Academic literature on the topic 'Minutiae point'

The fourth chapter is devoted to uncovering Mou’s idea of “authentic subjectivity.” According to Mou, this new paradigm of subjectivity was inaugurated by Confucius and Mengzi and reached its zenith in specific currents of Song-Ming Neo-Confucian thought. Through an original reformulation and systematization of this inheritance, Mou develops his “moral metaphysics,” in the framework of which his conception of subjectivity finds its definitive foundation. The “authentic subject” should not be confused with one of the poles of the dyad subject/object operating in Western, horizontal and knowledge-based mainstream philosophy. By contrast, it represents the culminating point of the vertical reorientation of the idea of the self. The previous chapters identify some distinguishing characteristics of the vertical self: dynamism, performativity, and self-transcendence. Moral metaphysics aims to bring any of these characteristics to full completion. Regarding dynamism, the moral self or authentic subject manifests itself as a process of uninterrupted liquefaction of any concretion and attachment. Mou distinguishes between a “little self” and a “great self.” The little self is the mind of habit, an inner domain constituted by psychological states, and it is constantly construed through a narrative interweaving of our memories. This inner domain is the province of qualia. In contemporary philosophy of mind, qualia are the subjective and qualitative aspects of our mental lives, the inner side of phenomenal experiences. They are echoes and traces passively produced by sensorial contact with the external world and are directly accessible only to privately experiencing subjects. In Critique of the Cognitive Mind, Mou called them “psychological states,” contrasting them with perception, that is, the ever-present ability of the mind to emancipate itself from any passive reverberation and affirm itself as pure dynamical act and ever-resurgent new beginning. Translated in a performative and practical dimension, Mou understands the little self or the unauthentic subject as a conglomerate of attachments and habits residually left behind in our attempt to dominate and control the objective world. The great self attainable in our moral deeds is a higher spiritual state that overcomes the distinction between the inner and outer worlds. The dynamism of self-transcendence actualized in my moral agency is a constant awakening from selfish slumber to the infinitude of my being one with all things. As Mengzi expresses it, “All things are already complete in us.” The unparalleled contribution of the Confucian tradition lies in the primacy of morals. It is critical to highlight that in Mou’s thought “morals” has a more comprehensive semantic spectrum than in Western philosophy because it is not a specific branch of knowledge dealing with ethical virtues and freedom of will, as epitomized in Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason. Morals and the moral self possess a performative and metaphysical dimension, including the ability to decipher the meaning embedded in reality, the action of conferring value to things, respecting them as end-in-itself, and avoiding the reduction of the world to a mere instrument, and finally the intuition of the universe as one with myself. The Western horizontal paradigm, in which ethical principles are deduced from the knowledge of being, is unable to explain phenomena such as moral failure and objectively justify the freedom of will. Therefore, Mou suggests that we begin our philosophical inquiry with the moral experience of value, rather than the relation between the mind and external objects. Confucian tradition offers a prime example of moral experience in Mengzi’s apologue of the “child by the well.” When I see my child about to fall into a well, Mengzi argues that my feelings of compassion are immediately awakened. What I perceive in my emotional intelligence is a sense of urgency and concern that results in the spontaneous and immediate action of grabbing the child. In this archetypal experience, the self emerges as a vital vibration of urgency and agency, witnessing my being-one-body with the child. The infinitely irreducible value of the world possesses a force of self-manifestation and actualizes itself in my all-embracing responsiveness. According to Mou, I become retrospectively aware of my moral mind as a universal, active interconnectedness of all that exists, preceding any separation between subject and object. With respect to the Daoist subject analyzed in Chapter 3, the conception of the performative subject that aims for self-realization is reconfirmed, as is the idea of jingjie. However, Mou’s assertion that the full meaning of the subject is inaugurated by Confucianism reveals that the characteristics of the self (i.e., dynamism and reflexivity) can be fully appreciated only when the moral self comes to the forefront. According to Mou, the merit of orthodox Confucian teaching is to have placed something maximally positive and attainable through human freedom, that is, the moral self and the supreme spiritual level attainable through my effort of self-cultivation. Daoism’s diaphanous subject maintains structural passivity. The jingjie of the Daoist saint, reached through a systematic withdrawal from any purpose or concrete engagement with reality, is a mental landscape in which the self and nothingness, that is, the inchoate origin of the cosmos, merge into one. From this point, the Daoist self can only contemplate the exuberant gushing out of myriad things from the origin, being careful to constantly efface itself to avoid obstacles to the endless metamorphosis of things. In Mou’s moral metaphysics, the moral mind replaces nothingness as a creative inception. The self is required to actively participate, embodying and actualizing the moral principles in minute objective circumstances, without letting anything out of the sphere of concern and responsibility. In addition to dynamism and performativity, reflexivity and self-awareness are the third characteristic of the self. The Daoist diaphanous subject, in attending to the multifarious manifestation of beings, can look back at itself and become aware of the unity between the universe and the transparency of the self, which is the condition for this manifestation. However, because of the necessity of avoiding attachment to the self and constantly restoring the transparency of the mind, it is nothing more than an ephemeral gleam. In contrast, Mou’s moral self, in performing ethical deeds, realizes and actualizes the principle that it embodies every single thing. The specific circumstances are not given through a visually based detached contemplation but are concretely actualized in their value and meaning through active participation and concern. In “bringing things to realization without any of them being lost” (ti wu er bu ke yi 體物而不可遺), the “mind of benevolence” concretizes the moral principle by penetrating into the infinite particularity of situations. Through my moral activity, I come to realize myself as one with the moral mind, which is the highest spiritual state. Here, I operate at the ontological level that Mou identifies with the Confucian idea of inherent nature (xing 性). Nature is brought to perfect manifestation through creative efforts to reach the spiritual state of the moral mind. Nature is not a static substance but a living principle that possesses the ability to self-actualize. Mou valorizes the idea, stemming from the very beginning of Chinese thought—the Yijing (Classic of Change)—that reality is a living, dynamic flux of transformation and an interacting web of mutual responsiveness. As Mou declared in Critique of the Cognitive Mind, reality in itself is holistic, interconnected, and pervaded with meaning. However, in the absence of a manifesting mind, this organic order of things, which is their principle and value-in-itself, remains only a latent ontological property. Only in self-perfected human beings are the mind and nature, manifestation and content, inseparable. The manifestation proper to the moral mind is not merely a symbolic expression, but is the concretization of the moral principle into the infinite particularity of situations. The distinctive power of my human self is the ability to embody the moral principle of my specific nature so that the principle of my action is not outside me but comes from the heart of my being. In this way, I acquire autonomy and freedom and am able to preserve and nurture them by extending the horizon of moral care to the entire universe. Saying that “All things are already complete in me,” Mengzi endows the finite human mind with an infinite capacity for moral extension and elevation. Building on the Confucian teaching of ren and Mengzi’s theory of mind and nature, the Song-Ming era of Neo-Confucianism gradually brought to fruition the unification of the metaphysical plane of moral practice and the creative energy of the universe. Realizing my moral mind, I awaken myself to be one with the cosmos. Everything is in me, because by expanding the field of my concern and vigilance to the universe, I do not consider nothing external to myself. The authentic self redefines the idea of interiority as autonomy, that is, the capacity to embody the principle of being and acting and having nothing outside that can dictate or obstruct actions. Though posing moral practice as the culminating point of human endeavor, Mou recognizes the necessity and value of any epistemological effort, particularly scientific knowledge. The reason lies just in the fact that moral activity is spontaneously actualizing in the specificity of phenomena and circumstances. If even the smallest thing must not be forgotten or left out of the sphere of meaning, then cognitive activities are embedded in the circular movement of the moral mind. Facts and events that occur in the performative field have an objective aspect at their core. When moral action encounters difficulty in its scrupulous accomplishment, the mind should stop and analyze this obstacle as a thing contraposed to a knowing subject. The final aim is to restore the ever-flowing circular dynamism of the absolute mind. Eliminating any obstruction through apprehension of the objective thing is subordinated to the unavoidable task of the self. This temporary arrest and entrenchment in the horizontal multiplicity of things is called by Mou ziwo kanxian 自我坎陷that is, self-limitation of the moral self.

Abstract Integrated circuit (IC) delayering is highly subjective, as operators must make process decisions based on minute details observed in optical images of the ICs. Process decisions have a strong influence on the quality of the final sample, with the result being highly dependent on an operator’s technique, skill, and experience. However, end point detection, process development, and in-process feedback all benefit from a quantitative method to evaluate results. To this end, a quality metric for IC delayering based solely on optical images has been developed. The optical images are processed into CIE-Lab color space, candidate zones are established, and color homogeneity both within and among these zones is calculated, which contribute to a final die quality score. The work done in this study takes a significant step forward in quantifying IC delayering results, which is critical for improving repeatability, reproducibility, and developing automation frameworks in these workflows.

Small, highly maneuverable Urban Air Mobility (UAM) air taxis might exhibit motions during hover and low-speed flight that are unfamiliar to many passengers, and for which there are no established guidelines to predict passenger comfort. Researchers performed a study in the Armstrong Virtual Reality Passenger Ride Quality Laboratory to identify relationships between sudden motion characteristics and UAM passenger comfort and acceptance. Twenty-three volunteer test subjects from the Armstrong workforce each completed a 15-minute experience as a passenger in a virtual air taxi simulation. Subjects evaluated a series of flight maneuvers with varying levels of sudden motion using a five-point rating scale and indicated which motion(s) they found uncomfortable. Researchers then administered a post-test questionnaire to relate the passengers’ ratings to their willingness to fly on a real air taxi with similar levels of motion. The study results relate peak heave acceleration and jerk to passenger acceptance.

Abstract Drop evaporation test at three different temperatures was conducted with duplex stainless steel for studying the influence of temperature, strain and heat input on its stress corrosion cracking (SCC) suitability. Three welding conditions were performed: regular heat input of 1.0 kJ/mm; low heat input 0.5 kJ/mm, inducing high ferrite content in the melting zone; and high heat input 3.5 kJ/mm, in order to induce the precipitation of deleterious phases in the heat affected zone. The specimens were tested with three different tensile stresses with four point bending device for 500 hours under the drop of synthetic sea water solution with flow rate of 10 ± 1 drops per minute and temperatures of 70 °C, 90 °C and 110 °C. All specimens tested at temperature of 110 °C showed a fracture in the region adjacent to the dropping zone, below the salt deposit and away from the weld bead, with the presence of multiple nucleation and branched crack propagation. The fracture surface showed topography similar to cleavage with small regions of α/γ interface propagation. The test specimens tested at 90 °C only showed localized preferential corrosion of the ferrite; it also occurred in the region adjacent to the dropping zone. The same tests were made with the dropping aiming adjacent, moved 25 mm from the specimen’s center for formation of the salt deposit above the weld bead, at temperatures of 70 °C and 90 °C, but there was no evidence of SCC.

In 2022, Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Surveys and Intensive 10-minute Point Count Surveys for all bird species were conducted on July 6, 2022, and July 12, 2022 in Rattlesnake Springs area within Carlsbad Caverns National Park and The Nature Conservancy?s Rattlesnake Springs Preserve. Two Tucson Audubon staff members conducted these surveys and are both permitted by USFWS to conduct the official USFWS Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Survey Protocol. One hundred sixty-five Southwestern Willow Flycatcher call-back protocol point counts were conducted with zero detections. The Arizona Important Bird Areas Intensive Point Count Protocol for 10-minute surveys for all bird species detected a total of 31 species with 8 additional species detected by surveyors between point counts. In 2023, USFWS Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Surveys and Intensive 10-minute Point Count Surveys for all bird species were conducted on May 15, June 5, June 13, June 27, and July 10, 2023. Four Tucson Audubon staff members conducted these surveys, and all were permitted by USFWS to conduct the official USFWS Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Survey Protocol. Five hundred nineteen Southwestern Willow Flycatcher call-back protocol point counts were conducted with positive detections on June 5, 2023 (one bird), June 13, 2023 (two birds, likely pair), and June 27, 2023 (three birds, 1 pair and a single). The all-species 10-minute Intensive Point Count Protocol detected a total of 58 species with 3 additional species detected by surveyors between point counts.

In February 2021, a group from MASTS, Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewables (EIMR) and Marine Scotland began exploring options for a joint event on marine energy science and policy development. The original concept was to bridge the gap between events that each group would normally arrange ‘in person’ and the virtual world in which we were all currently existing. Encouraged by the online support and experience available from MASTS, a steering group decided to arrange a workshop. In order to straddle our interests, the starting point was the capacity of the North Sea to deliver renewable energy. We wanted to include emerging science and the timing of the review of Scotland’s National Marine Plan provided an excellent context. We sought to deliver a wide range of content but encourage participant conversation. We aimed for a range of speakers delivering 7-minute recorded talks. Talks included findings from funded research, ongoing projects, and some emerging thinking across the science policy interface for marine planning. Marine energy was interpreted in the widest of senses, but the main focus was on offshore wind in UK waters, with particular detail about Scotland.

Traffic signal performance measures based on connected vehicle (CV) trajectory data can provide practitioners actionable information on the operational state of their systems. Agencies need visualization tools that can enable them to quickly assess arterial-level performance by time-of-day (TOD) to identify challenges and opportunities. This document presents a framework to report four signal performance measures over a corridor for all relevant movements, including traditional Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) level of service (LOS), arrivals on green (AOG), split failures (SF), and downstream blockage (DSB). The reporting framework can provide up to 3,072 performance data points per intersection since it provides information for eight different movements and four performance measures for every 15-minute period over 24 hours. To demonstrate implementation, 14 reports displaying performance estimations for 12 corridors, located in 11 different states, are presented. This reporting approach can facilitate the determination of possible mitigation strategies by contrasting operational conditions between movements by TOD.

Agencies use a variety of technologies and data providers to obtain travel time information. The best quality data can be obtained from second-by-second tracking of vehicles, but that data presents many challenges in terms of privacy, storage requirements and analysis. More frequently agencies collect or purchase segment travel time based upon some type of matching of vehicles between two spatially distributed points. Typical methods for that data collection involve license plate re-identification, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or some type of rolling DSRC identifier. One of the challenges in each of these sampling techniques is to employ filtering techniques to remove outliers associated with trip chaining, but not remove important features in the data associated with incidents or traffic congestion. This paper describes a curated data set that was developed from high-fidelity GPS trajectory data. The curated data contained 31,621 vehicle observations spanning 42 days; 2550 observations had travel times greater than 3 minutes more than normal. From this baseline data set, outliers were determined using GPS waypoints to determine if the vehicle left the route. Two performance measures were identified for evaluating three outlier-filtering algorithms by the proportion of true samples rejected and proportion of outliers correctly identified. The effectiveness of the three methods over 10-minute sampling windows was also evaluated. The curated data set has been archived in a digital repository and is available online for others to test outlier-filtering algorithms.

Breeding bird surveys were initiated on Pea Ridge National Military Park, Arkansas in 2008 to assess temporal changes in the species composition and abundance of birds on the park. These data also improve our understanding of relationships between breeding birds and their habitat and the effects of management actions, such as invasive plant species control and tree thinning, on bird populations. Birds were sampled using point counts with 99 variable circular plots located on a systematic grid of 400 x 400-m cells (originating from a random start point). All birds seen or heard on a plot during a 5-minute sampling period were recorded. We surveyed for breeding birds in eight of the last 14 years on as many of the 99 variable circular plots as possible each year, resulting in 592 cumulative plot visits. Surveys have yielded records for 111 different species of birds. Ninety-three of the species recorded are classified as permanent or summer residents to the area, 11 as winter residents to the area, six as transients in the area, and one as a migrant through the area. Nine breeding species recorded are considered species of conservation concern for the Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region, the bird conservation region Pea Ridge National Military Park is located within. Of the 93 breeding species recorded, 4 species occurred in grassland and 11 in woodland habitats in numbers large enough to calculate annual abundances with some degree of confidence. However, only the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), Eastern Wood-pewee (Contopus virens), Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), and Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) in woodland habitats demonstrated any trends (moderate to strong increases) in abundance. Trends in abundance were classified as uncertain for the rest of the species in both grassland and woodland habitats, which means that no significant increases or decreases occurred, but it is not certain that trends were < 5% per year. Comparisons of population trends on the park with regional trends for the Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region suggest that the bird community at Pea Ridge National Military Park is faring similarly to or slightly better than that of the region as a whole. Stable diversity, richness, and evenness values suggest that the park’s habitat has remained consistent in its ability to meet the requirements of many of the park’s breeding bird species. Any increase or decline in species richness could reflect habitat management practices but could also reflect the influences of larger-scale factors such as weather or climatic conditions on vegetation. Therefore, continued monitoring of birds and their habitats on Pea Ridge National Military Park as management and climatic conditions change is essential for park management. - -

Channel Islands National Park includes the five northern islands off the coast of southern California (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara Islands) and the surrounding waters out one nautical mile. There are approximately 176 miles of coastline around the islands, about 80% of which is composed of rock. The diversity and undisturbed nature of the tidepools of this rocky coastline were recognized as special features of the islands in the enabling legislation. To conserve these communities unimpaired for future generations, the National Park Service has been monitoring the rocky intertidal communities at the islands since 1982. Sites were established between 1982 and 1998. Site selection considered visitation, accessibility, presence of representative organisms, wildlife disturbance, and safety. This report summarizes the 2018–2019 sampling year efforts (from November 2018 to April 2019) and findings of the Channel Islands National Park Rocky Intertidal Community Monitoring Program. Specific monitoring objectives are 1) to determine the long-term trends in percent cover of key sessile organisms in the rocky intertidal ecosystem, and 2) to determine population dynamics of black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii), owl limpets (Lottia gigantea), and ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus). Objectives were met by monitoring percent cover of core species in target intertidal zones using photoplots and transects, and by measuring size frequency and abundance of black abalone, owl limpets, and sea stars using fixed plots or timed searches. Twelve key species or assemblages, as well as the substrate, tar, have been monitored twice per year at 21 sites on the five park islands as part of the rocky intertidal community monitoring program. Fixed photoplots were used to monitor the percent cover of thatched and acorn barnacles (Tetraclita rubescens, Balanus glandula/Chthamalus spp., respectively), mussels (Mytilus californianus), rockweeds (Silvetia compressa, and Pelvetiopsis californica (formerly Hesperophycus californicus), turfweed (Endocladia muricata), goose barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus) and tar. Point-intercept transects were used to determine the percent cover of surfgrass (Phyllospadix spp.). Information about size distribution (i.e., “size frequency” data) was collected for owl limpets in circular plots. Size distribution and relative abundance of black abalone and ochre sea stars were determined using timed searches. The maximum number of shorebirds and pinnipeds seen at one time were counted at each site. The number of concession boat visitors to the Anacapa tidepools was collected and reported. All sites were monitored in 2018–2019. This was the third year that we officially reduced our sampling interval from twice per year (spring and fall) to once in order to streamline the program and allow for the implementation of additional protocols. Weather conditions during the site visits were satisfactory, but high wind coupled with strong swell and surge limited or prevented the completion of some of the abalone and sea star searches. The percent cover for most key species or assemblages targeted in the photoplots was highly variable among sites. Mussel (Mytilus californianus) cover remained below average at Anacapa and Santa Barbara Islands. Record or near record low abundances for Mytilus were measured at Middle West Anacapa (Anacapa Island), Harris Point (San Miguel Island), Prisoner’s Harbor (Santa Cruz Island), and Sea Lion Rookery (Santa Barbara Island) sites. The only site that appeared to have above average Mytilus cover was Scorpion Rock on Santa Cruz Island. All other sites had mussel cover near or below the long-term mean. Qualitatively, Mytilus recruitment appeared low at most sites. Both rockweed species, Silvetia compressa and Pelvetiopsis californica (formerly Hesperophycus californicus), continued to decrease markedly in abundance this year at the majority of sites compared to combined averages for previous years. Fossil Reef and Northwest-Talcott on Santa Rosa Island, Sea Lion Rookery on Santa Barbara Island, and South Frenchy’s Cove on Anacapa Island were the only sites that supported Silvetia cover that was near the long-term mean. No sites exhibited above average cover of rockweed. Extremely high levels of recruitment for Silvetia and Pelvetiopsis were documented at many sites. Most sites exhibited marked declines in S. compressa abundances beginning in the early 2000s, with little recovery observed for the rockweed through this year. Barnacle (Chthamalus/Balanus spp.) cover fell below the long-term means at all islands except Anacapa, where barnacle cover was slightly above average. Endocladia muricata abundances remained comparable to the grand mean calculated for previous years at Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa Islands, while cover of the alga decreased slightly below the long-term means at Anacapa and San Miguel Islands. Black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii) abundances at the islands remain less than one percent of 1985 population levels. Zero abalone were found throughout the entire site at Landing Cove on Santa Barbara Island and South Frenchy’s Cove on Anacapa Island. Above average abundances relative to the long-term mean generated from post-1995 data were observed at all but five sites. Juvenile black abalone were seen at all islands except Santa Barbara. Ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) populations crashed in 2014 at all monitoring sites due to Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, an illness characterized by a suite of symptoms that generally result in death. The mortality event was widely considered to be the largest mortality event for marine diseases ever seen. Beginning in June 2013, the disease swiftly and significantly impacted P. ochraceus (among other species of sea stars) populations along the North American Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. By the beginning of 2014, P. ochraceus abundances had declined by >95% at nearly all Channel Islands long-term intertidal monitoring sites, in addition to numerous other locations along the West Coast. At various times during the past decade, extremely high abundances (~ 500 P. ochraceus) have been observed at multiple sites, and most locations have supported >100 sea stars counted during 30-minute site-wide searches. This year, abundances ranged 0–13 individuals per site with all but one site having fewer than 10 P. ochraceus seen during routine searches. Insufficient numbers of sea stars were seen to accurately estimate the size structure of P. ochraceus populations. Only two juveniles (i.e., <50 mm) were observed at all sites combined. Giant owl limpet densities in 2018–2019 were comparable or slightly above the long-term mean at seven sites. Exceptionally high densities were measured at Northwest-Talcott on Santa Rosa Island, Otter Harbor on San Miguel Island, and Willows Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island. The sizes of L. gigantea this year varied among sites and islands. The smallest L. gigantea were observed at Otter Harbor followed closely by Willows Anchorage and Anacapa Middle West, and the largest were seen at Northwest-Talcott. Temporally, the mean sizes of L. gigantea in 2018–2019 decreased below the long-term mean at each island except Anacapa. Surfgrasses (Phyllospadix spp.) are typically monitored biannually at two sites each on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands. Beginning in 2015, all transects at each of the monitoring sites were only sampled once per year. At East Point on Santa Rosa Island, the conditions were not conducive to sampling the surfgrass transects, but qualitatively, percent cover of surfgrass appeared to be near 100% on all three transects. Relative to past years, cover of surfgrass increased above the long-term mean at Fraser Cove on Santa Cruz Island, fell slightly below the mean at Trailer on Santa Cruz Island, and remained approximately equivalent to the mean at the two Santa Rosa Island sites. Overall, the abundance and diversity of shorebirds in 2018–2019 at all sites appeared similar to observations made in recent years, with the exception of elevated numbers of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) observed at East Point on Santa Rosa Island. Black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) were the most ubiquitous shorebird seen at all sites. Black turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala) were not common relative to past years. Pinniped abundances remained comparable in 2018–2019 to historical counts for all three species that are commonly seen at the islands. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were seen in the vicinity of eight sites this year. As in past years, harbor seals were most abundant at Otter Harbor and Harris Point on San Miguel Island. Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) were seen at six sites during the year, where abundances ranged 1–5 individuals per location. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) were common at Santa Barbara Island; 117 individuals were observed at Sea Lion Rookery. Sea lion abundances were higher than usual at Harris Point (N = 160) and Otter Harbor (N = 82) on San Miguel Island. Relative to past years, abundances this year were considered average at other locations.