Electronic Evidence and the Law

Today, documents and data are likely to be encountered in electronic form. This creates a challenge for the legal system since its rules of evidence evolved to deal with tangible (physical) evidence. Digital evidence differs from tangible evidence in various respects, which raise important issues as to how digital evidence is to be authenticated, ascertained to be reliable and determined to be admissible in criminal or civil proceedings. This article explains how digital evidence differs from traditional physical evidence and reviews the current state of the law with regard to the processes of authentication, reliability and admissibility.     

A characterization of context-free string languages by directed node-label controlled graph grammars

Summary Directed node-label controlled graph grammars (DNLC grammars) are sequential graph rewriting systems. In a direct derivation step of a DNLC grammar a single node is rewritten. Both the rewriting of a node and the embedding of a daughter graph in a host graph are controlled by the labels of nodes only. We study the use of those grammars to define string languages. In particular we provide a characterization of the class of context-free string languages in terms of DNLC grammars.     

Crypt-equivalent algebraic specifications

Summary Equivalence is a fundamental notion for the semantic analysis of algebraic specifications. In this paper the notion of crypt-equivalence is introduced and studied w.r.t. two loose approaches to the semantics of an algebraic specification T: the class of all first-order models of T and the class of all term-generated models of T. Two specifications are called crypt-equivalent if for one specification there exists a predicate logic formula which implicitly defines an expansion (by new functions) of every model of that specification in such a way that the expansion (after forgetting unnecessary functions) is homologous to a model of the other specification, and if vice versa there exists another predicate logic formula with the same properties for the other specification. We speak of first-order crypt-equivalence if this holds for all first-order models, and of inductive crypt-equivalence if this holds for all term-generated models. Characterizations and structural properties of these notions are studied. In particular, it is shown that first order crypt-equivalence is equivalent to the existence of explicit definitions and that in case of positive definability two first-order crypt-equivalent specifications admit the same categories of models and homomorphisms. Similarly, two specifications which are inductively crypt-equivalent via sufficiently complete implicit definitions determine the same associated categories. Moreover, crypt-equivalence is compared with other notions of equivalence for algebraic specifications: in particular, it is shown that first-order cryptequivalence is strictly coarser than abstract semantic equivalence and that inductive crypt-equivalence is strictly finer than inductive simulation equivalence and implementation equivalence.     

Modelling structures in generic space, a condition for adaptiveness of monitoring cognitive agent

The adaptiveness of agents is one of the basic conditions for the autonomy. This paper describes an approach of adaptiveness forMonitoring Cognitive Agents based on the notion of generic spaces. This notion allows the definition of virtual generic processes so that any particular actual process is then a simple configuration of the generic process, that is to say a set of values of parameters. Consequently, generic domain ontology containing the generic knowledge for solving problems concerning the generic process can be developed. This lead to the design of Generic Monitoring Cognitive Agent, a class of agent in which the whole knowledge corpus is generic. In other words, modeling a process within a generic space becomes configuring a generic process and adaptiveness becomes genericity, that is to say independence regarding technology. In this paper, we present an application of this approach on Sachem, a Generic Monitoring Cognitive Agent designed in order to help the operators in operating a blast furnace. Specifically, the NeuroGaz module of Sachem will be used to present the notion of a generic blast furnace. The adaptiveness of Sachem can then be noted through the low cost of the deployment of a Sachem instance on different blast furnaces and the ability of NeuroGaz in solving problem and learning from various top gas instrumentation.     

A Stylometric Analysis of Ya?ar Kemal’s ? nce Memed Tetralogy

We analyze four nce Memed novels of Yaar Kemal using six style markers: most frequent words, syllable counts, word type – or part of speech – information, sentence length in terms of words, word length in text, and word length in vocabulary. For analysis we divide each novel into five thousand word text blocks and count the frequencies of each style marker in these blocks. The style markers showing the best separation are most frequent words and sentence lengths. We use stepwise discriminant analysis to determine the best discriminators of each style marker. We then use these markers in cross validation based discriminant analysis. Further investigation based on multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) reveals how the attributes of each style marker group distinguish among the volumes.     

The informed neuron: Issues in the use of information theory in the behavioral sciences

The concept of information is virtually ubiquitous in contemporary cognitive science. It is claimed to be processed (in cognitivist theories of perception and comprehension), stored (in cognitivist theories of memory and recognition), and otherwise manipulated and transformed by the human central nervous system. Fred Dretske's extensive philosophical defense of a theory of informational content (semantic information) based upon the Shannon-Weaver formal theory of information is subjected to critical scrutiny. A major difficulty is identified in Dretske's equivocations in the use of the concept of a signal bearing informational content. Gibson's alternative conception of information (construed as analog by Dretske), while avoiding many of the problems located in the conventional use of signal, raises different but equally serious questions. It is proposed that, taken literally, the human CNS does not extract or process information at all; rather, whatever information is construed as locatable in the CNS is information only for an observer-theorist and only for certain purposes.Blood courses through our veins, andinformation through our central nervous system.— A Neuropsychology Textbook.     

The Objective Conception of Context and Its Logic

In this paper, an objective conception of contexts based loosely upon situation theory is developed and formalized. Unlike subjective conceptions, which take contexts to be something like sets of beliefs, contexts on the objective conception are taken to be complex, structured pieces of the world that (in general) contain individuals, other contexts, and propositions about them. An extended first-order language for this account is developed. The language contains complex terms for propositions, and the standard predicate ist that expresses the relation that holds between a context and a proposition just in case the latter is true in the former. The logic for the objective conception features a global classical predicate calculus, a local logic for reasoning within contexts, and axioms for propositions. The specter of paradox is banished from the logic by allowing ist to be nonbivalent in problematic cases: it is not in general the case, for any context c and proposition p, that either ist(c,p) or ist(c, ¬ p). An important representational capability of the logic is illustrated by proving an appropriately modified version of an illustrative theorem from McCarthy's classic Blocks World example.     

Mechatronics engineering education and dissemination program

For evolution of Mechanical System Technology, a simplified mechanism with sophisticated electronics control are replacing the traditional pure mechanical system. The new technology which combines the mechanical system with electronics control is being referred to as Mechatronics Technology and explosively growing in all over the industrialized countries. The paper describes, the concept and essential technology components of the mechatronics technology and the methodology and implementation of the Mechatronics Engineering Education.     

Effects of computers on Japanese schools

In this paper I consider how the computer can or should be accepted in Japanese schools. The concept of teaching in Japan stresses learning from a long-term perspective. Whereas in the instructional technology, on which the CAI or the Tutoring System depends, step-by-step attainments in relatively short time are emphasized. The former is reluctant in using the computer, but both share the Platonic perspective which are goal-oriented. However, The Socratic teacher, who intends to activate students' innate disposition to be better, would find another way of teaching and use of the computer.     

Invariance of the Stationary Distribution of Networks with Bypasses and “Negative” Customers

Consideration was given to the open networks of single-server nodes of two types. The nodes of the first type are characterized by bypasses, those of the second type, by the possibility of arrival of negative customers. Servicing of the positive customers is done in the nodes according to the FCFS discipline. Positive and negative customers make up simplest flows. Invariance of the stationary distribution of network states to the functional form of the distributions of times of customer servicing in the nodes of first type under fixed first moments of these distributions was established.