bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The wonder of Horner’s method
Authors: Collyer A. A. , Pathan Alex
Published: August 2016

Apart from false position and double false position, another numerical method for calculating roots of equations was known to the Ancient Chinese. Chia Hsien in the eleventh century is reputed to have given an algorithm for calculating roots as well as describing Pascal’s triangle. The algorithm was mentioned again by the twelfth century scholar Liu I. The Chinese used the method to solve quadratics and cubics as early as 100 BC, but it was not until 1247 that Ch’in Kiu-Shao from South China published its extension to higher order polynomials in his work, Mathematics in nine chapters. A year later in the book, Sea-mirror of circle measurements, Li Yeh, who was from north China, took root-finding for granted. The fact that these quite independent writers published similar work suggests that finding the zeros of polynomials was well known by the middle of the thirteenth century. It was left to one of China’s greatest mathematicians, Chu Shi-kie’ (ca. 1280–1303), to give this algorithm its name fan fa, which means the method of the Celestial Element or sometimes the Celestial Unknown [1,2]. Translations and spellings of these older Chinese words do not always give the same result. This algorithm eventually became known as the Ruffini-Horner Method or more simply Horner’s method.
Mathematics teaching in Scotland today
Authors: Pritchard Chris
Published: August 2016

Home to just over five million souls, Scotland is the most sparsely populated part of Britain. The people are overwhelmingly white (some 98.7%) and English speaking. Levels of deprivation vary considerably across the country as a whole. Some 20% of the school population was entitled to free school meals in 1995, though the figure was twice as high in the City of Glasgow, where life expectancy is 10 years below that of affluent parts of the south of England. In July 1997 proposals were presented for the creation of a Scottish parliament. Whilst the Westminster parliament would ‘remain sovereign’, many powers would be devolved to Edinburgh, including those relating to virtually every aspect of education. So today, the Scottish Executive Education Department (or SEED) administers Scottish Executive policy for pre-school and school education in co-operation with local authorities that are responsible for providing school education in their areas. No less than 96% of youngsters are educated in state schools. Schools associated with religious groups including the Roman Catholic Church were incorporated into the state system in the 1920s. The annual cost of running the whole education system is a little under £5 billion or some 9% of Scottish GDP [1, p. 17].
Mathematics masterclasses and their organisation
Authors: Sewell M. J.
Published: August 2016

This article is a version, adapted to the written word, of an invited lecture given to the annual conference of Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences in universities, at the University of Birmingham, on 20 April 2001. It is offered here in the belief that an indication of the thinking behind the provision of Masterclasses for schoolchildren may also be of interest to schoolteachers themselves. I have been grateful for the very strong support which teachers have given, over ten years, to the Masterclasses which I have organised.
1936: Post, Turing and ‘a kind of miracle’ in mathematical logic
Authors: Hoare G. T. Q.
Published: August 2016

In the 1930s several mathematicians, principally Alonzo Church (1903-1995), Stephen Kleene (1909-1994), Emil Post (1897-1954) and Alan Turing (1912-1954), began investigating the notion ofeffective calculability. (A function from natural numbers to natural numbers iseffectively calculableif there is some finite rule or mechanism which will calculate the value of the function for any natural number.) Central to this activity was the notion of recursiveness. Loosely,recursionis a process of defining a function by specifying each of its values in terms of previously defined values.
From integer Lorentz transformations to Pythagoras
Authors: Bradley Christopher J.
Published: August 2016

In this article we show how to obtain by recurrence all primitive Pythagorean triples from the single basic (4, 3, 5) triple. It is all done by repeated application of two integer unimodular transformations that leave the indefinite metric x2 + y2 - z2 invariant, together with the additional transformations (i) that change the sign of x and (ii) that change the sign of y. These alone would restrict the triples to those in which x is even, y is odd and z is positive, so we then include two further transformations (iii) that exchange x and y and (iv) that change the sign of z, thereby accounting for all primitive triples. There is a bonus in extending the method beyond the first objective in that the theory, which we outline, of the Lorentz transformations involved not only provides necessary background explanation of the first part, but it also enables us to show how to solve by recurrence Diophantine equations of the form x2 + y2 = z2 + n, where n is any integer.
Formulae for the convergents to some irrationals
Authors: Griffiths Martin
Published: August 2016

One of the questions that I set my students in a recent A level revision lesson was to express (√2 - 1)6 in the form a + b√2, where a and b are integers. While they were calculating the answer, it occurred to me that, as a consequence of the fact that (√2 - 1)n → 0 as n → ∞ (since 0 < √2 - 1 < 1 ), a and b could be used to give us a ‘good’ rational approximation to √2. Within a minute or so everyone agreed that (√2 - 1)6 = 99 - 70√2, allowing us to write √2 ≈ 99/70.
A pseudohedron
Authors: Cundy H. Martyn
Published: August 2016

The other day I received a long tube from a Canadian stranger containing a large poster featuring over a hundred polyhedra, including ‘all 92 Johnson polyhedra’. This term, though probably unfamiliar this side of the pond, was not completely unknown to me; it means convex polyhedra, excluding the regular and Archimedean ones, all of whose faces are regular polygons. Of course, as usual, we have to exclude those naughty polyhedra whose faces go around in pairs collecting squares (prisms) or equilateral triangles (antiprisms) and don’t know when to stop. The word convex is vital, otherwise there would be another infinite set. A lot of them are rather trivial, like sticking pyramids on the faces of a dodecahedron, but they include the deltahedra and many other interesting members. But they have at least one imitator who didn't quite make the grade. Trying to discover why, and how to coach him so that he would, I found that my spherical trigonometry was getting rather rusty so I set out to make one and see what was happening. I thought perhaps other readers would like to share this piece of antiresearch.
Some unusual space-filling solids
Authors: Gailiunas P.
Published: August 2016

When identical copies of a solid can be packed together indefinitely to cover the whole of space and leave no gaps it is said to be space-filling. Usually only convex solids are considered in this context since, as Grünbaum and Shephard point out, non-convex space-filling solids can be generated from convex examples by making compensating additions and reductions, analogous to Escher’s modifications of plane tessellations. Nevertheless some non-convex space-filling solids are not obvious derivatives, and are interesting in their own right. Although the examples considered here have all been generated in the same way (to be described), their relation to other space-filling objects will also be considered.
On the generalised birthday problem
Authors: McGregor R. J. , Shannon G. P.
Published: August 2016

Probability theory abounds in counterintuitive results, perhaps the most celebrated being the answer to the birthday problem: what is the least value of n such that p (n, 2) > ½ where p (n, 2) denotes the probability that at least two out of n randomly chosen people have the same birthday? The question assumes birthdays are uniformly and independently distributed with leap years being ignored. The solution, n = 23, never fails to startle beginning students, and very often triggers an interest in the subject of probability. It is derived from the well-known observation that by the principle of complementation p (n, 2) is one minus the probability that no two have the same birthday, i.e.
Extensions of a theorem of Van Aubel
Authors: Silvester John R.
Published: August 2016

A theorem of Van Aubel, which first appeared in concerns the figure obtained by erecting squares on the sides of a quadrilateral, and considering various line segments such as the joins of the centres of opposite squares. In parts of the theorem are extended to the case of (i) four similar rhombi, and (ii) four similar rectangles erected on the sides of a quadrilateral. Further, these two results are described as in some sense ‘dual’ to each other. Here we show that they are in fact both special cases of a further extension of the original theorem (see Proposition 6, and the remarks that follow it), and we also find several extra squares in the original Van Aubel figure (Proposition 11).
Viète, Descartes and the cubic equation
Authors: Nickalls R. W. D.
Published: August 2016

An appreciation of the geometry underlying algebraic techniques invariably enhances understanding, and this is particularly true with regard to polynomials.

With visualisation as our theme, this article considers the cubic equation and describes how the French mathematicians François Viète (1540–1603) and René Descartes (1596–1650) related the ‘three-real-roots’ case (casus irreducibilis) to circle geometry. In particular, attention is focused on a previously undescribed aspect, namely, how the lengths of the chords constructed by Viète and Descartes in this setting relate geometrically to the curve of the cubic itself.
Facetting diagrams
Authors: Inchbald Guy
Published: August 2016

Facetting, or faceting, is the process of removing parts of a polyhedron, without creating any new vertices. It has received far less attention than the process of stellation, which is its exact reciprocal. Facetting is perhaps less easy to visualise clearly, and the results may not have the same immediate appeal. But once broached, it has a fascination all its own. Also, to understand the rules of stellation properly, it can be illuminating to study the reciprocal rules of facetting. Now that suitable software is available (see Further investigations), the study of facetting is gaining momentum.
How the odd terms in the Fibonacci sequence stack up
Authors: Rinaldi S. , Rogers D. G.
Published: August 2016

Dedicated to H. N. V. Temperley on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday 4 March 2005

The authors of the recent Note [1] exhibit an odd preference. They derive recurrence relations for the odd terms, un = F2n+1, n ≥ 0, in the sequence of Fibonacci numbers, Fn, defined by
Hagge circles and isogonal conjugation
Authors: Bradley Christopher , Smith Geoff
Published: August 2016

Let Q be a point on the circumcircle of triangle ABC. The reflections of Q in the three triangle sides are known to be collinear, and the line thus defined contains the orthocentre H. This fact can form the basis of a proof of the existence of the Simson line, or alternatively can be deduced from the existence of the Simson line by enlarging the Simson line by a factor of 2 from the centre Q.
Differential equations - practical methods of numerical solution
Authors: Murphy R. V. W.
Published: August 2016

The most basic problem with differential equations is that of being given an equation that can be put into the form

and one pair of solution values x = x0, y = y0, from which to find either an algebraic form of its solution or the numerical value of y corresponding to a particular value of x. This can most conveniently be interpreted as finding, out of the infinity of solution curves to (1.1), an equation for the unique curve that passes through the point (x0, y0) or calculating the coordinates of one particular point on that curve.
Euler's contribution to number theory
Authors: Shiu Peter
Published: August 2016

Individuals who excel in mathematics have always enjoyed a well deserved high reputation. Nevertheless, a few hundred years back, as an honourable occupation with means to social advancement, such an individual would need a patron in order to sustain the creative activities over a long period. Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) had the fortune of being supported successively by Peter the Great (1672-1725), Frederich the Great (1712-1786) and the Great Empress Catherine (1729-1791), enabling him to become the leading mathematician who dominated much of the eighteenth century. In this note celebrating his tercentenary, I shall mention his work in number theory which extended over some fifty years. Although it makes up only a small part of his immense scientific output (it occupies only four volumes out of more than seventy of his complete work) it is mostly through his research in number theory that he will be remembered as a mathematician, and it is clear that arithmetic gave him the most satisfaction and also much frustration. Gazette readers will be familiar with many of his results which are very well explained in H. Davenport's famous text [1], and those who want to know more about the historic background, together with the rest of the subject matter itself, should consult A. Weil's definitive scholarly work [2], on which much of what I write is based. Some of the topics being mentioned here are also set out in Euler's own Introductio in analysin infinitorum (1748), which has now been translated into English [3].
Man versus Computer
Authors: Dolan Stan
Published: August 2016

A few years ago, Shail [1] described earlier computer-assisted work on the Lester circle. Shail then showed how a Cartesian proof was ‘just feasible by hand’ but that it was more convenient to use computer algebra systems.

However, not relying on computer assistance does have the advantage that it forces us to search for improvements in our methods. In this instance, using vectors referenced to a special set of three coplanar axes enables us to avoid involved computations.
Nice polynomials with three roots
Authors: Groves Jonathan
Published: August 2016

Nice polynomials are polynomials whose coefficients, roots, and critical points are integers. The earliest papers on nice polynomials [1, 2, 3] give an explicit formula for all nice cubics. All the derivations of this formula use Pythagorean triples.

In 1999 the problem of finding, constructing, and classifying nice polynomials was added to the list of unsolved problems [4] in The American Mathematical Monthly. Other papers soon followed, including [5] and [6], with extending the results of nice polynomials to polynomials with coefficients, roots, and critical points in integral domains D. Such polynomials are called D-nice.
The power of a point for some real algebraic curves
Authors: Suceavă Bogdan D. , Vajiac Adrian , Vajiac Mihaela B.
Published: August 2016

According to various sources (e.g. [1, p. 102]), the terminology of the power of a point with respect to a circle is due to Steiner. His definition appears in most classical and contemporary geometry textbooks (to mention just a few references, see [2, 3, 4, 5]). The concept of the power of a point has been revisited not only in advanced Euclidean geometry, but also in computational geometry and other areas of mathematics.

In the current literature there are two different definitions of the power of a point with respect to a circle, which we study in detail in section 2. In the first half of the twentieth century there have been published several attempts to generalise the concept of power of the point to real algebraic curves.
Indecomposability: polyominoes and polyomino tilings
Authors: Rinaldi Simone , Rogers D. G.
Published: August 2016

When we were preparing our earlier article [1], we thought to look back to see what else had appeared in the Gazette on the subject of polyominoes. A polyomino is a finite collection of cells in the square grid with connected interior - so it is insufficient that cells be connected only corner to corner. Some authors require polyominoes to have a simply connected interior, that is, to be without holes, as was appropriate, for example, in [1] for stack polyominoes. The classic text on polyominoes is Solomon Golomb's engaging book [2], first published in 1965, now supplemented at an even more accessible level by [3].
The Soddy spheres of a 4-ball tetrahedron: Part 1
Authors: Fox Michael , Oldknow Adrian , Rigby John , Zeeman Christopher
Published: August 2016

New discoveries about the Soddy circles of a triangle were published in theGazette[1] in 1995; they are summarised below. Extensions of wellknown results in the geometry of the triangle to that of the tetrahedron were presented by Zeeman in his 2004 Presidential Address at the Mathematical Association Conference in York [2]. Using the computer software packageCabri 3D, we have discovered new results which extend the Soddy circles of a triangle to Soddy spheres of a special class of tetrahedra. This article is the first of two which present our discoveries, as well as relevant aspects of the established geometry of tetrahedra, together with their proofs.
Integral powers of order three Latin square matrices
Authors: Gauthier N.
Published: August 2016

An order-n Latin square contains numbers, each of which is one of a set of n real numbers, , arranged in the form of an n × n matrix, in such a way that each row and each column of the matrix contains all n numbers. Euler (1707-1783) was the first to study the properties of Latin squares and they have been the focus of continued attention since. Studies of Latin squares naturally lead one to elements of group theory and of matrix theory. As will be shown in this note, both of these features may offer interesting investigative opportunities for classroom discussions of the permutation group on three symbols and of the algebra of the associated permutation matrices.
The sequence of n-dimensional cube-fractals
Authors: Kosi-Ulbl Irena
Published: August 2016

This paper is motivated by the work of V. Dubrovsky [1] who described an n-dimensional cube. It is our aim to build a fractal, based on such a cube as well as to derive a formula for a general volume of that fractal. Two special cases n = 2 and n = 3 are investigated in detail.
The quartic equation: invariants and Euler's solution revealed
Authors: Nickalls R. W. D.
Published: August 2016

The central role of the resolvent cubic in the solution of the quartic was first appreciated by Leonard Euler (1707-1783). Euler's quartic solution first appeared as a brief section (§ 5) in a paper on roots of equations [1, 2], and was later expanded into a chapter entitled ‘Of a new method of resolving equations of the fourth degree’ (§§ 773-783) in his Elements of algebra [3,4].
Optimal strategies for the progressive Monty Hall problem
Authors: Lucas Stephen K. , Rosenhouse Jason
Published: August 2016

In the classical Monty Hall problem you are a contestant on a game show confronted with three identical doors. One of them conceals a car while the other two conceal goats. You choose a door, but do not open it. The host, Monty Hall, now opens one of the other two doors, careful always to choose one he knows to conceal a goat. You are then given the options either of sticking with your original door, or switching to the other unopened door. What should you do to maximise your chances of winning the car?
Nutrition in the spotlight: metabolic effects of environmental light
Authors: Versteeg Ruth I. , Stenvers Dirk J. , Kalsbeek Andries , Bisschop Peter H. , Serlie Mireille J. , la Fleur Susanne E.
Published: August 2016

Use of artificial light resulted in relative independence from the natural light–dark (LD) cycle, allowing human subjects to shift the timing of food intake and work to convenient times. However, the increase in artificial light exposure parallels the increase in obesity prevalence. Light is the dominant Zeitgeber for the central circadian clock, which resides within the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus, and coordinates daily rhythm in feeding behaviour and metabolism. Eating during inappropriate light conditions may result in metabolic disease via changes in the biological clock. In this review, we describe the physiological role of light in the circadian timing system and explore the interaction between the circadian timing system and metabolism. Furthermore, we discuss the acute and chronic effects of artificial light exposure on food intake and energy metabolism in animals and human subjects. We propose that living in synchrony with the natural daily LD cycle promotes metabolic health and increased exposure to artificial light at inappropriate times of day has adverse effects on metabolism, feeding behaviour and body weight regulation. Reducing the negative side effects of the extensive use of artificial light in human subjects might be useful in the prevention of metabolic disease.
The cooperative breeding perspective helps in pinning down when uniquely human evolutionary processes are necessary
Authors: Burkart Judith Maria , van Schaik Carel P.
Published: August 2016

The cultural group selection (CGS) approach provides a compelling explanation for recent changes in human societies, but has trouble explaining why our ancestors, rather than any other great ape, evolved into a hyper-cooperative niche. The cooperative breeding hypothesis can plug this gap and thus complement CGS, because recent comparative evidence suggests that it promoted proactive prosociality, social transmission, and communication in Pleistocene hominins.
Frozen cultural plasticity
Authors: Houdek Petr , Novakova Julie
Published: August 2016

We discuss cultural group selection under the view of the frozen plasticity theory and the different explanatory power and predictions of this framework. We present evidence that cultural adaptations and their influence on the degree of cooperation may be more complex than presented by Richerson et al., and conclude with the gene-environment-culture relationship and its impacts on cultural group selection.
The role of cultural group selection in explaining human cooperation is a hard case to prove
Authors: Mace Ruth , Silva Antonio S.
Published: August 2016

We believe cultural group selection is an elegant theoretical framework to study the evolution of complex human behaviours, including large-scale cooperation. However, the empirical evidence on key theoretical issues – such as levels of within- and between-group variation and effects of intergroup competition – is so far patchy, with no clear case where all the relevant assumptions and predictions of cultural group selection are met, to the exclusion of other explanations.
Cultural differentiation does not entail group-level structure: The case for geographically explicit analysis
Authors: Ross Robert Malcolm , Atkinson Quentin Douglas
Published: August 2016

Richerson et al. argue that relatively large culturalFSTvalues provide evidence for group structure and therefore scope for group selection. However, recent research on spatial patterns of cultural variation demonstrates that, as in the genetic case, apparent group structure can be a consequence of geographic clines, not group barriers. Such a pattern limits the scope for cultural group selection.
Self-interested agents create, maintain, and modify group-functional culture
Authors: Singh Manvir , Glowacki Luke , Wrangham Richard W.
Published: August 2016

We agree that institutions and rules are crucial for explaining human sociality, but we question the claim of there not being “alternatives to CGS [that] can easily account for the institutionalized cooperation that characterizes human societies” (target article, sect. 7). Hypothesizing that self-interested individuals coercively and collaboratively create rules, we propose that agent-based hypotheses offer viable alternatives to cultural group selection (CGS).
The selective social learner as an agent of cultural group selection
Authors: Suárez Sarah , Koenig Melissa
Published: August 2016

Developmental research characterizes even the youngest learners as critical and selective, capable of preserving or culling cultural information on the bases of informant accuracy, reasoning, or coherence. We suggest that Richerson et al. adjust their account of social learning in cultural group selection (CGS) by taking into consideration the role of the selective learner in the cultural inheritance system.
Clarifying the time frame and units of selection in the cultural group selection hypothesis
Authors: Whiten Andrew , Erdal David
Published: August 2016

We raise and discuss two issues for clarification. First, over what timescale is cultural group selection proposed to have been active? Unprecedented cooperation is inferred to have arisen in hunter-gather life well before the recent period on which Richerson et al. focus. Second, what is the unit of selection? Groups (of human individuals)? Or cultural entities along the lines of “meme-complexes”?
Social selection is a powerful explanation for prosociality
Authors: Nesse Randolph M.
Published: August 2016

Cultural group selection helps explain human cooperation, but social selection offers a complementary, more powerful explanation. Just as sexual selection shapes extreme traits that increase matings, social selection shapes extreme traits that make individuals preferred social partners. Self-interested partner choices create strong and possibly runaway selection for prosocial traits, without requiring group selection, kin selection, or reciprocity.
Cultural group selection follows Darwin's classic syllogism for the operation of selection
Authors: Richerson Peter , Baldini Ryan , Bell Adrian V. , Demps Kathryn , Frost Karl , Hillis Vicken , Mathew Sarah , Newton Emily K. , Naar Nicole , Newson Lesley , Ross Cody , Smaldino Paul E. , Waring Timothy M. , Zefferman Matthew
Published: August 2016

The main objective of our target article was to sketch the empirical case for the importance of selection at the level of groups on cultural variation. Such variation is massive in humans, but modest or absent in other species. Group selection processes acting on this variation is a framework for developing explanations of the unusual level of cooperation between non-relatives found in our species. Our case for cultural group selection (CGS) followed Darwin's classic syllogism regarding natural selection: If variation exists at the level of groups, if this variation is heritable, and if it plays a role in the success or failure of competing groups, then selection will operate at the level of groups. We outlined the relevant domains where such evidence can be sought and characterized the main conclusions of work in those domains. Most commentators agree that CGS plays some role in human evolution, although some were considerably more skeptical. Some contributed additional empirical cases. Some raised issues of the scope of CGS explanations versus competing ones.
The similarity and difference between ant and human ultrasocieties: From the viewpoint of scaling laws
Authors: Hou Chen
Published: August 2016

Complementary to Gowdy & Krall's comparison between ants and humans, I use economy scaling laws to discuss the similarity and difference between them quantitatively. I hypothesize that individual variations in society result in higher energetic efficiency in larger groups, and that the difference in the sustainability between these species originates from the driving forces of growth with different scaling powers.
Ultrasociality without group selection: Possible, reasonable, and likely
Authors: Krasnow Max M.
Published: August 2016

It is uncontroversial that humans are extremely social, and that cultures have changed over time. But, the evidence shows that much of the social psychology underlying these phenomena (1) predates the agricultural transition, and (2) is not the result of group selection. Instead, this psychology appears intricately designed to capture social gains when possible in our complex ancestral social ecology.
Social insects, merely a “fun house” mirror of human social evolution
Authors: Levine Hal B.
Published: August 2016

Social insects show us very little about the evolution of complex human society. As more relevant literature demonstrates, ultrasociality is a cause rather than an effect of human social evolution.
Biological markets explain human ultrasociality
Authors: Sheskin Mark , Lambert Stéphane , Baumard Nicolas
Published: August 2016

The evidence Gowdy & Krall (G&K) provide is more consistent with a biological markets explanation of human ultrasociality than a group selection explanation. Specifically, large-scale societies provide a better biological market for cooperation than do small-scale societies, allowing individuals to increase their fitness. Importantly, many of the quality-of-life costs G&K discuss (e.g., patriarchy) are not fitness costs.
Agriculture and the energy-complexity spiral
Authors: Tainter Joseph A.
Published: August 2016

The study of cultural complexity is entwined with ancestors myths from contemporary cosmology. Gowdy & Krall expose this mythology by arguing that complexity emerged from economic changes following cultivation. There is more, however, to the development of cultural complexity. Complexity can emerge from abundant energy or from addressing societal problems, which compels still further energy production.
Disengaging from the ultrasocial economy: The challenge of directing evolutionary change
Authors: Gowdy John , Krall Lisi
Published: August 2016

We appreciate the depth and breadth of comments we received. They reflect the interdisciplinary challenge of our inquiry and reassured us of its broad interest. We believe that our target article and the criticisms, elaborations, and extensions of the commentators can be an important contribution to establishing human ultrasociality as a new field of social science inquiry. A few of the commentators questioned our definition of ultrasociality, and we begin our response with an elaboration of that definition and a defense of our argument that human ultrasociality began with agriculture. We then respond to the second major area of controversy, namely, our use of group selection to explain the economic drivers behind the agricultural transition. We then focus on the issue of human intentionality raised by the phenomenon of collective intelligence. The intriguing question is to what extent can an entire culture change its own destiny? We then address the issue of the division of labor raised by a number of commentators. The complex division of labor was both a driver and a defining characteristic of ultrasociality, even though it was present in simpler forms in earlier societies. The remaining issues addressed include energy and complexity, expansion and sustainability, and the accelerating evolution of human ultrasociality. These were raised by only a few commentators, but their importance warrants further elaboration.
Why a developmental perspective is critical for understanding human cognition
Authors: D'Souza Dean , Karmiloff-Smith Annette
Published: August 2016

The evidence that Anderson (2014) marshals in support of his theory of neural reuse is persuasive. However, his theoretical framework currently lacks a developmental dimension. We argue that an account of the fundamental aspects of developmental change, as well as the temporal context within which change occurs, would greatly enhance Anderson's theory.
The reification objection to bottom-up cognitive ontology revision
Authors: McCaffrey Joseph B. , Machery Edouard
Published: August 2016

Anderson (2014) proposes a bottom-up approach to cognitive ontology revision: Neuroscientists should revise their taxonomies of cognitive constructs on the basis of brain activation patterns across many tasks. We argue that such bottom-up proposal is bound to commit a mistake of reification: It treats the abstract mathematical entities uncovered by dimension reduction techniques as if they were real psychological entities.
Scientific intuitions about the mind are wrong, misled by consciousness
Authors: Perlovsky Leonid
Published: August 2016

Logic is a fundamental reason why computational accounts of the mind have failed. Combinatorial complexity preventing computational accounts is equivalent to the Gödelian incompleteness of logic. The mind is not logical, but only logical states and processes in the mind are accessible to subjective consciousness. For this reason, intuitions of psychologists, cognitive scientists, and mathematicians modeling the mind are biased toward logic. This is also true about the changes proposed inAfter Phrenology(Anderson 2014).
Beyond disjoint brain networks: Overlapping networks for cognition and emotion
Authors: Pessoa Luiz
Published: August 2016

It is taken for granted that the brain is composed of a set of networks. But what is a brain network? How should we characterize them? Adding to Anderson's (2014) persuasive anti-modular framework, I propose that (1) networks do not have a single, unique function; (2) networks are highly overlapping and not disjoint; and (3) tasks reconfigure networks found at rest.
Modularity in network neuroscience and neural reuse
Authors: Stanley Matthew L. , Brigard Felipe De
Published: August 2016

Neural reuse allegedly stands in stark contrast against a modular view of the brain. However, the development of unique modularity algorithms in network science has provided the means to identify functionally cooperating, specialized subsystems in a way that remains consistent with the neural reuse view and offers a set of rigorous tools to fully engage in Anderson's (2014) research program.
An automatic switching approach to teleoperation of mobile-manipulator systems using virtual fixtures
Authors: Wrock M. R. , Nokleby S. B.
Published: August 2016

This work presents a novel command strategy developed to improve operator performance and minimize difficulties in teleoperation tasks for mobile-manipulator systems with a holonomic base. Aimed specifically at novice operators, virtual fixtures are introduced as a means to minimize collisions and assist in navigation. Using the 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) Omnibot mobile-manipulator system (MMS), a command strategy is implemented such that the operator need only control a 3-DOF haptic joystick to achieve full control of the Omnibot MMS. The command strategy is used to coordinate control between the arm and the base of the system, prevent collisions with known obstacles, and alert the operator of proximity to those obstacles with haptic forces. Through experimental testing it is shown that operator performance improved with the use of virtual fixtures.
Assessing the Risk
Authors: Coulton Nicholas
Published: August 2016

While the English Church shared in celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, not least its own part in gaining those rights for everyone, the Church of England was reversing the principle that people are innocent until proved guilty. Such is the pressure of today's concern about child abuse, historic and present. As evidence mounts of the injustices done by false accusations against some high-profile public figures, we are less aware of the toll on other individuals whose turmoil does not hit the headlines. Those teaching and caring are often targeted for claims, and the Church of England has been toughening its procedures.
Editors’ note
Authors: Forgacs David , Magistretti Stefano
Published: August 2016

The articles in this issue originated as papers at the conference ‘Italy in the Digital Era: Mapping the New Media System’, which we organized on behalf of the UCL Centre for Italian Studies at the Institute of Romance Studies (IRS), University of London, on 13–14 October 2000. We are grateful to our sponsors, Fiat, to Nicolette David and Sarah Wykes at the IRS for their organizational support, to the editorial board of Modern Italy for agreeing to our proposal to publish these articles as a special issue and to our referees for their comments and suggestions.
Guilt, context and the historian: debating the Schio massacre: A comment on Sarah Morgan's ‘The Schio killings’
Authors: Croci Osvaldo
Published: August 2016

In a recent issue of Modern Italy, Sarah Morgan has offered an analysis of the Schio killings (eccidio di Schio) of July 1945 by means of a ‘constructivist’ approach.1 She compares the narratives of events provided by the Communist party (PCI), the Allied Military Government (AMG), and partisans and partisan organizations, and shows how each narrative was related to different political interests and preoccupations. Thus, the PCI, which was primarily concerned with defending the image of the ‘Resistance’ on which its political legitimacy rested, maintained that those responsible for the killings of over. fty ‘Fascists’ held in the Schio prison were not real partisans but ‘agents provocateurs’. The AMG presented the killings as a brutal example of breakdown of law and order thus casting doubt on the viability of the model of grass-root governance provided by the Committees of National Liberation (CLN). Conservative political forces pushed the AMG narrative even further and chose to regard the Schio massacre as the beginning of a cycle of violence instigated by the Communist Left. Finally, partisans and partisan organizations argued that the killings were an act of popular justice within the context of a general sense of frustration for the lack of epurazione (purging of the Fascists) and the emotions generated by the news that all but one of the Schio anti-Fascists sent to the Mathausen concentration camp had died there.
SOCIAL CAPITAL AS AN ENGINE OF GROWTH: MULTISECTORAL MODELING AND IMPLICATIONS
Authors: Bofota Youyou Baende , Boucekkine Raouf , Bala Alain Pholo
Published: August 2016

We propose an endogenous growth model incorporating social capital. Social capital serves only as an input in the production of human capital and it involves a cost in terms of the final good. In contrast to alternative specifications, this model ensures that social capital enhances productivity gains by playing the role of a timing belt that drives the transmission and propagation of all productivity shocks. We find that, depending on the measure of social capital, the elasticity of human capital with respect to social capital varies from 6% to 10%. Finally, we investigate the short-term dynamics and imbalance effect properties of the model, depending on the value of this elasticity. In particular, we show that when the substitutability of social capital for human capital increases, the economy is better equipped to surmount initial imbalances, as individuals may allocate more working time to the final good sector without impeding economic growth.
ARE CONSUMPTION TAXES PREFERABLE TO INCOME TAXES FOR PREVENTING MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY?
Authors: McKnight Stephen
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the local determinacy implications of using consumption taxes and income taxes to finance a balanced budget fiscal policy for a variety of popular monetary policy rules. It is shown using a New Keynesian framework that the severity of the indeterminacy problem that arises under each tax system depends not only on the specification of the interest-rate feedback rule, but also on the magnitude of the steady state tax rate, the steady state government debt–output ratio, and the degree of price stickiness. Significant differences in the determinacy criteria across the two tax systems are found to exist. The robustness of the results is assessed by extending the baseline model to include capital accumulation and the taxation of bond interest income. From a policy perspective, our results suggest that future shifts toward indirect taxation could have nontrivial implications for the setting of monetary policy under balanced budget rules, in particular the ability of the Taylor principle to achieve determinacy.
A NOTE ON THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NEOCLASSICAL PRODUCTION FUNCTION
Authors: Irmen Andreas , Maußner Alfred
Published: August 2016

We study production functions with capital and labor as arguments that exhibit positive, yet diminishing marginal products and constant returns to scale. We show that such functions satisfy the Inada conditions if (i) both inputs are essential and (ii) an unbounded quantity of either input leads to unbounded output. This allows for an alternative characterization of the neoclassical production function that altogether dispenses with the Inada conditions. Although this proposition generalizes to the case ofn> 2 factors of production, its converse does not hold: 2nInada conditions do not imply that each factor is essential.
Clustering of adherence to personalised dietary recommendations and changes in healthy eating index within the Food4Me study
Authors: Livingstone Katherine M , Celis-Morales Carlos , Lara Jose , Woolhead Clara , O’Donovan Clare B , Forster Hannah , Marsaux Cyril FM , Macready Anna L , Fallaize Rosalind , Navas-Carretero Santiago , San-Cristobal Rodrigo , Kolossa Silvia , Tsirigoti Lydia , Lambrinou Christina P , Moschonis George , Surwiłło Agnieszka , Drevon Christian A , Manios Yannis , Traczyk Iwona , Gibney Eileen R , Brennan Lorraine , Walsh Marianne C , Lovegrove Julie A , Martinez J Alfredo , Saris Wim HM , Daniel Hannelore , Gibney Mike , Mathers John C
Published: August 2016

Objective

To characterise clusters of individuals based on adherence to dietary recommendations and to determine whether changes in Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores in response to a personalised nutrition (PN) intervention varied between clusters.

Design

Food4Me study participants were clustered according to whether their baseline dietary intakes met European dietary recommendations. Changes in HEI scores between baseline and month 6 were compared between clusters and stratified by whether individuals received generalised or PN advice.

Setting

Pan-European, Internet-based, 6-month randomised controlled trial.

Subjects

Adults aged 18–79 years (n 1480).

Results

Individuals in cluster 1 (C1) met all recommended intakes except for red meat, those in cluster 2 (C2) met two recommendations, and those in cluster 3 (C3) and cluster 4 (C4) met one recommendation each. C1 had higher intakes of white fish, beans and lentils and low-fat dairy products and lower percentage energy intake from SFA (P<0·05). C2 consumed less chips and pizza and fried foods than C3 and C4 (P<0·05). C1 were lighter, had lower BMI and waist circumference than C3 and were more physically active than C4 (P<0·05). More individuals in C4 were smokers and wanted to lose weight than in C1 (P<0·05). Individuals who received PN advice in C4 reported greater improvements in HEI compared with C3 and C1 (P<0·05).

Conclusions

The cluster where the fewest recommendations were met (C4) reported greater improvements in HEI following a 6-month trial of PN whereas there was no difference between clusters for those randomised to the Control, non-personalised dietary intervention.
Genetic base-broadening of cacao for precocity and cropping efficiency
Authors: Padi Francis Kwame , Ofori Atta , Akpertey Abraham
Published: August 2016

Introduction of clones from genetic groups that are underrepresented in the pedigree of commercial cacao varieties in West Africa represents an important aspect of cacao improvement strategy of broadening the genetic base to overcome current yield stagnation of the crop. The objective of the present study was to determine the combining abilities of more recently introduced cacao clones for yield and cropping efficiency in the early bearing years. Seven recently introduced clones were crossed as males to five clones commonly used in the seed gardens in Ghana using a North Carolina II design. The 35 F1varieties and one commercial variety were evaluated in the field from June 2010 to March 2015 for four traits: increase in trunk cross-sectional area in the juvenile, and in the pod-bearing phases, bean yield and cropping efficiency. Though both GCA and SCA variances were significant for all traits, the ratios of GCA:SCA were much smaller than unity, indicating the importance of non-additive effects in the control of the traits. Among the set of clones therefore, prediction of F1variety performance cannot be based on the GCA orper se(average) performance of the clones. Six varieties were more precocious, and eight had higher cropping efficiencies than the standard variety. Bean yields ranged from 0.74 to 1.05 t/ha/year in the fourth and fifth years after planting among the top six varieties. The study provides evidence of the large potential for productivity increase through the use of cacao clones beyond Pound's early introductions into West Africa.
Technological Capability, Marketing Capability, and Firm Performance in Turbulent Conditions
Authors: Su Zhongfeng , Peng Jisheng , Shen Hao , Xiao Ting
Published: August 2016

The manner in which technological capability and marketing capability can be successfully leveraged is an important research issue. Based on the resource-management model, this study aims to answer two research questions: (1) whether technological capability and marketing capability are complementary or supplementary capabilities; and (2) how technological capability and marketing capability can be used appropriately to respond to environmental turbulence. Based on a face-to-face interview survey of 212 Chinese firms, we find that technological capability and marketing capability have synergistic effects. We also find that technological turbulence enhances the performance effect of technological capability, but impedes that of marketing capability; whereas market turbulence advances the performance effect of marketing capability, but impedes that of technological capability. Thus, the appropriate way to leverage technological capability and marketing capability is to integrate them and to deploy technological capability to respond to technological turbulence and marketing capability to respond to market turbulence.
Leader–Member Relationship and Burnout: The Moderating Role of Leader Integrity
Authors: Jiang Jane Y. ,   罗胜强,   孙健敏
Published: August 2016

In this study, we propose and test the idea that a strong relationship between leader and follower will be associated with the subordinate’s burnout. We base the study on the leader–member exchange framework (LMX), resource exchange theory, and the job demands–resources model of burnout, and conceptualize that a strong LMX is associated with burnout in two ways: high LMX involves high job demands, which lead to exhaustion; low LMX involves low job resources, which leads to cynicism. We propose that the relationship between LMX and the two forms of burnout will be stronger when the leader is perceived to be low on moral integrity. Using a survey of 218 employees, we find support for the hypotheses. Implications for future research and managerial practices are discussed.
Leader Integrity and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in China
Authors:   张刚,   白云涛, Caza Arran ,   王璐
Published: August 2016

In this study, we use implicit leadership theory to investigate how leader integrity, one of the most important traditional Chinese virtues, influences subordinates’ organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in the Chinese context. The results of our survey reveal that leader integrity is associated with subordinates’ OCB, and that this relationship is fully mediated by leader effectiveness. In addition, traditionality moderated the relationship between leader integrity and leader effectiveness; the relationship was significant among less traditional subordinates, but insignificant among more traditional subordinates. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications for leaders in China.