Towards an Interactionist Dualism

This thesis consists of two parts. In Part 1 I explain why we should endorse an interactionist version of dualism instead of other kinds of anti-physicalism. I argue that epiphenomenalism is false, and as versions of anti-physicalism, naturalistic dualism and Russellian panprotopsychism fail to find the middle ground between interactionist dualism and epiphenomenalism. John Perry (2001) and Andrew Bailey (2006) have accused Chalmers of presupposing epiphenomenalism. I develop their attack based on the causal closure problem and reply to Chalmers’ responses. In particular, I evaluate Chalmers’ defense of Russellian panprotopsychism and argue that this theory as well cannot avoid committing to either interactionist dualism or epiphenomenalism. In Part 2 I provide an interactionist argument against physicalism by constructing a possible world which is only partially physically identical to the actual world. I then give an account of what mental causation in the interactionist dualist picture might look like and address some objections against interactionist dualism and the interactionist argument

Numerical study of three-dimensional natural convection in a cubical cavity at high Rayleigh numbers

A systematic numerical study of three-dimensional natural convection of air in a differentially heated cubical cavity with Rayleigh number ($Ra$) up to $10^{10}$ is performed by using the recently developed coupled discrete unified gas-kinetic scheme. It is found that temperature and velocity boundary layers are developed adjacent to the isothermal walls, and become thinner as $Ra$ increases, while no apparent boundary layer appears near adiabatic walls. Also, the lateral adiabatic walls apparently suppress the convection in the cavity, however, the effect on overall heat transfer decreases with increasing $Ra$. Moreover, the detailed data of some specific important characteristic quantities is first presented for the cases of high $Ra$ (up to $10^{10}$) . An exponential scaling law between the Nusselt number and $Ra$ is also found for $Ra$ from $10^3$ to $10^{10}$ for the first time, which is also consistent with the available numerical and experimental data at several specific values of $Ra$

Low Latency Audio Processing

PhDLatency in the live audio processing chain has become a concern for audio engineers and system designers because significant delays can be perceived and may affect synchronisation of signals, limit interactivity, degrade sound quality and cause acoustic feedback. In recent years, latency problems have become more severe since audio processing has become digitised, high-resolution ADCs and DACs are used, complex processing is performed, and data communication networks are used for audio signal transmission in conjunction with other traffic types. In many live audio applications, latency thresholds are bounded by human perceptions. The applications such as music ensembles and live monitoring require low delay and predictable latency. Current digital audio systems either have difficulties to achieve or have to trade-off latency with other important audio processing functionalities. This thesis investigated the fundamental causes of the latency in a modern digital audio processing system: group delay, buffering delay, and physical propagation delay and their associated system components. By studying the time-critical path of a general audio system, we focus on three main functional blocks that have the significant impact on overall latency; the high-resolution digital filters in sigma-delta based ADC/DAC, the operating system to process low latency audio streams, and the audio networking to transmit audio with flexibility and convergence. In this work, we formed new theory and methods to reduce latency and accurately predict latency for group delay. We proposed new scheduling algorithms for the operating system that is suitable for low latency audio processing. We designed a new system architecture and new protocols to produce deterministic networking components that can contribute the overall timing assurance and predictability of live audio processing. The results are validated by simulations and experimental tests. Also, this bottom-up approach is aligned with the methodology that could solve the timing problem of general cyber-physical systems that require the integration of communication, software and human interactions

The Political and Economic Status of the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia

The relevance of the study stems from the Chinese government’s focus on developing cultural, economic partnerships with Asia-Pacific states. It is the Huaqiao who have contributed to this process, for example, there are many investors who balance the flow of money between China and other countries, as well as scholars who share scientific knowledge with Chinese citizens.Aim. Based on the above, the aim of the study is to analyse the current position of the Chinese diaspora in the economic and political spheres of life in Southeast Asia.Tasks. In order to successfully realise the objective, it is necessary to solve the research tasks:to describe the essence of the concept of “diaspora” in the academic literature, as well as its specific features;to consider the role of huaqiao in the formation of China’s external image;to evaluate the degree of Chinese business activity in trade of the countries under consideration;4) to study the degree of Chinese diasporas’ participation in political life of the states of residence.Methods. Analysis and synthesis of literary sources (while studying the concept of “diaspora”), historical method (while describing three main waves of Chinese diaspora migration and studying Chinese settlement in different parts of South-East Asia), descriptive method (while studying the place of Chinese diaspora in political and economic life of South-East Asia) were used as main research methods.Results. The research results have been summarised according to the level of representation of the positive image of the Chinese as a result of the Huaqiao’s economic and political actions.Conclusions. Firstly, about 75% of overseas Chinese, or 28 million people, live in modern Southeast Asian countries.Secondly, within the framework of the business activities of the Chinese diaspora, the most significant factor of influence is the association of Chinese enterprises in the “bamboo network” and expansion of areas of cooperation with each other.Third, the Chinese diaspora has different rights these days depending on the form of government and state structure of the country

Discrete unified gas kinetic scheme for all Knudsen number flows. IV. Strongly inhomogeneous fluids

This work is an extension of the discrete unified gas kinetic scheme (DUGKS) from rarefied gas dynamics to strongly inhomogeneous dense fluid systems. The fluid molecular size can be ignored for dilute gases, while the nonlocal intermolecular collisions and the competition of solid-fluid and fluid-fluid interactions play an important role for surface-confined fluid flows at the nanometer scale. The nonequilibrium state induces strong fluid structural-confined inhomogeneity and anomalous fluid flow dynamics. According to the previous kinetic model [Guo et al., Phys. Rev. E 71, 035301(R) (2005)10.1103/PhysRevE.71.035301], the long-range intermolecular attraction is modeled by the mean-field approximation, and the volume exclusion effect is considered by the hard-sphere potential in the collision operator. The kinetic model is solved by the DUGKS, which has the characteristics of asymptotic preserving, low dissipation, second-order accuracy, and multidimensional nature. Both static fluid structure and dynamic flow behaviors are calculated and validated with Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics results. It is shown that the flow of dense fluid systems tends to that of rarefied gases as the dense degree decreases or the mean flow path increases. The DUGKS is proved to be applicable to simulate such nonequilibrium dense fluid systems