Ethics and the Awareness of Complex Individuals: Reflections on Adolf Eichmann and Oskar Schindler

Like many philosophers who favor Aristotelian virtue ethics over more legalistic and impersonal theories like those of Kant and Mill, I claim that ethics is more a matter of cultivating the right character than of living by a set of rules based on abstract principles. True to this stance, I present a certain attitude toward others as crucial to living well. This attitude involves cultivating a powerful awareness of the intricate complexity of other people and a deep appreciation of the value of such complex beings. Also with this attitude comes a sense of relation and community inspired by our understanding that other human beings, like us, as isolated within their own perspective. In support of these views, I examine the lives of two men, Adolf Eichmann and Oskar Schindler, who help reveal the importance of this attitude and the moral tendencies it inspires

Extremizers for Adjoint Restriction to a Pair of Reflected Paraboloids

We consider the adjoint restriction inequality associated to the hypersurface $\{(\tau, \xi) : \tau = \pm|\xi|^2, \;\xi \in \mathbb{R}^d\}$ at the Stein-Tomas exponent. Extremizers exist in all dimensions and extremizing sequences are precompact modulo symmetries conditional on a certain inequality, which we verify in the case $d \in \{1,2\}$

Extremizers for Adjoint Restriction to Pairs of Translated Paraboloids

Consider the adjoint restriction inequality associated with the hypersurface $\{ (\tau, \xi) \in \mathbb{R}^{d+1} : \tau = |\xi|^2 \} \cup \{(\tau, \xi) \in \mathbb{R}^{d+1} : \tau - \tau_0 = |\xi - \xi_0|^2\}$ for any $(\tau_0, \xi_0) \neq 0$. We prove that extremizers do not exist for this inequality and fully characterize extremizing sequences in terms of extremizers for the adjoint restriction inequality for the paraboloid

Reconstruction of Human Motions Based on Low-Dimensional Control Signals

This thesis addresses the question to what extent it is possible to reconstruct human full-body motions from very sparse control signals. To this end, we first investigate the use of multi-linear representations of human motions. We show that multi-linear motion models together with knowledge from prerecorded motion capture databases can be used to realize a basic motion reconstruction framework that relies on very sparse inertial sensor input only. However, due to the need for a semantic pre-classification of the motion to be reconstructed and rather restricting database requirements, the described framework is not suitable for a more general motion capture scenario. We address these issues in a second, more flexible approach, which relies on sparse accelerometer readings only. Specifically, we employ four 3D accelerometers that are attached to the extremities of a human actor to learn a series of local models of human poses at runtime. The main challenge in generating these local models is to find a reliable mapping from the lowdimensional space of accelerations to the high-dimensional space of human poses or motions. We describe a novel online framework that successfully deals with this challenge. In particular, we introduce a novel method for very efficiently retrieving poses and motion segments from a large motion capture database based on a continuous stream of accelerometer readings, as well as a novel prior model that minimizes reconstruction ambiguities while simultaneously accounting for temporal and spatial variations. Thirdly, we will outline a conceptually very simple yet very effective framework for reconstructing motions based on sparse sets of marker positions. Here, the sparsity of the control signal results from problems that occurred during a motion capture session and is thus unintentional. As a consequence, we do not control the information we can access, which introduces several new challenges. The basic idea of the presented framework is to approximate the original performance by rearranging suitable, time-warped motion subsequences retrieved from a knowledge base containing motion capture data that is known to be similar to the original performance

Development and application of mass-spectrometric methods for the quantification and characterization of organic compounds in ice cores

Eisbohrkerne stellen wertvolle Klimaarchive dar, da sie atmosphärisches Aerosol konservieren. Die Analyse chemischer Verbindungen als Bestandteil atmosphärischer Aerosole in Eisbohrkernen liefert wichtige Informationen über Umweltbedingungen und Klima der Vergangenheit. Zur Untersuchung der α-Dicarbonyle Glyoxal und Methylglyoxal in Eis- und Schneeproben wurde eine neue, sensitive Methode entwickelt, die die Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE) mit der Hochleistungsflüssigchromatographie-Massenspektrometrie (HPLC-MS) kombiniert. Zur Analyse von Dicarbonsäuren in Eisbohrkernen wurde eine weitere Methode entwickelt, bei der die Festphasenextraktion mit starkem Anionenaustauscher zum Einsatz kommt. Die Methode erlaubt die Quantifizierung aliphatischer Dicarbonsäuren (â ¥ C6), einschließlich Pinsäure, sowie aromatischer Carbonsäuren (wie Phthalsäure und Vanillinsäure), wodurch die Bestimmung wichtiger Markerverbindungen für biogene und anthropogene Quellen ermöglicht wurde. Mit Hilfe der entwickelten Methoden wurde ein Eisbohrkern aus den Schweizer Alpen analysiert. Die ermittelten Konzentrationsverläufe der Analyten umfassen die Zeitspanne von 1942 bis 1993. Mittels einer Korrelations- und Hauptkomponentenanalyse konnte gezeigt werden, dass die organischen Verbindungen im Eis hauptsächlich durch Waldbrände und durch vom Menschen verursachte Schadstoffemissionen beeinflusst werden. Im Gegensatz dazu sind die Konzentrationsverläufe einiger Analyten auf den Mineralstaubtransport auf den Gletscher zurückzuführen. Zusätzlich wurde ein Screening der Eisbohrkernproben mittels ultrahochauflösender Massenspektrometrie durchgeführt. Zum ersten Mal wurden in diesem Rahmen auch Organosulfate und Nitrooxyorganosulfate in einem Eisbohrkern identifiziert.Ice cores are valuable climate archives, preserving atmospheric aerosols. Hence, the analysis of aerosol-related chemical compounds in ice provides information on past environmental and climatic conditions. In order to investigate the α-dicarbonyls glyoxal and methylglyoxal in ice cores, a new sensitive method using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was developed. A second method employing solid phase extraction with strong anion exchange was developed for the analysis of dicarboxylic acids, thus enabling the determination of important biogenic, anthropogenic, and biomass burning marker compounds. Concentration records of α-dicarbonyls and (di)carboxylic acids were obtained by applying both methods to a glacier ice core from the Swiss Alps, covering the time period of 1942 to 1993. A correlation and principal component analysis of the resulting concentration data revealed biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions to be the main parameters influencing the concentration of organic compounds present in the ice. In contrast to this observation, the records of some analytes were affected by changing mineral dust transport to the drilling site. Additionally, a non-target screening of the ice samples was performed using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry. For the first time, organosulfates and nitrooxy organosulfates were detected in ice core samples

Existence and smoothness of extremizers for convolution with compactly supported measures

In this article, we establish various facts about extremizers for $L^p$-improving convolution operators $T\colon L^p \rightarrow L^q$ associated with compactly-supported probability measures on either $\mathbb{R}^d$ or $\mathbb{T}^d$ . If $\sigma$ has positive Fourier decay, we prove that extremizers exist and extremizing sequences are precompact modulo translation for all "non-endpoint" $(p,q)$. These extremizers also satisfy an interesting positivity property and belong to $C_{loc}^\infty \cap L^\infty$

Releases of hazardous materials and waste from transportation incidents in the US: an analysis to increase environmental resiliency

Excessive amounts of hazardous materials and waste are released into the environment from transportation incidents. The United States federal government has regulations on the movement of hazardous material and waste during transportation, but preventing environmental releases is not a major priority. Multiple external factors influence the release of hazardous material and waste into the environment. Transportation incidents can be prevented by modifying the information collected in emergency reports, adjusting transportation patterns and conditions, and expressing negative environmental impacts, preparing responder efforts to communicate effectively. The components of previous hazardous materials and waste releases emphasize the needed improvements for increasing environmental resiliency through a SWOT analysis, GIS, and descriptive statistical analysis. These interfaces were utilized to focus on the initial stages of the emergency response process, identify frequent locations of hazardous releases from transportation incidents, and highlight the most susceptible environments. It was discovered that agencies’ reporting documentation lacked environmentally conscious sections to reflect the transportation incidents, structural reinforcements and designated routes should be implemented to reduce transportation incidents, and a standardized categorization must be established to communicate the movement of the most commonly released hazardous material and waste. Limiting releases of hazardous materials and wastes will increase environmental resiliency from transportation incidents overall, but requires federal intervention in each stage to decrease susceptibility and vulnerability of hazardous releases and limit the stress anthropogenic behaviors impose on the environment

Analysis of biogenic carbonyl compounds in rainwater by stir bar sorptive extraction technique with chemical derivatization and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Stir bar sorptive extraction is a powerful technique for the extraction and analysis of organic compounds in aqueous matrices. Carbonyl compounds are ubiquitous components in rainwater, however, it is a major challenge to accurately identify and sensitively quantify carbonyls from rainwater due to the complex matrix. A stir bar sorptive extraction technique was developed to efficiently extract carbonyls from aqueous samples following chemical derivatization by O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl) hydroxylamine hydrochloride. Several commercial stir bars in two sizes were used to simultaneously measure 29 carbonyls in aqueous samples with detection by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. A100 mL aqueous sample was extracted by stir bars and the analytes on stir barswere desorbed into a 2mLsolvent solution in an ultrasonic bath. The preconcentration Coefficient for different carbonyls varied between 30 and 45 times. The limits of detection of stir bar sorptive extraction with gas chromatography mass spectrometry for carbonyls (1030 ng/L) were improved by ten times compared with other methods such as gas chromatography with electron capture detection and stir bar sorptive extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The technique was used to determine carbonyls in rainwater samples collected in York, UK, and 20 carbonyl species were quantified including glyoxal, methylglyoxal, isobutenal, 2-hydroxy ethanal

Comparison of Sexual Risk Behaviors Between Junior Male and Female Students at Pierz High School

The purpose of the study was to conduct a secondary analysis of Minnesota Student Survey data to compare selected sexual risk behavior of male and female eleventh grade students at Pierz High School. The secondary analysis revealed that the males and females are not significantly different with respect to the selected sexual risk behaviors. The conclusion can be reached that there is no need to tailor the sexual health instruction to students based on gender

Aerosol Chemistry Resolved by Mass Spectrometry: Linking Field Measurements of Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity to Organic Aerosol Composition

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Science & Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b01675Aerosol hygroscopic properties were linked to its chemical composition by using complementary online mass spectrometric techniques in a comprehensive chemical characterization study at a rural mountaintop station in central Germany in August 2012. In particular, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry ((−)APCI-MS) provided measurements of organic acids, organosulfates, and nitrooxy-organosulfates in the particle phase at 1 min time resolution. Offline analysis of filter samples enabled us to determine the molecular composition of signals appearing in the online (−)APCI-MS spectra. Aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) provided quantitative measurements of total submicrometer organics, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium. Inorganic sulfate measurements were achieved by semionline ion chromatography and were compared to the AMS total sulfate mass. We found that up to 40% of the total sulfate mass fraction can be covalently bonded to organic molecules. This finding is supported by both on- and offline soft ionization techniques, which confirmed the presence of several organosulfates and nitrooxy-organosulfates in the particle phase. The chemical composition analysis was compared to hygroscopicity measurements derived from a cloud condensation nuclei counter. We observed that the hygroscopicity parameter (κ) that is derived from organic mass fractions determined by AMS measurements may overestimate the observed κ up to 0.2 if a high fraction of sulfate is bonded to organic molecules and little photochemical aging is exhibited