bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An aggregation-induced emission (AIE) ratiometric fluorescent cysteine probe with an exceptionally large blue shift
Authors: Yan Liqiang , Kong Zhineng , Shen Wei , Du Wenqi , Zhou Yan , Qi Zhengjian
Published: January 2016

A novel colorimetric and ratiometric AIE probe for monitoring of cysteine based on a coumarin Schiff-base platform is developed.
Fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate)/silica KIT-6 nanocomposites via in situ polymerization approach and their application for removal of Cu2+ from aqueous solution
Authors: Dinari Mohammad , Mohammadnezhad Gholamhossein , Soltani Roozbeh
Published: January 2016

Novel mesoporous silica nanocomposites for adsorption of Cu(ii) from aqueous solution were prepared by in situ polymerization of MMA and modified KIT-6 as filler.
In situ polymerization of liquid-crystalline thin films of electron-transporting perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide bearing cyclotetrasiloxane rings
Authors: Takenami Kaede , Uemura Shinobu , Funahashi Masahiro
Published: January 2016

A perylene tetracarboxylic bisimide (PTCBI) derivative bearing four cyclotetrasiloxane rings that forms a columnar phase at room temperature despite the presence of the bulky cyclotetrasiloxane rings and itsin situpolymerization were reported.
Synthesis, characterization, and ethylene polymerization of 1-[2,4-bis(bis(4-fluorophenyl)methyl)naphthylimino]-2-aryliminoacenaphthylnickel bromides: influences of polymerization parameters on polyethylenes
Authors: Yuan Shifang , Yue Erlin , Wen Chunyan , Sun Wen-Hua
Published: January 2016

The nickel bromides (C1–C5), upon activation with Et2AlCl, exhibited high activities toward ethylene polymerization obtaining polyethylenes with Mw from 0.86–5.58 × 105 g mol−1 and narrower PDI (1.22–1.99).
Nano-engineered design and manufacturing of high-performance epoxy matrix composites with carbon fiber/selectively integrated graphene as multi-scale reinforcements
Authors: Monfared Zanjani Jamal Seyyed , Okan Burcu Saner , Menceloglu Yusuf Ziya , Yildiz Mehmet
Published: January 2016

Three different architectural designs are developed for manufacturing advanced multi-scale reinforced epoxy based composites in which graphene sheets and carbon fibers are utilized as nano- and micro-scale reinforcements, respectively.
Batch process particle separation using surface acoustic waves (SAW): integration of travelling and standing SAW
Authors: Devendran Citsabehsan , Gunasekara Nipuna R. , Collins David J. , Neild Adrian
Published: January 2016

Acoustic fields are described incorporating travelling and standing wave components to perform size-deterministic particle sorting. This is achieved without the need for fluid flow allowing application to very small volumes in a batch-wise system.
A multistep continuous flow synthesis machine for the preparation of pyrazolesviaa metal-free amine-redox process
Authors: Poh Jian-Siang , Browne Duncan L. , Ley Steven V.
Published: January 2016

A versatile multistep continuous flow setup is reported for the four-step conversion of anilines into pyrazole products.
Remarkably selective and enantiodifferentiating sensing of histidine by a fluorescent homochiral Zn-MOF based on pyrene-tetralactic acid
Authors: Chandrasekhar Pujari , Mukhopadhyay Arindam , Savitha Govardhan , Moorthy Jarugu Narasimha
Published: January 2016

A highly luminescent and water-stable homochiral Zn-MOF, i.e., Zn-PLA, developed based on pyrene-tetraacetic, selectively senses histidine amongst all other amino acids and also differentiates d and l isomers, as revealed by quenching of the fluorescence of its aqueous suspension.
Exceptional size-dependent catalytic activity enhancement in the room-temperature hydrogen generation from formic acid over bimetallic nanoparticles supported by porous carbon
Authors: Cheng Jia , Gu Xiaojun , Sheng Xueli , Liu Penglong , Su Haiquan
Published: January 2016

Through decreasing the size of AuPd nanoparticles, catalytic activity enhancement in hydrogen generation from formic acid was achieved.
Increased activity in hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis for partial anionic substitution in cobalt oxysulfide nanoparticles
Authors: Nelson Andrew , Fritz Kevin E. , Honrao Shreyas , Hennig Richard G. , Robinson Richard D. , Suntivich Jin
Published: January 2016

Metastable CoOxSy electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction were prepared by anion exchange. Lightly doped CoOxS0.18 is 2–3 times more active than either end-member of the substitution series due to optimized H adsorption energy.
Bioabsorbable cellulose composites prepared by an improved mineral-binding process for bone defect repair
Authors: Hu Yang , Zhu Yongjun , Zhou Xin , Ruan Changshun , Pan Haobo , Catchmark Jeffrey M.
Published: January 2016

An improved mineral-binding approach was used to expedite the deposition of CPs on BC materials in HA contained SBF solution.
Mycotoxins: cytotoxicity and biotransformation in animal cells
Authors: Wen Jikai , Mu Peiqiang , Deng Yiqun
Published: January 2016

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by many microfungi. Hitherto, over 300 mycotoxins with diverse structures have been identified. They contaminate most cereals and feedstuffs, which threaten human and animal health by exerting acute, sub-acute and chronic toxicological effects, with some considered as carcinogens. Many mycotoxins at low concentrations are able to induce the expression of cytochrome P450 and other enzymes implicated in the biotransformation and metabolization of mycotoxins in vivo and in vitro. Mycotoxins and their metabolites elicit different cellular disorders and adverse effects such as oxidative stress, inhibition of translation, DNA damage and apoptosis in host cells, thus causing various kinds of cytotoxicities. In this review, we summarize the biotransformation of mycotoxins in animal cells by CYP450 isoforms and other enzymes, their altered expression under mycotoxin exposure, and recent progress in mycotoxin cytotoxicity in different cell lines. Furthermore, we try to generalize the molecular mechanisms of mycotoxin effects in human and animal cells.
Wireless feedback and feedforward data flow control subject to rate saturation and uncertain delay
Authors: Wigren Torbjörn
Published: January 2016

This study discusses wireless data flow controller design accounting for input signal saturation and an unknown delay. A main focus is to maintain a low real‐time computational complexity. This is motivated by a need to run a very large number of controllers in a single network node, e.g. in wireless 5G data flow control applications. Linear quadratic Gaussian design is therefore first applied to compute feedback and feedforward gains, for assumed nominal delays without accounting for the saturation that is caused by the one‐directional data flow. Gridding of design penalties, system parameters and delays are then used to pre‐compute and tabulate a subset of the ℒ2 stability region by repeated evaluation of the Popov criterion. This step secures a second requirement of robust stability with respect to the uncertain feedback delay. The design is validated with simulation using a detailed model of a networked wireless data flow controller used in cellular communications.
Distributed adaptive fault‐tolerant containment control for a class of multi‐agent systems with non‐identical matching non‐linear functions
Authors: Deng Chao , Yang Guang‐Hong
Published: January 2016

This study considers the fault‐tolerant containment control problem for linear multi‐agent systems with external disturbances, non‐identical matching non‐linear functions and actuator faults containing stuck, outage and loss of effectiveness. A novel method is proposed to estimate the norm of weight vector in fuzzy logic systems rather than the weight vector by using the traditional method. So the difficulty that the actuator with outage or stuck fault cannot work to compensate the unknown non‐linear function is solved. Furthermore, different from the traditional fault‐tolerant control method to estimate the feedback gain matrix related on the fault, only the ratio of coupling weight to the failure rate is estimated. The merit of the proposed controller is that the number of adaptive parameters is only related to the number of agents, which reduces the adaptive parameters and computational burden considerably. In addition, it is proved that the proposed controller guarantees all the signals in the closed‐loop systems are bounded and all followers converge asymptotically to the convex hull formed by the leaders. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Fuzzy logic systems‐based integral sliding mode fault‐tolerant control for a class of uncertain non‐linear systems
Authors: Hao Li‐Ying , H. Park Ju , Ye Dan
Published: January 2016

This study proposes an integral sliding mode control (ISMC) scheme for a class of uncertain non‐linear systems subject to actuator faults including outage. It is noted that traditional ISMC method cannot handle actuator outage. To tackle the problem, matrix full‐rank factorisation technique and adaptive mechanism are incorporated. Based on the above technique, two novel integral sliding surfaces using construction methods I and II are then introduced and existence conditions of sliding modes are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities, in which less conservativeness and better robustness against actuator faults are obtained using construction method II than I. The fuzzy logic systems are applied to approximate the bounds of unknown non‐linear functions. Furthermore, an integral sliding mode controller, without an fault detection and isolation mechanism, is synthesised to guarantee the asymptotic stability and the robustness of the closed‐loop system against actuator faults and non‐linearities from the every beginning. Finally, simulation results for a model of B747‐100/200 aircraft confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control method.
Multi‐period probabilistic‐scenario risk assessment of power system in wind power uncertain environment
Authors: Deng Weisi , Ding Hongfa , Zhang Buhan , Lin XiangNing , Bie Pei , Wu Jiasi
Published: January 2016

With the wind generation increasingly penetrating the power grids, there is a growing interest in developing new risk‐based assessments for the grids security analysis. This study develops one kind of such risk tools to evaluate the security risks of power grids under certain amount of wind generation in a short period of time. First of all, a very short‐term uncertainty model of wind generation is introduced. Then the conditional value‐at‐risk is used to design a safety distance (S‐D), revealing the tail risks of operating states. Based on S‐D, four new indices are defined to highlight the risks in a near future with considerable change of wind power output. The overall security assessment tool is compared with the conventional method both on a benchmark test system and a real power system in China. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and some advantages of this new risk‐based tool.
Thermonuclear dynamo inside ultracentrifuge with supersonic plasma flow stabilization
Authors: Winterberg F.
Published: January 2016

Einstein's general theory of relativity implies the existence of virtual negative masses in the rotational reference frame of an ultracentrifuge with the negative mass density of the same order of magnitude as the positive mass density of a neutron star. In an ultracentrifuge, the repulsive gravitational field of this negative mass can simulate the attractive positive mass of a mini-neutron star, and for this reason can radially confine a dense thermonuclear plasma placed inside the centrifuge, very much as the positive mass of a star confines its plasma by its own attractive gravitational field. If the centrifuge is placed in an externally magnetic field to act as the seed field of a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the configuration resembles a magnetar driven by the release of energy through nuclear fusion, accelerating the plasma to supersonic velocities, with the magnetic field produced by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect insulating the hot plasma from the cold wall of the centrifuge. Because of the supersonic flow and the high plasma density the configuration is stable.
Electrostatic twisted modes in multi-component dusty plasmas
Authors: Ayub M. K. , Ali S. , Ikram M.
Published: January 2016

Various electrostatic twisted modes are re-investigated with finite orbital angular momentum in an unmagnetized collisionless multi-component dusty plasma, consisting of positive/negative charged dust particles, ions, and electrons. For this purpose, hydrodynamical equations are employed to obtain paraxial equations in terms of density perturbations, while assuming the Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam solutions. Specifically, approximated solutions for potential problem are studied by using the paraxial approximation and expressed the electric field components in terms of LG functions. The energy fluxes associated with these modes are computed and corresponding expressions for orbital angular momenta are derived. Numerical analyses reveal that radial/angular mode numbers as well as dust number density and dust charging states strongly modify the LG potential profiles attributed to different electrostatic modes. Our results are important for understanding particle transport and energy transfer due to wave excitations in multi-component dusty plasmas.
Optimization of structural and dielectric properties of CdSe loaded poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) polymer in a desired frequency and temperature window
Authors: Tyagi Chetna , Sharma Ambika
Published: January 2016

In the present paper, investigations of CdSe loaded poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) nanocomposites and pure PDADMAC synthesized by wet chemical technique have been carried out. Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction analysis have been performed to reveal the structural details of pure polymer and polymer nanocomposite (PNC). The dielectric behavior of pure polymer and PNC has been recorded, which results in higher value of the real and imaginary part of dielectric constant for PNC, as compared with pure PDADMAC. The increase is attributed to the addition of CdSe quantum dots to the pure polymer. The contribution of ionic and electronic polarization has been observed at higher frequency. The theoretical fitting of Cole-Cole function to the experimental data of dielectric constant of PNC and pure PDADMAC results in the determination of relaxation time and conductivity of space charge carriers. The CdSe loaded polymer nanocomposite has been used as an electrolyte in the battery fabrication with configuration Al/PNC/Ag2O. The ac conductivity measurements have been carried out for both samples in a frequency window of 1 kHz–5 MHz and at different temperatures varying from 298 K to 523 K. Activation energy (Ea) has been determined for pure polymer as well as PNC and is found to be less for PNC, as compared with pure polymer. Further, impedance measurement at different temperatures results in two frequency ranges corresponding to ionic conduction and blocking electrode effect. The value of bulk resistance for pure polymer and PNC has been found to be 3660 Ω and 442 Ω, respectively, at 298 K temperature. Electric modulus has been determined and is observed to support the dielectric constant data; it further reveals the deviation from Debye behavior at a higher frequency.
Enhanced target normal sheath acceleration of protons from intense laser interaction with a cone-tube target
Authors: Xiao K. D. , Huang T. W. , Zhou C. T. , Qiao B. , Wu S. Z. , Ruan S. C. , He X. T.
Published: January 2016

Laser driven proton acceleration is proposed to be greatly enhanced by using a cone-tube target, which can be easily manufactured by current 3D-print technology. It is observed that energetic electron bunches are generated along the tube and accelerated to a much higher temperature by the combination of ponderomotive force and longitudinal electric field which is induced by the optical confinement of the laser field. As a result, a localized and enhanced sheath field is produced at the rear of the target and the maximum proton energy is about three-fold increased based on the two-dimentional particle-in-cell simulation results. It is demonstrated that by employing this advanced target scheme, the scaling of the proton energy versus the laser intensity is much beyond the normal target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) case.
Capacities and Natures: An Exercise in Ontology
Authors: McMullin Ernan
Published: January 2016

My task in writing a paper to accompany Milton Fisk's complex and provocative one is unusually difficult. His argument is so condensed and at such a high level of abstraction that I could easily devote my entire discussion to a single paragraph of his, to his very first one for example. Instead of doing this, I thought it would be more helpful to say something about the historical background from which his essay derives, and then go on to raise some difficulties regarding his central claim that nature is something over and above part and property. I will end with some suggestions on my own part as to how the categories of capacity and nature might best be related.

But first it is worth asking: to whom is this paper addressed? Its language and general approach are not those to which readers of the philosophy of science are accustomed.
Notes on Lakatos
Authors: Kuhn Thomas S.
Published: January 2016

The invitation which has brought me here to comment on Professor Lakatos’ paper has given me much pleasure, for I have long been an admirer of his work, particularly of his early four-part paper, ‘Proofs and Refutations’. That does not mean, of course, that we have often agreed, but I have enjoyed the arguments that resulted and looked forward to this one. My pleasure, furthermore, was considerably enhanced when I discovered that Lakatos was going to be able to confound all precedent, his own and others, by getting this paper to me well in advance. It is a privilege few commentators are given, and I am correspondingly grateful.

All that I could have said before opening Lakatos’ manuscript — in fact, I did so in letters to both Lakatos and Roger Buck. Reading it has only increased my satisfaction, but in an unanticipated way.
Monistic Theories of Society
Authors: Addis Laird
Published: January 2016

Given their importance in the history of ideas, monistic theories of society have received little serious attention in the literature. By a monistic theory, I mean one which holds that in a given area, one factor (or variable, as I shall usually call it) determines everything that happens; or, less strictly, that the one variable is the most important or crucial one in determining what happens in the given domain. There are social theories which hold, for example, that ideas are the only or crucially determining factor in history and theories which hold that certain ones among our ideas - religious or philosophical or scientific - constitute that factor. Other theories have maintained that a certain biological factor such as race or size is the major factor in the social process.
Some Comments on Velikovsky’s Methodology
Authors: Friedlander M. W.
Published: January 2016

For the 25 years since Worlds in Collision was published, Immanuel Velikovsky has awaited the recognition and acceptance that he feels he justly deserves. Whatever recognition he has achieved has come from outside the scientific community; the vast majority of professional scientists has either not examined his work, or has rejected it with varying degrees of vehemence. Those scientists who have reviewed his earlier works (Worlds in Collision and Earth in Upheaval) have been sufficiently negative in their assessments as to deter the scientific community at large from any extended consideration. During these 25 years, the scientific community has been under intermittent attack for its alleged failure to give Velikovsky a fair hearing and his theories a fair test As early as 1950, some scientists brought pressure on his publishers, the Macmillan Company, that led to Macmillan transferring the publication of Velikovsky’s books to other publishers who did not have text-book divisions through which they were laid open to threats of boycott in the large academic market.
Bayesian Inference with Indeterminate Probabilities
Authors: Spielman Stephen
Published: January 2016

There is an increasing recognition by friends of personal probability that the standard systems of personal probability do not provide a fully adequate basis for the theories of scientific inference and rational decision making. This recognition has methodological and formal components. On the methodological side, Jeffrey [8] and Spielman [16], [17] have suggested that personal probabilities should be interpreted as judgments about thecredibilityof propositions, i.e., as appraisals of the degrees of confidence that are warranted by the information available to the appraiser. The idea behind this interpretation is that there are criteria for appraising degrees of confidence as rational, plausible, silly or unwarranted. They have not been canonized, with the exception of the traditional informal fallacies of insufficient evidence, and if they were, would be highly vague and subject to revision as knowledge advances.
On the Radical Incompleteness of the Manifest Image
Authors: van Fraassen Bas C.
Published: January 2016

In my discussion of Sellars I have said as little as possible about my own position. But I think I should just mention that the descriptions of instrumentalists by Professors Sellars and Cornman do not fit me. That is why I would prefer the term “anti-realist”.

To my mind, theoretical entities are fictions. To explain this, let me draw an analogy. Suppose someone writes a short story about a quarrel between a man and a cat. There may be or have been in the world, somewhere, a man and a cat who quarrelled, and who are by and large just like the characters in the story. This possibility is quite irrelevant to what the author is doing, and to our evaluation of the story. Of course, it keeps us from saying categorically that all short stories are false; but this too is quite irrelevant.
How Complex are Complex Systems?
Authors: Simon Herbert A.
Published: January 2016

As it has turned out—and not, I think, by conscious design—this symposium has a truly Hegelian structure. The thesis and antithesis are provided by the themes of complexity and simplicity, respectively. Professor Nelson pleads the case for complexity, and I for simplicity; and we both count on Professor Suppes to propose the synthesis.

Methods of characterizing the simplicity or complexity of systems are many. Let me mention some of them:

(1) Systems that have many components may be considered complex relative to systems that have few. Hence the cardinality of a set may be taken as one measure of its complexity.

(2) Systems in which there is much interdependence among the components are generally regarded as more complex than systems with less interdependence among components.

(3) Systems that are undecidable may be regarded as complex in comparison with those that are decidable.
The Plurality of Science
Authors: Suppes Patrick
Published: January 2016

What I have to say falls under four headings: What is unity of science, unity and reductionism, the search for certainty, and the search for completeness.

To answer this initial question, I turned to the introductory essay by Otto Neurath for Volume 1, Part 1, of the International Encyclopedia of Unified Science. He begins this way:

Unified science became historically the subject of this Encyclopedia as a result of the efforts of the unity of science movement, which includes scientists and persons interested in science who are conscious of the importance of a universal scientific attitude.

The new version of the idea of unified science is created by the confluence of divergent intellectual currents. Empirical work of scientists was often antagonistic to the logical constructions of a priori rationalism bred by philosophico-religious systems; therefore, “empiricalizatlon” and “logicalization” were considered mostly to be in opposition—the two have now become synthesized for the first time in history (p. I).
The Formal and the Informal
Authors: Berkson William
Published: January 2016

I became acquainted with Lakatos’s work in 1965 when I started studying at London School of Economics—where Lakatos taught. As his work was developed over the succeeding years until his death in 1974, one thing always puzzled me: his work seemed to contain such conflicting tendencies. He would continue developing his ideas along a progressive line, and suddenly would insert an element which appeared to me quite reactionary. By ‘reactionary’, I should hasten to add, I mean imbued with the spirit of Positivism—a person of different bias might reverse the labels!

When I was given this opportunity to reflect again on Lakatos’s work I did not try to resolve the puzzle by looking into Lakatos’s intellectual history1; rather I attempted to separate clearly those aspects of Lakatos’s work which seemed to me driving in the right and the wrong directions. Both aspects concern the research program which has dominated both philosophy of science and philosophy of mathematics in the twentieth century.
Two Theories of Probability
Authors: Shafer Glenn
Published: January 2016

In a recent monograph, I advocated a new theory—the theory of belief functions—as an alternative to the Bayesian theory of epistemic probability. In this paper I compare the two theories in the context of a simple but authentic example of assessing evidence.

The Bayesian theory is ostensibly the theory that assessment of evidence should proceed by conditioning additive probability distributions; this theory dates from the work of Bayes and Laplace in the second half of the eighteenth century. It is indisputably the dominant theory of epistemic probability today.

The theory of belief functions differs from the Bayesian theory in that it uses certain non-additive set functions in the place of additive probability distributions and in that it generalizes the rule of conditioning to a general rule for combining evidence. As a mathematical theory its apparent origin is rather recent and abrupt; it first appears in work of A. P. Dempster, published in the 1960’s.
The Philosophy of Progress…
Authors: Laudan Larry
Published: January 2016

Philosophical dialogue is a curious activity. Arguments are expected to be rigorous, but no demand is made that there must be evidence for the premisses. Terminology is expected to be precise, but its appropriateness to the subject matter under discussion can be left unexplored. Officially, nothing is conceded; but, in fact, a great deal is taken for granted. Ad argumentum mingles indiscriminately with ad hominem; and, above all, the evidential warrant for one’s philosophical claims is, like the topics of sex and religion to the less enlightened, one of those delicate issues never to be discussed in mixed company.

Such conventions as these that are associated with contemporary philosophical exchange make it difficult to have a balanced discussion about Progress and Its Problems. That work is, in the first instance, a descriptive model of theory change in science. It purports to establish what sorts of factors have in fact influenced scientific decision-making.
On the Reality of Chance
Authors: Vickers John M.
Published: January 2016

In this paper I consider the question of the reality of chance. This is not what divides contemporary probabilists into the objective and subjective schools. That division is accomplished by the question whether there are objective grounds for the correctness of probability judgments. The subjectivists say that there need not be such grounds, and that probability judgments thus need not be empirically meaningful in the verificationist sense, or perhaps that they are not judgments at all, but rather expressions of attitude. (See [11], pp. 156-198). The objectivists say that the truth conditions for probability judgments are such as the frequencies of traits in populations or the existence of propensities. Objectivists and subjectivists are, however, agreed that there are no objective chances. (See [2], pp. 141, 142; and [12], §16).

There is a Humean argument against the reality of chance which depends mainly upon the premise that we have no experience of it.
A Formal Statement of Schrödinger's Cat Paradox
Authors: McGrath James H.
Published: January 2016

Schrödinger's argument about a “cat penned up in a steel chamber” is a timely challenge to those concerned with the philosophy of quantum theory; the argument prompts difficult decisions about correlated quantum mechanical systems, locality, reality and completeness. Here Schrödinger's own text is reproduced and, in view of the text, several plausible axioms and formal rules are chosen. Then, beginning with the axioms and using the rules, a contradiction is derived. This result establishes that Schrödinger's argument can be viewed as a paradox, a derivation of a contradiction from plausible assumptions. A final section of the paper refines the paradox and treats two possible resolutions as representative of a watershed issue in the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Comments concerning the method of formalization were provided when I applied the method to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument (1978).
Is the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis Robust Enough to Withstand the Challenge of Recent Discoveries in Molecular Biology and Molecular Evolution?
Authors: Jungck John R.
Published: January 2016

As a biologist who has been looking to philosophers of biology for fifteen years for help with epistemological problems, it was a surprise to me to be asked by Marjorie Grene and Richard Burian to prescribe some philosophical problems which have arisen in molecular biology developments such as those described by Alan Maxam. I thoroughly enjoyed the NEH Summer Institute on the “Philosophy of Biology” which they organized at Cornell and feel that they have raised many challenges to my own thinking in my field of molecular evolution and the origins of life. I believe that an analysis of Professor Ayala's, Kauffman's, and Maxam's papers is relevant to developments in molecular evolutionary theory. First, just as the punctuated equilibria versus phylogenetic gradualism debate in macroevolutionary theory has been seen by some as a challenge to Neo-Darwinism, notably not Professor Ayala, debates about neutralism versus selectionism has been viewed by others as a similar challenge.
On Einstein's Invention of Special Relativity
Authors: Miller Arthur I.
Published: January 2016

Albert Einstein distinguished sharply between the context of discovery and the context of invention. For example, in a letter of 6 January 1948 to Michele Besso, Einstein wrote:

Mach's weakness, as I see it , lies in the fact that he believed more or less strongly, that science consists merely of putting experimental results in order; that is, he did not recognize the free constructive element in the creation of a concept. He thought that somehow theories arise by means of discovery [durch Entdeckung] and not by means of invention [nicht durch Erfindung]. (1972, p. 391, italics in original).

By “invention” Einstein meant the mind's ability to leap across what he took to be the essential abyss between perceptions and data on the one side in order to create concepts and axioms on the other. Although sometimes Einstein interchanged the terms discovery and invention, he deemed invention to be the route of creative scientific thinking.
Exemplars and Scientific Change
Authors: Hull David L.
Published: January 2016

A recurrent theme in the “new philosophy of science” is the importance of temporally extended conceptual entities termed variously disciplinary matrixes (Kuhn 1970), research programs (Lakatos 1970), scientific disciplines (Toulmin 1972), theories (McMullin 1976), and research traditions (Laudan 1977). Each of these macro-conceptual entities contains a rich heterogeneity of constituent elements. For example, Kuhn's (1970, pp. 183-187) disciplinary matrixes (“paradigm” in his global sense) include symbolic generalizations, metaphysical views, models, values, and exemplars as concrete problem solutions (“paradigm” in the narrow sense). All of the conceptual entities listed above are “historical entities” or “continuants”, the sorts of things that can change through time. Toulmin (1972) and Laudan (1977) permit total changeover in elements just so long as the transformation is gradual and the system remains cohesive in the process. Others, such as Lakatos (1970), insist on the retention of a “hard core” of some kind.
Tests of Significance Violate the Rule of Implication
Authors: Baird Davis
Published: January 2016

Here follows a puzzle for those attempting to explain inductive inference. Suppose one hypothesis, H, implies another, I. Suppose further we obtain evidence, E, deemed sufficient to warrant the rejection of I. Is this evidence sufficient to warrant the rejection of H as well?

It is very tempting to answer this question affirmatively. The inference in question appears to be justified by a single use of modus tollens or denying the consequent:

A testament to the obvious plausibility of this sort of inference is the ubiquity of its endorsement in treatises on inductive inference. See, for example, Popper (Popper 1935, p. 76), Hempel (Hempel 1945, p. 31), Hacking (Hacking 1976, p. 33), or Savage (Savage 1954, p. 32). Indeed, a referee reporting on another paper called the following “rule of implication”:

(+) If hypothesis H implies hypothesis I, then evidence sufficient to warrant the rejection of I, in turn warrants the rejection of H.
On the Logic of Why-Questions
Authors: Sintonen Matti
Published: January 2016

In their classic work on the logic of explanation Hempel and Oppenheim (1948) claim that to explain the phenomena in the world of our experience is to answer the question “why?”, rather than the question “what?”. But there is a source of embarrassment, viz., the underdeveloped logic of why-questions itself. In this paper I want to explore some recent advances which, I shall argue, help us to overcome some of the embarrassment.

One way in which the logic of questions could help is proposed by Jaakko Hintikka. According to Hintikka (1981a) we can look upon scientific inquiry as a series of questions put to nature. For instance a scientist who tests a theory first derives its consequences C1,...,Cn and then asks nature questions of the form “Is CQ true?”. The inquirer (querier) here attempts to induce from nature one of the conclusive answers “Co is true” or “Co is not true”.
“Time Travel” in the Gödel Universe
Authors: Malament David B
Published: January 2016

In the late 1940s Gödel (1949a) made a fundamental contribution to relativity theory by finding an important new solution to Einstein's equation. It represents a possible universe with quite remarkable properties. For one thing, the entire material content of the Gödel universe Is In a state of uniform, rigid rotation. For another, free test particles in it exhibit a kind of boomerang effect Most striking of all, the Gödel universe allows for the possibility of “time travel” in a certain sense. It is this third feature I want to discuss today.

Of course one can mean various things by “time travel“. In traditional science fiction stories a classical background time structure is presupposed, and the time traveler is described as jumping from the present to the past (or to the future). In a spacetime diagram his worldline would appear as discontinuous.
The Pragmatic Character of Explanation
Authors: Achinstein Pete
Published: January 2016

Some of those, including the present writer, who criticize standard models of explanation, such as Hempel's D-N model or Salmon's S-R model, do so on the grounds that explanation is a “pragmatic” or “contextual” concept—an idea which the standard models seem to reject. Yet the sense in which explanation is, or is not, pragmatic is not always made clear by the critics or champions of the models. Indeed, some critics and some champions may even mean different things by “pragmatic” or “contextual”. In this paper I want to try to clarify a sense in which explanations might reasonably be considered pragmatic, discuss a couple of theories that are or are not pragmatic in this sense, argue the advantages of a pragmatic account, and briefly note some consequences of this for those seeking models of explanation.
Anthropology as Science and the Anthropology of Science and of Anthropology or Understanding and Explanation in the Social Sciences, Part II
Authors: Jarvie I.C
Published: January 2016

To begin with, an apology for ray subtitle, which consciously but unforgivably alludes to Hollywood's current fondness for numbered sequels to successful films. My intention was to signal that this paper, like a film such as Halloween II, will make further use of old materials, partly to bring the story up to date, partly to re-work material of proven box-office value, partly to answer those critics who, perhaps, deserve an answer.

Synoptically speaking the paper returns to the issue of whether anthropology aims to understand or to explain. No claim was made in Part I (Jarvie 1970) that the two are mutually exclusive, only that understanding is a vague idea which derives much of its appeal from poor anthropological information about science and its aims. Part I concentrated mainly on criticising Peter Winch's ethnography of science and of Azande witchcraft.
Causal Modeling and the Statistical Analysis of Causation
Authors: Irzik Gurol
Published: January 2016

Recent studies on probabilistic causation and statistical explanation (Cartwright 1979; Salmon 1984), I believe, have opened up the possibility of a genuine unification between philosophical approaches and causal modeling (CM) in the social, behavioral and biological sciences (Wright 1934; Blalock 1964; Asher 1976). This unification rests on the statistical tools employed, the principle of common cause, the irreducibility of causation to probability or statistics, and the idea of causal process as a suitable framework for understanding causal relationships. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to these four areas of contact by focusing on the relevant aspects of CM.

Causal analysis in the social sciences is based on two fundamental notions: model and method. A causal model is an idealized picture of the causal relationships in the world. Method, on the other hand, refers to certain statistical techniques that are used to evaluate and test a causal model using data which consist of joint observations on the model variables.
How The Laws Of Physics Don't Even Fib
Authors: Kline A. David , Matheson Carl A.
Published: January 2016

The covering law model of explanation has a staying power not even to be outdone by Lazarus. For at least forty years, writer after writer has tried to put it in its grave for the last time. The most recent efforts come from Nancy Cartwright (1983). Her slant is at once modern and old fashioned. It is modern in that unlike the familiar charge that the covering law model lets in too much, her charge is that it does not let in enough. It is old fashioned in that the soft spot she presses is one recognized by Hempel and Oppenheim in their classical essay. (1948, p. 248).

Cartwright challenges the requirement that the sentences constituting the explanans (in particular the law or laws) must be true.
Popper versus Lorenz: An Exploration Into the Nature of Evolutionary Epistemology
Authors: Hahlweg Kai
Published: January 2016

In 1941 Konrad Lorenz published a paper with the title “Kant’s Doctrine of the A Priori in the light of Contemporary Biology”. This essay stands as the foundation of the Austro-German School of Evolutionary Epistemology. As indicated by the title of the paper, the Lorenzians attempt to interpret Kantian transcendentalism along biological lines.

Lorenz was, however, by no means the first who attempted to biologise Kant. Philosophers and scientists such as Ernst Mach, Henri Poincare, Ludwig Boltzmann and Jean Piaget had made similar points previously. Nevertheless, it remains Lorenz’s achievement to have formulated his thesis explicitly and provided ample empirical evidence in favour of it.

Lorenz’s seminal paper remained largely unknown, and even his book on evolutionary epistemology published in 1973 raised little interest among philosophers, particularly in the English-speaking world. Meanwhile several other biologists and philosophers have joined Lorenz in his endeavour to elucidate epistemological issues through biological research.
How Not to Identify Innate Behaviors
Authors: Senchuk Dennis M.
Published: January 2016

Konrad Lorenz suggests that adequate grounds for classifying some behaviors as innate are to be found in the results of what he calls “the deprivation experiment“: ”… the experiment of withholding from the young organism information concerning certain well-defined givens of its natural environment.” (Lorenz 1965, p. 83). Thus, a stickleback fish is deprived of the information that its rival has a red belly. The stickleback is then confronted, for the first time, with a red-bellied rival (or a red-bellied dummy). If that stickleback responds with species-typical rival-fighting behavior, then (according to Lorenz) the experiment has established that the stickleback possesses certain innate information about its natural environment. On the other hand, should the stickleback fail to respond in this way, Lorenz tells us that ”…we should not be justified in asserting that this response is normally dependent on learning.
How Scientists reach Agreement about new Observations
Authors: Gooding David
Published: January 2016

Epistemology has been socialised. Cognitive and social interactions between observers are now as important as their interventions into the course of nature. This contrasts with traditional views of how we get natural facts into our discourse about nature. These assumed the efficacy of individual observers’ causal interactions with the natural world, making their interactions with other observers irrelevant. Kant’s conclusion that empirical access depends also upon our concepts did not challenge the individualistic character of the epistemology of science. Observers’ agreement about their observations showed that each individual can have independent perceptual access to one and the same world.

Historical and sociological studies of science show that social and procedural aspects of observation in the laboratory make an essential contribution to consensus about observations (see Knorr-Cetina and Mulkay (1983) and Gooding (1985a).
Selectivity and Theory Choice
Authors: Sintonen Mattl
Published: January 2016

In his 1982 Presidential Address to the PSA Ernan McMullin proposed that the Kuhnian “revolution” in the philosophy of science amounts, in part, to the growing awareness that theory-appraisal is to be modelled on decisions and value judgments rather than rule-governed inferences (McMullin 1983). This viewpoint has its attractions but needs developing before it can satisfy skeptics, such as Larry Laudan. For Laudan complains that Kuhn has provided no general model to back up his value-geared account, and that the view leads to untenable subjectivism which Kuhn has tried to avoid.

I shall try to show that neither complaint stands to criticism, by joining two ideas. The first – that of modelling theory decisions along decision theory – is not a novel one, but even its supporters have failed to see that it makes Kuhn’s subjectivity a live but respectable possibility.
Unification and Scientific Realism Revisited
Authors: Forster Malcolm R.
Published: January 2016

Section 2 will begin by formulating Reichenbach’s principle of common cause in a more general way than is usual but in a way that makes the idea behind it a lot clearer. The way that Salmon has pushed the principle into the services of scientific realism will be explained in terms of an example, van Fraassen objects, Salmon modifies his stand and van Fraassen rejoins - all in section 2. (See van Fraassen 1980, chapter 2).

In this episode I think van Fraassen right in claiming - against Salmon that there is no categorical imperative for common cause explanation, and I add my own examples in section 3. The first example ‘is the explanation of the correlation between the equilibrium positions of two objects on a balance in terms of their property of “mass” and the law of moments.
Decisions in Dynamic Settings
Authors: Weirich Paul
Published: January 2016

The expected utility of an option for a decision maker is defined with respect to probability and utility functions that represent the decision maker’s beliefs and desires. Therefore, as the decision maker’s beliefs and desires change, the expected utility of an opinion may change. Some options are such that their realizations change beliefs and desires in ways that change the expected utilities of the options. If a decision is made among options that include one or more of these special options, I call it a decision made in a dynamic setting.

The rule to maximize expected utility, MEU, is insufficient for decisions in dynamic settings. It does not say how to take account of information about the way in which the realization of an option would change the expected utility of the option.
A Logical Structure for Human Sociobiology
Authors: Gaulin Steven J. C.
Published: January 2016

Sociobiology is a diverse field. Its ranks of practitioners and store of explanatory paradigms are growing daily. Thus it would be foolish to claim that all sociobiology is scientifically valid, or that its philosophical foundations can all be laid out in the same terms. But I can offer a logical justification for one fairly widespread brand of sociobiology. Along the way I hope to explain why some brands of sociobiology are less acceptable than others, and also where some of its detractors are seriously misinformed. I want to defend sociobiology, especially as it pertains to the human case. I will show that it is not a genetically determinist position and does not rely on a naive and outdated dichotomy between nature and nurture. Consequently, it is neither politically conservative nor socially pernicious, despite the continuing claims of its detractors (e.g., Allen et al. 1977, Kitcher 1985).
The Elusiveness of Consensus in Science
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: January 2016

Consider Larry Laudan's (1984) recent statement of the role that consensus plays in scientific validation:

What makes the broad degree of agreement in science even more perplexing is the fact that the theories around which consensus forms do themselves rapidly come and go. The high degree of agreement, which characterizes science might be surprising if science, like some monastic religions, had settled upon a body of doctrine which was to be its permanent dogma. Consensus, once reached in those circumstances, could well be expected to sustain itself for a long period of time. But science offers us the remarkable spectre of a discipline in which older views on many central issues are quite rapidly and frequently displaced by newer ones, and where nonetheless most members of the scientific community will unhesitatingly change horses in midstream to embrace a point of view which may even have been mooted a decade earlier (p. 4).