A computational framework for aesthetical navigation in musical search space

Paper presented at 3rd AISB symposium on computational creativity, AISB 2016, 4-6th April, Sheffield. Abstract. This article addresses aspects of an ongoing project in the generation of artificial Persian (-like) music. Liquid Persian Music software (LPM) is a cellular automata based audio generator. In this paper LPM is discussed from the view point of future potentials of algorithmic composition and creativity. Liquid Persian Music is a creative tool, enabling exploration of emergent audio through new dimensions of music composition. Various configurations of the system produce different voices which resemble musical motives in many respects. Aesthetical measurements are determined by Zipf’s law in an evolutionary environment. Arranging these voices together for producing a musical corpus can be considered as a search problem in the LPM outputs space of musical possibilities. On this account, the issues toward defining the search space for LPM is studied throughout this paper

Knowledge Representation with Multiple Logical Theories and Time

We present a knowledge representation framework where a collection of logic programs can be combined together by means of meta-level program composition operations. Each object-level program is composed of a collection of extended clauses, equipped with a time interval representing the time period in which they hold. The interaction between program composition operations and time yields a powerful knowledge representation language in which many applications can be naturally developed. The language is given a meta-level semantics which also provides an executable specification. Moreover, we define an abstract semantics by extending the immediate consequence operator from a single logic program to compositions of logic programs and taking into account time intervals. The operational, meta-level semantics is proven sound and complete with respect to the abstract bottom-up semantics. The approach is further extended in order to cope with the problem of reasoning over joined intervals of time. Three applications in the field of business regulations are shown

Intervention in tough-constructions revisited

Abstract In this paper, we subject to closer scrutiny one particularly influential recent argument in favour of the long-movement analysis of tough-constructions. Hartman (2011, 2012a, 2012b) discovered that experiencer PPs lead to ungrammaticality in tough-constructions, but not in expletive constructions. He attributes this ungrammaticality to defective intervention of A-movement, a movement step crucially postulated only in the long-movement analysis. He takes this as evidence that tough-constructions are derived via long movement. We make the novel observation that a PP intervention effect analogous to that in tough-constructions also arises in constructions that do not involve A-movement, namely pretty-predicate constructions and gapped degree phrases. Consequently, the intervention effect does not provide an argument for an A-movement step in tough-constructions or for the long-movement analysis, but rather for the base-generation analysis. We develop a uniform account of the intervention effects as a semantic-type mismatch. In particular, we propose that what unifies tough-constructions, pretty-predicate constructions, and gapped degree phrases is that they all have an embedded clause that is a null-operator structure. Introducing an experiencer PP into these constructions creates an irresolvable semantic-type mismatch. As such, we argue for a reassessment of what appears to be a syntactic locality constraint as an incompatibility in the semantic composition

Process planning and control of functionally graded parts using freeze-form extrusion fabrication

Freeze-form Extrusion Fabrication (FEF) is an additive manufacturing technology that is capable of fabricating complex three-dimensional parts. FEF works by depositing an aqueous-based colloidal ceramic or metal paste in a layer-by-layer fashion below the freezing point of the aqueous medium as to rapidly freeze the paste. The FEF machine in the present study is equipped with three syringes and is capable of mixing each paste in a desired composition ratio by using an inline static mixer. Compensation for the transport delay caused by the static mixer is necessary; therefore, an algorithm was developed to apply a one-dimensional (1D) composition gradient to monolithic parts, adjusting the plunger velocities to account for the transport delay. Control of extrusion-based additive manufacturing techniques is difficult due to the uncertainties of the paste properties such as entrapped air bubbles, inhomogeneity, and inconsistency of the paste rheology from batch to batch. Other challenges are present such as starting and stopping extrusion on demand (EOD) and steady-state velocity control of a coupled triple extruder system. These issues have been addressed with the development and implementation of a hybrid extrusion force-velocity controller --Abstract, page iv

Hands and Script in Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 5091

[Abstract] The history behind the composition of a manuscript can help to shed light on different aspects of it, such as date, location, or the purpose for which the book was produced. Thus, this paper takes into consideration the handwriting of a selected scientific manuscript in Middle English, Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 509, in order to ascertain some of these aspects. First, the text under investigation will be briefly described and the methodology explained. Secondly, the hands which appear throughout the text will be provided and the identity of the copyist and owners traced. An account of the main aspects of their biography will be supplied. Then, the different types of script, mainly anglicana and secretary, will be put forward and discussed in relation to the manuscript under consideration. Finally, the conclusions are included

Stochastic dynamics of dissolving active particles

Abstract.: The design of artificial microswimmers has generated significant research interest in recent years, for promise in applications such as nanomotors and targeted drug-delivery. However, many current designs suffer from a common problem, namely the swimmers remain in the fluid indefinitely, posing risks of clogging and damage. Inspired by recently proposed experimental designs, we investigate mathematically the dynamics of degradable active particles. We develop and compare two distinct chemical models for the decay of a swimmer, taking into account the material composition and nature of the chemical or enzymatic reaction at its surface. These include a model for dissolution without a reaction, as well as models for a reacting swimmer studied in the limit of large and small Damköhler number. A new dimensionless parameter emerges that allows the classification of colloids into ballistic and diffusive type. Using this parameter, we perform an asymptotic analysis to derive expressions for colloid lifetimes and their total mean squared displacement from release and validate these by numerical Monte Carlo simulations of the associated Langevin dynamics. Supported by general scaling relationships, our theoretical results provide new insight into the experimental applicability of a wide range of designs for degradable active colloids. Graphical abstract

Algunes fonts utilitzades per Jeroni Pujades (1568-1635) en l’elaboració de la seva crònica

L’obra d’un historiador està intrínsecament relacionada, entre d’altres elements, amb les fonts històriques que ha utilitzat. Aquest treball pretén mostrar quines foren algunes de les principals obres històriques que Jeroni Pujades utilitzà en la composició de la seva Crònica Universal del Principat de Catalunya (1609). Òbviament, tractant-se d’una obra de magnitud tan considerable, no hem presentat totes les fonts que l’autor empordanès utilitzà, sinó que ens hem centrat en les més importants i que ajuden a entendre l’enorme bagatge cultural que tenia l’historiador i jurista català. Abstract The work of an historian is intrinsically related, among other things, to the historical sources he used. This paper aims to show which were some of the major historical works which Jeroni Pujades employed in the composition of the Crònica Universal del Principat de Catalunya (1609). The sheer size of Pujades’s work makes it impossible to account for all the sources used by him. In what follows we have focused on the most important ones, in an attempt to understand Pujades’s complex cultural heritage

Strategy abundance in evolutionary many-player games with multiple strategies

Evolutionary game theory is an abstract and simple, but very powerful way to model evolutionary dynamics. Even complex biological phenomena can sometimes be abstracted to simple two-player games. But often, the interaction between several parties determines evolutionary success. Rather than pair-wise interactions, in this case we must take into account the interactions between many players, which are inherently more complicated than the usual two-player games, but can still yield simple results. In this manuscript we derive the composition of a many-player multiple strategy system in the mutation-selection equilibrium. This results in a simple expression which can be obtained by recursions using coalescence theory. This approach can be modified to suit a variety of contexts, e.g. to find the equilibrium frequencies of a finite number of alleles in a polymorphism or that of different strategies in a social dilemma in a cultural context.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, Journal of Theoretical Biology (2011

Semantic model-driven development of web service architectures.

Building service-based architectures has become a major area of interest since the advent of Web services. Modelling these architectures is a central activity. Model-driven development is a recent approach to developing software systems based on the idea of making models the central artefacts for design representation, analysis, and code generation. We propose an ontology-based engineering methodology for semantic model-driven composition and transformation of Web service architectures. Ontology technology as a logic-based knowledge representation and reasoning framework can provide answers to the needs of sharable and reusable semantic models and descriptions needed for service engineering. Based on modelling, composition and code generation techniques for service architectures, our approach provides a methodological framework for ontology-based semantic service architecture