90,627 research outputs found
The Ontological Basis of Strong Artificial Life
This article concerns the claim that it is possible to create living organisms, not merely models that represent organisms, simply by programming computers ("virtual" strong alife). I ask what sort of things these computer-generated organisms are supposed to be (where are they, and what are they made of?). I consider four possible answers to this question: (a) The organisms are abstract complexes of pure information; (b) they are material objects made of bits of computer hardware; (c) they are physical processes going on inside the computer; and (d) they are denizens of an entire artificial world, different from our own, that the programmer creates. I argue that (a) could not be right, that (c) collapses into (b), and that (d) would make strong alife either absurd or uninteresting. Thus, "virtual" strong alife amounts to the claim that, by programming a computer, one can literally bring bits of its hardware to life
Some transition metal complexes of 8-amino- quinoline
Transition metal complexes of 8-aminoquinolin
The long wavelength limit of hard thermal loop effective actions
We derive a closed form expression for the long wavelength limit of the
effective action for hard thermal loops in an external gravitational field. It
is a function of the metric, independent of time derivatives. It is compared
and contrasted with the static limit, and with the corresponding limits in an
external Yang-Mills field.Comment: 5 page
Mapping magnetized geologic structures from space: The effect of orbital and body parameters
When comparing previous satellite magnetometer missions (such as MAGSAT) with proposed new programs (for example, Geopotential Research Mission, GRM) it is important to quantify the difference in scientific information obtained. The ability to resolve separate magnetic blocks (simulating geological units) is used as a parameter for evaluating the expected geologic information from each mission. The effect of satellite orbital altitude on the ability to resolve two magnetic blocks with varying separations is evaluated and quantified. A systematic, nonlinear, relationship exists between resolution and distance between magnetic blocks as a function of orbital altitude. The proposed GRM would provide an order-of-magnitude greater anomaly resolution than the earlier MAGSAT mission for widely separated bodies. The resolution achieved at any particular altitude varies depending on the location of the bodies and orientation
Location based mobile computing - a tuplespace perspective
This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2006 IOS PressLocation based or "context aware" computing is becoming increasingly recognized as a vital part of a mobile computing environment. As a consequence, the need for location-management middleware is widely recognized and actively researched. Location-management is frequently offered to the application through a "location API" (e.g. JSR 179) where the mobile unit can find out its own location as coordinates or as "building, floor, room" values. It is then up to the application to map the coordinates into a set of localized variables, e.g. direction to the nearest bookshop or the local timezone. It is the opinion of the authors that a localization API should be more transparent and more integrated: The localized values should be handed to the application directly, and the API for doing so should be the same as the general storage mechanisms. Our proposed middleware for location and context management is built on top of Mobispace. Mobispace is a distributed tuplespace made for mobile units (J2me) where replication between local replicas takes place with a central server (over GPRS) or with other mobile units (using Bluetooth). Since a Bluetooth connection indicates physical proximity to another node, a set of stationary nodes may distribute locality information over Bluetooth connections, and this information may be retrieved through the ordinary tuplespace API. Besides the integration with the general framework for communication and coordination the middleware offers straightforward answers to questions like: Where is node X located? Which nodes are near me? What is the trace of node Y
Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial series
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that homoeopathy is a placebo by examining its effect in patients with allergic rhinitis and so contest the evidence from three previous trials in this series.
Design: Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel group, multicentre study.
SETTING: Four general practices and a hospital ear, nose, and throat outpatient department.
PARTICIPANTS: 51 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. Intervention: Random assignment to an oral 30c homoeopathic preparation of principal inhalant allergen or to placebo.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes from baseline in nasal inspiratory peak flow and symptom visual analogue scale score over third and fourth weeks after randomisation.
RESULTS: Fifty patients completed the study. The homoeopathy group had a significant objective improvement in nasal airflow compared with the placebo group (mean difference 19.8 l/min, 95% confidence interval 10.4 to 29.1, P=0.0001). Both groups reported improvement in symptoms, with patients taking homoeopathy reporting more improvement in all but one of the centres, which had more patients with aggravations. On average no significant difference between the groups was seen on visual analogue scale scores. Initial aggravations of rhinitis symptoms were more common with homoeopathy than placebo (7 (30%) v 2 (7%), P=0.04). Addition of these results to those of three previous trials (n=253) showed a mean symptom reduction on visual analogue scores of 28% (10.9 mm) for homoeopathy compared with 3% (1.1 mm) for placebo (95% confidence interval 4.2 to 15.4, P=0.0007).
CONCLUSION: The objective results reinforce earlier evidence that homoeopathic dilutions differ from placebo
Analysis of enhanced diffusion in Taylor dispersion via a model problem
We consider a simple model of the evolution of the concentration of a tracer,
subject to a background shear flow by a fluid with viscosity in an
infinite channel. Taylor observed in the 1950's that, in such a setting, the
tracer diffuses at a rate proportional to , rather than the expected
rate proportional to . We provide a mathematical explanation for this
enhanced diffusion using a combination of Fourier analysis and center manifold
theory. More precisely, we show that, while the high modes of the concentration
decay exponentially, the low modes decay algebraically, but at an enhanced
rate. Moreover, the behavior of the low modes is governed by finite-dimensional
dynamics on an appropriate center manifold, which corresponds exactly to
diffusion by a fluid with viscosity proportional to
The Transition between Nonorthogonal Polarization Modes in PSR B2016+28 at 1404 MHz
Polarization observations of the radio emission from PSR B2016+28 at 1404 MHz
reveal properties that are consistent with two, very different, interpretations
of the pulsar's viewing geometry. The pulsar's average polarization properties
show a rapid change in position angle (PA) near the pulse center, suggesting
that the observer's sightline nearly intersects the star's magnetic pole. But
single pulse, polarization observations of the pulsar show nearly orthogonal
modes of polarization following relatively flat and parallel PA trajectories
across the pulse, suggesting that the sightline is far from the pole.
Additionally, PA histograms reveal a "modal connecting bridge", of unknown
origin, joining the modal PA trajectories over much of the pulse and following
the rapid PA change shown in the average data. The nonorthogonality of
polarization modes is incorporated in a statistical model of radio polarization
to account for the deviations from mode orthogonality that are observed in the
pulsar. The model is used to interpret the rapid PA change and modal connecting
bridge as a longitudinally-resolved transition between modes of nonorthogonal
polarization. Thus, the modal PA trajectories are argued to reflect the
pulsar's true viewing geometry. This interpretation is consistent with the
pulsar's morphological classification, preserves the Radhakrishnan & Cooke
model of pulsar radio emission, and avoids the complication that the modal
connecting bridge might be produced by some other emission mechanism. The
statistical model's ability to simulate the rich variety of polarization
properties observed in the emission lends additional support to the model's
applicability and its underlying assumption that the polarization modes occur
simultaneously.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
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