establish relationships with the measured LAI (ground truth) from several vines in Nemea, Greece. The overall evaluation indicated that the estimated canopy levels were correlated (r2 > 73%) with the in-situ, ground truth LAI measurements. As expected the lowest correlations were derived from the calculated greenness levels from the 2D RGB orthomosaics. The highest correlation rates were established with the hyperspectral canopy greenness and the 3D canopy surface models. For the later the accurate detection of canopy, soil and other materials in between the vine rows is required. All approaches tend to overestimate LAI in cases with sparse, weak, unhealthy plants and canopy.

Truth and Credibility in Sincere Policy Analysis: Alternative Approaches for the Production of Policy-Relevant Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Barry; Landsbergen, David

1989-01-01

Two competing approaches to policy analysis are distinguished: a credibility approach, and a truth approach. According to the credibility approach, the policy analyst's role is to search for plausible argument rather than truth. Each approach has pragmatic tradeoffs in fulfilling the goal of providing usable knowledge to decision makers. (TJH)

Ground-atmosphere interactions at Gale

Science.gov (United States)

Renno, N. O.; Martinez, G.; Ramos, M.; Hallet, B.; Gómez, F. G.; Jun, I.; Fisk, M. R.; Gomez-Elvira, J.; Hamilton, V. E.; Mischna, M. A.; Sletten, R. S.; Martin-Torres, J.; De La Torre Juarez, M.; Vasavada, A. R.; Zorzano, M.

2013-12-01

We analyze variations in environmental parameters and regolith properties along Curiosity's track to determine the possible causes of an abrupt change in the thermal properties of the ground and the atmosphere observed around Sol 120, as the rover transitioned from an area of sandy soil (Rocknest) to an area of fractured bedrock terrain (Yellowknife). Curiosity is instrumented with the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) sensors to measure the air temperature, the ground temperature, and the hydrogen content of the shallow subsurface along Curiosity's track. Analysis of the REMS data is used to estimate the regolith's heat budget. This analysis suggests that the abrupt decrease in the ground and atmosphere temperature and the difference between ground and air temperatures observed around Sol 120 is likely caused by an increase in the soil thermal inertia. The changes in thermal inertia have been known for some time so confirming this by the REMS package provides ground truthing. A new unexpected finding is that the regolith water content, as indicated by DAN's detection of hydrogen content, is higher in the Yellowknife soil. Another interesting finding at this site are the holes and other signs of recent geological activity in the area of fractured terrain that may reflect large volumetric variations and facilitate gas exchange between the ground and atmosphere. Near-surface volumetric changes in soil and bedrock could reflect changes in the volume of subsurface H2O, or in the partitioning of H2O among its three phases. Volume increases could also result from salt crystal growth in rock pores and soil pores associated with the adsorption of water vapor. Crystallization in pores is a significant weathering process on Earth; it could well be active on Mars. Salts also inhibits the exchange of moisture between the ground and the atmosphere, and cements the soils of arid places such as in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in

Islamic positivism and scientific truth: Qur'an and archeology in a creationist documentary film

OpenAIRE

Dupret , Baudouin; Gutron , Clémentine

2016-01-01

International audience; The ambition of “scientific creationism” is to prove that science actually confirms religion. This is especially true in the case of Muslim creationism, which adopts a reasoning of a syllogistic type: divine revelation is truth; good science confirms truth; divine revelation is henceforth scientifically proven. Harun Yahya is a prominent Muslim “creationist” whose website hosts many texts and documentary films, among which “Evidence of the true faith in historical sour...

Monitoring an in-situ uranium mining site with radio tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stolarczyk, L.; Mondt, W.; Mays, W.

1991-01-01

A field test site has been developed to monitor ground water restoration in an in-situ uranium mining project. Uranium deposited in a shallow buried fluvial sandstone channel (aquifer) has been mined by the injection and recovery of ammonia carbonate leachant from a constellation of drillholes. Ground water restoration is accomplished by injecting clean water into a well and recovering contaminated water from companion wells. The restoration process exchanges clean water for contaminated water in the aquifer. The stratigraphic cross section of the aquifer and the hydro-dynamics of the ground water restoration process is currently being investigated with radio wave tomography. Crosshole continuous wave (CW) radio signals are propagated from a well to a second well in the constellation of drillholes. The magnitude and phase of the radio wave are measured in the second well with Radio Imaging Method (RIM) instruments. The acquired data is processed in tomography algorithms to determine the EM wave propagation constants (attenuation rate [α] and phase constant [β]) in each pixel that covers the image plane between wells. The in-situ electrical conductivity values are computed from the pixel propagation constants. Contaminated ground water causes the conductivity of the local zone of the aquifer to increase. This paper describes the initial radio tomography mapping of the deposit lithology and compares radio tomography and E log conductivity values

Concepts and Relations in Neurally Inspired In Situ Concept-Based Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Velde, Frank

2016-01-01

In situ concept-based computing is based on the notion that conceptual representations in the human brain are "in situ." In this way, they are grounded in perception and action. Examples are neuronal assemblies, whose connection structures develop over time and are distributed over different brain areas. In situ concepts representations cannot be copied or duplicated because that will disrupt their connection structure, and thus the meaning of these concepts. Higher-level cognitive processes, as found in language and reasoning, can be performed with in situ concepts by embedding them in specialized neurally inspired "blackboards." The interactions between the in situ concepts and the blackboards form the basis for in situ concept computing architectures. In these architectures, memory (concepts) and processing are interwoven, in contrast with the separation between memory and processing found in Von Neumann architectures. Because the further development of Von Neumann computing (more, faster, yet power limited) is questionable, in situ concept computing might be an alternative for concept-based computing. In situ concept computing will be illustrated with a recently developed BABI reasoning task. Neurorobotics can play an important role in the development of in situ concept computing because of the development of in situ concept representations derived in scenarios as needed for reasoning tasks. Neurorobotics would also benefit from power limited and in situ concept computing.

Ernst von Glasersfeld's Radical Constructivism and Truth as Disclosure

Science.gov (United States)

Joldersma, Clarence W.

2011-01-01

In this essay Clarence Joldersma explores radical constructivism through the work of its most well-known advocate, Ernst von Glasersfeld, who combines a sophisticated philosophical discussion of knowledge and truth with educational practices. Joldersma uses Joseph Rouse's work in philosophy of science to criticize the antirealism inherent in…

Green gold : on variations of truth in plantation forestry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Romeijn, P.

1999-01-01

The "variations of truth in plantation forestry" is a study on the Teakwood investment program. Teakwood offered the general public in The Netherlands the opportunity to directly invest in a teak plantation in Costa Rica. The program was pioneered in 1989 and truly gained momentum when it

When is Deceptive Message Production More Effortful than Truth-Telling? A Baker's Dozen of Moderators.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgoon, Judee K

2015-01-01

Deception is thought to be more effortful than telling the truth. Empirical evidence from many quarters supports this general proposition. However, there are many factors that qualify and even reverse this pattern. Guided by a communication perspective, I present a baker's dozen of moderators that may alter the degree of cognitive difficulty associated with producing deceptive messages. Among sender-related factors are memory processes, motivation, incentives, and consequences. Lying increases activation of a network of brain regions related to executive memory, suppression of unwanted behaviors, and task switching that is not observed with truth-telling. High motivation coupled with strong incentives or the risk of adverse consequences also prompts more cognitive exertion-for truth-tellers and deceivers alike-to appear credible, with associated effects on performance and message production effort, depending on the magnitude of effort, communicator skill, and experience. Factors related to message and communication context include discourse genre, type of prevarication, expected response length, communication medium, preparation, and recency of target event/issue. These factors can attenuate the degree of cognitive taxation on senders so that truth-telling and deceiving are similarly effortful. Factors related to the interpersonal relationship among interlocutors include whether sender and receiver are cooperative or adversarial and how well-acquainted they are with one another. A final consideration is whether the unit of analysis is the utterance, turn at talk, episode, entire interaction, or series of interactions. Taking these factors into account should produce a more nuanced answer to the question of when deception is more difficult than truth-telling.

Fake news and post-truth pronouncements in general and in early human development.

Science.gov (United States)

Grech, Victor

2017-12-01

Fake news and post-truth pronouncements are increasingly common, and are unfortunately also progressively being applied to the sciences, including the medical sciences. This editorial briefly reviews this unsavoury trend and highlights recent debunking of fake truths in early human development. Science is arguably the last metanarrative with any significant cachet in the postmodern period. We, as scientists, must strive to ensure that our work is transparent and of the highest possible standard so as to continue to uphold science's integrity and probity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Truth-telling, decision-making, and ethics among cancer patients in nursing practice in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Dong-Lan; Yu, Hong-Jing; Guo, Hui-Ling

2017-01-01

Truth-telling toward terminally ill patients is a challenging ethical issue in healthcare practice. However, there are no existing ethical guidelines or frameworks provided for Chinese nurses in relation to decision-making on truth-telling of terminal illness and the role of nurses thus is not explicit when encountering this issue. The intention of this paper is to provide ethical guidelines or strategies with regards to decision-making on truth-telling of terminal illness for Chinese nurses. This paper initially present a case scenario and then critically discuss the ethical issue in association with ethical principles and philosophical theories. Instead of focusing on attitudes toward truth disclosure, it aims to provide strategies regarding this issue for nurses. It highlights and discusses some of the relevant ethical assumptions around the perceived role of nurses in healthcare settings by focusing on nursing ethical virtues, nursing codes of ethics, and philosophical perspectives. And Confucian culture is discussed to explicate that deontology does not consider family-oriented care in China. Treating each family individually to explore the family's beliefs and values on this issue is essential in healthcare practice and nurses should tailor their own approach to individual needs regarding truth-telling in different situations. Moreover, the Chinese Code of Ethics should be modified to be more specific and applicable. Finally, a narrative ethics approach should be applied and teamwork between nurses, physicians and families should be established to support cancer patients and to ensure their autonomy and hope. Ethical considerations: This paper was approved by the Ethics Committee of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The authors have obtained consent to use the case study and it has been anonymised to preserve the patient's confidentiality.

Monitoring of arched sched ground layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Listjak, M.; Slaninka, A.; Rau, L.; Pajersky, P.

2015-01-01

Arched Shed was a part of controlled area of NPP A1 site in Jaslovske Bohunice (Slovakia). It had been used for temporary storage of loose radioactive waste (RAW) which has been characterized within the BIDSF project C13, Characterisation of Loose Radioactive Waste'. Stored RAW has been treated and sorted within the project ',Realization of the 2 nd stage of Decommissioning Project of NPP A1'. Area of Arched Shed represents approximately 270 m 2 (45 m x 6 m). Ground layer of the AS consists mostly of soil with solid elements (stones and gravel). The aim of monitoring was to remove the contaminated soil up to 1 m below ground level. Requirement for detail monitoring of the Arched Shed ground layer resulted from conclusions of the BIDSF project C13 which has proved that massic activity 137 Cs of soil was up to few thousands Bq·kg -1 in underground layer. Dominant easy to measure radionuclide in the soil is 137 Cs which has been used as a key radionuclide for methodology of in-situ soil monitoring. Following methods has been applied during characterization: dose rate survey, sampling from defined ground layer followed by laboratory gamma spectrometry analysis by the accredited testing laboratory of radiation dosimetry VUJE (S-219) and in-situ scintillation gamma spectrometry by 1.5''x1.5'' LaBr detector. Massic activity of the remaining soil (not excavated) comply the criteria for free release into the environment (Government Regulation of Slovak Republic 345/2006 Coll.). Area was filled up by non-contaminated soil up to the ground level of surroundings. Afterward the area was covered with geotextile and concrete panels and nowadays it is ready for further usage within the NPP A1 decommissioning project as a place for treatment, conditioning and disposal of contaminated soil and concrete. (authors)

Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative. Of the theologians and philosophers now writing on biblical narrative, Hans Frei and Paul Ricoeur are probably the most prominent. It is significant that their views converge on important issues. Both are uncomfortable with hermeneutic theories that convert the text ...

Ground penetrating radar utilization in exploring inadequate concrete covers in a new bridge deck

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Istiaque Hasan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The reinforced concrete cast in place four span deck of a concrete bridge near Roanoke, Texas, was recently completed. Due to possible construction errors, it was suspected that the concrete covers in the deck did not conform to drawings and specifications. A full scale non-destructive evaluation of the concrete covers was carried out using ground penetrating radar (GPR equipment. Cover values were determined from the radargram generated from the scan. The estimated covers were plotted on contour maps. Migration data can substitute the drilling based ground truth data without compromising the concrete cover estimations, except for areas with very high cover values. Areas with high water content may result in inaccurate concrete dielectric constants. Based on the results, significant retrofitting of the bridge deck, such as additional overlay, was recommended.

Detector calibration for in-situ gamma ray spectrometry

CERN Document Server

Balea, G

2002-01-01

The power in the technique of in-situ spectrometry lies in the fact that a detector placed on ground measures gamma radiation from sources situated over an area of several hundred square meters. The 'field of view' for the detector would be larger for high energy radiation sources and for sources closer to the soil surface. In contrast, a soil sample would represent an area of a few tens of hundreds of square centimeters. In practice, an effective characterization of a site would involve in-situ gamma ray spectrometry in conjunction with soil sampling. As part of an overall program, in-situ gamma ray spectrometry provides a means to assess the degree of contamination in areas during the course of operations in the field, thus guiding the investigator on where to collect samples. It can also substantially reduce the number of samples need to be collected and subsequently analyzed. (author)

When deception becomes easy : The effects of task switching and goal neglect on the truth proportion effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Bockstaele, B.; Wilhelm, C.; Meijer, E.; Debey, E.; Verschuere, B.

2015-01-01

Lying is typically more cognitively demanding than truth telling. Yet, recent cognitive models of lying propose that lying can be just as easy as truth telling, depending on contextual factors. In line with this idea, research has shown that the cognitive cost of deception decreases when people

Ground Control System Description Document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eric Loros

2001-01-01

The Ground Control System contributes to the safe construction and operation of the subsurface facility, including accesses and waste emplacement drifts, by maintaining the configuration and stability of the openings during construction, development, emplacement, and caretaker modes for the duration of preclosure repository life. The Ground Control System consists of ground support structures installed within the subsurface excavated openings, any reinforcement made to the rock surrounding the opening, and inverts if designed as an integral part of the system. The Ground Control System maintains stability for the range of geologic conditions expected at the repository and for all expected loading conditions, including in situ rock, construction, operation, thermal, and seismic loads. The system maintains the size and geometry of operating envelopes for all openings, including alcoves, accesses, and emplacement drifts. The system provides for the installation and operation of sensors and equipment for any required inspection and monitoring. In addition, the Ground Control System provides protection against rockfall for all subsurface personnel, equipment, and the engineered barrier system, including the waste package during the preclosure period. The Ground Control System uses materials that are sufficiently maintainable and that retain the necessary engineering properties for the anticipated conditions of the preclosure service life. These materials are also compatible with postclosure waste isolation performance requirements of the repository. The Ground Control System interfaces with the Subsurface Facility System for operating envelopes, drift orientation, and excavated opening dimensions, Emplacement Drift System for material compatibility, Monitored Geologic Repository Operations Monitoring and Control System for ground control instrument readings, Waste Emplacement/Retrieval System to support waste emplacement operations, and the Subsurface Excavation System

Truth and beauty in cosmology: does the Universe have an aesthetic?

CERN Multimedia

Impey, C

2004-01-01

"Astronomy is an empirical science, yet scientific definitions of truth and beauty are closely tied to the fact that mathematics appears to provide an accurate description of the physical Universe" (2 pages)

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap

Science.gov (United States)

American Association of University Women, 2014

2014-01-01

It's been said that men are paid more than women are paid over their lifetimes. But what does that mean? Are women paid less because they choose lower-paying jobs? Is it because more women work part time than men do? Or is it because women tend to be the primary caregivers for their children? AAUW's "The Simple Truth about the…

On truth-telling and storytelling: Truth-seeking during research involving communities with an oral culture and a history of violent conflict

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A G Vethuizen

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to propose some principles and practices for truth-seeking during research into violent conflict. To achieve this aim, an argument is deployed by analysing the theoretical concepts “truth”, “myth” and “oral culture” as sources of knowledge. This conceptual analysis precedes a discussion on community-based participatory research (CBPR as a research methodology to access the knowledge of lived experiences embedded in the oral culture of the San community of Platfontein, near Kimberley, South Africa. It was found that CBPR contains good practices to use in research to judge the probable truth about disputes. The CBPR process is ideal for determining the accuracy of data in the context of a specific culture, considering the norms, spiritual influences and personal considerations of knowledge-holders that accompany a unique cosmology. A variety and equity of worldviews and perspectives of what happened during violent conflict successfully challenges hegemonic power relationships, paradigms and narratives, ultimately leading to informed judgements of what is probably true about a conflict. CBPR with the San of Platfontein revealed principles that can be used as guidelines for researching disputes where oral culture is involved.

What is the Point? Ethics, Truth and the Tractatus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Anne-Marie Søndergaard

2007-01-01

discourse is shaped by both subjective and objective concerns. Moving on, I unfold the subjective side of ethics by drawing on Stanley Cavell's notion of the point of an utterance, while the objective side will be presented via Diamond's writing on the importance of truth in ethics. My goal is to argue...

Truth and Fibble-Fable in Renaissance Satire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Branko Madžarevič

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Throughout the years of my close involvement with wor(lds’ transactions, as a translator, in the triangle of the Renaissance doctors Rabelais, Montaigne, and, yes, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the French author of the novel Journey to the End of Night (1932, their views on satire can be considered from a rather unconventional angle. By means of an imaginary morbid epistolary medical council, the impromptu introduction tries to entangle this peculiar trio in a freewheeling alliance, leading to the assumption that every translation defies the interpretational ambiguities of the utopian Thelema motto “Do as you will”. In the satirical context of all source and target faces, it is always acting on the verge of the paradoxical encomium, the hypothetical pasticcio, and obscurantist reversals of the original text. Of course, the issue at stake here is one of the convolutions of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly, Rabelais’ utopian Thelema Abbey, and the German Epistles of Obscure Men in pathetically wretched Latin. This paper deals with Renaissance and humanist satire, focusing on Rabelais’ five books of Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532–1564 and the interplay between the ideas of truth, truthfulness, and seriousness. In addition, the paper deals with how the Renaissance spirit of this satirical contemporary and ally of ours challenges the issue of verbal boundaries and the materiality of language.

SLAPex Freeze/Thaw 2015: The First Dedicated Soil Freeze/Thaw Airborne Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Edward; Wu, Albert; DeMarco, Eugenia; Powers, Jarrett; Berg, Aaron; Rowlandson, Tracy; Freeman, Jacqueline; Gottfried, Kurt; Toose, Peter; Roy, Alexandre;

Aluminum chloride restoration of in situ leached uranium ores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grant, D.C.; Burgman, M.A.

1982-01-01

During in situ uranium mining using ammonium bicarbonate lixiviant, the ammonium exchanges with cations on the ore's clay. After mining is complete, the ammonium may desorb into post-leach ground water. For the particular ore studied, other chemicals (i.e., uranium and selenium) which are mobilized during the leach process, have also been found in the post-leach ground water. Laboratory column tests, used to simulate the leaching process, have shown that aluminum chloride can rapidly remove ammonium from the ore and thus greatly reduce the subsequent ammonium leakage level into ground water. The aluminum chloride has also been found to reduce the leakage levels of uranium and selenium. In addition, the aluminum chloride treatment produces a rapid improvement in permeability

Do citation systems represent theories of truth?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Betsy Van der Veer Martens

2001-01-01

Full Text Available This article suggests that the citation can be viewed not only as a "concept symbol" but also as a "boundary object". The scientific, legal, and patent citation systems in America are examined at the micro, meso, and macro levels in order to understand how they function as commodified theories of truth in contemporary knowledge representation. This approach also offers a meta-theoretical overview of existing citation research efforts in science, law, and technology that may be of interdisciplinary interest.

Good things don't come easy (to mind): explaining framing effects in judgments of truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilbig, Benjamin E

2012-01-01

Recently, the general phenomenon of a positive-negative-asymmetry was extended to judgments of truth. That is, negatively framed statements were shown to receive substantially higher truth ratings than formally equivalent statements framed positively. However, the cognitive mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown, so far. In the current work, two potential accounts are introduced and tested against each other in three experiments: On the one hand, negative framing may induce increased elaboration and thereby persuasion. Alternatively, negative framing could yield faster retrieval or generation of evidence and thus influence subjective veracity via experiential fluency. Two experiments drawing on response latencies and one manipulating the delay between information acquisition and judgment provide support for the fluency-based account. Overall, results replicate and extend the negatively-biased framing effect in truth judgments and show that processing fluency may account for it. © 2011 Hogrefe Publishing

On the semantics of conflict resolution in truth maintenance systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonker, C.M.

A Truth Maintenance -System (TMS) maintains a consistent state of belief given a set J of justifications, i.e. arguments for belief. To resolve contradictions dependency-directed backtracking is performed. In this paper we introduce a method that can, be used to track all

Digestibilidad in situ de dietas con harina de nopal deshidratado conteniendo un preparado de enzimas fibrolíticas exógenas In situ digestibility in dehydrated ground prickly pear diets containing a fybrolitic enzymes product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Medina Romo

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Se evaluó el efecto de un preparado de enzimas fibrolíticas exógenas (celulasas y xilanasas en la degradabilidad in situ de la materia seca (DisMS, fibra detergente neutro (DFDNr y fibra detergente ácido residual (DFDAr, en dietas altas o bajas en harina de nopal deshidratado. Se aplicaron concentraciones de 0, 1, 2 y 3 g de enzima por kilogramo de materia seca al inicio y 24 horas antes de la degradación in situ. Se determinó la concentración de ácidos grasos volátiles totales y de nitrógeno amoniacal a las 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 y 24 horas después de aplicarse la enzima. No se observaron efectos en DisMS, DFDNr y DFDAr; la aplicación al inicio de la degradación in situ mostró valores más altos que a 24 horas para DisMS y DFDNr, pero fue menor para DFDAr. No se observaron diferencias en las interacciones entre niveles de enzima, tipo de dieta y tiempo de pretratamiento. La aplicación de 1 y 3 g de enzima, en la dieta con bajo contenido de harina de nopal, tuvo efectos en el incremento de los ácidos grasos volátiles totales; para el nitrógeno amoniacal, los mejores resultados ocurrieron con 0 y 1 g de enzima.It was evaluated the effect of a fybrolitic enzyme product (cellulases and xylanases on in situ digestibility of dry matter (DisMS, residual neutral detergent fiber (DFDNr and acid detergent fiber (DFDAr, in dehydrated ground prickly pear diets with a low or high level. Enzyme concentrations of 0, 1, 2, and 3 g kg-1 of dry matter applied at the beginning (0 hour and 24 hours before starting in situ digestibility were used. Total volatile fatty acids and ammonia nitrogen were determined at: 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours after the enzyme application. There were no effects on DisMS, DFDNr, and DFDAr. Initial application of enzyme concentrations (0 hour was higher than 24 hours for DisMS and DFDNr but lower for DFDAr. No differences were observed in interactions among enzyme level, diet and application time. Application of 1 and 3 g of

In Situ Biological Contamination Studies of the Moon: Implications for Future Planetary Protection and Life Detection Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Glavin, Daniel P.; Dworkin, Jason P.; Lupisella, Mark; Kminek, Gerhard; Rummel, John D.

2010-01-01

NASA and ESA have outlined visions for solar system exploration that will include a series of lunar robotic precursor missions to prepare for, and support a human return to the Moon, and future human exploration of Mars and other destinations. One of the guiding principles for exploration is to pursue compelling scientific questions about the origin and evolution of life. The search for life on objects such as Mars will require that all spacecraft and instrumentation be sufficiently cleaned and sterilized prior to launch to ensure that the scientific integrity of extraterrestrial samples is not jeopardized by terrestrial organic contamination. Under the Committee on Space Research's (COSPAR's) current planetary protection policy for the Moon, no sterilization procedures are required for outbound lunar spacecraft, nor is there yet a planetary protection category for human missions. Future in situ investigations of a variety of locations on the Moon by highly sensitive instruments designed to search for biologically derived organic compounds would help assess the contamination of the Moon by lunar spacecraft. These studies could also provide valuable "ground truth" data for Mars sample return missions and help define planetary protection requirements for future Mars bound spacecraft carrying life detection experiments. In addition, studies of the impact of terrestrial contamination of the lunar surface by the Apollo astronauts could provide valuable data to help refine future Mars surface exploration plans for a human mission to Mars.

Negotiating Nation-building and Citizenship through the Truth and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper, therefore, seeks to interrogate the dramatic world(s) created using the material properties of the TRC in John Kani's Nothing but the Truth and Zakes Mda's The Bells of Amersfoort. The paper argues that the domination and manipulation of this public realm by the state at the expense of the individual is not only ...

Satellite-based retrieval of particulate matter concentrations over the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jun; Temimi, Marouane; Hareb, Fahad; Eibedingil, Iyasu

2016-04-01

In this study, an empirical algorithm was established to retrieve particulate matter (PM) concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) using satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Validation of the proposed algorithm using ground truth data demonstrates its good accuracy. Time series of in situ measured PM concentrations between 2014 and 2015 showed high values in summer and low values in winter. Estimated and in situ measured PM concentrations were higher in 2015 than 2014. Remote sensing is an essential tool to reveal and back track the seasonality and inter-annual variations of PM concentrations and provide valuable information on the protection of human health and the response of air quality to anthropogenic activities and climate change.

When is deceptive message production more effortful than truth-telling? A baker’s dozen of moderators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judee K Burgoon

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Deception is thought to be more effortful than telling the truth. Empirical evidence from many quarters supports this general proposition. However, there are many factors that qualify and even reverse this pattern. Guided by a communication perspective, I present a baker’s dozen of moderators that may alter the degree of cognitive difficulty associated with producing deceptive messages. Among sender-related factors are memory processes, motivation, incentives, and consequences. Lying increases activation of a network of brain regions related to executive memory, suppression of unwanted behaviors, and task switching that is not observed with truth-telling. High motivation coupled with strong incentives or the risk of adverse consequences also prompts more cognitive exertion--for truth-tellers and deceivers alike--to appear credible, with associated effects on performance and message production effort, depending on the magnitude of effort, communicator skill and experience. Factors related to message and communication context include discourse genre, type of prevarication, expected response length, communication medium, preparation, and recency of target event/issue. These factors can attenuate the degree of cognitive taxation on senders so that truth-telling and deceiving are similarly effortful. Factors related to the interpersonal relationship among interlocutors include whether sender and receiver are cooperative or adversarial and how well-acquainted they are with one another. A final consideration is whether the unit of analysis is the utterance, turn at talk, episode, entire interaction, or series of interactions. Taking these factors into account should produce a more nuanced answer to the question of when deception is more difficult than truth-telling.

Ground-glass nodule on thin-section CT: Differentiation among adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma and lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Man Ho; Ryu, Dae Shick; Kim, Do Young; Ahn, Jae Hong; Choi, Soo Jung; Gang, Gil Hyeon; Yoo, Dong Gon; Shin, Dong Rock

2015-01-01

To investigate different computed tomography (CT) features among adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma (LPA) that appeared as ground-glass nodules (GGN). We also analyzed different CT findings between Group A (AIS and MIA) and Group B (LPA). We evaluated 19 AIS, 4 MIA, and 9 LPA images that were histologically confirmed and manifested as GGN on thin-section CT scans. CT scans were assessed for lesion characteristics: size, shape, solid portion, internal air density, marginal irregularity and pleural tag. CT findings of Group A and Group B were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher's exact test. A significant statistical difference was seen between AIS and LPA for lesion characteristics (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between AIS and MIA. Round or polygonal shape with smooth margin was significantly associated with Group A, and complex shape with marginal irregularity was associated with Group B. Group A (AIS and MIA) could be distinguished from Group B (LPA) by smaller lesion size, round or polygonal shape, smaller solid portion and smooth margin

Ground-glass nodule on thin-section CT: Differentiation among adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma and lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Man Ho; Ryu, Dae Shick; Kim, Do Young; Ahn, Jae Hong; Choi, Soo Jung; Gang, Gil Hyeon; Yoo, Dong Gon; Shin, Dong Rock [Gangneung Asan Hospital, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Gangneung (Korea, Republic of)

2015-12-15

To investigate different computed tomography (CT) features among adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma (LPA) that appeared as ground-glass nodules (GGN). We also analyzed different CT findings between Group A (AIS and MIA) and Group B (LPA). We evaluated 19 AIS, 4 MIA, and 9 LPA images that were histologically confirmed and manifested as GGN on thin-section CT scans. CT scans were assessed for lesion characteristics: size, shape, solid portion, internal air density, marginal irregularity and pleural tag. CT findings of Group A and Group B were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test or Fisher's exact test. A significant statistical difference was seen between AIS and LPA for lesion characteristics (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between AIS and MIA. Round or polygonal shape with smooth margin was significantly associated with Group A, and complex shape with marginal irregularity was associated with Group B. Group A (AIS and MIA) could be distinguished from Group B (LPA) by smaller lesion size, round or polygonal shape, smaller solid portion and smooth margin.

QCD-aware partonic jet clustering for truth-jet flavour labelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buckley, Andy; Pollard, Chris [University of Glasgow, School of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow (United Kingdom)

2016-02-15

We present an algorithm for deriving partonic flavour labels to be applied to truth particle jets in Monte Carlo event simulations. The inputs to this approach are final pre-hadronisation partons, to remove dependence on unphysical details such as the order of matrix element calculation and shower generator frame recoil treatment. These are clustered using standard jet algorithms, modified to restrict the allowed pseudo-jet combinations to those in which tracked flavour labels are consistent with QCD and QED Feynman rules. The resulting algorithm is shown to be portable between the major families of shower generators, and largely insensitive to many possible systematic variations: it hence offers significant advantages over existing ad hoc labelling schemes. However, it is shown that contamination from multi-parton scattering simulations can disrupt the labelling results. Suggestions are made for further extension to incorporate more detailed QCD splitting function kinematics, robustness improvements, and potential uses for truth-level physics object definitions and tagging. (orig.)

QCD-aware partonic jet clustering for truth-jet flavour labelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buckley, Andy; Pollard, Chris

2016-01-01

We present an algorithm for deriving partonic flavour labels to be applied to truth particle jets in Monte Carlo event simulations. The inputs to this approach are final pre-hadronisation partons, to remove dependence on unphysical details such as the order of matrix element calculation and shower generator frame recoil treatment. These are clustered using standard jet algorithms, modified to restrict the allowed pseudo-jet combinations to those in which tracked flavour labels are consistent with QCD and QED Feynman rules. The resulting algorithm is shown to be portable between the major families of shower generators, and largely insensitive to many possible systematic variations: it hence offers significant advantages over existing ad hoc labelling schemes. However, it is shown that contamination from multi-parton scattering simulations can disrupt the labelling results. Suggestions are made for further extension to incorporate more detailed QCD splitting function kinematics, robustness improvements, and potential uses for truth-level physics object definitions and tagging. (orig.)

Truth Seeded Reconstruction for Fast Simulation in the ATLAS Experiment

CERN Document Server

Jansky, Roland; Salzburger, Andreas

The huge success of the ATLAS experiment for particle physics during Run 1 of the LHC would not have been possible without the production of vast amounts of simulated Monte Carlo data. However, the very detailed detector simulation is a highly CPU intensive task and thus resource shortages occurred. Motivated by this, great effort has been put into speeding up the simulation. As a result, other timeconsuming parts became visible. One of which is the track reconstruction. This thesis describes one potential solution to the CPU intensive reconstruction of simulated data: a newly designed truth seeded reconstruction. At its basics is the idea to skip the pattern recognition altogether, instead utilizing the available (truth) information from simulation to directly fit particle trajectories without searching for them. At the same time tracking effects of the standard reconstruction need to be emulated. This approach is validated thoroughly and no critical deviations of the results compared to the standard reconst...

Case study on ground surface deformation induced by CO2 injection into coal seam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hong; Tang Chun'an

2010-01-01

To monitor a geomechanical response of injecting CO 2 into relatively shallow coal seams, tiltmeters were set as an array to cover the ground surface area surrounding the injection well, and to measure the ground deformation during a well fracturing stimulation and a short-term CO 2 injection test. In this paper, an attempt to establish a quantitative relationship between the in-situ coal swelling and the corresponding ground deformation was made by means of numerical simulation study. (authors)

DMPD: MyDths and un-TOLLed truths: sensor, instructive and effector immunity totuberculosis. [Dynamic Macrophage Pathway CSML Database

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available 18191460 MyDths and un-TOLLed truths: sensor, instructive and effector immunity totuberculosis...g) (.svg) (.html) (.csml) Show MyDths and un-TOLLed truths: sensor, instructive and effector immunity totuberculosis...e and effector immunity totuberculosis. Authors Reiling N, Ehlers S, Holscher C. Publication Immunol Lett. 2

Incentives for Truthful Information Elicitation of Continuous Signals

OpenAIRE

Radanovic, Goran; Faltings, Boi

2014-01-01

We consider settings where a collective intelligence is formed by aggregating information contributed from many independent agents, such as product reviews, community sensing, or opinion polls. We propose a novel mechanism that elicits both private signals and beliefs. The mechanism extends the previous versions of the Bayesian Truth Serum (the original BTS, the RBTS, and the multi-valued BTS), by allowing small populations and non-binary private signals, while not requiring additional assump...

Art and fiction are signals with indeterminate truth values.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabb, Nathaniel

2017-01-01

Menninghaus et al. distinguish art from fiction, but no current arguments or data suggest that the concept of art can be meaningfully circumscribed. This is a problem for aesthetic psychology. I sketch a solution by rejecting the distinction: Unlike most animal communication, in which signals are either true or false, art and fiction consist of signals without determinate truth values.

Fiction and truth in the parallel lives of Plutarch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Analía V. Sapere

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we will investigate the occurrences of πλάσμα in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. We will analyse the meanings and nuances of the word in different passages of the work (understood as ‘fiction, counterfeit, figment’, etc. in order to connect our conclusions with plutarchean theorizations about the problem of truth in historical narrative.

The different worlds of labour and company law: truth or myth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The different worlds of labour and company law: truth or myth? ... take due cognisance of both the labour and company law principles that may be pertinent, ... indicate how the different functions, theories and models of labour and company law ...

The universe and the teacup the mathematics of truth and beauty

CERN Document Server

Cole, K C

1998-01-01

Filled with "a thousand fascinating facts and shrewd observations (Martin Gardner, Los Angeles Times), this "beguiling and lucid book" (San Francisco Chronicle) demonstrates how the truth and beauty of everything, from relativity to rainbows, is all in the numbers. Line drawings.

Evaluation of stability of foundation ground during earthquake, (5)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishi, Koh-ichi; Kanatani, Mamoru

1987-01-01

The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry advances the research on the method of evaluating foundation grounds from the standpoint of developing in-situ ground survey testing method and the method of evaluating mechanical properties in the studies on the technology for siting nuclear power stations on Quaternary grounds. The newly developed analytical technique on ground stability by the results of the analytical method for equivalent linear response was already reported. In this paper, the analytical method for nonlinear response to investigate into the more detailed behavior of ground due to strong earthquake motion is reported. In particular, the constitutive relation based on elastoplasticity was newly proposed in order to represent the deformation behavior during cyclic loading, and the examples of its application to the response of horizontally leveled sandy ground to earthquake are described. The dialatancy characteristics of soil are constituted by yield function, plastic potential functioin and hardening function. The material constants in proposed constitutive relation are easily determined by laboratory tests. One-dimensional response analysis was conducted, using the constitutive relation. (Kako, I.)

Harnessing Youth and Young Adult Culture: Improving the Reach and Engagement of the truth® Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Hair, Elizabeth; Pitzer, Lindsay; Bennett, Morgane; Halenar, Michael; Rath, Jessica; Cantrell, Jennifer; Dorrler, Nicole; Asche, Eric; Vallone, Donna

2017-07-01

The national youth and young adult tobacco prevention mass media campaign, truth®, relaunched in 2014 with the goal of creating "the generation that ends smoking." The objective of this study was to assess whether the strategy of airing truth ads during popular, culturally relevant televised events was associated with higher ad and brand awareness and increases in social media engagement. Awareness of six truth advertisements that aired during popular television events and self-reported social media engagement were assessed via cross-sectional online surveys of youth and young adults aged 15-21 years. Social engagement was also measured using separate Twitter and YouTube metrics. Logistic regression models predicted self-reported social engagement and any ad awareness, and a negative binomial regression predicted the total social media engagement across digital platforms. The study found that viewing a popular televised event was associated with higher odds of ad awareness and social engagement. The results also indicate that levels of social media engagement for an event period are greater than for a nonevent period. The findings demonstrate that premiering advertisements during a popular, culturally relevant televised event is associated with higher awareness of truth ads and increased social engagement related to the campaign, controlling for variables that might also influence the response to campaign messages.

First in situ operation performance test of ground source heat pump in Tunisia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naili, Nabiha; Attar, Issam; Hazami, Majdi; Farhat, Abdelhamid

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Evaluate the geothermal energy in Tunisia. • Study of the performance of GSHP system for cooling space. • GSHP is a promising alternative for building cooling in Tunisia. - Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to study the energetic potential of the deployment in Tunisia of the Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system for cooling mode application. Therefore, a pilot GSHP system using horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger (GHE) was installed and experimented in the Research and Technology Center of Energy (CRTEn), Borj Cédria. The experiment is conducted in a test room with a floor area of about 12 m 2 . In the floor of the tested room is integrated a polyethylene exchanger (PEX) used as a radiant floor cooling (RFC) system. The experimental setup mainly includes the ground temperature, the temperature and flow rate of water circulating in the heat pump and the GHE, as well as the power consumption of the heat pump and circulating pumps. These experimental data are essentially used to evaluate the coefficient of performance of the heat pump (COP hp ) and the overall system (COP sys ) for continuous operation mode. The COP hp and the COP sys were found to be 4.25 and 2.88, respectively. These results reveal that the use of the ground source heat pump is very appropriate for Tunisian building cooling

Ground-based SMART-COMMIT Measurements for Studying Aerosol and Cloud Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee

2008-01-01

From radiometric principles, it is expected that the retrieved properties of extensive aerosols and clouds from reflected/emitted measurements by satellite (and/or aircraft) should be consistent with those retrieved from transmitted/emitted radiance observed at the surface. Although space-borne remote sensing observations cover large spatial domain, they are often plagued by contamination of surface signatures. Thus, ground-based in-situ and remote-sensing measurements, where signals come directly from atmospheric constituents, the sun, and/or the Earth-atmosphere interactions, provide additional information content for comparisons that confirm quantitatively the usefulness of the integrated surface, aircraft, and satellite data sets. The development and deployment of SMARTCOMMIT (Surface-sensing Measurements for Atmospheric Radiative Transfer - Chemical, Optical & Microphysical Measurements of In-situ Troposphere) mobile facilities are aimed for the optimal utilization of collocated ground-based observations as constraints to yield higher fidelity satellite retrievals and to determine any sampling bias due to target conditions. To quantify the energetics of the surface-atmosphere system and the atmospheric processes, SMART-COMMIT instruments fall into three categories: flux radiometer, radiance sensor and in-situ probe. In this paper, we will demonstrate the capability of SMART-COMMIT in recent field campaigns (e.g., CRYSTAL-FACE, UAE 2, BASEASIA, NAMMA) that were designed and executed to study the compelling variability in temporal scale of both anthropogenic and natural aerosols (e.g., biomass-burning smoke, airborne dust) and cirrus clouds. We envision robust approaches in which well-collocated ground-based measurements and space-borne observations will greatly advance our knowledge of extensive aerosols and clouds.

Simple example of definitions of truth, validity, consistency, and completeness in quantum mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benioff, P.

1999-01-01

Besides their use for efficient computation, quantum computers and quantum robots form a base for studying quantum systems that create valid physical theories using mathematics and physics. If quantum mechanics is universally applicable, then quantum mechanics must describe its own validation by these quantum systems. An essential part of this process is the development of a coherent theory of mathematics and quantum-mechanics together. It is expected that such a theory will include a coherent combination of mathematical logical concepts with quantum mechanics. That this might be possible is shown here by defining truth, validity, consistency, and completeness for a quantum-mechanical version of a simple (classical) expression enumeration machine described by Smullyan. Some of the expressions are chosen as sentences denoting the presence or absence of other expressions in the enumeration. Two of the sentences are self-referential. It is seen that, for an interpretation based on a Feynman path sum over expression paths, truth, consistency, and completeness for the quantum system have different properties than for the classical system. For instance, the truth of a sentence S is defined only on those paths containing S. It is undefined elsewhere. Also S and its negation can both be true provided they appear on separate paths. This satisfies the definition of consistency. The definitions of validity and completeness connect the dynamics of the system to the truth of the sentences. It is proved that validity implies consistency. It is seen that the requirements of validity and maximal completeness strongly restrict the allowable dynamics for the quantum system. Aspects of the existence of a valid, maximally complete dynamics are discussed. An exponentially efficient quantum computer is described that is also valid and complete for the set of sentences considered here. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Views from the field Truth seeking and gender: The Liberian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

to gender influence truth-seeking in a post-conflict situation? Following ..... of how apartheid structured identities not simply along the fault lines of race, but also ... the Second World War in Europe and all black people (African, Coloured and ... and power of Afrikaner nationalism by means of an exclusive system of white.

Field calibration and validation of remote-sensing surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Pe'eri, Shachak; McLeod, Andy; Lavoie, Paul; Ackerman, Seth D.; Gardner, James; Parrish, Christopher

2013-01-01

The Optical Collection Suite (OCS) is a ground-truth sampling system designed to perform in situ measurements that help calibrate and validate optical remote-sensing and swath-sonar surveys for mapping and monitoring coastal ecosystems and ocean planning. The OCS system enables researchers to collect underwater imagery with real-time feedback, measure the spectral response, and quantify the water clarity with simple and relatively inexpensive instruments that can be hand-deployed from a small vessel. This article reviews the design and performance of the system, based on operational and logistical considerations, as well as the data requirements to support a number of coastal science and management projects. The OCS system has been operational since 2009 and has been used in several ground-truth missions that overlapped with airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB), hyperspectral imagery (HSI), and swath-sonar bathymetric surveys in the Gulf of Maine, southwest Alaska, and the US Virgin Islands (USVI). Research projects that have used the system include a comparison of backscatter intensity derived from acoustic (multibeam/interferometric sonars) versus active optical (ALB) sensors, ALB bottom detection, and seafloor characterization using HSI and ALB.

Ground Truth in Building Human Security

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

structured. This allows for the creation of one master matrix where the assessment results are collected for each AO and then weighted ... weighted criteria for a geographic region’s value to overall policy aims, aids in decision- making where to best allocate resources when, as in this...Snow Leopards and Cadastres: Rare Sightings in Afghanistan,” in Land and Post-Conflict Peacebuild- ing, Jon Unruh and Rhodri Williams, Eds

The Pedagogy of Heideggerian (Un)Truth: How Can We See Stars by Day in a Deep Dark Well?

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jie

2014-01-01

The question of truth as it relates to the teacher's role in the classroom raises not only issues of what and how we should teach, but challenges the very purpose of teaching. Since truth itself is a major question of phenomenology, the author chose to use the works of German philosopher Martin Heidegger for his phenomenological treatment of truth…

Truth telling in a South African tertiary hospital | Vangu | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction. Truth telling forms part of the contemporary debate in clinical bioethics and centres around the right of the patient to receive honest information concerning his or her medical condition/illness and the duty of the doctor to give this information to the patient. Many patients complain that they are not being informed, ...

Truth or dare: expertise and risk governance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paterson, J.

2002-01-01

There is increasing evidence that the public is as concerned with the risks associated with technology as it is enthused by the opportunities that technology presents. Experts are increasingly referred to not so much for solutions to social problems per se, but paradoxically to problems attendant on technological solutions themselves. In these circumstances, there is an urgent need for the role of the expert to be clarified. While the public and political actors have essentially looked to experts for certainty in an uncertain world, this is precisely what scientific rationality cannot provide. The inherent modesty of science (exemplified, for example, by the need for falsifiability) must always be compromised at the point when a decision is made, when 'knowledge' becomes 'action'. There is accordingly a need to be clear about the status of scientific information or knowledge on the one hand, and the effect of the decision to act on the other - and hence the appropriate locus of responsibility. Analysing the process from expert advice through to political or economic decision can help to clarify the point at which misunderstanding arises, at which the inherently provisional truth of science is transformed into the effectively absolute truth implied by a decision to apply knowledge as technology. Recognizing that it is at this point that risks are run (as well as the opportunity for rewards created) may lead to greater clarity as to the respective roles. It may in turn offer some lessons as regards the design of risk governance arrangements and the place of experts in them. (author)

Ground-water elements of in situ leach mining of uranium. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, W.E.; Swarzenski, W.V.; Warner, D.L.; Rouse, G.E.; Carrington, O.F.; Pyrih, R.Z.

1978-07-01

This report provides methods to collect data and evaluates impacts concerning ground-water elements of production-scale leach mining of uranium. Two overlapping networks of monitor wells are designed to collect premining hydrogeologic and baseline water-quality data and to detect excursions of leaching fluids. The pre-mining data collection network consists of 24 wells completed into the ore-zone aquifer and the water-bearing units above and below it. The excursion-monitor network utilizes two rings of wells encircling the ore body and other wells strategically placed into other water-bearing units. The lateral excursion detection system is keyed to changes in water levels whereas the vertical excursion detection system is keyed to changes in water quality. Several ground-water restoration methods are evaluated. Mechanical and chemical restoration methods can significantly remove most introduced and mobilized chemicals. Natural geochemical mechanisms should be capable of causing water-quality improvement. Several water-quality constituents, i.e., ammonia, chloride, sulfate, may not be greatly affected by restoration efforts. Most mining and restoration activities should not greatly affect the availability or usefulness of ground water unless uncontrolled withdrawals from many sources occur. Disposal of leach mining wastes may prove a greater threat to the environment than the mining. Natural conditions and/or current state and Federal regulations limit the types of disposal methods that may be used

Balancing truth-telling: relatives acting as translators for older adult cancer patients of Turkish or northwest African origin in Belgium.

Science.gov (United States)

van Eechoud, I; Grypdonck, M; Leman, J; Van Den Noortgate, N; Deveugele, M; Verhaeghe, S

2017-09-01

The first generation of Turkish and Northwest African immigrants in Belgium are ageing and at risk for developing cancer. Relatives play an important role and provide both emotional and practical care, including mental support and acting as a contact person and/or a translator for improving access to healthcare, as most patients and their spouses have only a limited command of the language. Although access to professional interpreters has shown to be the best guarantee for qualitative healthcare, oncology health providers working with relatives as interpreters is much more common than professional interpreters. The aim of this study was to provide insight into the process wherein relatives balance truth-telling in translating for an older family member diagnosed with cancer. This was a qualitative research study, with elements of constructivist grounded theory. Twenty-eight loosely structured interviews were conducted. Most relatives consider it their responsibility to contribute to a positive attitude of the patient. Relatives decided to what extent they inform the patient, based on several motives and embedded in their assessment of the patient's emotional strength, understanding and need to be informed. What they decide influences the way they act as a translator and/or a contact person between the patient and health professional(s). Some considered it best to omit medical information while others considered it best to inform the patient fully. The results emphasise the importance for healthcare providers to take into account the complexity and unpredictable character of the process of balancing truth-telling when family members translate for their ill older relative. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Therapeutic privilege: between the ethics of lying and the practice of truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Claude; Lajeunesse, Yvette; Lussier, Marie-Thérèse

2010-06-01

The 'right to the truth' involves disclosing all the pertinent facts to a patient so that an informed decision can be made. However, this concept of a 'right to the truth' entails certain ambiguities, especially since it is difficult to apply the concept in medical practice based mainly on current evidence-based data that are probabilistic in nature. Furthermore, in some situations, the doctor is confronted with a moral dilemma, caught between the necessity to inform the patient (principle of autonomy) and the desire to ensure the patient's well-being by minimising suffering (principle of beneficence). To comply with the principle of beneficence as well as the principle of non-maleficence 'to do no harm', the doctor may then feel obliged to turn to 'therapeutic privilege', using lies or deception to preserve the patient's hope, and psychological and moral integrity, as well as his self-image and dignity. There is no easy answer to such a moral dilemma. This article will propose a process that can fit into reflective practice, allowing the doctor to decide if the use of therapeutic privilege is justified when he is faced with these kinds of conflicting circumstances. We will present the conflict arising in practice in the context of the various theoretical orientations in ethics, and then we will suggest an approach for a 'practice of truth'. Last, we will situate this reflective method in the broader clinical context of medical practice viewed as a dialogic process.

Application of ground-truth for classification and quantification of bird movements on migratory bird habitat initiative sites in southwest Louisiana: final report

Science.gov (United States)

Barrow, Wylie C.; Baldwin, Michael J.; Randall, Lori A.; Pitre, John; Dudley, Kyle J.

2013-01-01

This project was initiated to assess migrating and wintering bird use of lands enrolled in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI). The MBHI program was developed in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, with the goal of improving/creating habitat for waterbirds affected by the spill. In collaboration with the University of Delaware (UDEL), we used weather surveillance radar data (Sieges 2014), portable marine radar data, thermal infrared images, and visual observations to assess bird use of MBHI easements. Migrating and wintering birds routinely make synchronous flights near dusk (e.g., departure during migration, feeding flights during winter). Weather radars readily detect birds at the onset of these flights and have proven to be useful remote sensing tools for assessing bird-habitat relations during migration and determining the response of wintering waterfowl to wetland restoration (e.g., Wetlands Reserve Program lands). However, ground-truthing is required to identify radar echoes to species or species group. We designed a field study to ground-truth a larger-scale, weather radar assessment of bird use of MBHI sites in southwest Louisiana. We examined seasonal bird use of MBHI fields in fall, winter, and spring of 2011-2012. To assess diurnal use, we conducted total area surveys of MBHI sites in the afternoon, collecting data on bird species composition, abundance, behavior, and habitat use. In the evenings, we quantified bird activity at the MBHI easements and described flight behavior (i.e., birds landing in, departing from, circling, or flying over the MBHI tract). Our field sampling captured the onset of evening flights and spanned the period of collection of the weather radar data analyzed. Pre- and post-dusk surveys were conducted using a portable radar system and a thermal infrared camera. Landbirds, shorebirds, and wading birds were commonly found on MBHI fields during diurnal

In situ bioventing in deep soils at arid sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frishmuth, R.A.; Ratz, J.W.; Blicker, B.R.; Hall, J.F.; Downey, D.C.

1995-01-01

In situ bioventing has been shown to be a cost-effective remedial alternative for vadose zone soils. The success of the technology relies on the ability of indigenous soil microorganisms to utilize petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants as a primary metabolic substrate. Soil microbial populations are typically elevated in shallow soils due to an abundance of naturally occurring substrates and nutrients, but may be limited at greater depths due to a lack of these constituents. Therefore, the effectiveness of in situ bioventing is questionable in contaminated soil zones that extend far below the ground surface. Also, because the soil microbial population relies on soil moisture to sustain hydrocarbon degradation, the viability of bioventing is questionable in arid climates, where the soil moisture content is suspected to be minimal

Disclosing the truth: a dilemma between instilling hope and respecting patient autonomy in everyday clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarafis, Pavlos; Tsounis, Andreas; Malliarou, Maria; Lahana, Eleni

2013-12-20

While medical ethics place a high value on providing truthful information to patients, disclosure practices are far from being the norm in many countries. Transmitting bad news still remains a big problem that health care professionals face in their every day clinical practice. Through the review of relevant literature, an attempt to examine the trends in this issue worldwide will be made. Various electronic databases were searched by the authors and through systematic selection 51 scientific articles were identified that this literature review is based on. There are many parameters that lead to the concealment of truth. Factors related to doctors, patients and their close environment, still maintain a strong resistance against disclosure of diagnosis and prognosis in terminally ill patients, while cultural influences lead to different approaches in various countries. Withholding the truth is mainly based in the fear of causing despair to patients. However, fostering a spurious hope, hides the danger of its' total loss, while it can disturb patient-doctor relationship.

Children's Reasoning about Lie-Telling and Truth-Telling in Politeness Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Heyman, Gail D.; Sweet, Monica A.; Lee, Kang

2009-01-01

Children's reasoning about lying and truth-telling was examined among participants ages 7-11 (total N = 181) with reference to conflicts between being honest and protecting the feelings of others. In Study 1, participants showed different patterns of evaluation and motivational inference in politeness contexts vs. transgression contexts: in…

Values in Fritz Perls's Gestalt Therapy: On the Dangers of Half-Truths.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadwallader, Eva H.

1984-01-01

Examines some of the values in Perls's theory of psychotherapy, which his Gestalt Prayer epitomizes. Argues that at least five of the major value claims presupposed by his psychotherapeutic theory and practice are in fact dangerous half-truths. (JAC)

Temperature profiles by ground-based remote sensing and in situ measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Argentini, S; Pietroni, I; Conidi, A; Mastrantonio, G; Petenko, I; Viola, A [ISAC-CNR, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere, 100, 00133 Roma (Italy); Gariazzo, C; Pelliccioni, A; Amicarelli, A [ISPESL Dipartimento Insediamenti Produttivi e Interazione con l' Ambiente, Via Fontana Candida, 1, 00040 Monteporzio Catone (RM) (Italy)], E-mail: s.argentini@isac.cnr.it

2008-05-01

This study focuses on the accuracy of the temperature profiles measured with a Doppler Radio-Acoustic Sounding System and a Microwave Temperature Profiler during a period of about 3 months in winter 2007-2008. The experiment was carried on at the experimental facility of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The temperature data measured with remote sensors were verified with in situ measurements on a mast as well as with tethered balloon data. The facsimile echograms obtained with the ISAC Doppler SODAR were analysed to understand to which extent the RASS and Radiometer temperature profiles behaviour can represent the real thermal structure of the atmosphere.

Temperature profiles by ground-based remote sensing and in situ measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Argentini, S; Pietroni, I; Conidi, A; Mastrantonio, G; Petenko, I; Viola, A; Gariazzo, C; Pelliccioni, A; Amicarelli, A

2008-01-01

This study focuses on the accuracy of the temperature profiles measured with a Doppler Radio-Acoustic Sounding System and a Microwave Temperature Profiler during a period of about 3 months in winter 2007-2008. The experiment was carried on at the experimental facility of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The temperature data measured with remote sensors were verified with in situ measurements on a mast as well as with tethered balloon data. The facsimile echograms obtained with the ISAC Doppler SODAR were analysed to understand to which extent the RASS and Radiometer temperature profiles behaviour can represent the real thermal structure of the atmosphere

HYDICE data from Lake Tahoe: comparison to coincident AVIRIS and in-situ measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Kappus, Mary E.; Davis, Curtiss O.; Rhea, W. J.

1996-11-01

Coordinated flights of two calibrated airborne imaging spectrometers, HYDICE and AVIRIS, were conducted on June 22, 1995 over Lake Tahoe. As part of HYDICE's first operational mission, one objective was to test the system performance over the dark homogeneous target provided by the clear deep waters of the lake. The high altitude and clear atmosphere makes Lake Tahoe a simpler test target than near-shore marine environments, where large aerosols complicate atmospheric correction and sediment runoff and high chlorophyll levels make interpretation of he data difficult. Calibrated data from both runoff and high chlorophyll levels make interpretation of the data difficult. Calibrated data from both sensors was provided in physical units of radiance. The atmospheric radiative transfer code, MODTRAN was used to remove the path radiance between the ground and sensor and the skylight reflected from the water surface. The resulting water-leaving spectrometer, and with values calculated form in-water properties using the HYDROLIGHT radiative transfer code. The agreement of the water-leaving radiance for the HYDICE data, the ground-truth spectral measurements, and the results of the radiative transfer code are excellent for wavelengths greater than 0.45 micrometers . The AVIRIS flight took place more than an hour closer to noon, which makes the radiance measurements not directly comparable. Comparisons to radiative transfer output for this later time indicate that the AVIRIS data is strongly by sun glint. Because water-leaving radiance is dependent upon the characteristics of the water, it can be analyzed for some of those properties. Using the CZCS algorithm based on the water-leaving radiance at two wavelengths, the chlorophyll content of Lake Tahoe was computed from the HYDICE and ground-truth data. Resulting values are slightly higher than measurements made two weeks earlier from water samples, indicating a growth in the phytoplankton population which is very plausible

Autonomy, nudging and post-truth politics.

Science.gov (United States)

Keeling, Geoff

2017-11-16

In his excellent essay, 'Nudges in a post-truth world', Neil Levy argues that 'nudges to reason', or nudges which aim to make us more receptive to evidence, are morally permissible. A strong argument against the moral permissibility of nudging is that nudges fail to respect the autonomy of the individuals affected by them. Levy argues that nudges to reason do respect individual autonomy, such that the standard autonomy objection fails against nudges to reason. In this paper, I argue that Levy fails to show that nudges to reason respect individual autonomy. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Digital Elevation Models of Patterned Ground in the Canadian Arctic and Implications for the Study of Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Knightly, P.; Murakami, Y.; Clarke, J.; Sizemore, H.; Siegler, M.; Rupert, S.; Chevrier, V.

2017-12-01

Patterned ground forms in periglacial zones from both expansion and contraction of permafrost by freeze-thaw and sub-freezing temperature changes and has been observed on both Earth and Mars from orbital and the surface at the Phoneix and Viking 2 landing sites. The Phoenix mission to Mars studied patterned ground in the vicinity of the spacecraft including the excavation of a trench revealing water permafrost beneath the surface. A study of patterned ground at the Haughton Impact structure on Devon Island used stereo-pair imaging and three-dimensional photographic models to catalog the type and occurrence of patterned ground in the study area. This image catalog was then used to provide new insight into photographic observations gathered by Phoenix. Stereo-pair imagery has been a valuable geoscience tool for decades and it is an ideal tool for comparative planetary geology studies. Stereo-pair images captured on Devon Island were turned into digital elevation models (DEMs) and comparisons were noted between the permafrost and patterned ground environment of Earth and Mars including variations in grain sorting, active layer thickness, and ice table depth. Recent advances in 360° cameras also enabled the creation of a detailed, immersive site models of patterned ground at selected sites in Haughton crater on Devon Island. The information from this ground truth study will enable the development and refinement of existing models to better evaluate patterned ground on Mars and predict its evolution.

Affect and/as Collective Resistance in a Post-Truth Moment

Science.gov (United States)

Castro Samayoa, Andrés; Nicolazzo, Z

2017-01-01

In this piece, we call upon the value of coalitional politics as a strategy of resistance in the face of an increasingly powerful post-truth regime. Reflecting on the insidious effects of fact-denying discourses are echoed in our classrooms and in our roles as educators, we openly wonder: What might it mean for educators to use feelings as a guide…

Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative

OpenAIRE

Gary L. Comstock

1989-01-01

Truth or meaning: Ricoeur versus Frei on biblical narrative Of the theologians and philosophers now writing on biblical narrative, Hans Frei and Paul Ricoeur are probably the most prominent. It is significant that their views converge on important issues. Both are uncomfortable with hermeneutic theories that convert the text into an abstract philosophical system, an ideal typological structure, or a mere occasion for existential decision. Frei and Ricoeur seem knit together in a common en...

Autonomy versus absolute truth in comparative law on family status of the child

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kovaček-Stanić Gordana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The development of biology and medicine enables that legal and biological maternity and paternity coincide completely, owing to biomedical analysis, in particular to DNA analysis. On the other hand, development of biology and medicine causes discrepancy in legal and biological maternity and paternity in the situation of biomedically assisted conception if donor genetic material is used. Thus, autonomy of the parties gain in importance, legal parental relations are based on the will of the parties, so principle of biological truth looses importance. Legal parents would be persons who participated in the process of biomedically assisted conception in order to get the child. Autonomy of the mother could be extended to allow for anonymous birth. Acknowledgement of the paternity depends almost entirely on the will of the parties concerned. If the man acknowledges his paternity and the requisite consent is given, the man is considered to be the father. The biological truth is not examined. On the other hand, in proceedings for establishing and contesting maternity and paternity, the court is obliged to determine the biological truth, which may be based on DNA and other biomedical evidence. It could be said that the autonomy of the parties is limited by the requirement that maternity and paternity in such cases be established based on the biological facts.

Helicopter-borne observations of the continental background aerosol in combination with remote sensing and ground-based measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Düsing, Sebastian; Wehner, Birgit; Seifert, Patric; Ansmann, Albert; Baars, Holger; Ditas, Florian; Henning, Silvia; Ma, Nan; Poulain, Laurent; Siebert, Holger; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Macke, Andreas

2018-01-01

This paper examines the representativeness of ground-based in situ measurements for the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and conducts a closure study between airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements up to an altitude of 2300 m. The related measurements were carried out in a field campaign within the framework of the High-Definition Clouds and Precipitation for Advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP)2) Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE) in September 2013 in a rural background area of central Europe.The helicopter-borne probe ACTOS (Airborne Cloud and Turbulence Observation System) provided measurements of the aerosol particle number size distribution (PNSD), the aerosol particle number concentration (PNC), the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN-NC), and meteorological atmospheric parameters (e.g., temperature and relative humidity). These measurements were supported by the ground-based 3+2 wavelength polarization lidar system PollyXT, which provided profiles of the particle backscatter coefficient (σbsc) for three wavelengths (355, 532, and 1064 nm). Particle extinction coefficient (σext) profiles were obtained by using a fixed backscatter-to-extinction ratio (also lidar ratio, LR). A new approach was used to determine profiles of CCN-NC for continental aerosol. The results of this new approach were consistent with the airborne in situ measurements within the uncertainties.In terms of representativeness, the PNSD measurements on the ground showed a good agreement with the measurements provided with ACTOS for lower altitudes. The ground-based measurements of PNC and CCN-NC are representative of the PBL when the PBL is well mixed. Locally isolated new particle formation events on the ground or at the top of the PBL led to vertical variability in the cases presented here and ground-based measurements are not entirely representative of the PBL. Based on Mie theory (Mie, 1908), optical aerosol properties under ambient conditions for

Helicopter-borne observations of the continental background aerosol in combination with remote sensing and ground-based measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Düsing

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the representativeness of ground-based in situ measurements for the planetary boundary layer (PBL and conducts a closure study between airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements up to an altitude of 2300 m. The related measurements were carried out in a field campaign within the framework of the High-Definition Clouds and Precipitation for Advancing Climate Prediction (HD(CP2 Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE in September 2013 in a rural background area of central Europe.The helicopter-borne probe ACTOS (Airborne Cloud and Turbulence Observation System provided measurements of the aerosol particle number size distribution (PNSD, the aerosol particle number concentration (PNC, the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN-NC, and meteorological atmospheric parameters (e.g., temperature and relative humidity. These measurements were supported by the ground-based 3+2 wavelength polarization lidar system PollyXT, which provided profiles of the particle backscatter coefficient (σbsc for three wavelengths (355, 532, and 1064 nm. Particle extinction coefficient (σext profiles were obtained by using a fixed backscatter-to-extinction ratio (also lidar ratio, LR. A new approach was used to determine profiles of CCN-NC for continental aerosol. The results of this new approach were consistent with the airborne in situ measurements within the uncertainties.In terms of representativeness, the PNSD measurements on the ground showed a good agreement with the measurements provided with ACTOS for lower altitudes. The ground-based measurements of PNC and CCN-NC are representative of the PBL when the PBL is well mixed. Locally isolated new particle formation events on the ground or at the top of the PBL led to vertical variability in the cases presented here and ground-based measurements are not entirely representative of the PBL. Based on Mie theory (Mie, 1908, optical aerosol properties under ambient

In-situ electric field in human body model in different postures for wireless power transfer system in an electrical vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimamoto, Takuya; Laakso, Ilkka; Hirata, Akimasa

2015-01-01

The in-situ electric field of an adult male model in different postures is evaluated for exposure to the magnetic field leaked from a wireless power transfer system in an electrical vehicle. The transfer system is located below the centre of the vehicle body and the transferred power and frequency are 7 kW and 85 kHz, respectively. The in-situ electric field is evaluated for a human model (i) crouching near the vehicle, (ii) lying on the ground with or without his arm stretched, (iii) sitting in the driver’s seat, and (iv) standing on a transmitting coil without a receiving coil. In each scenario, the maximum in-situ electric fields are lower than the allowable limit prescribed by international guidelines, although the local magnetic field strength in regions of the human body is higher than the allowable external magnetic field strength. The highest in-situ electric field is observed when the human body model is placed on the ground with his arm extended toward the coils, because of a higher magnetic field around the arm. (paper)

In-situ electric field in human body model in different postures for wireless power transfer system in an electrical vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimamoto, Takuya; Laakso, Ilkka; Hirata, Akimasa

2015-01-07

The in-situ electric field of an adult male model in different postures is evaluated for exposure to the magnetic field leaked from a wireless power transfer system in an electrical vehicle. The transfer system is located below the centre of the vehicle body and the transferred power and frequency are 7 kW and 85 kHz, respectively. The in-situ electric field is evaluated for a human model (i) crouching near the vehicle, (ii) lying on the ground with or without his arm stretched, (iii) sitting in the driver's seat, and (iv) standing on a transmitting coil without a receiving coil. In each scenario, the maximum in-situ electric fields are lower than the allowable limit prescribed by international guidelines, although the local magnetic field strength in regions of the human body is higher than the allowable external magnetic field strength. The highest in-situ electric field is observed when the human body model is placed on the ground with his arm extended toward the coils, because of a higher magnetic field around the arm.

Breaking new ground in mapping human settlements from space - The Global Urban Footprint

Science.gov (United States)

Esch, Thomas; Heldens, Wieke; Hirner, Andreas; Keil, Manfred; Marconcini, Mattia; Roth, Achim; Zeidler, Julian; Dech, Stefan; Strano, Emanuele

2017-12-01

Today, approximately 7.2 billion people inhabit the Earth and by 2050 this number will have risen to around nine billion, of which about 70% will be living in cities. The population growth and the related global urbanization pose one of the major challenges to a sustainable future. Hence, it is essential to understand drivers, dynamics, and impacts of the human settlements development. A key component in this context is the availability of an up-to-date and spatially consistent map of the location and distribution of human settlements. It is here that the Global Urban Footprint (GUF) raster map can make a valuable contribution. The new global GUF binary settlement mask shows a so far unprecedented spatial resolution of 0.4″ (∼ 12m) that provides - for the first time - a complete picture of the entirety of urban and rural settlements. The GUF has been derived by means of a fully automated processing framework - the Urban Footprint Processor (UFP) - that was used to analyze a global coverage of more than 180,000 TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X radar images with 3 m ground resolution collected in 2011-2012. The UFP consists of five main technical modules for data management, feature extraction, unsupervised classification, mosaicking and post-editing. Various quality assessment studies to determine the absolute GUF accuracy based on ground truth data on the one hand and the relative accuracies compared to established settlements maps on the other hand, clearly indicate the added value of the new global GUF layer, in particular with respect to the representation of rural settlement patterns. The Kappa coefficient of agreement compared to absolute ground truth data, for instance, shows GUF accuracies which are frequently twice as high as those of established low resolution maps. Generally, the GUF layer achieves an overall absolute accuracy of about 85%, with observed minima around 65% and maxima around 98%. The GUF will be provided open and free for any scientific use in

Telling the truth: Don DeLillo in an age of amnesia and redressDOI:10.5007/2175-8026.2010n59p176

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marni Gauthier

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The December 2006 Iran Holocaust denial Conference and the international excoriation of it reveal a paradox of two cultural strands that are emblematic of the legacy of the twentieth century: official denial and historical amnesia on the one hand; and (international attempts at truth telling and historical redress on the other. Massive violence–and associative denial—punctuate the entire twentieth century. Yet coordinated tenacious efforts at public acknowledgment of “what really happened”–a recurrent and insistent emphasis in this context of trials, reparations, and above all, truth commissions—and concomitant historical redress for state-sanctioned crimes is a particularly recent phenomenon, unique, in fact, to the 1990s. But it is not only political readers who address what Priscilla B. Hayner, in her exhaustive study of truth commissions calls, “unspeakable truths.” This essay addresses the incongruity between the recent global concern with truth telling, official apology, memory and historical redress on the one hand–an obsession that certainly includes the US—and American amnesia on the other. It is in the interstices of these two apposite late twentieth century phenomena–amnesia and truth telling; “history” distinct from “the truth of the past”; “official” opposed to “vernacular” memory — that, I argue, a new genre of historical novel develops and performs a vital cultural work: telling the truth in an age of amnesia and redress. Such novels engage the recalcitrant materials of historical experience to assert truth claims that in turn challenge nationalist histories and revise traditional mythologies. Among the foremost authors of this new “truth-telling” historical novel is Don DeLillo. Americana, the vital precursor to Libra and especially to Underworld, is the definitive harbinger of DeLillo’s third century of work that writes both within and against postmodernism. In these Cold-War era

Granulometry and moisture influence for in situ soil analysis by portable EDXRF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melquiades, Fabio L.; Bastos, Rodrigo O.; Biase, Gabriel E.V.; Parreira, Paulo S.; Appoloni, Carlos R.

2010-01-01

Full text: The objective of this work was to verify the granulometry and the moisture influence in results when soils and sediment samples are measured for identification and quantification of metal, on field, employing a portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) equipment. Calibration curves, calculated using 5 reference samples, were used for sensitivity determination. A sediment Standard Reference Material from IAEA was used to certificate the sensitivity values. The PXRF-LFNA02 equipment, consisting of an Ag mini X-ray Tube and a Si-PIN detector, was employed to accomplish the measurements. Soil samples were collected and dried for 24 h at 60 deg C before granulometry tests. Three grounding procedures were analyzed for granulometry influence evaluation: samples without any grounding; grounded for one minute using a porcelain mortar and pestle set, but without sieving; and grounded for one minute using a porcelain mortar and pestle set, and sieved (smaller than 125 mum particle size). The obtained concentration values for Ti, Fe and Zr, are equivalent for the samples grounded for one minute and the samples grounded and sieved. This result indicates that, for in situ analysis of this soil, it is sufficient to ground the dried sample before to measure. Moisture tests were performed by sampling the soil in situ and leaving the samples on aluminum recipients in open air, at sun, for distinct times, from 0 up to 2h. A reference sample, dried for 24h at 60 deg C, was measured as well in order to compare the results. The concentration values obtained for the samples dried during 30 minutes or 120 minutes at sun are equivalent. On the other hand, the concentration values obtained for the samples dried during 24 h are higher than the values obtained for the same samples dried at sun. Moisture influences the concentrations values in around 20%. Some considerations are performed indicating a methodology for correction of this factor by using the background under

Granulometry and moisture influence for in situ soil analysis by portable EDXRF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melquiades, Fabio L.; Bastos, Rodrigo O.; Biase, Gabriel E.V. [Universidade Estadual do Centro Oeste (UNICENTRO), Guarapuava, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica; Parreira, Paulo S.; Appoloni, Carlos R. [Universidade Estadual de Londrina (DF/UEL), PR (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica

2010-07-01

Full text: The objective of this work was to verify the granulometry and the moisture influence in results when soils and sediment samples are measured for identification and quantification of metal, on field, employing a portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (PXRF) equipment. Calibration curves, calculated using 5 reference samples, were used for sensitivity determination. A sediment Standard Reference Material from IAEA was used to certificate the sensitivity values. The PXRF-LFNA02 equipment, consisting of an Ag mini X-ray Tube and a Si-PIN detector, was employed to accomplish the measurements. Soil samples were collected and dried for 24 h at 60 deg C before granulometry tests. Three grounding procedures were analyzed for granulometry influence evaluation: samples without any grounding; grounded for one minute using a porcelain mortar and pestle set, but without sieving; and grounded for one minute using a porcelain mortar and pestle set, and sieved (smaller than 125 mum particle size). The obtained concentration values for Ti, Fe and Zr, are equivalent for the samples grounded for one minute and the samples grounded and sieved. This result indicates that, for in situ analysis of this soil, it is sufficient to ground the dried sample before to measure. Moisture tests were performed by sampling the soil in situ and leaving the samples on aluminum recipients in open air, at sun, for distinct times, from 0 up to 2h. A reference sample, dried for 24h at 60 deg C, was measured as well in order to compare the results. The concentration values obtained for the samples dried during 30 minutes or 120 minutes at sun are equivalent. On the other hand, the concentration values obtained for the samples dried during 24 h are higher than the values obtained for the same samples dried at sun. Moisture influences the concentrations values in around 20%. Some considerations are performed indicating a methodology for correction of this factor by using the background under

Truths and fallacies concerning radiation and its effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkins, S.R.

1984-01-01

In childhood we learned many myths about radiation. For example, we were told that people exposed to x-rays would glow in the dark, become radioactive, or under the proper circumstances, turn into superhumans such as the ''Hulk'' or ''Spiderman.'' Although these and other childhood myths are not taken seriously, many misconceptions still exist about the effects of ionizing radiation. Does exposure to radiation necessarily imply an ill fate? It is the intent of this chapter to highlight a few of the truths and fallacies concerning radiation and its effects

The Truth About the Internet and Online Predators

CERN Document Server

Dingwell, Heath; Peterson, Fred L

2011-01-01

To help readers avoid and recognize risky behaviors, The Truth About the Internet and Online Predators explains many of the dangers associated with the Internet. The A-to-Z entries detail the social, legal, and personal risks of Internet use, while personal testimonies and question-and-answer sections provide readers with an inside look at common issues online. Entries include:. Bullies and cyberbullying. Characteristics of online predators. Chat rooms and instant messaging. Internet safety. Parental control. Peers and peer pressure. Phishing and pharming. Privacy issues. Social networking Web

Initial Results from Radiometer and Polarized Radar-Based Icing Algorithms Compared to In-Situ Data

Science.gov (United States)

Serke, David; Reehorst, Andrew L.; King, Michael

2015-01-01

In early 2015, a field campaign was conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The purpose of the campaign is to test several prototype algorithms meant to detect the location and severity of in-flight icing (or icing aloft, as opposed to ground icing) within the terminal airspace. Terminal airspace for this project is currently defined as within 25 kilometers horizontal distance of the terminal, which in this instance is Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland. Two new and improved algorithms that utilize ground-based remote sensing instrumentation have been developed and were operated during the field campaign. The first is the 'NASA Icing Remote Sensing System', or NIRSS. The second algorithm is the 'Radar Icing Algorithm', or RadIA. In addition to these algorithms, which were derived from ground-based remote sensors, in-situ icing measurements of the profiles of super-cooled liquid water (SLW) collected with vibrating wire sondes attached to weather balloons produced a comprehensive database for comparison. Key fields from the SLW-sondes include air temperature, humidity and liquid water content, cataloged by time and 3-D location. This work gives an overview of the NIRSS and RadIA products and results are compared to in-situ SLW-sonde data from one icing case study. The location and quantity of super-cooled liquid as measured by the in-situ probes provide a measure of the utility of these prototype hazard-sensing algorithms.

Design and performance of an integrated ground and space sensor web for monitoring active volcanoes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahusen, Richard; Song, Wenzhan; Kedar, Sharon; Shirazi, Behrooz; Chien, Steve; Doubleday, Joshua; Davies, Ashley; Webb, Frank; Dzurisin, Dan; Pallister, John

2010-05-01

An interdisciplinary team of computer, earth and space scientists collaborated to develop a sensor web system for rapid deployment at active volcanoes. The primary goals of this Optimized Autonomous Space In situ Sensorweb (OASIS) are to: 1) integrate complementary space and in situ (ground-based) elements into an interactive, autonomous sensor web; 2) advance sensor web power and communication resource management technology; and 3) enable scalability for seamless addition sensors and other satellites into the sensor web. This three-year project began with a rigorous multidisciplinary interchange that resulted in definition of system requirements to guide the design of the OASIS network and to achieve the stated project goals. Based on those guidelines, we have developed fully self-contained in situ nodes that integrate GPS, seismic, infrasonic and lightning (ash) detection sensors. The nodes in the wireless sensor network are linked to the ground control center through a mesh network that is highly optimized for remote geophysical monitoring. OASIS also features an autonomous bidirectional interaction between ground nodes and instruments on the EO-1 space platform through continuous analysis and messaging capabilities at the command and control center. Data from both the in situ sensors and satellite-borne hyperspectral imaging sensors stream into a common database for real-time visualization and analysis by earth scientists. We have successfully completed a field deployment of 15 nodes within the crater and on the flanks of Mount St. Helens, Washington. The demonstration that sensor web technology facilitates rapid network deployments and that we can achieve real-time continuous data acquisition. We are now optimizing component performance and improving user interaction for additional deployments at erupting volcanoes in 2010.

A reflection on Russell's ramified types and Kripke's hierarchy of truths

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamareddine, F.; Laan, T.D.L.

1996-01-01

Both in Kripke's Theory of Truth KTT [8] and Russell's Ramified Type Theory RTT [16, 9] we are confronted with some hierarchy. In RTT, we have a double hierarchy of orders and types. That is, the class of propositions is divided into different orders where a propositional function can only depend on

Models for truth-telling in physician-patient encounters: what can we learn from Yoruba concept of Ooto?

Science.gov (United States)

Ewuoso, Cornelius

2017-09-29

Empirical studies have now established that many patients make clinical decisions based on models other than Anglo American model of truth-telling and patient autonomy. Some scholars also add that current medical ethics frameworks and recent proposals for enhancing communication in health professional-patient relationship have not adequately accommodated these models. In certain clinical contexts where health professional and patients are motivated by significant cultural and religious values, these current frameworks cannot prevent communication breakdown, which can, in turn, jeopardize patient care, cause undue distress to a patient in certain clinical contexts or negatively impact his/her relationship with the community. These empirical studies have now recommended that additional frameworks developed around other models of truth-telling; and which take very seriously significant value-differences which sometimes exist between health professional and patients, as well as patient's cultural/religious values or relational capacities, must be developed. This paper contributes towards the development of one. Specifically, this study proposes a framework for truth-telling developed around African model of truth-telling by drawing insights from the communitarian concept of ootọ́ amongst the Yoruba people of south west Nigeria. I am optimistic that if this model is incorporated into current medical ethics codes and curricula, it will significantly enhance health professional-patient communication. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Grounding line processes on the Totten Glacier

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, S.; Watson, C. S.; Galton-Fenzi, B.; Peters, L. E.; Coleman, R.

2017-12-01

The Totten Glacier has been an area of recent interest due to its large drainage basin, much of which is grounded below sea level and has a history of large scale grounding line movement. Reports that warm water reaches the sub-ice shelf cavity have led to speculation that it could be vulnerable to future grounding line retreat. Over the Antarctic summer 2016/17 an array of 6 GPS and autonomous phase-sensitive radar (ApRES) units were deployed in the grounding zone of the Totten Glacier. These instruments measure changes in ice velocity and thickness which can be used to investigate both ice dynamics across the grounding line, and the interaction between ice and ocean in the subglacial cavity. Basal melt rates calculated from the ApRES units on floating ice range from 1 to 17 m/a. These values are significantly lower than previous estimates of basal melt rate produced by ocean modelling of the subglacial cavity. Meanwhile, GPS-derived velocity and elevation on the surface of the ice show a strong tidal signal, as does the vertical strain rate within the ice derived from internal layering from the ApRES instruments. These results demonstrate the significance of the complex grounding pattern of the Totten Glacier. The presence of re-grounding points has significant implications for the dynamics of the glacier and the ocean circulation within the subglacial cavity. We discuss what can be learned from our in situ measurements, and how they can be used to improve models of the glacier's future behaviour.

An Inconvenient Truth: An Application of the Extended Parallel Process Model

Science.gov (United States)

Goodall, Catherine E.; Roberto, Anthony J.

2008-01-01

"An Inconvenient Truth" is an Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming presented by Al Gore. This documentary is appropriate for a lesson on fear appeals and the extended parallel process model (EPPM). The EPPM is concerned with the effects of perceived threat and efficacy on behavior change. Perceived threat is composed of an…

HOW TRUTHFUL ARE WATER ACCOUNTING DATA?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Libor Ansorge

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Water accounting is an important tool for water managers. Many studies use official water accounting data or similar data for their assessment. In particular, large-scale studies or water footprint studies have limited opportunities for “in-situ” data collection. In many cases, the processors of studies do not know the origin of the data and their limitations. Water accounting data are very often used for decision-making process, water resource management, and planning in the water sector. This article tries to answer the question “How truthful are water accounting data?” For this task water accounting in the agriculture sector in the Czech Republic was selected. The data on water withdrawals for the agriculture purposes was analysed and compared with water needs estimation based on additional data on agricultural production.

In-Situ Mosaic Production at JPL/MIPL

Science.gov (United States)

Deen, Bob

2012-01-01

Multimission Image Processing Lab (MIPL) at JPL is responsible for (among other things) the ground-based operational image processing of all the recent in-situ Mars missions: (1) Mars Pathfinder (2) Mars Polar Lander (3) Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) (4) Phoenix (5) Mars Science Lab (MSL) Mosaics are probably the most visible products from MIPL (1) Generated for virtually every rover position at which a panorama is taken (2) Provide better environmental context than single images (3) Valuable to operations and science personnel (4) Arguably the signature products for public engagement

Truth in politics : rhetorical approaches to democratic deliberation in Africa and beyond

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salazar, P.J.; Osha, S.; Binsbergen, van W.M.J.

2004-01-01

Democracy is about competing "truths". This is why "rhetoric"- the study of public deliberation and the training in public debate and argumentation - is part of democracy in development. This volume acclimatizes "rhetoric" to the philosophical scene in South Africa, and more in general in Africa as

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, Ewen; Mannion, Russell

2017-01-01

Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a mouthpiece for ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ with the intention of inciting fear and hatred of ‘the other’ and thereby helping to justify discriminatory health policies for marginalised groups. In this article, we explore what is meant by populism and highlight some of the challenges for health and health policy posed by the new wave of post-truth populism. PMID:28812811

On the construction of reality and truth. Towards an epistemology of community social psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Montero, Maritza

2002-08-01

An expression of community socialpsychology based on the need to transform social reality, and to considerpeople as the constructors ofthat reality, is examined from an epistemologicalpoint of view. Dualism, the position considering that object and subject are separate entities, and monism, the perspective stating that there is only one substance, are discussed The consequences of both conceptions for community social psychology, and their incompatibility, as well as the notions of reality and truth are analyzed. That analysis deals with the problems of defining reality, of separating subject and object of knowledge, of language's role, and of relativism and truth. Finally, a constructionist view of monism based on relatedness, and action, is proposed, stating the mutually influencing union of subject and object in the construction of reality.

Use of stream water pH and specific conductance measurements to identify ground water discharges of fly ash leachate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, R.M.

1992-01-01

Low pH and high specific conductance are typical chemical characteristics of coal fly ash leachate. Measurements of these parameters in streams adjacent to a fly ash facility were used to identify areas of ground water discharge into the streams. In-situ specific conductance and pH were determined at approximately 50 surface water stations from on-site and off-site streams. The results of the in-situ determinations were used to select twelve surface water stations for more detailed chemical analyses. The chemical character of the stream water affected by ground water discharges was similar to the water quality of sedimentation ponds which received drainage from the fly ash embankment. The results indicated that in-situ measurements of indicator parameters such as pH and specific conductance can be used as a screening method for identifying surface water quality impacts at fly ash facilities

China QIUSHI SEEKING TRUTH no 3, 1 August 1988

Science.gov (United States)

1988-09-16

Legal Principles in Law Circles in Recent Years 40 A New ’Political Economy’ Textbook Is Compiled in the Soviet Union [Dan Zhu ] 43 On ’Writings...Analysis on Results" (hereafter called "Census") which has been published by Zhongguo Caizheng Jingji Chubanshe (China Finance and Economics Publishing...HK2508082288 Beijing Q1USHI[SEEKING TRUTH] in Chinese No 3, 1 Aug 88 p 44 [Article by Dan Zhu 0030 4554 of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Academic Training: Telling the truth with statistics

CERN Multimedia

Françoise Benz

2005-01-01

2004-2005 ACADEMIC TRAINING PROGRAMME LECTURE SERIES 21, 22, 23, 24 & 25 February from 11.00 to 12.00 hrs - Main Auditorium, bldg. 500 Telling the truth with statistics by G. D'Agostini / NFN, Roma, Italy The issue of evaluating and expressing the uncertainty in measurements, as well as that of testing hypotheses, is reviewed, with particular emphasis on the frontier cases typical of particle physics experiments. Fundamental aspects of probability will be addressed and the applications, solely based on probability theory, will cover several topics of practical interest, including counting experiments, upper/lower bounds, systematic errors, fits and comparison of hypotheses. ENSEIGNEMENT ACADEMIQUE ACADEMIC TRAINING Françoise Benz 73127 academic.training@cern.ch

Populism, Exclusion, Post-truth. Some Conceptual Caveats

Science.gov (United States)

De Cleen, Benjamin

2018-01-01

In their editorial, Speed and Mannion identify two main challenges "the rise of post-truth populism" poses for health policy: the populist threat to inclusive healthcare policies, and the populist threat to well-designed health policies that draw on professional expertise and research evidence. This short comment suggests some conceptual clarifications that might help in thinking through more profoundly these two important issues. It argues that we should approach right-wing populism as a combination of a populist down/up (people/elite) axis with an exclusionary nationalist in/out (member/non-member) axis. And it raises some questions regarding the equation between populism, demagogy and the rejection of expertise and scientific knowledge. PMID:29524956

Stakeholder acceptance analysis: In-well vapor stripping, in-situ bioremediation, gas membrane separation system (membrane separation)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, T.

1995-12-01

This document provides stakeholder evaluations on innovative technologies to be used in the remediation of volatile organic compounds from soils and ground water. The technologies evaluated are; in-well vapor stripping, in-situ bioremediation, and gas membrane separation

Results from the first national in-situ gamma spectrometry survey of the United Kingdom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyler, A.

2004-01-01

In-situ gamma spectrometry was introduced for the first time as part of a national soil and herbage pollution survey of the United Kingdom (UK) in 2002. The aim of introducing the in-situ approach was to evaluate its potential for replacing the conventional soil sampling approach in environmental monitoring. A total of 138 points were measured across the whole of the UK on a 50 km grid, encompassing a complete spectrum of soil types, geology (providing a range of natural radioactive backgrounds) and anthropogenic radioactivity (primarily derived from atmospheric weapons testing and Chernobyl fallout). Ten calibration sites were set up to derive an in-situ calibration from spatially distributed sampling points, designed to match the spatial response of the in-situ detector at 1 m above the ground. The importance of variations in the vertical activity distributions of 137 Cs on the in-situ detector calibration was verified and the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a forward scattering type approach for real time in-situ correction was evaluated. The accuracy of the in-situ calibrations was evaluated for the remaining 128 sites by independent comparison with soil core derived estimates of specific activity concentrations and inventories of a range of natural and anthropogenic gamma emitting radionuclides. Air kerma measurements were also derived from the in-situ gamma spectrometry measurements and compared with conventional GM tube derived estimates. (authors)

Truth Telling in the Setting of Cultural Differences and Incurable Pediatric Illness

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Abby R.; Starks, Helene; Unguru, Yoram; Feudtner, Chris; Diekema, Douglas

2017-01-01

IMPORTANCE Navigating requests from parents or family caregivers not to disclose poor prognosis to seriously ill children can be challenging, especially when the requests seem culturally mediated. Pediatric clinicians must balance obligations to respect individual patient autonomy, professional truth telling, and tolerance of multicultural values. OBSERVATIONS To provide suggestions for respectful and ethically appropriate responses to nondisclosure requests, we used a hypothetical case example of a Middle Eastern adolescent patient with incurable cancer and conducted an ethical analysis incorporating (1) evidence from both Western and Middle Eastern medical literature and (2) theories of cultural relativism and justice. While Western medical literature tends to prioritize patient autonomy and corresponding truth telling, the weight of evidence from the Middle East suggests high variability between and within individual countries, patient-physician relationships, and families regarding truth-telling practices and preferences. A common reason for nondisclosure in both populations is protecting the child from distressing information. Cultural relativism fosters tolerance of diverse beliefs and behaviors by forbidding judgment on foreign societal codes of conduct. It does not justify assumptions that all individuals within a single culture share the same values, nor does it demand that clinicians sacrifice their own codes of conduct out of cultural respect. We suggest some phrases that may help clinicians explore motivations behind nondisclosure requests and gently confront conflict in order to serve the patient’s best interest. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE It is sometimes ethically permissible to defer to family values regarding nondisclosure, but such deferral is not unique to cultural differences. Early setting of expectations and boundaries, as well as ongoing exploration of family and health care professional concerns, may mitigate conflict. PMID:28873121

Northern Ireland and truth and reconciliation healing through remembering: The story so far

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wall David

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the work of truth and reconciliation project done in Northern Ireland "Healing through Remembering", and the findings of the Project Group that reported in June 2002. The Paper identifies future actions emerging from the Report.

Stability of Shifting Ground. Feminist Ethnography and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah Blizzard

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this article the two authors problematize the moment of stabilization in doing fieldwork and writing ethnography from a feminist perspective. The paper begins with an introduction to the question: How do feminist science studies scholars reconcile a normative need to stabilize our research site to create knowledge within the shifting ground of “truth claims” that feminist practices acknowledge and document? The heart of the paper reflects on our experiences as feminist theorists, teachers, and ethnographers with vignettes from studies of high-risk pregnancies in the industrialized world, specifically the United States, and gender and everyday technologies in West Africa. Our goal is to theorize this instability in order to highlight the limits and benefits of working with consciousness and reflectivity in social contexts while challenging and enriching the vibrancy of our feminist theory and practice.

Sensitivities and uncertainties of modeled ground temperatures in mountain environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Gubler

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Model evaluation is often performed at few locations due to the lack of spatially distributed data. Since the quantification of model sensitivities and uncertainties can be performed independently from ground truth measurements, these analyses are suitable to test the influence of environmental variability on model evaluation. In this study, the sensitivities and uncertainties of a physically based mountain permafrost model are quantified within an artificial topography. The setting consists of different elevations and exposures combined with six ground types characterized by porosity and hydraulic properties. The analyses are performed for a combination of all factors, that allows for quantification of the variability of model sensitivities and uncertainties within a whole modeling domain. We found that model sensitivities and uncertainties vary strongly depending on different input factors such as topography or different soil types. The analysis shows that model evaluation performed at single locations may not be representative for the whole modeling domain. For example, the sensitivity of modeled mean annual ground temperature to ground albedo ranges between 0.5 and 4 °C depending on elevation, aspect and the ground type. South-exposed inclined locations are more sensitive to changes in ground albedo than north-exposed slopes since they receive more solar radiation. The sensitivity to ground albedo increases with decreasing elevation due to shorter duration of the snow cover. The sensitivity in the hydraulic properties changes considerably for different ground types: rock or clay, for instance, are not sensitive to uncertainties in the hydraulic properties, while for gravel or peat, accurate estimates of the hydraulic properties significantly improve modeled ground temperatures. The discretization of ground, snow and time have an impact on modeled mean annual ground temperature (MAGT that cannot be neglected (more than 1 °C for several

ESTCP Cost and Performance Report. In-Situ Bioremediation of MTBE in Ground Water

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Miller, Karen

2003-01-01

... (methyl-tert-butyl-ether) and other dissolved gasoline components. It was implemented at the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, CA to prevent further contamination of ground water by MTBE leaching from gasoline contaminated soils...

Civil history and poetry, certainty and truth in Francis Bacon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Manzo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This article aims at studying key components of Francis Bacon’s theory of history and of his work as practitioner of civil history, particularly in regard to truth and certainty in historical narratives. It compares Bacon’s theories of history and poetry, and the way in which he conceives their relation to certainty, truth and fiction. It analyzes mainly two sorts of writings. On the one hand, it investigates the programmatic texts where Bacon’s views of history and poetry are developed. On the other hand, it examines the finished and unfinished civil histories written by Bacon as historian. In addition, the article evaluates Bacon’s stances against the background of Renaissance and early modern English historiography. It concludes that although history and poetry constitute separate branches in Bacon’s classification of learning, they share important elements, in keeping with the view of poetry maintained by his contemporary Philip Sidney. Thus, Bacon included fictional patterns in his historical narrative and distinguished certainties from conjectures in a particular way. This attitude towards civil history shows a strong contrast to Bacon’s methodology for natural histories, which, in order to reach certainty, staunchly recommends to exclude any fictional narrative in reporting the facts of nature.

How robust are in situ observations for validating satellite-derived albedo over the dark zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet?

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, J.; Hubbard, A., II; Irvine-Fynn, T. D.; Doyle, S. H.; Cook, J.; Stibal, M.; Smith, L. C.; Box, J. E.

2017-12-01

Calibration and validation of satellite-derived ice sheet albedo data require high-quality, in situ measurements commonly acquired by up and down facing pyranometers mounted on automated weather stations (AWS). However, direct comparison between ground and satellite-derived albedo can only be justified when the measured surface is homogeneous at the length-scale of both satellite pixel and in situ footprint. We used digital imagery acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle to evaluate point-to-pixel albedo comparisons across the western, ablating margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our results reveal that in situ measurements overestimate albedo by up to 0.10 at the end of the melt season because the ground footprints of AWS-mounted pyranometers are insufficient to capture the spatial heterogeneity of the ice surface as it progressively ablates and darkens. Statistical analysis of 21 AWS across the entire Greenland Ice Sheet reveals that almost half suffer from this bias, including some AWS located within the wet snow zone.

To forget or not to forget: mnemonic “renunciation” effect and the subjective evaluation of the truth of autobiographical memories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nourkova V. V.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Identifying patterns of influence deliberate lie on deferred confidence of reliability of autobiographical memories is current problem for legal psychology. We reviewed the variability of autobiographical memories in the context of legal practice. In addition, we conducted the experimental field study of the dynamics of subjective assessments of the reliability of memories. It was found that truthful confirmation and false refutation of reliable last episodes, as well as after a truthful refutation and false confirmation of unreliable last episodes lead to regular changes in the subjective assessment of the reliability. The mnemonic "renunciation effect" is that a false refutation of a reliable episode leads to its forgetting and a truthful refutation of an unreliable episode leads to its erroneous inclusion in autobiographical memory.

Ground Control Point - Wireless System Network for UAV-based environmental monitoring applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mejia-Aguilar, Abraham

2016-04-01

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have seen widespread civil applications including usage for survey and monitoring services in areas such as agriculture, construction and civil engineering, private surveillance and reconnaissance services and cultural heritage management. Most aerial monitoring services require the integration of information acquired during the flight (such as imagery) with ground-based information (such as GPS information or others) for improved ground truth validation. For example, to obtain an accurate 3D and Digital Elevation Model based on aerial imagery, it is necessary to include ground-based information of coordinate points, which are normally acquired with surveying methods based on Global Position Systems (GPS). However, GPS surveys are very time consuming and especially for longer time series of monitoring data repeated GPS surveys are necessary. In order to improve speed of data collection and integration, this work presents an autonomous system based on Waspmote technologies build on single nodes interlinked in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) star-topology for ground based information collection and later integration with surveying data obtained by UAV. Nodes are designed to be visible from the air, to resist extreme weather conditions with low-power consumption. Besides, nodes are equipped with GPS as well as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), accelerometer, temperature and soil moisture sensors and thus provide significant advantages in a broad range of applications for environmental monitoring. For our purpose, the WSN transmits the environmental data with 3G/GPRS to a database on a regular time basis. This project provides a detailed case study and implementation of a Ground Control Point System Network for UAV-based vegetation monitoring of dry mountain grassland in the Matsch valley, Italy.

The Pastoral aspects of the inspiration, the Divine revelation and the truth in the Bible

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman Bogacz

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on the document published in 2014 by the Pontifical Biblical Commission and called: The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture. The Word that comes from God and speaks of God for the salvation of the world. The purpose of publishing was to reach the priests, the people studying the Bible as well as the laity. By the discovering the biblical truth everybody can understand better oneself, the creation and God. Everybody can concisely grow in one’s faith. According to the document, the Divine inspiration is revealed to us when we read the Holy Scriptures. On the pages of Bible we can meet God himself. The message shared with us in the Bible explains the truth about God, about a man, our salvation and about a world. Even though it has some elements of the science or history, it is not a source of the science knowledge or chronicle of the historic facts. Besides we always have to include the genre and style of the ancient authors. This document can have amazing impact on the pastoral work, helping people to get interested in the Bible and to find the answers for many questions they have about it.

A discussion of differences in preparation, performance and postreflections in participant observations within two grounded theory approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøttcher Berthelsen, Connie; Damsgaard, Tove Lindhardt; Frederiksen, Kirsten

2017-01-01

This paper presents a discussion of the differences in using participant observation as a data collection method by comparing the classic grounded theory methodology of Barney Glaser with the constructivist grounded theory methodology by Kathy Charmaz. Participant observations allow nursing...... researchers to experience activities and interactions directly in situ. However, using participant observations as a data collection method can be done in many ways, depending on the chosen grounded theory methodology, and may produce different results. This discussion shows that how the differences between...

Excerpts from Vatican's "Veritatis Splendor," Pope John Paul II's Views of Moral Truth.

Science.gov (United States)

Chronicle of Higher Education, 1993

1993-01-01

Excerpts are presented from a recent papal encyclical that sets forth John Paul II's views on timeless moral truths and on dissent from them within the Roman Catholic Church. The responsibility of bishops to monitor Catholic institutions, including educational institutions, is noted. (MSE)

Deception and the death of Ilyusha: truth and the best interest of a dying child in The Brothers Karamazov.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Clancy

2014-10-01

For centuries, many physicians and parents assumed that it was ethically justifiable to lie to a dying child. The reasoning was clear. Because the lie would likely eliminate or prevent a concrete harm (the child's fear), and the lie is about a harm that is unavoidable anyway, a lie appeared to be the morally desirable thing to do. Today, the ethical consensus has shifted. Many doctors and other health professionals now argue that we have an obligation to tell children the cold, hard truth. In this article, I argue that "the cold, hard truth" (assuming we can know it with certainty) might not always be in the best interest of the patient. To illustrate the point, I analyze an episode in Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov, in which a child is dying, his father lies to him about it, and 2 doctors take very different approaches to the truth. Each of these individuals has a particular interest when it comes to the question of "the truth" about the death of Ilyusha. I use this story to ask whether it is ethically permissible to lie to a dying child and, if so, who has the moral authority to tell that lie. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewen Speed

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed the rise of populism and populist leaders, movements and policies in many pluralist liberal democracies, with Brexit and the election of Trump the two most recent high profile examples of this backlash against established political elites and the institutions that support them. This new populism is underpinned by a post-truth politics which is using social media as a mouthpiece for ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ with the intention of inciting fear and hatred of ‘the other’ and thereby helping to justify discriminatory health policies for marginalised groups. In this article, we explore what is meant by populism and highlight some of the challenges for health and health policy posed by the new wave of post-truth populism.

Validating Bayesian truth serum in large-scale online human experiments

OpenAIRE

Pickard, Galen; Frank, Morgan Ryan; Cebrian, Manuel; Rahwan, Iyad

2016-01-01

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Bayesian truth serum (BTS) is an exciting new method for improving honesty and information quality in multiple-choice survey, but, despite the method's mathematical reliance on large sample sizes, existing literature about BTS only focuses on small experiments....

Living the categorical imperative: autistic perspectives on lying and truth telling-between Kant and care ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaarsma, Pier; Gelhaus, Petra; Welin, Stellan

2012-08-01

Lying is a common phenomenon amongst human beings. It seems to play a role in making social interactions run more smoothly. Too much honesty can be regarded as impolite or downright rude. Remarkably, lying is not a common phenomenon amongst normally intelligent human beings who are on the autism spectrum. They appear to be 'attractively morally innocent' and seem to have an above average moral conscientious objection against deception. In this paper, the behavior of persons with autism with regard to deception and truthfulness will be discussed in the light of two different ethical theories, illustrated by fragments from autobiographies of persons with autism. A systemizing 'Kantian' and an empathizing 'ethics of care' perspective reveal insights on high-functioning autism, truthfulness and moral behavior. Both perspectives are problematic from the point of view of a moral agent with autism. High-functioning persons with autism are, generally speaking, strong systemizes and weak empathizers. Particularly, they lack 'cognitive empathy' which would allow them to understand the position of the other person. Instead, some tend to invent a set of rules that makes their behavior compatible with the expectations of others. From a Kantian point of view, the autistic tendency to always tell the truth appears praiseworthy and should not be changed, though it creates problems in the social life of persons with autism. From a care ethics perspective, on the other hand, a way should be found to allow the high-functioning persons with autism to respect the feelings and needs of other persons as sometimes overruling the duty of truthfulness. We suggest this may even entail 'morally educating' children and adolescents with autism to become socially skilled empathic 'liars'.

Initial site characterization and evaluation of radionuclide contaminated soil waste burial grounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, S.J.; Reisenauer, A.E.; Rickard, W.H.; Sandness, G.A.

1977-02-01

A survey of historical records and literature containing information on the contents of 300 Area and North Burial Grounds was completed. Existing records of radioactive waste location, type, and quantity within each burial ground facility were obtained and distributed to cooperating investigators. A study was then initiated to evaluate geophysical exploration techniques for mapping buried waste materials, waste containers, and trench boundaries. Results indicate that a combination of ground penetrating radar, magnetometer, metal detector, and acoustic measurements will be effective but will require further study, hardware development, and field testing. Drilling techniques for recovering radionuclide-contaminated materials and sediment cores were developed and tested. Laboratory sediment characterization and fluid transport and monitoring analyses were begun by installation of in situ transducers at the 300 North Burial Ground site. Biological transport mechanisms that control radionuclide movement at contaminated sites were also studied. Flora and fauna presently inhabiting specific burial ground areas were identified and analyzed. Future monitoring of specific mammal populations will permit determination of dose rate and pathways of contaminated materials contained in and adjacent to burial ground sites

Reputation mechanism: From resolution for truthful online auctions to the model of optimal one-gambler problem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradonjic, Milan [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

In this paper we study reputation mechanisms, and show how the notion of reputation can help us in building truthful online auction mechanisms. From the mechanism design prospective, we derive the conditions on and design a truthful online auction mechanism. Moreover, in the case when some agents may lay or cannot have the real knowledge about the other agents reputations, we derive the resolution of the auction, such that the mechanism is truthful. Consequently, we move forward to the optimal one-gambler/one-seller problem, and explain how that problem is refinement of the previously discussed online auction design in the presence of reputation mechanism. In the setting of the optimal one-gambler problem, we naturally rise and solve the specific question: What is an agent's optimal strategy, in order to maximize his revenue? We would like to stress that our analysis goes beyond the scope, which game theory usually discusses under the notion of reputation. We model one-player games, by introducing a new parameter (reputation), which helps us in predicting the agent's behavior, in real-world situations, such as, behavior of a gambler, real-estate dealer, etc.

"An Inconvenient Truth" Increases Knowledge, Concern, and Willingness to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, Jessica M.

2010-01-01

Since May 24, 2006 millions of people have seen the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." Several countries have even proposed using the film as an educational tool in school classrooms. However, it is not yet clear that the movie accomplishes its apparent goals of increasing knowledge and concern, and motivating people to reduce their…

Experimental Alteration of Basalt to Support Interpretation of Remote Sensing and In Situ Meausrements from Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, M. S.

2014-01-01

are a function of the original mineral assemblage in the parent rocks, the chemistry of fluids that interacted with the rocks, and physico-chemical conditions (pH, temperatures, and pressure) during the time of mineral formation. Understanding the alteration assemblages produced by a range of conditions is vital for the interpretation of phyllosilicate spectral signatures and to decipher the environment and evolution of early Mars, and especially for identifying habitable niches in which life could be initiated and sustained. No experimentally controlled and well characterized analog materials that simulate martian shock metamorphism and alteration conditions currently exist for calibrating either remote sensing or in situ measurements of Mars. A series of experiments was initiated to assess the effects of systematic changes in the physico-chemical conditions on Mars analog materials thereby providing samples to ground-truth Mars remote sensing observations from CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) and in situ measurements from Opportunity's Mössbauer and Curiosity's CHEMIN (Chemistry and Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/XRay Fluorescence) instruments. Results of initial experimental runs as analysed by SEM-EDS (Secondary Electron Microscopy -Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis are reported here and lay the foundation for comparison with shocked and altered samples that will be characterized in the next phase of this work.

The challenge of mapping the human connectome based on diffusion tractography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maier-Hein, Klaus H.; Neher, Peter F.; Houde, Jean-Christophe

2017-01-01

Tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is central to the study of human brain connectivity. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain data set with ground truth tracts, we organized an open international tra...

The challenge of mapping the human connectome based on diffusion tractography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maier-Hein, Klaus H; Neher, Peter F; Houde, Jean-Christophe; Côté, Marc-Alexandre; Garyfallidis, Eleftherios; Zhong, Jidan; Chamberland, Maxime; Yeh, Fang-Cheng; Lin, Ying-Chia; Ji, Qing; Reddick, Wilburn E; Glass, John O; Chen, David Qixiang; Feng, Yuanjing; Gao, Chengfeng; Wu, Ye; Ma, Jieyan; Renjie, H; Li, Qiang; Westin, Carl Fredrik; Deslauriers-Gauthier, Samuel; González, J Omar Ocegueda; Paquette, Michael; St-Jean, Samuel; Girard, Gabriel; Rheault, François; Sidhu, Jasmeen; Tax, Chantal M.W.; Guo, Fenghua; Mesri, Hamed Y.; Dávid, Szabolcs; Froeling, Martijn; Heemskerk, Anneriet M.; Leemans, Alexander; Boré, Arnaud; Pinsard, Basile; Bedetti, Christophe; Desrosiers, Matthieu; Brambati, Simona; Doyon, Julien; Sarica, Alessia; Vasta, Roberta; Cerasa, Antonio; Quattrone, Aldo; Yeatman, Jason; Khan, Ali R.; Hodges, Wes; Alexander, Simon; Romascano, David; Barakovic, Muhamed; Auría, Anna; Esteban, Oscar; Lemkaddem, Alia; Thiran, Jean-Philippe; Cetingul, H Ertan; Odry, Benjamin L; Mailhe, Boris; Nadar, Mariappan S; Pizzagalli, Fabrizio; Prasad, Gautam; Villalon-Reina, Julio E; Galvis, Justin; Thompson, Paul M.; Requejo, Francisco De Santiago; Laguna, Pedro Luque; Lacerda, Luis Miguel; Barrett, Rachel; Dell'Acqua, Flavio; Catani, Marco; Petit, Laurent; Caruyer, Emmanuel; Daducci, Alessandro; Dyrby, Tim B; Holland-Letz, Tim; Hilgetag, Claus C.; Stieltjes, Bram; Descoteaux, Maxime

2017-01-01

Tractography based on non-invasive diffusion imaging is central to the study of human brain connectivity. To date, the approach has not been systematically validated in ground truth studies. Based on a simulated human brain data set with ground truth tracts, we organized an open international

Truth as Humility Nourishing Compassion Through Wisdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, John L

2018-03-01

Among the strengths of forensic psychiatry as a profession is its ability to support lively discussion of critical questions, such as how to characterize its own essence and whether it belongs to the practice of medicine. The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law is fortunate that Michael Norko has taken the occasion of his presidential address to describe in depth the results of the advanced stage of his probing on a truly spiritual level the fundamental place of compassion in the practice of forensic psychiatry. In so doing, he casts inevitable light on the seamless connections binding forensic psychiatry and medicine, particularly the importance for both of practicing compassion in our search for truth. © 2018 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

In situ grouting of low-level burial trenches with a cement-based grout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francis, C.W.; Spalding, B.P.

1991-01-01

A restoration technology being evaluated for use in the closure of one of the low-level radwaste burial grounds at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is trench stabilization using a cement-based grout. To demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of this technology, two interconnecting trenches in Solid Waste Storage Area 6 (SWSA 6) were selected as candidates for in situ grouting with a particulate grout. The primary objective was to demonstrate the increased trench stability and decreased potential for leachate migration following in situ injection of a particulate grout into the waste trenches. Stability against trench subsidence is a critical issue. 7 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

Logical frameworks for truth and abstraction an axiomatic study

CERN Document Server

Cantini, A

1996-01-01

This English translation of the author's original work has been thoroughly revised, expanded and updated. The book covers logical systems known as type-free or self-referential. These traditionally arise from any discussion on logical and semantical paradoxes. This particular volume, however, is not concerned with paradoxes but with the investigation of type-free sytems to show that: (i) there are rich theories of self-application, involving both operations and truth which can serve as foundations for property theory and formal semantics; (ii) these theories provide a new outlook on classical

xxi Century Latin American Journalists: Beyond Post-Truth Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Amado

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Considering the complexity of circumstances that journalism is facing, academia should rethink the classical conceptions of the profession, especially when they reduce journalism to abstract models disregarding reporters’ actual practices. Results of a global research propose a new definition of journalism, a profession caught between conflicting interests that lack the supremacy of news production, as it used to be in the past century. It is all about broadening the debate to reconsider the role of the journalist in the contemporary information report, beyond current concepts such as post-truth.

In situ study of the effect of ground source heat pump on shallow ground-water quality in the late Pleistocene terrace area of Tokyo, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Takemura, T.; Uemura, K.; Akiba, Y.; Ota, M.

2015-12-01

The implementation of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems has rapidly increased around the world, since they reduce carbon dioxide emissions and save electric energy. The GSHP system transfer heat into the geosphere zone when air conditioners are used to cool rooms or buildings. However, the effects of temperature increase on the quality of underground water has yet to be fully investigated. In order to reduce the risks of ground-water pollution by the installed GSHPs, it is important to evaluate the effect of temperature change on the ground-water quality. In this study, we installed a closed loop GSHP system on a heat exchange well along with a monitoring well drilled to measure ground-water quality and temperature. The monitoring well was drilled at 0.1cm away from the heat exchange well. We observed that changes of temperature in the heat exchange well affected the water quality, especially turbidity, in gravelly layer.

An Apology for Philosophy: On the contested relationship between truth and politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Signe Larsen

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The starting point of this paper is Hannah Arendt’s diagnosis that the introduction of philosophical truth into politics leads to tyrannical or totalitarian outcomes. A critique of this diagnosis is offered on the basis of Michel Foucault’s last lectures at the Collège de France where he discussed the practices of parrēsia, “truth-telling,” as multiple forms of political life of resistance, critique, and contestation. The common denominator of all parrhēsiastic practices is that none of them are concerned with “doctrines.” That is, none of them are concerned with laying out the “content” of politics. After the paper has identified and expounded four different manifestations of parrēsia—“political” (Pericles, “philosophical” (Plato, “philosophical-ethical” (Socrates and “ethical” (Diogenes the Cynic—an argument is presented for a kinship, instead of a difference, between Foucault and Arendt as parrhēsiastic or critical thinkers within the same tradition of political Kantianism.

Truth, Art, and the “New Sensuousness”: Understanding Heidegger’s Metaphysical Reading of Nietzsche

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Magrini

2009-06-01

Full Text Available In the first of four lectures on Nietzsche’s philosophy, “The Will to Poweras Art” (1936-37, Heidegger argues that the unique and importantrelationship between truth and art, which Nietzsche suggests, must beunderstood “with a view to the conquest of nihilism,” i.e., within the historical context of a radically novel interpretation of sensuous reality. Beginning with the project of overturning Platonism as the active countermovement to nihilism, this essay interprets Heidegger’s difficult notion of the discordant relationship between truth (the fixation of semblance and art (the transfiguration of semblance in Nietzsche’s philosophy, emphasizing the supreme importance of art as life’s greatest enhancing force. The analysis is conducted within the context of Nietzsche’s metaphysics as presented by Heidegger, who claims thatas a metaphysical thinker, Nietzsche could not explain such topics as “truth,” “Being,” and “Becoming” in terms beyond the conceptualization of Western philosophy. In spite of that, his thought intimates a movement beyond the constraints of the tradition within which he was entrenched. In addition to providing a detailed exegesis of Heidegger’s lecture course, the problems associated with Heidegger’s metaphysical interpretation of Nietzsche’s philosophy will be discussed, problems that commentators such as Alan Schrift (Nietzsche and the Question of Interpretation believe stem from Heidegger’s stringent and restrictive methodological choices for approaching the reading of Nietzsche.

Myth and Multiple Readings in Environmental Rhetoric: The Case of "An Inconvenient Truth"

Science.gov (United States)

Rosteck, Thomas; Frentz, Thomas S.

2009-01-01

Contesting interpretations of "An Inconvenient Truth" that treat it as political jeremiad, autobiography, or science documentary, we contextualize the film within Joseph Campbell's monomyth and argue that its rhetorical efficacy arises in part because Al Gore's personal transformation animates the documentary footage with jeremiad advocacy. In…

Mineralogy of an active eolian sediment from the Namib dune, Gale crater, Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Achilles, C. N.; Downs, R. T.; Ming, D. W.; Rampe, E. B.; Morris, R. V.; Treiman, A. H.; Morrison, S. M.; Blake, D. F.; Vaniman, D. T.; Ewing, R. C.; Chipera, S. J.; Yen, A. S.; Bristow, T. F.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Gellert, R.; Hazen, R. M.; Fendrich, K. V.; Craig, P. I.; Grotzinger, J. P.; Des Marais, D. J.; Farmer, J. D.; Sarrazin, P. C.; Morookian, J. M.

2017-11-01

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, is using a comprehensive scientific payload to explore rocks and soils in Gale crater, Mars. Recent investigations of the Bagnold Dune Field provided the first in situ assessment of an active dune on Mars. The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffraction instrument on Curiosity performed quantitative mineralogical analyses of the history of the dune material and offers an important opportunity for ground truth of orbital observations. CheMin's analysis of the mineralogy and phase chemistry of modern and ancient Gale crater dune fields, together with other measurements by Curiosity's science payload, provides new insights into present and past eolian processes on Mars.

Responses to more severe punishment in the courtroom: evidence from truth-in-sentencing laws

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tsuchimoto, F.; Dušek, Libor

-, č. 403 (2009), s. 1-45 ISSN 1211-3298 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : criminal procedure * criminal law * truth-in-sentencing laws Subject RIV: AG - Legal Sciences http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp403.pdf

The Truth about Bullying: What Educators and Parents Must Know and Do

Science.gov (United States)

Urbanski, Jan; Permuth, Steve

2009-01-01

"The Truth About Bullying" presents crucial information to assist educators and parents in creating a safe learning environment. This book is a practical guide to understanding what bullying is and the influence it has on a school. The who, what, when, where, and how of bullying are described in a clear manner that helps the reader to understand…

Notions such as "truth" or "correspondence to the objective world" play no role in explanatory accounts of perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Mausfeld, Rainer

2015-12-01

Hoffman, Singh, and Prakash (Psychonomic Review and Bulletin, 2015, in press) intend to show that perceptions are evolutionarily tuned to fitness rather than to truth. I argue, partly in accordance with their objective, that issues of 'truth' or 'veridicality' have no place in explanatory accounts of perception theory, and rather belong to either ordinary discourse or to philosophy. I regard, however, their general presumption that the evolutionary development of core achievements of the human perceptual system would be primarily determined by aspects of fitness and adaption as unwarranted in light of the evidence available.

A discussion of differences in preparation, performance and postreflections in participant observations within two grounded theory approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Berthelsen, Connie Bøttcher; Lindhardt, Tove; Frederiksen, Kirsten

2017-06-01

This paper presents a discussion of the differences in using participant observation as a data collection method by comparing the classic grounded theory methodology of Barney Glaser with the constructivist grounded theory methodology by Kathy Charmaz. Participant observations allow nursing researchers to experience activities and interactions directly in situ. However, using participant observations as a data collection method can be done in many ways, depending on the chosen grounded theory methodology, and may produce different results. This discussion shows that how the differences between using participant observations in classic and constructivist grounded theory can be considerable and that grounded theory researchers should adhere to the method descriptions of performing participant observations according to the selected grounded theory methodology to enhance the quality of research. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Road Maintenance Experience Using Polyurethane (PU) Foam Injection System and Geocrete Soil Stabilization as Ground Rehabilitation

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhar, A. M. M.; Asmaniza, A.

2016-07-01

There are many types of ground rehabilation and improvement that can be consider and implement in engineering construction works for soil improvement in order to prevent road profile deformation in later stage. However, when comes to road maintenance especially on operated expressways, not all method can be apply directly as it must comply to opreation's working window and lane closure basis. Key factors that considering ideal proposal for ground rehabilitation are time, cost, quality and most importantly practicality. It should provide long lifespan structure in order to reduce continuous cycle of maintenance. Thus, this paper will present two approaches for ground rehabilitation, namely Polyurethane (PU) Foam Injection System and Geocrete Soil Stabilization. The first approach is an injection system which consists two-parts chemical grout of Isocynate and Polyol when mixed together within soil structure through injection will polymerized with volume expansion. The strong expansion of grouting causes significant compression and compacting of the surrounding soil and subsequently improve ground properties and uplift sunken structure. The later is a cold in-place recyclying whereby mixture process that combines in-situ soil materials, cement, white powder (alkaline) additive and water to produce hard yet flexible and durable ground layer that act as solid foundation with improved bearing capacity. The improvement of the mechanical behaviour of soil through these two systems is investigated by an extensive testing programme which includes in-situ and laboratory test in determining properties such as strength, stiffness, compressibility, bearing capacity, differential settlement and etc.

In-situ x-ray absorption study of copper films in ground water solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kvashnina, K.O.; Butorin, S.M.; Modin, A.; Soroka, I.; Marcellini, M.; Nordgren, J.; Guo, J.-H.; Werme, L.

2007-01-01

This study illustrates how the damage from copper corrosion can be reduced by modifying the chemistry of the copper surface environment. The surface modification of oxidized copper films induced by chemical reaction with Cl - and HCO 3 - in aqueous solutions was monitored by in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The results show that corrosion of copper can be significantly reduced by adding even a small amount of sodium bicarbonate. The studied copper films corroded quickly in chloride solutions, whereas the same solution containing 1.1 mM HCO 3 - prevented or slowed down the corrosion processes

Post-Truth Politics, Bullshit and Bad Ideas: ‘Deficit Fetishism’ in the UK

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hopkin, Jonathan; Rosamond, Ben

2017-01-01

falsehoods: in other words, as speech acts that are indifferent to the truth and proceed without effective concern for the veracity of the claim in question. In this paper, we examine the characteristics of political bullshit applied to economic policy debates since the financial crisis, and seek to explain...

Developmental Discourses as a Regime of Truth in Research with Primary School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Bartholomaeus, Clare

2016-01-01

While developmental discourses have been heavily critiqued in relation to education systems, less attention has been paid to how these impact the data collection process in classroom research. This article utilises Foucault's concept of regime of truth to highlight the pervasiveness of developmental discourses when conducting research in primary…

47 CFR 76.939 - Truthful written statements and responses to requests of franchising authority.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... requests of franchising authority. 76.939 Section 76.939 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS... Regulation § 76.939 Truthful written statements and responses to requests of franchising authority. Cable operators shall comply with franchising authorities' and the Commission's requests for information, orders...

Responses to more severe punishment in the courtroom: evidence from truth-in-sentencing laws

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tsuchimoto, Fusako; Dušek, L.

-, č. 403 (2009), s. 1-45 ISSN 1211-3298 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70850503 Keywords : criminal procedure * criminal law * truth-in-sentencing laws Subject RIV: AG - Legal Sciences http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp403.pdf

How ground-based observations can support satellite greenhouse gas retrievals

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, J. H.; Tans, P. P.; Sweeney, C.; Dlugokencky, E. J.

2012-04-01

Global society will eventually accelerate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a variety of ways. These would likely involve international treaties, national policies, and regional strategies that will affect a number of economic, social, and environmental sectors. Some strategies will work better than others and some will not work at all. Because trillions of dollars will be involved in pursuing greenhouse gas emission reductions - through realignment of energy production, improvement of efficiencies, institution of taxes, implementation of carbon trading markets, and use of offsets - it is imperative that society be given all the tools at its disposal to ensure the ultimate success of these efforts. Providing independent, globally coherent information on the success of these efforts will give considerable strength to treaties, policies, and strategies. Doing this will require greenhouse gas observations greatly expanded from what we have today. Satellite measurements may ultimately be indispensable in achieving global coverage, but the requirements for accuracy and continuity of measurements over time are demanding if the data are to be relevant. Issues such as those associated with sensor drift, aging electronics, and retrieval artifacts present challenges that can be addressed in part by close coordination with ground-based and in situ systems. This presentation identifies the information that ground-based systems provide very well, but it also looks at what would be deficient even in a greatly expanded surface system, where satellites can fill these gaps, and how on-going, ground and in situ measurements can aid in addressing issues associated with accuracy, long-term continuity, and retrieval artifacts.

A Multiscale Surface Water Temperature Data Acquisition Platform: Tests on Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, D. A.; Irani Rahaghi, A.; Lemmin, U.; Riffler, M.; Wunderle, S.

2015-12-01

An improved understanding of surface transport processes is necessary to predict sediment, pollutant and phytoplankton patterns in large lakes. Lake surface water temperature (LSWT), which varies in space and time, reflects meteorological and climatological forcing more than any other physical lake parameter. There are different data sources for LSWT mapping, including remote sensing and in situ measurements. Satellite data can be suitable for detecting large-scale thermal patterns, but not meso- or small scale processes. Lake surface thermography, investigated in this study, has finer resolution compared to satellite images. Thermography at the meso-scale provides the ability to ground-truth satellite imagery over scales of one to several satellite image pixels. On the other hand, thermography data can be used as a control in schemes to upscale local measurements that account for surface energy fluxes and the vertical energy budget. Independently, since such data can be collected at high frequency, they can be also useful in capturing changes in the surface signatures of meso-scale eddies and thus to quantify mixing processes. In the present study, we report results from a Balloon Launched Imaging and Monitoring Platform (BLIMP), which was developed in order to measure the LSWT at meso-scale. The BLIMP consists of a small balloon that is tethered to a boat and equipped with thermal and RGB cameras, as well as other instrumentation for location and communication. Several deployments were carried out on Lake Geneva. In a typical deployment, the BLIMP is towed by a boat, and collects high frequency data from different heights (i.e., spatial resolutions) and locations. Simultaneous ground-truthing of the BLIMP data is achieved using an autonomous craft that collects a variety of data, including in situ surface/near surface temperatures, radiation and meteorological data in the area covered by the BLIMP images. With suitable scaling, our results show good consistency

Drone-Borne Hyperspectral Monitoring of Acid Mine Drainage: An Example from the Sokolov Lignite District

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Jackisch

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This contribution explores the potential of unmanned aerial systems (UAS to monitor areas affected by acid mine drainage (AMD. AMD is an environmental phenomenon that usually develops in the vicinity of mining operations or in post-mining landscapes. The investigated area covers a re-cultivated tailing in the Sokolov lignite district of the Czech Republic. A high abundance of AMD minerals occurs in a confined space of the selected test site and illustrates potential environmental issues. The mine waste material contains pyrite and its consecutive weathering products, mainly iron hydroxides and oxides. These affect the natural pH values of the Earth’s surface. Prior research done in this area relies on satellite and airborne data, and our approach focuses on lightweight drone systems that enables rapid deployment for field campaigns and consequently-repeated surveys. High spatial image resolutions and precise target determination are additional advantages. Four field and flight campaigns were conducted from April to September 2016. For validation, the waste heap was probed in situ for pH, X-ray fluorescence (XRF, and reflectance spectrometry. Ground truth was achieved by collecting samples that were characterized for pH, X-ray diffraction, and XRF in laboratory conditions. Hyperspectral data were processed and corrected for atmospheric, topographic, and illumination effects using accurate digital elevation models (DEMs. High-resolution point clouds and DEMs were built from drone-borne RGB data using structure-from-motion multi-view-stereo photogrammetry. The supervised classification of hyperspectral image (HSI data suggests the presence of jarosite and goethite minerals associated with the acidic environmental conditions (pH range 2.3–2.8 in situ. We identified specific iron absorption bands in the UAS-HSI data. These features were confirmed by ground-truth spectroscopy. The distribution of in situ pH data validates the UAS-based mineral

Bioremediation of ground water contaminants at a uranium mill tailings site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barton, L.L.; Nuttall, H.E.; Thomson, B.M.; Lutze, W.

1995-01-01

Ground water contaminated with uranium from milling operations must be remediated to reduce the migration of soluble toxic compounds. At the mill tailings site near Tuba City, Arizona (USA) the approach is to employ bioremediation for in situ immobilization of uranium by bacterial reduction of uranyl, U(VI), compounds to uraninite, U(IV). In this initial phase of remediation, details are provided to indicate the magnitude of the contamination problem and to present preliminary evidence supporting the proposition that bacterial immobilization of uranium is possible. Additionally, consideration is given to contaminating cations and anions that may be at toxic levels in ground water at this uranium mill tailing site and detoxification strategies using bacteria are addressed. A model concept is employed so that results obtained at the Tuba City site could contribute to bioremediation of ground water at other uranium mill tailings sites

Subjetividade e verdade no último Foucault Subjectivity and truth in the late Foucault

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cesar Candiotto

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A constituição do sujeito na investigação do último Foucault geralmente é conhecida pela perspectiva de sua estética da existência. Tal abordagem deve-se sobremaneira à leitura dos dois últimos volumes de Histoire de la sexualité (1984. No entanto, o presente artigo aponta que nos cursos no Collège de France intitulados Subjectivité et verité (1981 e L'herméneutique du sujet (1982 outra leitura pode ser elaborada. A relação entre subjetividade e verdade evidencia-se como central em seu pensamento e seus desdobramentos são apresentados a partir das diferenças estabelecidas entre filosofia e espiritualidade, das articulações entre cuidado de si e conhecimento de si, conhecimentos úteis e inúteis, cuidado de si e conversão a si, ascese e verdade.The constitution of the subject in the investigation of the late Foucault is generally dealt with through the perspective of his aesthetics of existence. Such approach is mainly due to the reading of the two last volumes of The History of Sexuality (1984. However, the present article points out that in his Collège de France courses entitled Subjectivity and Truth (1981 and The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1982, a different reading can be elaborated. The relation between subjectivity and truth is evidently central in his thinking and its developments are presented from the differences established between philosophy and spirituality, from the articulations between care of the self and knowledge of the self, useful knowledge and useless knowledge, care of the self and conversion to the self, asceticism and truth.

Finding Common Ground Between Earth Scientists and Evangelical Christians

Science.gov (United States)

Grant Ludwig, L.

2015-12-01

In recent decades there has been some tension between earth scientists and evangelical Christians in the U.S., and this tension has spilled over into the political arena and policymaking on important issues such as climate change. From my personal and professional experience engaging with both groups, I find there is much common ground for increasing understanding and communicating the societal relevance of earth science. Fruitful discussions can arise from shared values and principles, and common approaches to understanding the world. For example, scientists and Christians are engaged in the pursuit of truth, and they value moral/ethical decision-making based on established principles. Scientists emphasize the benefits of research "for the common good" while Christians emphasize the value of doing "good works". Both groups maintain a longterm perspective: Christians talk about "the eternal" and geologists discuss "deep time". Both groups understand the importance of placing new observations in context of prior understanding: scientists diligently reference "the literature" while Christians quote "chapter and verse". And members of each group engage with each other in "fellowship" or "meetings" to create a sense of community and reinforce shared values. From my perspective, earth scientists can learn to communicate the importance and relevance of science more effectively by engaging with Christians in areas of common ground, rather than by trying to win arguments or debates.

Consumer Moments of Truth in the Digital Context : How "Search" and "E-Word of Mouth" Can Fuel Consumer Decision-Making

OpenAIRE

Moran, Gillian; Muzellec, Laurent; Nolan, Eoghan

2014-01-01

The consumer purchasing journey has evolved. New models need to capture the advancing digital behaviours of tech-savvy consumers. The current paper revisits the practitioner-led 'Moments of Truth' model used by a number of successful multinationals (initially Procter & Gamble and subsequently Google). 'Moments of Truth' (MOT) describe key instances of contact between a potential customer and a brand. The model now needs to be extended to integrate variables such as shared brand experience and...

Ground Field-Based Hyperspectral Imaging: A Preliminary Study to Assess the Potential of Established Vegetation Indices to Infer Variation in Water-Use Efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelech, E. A.; McGrath, J.; Pederson, T.; Bernacchi, C.

2017-12-01

Increases in the global average temperature will consequently induce a higher occurrence of severe environmental conditions such as drought on arable land. To mitigate these threats, crops for fuel and food must be bred for higher water-use efficiencies (WUE). Defining genomic variation through high-throughput phenotypic analysis in field conditions has the potential to relieve the major bottleneck in linking desirable genetic traits to the associated phenotypic response. This can subsequently enable breeders to create new agricultural germplasm that supports the need for higher water-use efficient crops. From satellites to field-based aerial and ground sensors, the reflectance properties of vegetation measured by hyperspectral imaging is becoming a rapid high-throughput phenotyping technique. A variety of physiological traits can be inferred by regression analysis with leaf reflectance which is controlled by the properties and abundance of water, carbon, nitrogen and pigments. Although, given that the current established vegetation indices are designed to accentuate these properties from spectral reflectance, it becomes a challenge to infer relative measurements of WUE at a crop canopy scale without ground-truth data collection. This study aims to correlate established biomass and canopy-water-content indices with ground-truth data. Five bioenergy sorghum genotypes (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) that have differences in WUE and wild-type Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var. Samsun) under irrigated and rainfed field conditions were examined. A linear regression analysis was conducted to determine if variation in canopy water content and biomass, driven by natural genotypic and artificial treatment influences, can be inferred using established vegetation indices. The results from this study will elucidate the ability of ground field-based hyperspectral imaging to assess variation in water content, biomass and water-use efficiency. This can lead to improved opportunities to

A right to truth, justice and a remedy for African victims of serious ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A right to truth, justice and a remedy for African victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law. Avril McDonald. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

"An Inconvenient Truth"--Is It Still Effective at Familiarizing Students with Global Warming?

Science.gov (United States)

Griep, Mark A.; Reimer, Kaitlin

2016-01-01

Chemistry courses for nonscience majors emphasize chemical concepts and the relationship of chemical knowledge to everyday life while teaching the utility of quantitative analysis. As an introduction to the topic of global warming, the first half of "An Inconvenient Truth," released in 2006, has been shown annually since 2008 in the…

78 FR 4725 - Escrow Requirements Under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-22

... the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., based on findings that economic stability... Current Mortgage Origination Market Even with the economic downturn and tightening of credit standards...'' numbered 7, 10, 11, and 12, maintained by the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the United States...