2,497 research outputs found
Development of a method for optimal maneuver analysis of complex space missions
A system that allows mission planners to find optimal multiple-burn space trajectories easily is described. Previously developed methods with different gravity assumptions perform the optimization function. The power of these programs is extended by a method of costate estimation. A penalty function method of constraining coast arc times to be positive is included. The capability of the method is demonstrated by finding the optimal control for three different space missions. These include a shuttle abort-once-around mission and two- and three-burn geosynchronous satellite-placement missions
A Memetic Analysis of a Phrase by Beethoven: Calvinian Perspectives on Similarity and Lexicon-Abstraction
This article discusses some general issues arising from the study of similarity in music, both human-conducted and computer-aided, and then progresses to a consideration of similarity relationships between patterns in a phrase by Beethoven, from the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A flat major op. 110 (1821), and various potential memetic precursors. This analysis is followed by a consideration of how the kinds of similarity identified in the Beethoven phrase might be understood in psychological/conceptual and then neurobiological terms, the latter by means of William Calvin’s Hexagonal Cloning Theory. This theory offers a mechanism for the operation of David Cope’s concept of the lexicon, conceived here as a museme allele-class. I conclude by attempting to correlate and map the various spaces within which memetic replication occurs
Evolution of virulence: triggering host inflammation allows invading pathogens to exclude competitors.
Virulence is generally considered to benefit parasites by enhancing resource-transfer from host to pathogen. Here, we offer an alternative framework where virulent immune-provoking behaviours and enhanced immune resistance are joint tactics of invading pathogens to eliminate resident competitors (transferring resources from resident to invading pathogen). The pathogen wins by creating a novel immunological challenge to which it is already adapted. We analyse a general ecological model of 'proactive invasion' where invaders not adapted to a local environment can succeed by changing it to one where they are better adapted than residents. However, the two-trait nature of the 'proactive' strategy (provocation of, and adaptation to environmental change) presents an evolutionary conundrum, as neither trait alone is favoured in a homogenous host population. We show that this conundrum can be resolved by allowing for host heterogeneity. We relate our model to emerging empirical findings on immunological mediation of parasite competition
The Anisotropic Bak-Sneppen model
The Bak-Sneppen model is shown to fall into a different universality class with the introduction of a preferred direction, mirroring the situation in spin systems. This is first demonstrated by numerical simulations and subsequently confirmed by analysis of the multitrait version of the model, which admits exact solutions in the extremes of zero and maximal anisotropy. For intermediate anisotropies, we show that the spatiotemporal evolution of the avalanche has a power law `tail' which passes through the system for any non-zero anisotropy but remains fixed for the isotropic case, thus explaining the crossover in behaviour. Finally, we identify the maximally anisotropic model which is more tractable and yet more generally applicable than the isotropic system
Collaboration between Science and Religious Education teachers in Scottish Secondary schools
The article reports on quantitative research that examines: (1) the current practice in collaboration; and (2) potential for collaboration between Science and Religious Education teachers in a large sample of Scottish secondary schools. The authors adopt and adapt three models (conflict; concordat and consonance) to interrogate the relationship between science and religion (and the perceived relation between these two subjects in schools) (Astley and Francis 2010). The findings indicate that there is evidence of limited collaboration and, in a few cases, a dismissive attitude towards collaboration (conflict and concordat and very weak consonance). There is, however, evidence of a genuine aspiration for greater collaboration among many teachers (moving towards a more robust consonance model). The article concludes by discussing a number of key factors that must be realised for this greater collaboration to be enacted
Frustrations of fur-farmed mink
Captive animals may suffer if strongly motivated to perform activities that their housing does not allow. We investigated this experimentally for caged mink, and found that they would pay high costs to perform a range of natural behaviours, and release cortisol if their most preferred activity, swimming, was prevented.
Investigates the effect of limitations on caged mink. Popularity of fur farming; Research into the possible deprivation of mink, which result in their frustration; Details of the experiment; Impact of an access to water; Results which indicate that fur-farmed mink are still motivated to perform the same activities as their wild counterpart
Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber
Trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms is an essential
requirement for their use in advanced quantum technologies. Here we
simultaneously realize both of these tasks with cesium atoms interacting with a
multi-color evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber. The atoms are
localized in a one-dimensional optical lattice about 200 nm above the nanofiber
surface and can be efficiently interrogated with a resonant light field sent
through the nanofiber. Our technique opens the route towards the direct
integration of laser-cooled atomic ensembles within fiber networks, an
important prerequisite for large scale quantum communication schemes. Moreover,
it is ideally suited to the realization of hybrid quantum systems that combine
atoms with, e.g., solid state quantum devices
Introduction to protein folding for physicists
The prediction of the three-dimensional native structure of proteins from the
knowledge of their amino acid sequence, known as the protein folding problem,
is one of the most important yet unsolved issues of modern science. Since the
conformational behaviour of flexible molecules is nothing more than a complex
physical problem, increasingly more physicists are moving into the study of
protein systems, bringing with them powerful mathematical and computational
tools, as well as the sharp intuition and deep images inherent to the physics
discipline. This work attempts to facilitate the first steps of such a
transition. In order to achieve this goal, we provide an exhaustive account of
the reasons underlying the protein folding problem enormous relevance and
summarize the present-day status of the methods aimed to solving it. We also
provide an introduction to the particular structure of these biological
heteropolymers, and we physically define the problem stating the assumptions
behind this (commonly implicit) definition. Finally, we review the 'special
flavor' of statistical mechanics that is typically used to study the
astronomically large phase spaces of macromolecules. Throughout the whole work,
much material that is found scattered in the literature has been put together
here to improve comprehension and to serve as a handy reference.Comment: 53 pages, 18 figures, the figures are at a low resolution due to
arXiv restrictions, for high-res figures, go to http://www.pabloechenique.co
Coevolutionary Dynamics: From Finite to Infinite Populations
Traditionally, frequency dependent evolutionary dynamics is described by
deterministic replicator dynamics assuming implicitly infinite population
sizes. Only recently have stochastic processes been introduced to study
evolutionary dynamics in finite populations. However, the relationship between
deterministic and stochastic approaches remained unclear. Here we solve this
problem by explicitly considering large populations. In particular, we identify
different microscopic stochastic processes that lead to the standard or the
adjusted replicator dynamics. Moreover, differences on the individual level can
lead to qualitatively different dynamics in asymmetric conflicts and, depending
on the population size, can even invert the direction of the evolutionary
process.Comment: 4 pages (2 figs included). Published in Phys. Rev. Lett., December
200
- …