Heaps and Chains: Is the Chaining Argument for parity a sorites?

I argue that the Ruth Chang’s Chaining Argument for her parity view of value incomparability trades illicitly on the vagueness of the predicate ‘is comparable with’. Chang is alert to this danger and argues that the predicate is not vague, but this defense does not succeed. The Chaining Argument also faces a dilemma. The predicate is either vague or precise. If it is vague, then the argument is most plausibly a sorites. If it is precise, then the argument is either question begging or dialectically ineffective. I argue that no chaining-type argument can succeed.

Italian texts as networks: Topological measurements, Zipf and Heaps' laws

In questa tesi si è studiato un corpus di importanti testi della letteratura Italiana utilizzando la teoria dei network. Le misure topologiche tipiche dei network sono state calcolate sui testi letterari, poi sono state studiate le loro distribuzioni e i loro valori medi, per capire quali di esse possono distinguere un testo reale da sue modificazioni. Inoltre si è osservato come tutti i testi presentino due importanti leggi statistiche: la legge di Zipf e quella di Heaps.

Academic mobility: a non-Machiavellian means to global citizenship

Although Mobility is a trendy and an important keyword in education matters, it has been a knowledge tool since the beginning of times, namely the Classical Antiquity, when students were moving from place to place following the masters. Over the time, different types of academic mobility can be found and this tool has been taken both by the education and business sector as almost a compulsory process since the world has gone global. Mobility is, of course, not an end but a means. And as far as academic mobility is concerned it is above all a means to get knowledge, being it theoretical or practical. But why does it still make sense to move from one place to another to get knowledge if never as before we have heaps of information and experiences available around us, either through personal contacts, in books, journals, newspapers or online? With this paper we intend to discuss the purpose of international mobility in the global world of the 21st century as a means to the development of world citizens able to live, work and learn in different and unfamiliar contexts. Based on our own experience as International Coordinator in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) over the last 8 years, on the latest research on academic mobility and still on studies on employability we will show how and why academic mobility can develop skills either in students or in other academic staff that are hardly possible to build in a classroom, or in a non-mobile academic or professional experience and that are highly valued by employers and society in general.

Ecologie d'une population de Crocidura russula en milieu rural montagnard (Insectivora, Soricidae)

Crocidura russula is restricted to the vicinity of human dwellings in the northern parts of its range and in the mountain regions of Central and Western Europe. In order to better understand the causes of such a distribution, a population was studied in a rural mountain habitat (750 m above sea level), where the species was found almost exclusively in the neighbourhood of human dwellings. The study was conducted on a 2000 m2 area, over a period of 20 months, by live-trapping and radioactive tracking. The abundance, the local distribution and the behaviour of the shrews vary greatly throughout the year. In summer, they chiefly inhabit areas with a dense herbaceous cover or shruby vegetation; they are mainly active at ground level, in the litter. In autumn, changes in the environmental conditions (lowering of temperatures, subsidence of the herbaceous vegetation, presence of snow) create important energetic problems. At that time, the shrews gradually become more active around and inside compost-heaps and buildings. The microclimate of such environments is mild and prey are numerous. The winter population is reduced (reaching its lowest level in late winter) and consists only of shrews frequenting these sites. The observed spatial distribution is the result of the energetic dependence of the wintering shrews on human dwellings and their surroundings. This dependence is probably related to the physiological characteristics of the species. In the prospected region, Crocidura russula is the only shrew which regularly takes advantage of man-made habitats; the maintenance of the species in the rural mountain enviroment is probably favoured by the social organization of the populations in winter. The other native Soricids are observed only occasionaly int he neighbourhood of human dwellings.

Atomic force and electron microscopic-based study of sarcolemmal surface of living cardiomyocytes unveils unexpected mitochondrial shift in heart failure.

Loss of T-tubules (TT), sarcolemmal invaginations of cardiomyocytes (CMs), was recently identified as a general heart failure (HF) hallmark. However, whether TT per se or the overall sarcolemma is altered during HF process is still unknown. In this study, we directly examined sarcolemmal surface topography and physical properties using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in living CMs from healthy and failing mice hearts. We confirmed the presence of highly organized crests and hollows along myofilaments in isolated healthy CMs. Sarcolemma topography was tightly correlated with elasticity, with crests stiffer than hollows and related to the presence of few packed subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM) as evidenced by electron microscopy. Three days after myocardial infarction (MI), CMs already exhibit an overall sarcolemma disorganization with general loss of crests topography thus becoming smooth and correlating with a decreased elasticity while interfibrillar mitochondria (IFM), myofilaments alignment and TT network were unaltered. End-stage post-ischemic condition (15days post-MI) exacerbates overall sarcolemma disorganization with, in addition to general loss of crest/hollow periodicity, a significant increase of cell surface stiffness. Strikingly, electron microscopy revealed the total depletion of SSM while some IFM heaps could be visualized beneath the membrane. Accordingly, mitochondrial Ca(2+) studies showed a heterogeneous pattern between SSM and IFM in healthy CMs which disappeared in HF. In vitro, formamide-induced sarcolemmal stress on healthy CMs phenocopied post-ischemic kinetics abnormalities and revealed initial SSM death and crest/hollow disorganization followed by IFM later disarray which moved toward the cell surface and structured heaps correlating with TT loss. This study demonstrates that the loss of crest/hollow organization of CM surface in HF occurs early and precedes disruption of the TT network. It also highlights a general stiffness increased of the CM surface most likely related to atypical IFM heaps while SSM died during HF process. Overall, these results indicate that initial sarcolemmal stress leading to SSM death could underlie subsequent TT disarray and HF setting.

Rakennukset ja rakentajat Raision Ihalassa rautakauden lopulla ja varhaisella keskiajalla

Turun yliopiston arkeologian oppiaine tutki Raision Ihalan historiallisella kylätontilla, ns. Mullin eduspellolla, asuinpaikan, josta löydettiin maamme oloissa harvinaisen hyvin säilyneitä rakennusten puuosien jäännöksiä. Löytö on ainutlaatuinen Suomen oloissa ja sillä on kansainvälistäkin merkitystä, koska hyvin säilyneet myöhemmän rautakauden ja varhaisen keskiajan maaseutuasuinpaikat, joista tavataan puujäännöksiä, ovat harvinaisia erityisesti itäisen Itämeren piirissä. Rakennukset on ennallistettu käyttäen tiukkaa paikallisen analogian (’Tight Local Analogy’) metodia, erityisesti suoraa historiallista analogista lähestymistapaa. Tätä tarkoitusta varten muodostettiin aluksi arkeologinen, historiallinen ja etnografinen lähdemalli. Tämä valittiin maantieteellisesti ja ajallisesti relevantista tutkimusaineistosta pohjoisen Itämeren piiristä. Tiedot lounaisen Suomen rakennuksista ja rakennusteknologiasta katsottiin olevan tärkein osa mallia johtuen historiallisesta ja spatiaalisesta jatkuvuudesta. Lähdemalli yhdistettiin sitten Mullin arkeologiseen aineistoon ja analyysin tuloksena saatiin rakennusten ennallistukset. Mullista on voitu ennallistaa ainakin kuusi eri rakennusta neljässä eri rakennuspaikassa. Rakennusteknologia perustui kattoa kannattaviin horisontaalisiin pitkiin seinähirsiin, jotka oli nurkissa yhdistetty joko salvoksella tai varhopatsaalla. Kaikissa rakennuksissa ulkoseinän pituus oli 5 – 7 metriä. Löydettiin lisäksi savi- ja puulattioita sekä kaksi tulisijaa, savikupoliuuni ja avoin liesi. Runsaan palaneen saven perusteella on mahdollista päätellä, että katto oli mitä todennäköisimmin kaksilappeinen vuoliaiskatto, joka oli katettu puulla ja/tai turpeella. Kaikki rakennukset olivat samaa tyyppiä ja ne käsittivät isomman huoneen ja kapean eteisen. Kaikki analysoitu puu oli mäntyä. Ulkoalueelta tavattiin lisäksi tunkioita, ojia, aitoja ja erilaisia varastokuoppia. Rakennukset on ajoitettu 900-luvun lopulta 1200-luvun lopulle (cal AD). Lopuksi tutkittiin rakennuksia yhteisöllisessä ympäristössään, niiden ajallista asemaa sekä asukkaiden erilaisia spatiaalisia kokemuksia ja yhteyksiä. Raision Ihalaa analysoidaan sosiaalisen identiteetin ja sen materiaalisten ilmenemismuotojen kautta. Nämä sosiaaliset identiteetit muodostuvat kommunikaatioverkostoista eri spatiaalisilla ja yhteisöllisillä ta¬soilla. Näitä eri tasoja ovat: 1) kotitalous arjen toimintoineen, perhe ja sukulaisuussuhteet traditioineen; 2) paikallinen identiteetti, rakennus, rakennuspaikka, asuinpaikan ympäristö ja sen käyttö, (maa)talo ja kylä; 3) Raision Ihalan kylä laajemmassa alueellisessa kontekstissaan pohjoisen Itämeren piirissä: kauppiaiden ja käsityöläisten kontaktiverkostot, uskonnollinen identiteetti ja sen muutokset.

Kompostipiireissä opittua : Eloperäiset jätteet kiertoon -hanke

Kompostien käyttöä on kokeiltu ja tutkittu Kainuun ELY-keskuksen Eloperäiset jätteet kiertoon -hankkeessa. Komposteja on hyödynnetty laskettelurinteen ja kaivosteollisuuden sivukiven läjitysalueen maisemoinnissa, pihanurmen ja energiakasvien kasvattamisessa, metsän lannoittamisessa ja maanviljelyssä. Pihanurmen perustamisen ja energiakasvien kasvattamisen kokeiluista on tehty myös erilliset tutkimukset. Tutkimustyöstä on vastannut MTT (Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskus). Tutkimustieto on sisällytetty tähän julkaisuun. Kompostin käyttökokeissa ja tutkimuksissa on hyödynnetty Kainuun kuntien ja Kainuun jätehuollon kuntayhtymän Eko-Kympin komposteja. Kaikki kompostit ovat aumakompostoinnin tuotoksia. Eko-Kympin komposti on valmistettu biojätteistä. Muut kompostit ovat lähtöisin kunnallisten jätevedenpuhdistamoiden lietteistä. Kajaanin kompostia kutsutaan myös A. & E. Juntunen Oy:n valmistamaksi biomullaksi. Saatujen kokemusten ja tutkimusten mukaan aumakompostoinnilla tuotettu komposti soveltuu näihin erilaisiin käyttömuotoihin, etenkin kun esille tulleita kehittämistoimia toteutetaan. Sivukiven läjitysalueiden maisemoinnissa, maanviljelyssä ja metsän lannoittamisessa komposti ei tarvitse kivennäismaata seosaineeksi. Sivukiven läjitysalueilla ne kompostit, joihin oli sekoitettu hiekkaa, eivät pysyneet paikoillaan. Aines valui sadeveden mukana alas rinteeltä. Pelkkää kompostia käytettäessä kompostimassa pysyi aloillaan. Maanviljelyssä ja metsän lannoittamisessa kivennäismaa on tarpeeton. Lisäksi kompostissa oleva kiviaines kuluttaa ja voi vaurioittaa levityslaitteita. Ravinteet vapautuvat kompostista hitaasti kasvien käyttöön. Kemiallisilla lannoitteilla on nopeampi vaikutus. Kompostit soveltuvat erityisen hyvin ympäristöihin, joissa täydennyslannoitusta ei tarvita tai joissa lannoite on vaikeaa levittää. Tällaisia kohteita ovat esimerkiksi kaivosten sivukiven tai rikastushiekan läjitysalueet tai muut vaikeakulkuiset kohteet. Myös metsien lannoittaminen ja maanviljely ovat Kainuussa kompostien hyödyntämisen osalta alihyödynnettyjä. Pöyry Finland Oy on laatinut Kajaaniin kaavaillulle biologiselle jätteiden käsittelylaitokselle teknistaloudelliset suunnitelmat. Yhtiön tekemissä suunnitelmissa tulee ilmi, että kaikkien Kainuun lietteiden aumakompostointi tuottaisi kompostia 13 000 tonnia vuodessa, kun tukiaine seulotaan erilleen. Mädätys- tai biokaasulaitosvaihtoehdoissa lopputuotteen määrä on edellistä pienempi. Pelkkien Kainuun lietteiden mädättäminen tuottaisi kompostia jälkikompostin seulonnan jälkeen 6 600 tonnia. Viherrakentaminen taajamissa on komposteille Kainuussa yleinen käyttömuoto. Sillä on kasvun edellytyksiä etenkin, kun kompostin laatuun panostetaan. Viherrakentaminen Kajaanin seudulla riittäisi kuluttamaan kaiken Kainuussa muodostuvan kompostin, kun kompostimullan kulutuksena pidetään 0,5 tonnia asukasta kohden vuodessa. Tämä vastaa Kajaanin seudulla 27 000 tonnin kompostimäärää. Kompostin muodostumismäärä ei tulevaisuudessa tule olemaan lähellä tätä laskennallista multamenekkiä. Kompostin huono menekki johtuu joidenkin kuntien osalta pikemminkin huonosta kompostin laadusta kuin markkinoiden kyllästymisestä. Tilanne on korjaantumassa suunnitteilla olevan biologisen jätteiden käsittelylaitoksen myötä. Siinä kompostituotteen laatuun voidaan panostaa tehokkaammin kuin erillisillä pienillä kompostointikentillä.

Carbon and nitrogen emissions from stored manure and cropped fields in irrigated mountain oases of Oman

Little is known about gaseous carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) emissions from traditional terrace agriculture in irrigated high mountain agroecosystems of the subtropics. In an effort towards filling this knowledge gap measurements of carbon dioxide (CO_2), methane (CH_4), ammonia (NH_3) and dinitrous oxide (N_2O) were taken with a mobile photoacoustic infrared multi-gas monitor on manure-filled PE-fibre storage bags and on flood-irrigated untilled and tilled fields in three mountain oases of the northen Omani Al Jabal al Akhdar mountains. During typical 9-11 day irrigation cycles of March, August and September 2006 soil volumetric moisture contents of fields dominated by fodder wheat, barley, oats and pomegranate ranged from 46-23%. While manure incorporation after application effectively reduced gaseous N losses, prolonged storage of manure in heaps or in PE-fibre bags caused large losses of C and N. Given the large irrigation-related turnover of organic C, sustainable agricultural productivity of oasis agriculture in Oman seems to require the integration of livestock which allows for several applications of manure per year at individual rates of 20 t dry matter ha^−1.

Hydrochemical variations and contaminant load in the Rio Tinto (Spain) during flood events

The aim of this work is to study the hydrochemical variations during flood events in the Rio Tinto, SW Spain. Three separate rainfall/flood events were monitored in October 2004 following the dry season. In general, concentrations markedly increased following the first event (Fe from 99 to 1130 mg/L; Q(max) = 0.78 m(3)/s) while dissolved loads peaked in the second event (Fe = 7.5 kg/s, Cu = 0.83 kg/s, Zn = 0.82 kg/s; Q(max) = 77 m(3)/s) and discharge in the third event (Q(max) = 127 m(3)/s). This pattern reflects a progressive depletion of metals and sulphate stored in the dry summer as soluble evaporitic salt minerals and concentrated pore fluids, with dilution by freshwater becoming increasingly dominant as the month progressed. Variations in relative concentrations were attributed to oxyhydroxysulphate Fe precipitation, to relative changes in the sources of acid mine drainage (e.g. salt minerals, mine tunnels, spoil heaps etc.) and to differences in the rainfall distributions along the catchment. The contaminant load carried by the river during October 2004 was enormous, totalling some 770 t of Fe, 420 t of Al, 100 t of Cu, 100 t of Zn and 71 t of Mn. This represents the largest recorded example of this flush-out process in an acid mine drainage setting. Approximately 1000 times more water and 1408 200 times more dissolved elements were carried by the river during October 2004 than during the dry, low-flow conditions of September 2004, highlighting the key role of flood Events in the annual pollutant transport budget of semi-arid and and systems and the need to monitor these events in detail in order to accurately quantify pollutant transport. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Midden cultivation in prehistoric Britain: arable crops in gardens

This paper summarizes some of the geoarchaeological evidence for early arable agriculture in Britain and Europe, and introduces new evidence for small-scale but very intensive cultivation in the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age in Scotland. The Scottish examples demonstrate that, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, midden heaps were sometimes ploughed in situ; this means that, rather than spreading midden material onto the fields, the early farmers simply ran an ard over their compost heaps and sowed the resulting plots. The practice appears to have been common in Scotland, and may also have occurred in England. Neolithic cultivation of a Mesolithic midden is suggested, based on thin-section analysis of the middens at Northton, Harris. The fertility of the Mesolithic middens may partly explain why Neolithic farmers re-settled Mesolithic sites in the Northern and Western Isles.

Aqueous geochemistry and oxygen isotope compositions of acid mine drainage from the Río Tinto, SW Spain, highlight inconsistencies in current models

The Rio Tinto river in SW Spain is a classic example of acid mine drainage and the focus of an increasing amount of research including environmental geochemistry, extremophile microbiology and Mars-analogue studies. Its 5000-year mining legacy has resulted in a wide range of point inputs including spoil heaps and tunnels draining underground workings. The variety of inputs and importance of the river as a research site make it an ideal location for investigating sulphide oxidation mechanisms at the field scale. Mass balance calculations showed that pyrite oxidation accounts for over 93% of the dissolved sulphate derived from sulphide oxidation in the Rio Tinto point inputs. Oxygen isotopes in water and sulphate were analysed from a variety of drainage sources and displayed delta O-18((SO4-H2O)) values from 3.9 to 13.6 parts per thousand, indicating that different oxidation pathways occurred at different sites within the catchment. The most commonly used approach to interpreting field oxygen isotope data applies water and oxygen fractionation factors derived from laboratory experiments. We demonstrate that this approach cannot explain high delta O-18((SO4-H2O)) values in a manner that is consistent with recent models of pyrite and sulphoxyanion oxidation. In the Rio Tinto, high delta O-18((SO4-H2O)) values (11.2-13.6 parts per thousand) occur in concentrated (Fe = 172-829 mM), low pH (0.88-1.4), ferrous iron (68-91% of total Fe) waters and are most simply explained by a mechanism involving a dissolved sulphite intermediate, sulphite-water oxygen equilibrium exchange and finally sulphite oxidation to sulphate with O-2. In contrast, drainage from large waste blocks of acid volcanic tuff with pyritiferous veins also had low pH (1.7). but had a low delta O-18((SO4-H2O)) value of 4.0 parts per thousand and high concentrations of ferric iron (Fe(III) = 185 mM, total Fe = 186 mM), suggesting a pathway where ferric iron is the primary oxidant, water is the primary source of oxygen in the sulphate and where sulphate is released directly from the pyrite surface. However, problems remain with the sulphite-water oxygen exchange model and recommendations are therefore made for future experiments to refine our understanding of oxygen isotopes in pyrite oxidation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The importance of precision in sampling sludges, biowastes and treated soils in a regulatory framework

As part of the European Commission (EC)'s revision of the Sewage Sludge Directive and the development of a Biowaste Directive, there was recognition of the difficulty of comparing data from Member States (MSs) because of differences in sampling and analytical procedures. The 'HORIZONTAL' initiative, funded by the EC and MSs, seeks to address these differences in approach and to produce standardised procedures in the form of CEN standards. This article is a preliminary investigation into aspects of the sampling of biosolids, composts and soils to which there is a history of biosolid application. The article provides information on the measurement uncertainty associated with sampling from heaps, large bags and pipes and soils in the landscape under a limited set of conditions, using sampling approaches in space and time and sample numbers based on procedures widely used in the relevant industries and when sampling similar materials. These preliminary results suggest that considerably more information is required before the appropriate sample design, optimum number of samples, number of samples comprising a composite, and temporal and spatial frequency of sampling might be recommended to achieve consistent results of a high level of precision and confidence. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A trajetória do movimento e da participação: a origem da organização sindical na educação

Resgate histórico do Movimento Organizado dos trabalhadores técnico administrativos da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ. O presente estudo tem como objetivo central, descrever, de que forma a ascensão da ação organizada dos funcionários da UFRJ - traduzida, inicialmente, na figura da Associação - desencadeou na transformação de sua entidade representativa em Sindicato da categoria. Os sujeitos da pesquisa referem-se à dirigentes sindicais, que tiveram uma inserção significativa nesse processo. Os principais protagonistas dessa história, relatam fatos marcantes, os quais, muitos deles, não se encontram registrados nos acervos da organização estudada. A análise de documentos que identificam essa história, também foi utilizada como apoio ao estudo. A ênfase do trabalho está voltada à pesquisa descritiva e analítica. A pesquisa de campo ocorre no Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação da UFRJ, situado na llha do Fundão. A análise do material empírico indica que o processo de transformação - de associativismo para sindicalismo - não se dá na passagem formal, ocorrida em 93. Mas, a partir da década de 80, quando um grupo de servidores pertencentes à Unidades diversas, com posturas ideológicas e políticas semelhantes, se insere, gradativamente, no órgão. Passa a impetrar uma prática político-reivindicatória, diferenciada das atuações recreativa e assistencialista que permearam as gestões anteriores. Contudo, em relação à descrição dessa história, a pretensão não foi a de pontuar uma evolução linear, mas a de também identificar questões que determinaram momentos de instabilidade, bem como de reavaliação, por parte dos sujeitos envolvidos. Constitui, portanto, um válido instrumento para avaliação das práticas, objetivos, políticas e culturas que permearam a atuação desse movimento, elaborando questões que possam contribuir para a superação de eventuais equívocos ou entraves no momento presente.

Prácticas culturales para el manejo de la Sigatoka negra en bananos y plátanos

Black sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) control consists in the continuous use of fungicide sprays and cultural practices. Cultural control reduces inoculum sources of the pathogen and favorable environmental conditions for its development, as well as it increases the vigor of the plants. In order to manage the disease it is necessary to know its behavior through the time, its relationship with the weather and the crop management. The most important cultural practice to reduce the inoculum source is the removal of the whole affected leaves or only the diseased portions of the leaves. The removed tissue is placed over the ground and the use of urea is feasible to accelerate its decomposition. An alternative practice is the "mini-composting" that consists in forming small heaps with the dead leaves and harvested plants for its quick degradation, which allows to reduce the pathogen inoculum and to incorporate nutrients and organic matters into the soil. The early pruning of the tips of the Young leaves before they show symptoms of the disease and the quick elimination of harvested plants reduce the inoculum. Also, the agronomic management of the crop helps to reduce the favorable conditions and to increase the vigor of the plants: this management considers plantation density, drainage systems, irrigation methods, control of weeds, chemical-biological fertilization, and nematode control.

Características minerais e energéticas do lixo urbano em processos de compostagem e biodigestão anaeróbia

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA