scholarly journals Deriving the distributivity potential of adjectives via measurement theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lelia Glass

The boxes are heavy can convey that each box is heavy (distributive), or that some individually light boxes qualify as heavy when lifted together (nondistributive; Schwarzschild 1996, Schwarzschild 2011). In contrast, the boxes are fragile generally requires each box to be fragile (distributive). Which adjectives behave like heavy or like fragile, and why? This paper proposes a measurement-theoretic account. For a gradable adjective to be understood nondistributively, I argue that a⊕b must exceed a and b along the scale associated with the adjective. That way, the contextual standard θ for what ‘counts as’ (adjective) in the context can be set in such a way that the composite object a⊕b surpasses the contextual standard θ while a and b individually fall short of it – a nondistributive understanding, in that the adjective is true of a⊕b together but not of a or b individually. This ordering is possible for heavy but not fragile, deriving their differences. More generally, researchers agree that an adjective’s potential for distributivity depends on what we know about the property it describes. Making that idea more explanatory, this paper articulates which features of the property described by the adjective matter for distributivity and why.

2019 ◽  
Vol 623 ◽  
pp. A61 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Mandarakas ◽  
D. Blinov ◽  
I. Liodakis ◽  
K. Kouroumpatzakis ◽  
A. Zezas ◽  
...  

Context. The third Fermi-LAT catalog (3FGL) presented the data of the first four years of observations from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. There are 3034 sources, 1010 of which still remain unidentified. Identifying and classifying γ-ray emitters is of high significance with regard to studying high-energy astrophysics. Aims. We demonstrate that optical polarimetry can be an advantageous and practical tool in the hunt for counterparts of the unidentified γ-ray sources (UGSs). Methods. Using data from the RoboPol project, we validated that a significant fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) associated with 3FGL sources can be identified due to their high optical polarization exceeding that of the field stars. We performed an optical polarimetric survey within 3σ uncertainties of four unidentified 3FGL sources. Results. We discovered a previously unknown extragalactic object within the positional uncertainty of 3FGL J0221.2+2518. We obtained its spectrum and measured a redshift of z = 0.0609 ± 0.0004. Using these measurements and archival data we demonstrate that this source is a candidate counterpart for 3FGL J0221.2+2518 and most probably is a composite object: a star-forming galaxy accompanied by AGN. Conclusions. We conclude that polarimetry can be a powerful asset in the search for AGN candidate counterparts for unidentified Fermi sources. Future extensive polarimetric surveys at high Galactic latitudes (e.g., PASIPHAE) will allow the association of a significant fraction of currently unidentified γ-ray sources.


Author(s):  
Elrnar Zeitler

Considering any finite three-dimensional object, a “projection” is here defined as a two-dimensional representation of the object's mass per unit area on a plane normal to a given projection axis, here taken as they-axis. Since the object can be seen as being built from parallel, thin slices, the relation between object structure and its projection can be reduced by one dimension. It is assumed that an electron microscope equipped with a tilting stage records the projectionWhere the object has a spatial density distribution p(r,ϕ) within a limiting radius taken to be unity, and the stage is tilted by an angle 9 with respect to the x-axis of the recording plane.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-107
Author(s):  
Robert C. Koons

In De Anima Book III, Aristotle subscribed to a theory of formal identity between the human mind and the extra-mental objects of our understanding. This has been one of the most controversial features of Aristotelian metaphysics of the mind. I offer here a defense of the Formal Identity Thesis, based on specifically epistemological arguments about our knowledge of necessary or essential truths.


Somatechnics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 188-205
Author(s):  
Sofia Varino

This article follows the trajectories of gluten in the context of Coeliac disease as a gastrointestinal condition managed by lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet. Oriented by the concept of gluten as an actant (Latour), I engage in an analysis of gluten as a participant in volatile relations of consumption, contact, and contamination across coeliac eating. I ask questions about biomedical knowledge production in the context of everyday dietary practices alongside two current scientific research projects developing gluten-degrading enzymes and gluten-free wheat crops. Following the new materialisms of theorists like Elizabeth A. Wilson, Jane Bennett, Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour, I approach gluten as an alloy, an impure object, a hybrid assemblage with self-organizing and disorganizing capacity, not entirely peptide chain nor food additive, not only allergen but also the chewy, sticky substance that gives pizza dough its elastic, malleable consistency. Tracing the trajectories of gluten, this article is a case study of the tricky, slippery capacity of matter to participate in processes of scientific knowledge production.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devika Chawla
Keyword(s):  
Object A ◽  

This essay is an experiment that attends to the habit of tea as both subject and object. A coalescence of habit as threshold as home. In an assemblage of encounters, I hear, I sense, I smell, I taste, and I show how my habit (of tea) is a trestle—both a transport and a transaction in which I arrive and depart multiple times, every day. Consider these words a kind of searching (and finding), a cartographic tracing, a constellation—of habit, of home, of threshold—a plotting to find and arrive home.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 119-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Filipi

This paper examines how and by whom tellings with two young children are triggered at ages 23, 36 and 42 months. The data for the investigation is derived from a larger Australian English corpus of over 50 hours of interactions in the home, although one of the children is a bilingual Italian/ English-speaking child. The data is derived from two parent/child dyads, and in the case of the child aged 42 months, a triadic interaction between a mother, her own child and a second child. Using the micro-analytic methods of conversation analysis, the study analyses five samples of tellings. The first two describe how a child, Cassandra, aged 23 months, is invited to recount events of her day by her parents. The trigger for these tellings is the social activity of sharing everyday routine events. The next two samples focus on Rosie at 36 months who is also invited to share a telling by her parent about a birthday party celebration and one about a neighbourhood cat, Claude. The first telling is triggered by an object, a balloon from a birthday party from the day before, while the second is triggered by play involving the character of a cat, initially derived from a favourite story, Hairy Maclary. In the final sample, Cassandra, aged 42 months, initiates a telling about an experience at her grandmother’s which is trigged by a picture in a book. The analyses in each case reveal the interactional issues that arise in the action of telling and how these are dealt with by all participants. By focusing on the three ages, key features in the children’s participation in storytelling are uncovered.


2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Christopher Weaver ◽  
Yoko Sato

This empirical study introduces population targeting and cut-off point targeting as a systematic approach to evaluating the performance of items in the English section of university entrance examinations. Using Rasch measurement theory, we found that the item difficulty and the types of items in a series of national university entrance examinations varied considerably over a 4-year period. However, there was progress towards improved test performance in terms of an increased number of items assessing different language skills and content areas as well as an increased number targeting test takers’ knowledge of English. This study also found that productive items rather than receptive items better targeted test takers’ overall knowledge of English. Moreover, productive items were more consistently located around the probable cut point for university admissions. The paper concludes with a detailed account of a number of probable factors that could influence item performance, such as the use of rating scales. 本論文では、ある国立大学における大学入試の英語の問題の変化を実証的に検証したものである。テスト項目の結果を検証するための体系的なアプローチとして、「母集団を対象としたアプローチ」および「足きり点を対象としたアプローチ」という方法を導入した。ラッシュ・モデリングを用いて分析した結果、過去4年間の間に、項目の困難度および項目の型について、様々な技能を測定していること、内容も多様であること、英語の知識を検証している項目が増えたこと、などの点で大きく変化していることがわかった。さらに、産出能力の方が受容能力を測定する項目よりも入学者決定の際の足きり点の周辺に収束する傾向が見られた。項目ごとの成績に影響を及ぼす可能性のある多様な要因について詳細な検討を行った。


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