Mitchell et al. contend that there is no need to posit a contribution based on the formation of associative links to human learning. In order to sustain this argument, they have ignored evidence which is difficult to explain with propositional accounts; and they have mischaracterised the evidence they do cite by neglecting features of these experiments that contradict a propositional account.

This paper applies a proposed modified stochastic fractal search algorithm (MSFS) for dealing with all constraints of optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) and finding optimal solutions for three different cases including power loss optimization, voltage deviation optimization, and L-index optimization. The proposed MSFS method is newly constructed in the paper by modifying three new solution update mechanisms on standard stochastic fractal search algorithm (SSFS). The first modification is to keep only one formula and abandon one formula in the diffusion process (...) while the second modification and the third modification are used in the first update and the second update. In two updates of SSFS, solutions with low quality are updated with high probability while other solutions with high quality do not get chances to be updated. This manner results in the fact that some promising solutions around the high quality solutions can be missed. In order to tackle this restriction, the second modification of MSFS is to newly update the worst solutions in the first update and the best solutions in the second update. In the third modification, all existing formulas of SSFS in the two updates are abandoned and the same new proposed technique is used for updating such solutions in two updates. Compared to SSFS, the three modifications can bring advantages to MSFS such as using smaller number of produced solutions per iteration, spending shorter execution time, finding better optimal solutions, and owning more stable search ability. Furthermore, the proposed method also sees its effectiveness and robustness over SSFS by testing on IEEE 30-bus system and IEEE 118-bus system with three different single objectives for each system. The proposed method can find less minimum, average, and maximum for all the cases in addition to faster search speed. Besides, the proposed method is also compared to other methods such as PSO-based method group, GA-based method group, DE-based method group, and other recent methods. Result comparisons also indicate that the proposed method can be more efficient than almost all these methods with respect to less minimum and smaller values of control parameters. As a result, evaluation of the performance of the proposed method is that it should be used for seeking solutions of ORPD problem. (shrink)

This paper presents a novel improved firefly algorithm (IFA) to deal the problem of the optimal operation of thermal generating units (OOTGU) with the purpose of reducing the total electricity generation fuel cost. The proposed IFA is developed based on combining three improvements. The first is to be based on the radius between two solutions, the second is updated step size for each considered solution based on different new equations, and the third is to slightly modify a formula producing new (...) solutions by using normally distributed random numbers and canceling uniform random numbers of conventional firefly algorithm (FA). The effect of each proposed improvement on IFA is investigated by executing five benchmark functions and two different systems. The performance of IFA is investigated on six other study cases consisting of different types of objective function and complex level of constraints. The objective function considers single fuel with quadratic form and nonconvex form, and multifuels with the sum of several quadratic and nonconvex functions while a set of constraints taken into account are power loss, prohibited zone, ramp rate limit, spinning reserve, and all constraints in transmission power networks. The obtained results indicate the proposed improvements in terms of high optimal solution quality, stabilization of search ability, and fast convergence compared with FA. In addition, the comparisons with other methods also lead to a conclusion that the proposed method is a very promising optimization tool for systems with quadratic fuel cost function and with complicated constraints. (shrink)

1. Bd. Moralia Horatiana; das ist, Die horazische Sittenlehre, von P. von Zesen.--2. Bd. La doctrine des moeurs, tiree de la philosophie des stoiques, par M. Le R. de Gomberville.

In this paper, a proposed modified stochastic fractal search algorithm is applied to find the most appropriate site and size of capacitor banks for distribution systems with 33, 69, and 85 buses. Two single-objective functions are considered to be reduction of power loss and reduction of total cost of energy loss and capacitor investment while satisfying limit of capacitors, limit of conductor, and power balance of the systems. MSFS was developed by performing three new mechanisms including new diffusion mechanism and (...) two new update mechanisms on the conventional stochastic fractal search algorithm. As a result, MSFS can reduce 0.002%, 0.003%, and 0.18% of the total power loss from SFS for the three study systems. As compared to other methods, MSFS can reduce power loss from 0.07% to 3.98% for the first system, from 3.7% to 7.3% for the second system, and from 0.92% to 6.98% for the third system. For the reduction of total cost, the improvement level of the proposed method over SFS and two other methods is more significant. It is 0.03%, 1.22%, and 5.76% for the second system and 2.31%, 0.87%, and 3.77% for the third system. It is emphasized that the proposed method can find the global optimal solutions for all study cases while SFS was still implementing search process nearby or far away from the solutions. Furthermore, MSFS can converge to the best solutions much faster than these compared methods. Consequently, it can be concluded that the proposed method is very effective for finding the best location and size of added capacitors in distribution power systems. (shrink)

As conventionally understood, corruption relies on a set of universally agreed rules that determine what constitutes the appropriate allocation of organizational resources. This article explores whether rule-based approaches to corruption are applicable where business organizations, such as public private partnerships, and the public fundamentally disagree about what constitutes an appropriate allocation of resources. Drawing on empirical research about PPPs in Vietnam, this article compares how government, business organizations, and the public conceptualize the transfer of public assets into private ownership. It (...) argues that a public interest approach to corruption is needed where PPPs privatize public assets within the law, but against the express wishes of the public. (shrink)

Au-delà de la question identitaire, l’extraterrestre interroge l’utopie du contact désintéressé avec cet Autre qui nous est étranger, donc avec le politique. Se situant dans un univers parallèle au nôtre, La Culture est au centre des romans de l’écrivain écossais Iain M. Banks. C’est une société pan-humaine d’envergure galactique, hédoniste et libertaire. Les aliens, les humains et les intelligences artificielles y sont des citoyens égaux.

Background Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) is a technique that involves uploading genotypes developed from perpetrator DNA left at a crime scene, or DNA from unidentified remains, to public genetic genealogy databases to identify genetic relatives and, through the creation of a family tree, the individual who was the source of the DNA. As policymakers demonstrate interest in regulating IGG, it is important to understand public perspectives on IGG to determine whether proposed policies are aligned with public attitudes.Methods We conducted eight (...) focus groups with members of the public (N = 72), sampled from four geographically diverse US regions, to explore general attitudes and perspectives regarding aspects of IGG practices, applications, and policies. Five major topics were explored in each focus group: when IGG should be used; who should perform IGG; how to approach consent for genetic database users; what systems of oversight should govern IGG practitioners; and whether to notify database users if their data are involved in law enforcement (LE) matching.Results Participants were supportive of IGG in most scenarios, especially for cold and violent cases. The favorable attitudes toward IGG were, however, tempered by distrust of law enforcement among some participants. All participants agreed that databases must inform users if IGG is allowed, but they did not agree on how individual database users should be allowed to opt out or whether to notify them if their data are involved in specific investigations. All participants agreed that IGG should be subject to some prescriptive guidelines, regulations, or accountability mechanisms.Conclusions These findings suggest broad public support for IGG, and interest in developing systems of accountability for its practice. Our study provides useful insight for policy makers, genomic database stewards, law enforcement, and other stakeholders in IGG’s practice, and suggests multiple directions for future research. (shrink)

This volume provides a balanced set of reviews which introduce the central topics in the philosophy of time. This is the first introductory anthology on the subject to appear for many years; the contributors are distinguished, and two of the essays are specially written for this collection. In their introduction, the editors summarize the background to the debate, and show the relevance of issues in the philosophy of time for other branches of philosophy and for science. Contributors include J.M.E. McTaggart, (...) Arthur N. Prior, D.H. Mellor, Sydney Shoemaker, Graeme Forbes, Lawrence Sklar, Michael Dummett, David Lewis, W.H. Newton-Smith, and Anthony Quinton. (shrink)

Excerpt from Spinoza Et Ses Contemporains La premiere partie de cet ouvrage est la troisieme édition du Spinoza, que nous avions publié en 1894 d'après un Mémoire auquel l'académie des Sciences morales et politiques avait accordé le prix Bordin (rapport de M. Charles Waddington, Séances' et Travaux, sept. - oct. 1891, pp. 386 La seconde partie est formée d'articles qui ont paru dans la Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale, de 1904 à 1906; ils devaient, dans notre pensée, accompagner-la deuxième (...) édition du Spinoza; mais ils n'avaient pu ètre achevés en temps utile, ils prennent aujourd'hui la place à laquelle ils étaient destinés. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

Η απόδοση στα Μύλασα μιας έκδοσης τετραδράχμων και δραχμών, που έφεραν ως σύμβολο την εικόνα της Αρτέμιδας Κινδύας, βασίστηκε στην ταύτιση του συμβόλου αυτού με ανάλογο πάνω σε μια δραχμή του Αλεξάνδρου, σύμφωνα με πρόταση της M. Thompson. Όμως, επειδή οι φωτογραφίες δείχνουν ότι το σύμβολο της Αρτέμιδας Κινδύας δεν είναι πράγματι το ίδιο με εκείνο του εν λόγω νομίσματος, η υπόθεση για την απόδοση του στο μυλασιακό εργαστήριο παραμένει πιθανή, αλλά αναμένει την επιβεβαίωση της.

Dieser Aufsatz ist eine Besinnung auf den Begriff Individuum, wie dieser in der Biologie gebraucht wird, und er beabsichtigt, den Inhalt dieses Begriffes theoretisch zu begründen. Es ist aber unmöglich für die nähere Bestimmung des Begriffes Individuum von der etymologischen Bedeutung „unteilbar” auszugehen, weil die biologischen Individuen nicht immer unteilbar sind. Beim Suchen nach einem richtigen Untersuchungsverfahren wird zunächst dargelegt, wie diese Untersuchung wesentlich ein Teil der theoretischen Biologie, also der Wissenschaft, ist, wenn man auch von deutlichen Zusammenhängen mit der (...) Philosophie und dem spontanen Denken sprechen kann. Deshalb wird die Methode, nach der wir vorangehen müssen, die induktive Methode sein, weil diese in der Wissenschaft mit Recht hoch eingeschätzt wird.Bei den grossen Vertretern der verschiedenen Richtungen in der Biologie, beiHaeckel, von Bertalanffy, Driesch undBergson, werden in ihre Auffassungen über Individuum und Individualität derartige Übereinstimmungen festgestellt, dass darin nach den Gesetzen der Induktion die wesentlichen Momente des biologischen Individuumbegriffes erkannt werden können. Ausserdem stimmen diese Momente mit dem Inhalt des Begriffs zusammen, wie der sich aus dem spontanen Denken ergibt.Diese Momente sind: Subsistenz, Einheit und Totalität, Tendenz nach einem geschlossenen System und schliesslich die Unmöglichkeit einer erschöpfenden Definition. In dieser Reihenfolge werden sie kritisch erörtert, und daraufhin werden folgende biologische Begriffsbestimmungen vorgeschlagen : Individualität ist die Tendenz des einzelnen Organismus nach ungeteilter subsistenter Totalität. Etwas ist Individuum in dem Masse, wo diese Tendenz verwirklicht ist.Durch einige Beispiele aus dem System und der Ontogenie wird die Anwendung dieses dynamischen Begriffes erläutert.Dans cette étude nous avons soumis à un examen l'idée d'individu, telle qu'elle est d'un usage courant en biologie. Nous avons cherché à fonder la théorie du contenu de cette idée. Pour en donner une définition plus exacte, nous ne pouvons pas prendre pour point de départ le sens étymologique d'„indivisible”, puisque les individus biologiques ne le sont pas toujours. En essayant d'abord d'établir la vraie méthode de notre recherche, nous avons expliqué que celle-ci est une branche de la biologie théorique, par conséquent de la science positive, bien qu'il y ait des rapports avec la philosophie et avec la simple pensée spontanée. Il nous faudra donc procéder d'après la méthode qui est surtout demandée par les sciences exactes, à savoir la méthode inductive.Chez les grands représentants des différents courants de la pensée en biologie, notamment chezHaeckel, von Bertalanffy, Driesch etBergson, nous rencontrons dans leurs conceptions sur l'individu et sur l'individualité des correspondances tellement frappantes que nous sommes autorisé à y voir, d'après les lois mêmes de l'induction, les éléments essentiels de l'idée d'individu biologique. Ces éléments s'accordent d'ailleurs avec le contenu de l'idée que nous nous en formons spontanément.Ces éléments sont les suivants: subsistance, unité et totalité, tendance à devenir un système clos, et enfin l'impossibilité d'une définition adéquate. Nous en avons fait la critique dans cet ordre. En suite nous avons proposé les définitions biologiques suivantes : l'individualité consiste en la tendance que possède un organisme naturellement isolé à devenir une totalité subsistante et non-divisée. On aura donc un individu dans la mesure que cette tendance a été réalisée.Enfin, nous avons illustré l'application de cette notion par quelques exemples empruntés au système et à l'ontogénie. (shrink)

The French philosopher Renaud Barbaras remarked that late in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s career, “The phenomenology of perception fulfills itself as a philosophy of expression.” In _Tracing Expression in Merleau-Ponty: Aesthetics, Philosophy of Biology, and Ontology, _Véronique M. Fóti_ _addresses the guiding yet neglected theme of expression in Merleau-Ponty’s thought. She traces Merleau-Ponty’s ideas about how individuals express creative or artistic impulses through his three essays on aesthetics, his engagement with animality and the “new biology” in the second of his lecture courses (...) on nature of 1957–58, and in his late ontology, articulated in 1964 in the fragmentary text of _Le visible et l’invisible _. With the exception of a discussion of Merleau-Ponty’s 1945 essay “Cezanne’s Doubt,” Fóti engages with Merleau-Ponty’s late and final thought, with close attention to both his scientific and philosophical interlocutors, especially the continental rationalists. Expression shows itself, in Merleau-Ponty’s thought, to be primordial, and this innate and fundamental nature of expression has implications for his understanding of artistic creation, science, and philosophy. (shrink)

Le 9e siècle marque un tournant dans l'hagiographie byzantine qui devient de plus en plus sécularisée à la fois dans sa forme et dans son contenu. Deux Vitae datant de la fin du 9e siècle, la vie d'Antoine le jeune et la vie de l'impératrice Theodora jouent un rôle pivot dans ce processus de sécularisation. Elles offrent les modèles d'une piété masculine et d'une piété féminine en témoignant de deux formes antithétiques de l'expérience religieuse : celle monastique et celle séculaire. (...) Cette tension trouve ses racines dans l'iconoclasme et reste vivante dans la période post-iconoclaste dans le conflit qui oppose le patriarche Ignace à Photios. (shrink)

In this paper we intend to propose a definition of function in biology. First we delimitated the problem and pointed out that a definition must not be related to hypotheses such as the causal connexion between form and function, phylogenetics or evolution, but that only the existence of functions is to be considered. The elements to be expressed in the definition are: the relation of function to form, the dynamic character, the integration into the activity of the total organism, the (...) possibility of latent functions and the fact that in the case of mechanical functions the function is not itself action, but directly related to it. So we proposed the following definition: A biological function is a property of a definite part of the total organism, marked by a certain form or structure, which property is actual or potential activity itself or directly related to activity, and by which the development and the maintenance of the organism as a whole is enabled to proceed in a harmonious way.We finished with some theoretical remarks in which the logical dependence of the function on the form is brought forward. Therefore form and function are not an example of the principle of complementarity, as is stated byMeyer-Abich. Attention is also given to a former paper byBarge on the form-function problem. This paper served as the starting point for the present discussion.Dans cette étude nous avons l'intention de proposer une définition de fonction en biologie. D'abord nous avons délimité le problème et faisons remarquer qu'une définition ne doit pas être mise en rapport avec des hypothèses comme la relation causale entre forme et fonction, phylogénèses ou évolution, mais que seule l'existence de fonctions doît être considerée. Les éléments qui doivent être exprimés sont: la relation de fonction à la forme, le caractère dynamique, l'intégration dans l'activité de l'organisme total, la possibilité de fonctions latentes et le fait qu'au cas de fonctions méchaniques le fonction même n'est pas action, mais y est immédiatement relative. Ainsi nous proposons la définition suivante: Une fonction biologique est une propriété d'une partie définie de l'organisme total, marquée par une certaine forme ou structure, laquelle propriété est activité actuelle ou potentielle elle-même, ou bien directement relative à l'activité et par laquelle le développement et le maintien de l'organisme total est mis à même d'avancer harmonieusement.Nous avons fini en faisant quelques remarques théoriques, où nous avons exposé que la fonction dépend logiquement de la forme. C'est pourquoi forme et fonction ne sont pas un exemple du principe de complémentement comme cela a été prétendu parMeyer-Abich. Nous avons également fait attention à une étude antérieure deBarge touchant le problème forme-fonction. Cette étude a servi comme point de départ à la discussion présente.Wir haben in dieser Abhandlung versucht eine Definition der “biologischen Funktion” zu geben. Zunächst beschränkten wir uns darauf, darzulegen, dass man bei einer Definition nicht auf Hypothesen hinweisen soll, wie z.B. auf den Kausalzusammenhang zwischen Form und Funktion, Phylogenese oder Evolution. Es soll lediglich des Bestehen von Funktionen berücksichtigt werden.Folgende Elemente müssen in der Definition zum Ausdruck kommen: die Beziehung der Funktion zur Form, der dynamische Charakter, die Integrierung in die Aktivität des Organismus als Ganzes, die Möglichkeit latenter Funktionen und die Tatsache, dass die Funktion im Falle einer mechanischen Funktion selbst nicht Aktivität ist, jedoch in direkter Beziehung zu ihr steht.Wir haben daher die folgende Definition vorgeschlagen: Eine biologische Funktion ist die Eigenschaft eines bestimmten Teiles des Organismus als Ganzes der eine bestimmte Form oder Struktur besitzt: diese Eigenschaft ist ihrerseits wirkliche oder mögliche Aktivität oder aber steht in einem direkten Verhältnis zu ihr; sie ermöglicht die harmonische Entwicklung und Erhaltung des Organismus als Ganzes.Zum Abschluss machten wir einige theoretische Bemerkungen in denen wir die logische Abhängigkeit der Funktion von der Form darlegten. Form und Funktion sind demzufolge kein Musterbeispiel für das Komplementaritäts-prinzip so wie es vonMeyer-Abich angeführt wird. Wir haben uns auch mit einer früheren Abhandlung über das Form-Funktion-Problem vonBarge befasst. Sie diente uns als Ausgangspunkt für die gegenwärtige Erörterung. (shrink)

The Schrödinger equation for a particle of rest mass $m$ and electrical charge $ne$ interacting with a four-vector potential $A_i$ can be derived as the non-relativistic limit of the Klein–Gordon equation $\left( \Box '+m^2\right) \varPsi =0$ for the wave function $\varPsi $ , where $\Box '=\eta ^{jk}\partial '_j\partial '_k$ and $\partial '_j=\partial _j -\mathrm {i}n e A_j$ , or equivalently from the one-dimensional action $S_1=-\int m ds +\int neA_i dx^i$ for the corresponding point particle in the semi-classical approximation $\varPsi \sim (...) \exp {(\mathrm {i}S_1)}$ , both methods yielding the equation $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2m}\eta ^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + m + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ in Minkowski space–time , where $\alpha ,\beta =1,2,3$ and $\phi =-A_0$ . We show that these two methods generally yield equations that differ in a curved background space–time $g_{ij}$ , although they coincide when $g_{0\alpha }=0$ if $m$ is replaced by the effective mass $\mathcal{M}\equiv \sqrt{m^2-\xi R}$ in both the Klein–Gordon action $S$ and $S_1$ , allowing for non-minimal coupling to the gravitational field, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar and $\xi $ is a constant. In this case $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2\mathcal{M}'} g^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + \mathcal{M}\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ , where $\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} =\sqrt{g_{00}}$ and $\mathcal{M}'=\mathcal{M}/\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ , the correctness of the gravitational contribution to the potential having been verified to linear order $m\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ in the thermal-neutron beam interferometry experiment due to Colella et al. Setting $n=2$ and regarding $\varPsi $ as the quasi-particle wave function, or order parameter, we obtain the generalization of the fundamental macroscopic Ginzburg-Landau equation of superconductivity to curved space–time. Conservation of probability and electrical current requires both electromagnetic gauge and space–time coordinate conditions to be imposed, which exemplifies the gravito-electromagnetic analogy, particularly in the stationary case, when div ${{\varvec{A}}}=\hbox {div}{{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)}=0$ , where ${{\varvec{A}}}^{\alpha }=-A^{\alpha }$ and ${{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)\alpha }=-\phi ^{(\mathrm g)}g^{0\alpha }$ . The quantum-cosmological Schrödinger (Wheeler–DeWitt) equation is also discussed in the $\mathcal{D}$ -dimensional mini-superspace idealization, with particular regard to the vacuum potential $\mathcal V$ and the characteristics of the ground state, assuming a gravitational Lagrangian $L_\mathcal{D}$ which contains higher-derivative terms up to order $\mathcal{R}^4$ . For the heterotic superstring theory , $L_\mathcal{D}$ consists of an infinite series in $\alpha '\mathcal{R}$ , where $\alpha '$ is the Regge slope parameter, and in the perturbative approximation $\alpha '|\mathcal{R}| \ll 1$ , $\mathcal V$ is positive semi-definite for $\mathcal{D} \ge 4$ . The maximally symmetric ground state satisfying the field equations is Minkowski space for $3\le {\mathcal {D}}\le 7$ and anti-de Sitter space for $8 \le \mathcal {D} \le 10$. (shrink)