Two important tasks for theorists of justice are to determine the bounds of justice, which explain why some claims are matters of justice and others are not, and to determine the demands of justice, which settle conflicts that fall within those bounds. In this paper, we clarify the distinction between bounds and demands, revealing two striking things. First, while thresholds have typically been understood to be demands of justice, their use as such is confusing and arguably implausible. Second, thresholds appear to be better understood as demarcating the bounds of justice, if a suitable explanation for their use can be found. We explore three explanations for why thresholds can demarcate bounds and assess the prospects for seeing thresholds in this new and different role. These are satiability of the value of goods, satiability of justice, and conceptual engineering.

We derive a set of simplified equations that can be used for numerical studies of reduced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence within a small patch of the radially expanding solar wind. We allow the box to be either stationary in the Sun’s frame or to be moving at an arbitrary velocity along the background magnetic-field lines, which we take to be approximately radial. We focus in particular on the case in which the box moves at the same speed as outward-propagating Alfvén waves. To aid in the design and optimization of future numerical simulations, we express the equations in terms of scalar potentials and Clebsch coordinates. The equations we derive will be particularly useful for conducting high-resolution numerical simulations of reflection-driven magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind, and may also be useful for studying turbulence within other astrophysical outflows.

We develop a phenomenological model of strong imbalanced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence that accounts for intermittency and the reflection of Alfvén waves by spatial variations in the Alfvén speed. Our model predicts the slopes of the inertial-range Elsasser power spectra, the scaling exponents of the higher-order Elsasser structure functions and the way in which the parallel (to the magnetic field) length scale of the fluctuations varies with the perpendicular length scale. These predictions agree reasonably well with measurements of solar-wind turbulence from the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). In contrast to previous models of intermittency in balanced MHD turbulence, we find that intermittency in reflection-driven MHD turbulence increases the parallel wavenumbers of the energetically dominant fluctuations at small perpendicular length scales. This, like the PSP measurements with which our model agrees, suggests that turbulence in the solar wind and solar corona may lead to more ion cyclotron heating than previously realized.

Recommended dietary fibre consumption is rarely met in high-income countries. Detailed analysis of fibre consumption patterns is essential to identify strategies for increasing intake. This study investigated the timing and sources of fibre intake in Switzerland, using data from the Swiss Nutrition Survey, menuCH (n = 2057, 18–75 years). Dietary characteristics were summarised for the adult population and for subgroups stratified by absolute (< 15 g/day, 15-<30 g/day, and >=30 g/day) and relative (< 10 g/1000 kcal/day, 10-<14 g/1000 kcal/day, and >=14 g/1000 kcal/day) fibre intake. Mean fibre intake of both 24 HDRs for each individual and contribution of food groups and timing (before breakfast, breakfast, during the morning, lunch, during the afternoon, dinner, after dinner/at night) was calculated. Fibre was mainly consumed at breakfast (4.1 g/day), lunch (6.0 g/day), and dinner (6.4 g/day). Intake at breakfast differed between the lowest and highest fibre intake groups by 6.4 g/day (absolute) and 4.3 g/day (relative). Breakfast skipping was more frequent among low-fibre intake groups (29% for absolute intake, 19% for relative intake) than in the overall population (15%). The main sources of dietary fibre were grain products (35.6%), followed by vegetables (18.3%) and fruits (18.2%), with whole grains accounting for 17.5% of grain intake. Legumes contributed only to 1% of total fibre intake. Public health efforts encouraging regular breakfast consumption, and intake of whole grains and legumes are recommended to improve fibre intake.

We derive an analytic model of the inter-judge correlation as a function of five underlying parameters. Inter-cue correlation and the number of cues capture our assumptions about the environment, while differentiations between cues, the weights attached to the cues, and (un)reliability describe assumptions about the judges. We study the relative importance of, and interrelations between these five factors with respect to inter-judge correlation. Results highlight the centrality of the inter-cue correlation. We test the model’s predictions with empirical data and illustrate its relevance. For example, we show that, typically, additional judges increase efficacy at a greater rate than additional cues.

We investigate the implications of penalizing incorrect answers to multiple-choice tests, from the perspective of both test-takers and test-makers. To do so, we use a model that combines a well-known item response theory model with prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk, Econometrica 47:263–91, 1979). Our results reveal that when test-takers are fully informed of the scoring rule, the use of any penalty has detrimental effects for both test-takers (they are always penalized in excess, particularly those who are risk averse and loss averse) and test-makers (the bias of the estimated scores, as well as the variance and skewness of their distribution, increase as a function of the severity of the penalty).

“Improper linear models” (see Dawes, Am. Psychol. 34:571–582, 1979), such as equal weighting, have garnered interest as alternatives to standard regression models. We analyze the general circumstances under which these models perform well by recasting a class of “improper” linear models as “proper” statistical models with a single predictor. We derive the upper bound on the mean squared error of this estimator and demonstrate that it has less variance than ordinary least squares estimates. We examine common choices of the weighting vector used in the literature, e.g., single variable heuristics and equal weighting, and illustrate their performance in various test cases.

A recent paper by Wainer and Thissen has renewed the interest in Gini’s mean difference, G, by pointing out its robust characteristics. This note presents distribution-free asymptotic confidence intervals for its population value, γ, in the one sample case and for the difference Δ = (γ1 − γ2) in the two sample situations. Both procedures are based on a technique of jackknifing U-statistics developed by Arvesen.

In many regions of Canada, knowledge of the distribution of insect species is far from complete. This knowledge gap, known as the Wallacean Shortfall, is often manifest by species records separated by large, often remote areas with no records. Paradoxically, these difficult-to-access areas offer the best opportunity to study unaltered native community assemblages. Such gaps in knowledge are exemplified by ground beetles, a well-known group, yet with record gaps in many unstudied areas of Canada, including Akimiski Island, Nunavut. This postglacial rebound island, located in James Bay, has no permanently occupied human dwellings and almost no human-altered habitat. Using a combination of pitfall-malaise traps, pitfall traps, and hand captures during 2008–2014, we collected 1368 ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as part of a larger biodiversity survey. We identified 31 species, 29 of which were first territorial records for Nunavut. Our results almost double the number of Carabidae known from Nunavut and extend the known range of eight other species. Seventeen of the species that we caught cannot fly, evidence for colonists arriving on Akimiski on floating debris. Our study fills substantial range gaps and serves as baseline information to detect future change.