Daylight is the primary cue used by circadian clocks to entrain to the day/night cycle so as to synchronize physiological processes with periodic environmental changes induced by Earth rotation.However, the temporal daylight pattern is not the same every day due to erratic weather fluctuations or regular seasonal changes. Then, how do circadian clocks operate properly in varying weather and seasons? In this paper, we discuss the strategy unveiled by recent studies of the circadian clock of Ostreococcus tauri, the (...) smallest free‐living eukaryotic organism. It combines mechanisms controlling light inputs and clock sensitivity, shaping both the dynamics of the core circadian oscillator and its forcing by light so as to ensure stable and precise synchronization in all weather and seasons.Editor's suggested further reading in BioEssays: Another place, another timer: Marine species and the rhythms of life Abstract. (shrink)

One of the major adaptations during the evolution of Homo sapiens was an increase in brain size. Here we present evidence that a significant and substantial proportion of variation in brain size may be related to changes in temperature. Based on a sample of 109 fossilized hominid skulls, we found that cranial capacities were highly correlated with paleoclimatic changes in temperature, as indexed by oxygen isotope data and sea-surface temperature. Indeed, as much as 52% of the variance in the cranial (...) capacity of these skulls could be accounted for by temperature variation at 100 ka intervals. As an index of more short-term seasonal fluctuations in temperature, we examined the latitude of the sites from which the crania originated. More than 22% of the variance in cranial capacity of these skulls could be accounted for by variation in equatorial distance. (shrink)

The research focused on the cross-boundary impacts of ecological changes on the livelihood of communities in three villages in Stung Treng province, Cambodia. The research objectives were to analyze river ecological changes and their drivers, and to explore the impacts of these changes on the livelihood of the communities. The research was conducted in Kraom, Kaoh Snaeng, and Tonsang villages. The study found that there have been significant changes in the environment of these villages. The fishery resources have declined between (...) 2019 and 2022 due to factors such as population growth, illegal fishing, loss of flooded forests, and the presence of hydropower dams. The extent of flooded forests has also significantly decreased, negatively impacting fish populations and the overall ecosystem. Water level fluctuations have become irregular since 2018, with lower water levels during the rainy season compared to previous years. Riverbank landslides have been a concern, posing threats to safety and livelihoods. Excessive algae growth in the rivers has also been observed. The research findings indicate a decline in income from fish catch in all three villages, with varying levels of stability. Expenses for food have also varied. Migration patterns have been observed, with individuals seeking better opportunities elsewhere due to the decline in fish stocks. Crop damages have been attributed to irregular flooding and fluctuating water levels, leading to a decrease in crop cultivation. Changes in water quality, including the presence of lime and algae, have impacted the well-being of the residents. Overall, the research highlights the need for interventions and support to address the economic challenges faced by the communities, mitigate the loss of equipment and housing, and improve water quality. (shrink)

Hospitality industry plays a crucial role in the development of tourism. Predicting the future demand of a hotel is a key step in the process of hotel revenue management. Hotel passenger flow prediction plays an important role in guiding the formulation of hotel pricing and operating strategies. On the one hand, hotel passenger flow prediction can provide decision support for hotel managers and effectively avoid the waste of hotel resources and loss of revenue caused by the loss of customers. On (...) the other hand, it is the guarantee of the priority occupation of business opportunities by hotel enterprises, which can help hotel enterprises adjust their operation strategies reasonably to better adapt to the market situation. In addition, hotel passenger flow prediction is helpful to judge the overall operating condition of the hotel industry and assess the risk level of the hotel project to be built. Hotel passenger flow is affected by many factors, such as weather, environment, season, holidays, economy, and emergencies, and has the characteristics of complex nonlinear fluctuation. The existing demand predicting methods include linear methods and nonlinear methods. The linear prediction methods rely on the stability of environment and time series, so they cannot completely simulate the complex nonlinear fluctuations characteristics of hotel passenger flow. Traditional nonlinear prediction methods need to improve the prediction accuracy, and they are difficult to deal with the increasing data of hotel passenger flow. Based on the above analysis, this paper constructs a deep learning prediction model based on Long Short-Term Memory to predict the number of actual monthly arrival bookings. The number of actual monthly arrival bookings can reflect the actual monthly passenger flow of a hotel. The prediction model can effectively reduce the loss caused by cancellation or nonarrival of bookings due to various reasons and improve the hotel revenue. The experimental part of this paper is based on the booking demand dataset of a resort hotel in Portugal from July 1, 2015, to August 31, 2017. Artificial neural network and support vector regression are built as benchmark models to predict the number of actual monthly arrival bookings of this hotel. The experimental results show that, compared with the benchmark models, the LSTM model can effectively improve the prediction ability and provide necessary reference for the hotel's future pricing decision and operation mode arrangement. (shrink)

Earlier work has tended to view Delos as an entrepôt for the larger Hellenistic grain trade, but during the years of independence the island relied on the import of grain to satisfy local demand, and this was certainly the more important aspect of the trade in grain, at least from the Delians' point of view. This study explores several issues connected with the local supply of grain. From prices for grain reported in inscriptions and estimates of the local population, the (...) aggregate annual demand for grain is estimated, and the price structure of grain derived; the ratio of wheat and barley prices on Delos is found to differ considerably from that known from Athens and Roman Egypt. The shortage of 282 B.C., assumed by earlier scholars from prices recorded for that year, is shown instead to be a period of atypically low prices. The impact of the sailing season on shipments of grain is explored, and an annual rhythm in grain prices and availability linked to the closure of the sea and the agricultural year is revealed. The Delians tried to reduce the impact of these fluctuations by the public purchase of grain on an irregular basis in the late fourth and third century, as attested through public loans; by the last quarter of the third century they had established a regular sitōnia fund to buy grain for resale at reduced prices. Comparison of funds available, grain prices, and the estimated aggregate demand suggest that the Delian sitōnia was able to cover a significant fraction of local demand; this contrasts with evidence from other cities. Some of the implications of these results for our understanding of the Hellenistic economy are briefly explored. (shrink)

At the time of writing the COVID-19 pandemic was entering its ninth month, with nearly 800 000 recorded fatalities and 22 million infections in 188 countries and territories.1 In previous ethics briefings2 we raised concerns about the possibility that demand for life-sustaining treatment would overwhelm supply, with a consequent requirement for health professionals to make challenging triage decisions. Fortunately, to date, these have largely not been realised, although there is a possibility that countries in which containment measures have been less-successful, (...) such as South Africa, may still be required to triage.3 Despite the successful ‘flattening of the curve’ in many countries, there is a wide consensus that we remain firmly within the pandemic. Enormous practical challenges remain. It is unclear whether the pandemic will ultimately take the form of two or more successive waves, or whether the patchwork of global responses will lead to a sustained slow ‘burn’ with sporadic flare-ups.4 Areas of uncertainty include whether infection confers some immunity, how long any such immunity might last, whether effective vaccines can be developed and if seasonal temperature fluctuations alter the spread of the virus. The pandemic will also be fundamentally shaped by the decisions that governments make and the extent to which their diktats are complied with by citizens. With the – possibly temporary – retreat of urgent clinical ethics issues, such as triage, opportunities have arisen to reflect on some of the ethical questions that underlie and structure the demanding policy decisions that governments are wrestling with. One of the early questions was how to balance the complex constellation of costs and benefits associated with lockdown. Countries that …. (shrink)

Sweetpotato-pig production is an important system that generates income, utilizes unmarketable crops, and provides manure for soil fertility maintenance. This system is widely practiced from Asia to Africa, with many local variations. Within this system, pigs are generally fed a low nutrient-dense diet, yielding low growth rates and low economic efficiency. Our project in Vietnam went through a process of situation analysis, participatory technology development (PTD), and scaling up over a seven-year period to improve sweetpotato-pig production and to disseminate developed (...) technologies. The situation analysis included a series of pig production assessments in several provinces in northern and southern Vietnam, and pig supply-market chain identification was conducted in 13 provinces. The analysis of these studies informed the project of the following: (1) appropriate locations for our activities; (2) seasonal available feedstuff and farmers’ feeding practices; (3) market fluctuation and requirements; and (4) feeding and management improvement needs based on which the subsequent phase of PTD was designed. The PTD involved a limited number of farmers participating in sweetpotato varietal selection, sweetpotato root and vine silage processing, seasonal feeding combination, and pig feeding with balanced crop-feed diet and silage. Six years of multi-location and multi-season sweetpotato selection resulted in a few promising varieties that yielded up to 75% more dry matter and have since been formally released. The most significant results of silage processing and feeding trials include improved growth, higher feeding efficiency, increased year-round local feedstuff, and considerable labor reduction from eliminated cooking and vine cutting. Once these technologies were developed, a farmer-to-farmer training model was designed for scaling up the adoption and impact. Farmer trainers from seven communes in seven provinces received training in these technologies. In turn, they undertook the responsibility of training other farmers on sweetpotato selection, processing, and feeding. An impact study was also administered to monitor and evaluate (M&E) the dissemination process and to document the impact of the new technologies and farmer-to-farmer training model on pig growth and farmer income generation. The results showed that both participating and non-participating farmers have taken up the technologies, although the former demonstrates higher rates of adoption than the latter. The participants also generated more income and saved more labor from the adoption of the technologies. While the scaling up and M&E activities are on-going, the project has since broadened from a sweetpotato-pig system perspective to a pig-cropfeed system perspective based on farmers’ needs. It has included other crop feeds such as cassava and peanut stems in the research portfolio. New technologies based on on-going PTD will continuously be incorporated into the future training curriculum. (shrink)

The aim of the present paper is to explore whether seasonal outbreaks of infectious diseases may be linked to changes in host microbiomes. This is a very important issue, because one way to have more control over seasonal outbreaks is to understand the factors that underlie them. In this paper, I will evaluate the relevance of the microbiome as one of such factors. The paper is based on two pillars of reasoning. Firstly, on the idea that microbiomes play (...) an important role in their hosts’ defence against infectious diseases. Secondly, on the idea that microbiomes are not stable, but change seasonally. These two ideas are combined in order to argue that seasonal changes in a given microbiome may influence the functionality of the host's immune system and consequently make it easier for infectious agents to infect the host at certain times of year. I will argue that, while this is only a theoretical possibility, certain studies may back up such claims. Furthermore, I will show that this does not necessarily contradict other hypotheses aimed at explaining seasonal outbreaks; in fact, it may even enhance them. (shrink)

Fluctuation phenomena are the ''tip of the iceberg'' revealing the existence, behind even the most quiescent appearing macroscopic states, of an underlying world of agitated, ever-changing microscopic processes. While the presence of these fluctuations can be ignored in some cases, e.g. if one is satisfied with purely thermostatic description of systems in equilibrium, they are central to the understanding of other phenomena, e.g. the nucleation of a new phase following the quenching of a system into the co-existence region. This (...) volume, originally published several years ago, has stood the test of time well, as interest in fluctuation phenomena continues to grow. It contains a collection of review articles, some of them updated, written by experts in the field, on the subject of fluctuation phenomena. Some of the articles are of a very general nature discussing the modern mathematical formulation of the problems involved, while other articles deal with specific topics such as kinetics of phase transitions and conductivity in solids. The juxtaposition of the variety of physical situations in which fluctuation phenomena play an important role is novel and should give the reader a comprehensive and deeper insight into this fascinating subject. (shrink)

Fluctuating asymmetry is more a signal of genetic fitness than a marker observable only to the researcher. Hence, it has to be demonstrated that low FA is an honest signal of genetic quality; this has not been demonstrated in Gangestad & Simpson's otherwise useful review.

We investigated how color preferences vary according to season and whether those changes could be explained by the ecological valence theory. To do so, we assessed the same participants’ preferences for the same colors during fall, winter, spring, and summer in the northeastern United States, where there are large seasonal changes in environmental colors. Seasonal differences were most pronounced between fall and the other three seasons. Participants liked fall-associated dark-warm colors—for example, dark-red, dark-orange, dark-yellow, and dark-chartreuse—more during fall (...) than other seasons. The EVT could explain these changes with a modified version of Palmer and Schloss’ weighted affective valence estimate procedure that added an activation term to the WAVE equation. The results indicate that color preferences change according to season, as color-associated objects become more/less activated in the observer. These seasonal changes in color preferences could not be characterized by overall shifts in weights along cone-contrast axes. (shrink)

This book provides an introduction to applied statistical mechanics by considering physically realistic models. It provides a simple and accessible introduction to theories of thermal fluctuations and diffusion, and goes on to apply them in a variety of physical contexts. The first part of the book is devoted to processes in thermal equilibrium, and considers linear systems. Ideas central to the subject, such as the fluctuation dissipation theorem, Fokker-Planck equations and the Kramers-Kroenig relations are introduced during the course of (...) the exposition. The scope is then expanded to include non-equilibrium systems and also illustrates simple nonlinear systems. This book will be of interest to final year undergraduate and graduate students studying statistical mechanics, plasma physics, basic electronics, solid state physics and anyone who wants an accessible introduction to the subject. (shrink)

The distribution function associated with a classical gas at equilibrium is considered. We prove that apart from a factorisable multiplier, the distribution function is fully determined by the correlations among local momenta fluctuations. Using this result we discuss the conditions which enable idealised local observers, who are immersed in the gas and form a part of it, to determine the distribution 'from within'. This analysis sheds light on two views on thermodynamic equilibrium, the 'ergodic' and the 'thermodynamic limit' schools, (...) and the relations between them. It also provides an outline for a new definition of equilibrium that is weaker than full ergodicity. Finally, we briefly discuss the possibility that the distribution can be determined by external observers. (shrink)

Fluctuations in attentional state and their relation to goal neglect were examined in the current study. Participants performed a variant of the Stroop task in which attentional state ratings were given prior to each trial. It was found that pre-trial attentional state ratings predicted subsequent trial performance, such that when participants rated their current attentional state as highly focused on the current task, performance tended to be high compared to when participants reported their current attentional state as being unfocused (...) on the current task. This effect was larger for incongruent than congruent trials leading to differences in the magnitude of the Stroop effect as a function of pre-trial attentional state. Furthermore, variability in attentional state was correlated with overall levels of performance, and when attentional state was covaried out, the Stroop effect was greatly reduced. These results suggest a link between fluctuations in pre-trial attentional state and goal neglect. (shrink)

It's early evening, a Friday night in October, and I have hauled myself off the couch to make dinner for my son and me. It's just us; the more active cooks in our family are away and the house is quiet. I've spent all afternoon immersed in scholarly literature about the history of home economics, and I chuckle at the irony as I pour premade marinara sauce over the noodles. I call up my son from the basement, where he's been (...) immersed in his own studies, and find myself musing about our beginnings together—that spring when he arrived twenty-three years ago just as the trees were beginning to bud. I mutter about how perplexing cooking and mothering have been for me, and realize that these glimpses of me as a young mother and ponderings of how to take up increasing responsibilities as a middle-aged Indigenous “academic auntie” bookend my seasons of Indigenous feminist growth. (shrink)

The main goal of this paper is to present the Marian Smoluchowski’s work on thermal and primordial fluctuations which are the main cause of Brownian motion and one of the first empirical evidences for molecular structure of matter.

We propose a stochastic modification of the Schrödinger–Newton equation which takes into account the effect of extrinsic spacetime fluctuations. We use this equation to demonstrate gravitationally induced decoherence of two gaussian wave-packets, and obtain a decoherence criterion similar to those obtained in the earlier literature in the context of effects of gravity on the Schrödinger equation.

I now understand why the invitation to contribute an article on “chaos theory” invoked both my excitement and reticience. Let me first explain my excitement in terms of intriguing developments generated by the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite. Since COBE strengthened an “inflationary” Big Bang Theory wherein the structure of the universe was induced by random statistical fluctuations, there are implications inter alia of thermodynamics for chaotic fluctuations in both the structure and biological systems formed from it. I shall (...) then explain my reticence concerning a chaosladen cosmology. Though it seems to call for an epistemological revision of deterministic scientific truth, the cosmology is as likely as one influenced by quantum mechanics to lead to either a pseudo-scientific connection of indeterminism to freedom and purpose or their dogmatic exclusion as possible “realities” by the natural and social sciences. What I will be concerned about are the conflation of physics with metaphysics and the need to metaphysically articulate the continuity between a primordial quantum fluctuation, biological “possibilities,” and human freedom. (shrink)

For people with Bipolar Affective Disorder, a self-binding (advance) directive (SBD), by which they commit themselves to treatment during future episodes of mania, even if unwilling, can seem the most rational way to deal with an imperfect predicament. Knowing that mania will almost certainly cause enormous damage to themselves, their preferred solution may well be to allow trusted others to enforce treatment and constraint, traumatic though this may be. No adequate provision exists for drafting a truly effective SBD and efforts (...) to establish such provision are hampered by very valid, but also paralysing ethical, clinical and legal concerns. Effectively, the autonomy and rights of people with bipolar are being 'protected' through being denied an opportunity to protect themselves. From a standpoint firmly rooted in the clinical context and experience of mania, this article argues that an SBD, based on a patient-centred evaluation of capacity to make treatment decisions (DMC-T) and grounded within the clinician-patient relationship, could represent a legitimate and ethically coherent form of self-determination. After setting out background information on fluctuating capacity, mania and advance directives, this article proposes a framework for constructing such an SBD, and considers common objections, possible solutions and suggestions for future research. (shrink)

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is small deviations from perfect symmetry in normally bilaterally symmetrical traits. We examined the relationship between FA of five body traits (ear height, length of three digits, and ankle circumference) and self-reported scores of physical and verbal aggression in a sample of 90 boys aged 10 to 15 years. The relationships between FA and scores of aggression (particularly physical aggression) were found to be negative; in other words, the most symmetrical boys showed highest aggression. One trait (ankle (...) circumference) showed the characteristics of “ideal” FA—parametric mean of zero and a normal distribution. Mean asymmetries calculated from six repeated measures of ankle FA in 30 subjects taken over a period of five months showed strong negative associations with scores of physical aggression which were independent of age, height, and weight.It is argued that soft tissue “cyclical” FA (as opposed to “fixed” bony FA) is dependent on the secretion of hormones: for example, cortisol. Causal associations between behavioral traits such as aggresion and hormones will lead to similar correlations between FA and behavior. (shrink)

The menopause transition is associated with an increased risk of depressed mood. Preliminary evidence suggests that increased sensitivity to psychosocial stress, triggered by exaggerated perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation, may play a role. However, accurately quantifying estradiol fluctuation while minimizing participant burden has posed a methodological challenge in the field. The current pilot project aimed to test the feasibility of capturing perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation via 12 weekly measurements of estrone-3-glucuronide (E1G), a urinary metabolite of estradiol, using participant-collected urine samples in 15 euthymic (...) perimenopausal women ages 45-55 years. Furthermore, it aimed to correlate E1G fluctuation (standard deviation across the 12 E1G measurements) with weekly mood and cardiovascular, salivary cortisol, and subjective emotional responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) at weeks 4, 8 and 12. Protocol acceptability and adherence was high; furthermore, E1G fluctuation was positively associated with anhedonic depressive symptoms and weekly negative affect. E1G fluctuation was also associated with increased heart rate throughout the TSST as well as higher levels of rejection, anger, and sadness. E1G fluctuation was not significantly associated with TSST blood pressure or cortisol levels. This study suggests a feasible method of assessing estradiol fluctuation in the menopause transition and provides support for the hypothesis that perimenopausal estradiol fluctuation increases sensitivity to psychosocial stress and vulnerability to depressed mood. (shrink)

The Cerdanya valley in the eastern Pyrenees has a physical unity into which a political frontier has been imposed to divide it. The social and cultural repercussions of this Franco-Spanish border have created obstacles to marriage which are not due to topography. Choice of month of marriage is under cultural control and the study of seasonality in marriages recorded in the registers of all the Cerdan parishes on both sides of the border demonstrated differences over time and between French and (...) Spanish sectors. It is suggested that these changes demonstrate the process of distancing of the two populations. Cluster and correspondence analysis showed progressive differentiation of the seasonality patterns of the French and Spanish Cerdans despite the geographic unity of the valley. Sociocultural factors are presumed responsible. (shrink)

A comparison between the standard adiabatic piston dynamics and that of a perfectly conducting (diathermal) piston helps to clarify their different behaviors and, in particular, the anomalously large random displacement of the adiabatic piston as compared to the diathermal one. It is shown to be associated with a situation where the presence of a single massive “particle” (the piston), acting as an internal constraint in a many-particle system, plays a somewhat unexpected relevant role. A significant physical insight accounting for the (...) above difference is gained by means of a simple analysis of the phase space available to our system. (shrink)

A landmark work of environmental philosophy that seeks to transform the debate about climate change. As the icecaps melt and the sea levels rise around the globe—threatening human existence as we know it—climate change has become one of the most urgent and controversial issues of our time. For most people, however, trying to understand the science, politics, and arguments on either side can be dizzying, leading to frustrating and unproductive debates. Now, in this groundbreaking new work, two of our most (...) renowned thinkers present the realities of global warming in the most human of terms—everyday conversation—showing us how to convince even the most stubborn of skeptics as to why we need to act now. Indeed, through compelling Socratic dialogues, Philip Kitcher and Evelyn Fox Keller tackle some of the thorniest questions facing mankind today: Is climate change real? Is climate change as urgent as the “scientists” make it out to be? How much of our current way of life should we sacrifice to help out a generation that won’t even be born for another hundred years? Who would pay for the enormous costs of making the planet "green?" What sort of global political arrangement would be needed for serious action? These crucial questions play out through familiar circumstances, from an older husband and wife considering whether they should reduce their carbon footprint, to a first date that evolves into a passionate discussion about whether one person can actually make a difference, to a breakfast that becomes an examination over whether or not global warming is really happening. Entertaining, widely accessible, and thoroughly original, the result promises to inspire dialogue in many places, while also giving us a line of reasoning that explodes the so-far impenetrable barriers of obfuscation that have surrounded the discussion. While the Paris Agreement was an historic achievement that brought solutions within the realm of possibility, The Seasons Alter is a watershed book that will show us how to make those possibilities a reality. (shrink)

Employing the rabbinical practice of midrashic reading in order to unfold a passage from The Song of Songs, the manner in which a European/colonial affirmation of the seasons, particularly the season of spring, might become a mode of injustice in a non-temperate climate is explored. The wilding of seasons imposed by colonial usurpation of country finds a particular case study in the invasion of Arrente lands in Australia by buffel grass even as the effects of climate change are being felt. (...) In conclusion, an argument is made for recasting the practice of midrashic reading in order to render the seasons as they are found in TheSong of Songs vulnerable to unanticipated intonations of the seasons as they emerge in Arrente country. (shrink)

Preference for partners with low fluctuating asymmetry (FA) may produce “good gene” benefits. However, Gangestad & Simpson's analysis does not exclude immediate benefits of fertility. Low FA is related to fertility in men and women. Short-term changes in FA are correlated with fertility in women. It is not known whether temporal fluctuations in the FA of men are related to short-term fertility status.

The parliamentary elections in Albania took place on 25th March 2021 and they were won by the Socialist Party. Even though elections took place during the pandemic, the pandemics itself had a minor impact on the process. With the exception of making compulsory a two-week quarantine for those entering the country and thus making it impossible for the Albanian emigrants to cast their vote, the election campaign was organized similarly with the preceding campaigns without concerns for social distancing. The real (...) change which eventually influenced the campaign was the change in the electoral law from closed to open list. For the first time, the party and the party candidates pursued different strategies. In addition to the official campaign, there was an underground campaign with vote buying and exercise of influence which aimed and achieved to transfer vote from the top of the top of the list to candidates in the middle or even lower part of the list. This made it possible to observe and understand the internal conflicts within the parties. (shrink)

This paper examines the seasonality of induced abortion in North Carolina between 1980 and 1993. Distinct seasonal patterns are found, with a peak in February and a valley in September. These patterns correspond to the implicit seasonality of conceptions associated with the seasonality of birth pattern. One notable difference from the general pattern is among unmarried women aged 18 and younger. They have the February peak and an additional peak in August that may be associated with the summer vacation (...) from school. (shrink)

The spectacular and dramatic effects of changing seasons have been a source of inspiration for artists through the ages. Pennsylvania Seasons is a delightful collection of nature-themed poems paired with magisterial landscape photography that captures all the mercurial moods of summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Overflowing with visual and lyric imagery, this book celebrates natural wonders, some preserved in public parks and forests and others lurking in hidden places. Featuring the work of local poets who know the region best, Pennsylvania (...) Seasons matches each photograph with a verse that effectively evokes its power. The result is an inspired ode to nature which will be an essential gift for all Pennsylvanians. (shrink)

This paper discusses what kind of quantitative information one can extract under which circumstances from proofs of convergence statements in analysis. We show that from proofs using only a limited amount of the law-of-excluded-middle, one can extract functionals , where L is a learning procedure for a rate of convergence which succeeds after at most B-many mind changes. This -learnability provides quantitative information strictly in between a full rate of convergence and a rate of metastability in the sense of Tao (...) . In fact, it corresponds to rates of metastability of a particular simple form. Moreover, if a certain gap condition is satisfied, then B and L yield a bound on the number of possible fluctuations. We explain recent applications of proof mining to ergodic theory in terms of these results. (shrink)

프로디코스는 자신의 『시기들』이라는 글에서 인간이라면 마땅히 취해야 하는 인간적 삶의 방향을 제안한다. 그 글 안에서 아레테와 카키아라는 두 신적인 존재가 등장하여 헤라클레스에게 각각 자신이 제안하는 삶의 길을 따르라고 요청한다. 아레테가 제안하는 길은 노고 및 땀으로 이루어진 삶인 반면, 카키아가 제안하는 길은 즐거움과 함께 하는 쉬운 삶이며, 둘 모두 궁극적으로는 자신들의 길을 통해 행복(eudaimonia)에 이르리라 약속한다. 그리고 헤라클레스는 아레테의 길을 선택한다. 이러한 내용으로 인해 프로디코스의『시기들』은 인간의 자제력(enkrateia)을 중요시하며, 이를 통해 탁월함(덕)에 이를 수 있다는 인본주의적 성격을 담고 있다고 이해되어 왔다.BR 전통적 신관과는 (...) 달리, 프로디코스는 인간의 생존에 유익함을 보장하는 것들을, 예를 들어 음식과 음료 그리고 해와 달 등을, 신으로 강조하는 논의를 펼쳤다고 전해진다. 이와 함께 그는 ‘용어의 옳음’(orthoepeia)이라 알려진 언어론적 입장 또한 고수했다고 알려지고 있다. 그의 언어론에 따를 경우, 가령 ‘플레그마’(phlegma: 점액)는 본성상 그 의미가 ‘페플레크타이’(pephlechthai: 끓는)인 대상에 부응하고 그 대상으로부터 어원의 형태가 일관되기에 옳다는 논의처럼, 각 용어는 그것이 가리키는 대상과 의미에서 본성적 일관성을 유지해야 하며 동시에 용어 자체의 형태에서도 일관성이 갖추어진 경우에만 옳다. 이와 같은 프로디코스의 신론적 및 언어론적 입장을 고려할 경우, 두 신적인 존재가 행복으로서의 ‘즐거움’을 다루는 『시기들』에 담지된 인본주의적 성격은 인간 한정적 유익함으로서의 탁월함 완수가 곧 결과론적 즐거움으로서의 행복이라는 내용으로 보다 구체화될 수 있다. (shrink)

The traditional formalism of quantum mechanics is mainly used to describe ensembles of identical systems (with a density-operator formalism) or single isolated systems, but is not capable of describing single open quantum objects with many degrees of freedom showing pure-state stochastic dynamical behaviour. In particular, stochastic 'line-migration' as in single-molecule spectroscopy of defect molecules in a molecular matrix is not adequately described. Starting with the Bohr scenario of stochastic quantum jumps (between strict energy eigenstates), we try to incorporate more general (...) pure-state stochastic dynamical behaviour into the quantum mechanical formalism.Probability distributions of (approximately) pure states, arising through the stochastic pure-state dynamics for long times, give rise to appropriate decompositions of thermal density operators. These decompositions of density operators into pure states mediate between quantum mechanics for ensembles of molecules and quantum theory for single molecules (or single dressed quantum objects). We suggest that such decompositions should be consistent with infinite limits (e.g. the Born-Oppenheimer limit for infinite nuclear masses) in the sense that quantum fluctuations (around classical behaviour in the infinite limit) die out asymptotically. (shrink)

Macroeconomic fluctuations in interest rates, exchange rates, and inflation can be considered sources of good or bad “luck” for corporate performance if management is unable to adjust operations to these fluctuations. Based on a sample of 2,091 US firms, we decompose the impacts of macroeconomic fluctuations on three measures of CEO compensation. Our study provides empirical support for the importance of considering macroeconomic fluctuations in designing CEO incentive schemes. It adds to the managerial power literature on (...) moral hazard and CEO compensation by pinpointing the obvious risk that the CEO in an asymmetric and non-linear reward system will be inclined to prioritize his/her own cash flow at the expense of fulfilling an assumed agency role. The policy conclusion for remuneration committees and board of directors is to filter out macroeconomic influences on performance to be rewarded whenever an asymmetric compensation scheme has been opted for. (shrink)

This paper explores a variety of perfect being theism that combines Yujin Nagasawa’s maximal God thesis with the view that God is not atemporal. We argue that the original maximal God thesis still implicitly relies on a “static” view of divine perfections. Instead, following the recent re-evaluation of divine immutability by analytic philosophers, we propose that thinking of divine great-making properties as fluctuating but nevertheless remaining maximal either for every time t or across all times strengthens the original maximal God (...) thesis. Furthermore, we show that “temporalising” Nagasawa’s maximal God and adopting what we call the fluctuating maximal God thesis provides more effective ways of responding to objections to perfect being theism, in particular, the argument from evil and some conceptual problems pertaining to the Incarnation. Finally, we demonstrate that our proposal is compatible with Christian Scriptures and coheres with numerous biblical passages better than Nagasawa’s original proposal does. (shrink)

It is shown that if mental influence can change a position or momentum coordinate within the limits of the uncertainty principle, such change, when magnified by a single interaction, is sufficient to order the direction of traveling molecules. Mental influence could initiate an action potential in the brain through this process by using the impact of ordered molecules to open the gates of sodium channels in neuronal membranes. It is shown that about 80 ordered molecules, traveling at thermal velocity in (...) the intercellular medium in the brain, can break an ionic or covalent bond, and that the number needed to initiate an action potential is relatively small. If mental influence can act within the brain, it is reasonable to suppose it can act to some extent outside of it. If mental influence could not only order the direction of individual molecules, but coordinate this effect to produce a longitudinal pressure wave which is reasonably coherent across a macroscopic surface, only 10^4 molecules need be simultaneously affected to produce a detectible sound wave. Such an effect is not ordinarily observed, which suggests that if mental influence acts by ordering the direction of molecules, it acts at the level of individual molecules, but does not coordinate their motion. (shrink)

The true form of the seasonal-hour sundial, in both vertical and horizontal planes, has been calculated by spherical trigonometry and displayed with the aid of computer graphics. These grids are presented, and show that the hour lines are in fact shallow curves at sites not on the equator. The curvature becomes very apparent at latitudes exceeding 50°. The true seasonal-hour pattern for a vertical dial at a latitude of 52·6°N is compared with the equiangular scratch dial.