Outline of a new approach to the nature of mind

I propose a new approach to the constitutive problem of psychology ‘what is mind?’ The first section introduces modifications of the received scope, methodology, and evaluation criteria of unified theories of cognition in accordance with the requirements of evolutionary compatibility and of a mature science. The second section outlines the proposed theory. Its first part provides empirically verifiable conditions delineating the class of meaningful neural formations and modifies accordingly the traditional conceptions of meaning, concept and thinking. This analysis is part of a theory of communication in terms of inter-level systems of primitives that proposes the communication-understanding principle as a psychological invariance. It unifies a substantial amount of research by systematizing the notions of meaning, thinking, concept, belief, communication, and understanding and leads to a minimum vocabulary for this core system of mental phenomena. Its second part argues that written human language is the key characteristic of the artificially natural human mind. Overall, the theory both supports Darwin’s continuity hypothesis and proposes that the mental gap is within our own species

Benchmark bonds interactions under regime shifts

In the present paper we examine interactions among five benchmark ten year government bonds, namely those of the US, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Our aim is to illustrate empirically a network of interactions existing among the major bond markets of Europe and the US market taking into account shifts in the underlying stochastic processes. For this purpose, and in contrast to the rest of the relevant empirical literature, after specifying the long-run equilibrium relations we estimate the linkages between the bond markets as subject to hidden Markov chains, by applying the Markov Switching Vector Error Correction framework (MS-VECM). This formulation is found to efficiently reflect the shifts brought about by significant economic events, such as the European monetary unification. As a result we illustrate different short-run relations referring to the periods before and after monetary union. Overall, our empirical results indicate that stronger interactions between the markets of the system exist in the period after the EMU. Also, by means of a variance decomposition analysis we assess leader-follower relations which indicate that the benchmark status of bonds has changed since the introduction of the common monetary policy framework in Europe.Financial integration; bond markets; benchmarks; Markov Switching

Suppression of backscattered diffraction from sub-wavelength ‘moth-eye’ arrays

The eyes and wings of some species of moth are covered with arrays of nanoscale features that dramatically reduce reflection of light. There have been multiple examples where this approach has been adapted for use in antireflection and antiglare technologies with the fabrication of artificial moth-eye surfaces. In this work, the suppression of iridescence caused by the diffraction of light from such artificial regular moth-eye arrays at high angles of incidence is achieved with the use of a new tiled domain design, inspired by the arrangement of features on natural moth-eye surfaces. This bio-mimetic pillar architecture contains high optical rotational symmetry and can achieve high levels of diffraction order power reduction. For example, a tiled design fabricated in silicon and consisting of domains with 9 different orientations of the traditional hexagonal array exhibited a ~96% reduction in the intensity of the ?1 diffraction order. It is suggested natural moth-eye surfaces have evolved a tiled domain structure as it confers efficient antireflection whilst avoiding problems with high angle diffraction. This combination of antireflection and stealth properties increases chances of survival by reducing the risk of the insect being spotted by a predator. Furthermore, the tiled domain design could lead to more effective artificial moth-eye arrays for antiglare and stealth applications

A novel fontanelle probe for sensing oxygen saturation in the neonate

Monitoring of blood oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) of the neonate is essential to the quality of health care provided on a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Current sensors are usually placed at the hand or foot, which are dependent of a peripheral blood supply. When the peripheral blood circulation of neonates is compromised conventional peripheral pulse oximeters, in many cases, fail to operate accurately or at all. A new reflectance anterior fontanelle (ANTF) SpO 2 sensor and instrumentation has been developed to investigate SpO 2 s from the neonatal fontanelle. The hypothesis is that perfusion at a central site should be preserved at times of compromised peripheral circulation. Fifteen neonates on an NICU (9 male, 6 female) with a median age of 7 d (IQR = 41.5 d) were selected for monitoring. ANTF photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals were monitored for a maximum period of 2 h. The developed system and custom made sensors were successful at acquiring good quality signals at both wavelengths necessary for pulse oximetry calculations. ANTF SpO 2 s, estimated from the acquired PPGs, were in broad agreement with SpO 2 s obtained from the commercial foot pulse oximeter. A Bland and Altman analysis of the differences between SpO 2 s from the fontanelle PPG sensor and the commercial device show a relatively small mean difference (d = ±2.2%), but with a wide variation (2s = ±17.4%) this observation may be due to the varied levels of ill health patients and is backed up by comparing the commercial device SpO 2 readings at the same moment a blood gas sample was taken (d = 4.8%, 2s = ±15.8%)

Photoplethysmographic and SpO2 readings from the neonatal anterior fontanelle: a case study

There is a need for a more reliable, noninvasive and alternative measurement site for the monitoring of arterial blood oxygen saturation in critically ill neonates when peripheral perfusion is poor. The anterior fontanelle, a unique anatomical feature of the neonate, has been presented as an alternative site for the estimation of arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). A new fontanelle photoplethysmographic sensor and processing system has been developed to investigate fontanelle photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals and estimate SpO2 values at this anatomical location. Preliminary clinical trials have shown that good quality PPG signals with large amplitudes and high signal to noise ratio can be obtained from the neonatal fontanelle. The estimation of SpO2 values from the fontanelle were in broad agreement with a commercial foot pulse oximeter

Phonon Life-times from first principles self consistent lattice dynamics

Phonon lifetime calculations from first principles usually rely on time consuming molecular dynamics calculations, or density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) where the zero temperature crystal structure is assumed to be dynamically stable. Here a new and effective method for calculating phonon lifetimes from first principles is presented, not limited to crystal structures stable at 0 K, and potentially much more effective than most corresponding molecular dynamics calculations. The method is based on the recently developed self consistent lattice dynamical method and is here tested by calculating the bcc phase phonon lifetimes of Li, Na, Ti and Zr, as representative examples.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figur