Tracking (particle physics)

In particle physics, the tracking is the act of measuring the direction and magnitude of charged particles momenta. The particles entering a tracker (the device used for tracking), release part of their energy in the device: the tracker has to be finely segmented in order to be able to reconstruct with good precision where the particle passed. Since the tracking is usually made in a region where a magnetic field is present, it is possible to reconstruct part of the helix made by the particle inside the tracker (that is called track), and from the track parameters, and by knowing the mass of the particle under study (which is known by the use of particle identification), it is possible to reconstruct the actual direction and magnitude of the particle momenta. From these information the tracking of charged particles can be used to reconstruct secondary decays, this can be done for B-tagging (in experiments like CDF or at LHC) or to fully reconstruct events (like in BaBar and Belle).

Tracking (dog)

Tracking is a technique in which dogs are trained to locate certain objects by using the object's scent, for a variety of purposes. Tracking has always been an essential skill for dogs to survive in the wild, through hunting and tracking down potential prey.

Physiological Mechanisms of Tracking

Primarily, dogs use their sense of smell, to find and follow a track. Dogs have a highly sensitive olfactory system superior to humans, and are able to discriminate between different human’s scents. Moreover, dogs are also able to use visual cues to follow a track.

Phases of tracking

There are three phases, which complete the process of tracking:

1. Searching Phase

2. Deciding Phase

3. Tracking phase

Factors influencing a dog’s tracking ability

There are several factors which influences a dog’s ability to track: Physiological features of the dog are a factor. Some instances include with age, sex are influences. As a dog ages, their olfactory acuity decreases and decreases their ability to track. Furthermore, male dogs have found to be better at tracking than females, possibly due to sex differences in olfaction. Sniffing behaviour also influences olfaction, and therefore a dog’s ability to track. For example, a dog’s ability to sniff is higher when it is not panting due to fatigue – it is physically impossible for a dog to both pant and sniff at the same time and the mouth must be open or closed respectively . However, dogs trained to track during physically demanding activities may have adapted their behaviour by increasing sniffing frequency to maximize olfaction, and tracking. Also, different dog breeds have varying suitability to different tasks of tracking. For example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives use Labrador Retrievers for their tracking purposes.

Tracking (hunting)

Tracking in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked (quarry). A further goal of tracking is the deeper understanding of the systems and patterns that make up the environment surrounding and incorporating the tracker.

The practice of tracking may focus on, but is not limited to, the patterns and systems of the local animal life and ecology. Trackers must be able to recognize and follow animals through their tracks, signs, and trails, also known as spoor. Spoor may include tracks, scat, feathers, kills, scratching posts, trails, drag marks, sounds, scents, marking posts, the behavior of other animals, habitat cues, and any other clues about the identity and whereabouts of the quarry.

The skilled tracker is able to discern these clues, recreate what transpired on the landscape, and make predictions about the quarry. The tracker may attempt to predict the current location of the quarry and follow the quarry's spoor to that location, in an activity known as trailing.

Mathematical object

A mathematical object is an abstract object arising in mathematics. The concept is studied in philosophy of mathematics.

In mathematical practice, an object is anything that has been (or could be) formally defined, and with which one may do deductive reasoning and mathematical proofs. Commonly encountered mathematical objects include numbers, permutations, partitions, matrices, sets, functions, and relations. Geometry as a branch of mathematics has such objects as hexagons, points, lines, triangles, circles, spheres, polyhedra, topological spaces and manifolds. Another branch—algebra—has groups, rings, fields, group-theoretic lattices, and order-theoretic lattices. Categories are simultaneously homes to mathematical objects and mathematical objects in their own right. In proof theory, proofs and theorems are also mathematical objects.

The ontological status of mathematical objects has been the subject of much investigation and debate by philosophers of mathematics.

Cantorian framework

Goal

A goal is a desired result that a person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve: a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.

It is roughly similar to purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides reaction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract object, that has intrinsic value.

Goal setting

Goal setting may involve establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bounded (SMART) objectives, but not all researchers agree that these SMART criteria are necessary.

Research on goal setting by Edwin A. Locke and his colleagues suggests that goal setting can serve as an effective tool for making progress when it ensures that group members have a clear awareness of what each person must do to achieve a shared objective. On a personal level, the process of setting goals allows individuals to specify and then work toward their own objectives (such as financial or career-based goals). Goal-setting comprises a major component of personal development and management.

Object (philosophy)

An object is a technical term in modern philosophy often used in contrast to the term subject. A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed. For modern philosophers like Descartes, consciousness is a state of cognition that includes the subject—which can never be doubted as only it can be the one who doubts–—and some object(s) that may be considered as not having real or full existence or value independent of the subject who observes it. Metaphysical frameworks also differ in whether they consider objects exist independently of their properties and, if so, in what way.

The pragmatist Charles S. Peirce defines the broad notion of an object as anything that we can think or talk about. In a general sense it is any entity: the pyramids, Alpha Centauri, the number seven, a disbelief in predestination or the fear of cats. In a strict sense it refers to any definite being.

A related notion is objecthood. Objecthood is the state of being an object. One approach to defining it is in terms of objects' properties and relations. Descriptions of all bodies, minds, and persons must be in terms of their properties and relations. The philosophical question of the nature of objecthood concerns how objects are related to their properties and relations. For example, it seems that the only way to describe an apple is by describing its properties and how it is related to other things. Its properties may include its redness, its size and its composition, while its relations may include "on the table", "in the room" and "being bigger than other apples".