bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis, characterization and fabrication of ultrathin iron pyrite (FeS2) thin films and field-effect transistors
Authors: Liu Xi , Ho Jacob Y. L. , Wong Man , Kwok Hoi Sing , Liu Zhaojun
Published: January 2016

We report the synthesis of an ultrathin FeS2thin filmviathermal sulfurization of an iron thin film. The FeS2based transistor not only broadens the applications of pyrite, but also provides a platform for investigating FeS2materials.
MRI-visible polymer based on poly(methyl methacrylate) for imaging applications
Authors: Younis Mira , Darcos Vincent , Paniagua Cédric , Ronjat Pauline , Lemaire Laurent , Nottelet Benjamin , Garric Xavier , Bakkour Youssef , El Nakat John Hanna , Coudane Jean
Published: January 2016

Macromolecular contrast agents are very attractive to afford efficient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visualization of implantable medical devices.
Bacterial degradation of crude oil using solid formulations of bacillus strains isolated from oil-contaminated soil towards microbial enhanced oil recovery application
Authors: Zhang Junhui , Xue Quanhong , Gao Hui , Lai Hangxian , Wang Ping
Published: January 2016

Microbial enhanced oil recovery has played a major role in enhancing crude oil recovery from depleted oil reservoirs to solve stagnant petroleum production.
Immobilisation of water-oxidising amphiphilic ruthenium complexes on unmodified silica gel
Authors: Králík A. , Hansen M. , König B.
Published: January 2016

Amphiphilic ruthenium complexes immobilised on bare silica gel are an easily prepared heterogeneous system for photocatalytic and chemical water oxidation.
Revisiting the oxidation peak in the cathodic scan of the cyclic voltammogram of alcohol oxidation on noble metal electrodes
Authors: Zhao Yangzhi , Li Xuemin , Schechter Joshua M. , Yang Yongan
Published: January 2016

The origin of the oxidation peak in the cathodic scan of alcohol oxidation is elucidated with suggestion of new performance indicators.
A non-zipper-like tetrameric coiled coil promotes membrane fusion
Authors: Zheng Tingting , Bulacu Monica , Daudey Geert , Versluis Frank , Voskuhl Jens , Martelli Giuliana , Raap Jan , Sevink G. J. Agur , Kros Alexander , Boyle Aimee L.
Published: January 2016

A parallel heterodimeric coiled coil can be mutated to an antiparallel tetrameric species by reversing the sequences of one of the peptides. This tetramer is capable of facilitating fast, efficient, membrane fusion of liposomes.
Enhanced capacitive desalination of MnO2 by forming composite with multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Authors: Chen Bingwei , Wang Yanfang , Chang Zheng , Wang Xiaowei , Li Minxia , Liu Xiang , Zhang Lixin , Wu Yuping
Published: January 2016

The MnO2/MWCNTs composite shows a high desalination capacity of 6.65 mg g−1 and good efficiency, which can be considered as a promising electrode material for CDI.
Multiscale study of mononuclear CoII SMMs based on curcuminoid ligands
Authors: Díaz-Torres Raúl , Menelaou Melita , Roubeau Olivier , Sorrenti Alessandro , Brandariz-de-Pedro Guillem , Sañudo E. Carolina , Teat Simon J. , Fraxedas Jordi , Ruiz Eliseo , Aliaga-Alcalde Núria
Published: January 2016

Two related single-molecule magnets, [Co(9Accm)2(py)2] and [Co(9Accm)2(2,2′-bpy)], with cis and trans disposition of the CCMoid ligands were studied in solution, in the solid state and by deposition on different surfaces.
Targeted anion transporter delivery by coiled-coil driven membrane fusion
Authors: Mora Nestor Lopez , Bahreman Azadeh , Valkenier Hennie , Li Hongyu , Sharp Thomas H. , Sheppard David N. , Davis Anthony P. , Kros Alexander
Published: January 2016

Membrane fusion was used to deliver lipophilic synthetic anion transporters to membranes of GUVs and cells, bringing the potential use as a therapeutic or biomedical research tool closer.
Single-chain polybutadiene organometallic nanoparticles: an experimental and theoretical study
Authors: Berkovich Inbal , Mavila Sudheendran , Iliashevsky Olga , Kozuch Sebastian , Lemcoff N. Gabriel
Published: January 2016

High molecular weight polybutadienes and rhodium complexes were used to produce single chain organometallic nanoparticles. A relationship was found between the cis double bond content of the polymer and metal binding kinetics.
Synergistic improvements in stability and performance of lead iodide perovskite solar cells incorporating salt additives
Authors: Boopathi Karunakara Moorthy , Mohan Ramesh , Huang Tzu-Yen , Budiawan Widhya , Lin Ming-Yi , Lee Chih-Hao , Ho Kuo-Chuan , Chu Chih-Wei
Published: January 2016

Alkali metal halide additives chelate with Pb2+ ions during film formation promoting homogeneous nucleation, which greatly enhances the power conversion efficiency (15.08%) and stability (over 50 days) of planar perovskite solar cells.
Cellular endocytosis and trafficking of cholera toxin B-modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles
Authors: Walker William A. , Tarannum Mubin , Vivero-Escoto Juan L.
Published: January 2016

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles were functionalized with cholera toxin subunit B protein to influence their intracellular trafficking pathways.
Ultra‐low‐power one‐pin crystal oscillator with self‐charged technique
Authors: Wu Shang‐Chi , Lee Tai‐Cheng
Published: January 2016

A one‐pin crystal oscillator (XO) employing a one‐pin startup and self‐charged architecture is proposed to reduce power consumption. The self‐charged circuit, replacing a constant‐current opamp, recharges crystal to save significant power. The proposed 32.768 kHz one‐pin XO, fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology, consumes 2.89 nW from a 0.25 V supply.
Curvelets‐based ECG steganography for data security
Authors: Jero S. Edward , Ramu P.
Published: January 2016

Biomedical signals transmitted over the internet are usually tagged with patient information. Data hiding techniques such as steganography ensures the security of such data by hiding the data into signals. However, data hiding results in signal deterioration that might affect diagnosability. A novel technique which uses curvelet transforms to hide patient information into their ECG signal is presented. Curvelet transform decomposes the ECG signal into frequency sub‐bands. A quantisation approach is used to embed patient data into coefficients whose values are around zero, in the high‐frequency sub‐band. Performance metrics provide the measure of watermark imperceptibility of the proposed approach. BER is used to measure the ability to extract patient data. The proposed approach is demonstrated on the MIT‐BIH database and the observations validate that its performance is superior compared with the random locations approach. Although the performance of the proposed approach decreases as patient information size increases, the peak signal‐to‐noise ratio values are high. Therefore, the proposed approach can be used for the safe transfer of patient data.
Suboptimal energy efficient power allocation scheme for distributed antenna system with antenna selection
Authors: Dang Xiaoyu , Wang Ying , Yu Xiangbin
Published: January 2016

A novel energy efficiency (EE) is introduced, which is defined as the ratio of the average transmission rate to the total consumed power. On the basis of this, a suboptimal energy efficient power allocation (PA) scheme is developed for the distributed antenna system with antenna selection over the composite fading channel. A Newton's method‐based practical iterative algorithm is presented to find the solution of PA in this scheme. Compared with the conventional energy efficient PA scheme, which requires the instantaneous channel state information (CSI), the developed scheme only needs the statistic CSI, and thus it has good robustness and low overhead. Moreover, it can obtain an EE performance very close to that of the optimal scheme. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Discrete‐time triggered reset law design based on model predictive strategy for linear systems
Authors: Zhao Guanglei , Wang Jingcheng
Published: January 2016

This study investigates discrete‐time triggered reset law design for linear systems in order to adapt reset control to computer‐based implementation. The reset actions are triggered at discrete sampling times if predefined reset conditions are satisfied, and reset law is used to determine reset values of the controller states. A discrete‐time switched system model of the reset control systems is established, then, a model predictive strategy is proposed to design the reset law by solving a linear matrix inequality optimisation problem. Moreover, the proposed method is extended to observer‐based reset law design. The obtained results are applied to numerical example and typical continuous stirred tank reactor system, simulations show that the proposed design is effective.
Piercing the water surface with a blade: Singularities of the contact line
Authors: Alimov Mars M. , Kornev Konstantin G.
Published: January 2016

An external meniscus on a narrow blade with a slit-like cross section is studied using the hodograph formulation of the Laplace nonlinear equation of capillarity. On narrow blades, the menisci are mostly shaped by the wetting and capillary forces; gravity plays a secondary role. To describe a meniscus in this asymptotic case, the model of Alimov and Kornev [“Meniscus on a shaped fibre: Singularities and hodograph formulation,” Proc. R. Soc. A 470, 20140113 (2014)] has been employed. It is shown that at the sharp edges of the blade, the contact line makes a jump. In the wetting case, the contact line sitting at each side of the blade is lifted above the points where the meniscus first meets the blade edges. In the non-wetting case, the contact line is lowered below these points. The contours of the constant height emanating from the blade edges generate unusual singularities with infinite curvatures at some points at the blade edges. The meniscus forms a unique surface made of two mirror-symmetric sheets fused together. Each sheet is supported by the contact line sitting at each side of the blade.
Negative ion production and beam extraction processes in a large ion source (invited)
Authors: Tsumori K. , Ikeda K. , Nakano H. , Kisaki M. , Geng S. , Wada M. , Sasaki K. , Nishiyama S. , Goto M. , Serianni G. , Agostinetti P. , Sartori E. , Brombin M. , Veltri P. , Wimmer C. , Nagaoka K. , Osakabe M. , Takeiri Y. , Kaneko O.
Published: January 2016

Recent research results on negative-ion-rich plasmas in a large negative ion source have been reviewed. Spatial density and flow distributions of negative hydrogen ions (H−) and positive hydrogen ions together with those of electrons are investigated with a 4-pin probe and a photodetachment (PD) signal of a Langmuir probe. The PD signal is converted to local H− density from signal calibration to a scanning cavity ring down PD measurement. Introduction of Cs changes the slope of plasma potential local distribution depending upon the plasma grid bias. A higher electron density H2 plasma locally shields the bias potential and behaves like a metallic free electron gas. On the other hand, the bias and extraction electric fields penetrate in a Cs-seeded electronegative plasma even when the electron density is similar. Electrons are transported by the penetrated electric fields from the driver region along and across the filter and electron deflection magnetic fields. Plasma ions exhibited a completely different response against the penetration of electric fields.
New developments of the CARTE thermochemical code: A two-phase equation of state for nanocarbons
Authors: Dubois Vincent , Pineau Nicolas
Published: January 2016

We developed a new equation of state (EOS) for nanocarbons in the thermodynamic range of high explosives detonation products (up to 50 GPa and 4000 K). This EOS was fitted to an extensive database of thermodynamic properties computed by molecular dynamics simulations of nanodiamonds and nano-onions with the LCBOPII potential. We reproduced the detonation properties of a variety of high explosives with the CARTE thermochemical code, including carbon-poor and carbon-rich explosives, with excellent accuracy.
Quasielastic neutron scattering measurements and ab initio MD-simulations on single ion motions in molten NaF
Authors: Demmel F. , Mukhopadhyay S.
Published: January 2016

The ionic stochastic motions in the molten alkali halide NaF are investigated by quasielastic neutron scattering and first principles molecular dynamics simulation. Quasielastic neutron scattering was employed to extract the diffusion behavior of the sodium ions in the melt. An extensive first principles based simulation on a box of up to 512 particles has been performed to complement the experimental data. From that large box, a smaller 64-particle box has then been simulated over a runtime of 60 ps. A good agreement between calculated and neutron data on the level of spectral shape has been obtained. The obtained sodium diffusion coefficients agree very well. The simulation predicts a fluorine diffusion coefficient similar to the sodium one. Applying the Nernst-Einstein equation, a remarkable large cross correlation between both ions can be deduced. The velocity cross correlations demonstrate a positive correlation between the ions over a period of 0.1 ps. That strong correlation is evidence that the unlike ions do not move completely statistically independent and have a strong association over a short period of time.
A frequency and sensitivity tunable microresonator array for high-speed quantum processor readout
Authors: Whittaker J. D. , Swenson L. J. , Volkmann M. H. , Spear P. , Altomare F. , Berkley A. J. , Bumble B. , Bunyk P. , Day P. K. , Eom B. H. , Harris R. , Hilton J. P. , Hoskinson E. , Johnson M. W. , Kleinsasser A. , Ladizinsky E. , Lanting T. , Oh T. , Perminov I. , Tolkacheva E. , Yao J.
Published: January 2016

Superconducting microresonators have been successfully utilized as detection elements for a wide variety of applications. With multiplexing factors exceeding 1000 detectors per transmission line, they are the most scalable low-temperature detector technology demonstrated to date. For high-throughput applications, fewer detectors can be coupled to a single wire but utilize a larger per-detector bandwidth. For all existing designs, fluctuations in fabrication tolerances result in a non-uniform shift in resonance frequency and sensitivity, which ultimately limits the efficiency of bandwidth utilization. Here, we present the design, implementation, and initial characterization of a superconducting microresonator readout integrating two tunable inductances per detector. We demonstrate that these tuning elements provide independent control of both the detector frequency and sensitivity, allowing us to maximize the transmission line bandwidth utilization. Finally, we discuss the integration of these detectors in a multilayer fabrication stack for high-speed readout of the D-Wave quantum processor, highlighting the use of control and routing circuitry composed of single-flux-quantum loops to minimize the number of control wires at the lowest temperature stage.
Optical bandgap of single- and multi-layered amorphous germanium ultra-thin films
Authors: Liu Pei , Longo Paolo , Zaslavsky Alexander , Pacifici Domenico
Published: January 2016

Accurate optical methods are required to determine the energy bandgap of amorphous semiconductors and elucidate the role of quantum confinement in nanometer-scale, ultra-thin absorbing layers. Here, we provide a critical comparison between well-established methods that are generally employed to determine the optical bandgap of thin-film amorphous semiconductors, starting from normal-incidence reflectance and transmittance measurements. First, we demonstrate that a more accurate estimate of the optical bandgap can be achieved by using a multiple-reflection interference model. We show that this model generates more reliable results compared to the widely accepted single-pass absorption method. Second, we compare two most representative methods (Tauc and Cody plots) that are extensively used to determine the optical bandgap of thin-film amorphous semiconductors starting from the extracted absorption coefficient. Analysis of the experimental absorption data acquired for ultra-thin amorphous germanium (a-Ge) layers demonstrates that the Cody model is able to provide a less ambiguous energy bandgap value. Finally, we apply our proposed method to experimentally determine the optical bandgap of a-Ge/SiO2 superlattices with single and multiple a-Ge layers down to 2 nm thickness.
Capillarity ion concentration polarization for spontaneous biomolecular preconcentration mechanism
Authors: Oh Yoonjee , Lee Hyomin , Son Seok Young , Kim Sung Jae , Kim Pilnam
Published: January 2016

Ionic hydrogel-based ion concentration polarization devices have been demonstrated as platforms to study nanoscale ion transport and to develop engineering applications, such as protein preconcentration and ionic diodes/transistors. Using a microfluidic system composed of a perm-selective hydrogel, we demonstrated a micro/nanofluidic device for the preconcentration of biological samples using a new class of ion concentration polarization mechanism called “capillarity ion concentration polarization” (CICP). Instead of an external electrical voltage source, the capillary force of the perm-selective hydrogel spontaneously generated an ion depletion zone in a microfluidic channel by selectively absorbing counter-ions in a sample solution. We demonstrated a reasonable preconcentration factor (∼100-fold/min) using the CICP device. Although the efficiency was lower than that of conventional electrokinetic ICP operation due to the absence of a drift ion migration, this mechanism was free from the undesirable instability caused by a local amplified electric field inside the ion depletion zone so that the mechanism should be suitable especially for an application where the contents were electrically sensitive. Therefore, this simple system would provide a point-of-care diagnostic device for which the sample volume is limited and a simplified sample handling is demanded.
Coupling of microwave magnetic dynamics in thin ferromagnetic films to stripline transducers in the geometry of the broadband stripline ferromagnetic resonance
Authors: Kostylev M.
Published: January 2016

We constructed a quasi-analytical self-consistent model of the stripline-based broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements of ferromagnetic films. Exchange-free description of magnetization dynamics in the films allowed us to obtain simple analytical expressions. They enable quick and efficient numerical simulations of the dynamics. With this model, we studied the contribution of radiation losses to the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth, as measured with the stripline FMR. We found that for films with large conductivity of metals the radiation losses are significantly smaller than for magneto-insulating films. Excitation of microwave eddy currents in these materials contributes to the total microwave impedance of the system. This leads to impedance mismatch with the film environment resulting in decoupling of the film from the environment and, ultimately, to smaller radiation losses. We also show that the radiation losses drop with an increase in the stripline width and when the sample is lifted up from the stripline surface. Hence, in order to eliminate this measurement artefact, one needs to use wide striplines and introduce a spacer between the film and the sample surface. The radiation losses contribution is larger for thicker films.
Neutrino magnetohydrodynamics
Authors: Haas Fernando , Pascoal Kellen Alves , Mendonça José Tito
Published: January 2016

A new neutrino magnetohydrodynamics (NMHD) model is formulated, where the effects of the charged weak current on the electron-ion magnetohydrodynamic fluid are taken into account. The model incorporates in a systematic way the role of the Fermi neutrino weak force in magnetized plasmas. A fast neutrino-driven short wavelengths instability associated with the magnetosonic wave is derived. Such an instability should play a central role in strongly magnetized plasma as occurs in supernovae, where dense neutrino beams also exist. In addition, in the case of nonlinear or high frequency waves, the neutrino coupling is shown to be responsible for breaking the frozen-in magnetic field lines condition even in infinite conductivity plasmas. Simplified and ideal NMHD assumptions were adopted and analyzed in detail.
Inter and intra-metamolecular interaction enabled broadband high-efficiency polarization control in metasurfaces
Authors: Cong Longqing , Srivastava Yogesh Kumar , Singh Ranjan
Published: January 2016

The near field meta-molecular interactions in a lattice play an important role in determining the collective behavior of the metamaterials. Here, we exploit the nearest neighbor inter unit cell interactions and the intra near-field coupling in metamolecules to manipulate the co- and the cross-polarized light. We observed large enhancement in the bandwidth and the amplitude of the transmitted light in the strongly coupled meta-molecular lattice. We further show that the proposed metasurface could function as a broadband achromatic quarter-wave plate. The chosen meta-molecular design also enhances the cross-polarized light when integrated with a ground plane to operate in the reflection mode.
Glassy aging in the relaxor-like ferroelectric Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3
Authors: Colla Eugene V. , Sullivan Kevin , Weissman M. B.
Published: January 2016

The dielectric susceptibility of the lead-free relaxor-like perovskite ferroelectric Na1/2Bi1/2TiO3 is shown to exhibit the same complicated spinglass-like aging behavior found in several cubic relaxors deep in the glassy state, in contrast to some uniaxial relaxors. The effects include rejuvenation and memory, including the ability to support multiple memories in parallel. Weak dependence of aging memories on changes in the electric field indicates that the aging is associated with relatively non-polar degrees of freedom, not with ferroelectric domains.
Decoupling antennas in printed technology using elliptical metasurface cloaks
Authors: M. Bernety Hossein , Yakovlev Alexander B.
Published: January 2016

In this paper, we extend the idea of reducing the electromagnetic interactions between transmitting radiators to the case of widely used planar antennas in printed technology based on the concept of mantle cloaking. Here, we show that how lightweight elliptical metasurface cloaks can be engineered to restore the intrinsic properties of printed antennas with strip inclusions. In order to present the novel approach, we consider two microstrip-fed monopole antennas resonating at slightly different frequencies cloaked by confocal elliptical metasurfaces formed by arrays of sub-wavelength periodic elements, partially embedded in the substrate. The presence of the metasurfaces leads to the drastic suppression of mutual near-field and far-field couplings between the antennas, and thus, their radiation patterns are restored as if they were isolated. Moreover, it is worth noting that this approach is not limited to printed radiators and can be applied to other planar structures as well.
Study of temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and electrical properties in [001]-oriented 0.35Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.35Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.30PbTiO3-Mn single crystals
Authors: Liu Xing , Fang Bijun , Deng Ji , Yan Hong , Deng Hao , Yue Qingwen , Ding Jianning , Zhao Xiangyong , Luo Haosu
Published: January 2016

In this work, the temperature-dependent Raman spectra and electrical properties of the [001]-oriented 0.5 mol. % Mn-doped 0.35Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.35Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.30PbTiO3-Mn (PIMNT-Mn) single crystals were investigated. All the unpoled and poled PIMNT-Mn single crystals experience a ferroelectric tetragonal phase to paraelectric cubic phase transition (FET-PC) around 183 °C (TC), which exhibits a second-order transition behavior. Whereas, the poled PIMNT-Mn single crystals exhibit another two dielectric anomalies around 130 °C (TRM) and 148 °C (TMT), in which the ferroelectric rhombohedral phase to ferroelectric monoclinic phase (FER-FEM) and the ferroelectric monoclinic phase to ferroelectric tetragonal phase (FEM-FET) transitions take place, respectively. Both the two ferroelectric phase transitions exhibit a first-order transition behavior. The discontinuous change of the phase degree (θ) and frequencies (fr and fa) around TRM suggest the occurrence of the FER-FEM phase transition in the poled PIMNT-Mn single crystals. The narrowing of the 510 cm−1 and 582 cm−1 Raman modes around the TRM, TMT, and TC temperatures shown in the temperature-dependent Raman spectra suggests their increased ordering of the local structure. The intensity ratio of I272 cm−1/I801 cm−1 increases obviously around the phase transition temperatures (TRM, TMT, and TC), indicating the reduction of the long-range order. The anomalous broadening of the 272 cm−1 Raman mode around the TRM, TMT, and TC temperatures indicates the occurrence of the successive ferroelectric phase transitions (FER-FEM, FEM-FET, and FET-PC) with increasing temperature in the poled PIMNT-Mn single crystals.
Cu-doped CdS and its application in CdTe thin film solar cell
Authors: Deng Yi , Yang Jun , Yang Ruilong , Shen Kai , Wang Dezhao , Wang Deliang
Published: January 2016

Cu is widely used in the back contact formation of CdTe thin film solar cells. However, Cu is easily to diffuse from the back contact into the CdTe absorber layer and even to the cell junction interface CdS/CdTe. This phenomenon is generally believed to be the main factor affecting the CdTe solar cell stability. In this study Cu was intentionally doped in CdS thin film to study its effect on the microstructural, optical and electrical properties of the CdS material. Upon Cu doping, the VCd− and the surface-state-related photoluminescence emissions were dramatically decreased/quenched. The presence of Cu atom hindered the recrystallization/coalescence of the nano-sized grains in the as-deposited CdS film during the air and the CdCl2 annealing. CdTe thin film solar cell fabricated with Cu-doped CdS window layers demonstrated much decreased fill factor, which was induced by the increased space-charge recombination near the p-n junction and the worsened junction crystalline quality. Temperature dependent current-voltage curve measurement indicated that the doped Cu in the CdS window layer was not stable at both room and higher temperatures.
Geometry-induced protein pattern formation
Authors: Thalmeier Dominik , Halatek Jacob , Frey Erwin
Published: January 2016

Significance

Biological cells need the ability to guide intracellular processes to specific spatial locations. This requires biochemical processes to sense and adapt to the geometry of the organism. Previously suggested mechanisms either assume proteins that are able to directly sense membrane curvature or are based on nonlinear diffusion–reaction systems that can generate geometry-adapted patterns. The latter, however, requires fine-tuning of the reaction rates. Here, we show that geometry adaption already follows from generic chemical dynamics. We present a simple reaction module based on generic reactions that establishes geometry-dependent patterns robustly without the need to tune kinetic rates nor any explicit curvature-sensing mechanism.
Theoretical Analyticity
Authors: Winnie John A.
Published: January 2016

The logical analysis of the structure of scientific theory is a task which is central to any comprehensive philosophy of science, and in this sphere no philosopher has contributed more incisively than Rudolf Carnap. The clarity and rigor of his analyses have always made them apt candidates for fruitful discussion and criticism, and Professor Carnap's last proposal dealing with the problem of theoretical analyticity is, I hope to show, no exception to this rule. For my aim here is to take advantage of the rigor of Carnap's formulation by developing its consequences in some detail. The results which emerge from such a development are then employed to overcome some of the more weighty objections against the possibility of drawing an analytic-synthetic distinction for theoretical systems.
B. F. Skinner - The Butcher, the Baker, the Behavior-Shaper
Authors: Kitchener Richard F.
Published: January 2016

Once upon a time in the land of Psi there lived a very famous baker named Fred. Fred the baker was known from far and wide as the very best baker in the land. His skill at baking was unmatched for he could produce loaves of any size or shape - long and thin bread sticks, round Kaiser rolls, crescent-shaped croissants, twisted oval loaves, and so on. His famous motto was: “Give me the unkneaded dough and in time I can produce any kind of loaf of bread desired.” Fred called this process ‘shaping’.

There was a limit, of course, to what even Fred could do: he could not, for example, create whole-wheat bread from white flour. But this was a small flaw in an otherwise unblemished character, and although Fred frequently admitted the importance of the kind of flour one began with, rumor had it that he was even working on the possibility of overcoming this limitation.
Galileo and Reasoning Ex Suppositione: The Methodology of the Two New Sciences
Authors: Wallace William A.
Published: January 2016

Galileo has been seen, from the philosophical point of view, alternately as a Platonist whose rationalist insights enabled him to read the book of nature because it was written in ‘the language of mathematics,’ and as an experimentalist who used the hypothetico-deductive methods of modern science to establish his new results empirically (McTighe, 1967; Settle, 1967; Drake, 1970; Shapere, 1974). Both of these views present difficulties. In this paper I shall make use of recent historical research to argue that neither is correct, that the method utilized by Galileo was neither Platonist nor hypothetico-deductivist, but was basically Aristotelian and Archimedean in character. This method, moreover, was not merely that of classical antiquity, but it had been emended and rejuvenated in the sixteenth century, and then not by Greek humanist Aristotelians or by Latin Averroists but rather by scholastic authors of the Collegio Romano whose own inspiration derived mainly from Thomas Aquinas.
Velikovsky Versus Academic Lag (The Problem of Hypothesis)
Authors: Paterson A. M.
Published: January 2016

Professor E. A. Burtt suggested that we might add “tertiary” qualities to our primary and secondary qualities when we undertake an analysis of reality. These tertiary qualities are the ones embodied in the human institutions of the world. He suggests that we may be arranging nature with our methodologies due to main conditions in us rather than due to main conditions in nature. Nothing can provide the satisfactory generalized concept of the world that does not entail extensive historical analysis of the major factors that have conditioned us, according to Burtt. The new cosmology would hardly be worth the effort, if it were merely the synthesis of scientific data or the logical criticism of the basic assumptions of that data, for Burtt Sound insight must supplement scientific data and its assumptions, through the reasoned expression of the intellectual insight of all the ages.
Quantum Logic
Authors: Mittelstaedt Peter
Published: January 2016

It has been shown by Birkhoff and v. Neumann (1936) and by Jauch and Piron (1963,1964,1968) that the subspaces of Hilbert space constitute an orthocomplemented quasi-modular lattice Lq, if one considers between two subspaces (elements) a, b the relation a⊆b and the operations a∩b, a∪b, a⊥. Furthermore, since the subspaces can be interpreted as quantum mechanical propositions, and since the operations ∩,∪ ,⊥ have some similarity with the logical operations ⋀ (and), ⋁ (or) and ⌝ (not), the question has been raised already by Birkhoff and v. Neumann, whether the lattice of subspaces of Hilbert space can be interpreted as a propositional calculus, sometimes called quantum logic.

There are many kinds of lattices which can be interpreted as a propositional or logical calculus. A Boolean lattice LB of propositions corresponds to the calculus of classical logic and an implicative (Birkhoff, 1961) lattice Li has as a model the calculus of effective (intuitionistic) logic.
Some Current Trends in Philosophy of Science: With Special Attention to Confirmation, Theoretical Entities, and Mind-Body
Authors: Maxwell Grover
Published: January 2016

This discussion will be limited to two main topics, the existence of and our knowledge of unobservable entities, on the one hand, and problems about the confirmation of our knowledge claims (scientific and common sense ones), on the other. Unfortunately, this isn’t much of a limitation; for the topics are so large, and their ramifications and implications are so numerous and run so deep that the most that a brief treatment such as this can accomplish is to hit a few of the high spots and, I hope, to generate a little more interest and activity in the areas in question.

It is interesting to me that none of the three of us in this symposium knew much of anything about what subjects the others had selected for their talks and nothing at all, except by way of speculation, about what they were going to say.
History and Philosophy of Science: A Marriage of Convenience?
Authors: McMullin Ernan
Published: January 2016

In a recent article, Ronald Giere has argued that the currently fashionable union of history and philosophy of science is no more than a marriage of convenience, justified like so many youthful marriages by unhappiness with the parental homes – history and philosophy rather than by compatibility and mutual need. He allows that it is, for the moment at least, a convenience from the institutional standpoint to encourage the two to pair off together, but insists that this pairing has no “strong conceptual rationale.” In a session devoted to analyzing the directions in which philosophy of science is developing, this topic would seem to merit an important place, for it can hardly be gainsaid that one of the two most obvious shifts in the philosophy of science over the past fifteen years has been its growing involvement with the history of science; the other shift is, of course, the shift away from the empiricist orthodoxies inherited from the Vienna Circle.
Reductive Explanation: A Functional Account
Authors: Wimsatt William C.
Published: January 2016

Philosophical discussions of reduction seem at odds or unsettled on a number of questions:

(i) Is it a relation between real or between reconstructed theories, and if the latter, how much reconstruction is appropriate? Or is reduction best construed as a relation between theories at all?

(ii) Is it primarily connected with theory succession, with theoretical explanation, or with both?

(iii) Is translatability in principle sufficient, or must we have the translations in hand, and if the former, how do we judge the possibility of translation when we don’t have one?

(iv) What is the point of defending the formal model of reduction if it doesn’t actually happen (Hull, Ruse), or if the defense has the consequence that if reductions occur, they are trivial and uninformative (Hull), or merely incidental consequences of the purposeful activity of the scientist qua scientist in devising explanations (Schaffner)?
Some Epistemological Aspects of Recent Work in Visual Perception
Authors: Heffner John
Published: January 2016

In adults and even in small children, visual perception is framed against a richly developed and relatively stable cognitive background. This background affects vision itself. Experimental evidence in cognitive psychology shows that the effects of this background on visual perception are logically immediate and not the products of reasoning or of deliberation. Nor are the effects of this cognitive background discovered solely in the patterns of use which the perceiver makes of visually received information. In this paper three of the principle aspects of epistemological treatments of visual perception are assessed in view of the cognitive structuring of the visual process. First, traditional distinctions among the sensory, phenomenal, and cognitive aspects of the visual process prove to be less clear than formerly they were thought to be. Second, the concept of perceptual strategies is argued to be reasonable and fruitful in the epistemological analysis of the visual process.
Evaluating Global and Local Theories of Induction
Authors: Adler Jonathan E.
Published: January 2016

The construction of inductive logics is an attempt to explicate the justification for the acceptance, or rational preference, of a given hypothesis on the basis of empirical evidence. As such it is a main part of epistemology. This paper explores this connection by focusing on the epistemic distinction between the grounds that are relevant for justification in normal knowledge-claim contexts (‘local’) and those that are relevant in philosophical knowledge-claim contexts (‘global’).

In Gambling with Truth, Issac Levi introduces the global/local distinction with respect to scepticism and justification. Levi writes,

Supplying this [local] justification requires an appeal to evidence, which will include observation reports and theoretical assumptions, as well as much of the apparatus of logic and mathematics.
A Structural Description of Evolutionary Theory
Authors: Brandon Robert N.
Published: January 2016

What is the structure of evolutionary theory? The question seems to presuppose a unique right answer. But the relevant notion of structure is highly relative to broad philosophic theories about scientific theories. At present no one such theory dominates. One once did. It went by the name ‘Logical Positivism’. During its heyday a unique right answer to our question might have been expected. There is no reason to expect one now.

Not only should one not suppose that there is a uniquely correct structural description of evolutionary theory, neither should one suppose that giving a structural description of evolutionary theory is essentially uncovering what is implicit in biological work. That approach is appropriate only when conceptual fossilization has occurred. In the case of evolutionary theory molding is more appropriate than uncovering.
The Logic of Experimental Questions
Authors: Hughes R. I. G.
Published: January 2016

The experimental procedures of physics assign values to physical quantities; we measure the temperature of a gas, the luminosity of a light source, the momentum of a particle. Any pair, q = (A, Δ), with A an observable quantity, Δ a Borel subset of the reals, we will call an experimental question, though some prefer the term proposition. For example, in lowering my big toe into the bath, I address the experimental question (T,Δ) to the system consisting of my bathwater, where T is the temperature measured in °F, and Δ is (approximately) the interval (110,120). Theory tells us what answers we may expect, given certain initial conditions. A determinist theory like classical mechanics tells us that, under specified conditions, the measurement of a quantity will yield a particular result with certainty, whereas a statistical theory like quantum mechanics tells us what probability attaches to various possible outcomes of a measurement.
The Levels of Selection
Authors: Brandon Robert
Published: January 2016

It is a mistake to suppose that the units of selection controversy in biology centers around a single question. In this paper I will take Wimsatt's recent work (1980 and 1981) as defining the question ‘What are the units of selection?’. I will show that there is another important question, what I will call the levels of selection question, separable from the first but easily confused with it. Finally, I will try to show why the levels of selection question is important.

First I must make a terminological point. In this paper I will adopt the distinction between fitness and adaptedness. I will not defend the distinction here since that has been done elsewhere (Brandon 1978 and 1981), but I will briefly indicate what the distinction is. ‘Fitness’ in this usage refers to actual reproductive success. ‘Adaptedness’ refers to an expected fitness value, in the mathematical sense of expected value.
The Role of Randomization in Inference
Authors: Lindley Dennis V.
Published: January 2016

Who is there that has not longed that the power and privilege of selection among alternatives should be taken away from him in some important crisis of his life, and that his conduct should be arranged for him, either this way or that, by some divine power if it were possible, — by some patriarchal power in the absence of divinity, — or by chance even, if nothing better than chance could be found to do it? Anthony Trollope Phineas Finn Vol. II, Ch. LX.

In the design and analysis of an experiment there are several places where an element of randomization can be used: the design can be selected at random, the result can have a random element adjoined to it, or the random element already present can be used in the analysis. The first technique is much used by statisticians; for example, in making a survey of a population, Basu (1980) calls it prerandomization.
Conceptual Combination and Scientific Discovery
Authors: Thagard Paul
Published: January 2016

How are scientific concepts formed? This question was central for positivist and operationalist philosophers concerned to root scientific thought directly in experience (e.g., Hempel 1952, Bridgman 1927). Although the positivist program has been abandoned, the current interest in the philosophy of scientific discovery shows the need for a theory of conceptual development. This paper offers a theory of how new concepts can arise, not by abstraction from experience or by definition, but by conceptual combination. Such combination produces a new concept as a non-linear, non-definitional amalgam of existing concepts. After proposing rules intended to account for a variety of mundane cases of conceptual combination, the paper presents several illustrations of how scientific concepts have arisen through combination.

According to a strict empiricist position (Hume 1739), concepts are abstracted from experience or formed by definition. You form the concept of a dog by experiencing a number of examples of dogs and extracting the common features.
Positive Science and Discoverability
Authors: Nickles Thomas
Published: January 2016

Several 17th- and 18th-century natural philosophers and methodologists aimed to establish a body of positive scientific results which were more than hypothetical or conjectural. They made exaggerated claims for the truth and empirical pedigree of their scientific conclusions. Since the mid-19th century, investigators have been more circumspect; and, increasingly in the 20th century, reflective scientists have become explicit fallibilists. They frequently acknowledge that current results are unlikely to endure.

Seemingly in keeping with the working scientists own attitude, many, perhaps most, contemporary philosophers of science—in the wake of dramatic revolutions in several sciences and philosophical attacks on the quest for certainty—now take for granted the hypothetical, the conjectural nature of all Interesting scientific claims, particularly deep theoretical claims. According to these philosophers, the lesson we have learned from 19th-century methodologists is that 17th-century discovery programs, which aimed to justify theories by “deduction from the phenomena”, were only utopian dreams.
Can We Dispense With Space-Time?
Authors: Field Hartr
Published: January 2016

According to the relational theory of space-time, the physical world contains spatio-temporal aggregates of matter (spatio-temporally extended physical objects, spatio-temporal parts’ of such objects, and aggregates consisting of spatio-temporal parts of different objects); these aggregates of matter are interrelated in various ways by various geometric (and also non-geometric) relations, but the physical world does not contain a space-time over and above these aggregates of matter and their interrelations.

It is tempting to put this doctrine by saying that there are no space-time regions, but only aggregates of matter. This formulation might be faulted, for a relationalist might want to “logically construct” regions out of aggregates of matter, and given such a “logical construction” the relationalist will assert that regions do exist.
Some Broader Evolutionary Issues which Emerge from Contemporary Molecular Biological Data
Authors: Doolittle W. For
Published: January 2016

Molecular biologists are not accustomed to the attention of philosophers. Ours is a “normal” sort of science, operating very much within the neo-Darwinian paradigm, to flesh out a central dogma (DNA makes RNA makes protein) which is but an articulation, albeit a very important one, of that paradigm (Kuhn 1970). Our success in this enterprise has been remarkable, and we have not until recently had to address our prejudices.” Here I will present my own views on the nature of these prejudices and the troubles they have led us into.

Transposabie elements are a special kind of DNA. Evidence leading directly to an appreciation of their prevalence and an understanding of their behavior began to appear in the early 1960s, from studies of spontaneous mutations in bacteria.
Grene on Mechanism and Reductionism: More Than Just a Side Issue
Authors: Brandon Robert N
Published: January 2016

Two summers ago Marjorie Grene described a mutual acquaintance as a young fogy. That immediately suggested a fourfold classification: Young fogies, old fogies, young turks and old turks. Marjorie's place in this classification is obvious; moreover, it is relevant to today's session. Were she just out of graduate school we would wait awhile to honor her. Here she a fogy we wouldn't bother.

One of the ways Grene has expressed her anti-fogyism has been her consistent attacks on reductionism, especially reductionism in the philosophy of biology. In this paper I want to discuss the common association between ontological reductionism and a methodological position I will call mechanism. I wish to make three major points: (1) Mechanism (as I characterize it) is not to be identified with reductionism in any of its forms; in fact, mechanism leads to a nonreductionist ontology.
Computerized Implementation of Biomedical Theory Structures: an Artificial Intelligence Approach
Authors: Schaffner Kenneth F.
Published: January 2016

At a recent conference I attended involving physicists, biologists, historians, and sociologists, a question about the development of theory in biology in comparison with theory in physics arose, with special interest in the nature of the theorists in the two domains and where they ranked in prestige. The biologists, primarily biochemists, maintained that “theory had a bad name in contemporary biology.” As they saw it from the perspective of biochemists and bench scientists, experimental work was much more highly regarded than theoretical work in biology, in interesting contrast to physics.

Certainly not all biologists are theory averse. In the preface to the first of three volumes edited by C.H. Waddington, the late distinguished geneticist wrote in 1968 that he felt” …that the time is ripe to formulate some skeleton of concepts and methods around which Theoretical Biology can grow….
The Elusive Object of Desire: In Pursuit of the Kinetic Equations and the Second Law
Authors: Sklar Lawrence
Published: January 2016

It is impossible to overrate the important contribution which statistical mechanics makes to our contemporary understanding of the physical world. Cutting across the hierarchy of theories which describe the constitution of things, and related in subtle and not yet fully understood ways to the fundamental dynamical theories, it provides the essential framework for describing the dynamical evolution of systems where large domains of initial conditions lead to a wide variety of possible outcomes distributed in a regular and predictable way. For the special case of the description of systems in equilibrium, the theory provides a systematic formalism which can be applied in any appropriate situation to derive the macroscopic equation of state. Here the usual Gibbsian ensembles, especially microcanonical and canonical, function as a general schematism into which each particular case can be fit. In the more general case of nonequilibrium the situation is less clear.