A variotherm mold for micro metal injection molding

In this paper, a variotherm mold was designed and fabricated for the production of 316L stainless steel microstructures by micro metal injection molding (MIM). The variotherm mold incorporated a rapid heating/cooling system, vacuum unit, hot sprue and cavity pressure transducer. The design of the variotherm mold and the process cycle of MIM using the variotherm mold were described. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the molded microstructures produced using variotherm mold and conventional mold. The experiments showed that microstructures of higher aspect ratio such as 60 m × height 191 m and 40 m × height 174 m microstructures could be injection molded with complete filling and demolded successfully using the variotherm mold. Molded microstructures with dimensions of 60 m × height 191 m were successfully debound and sintered without visual defects.     

A Note on the Rational Closure of Knowledge Bases with Both Positive and Negative Knowledge

The notion of the rational closure of a positive knowledge base K of conditional assertions | (standing for if then normally ) was first introduced by Lehmann (1989) and developed by Lehmann and Magidor (1992). Following those authors we would also argue that the rational closure is, in a strong sense, the minimal information, or simplest, rational consequence relation satisfying K. In practice, however, one might expect a knowledge base to consist not just of positive conditional assertions, | , but also negative conditional assertions, _i (standing for not if then normally . Restricting ourselves to a finite language we show that the rational closure still exists for satisfiable knowledge bases containing both positive and negative conditional assertions and has similar properties to those exhibited in Lehmann and Magidor (1992). In particular an algorithm in Lehmann and Magidor (1992) which constructs the rational closure can be adapted to this case and yields, in turn, completeness theorems for the conditional assertions entailed by such a mixed knowledge base.     

Learning-theoretic perspectives of acceptable numberings

A class of recursive functionsC islimiting standardizable, in a programming system , iff there is an effective procedure which, given any -program (in the -system), synthesizes in the limit acanonical -program which is equivalent to the former. It can arguably be expected that notions similar to the above one would be relevant toGold-style function learning, which features, among other things, the effective limiting synthesis of programs for input recursive functions. Many learning classes have been characterized in terms of variants of the above notion. In this paper, we focus on the limiting standardizability of the entire class of recursive functions inEffective programming systems. To start with, we prove the independence of this notionvis-à-vis finitary recursion theorems. Secondly, we show that this motion does not entail acceptability, in the spirit of the results of Case, Riccardi and Royer on characterizations of the samevis-à-vis programming language control structures.     

Data encodings and their costs

Summary This paper is devoted to developing and studying a precise notion of the encoding of a logical data structure in a physical storage structure, that is motivated by considerations of computational efficiency. The development builds upon the notion of an encoding of one graph in another. The cost of such an encoding is then defined so as to reflect the structural compatibility of the two graphs, the (externally specified) costs of implementing the host graph, and the (externally specified) set of intended usage patterns of the guest graph. The stability of the constructed framework is demonstrated in terms of a number of results; the faithfulness of the formalism is argued in terms of a number of examples from the literature; and the tractability of the model is hinted at by several results and by further references to the literature.     

Utilizing deontic operators in information systems specification

One major task in requirements specification is to capture the rules relevant to the problem at hand. Declarative, rule-based approaches have been suggested by many researchers in the field. However, when it comes to modeling large systems of rules, not only for the behavior of the computer system but also for the organizational environment surrounding it, current approaches have problems with limited expressiveness, flexibility, and poor comprehensibility. Hence, rule-based approaches may benefit from improvements in two directions: (1) improvement of the rule languages themselves and (2) better integration with other, complementary modeling approaches.In this article, both issues are addressed in an integrated manner. The proposal is presented in the context of the Tempora project on rule-based information systems development, but has also been integrated with PPP. Tempora has provided a rule language based on an executable temporal logic working on top of a temporal database. The rule language is integrated with static (ER-like) and dynamic (SA/RT-like) modeling approaches. In the current proposal, the integration with complementary modeling approaches is extended by including organization modeling (actors, roles), and the expressiveness of the rule language is increased by introducing deontic operators and rule hierarchies. The main contribution of the article is not seen as any one of the above-mentioned extensions, but as the resulting comprehensive modeling support. The approach is illustrated by examples taken from an industrial case study done in connection with Tempora.C. List of Symbols Subset of set - Not subset of set - Element of set - Not element of set - Equivalent to - Not equivalent to - ¬ Negation - Logical and - Logical or - Implication - Sometime in past - Sometime in future - Always in past - Always in future - Just before - Just after - u Until - s Since - Trigger - Condition - _s State condition - Consequence - _a Action - _s State - Role - Actor - ¬ - General deontic operator - O Obligatory - R Recommended - P Permitted - D Discouraged - F Forbidden - (/–) General rule - t _R Real time - t _M Model time     

The complexity of homomorphisms and renamings for minimal unsatisfiable formulas

We investigate the complexity of deciding whether for minimal unsatisfiable formulas F and H there exists a variable renaming, a literal renaming or a homomorphism such that (F)=H. A variable renaming is a permutation of variables. A literal renaming is a permutation of variables which additionally replaces some of the variables by its complements. A homomorphism can be considered as a literal renaming which can map different literals to one literal.     

Proof Reflection in Coq

We formalize natural deduction for first-order logic in the proof assistant Coq, using de Bruijn indices for variable binding. The main judgment we model is of the form d[:], stating that d is a proof term of formula under hypotheses it can be viewed as a typing relation by the Curry–Howard isomorphism. This relation is proved sound with respect to Coq's native logic and is amenable to the manipulation of formulas and of derivations. As an illustration, we define a reduction relation on proof terms with permutative conversions and prove the property of subject reduction.     

Unitary immersions of nonlinear systems

In this paper, we define what we call a unitary immersion of a nonlinear system. We observe that, for classical Hamiltonian systems, this notion contains, in some sense, the concept of quantization. We restrict our attention to degree-zero unitary immersions, where all observation functions must be represented by operators of the type multiplication by a function. We show that the problem of classifying such degree-zero unitary immersions of a given nonlinear system is not obvious. In some cases, we solve this problem.Chargé de Recherche au CNRS.Maître de Conférences.     

Diagrammatic Analysis of Interval Linear Equations - Part II: The Two-Dimensional Case and Generalization to n Dimensions

Using the results obtained for the one-dimensional case in Part I (Reliable Computing 9(1) (2003), pp. 1–20) of the paper, an analysis of the two-dimensional relational expression a ₁ x ₁ + a ₂ x ₂ b, where {, , , =}, is conducted with the help of a midpoint-radius diagram and other auxiliary diagrams. The solution sets are obtained with a simple boundary-line selection rule derived using these tools, and are characterized by types of one-dimensional cuts through the solution space. A classification of basic possible solution types is provided in detail. The generalization of the approach for n-dimensional interval systems and avenues for further research are also outlined.     

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.     

A Full Bayesian Approach to Curve and Surface Reconstruction

When interpolating incomplete data, one can choose a parametric model, or opt for a more general approach and use a non-parametric model which allows a very large class of interpolants. A popular non-parametric model for interpolating various types of data is based on regularization, which looks for an interpolant that is both close to the data and also smooth in some sense. Formally, this interpolant is obtained by minimizing an error functional which is the weighted sum of a fidelity term and a smoothness term.The classical approach to regularization is: select optimal weights (also called hyperparameters) that should be assigned to these two terms, and minimize the resulting error functional.However, using only the optimal weights does not guarantee that the chosen function will be optimal in some sense, such as the maximum likelihood criterion, or the minimal square error criterion. For that, we have to consider all possible weights.The approach suggested here is to use the full probability distribution on the space of admissible functions, as opposed to the probability induced by using a single combination of weights. The reason is as follows: the weight actually determines the probability space in which we are working. For a given weight , the probability of a function f is proportional to exp(– f² _uu du) (for the case of a function with one variable). For each different , there is a different solution to the restoration problem; denote it by f. Now, if we had known , it would not be necessary to use all the weights; however, all we are given are some noisy measurements of f, and we do not know the correct . Therefore, the mathematically correct solution is to calculate, for every , the probability that f was sampled from a space whose probability is determined by , and average the different f's weighted by these probabilities. The same argument holds for the noise variance, which is also unknown.Three basic problems are addressed is this work: Computing the MAP estimate, that is, the function f maximizing Pr(f/D) when the data D is given. This problem is reduced to a one-dimensional optimization problem. Computing the MSE estimate. This function is defined at each point x as f(x)Pr(f/D) f. This problem is reduced to computing a one-dimensional integral.In the general setting, the MAP estimate is not equal to the MSE estimate. Computing the pointwise uncertainty associated with the MSE solution. This problem is reduced to computing three one-dimensional integrals.     

Personalized and Adaptive Services on Board a Car: An Application for Tourist Information

Personalization and adaptation techniques are an interesting opportunity to design new services on-board vehicles. In this context, in fact, the need of an individual user to receive the right service at the right time and in the right way is more critical than in other cases, where personalization and adaptation already showed interesting advantages. At the same time, this context of application can provide new interesting insights for user modeling and adaptation. In the paper we present an architecture for providing personalized services on-board vehicles and we discuss an application to the case of tourist information. We focus on the choices we made to design an on-board system which was as less intrusive and distracting as possible and that could adapt its recommendations, the way it presents them and its own behavior to the user's preferences/interests and to the context of interaction (especially the driving conditions).     

AI & Society and society

This article looks at the broadest implications of public acceptance of AI. A distinction is drawn between conscious belief in a technology, and organic belief where the technology is incorporated into an unconscious world model. The extent to which we feel threatened by AI's apparent denial of spirit is considered, along with a discussion of how people react to this threat. It is proposed that organic acceptance of AI models would lead to a rebirth of popular spiritual concepts as paradoxical as the New Age ideas that have their roots in the theories of physics. Finally the relevance of this speculation is discussed in terms of how it could impinge upon public acceptability of AI technology.     

A Generalization of Jumps and Labels

This paper describes a new language feature that is a hybrid of labels and procedures. It is closely related to jumping out of a functional subroutine, and includes conventional labels and jumping as a special, but probably not most useful, case. It is independent of assignment, ie., it can be added to a purely-functional (non-imperative) system (such as LISP without pseudo-functions or program feature). Experiments in purely functional programming suggest that its main use will be in success/failure situations, and failure actions. This innovation is incorporated in the projected experimental system, ISWIM.     

From Conditional Events to Conditional Measures: A New Axiomatic Approach

Our starting point is a definition of conditional event EH which differs from many seemingly similar ones adopted in the relevant literature since 1935, starting with de Finetti. In fact, if we do not assign the same third value u (undetermined) to all conditional events, but make it depend on EH, it turns out that this function t(EH) can be taken as a general conditional uncertainty measure, and we get (through a suitable – in a sense, compulsory – choice of the relevant operations among conditional events) the natural axioms for many different (besides probability) conditional measures.     

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.     

Unextendible Product Bases and Locally Unconvertible Bound Entangled States

Mutual convertibility of bound entangled states under local quantum operations and classical communication (LOCC) is studied. We focus on states associated with unextendible product bases (UPB) in a system of three qubits. A complete classification of such UPBs is suggested. We prove that for any pair of UPBs S and T the associated bound entangled states _S and _T cannot be converted to each other by LOCC, unless S and T coincide up to local unitaries. More specifically, there exists a finite precision (S,T) > 0 such that for any LOCC protocol mapping _S into a probabilistic ensemble (p, ), the fidelity between _T and any possible final state satisfies F(_T, ) = 1 - (S,T).PACS: 03.65.Bz; 03.67.-a; 89.70+c.     

The Relative Entropy of Entanglement of Schmidt Correlated States and Distillation

We show that a mixed state = _mna_mn|mn| can be realized by an ensemble of pure states {p_k, |_k} where . Employing this form, we discuss the relative entropy of entanglement of Schmidt correlated states. Also, we calculate the distillable entanglement of a class of mixed states. PACS: 03.67.-a; 03.65.Bz; 03.65.Ud     

EOL forms

Summary In this paper the notions of L form and its interpretations are introduced to define families of structurally similar L systems. The families of L systems thus defined are studied from a number of different points of view. It is felt that this novel approach will shed new light on many questions concerning L systems.