Neural correlates without reduction: the case of the critical period

Researchers in the cognitive sciences often seek neural correlates of psychological constructs. In this paper, I argue that even when these correlates are discovered, they do not always lead to reductive outcomes. To this end, I examine the psychological construct of a critical period and briefly describe research identifying its neural correlates. Although the critical period is correlated with certain neural mechanisms, this does not imply that there is a reductionist relationship between this psychological construct and its neural correlates. Instead, this case study suggests that there may be many-to-many psychological-neural mappings, not just one-to-one or even one-to-many relations between psychological kinds and types of neural mechanisms

Equal Sum Sequences and Imbalance Sets of Tournaments

Reid conjectured that any finite set of non-negative integers is the score set of some tournament and Yao gave a non-constructive proof of Reid's conjecture using arithmetic arguments. No constructive proof has been found since. In this paper, we investigate a related problem, namely, which sets of integers are imbalance sets of tournaments. We completely solve the tournament imbalance set problem (TIS) and also estimate the minimal order of a tournament realizing an imbalance set. Our proofs are constructive and provide a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm to realize any imbalance set. Along the way, we generalize the well-known equal sum subsets problem (ESS) to define the equal sum sequences problem (ESSeq) and show it to be NP-complete. We then prove that ESSeq reduces to TIS and so, due to the pseudo-polynomial time complexity, TIS is weakly NP-complete.Comment: Presented at the Retrospective Workshop on Discrete Geometry, Optimization and Symmetry, 25-29 Nov 2013, The Fields Institute, Toronto, Canad

Are sexes natural kinds?

Asking whether the sexes are natural kinds amounts to asking whether the categories, female and male, identify real divisions in nature, like the distinctions between biological species, or whether they mark merely artificial or arbitrary distinctions. The distinction between females and males in the animal kingdom is based on the relative size of the gametes they produce, with females producing larger gametes (ova) and males producing smaller gametes (sperm). This chapter argues that the properties of producing relatively large and small gametes are causally correlated with a range of other properties in a wide variety of organisms, and this is what makes females and males natural kinds in the animal kingdom. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the relationship between sex and gender: while the difference between the sexes is biologically grounded, the difference between genders is socially based. Since gender depends in part on the perception of sex, whether or not gender is real or not does not depend on whether sex is, since social reality is constituted in part by our perceptions. The claim that sexes are natural kinds in the animal kingdom does not imply that the biological differences among female and male humans do and should have social consequences

Protecting Children in Cyberspace

This essay was written for the Essay competition organized by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day May 2009. It discusses the issues faced by children while they surf online, including harrassment, exposure to adult material, behavioural and cultural issues. It also provides recommendations to provide safe access to the internet for children.Cyberspace; internet; cyber crimes; children; adult; online; internet crimes

Connecting People With Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for All

This essay won 1st prize in a nationwide essay competition organized by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2008. Theme of the Year was "Connecting People with Disabilitie: ICT Opportunities for All" The Prize was given by Prime Minister of Pakistan.Disability; Information Communication Technology; ICT; IT; Internet

Our Water Scenario: Are We Heading Towards Disaster?

This essay was written for an essay competition organised by Pakistan council for Research in Water Resources. It explains the current water scenario and prediction about future condition.Water; scarcity; irrigation; water supply; pakistan

Youth Crime: Causes and Remedies

This essay was written for the essay competition organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs Government of Pakistan. It discusses the possible determinant factors of youth crimes in Pakistan and provides logical suggestion to tackle the problem.Youth; crime; criminal; essay; pakistan; youth affairs

Adaptive System Identification using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

One of the major problems in adaptive filtering is the problem of system identification. It has been studied extensively due to its immense practical importance in a variety of fields. The underlying goal is to identify the impulse response of an unknown system. This is accomplished by placing a known system in parallel and feeding both systems with the same input. Due to initial disparity in their impulse responses, an error is generated between their outputs. This error is set to tune the impulse response of known system in a way that every change in impulse response reduces the magnitude of prospective error. This process is repeated until the error becomes negligible and the responses of both systems match. To specifically minimize the error, numerous adaptive algorithms are available. They are noteworthy either for their low computational complexity or high convergence speed. Recently, a method, known as Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), has gained much attention due to its remarkably low computational complexity. But despite this colossal advantage, properties of MCMC method have not been investigated for adaptive system identification problem. This article bridges this gap by providing a complete treatment of MCMC method in the aforementioned context

A New Approach to Adaptive Signal Processing

A unified linear algebraic approach to adaptive signal processing (ASP) is presented. Starting from just Ax=b, key ASP algorithms are derived in a simple, systematic, and integrated manner without requiring any background knowledge to the field. Algorithms covered are Steepest Descent, LMS, Normalized LMS, Kaczmarz, Affine Projection, RLS, Kalman filter, and MMSE/Least Square Wiener filters. By following this approach, readers will discover a synthesis; they will learn that one and only one equation is involved in all these algorithms. They will also learn that this one equation forms the basis of more advanced algorithms like reduced rank adaptive filters, extended Kalman filter, particle filters, multigrid methods, preconditioning methods, Krylov subspace methods and conjugate gradients. This will enable them to enter many sophisticated realms of modern research and development. Eventually, this one equation will not only become their passport to ASP but also to many highly specialized areas of computational science and engineering

UPAYA PENANGGULANGAN TINDAK PIDANA PROSTITUSI ONLINE OLEH KEPOLISIAN DAERAH JAWA TIMUR (Studi di Kepolisian Daerah Jawa Timur)

Online prostitution is very rife, spreading and mushrooming in people's lives, in this case online prostitution is very easy to do with only the user's cellphone and can order a prostitute. Online prostitution activities are carried out because it is easier and safer to carry out prostitution transactions practically. The role of the community is very important and needed by the police in carrying out their duties and functions to prevent online prostitution crimes in the East Java region. The problems discussed in this study are 1) what are the factors that are constraining the East Java Regional Police in dealing with online prostitution crimes? 2) what are the efforts to deal with the East Java Regional Police against criminal acts of online prostitution? the purpose of this research is to find out and examine legal countermeasures and the obstacles to the practice of online prostitution in the East Java area. The method used in this study is sociological juridical, linking legal writing done sociologically by paying attention to social aspects. The conclusions and suggestions in this research are the East Java regional police, namely through two efforts in the form of preventive and repressive efforts