This paper argues in defence of sufficientarianism that there is a general flaw in the most common critiques against it. The paper lays out sufficientarianism and presents the problems of ...indifference, of outweighing priority, and of discontinuity. Behind these problems is a more general objection to the abruptness of the sufficiency threshold relying upon an assumption regarding arithmeticism about value. The paper argues that sufficientarians need not accept arithmeticism about value and that the commonly held critiques of sufficientarianism are in fact instances of the numbers fallacy pertaining to the construction of numerical counterexamples that gain intuitive traction from 'empty numbers' - numbers without meaningful content in reference to the view under investigation. The paper concludes that we should remain sceptical about such use of numerical counterexamples, and while this does not by itself prove sufficientarianism correct, it is an important and novel contribution to its justification.
The quantum information network is important in establishing next-generation technology. In particular, maximal and long-distance entangled states are important in realizing a number of quantum ...information technologies, such as teleportation, key distribution and so forth. Entanglement swapping is a scheme that creates a long-distance network by using multiple short ones. Entanglement swapping protocols applied to non-maximal correlations have been thoroughly investigated by various people. Rather than providing any new analytic results, some examples of a numerical approach will be provided in this paper. In particular, the paper reveals the existence of different classes of coefficients that approximate the optimal outcome (
i.e.
, the weaker average maximal entanglement between the two initial states). The new class of states is non-trivial in the sense that their coefficients are just as widely distributed as the coefficients of states satisfying optimality conditions are. Moreover, we will numerically examine entanglement swapping methods and show the distribution of optimal and general coefficients for three and four 2-level correlations.
We propose a mathematical model for cholera with treatment through quarantine. The model is shown to be both epidemiologically and mathematically well posed. In particular, we prove that all ...solutions of the model are positive and bounded; and that every solution with initial conditions in a certain meaningful set remains in that set for all time. The existence of unique disease-free and endemic equilibrium points is proved and the basic reproduction number is computed. Then, we study the local asymptotic stability of these equilibrium points. An optimal control problem is proposed and analyzed, whose goal is to obtain a successful treatment through quarantine. We provide the optimal quarantine strategy for the minimization of the number of infectious individuals and bacteria concentration, as well as the costs associated with the quarantine. Finally, a numerical simulation of the cholera outbreak in the Department of Artibonite (Haiti), in 2010, is carried out, illustrating the usefulness of the model and its analysis.
The aim of this study is to check how the change fiber configuration and geometric parameters affect the stability of a thin-walled angle column under compression. Buckling analysis of thin-walled ...structures made of bio-laminates was presented. Short angles with different configurations of reinforcing fibers and geometric parameters were studied. The laminate under analysis had a matrix made of epoxy resin reinforced with unidirectional flax fibers. The axially compressed structures were simply supported on both ends. Detailed numerical analyses were conducted by the finite element method using Abaqus software. The lowest two bifurcation loads and their corresponding eigenmodes were determined. Several configurations of unidirectional fiber arrangement with different width and length were tested. Results showed that the bio-laminate fiber configuration had a significant effect on the behavior of the compressed structure. Moreover, the change of geometrical parameters significantly influences the stability of the structure. In general, it was found that the bifurcation load decreased with the increase of the length of the L-profile column. However, increasing the flange width of the column resulted in a reduction of the bifurcation load (applies to a column with a length of 300 mm and longer). In paper the first stage of research is presented, which will be experimentally verified in subsequent studies.
Investigation of simultaneous occurrence of permanent and/or recoverable faults of coupled nodes within different networks in a larger network structure is an appealing timely research topic. For the ...modelling of such a multi-network structure, the coupling terms in the same network and the coupling terms among different networks are described separately in order to explain clearly the multi-network feature here. The dimension-transformation matrix is used to deal with the mismatched dimensions of nodes in the different networks. Then a synchronisation controller is designed from the underlying theory of pinning control schemes. Furthermore, following the ideas of Lyapunov stability theory, a sufficient stability condition under the pinning control is derived which guarantees nodes in the same network synchronisation. Computer simulation results for a numerical case study of three coupled networks with nodes that possess rather complex non-linear dynamics demonstrate that the proposed controllers can enforce synchronisation despite different types of faults being occurred in the multi-network. It is also shown that the specific pinning control scheme is more effective than the random pinning.
A range of multi‐year observational data sets are used to characterize the hydroclimate of the Dallas Fort‐Worth area (DFW) and to investigate the impact of urban land cover on daily accumulated ...precipitation, RADAR composite reflectivity (cREF), and cloud top height (CTH) during the warm season. Analyses of observational data indicate rainfall rates (RR) in a 45° annulus sector 50–100 km downwind of the city are enhanced relative to an upwind area of comparable size. Enhancement of mean precipitation intensity in this annulus sector is not observed on days with spatially averaged RR > 6 mm/day. Under some flow directions, the probability of cREF >30 dBZ, occurrence of hail, and the probability of CTH >10,000 geopotential meters are also enhanced up to 200 km downwind of DFW. Two deep convection events that passed over DFW are simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting model using a range of microphysical schemes and evaluated using RADAR observations. Model configurations that exhibit the highest fidelity in these control simulations are used in a series of perturbation experiments where the areal extent of the city is varied between zero (replacement with grassland) and eight times its current size. These perturbation experiments indicate a non‐linear response of Mesoscale Convective System properties to the urban areal extent and a very strong sensitivity to the microphysical scheme used. The impact on precipitation from the urban area, even when it is expanded to eight‐times the current extent, is much less marked for deep convection with stronger synoptic forcing.
Plain Language Summary
Urban areas are rapidly expanding and have the potential to strongly influence the local and regional climate. Long‐term warm season observations near Dallas‐Fort Worth show higher rainfall intensity and hail frequency 50–100 km downwind of the city, but those days with the heaviest precipitation are not enhanced by the city. Numerical simulations show that atmospheric responses to urbanization are very sensitive to the precise model configuration used which means there are still large uncertainties in projecting how urbanization may influence atmospheric hazards.
Key Points
Mean precipitation and hail frequency are higher downwind of Dallas‐Fort Worth except on the wettest days
Deep convection properties do not respond linearly to urban extent
Microphysical schemes affect the sign of response in metrics of deep convection to urban extent
Column outflow experiments operated at steady state flow conditions do not allow the identification of rate limited release processes. This requires an alternative experimental methodology. In this ...study, the aim was to apply such a methodology in order to identify and quantify effective release rates of heavy metals from granular wastes. Column experiments were conducted with demolition waste and municipal waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash using different flow velocities and multiple flow interruptions. The effluent was analyzed for heavy metals, DOC, electrical conductivity and pH. The breakthrough-curves were inversely modeled with a numerical code based on the advection–dispersion equation with first order mass-transfer and nonlinear interaction terms. Chromium, Copper, Nickel and Arsenic are usually released under non-equilibrium conditions. DOC might play a role as carrier for those trace metals. By inverse simulations, generally good model fits are derived. Although some parameters are correlated and some model deficiencies can be revealed, we are able to deduce physically reasonable release-mass-transfer time scales. Applying forward simulations, the parameter space with equifinal parameter sets was delineated. The results demonstrate that the presented experimental design is capable of identifying and quantifying non-equilibrium conditions. They show also that the possibility of rate limited release must not be neglected in release and transport studies involving inorganic contaminants.
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