Simulating Membrane Systems in Digital Computers

* Work partially supported by contribution of EU commission Under The Fifth Framework Programme, project “MolCoNet” IST-2001-32008.

A New Approach to Fuzzy Arithmetic

This work shows an application of a generalized approach for constructing dilation-erosion adjunctions on fuzzy sets. More precisely, operations on fuzzy quantities and fuzzy numbers are considered. By the generalized approach an analogy with the well known interval computations could be drawn and thus we can define outer and inner operations on fuzzy objects. These operations are found to be useful in the control of bioprocesses, ecology and other domains where data uncertainties exist.

A hybrid molecular dynamics/fluctuating hydrodynamics method for modelling liquids at multiple scales in space and time

A new 3D implementation of a hybrid model based on the analogy with two-phase hydrodynamics has been developed for the simulation of liquids at microscale. The idea of the method is to smoothly combine the atomistic description in the molecular dynamics zone with the Landau-Lifshitz fluctuating hydrodynamics representation in the rest of the system in the framework of macroscopic conservation laws through the use of a single "zoom-in" user-defined function s that has the meaning of a partial concentration in the two-phase analogy model. In comparison with our previous works, the implementation has been extended to full 3D simulations for a range of atomistic models in GROMACS from argon to water in equilibrium conditions with a constant or a spatially variable function s. Preliminary results of simulating the diffusion of a small peptide in water are also reported.

Recursive Methods for Construction of Balanced N-ary Block Designs

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 05B05; secondary 62K10.

Amplitude hysteresis of the surface reactance of a layered superconductor

A new nonlinear electrodynamic phenomenon in layered superconducting slabs irradiated on one side by plane electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range is predicted and studied theoretically. It is shown that the surface reactance of a sample and its reflection coefficient have hysteresis behavior when the amplitude of the incident wave is changed. The analogy between the electrodynamic problem of the electromagnetic field distribution in a superconductor and the mechanical problem of particle motion in a central field is also discussed.

Adversarial interpreting – a forensic linguistic perspective

Interactions with second language speakers in public service contexts in England are normally conducted with the assistance of one interpreter. Even in situations where team interpreting would be advisable, for example in lengthy courtroom proceedings, financial considerations mean only one interpreter is normally booked. On occasion, however, more than one interpreter, or an individual (or individuals) with knowledge of the languages in question, may be simultaneously present during an interpreted interaction, either monitoring it or indeed volunteering unsolicited input. During police interviews or trials in England this may happen when the interpreter secured by the defence team to interpret during private consultation with the suspect or defendant is present also in the interview room or the courtroom but two independently sourced interpreters need not be limited to legal contexts. In healthcare settings for example, service users sometimes bring friends or relatives along to help them communicate with service providers only to find that the latter have booked an interpreter as a matter of procedure. By analogy to the nature of the English legal system, I refer to contexts where an interpreter’s output is monitored and/or challenged, either during the speech event or subsequently, as ‘adversarial interpreting’. This conceptualisation reflects the fact that interpreters in such encounters are sourced independently, often by opposing parties, and as a result can rarely be considered a team. My main concern in this paper is to throw spotlight on adversarial interpreting as a hitherto rarely discussed problem in its own right. That it is not an anomaly is evidenced by the many cases around the world where the officially recorded interpreted output was challenged, as mentioned in for example Berk-Seligson (2002), Hayes and Hale (2010), and Phelan (2011). This paper reports on the second stage of a research project which has previously involved the analysis of a transcript of an interpreted police interview with a suspect in a murder case. I will mention the findings of the analysis briefly and introduce some new findings based on input from practising interpreters who have shared their experience of adversarial interpreting by completing an online questionnaire. I will try to answer the question of how the presence of two interpreters, or an interpreter and a monitoring participant, in the same speech event impacts on the communication process. I will also address the issue of forensic linguistic arbitration in cases where incompetent interpreting has been identified or an expert opinion is sought in relation to an adversarial interpreting event of significance to a legal dispute. References Berk-Seligson (2002), The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process, University of Chicago Press. Hayes, A. and Hale, S. (2010), "Appeals on incompetent interpreting", Journal of Judicial Administration 20.2, 119-130. Phelan, M. (2011), "Legal Interpreters in the news in Ireland", Translation and Interpreting 3.1, 76-105.

Első- és másodfajú etikai kudarcok (Type I and type II ethical errors)

A cikkben a szerző a piac és a kormányzat kudarcaiból kiindulva azonosítja a közjó elérését célzó harmadik rendszer, az etikai felelősség kudarcait. Statisztikai analógiát használva elsőfajú kudarcként azonosítja, mikor az etikát nem veszik figyelembe, pedig szükség van rá. Ugyanakkor másodfajú kudarcként kezeli az etika profitnövelést célzó használatát, mely megtéveszti az érintetteteket, így még szélesebb utat enged az opportunista üzleti tevékenységnek. Meglátása szerint a három rendszer egymást nemcsak kiegészíti, de kölcsönösen korrigálja is. Ez az elsőfajú kudarc esetében általánosabb, a másodfajú kudarc megoldásához azonban a gazdasági élet alapvetéseinek átfogalmazására, az önérdek és az egydimenziós teljesítményértékelés helyett egy új, holisztikusabb szemléletű közgazdaságra van szükség. _______ In the article the author identifies the errors of ethical responsibility. That is the third system to attain common good, but have similar failures like the other two: the hands of the market and the government. Using statistical analogy the author identifies Type I error when ethics are not considered but it should be (null hypothesis is rejected however it’s true). She treats the usage of ethics to extend profit as Type II error. This misleads the stakeholders and makes room for opportunistic behaviour in business (null hypothesis is accepted in turn it’s false). In her opinion the three systems: the hand of the market, the government and the ethical management not only amend but interdependently correct each other. In the case of Type I error it is more general. Nevertheless to solve the Type II error we have to redefine the core principles of business. We need a more holistic approach in economics instead of self-interest and one-dimensional interpretation of value.

Európai Unió: túlélés vagy távlati tervezés – az állam változó szerepei (European Union – survival or long term planning?)

Az EU-ban, a mai állapotok szerint, csak „transzferunióról” beszélhetünk és nem egységes piacról. Az eurós pénzfolyamatok eltorzítva közvetítik a versenyképességet is: mind az árukban és vagyontárgyakban, mind – főleg – a pénzügyi eszközökben megtestesült munkákat/teljesítményeket rosszul árazzák. Egy ilyen keretben különösen könnyen alakul ki az, amit potyautas-problémának nevezünk, vagyis ahol tényleges vagy mérhető teljesítményleadás, vagy éppen fizetés nélkül lehet fogyasztani, és túl olcsón lehet szabad forrásokhoz jutni. Az eurózóna számos közvetítő mechanizmusában is tökéletlen. A sok, szuverénadósság-présbe került tagország között van kicsi, közepes és nagy is. Ez a tény, valamint az általános növekedési és munkapiaci problémák, egyértelműen „rendszerszintű zavarokat” jeleznek, amelyeket ebben a dolgozatban teljesítmény közvetítési-átviteli problémának hívunk, és ezért egy szokatlan, ám annál beszédesebb, elektromosenergia-átviteli rendszeranalógiával segítünk értelmezni. Megmutatjuk, hogy egy jó nagyvállalat miért jobb pénzügyi tervező, mint egy azonos méretű állam. _____ Why are ill-defined transfer mechanisms diverting valuable assets and resources to the wrong destination within the EU? Why do we witness ongoing pressure in the EU banking sector and in government finances? We offer an unusual answer to these questions: we apply an analogy from physics (from an electric generation and distribution network) to show the transmission inefficiency and waste, respectively, of the EU distribution mechanisms. We demonstrate that there are inherent flaws in both the measurement and in the distribution of assets and resources amongst the key EU markets: goods, money and factor markets. In addition, we find that when international equalizer mechanism is at work (cohesion funds allocated), many of these equity functions are at risk with respect to their reliable measurement. Especially are at risk the metered load factors, likewise the loss/waste factors. The map of desired outcomes does not match the real outcome, since EUtransfers in general are put to work with low efficiency.

Regional climate change impacts on wild animals' living territory in Central Europe

In this paper the projected future impact of climate change has been analyzed for the quality of living conditions of the European terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) in the Carpathian Basin. According to the climate scenarios, warmer and drier climatic conditions are likely to occur in the Carpathian Basin by end of this century. Simultaneous analysis of climate parameters, climate simulations and animal range datasets enables us to evaluate the vulnerability of different European species to regional warming and climate change. The spatial climate analogy technique is used to analyze the estimated rapid change of the wild animals’ habitats and their northward migration. For the reference climate data of Debrecen is considered, and three spatial analogue regions are compared. The results suggest that generally a significant decline in habitats is very likely for most of the analyzed animal groups by the end of the 21st century. The largest rate of decline is estimated for birds. However, living conditions for reptiles may improve in the future due to the warmer and drier climatic conditions, which are favourable for these species.

A hiány újratermelése (The reproduction of shortage)

Sporadic lack of consumer articles, the housing shortage, disturbances of material supply, and shortages of investment goods and of labour may be traced back to a common main cause. Shortage is constantly reproduced by specific features of the economic mechanism. The first part of the article consists of micro-analysis, mainly of the productive enterprise. Efforts to increase production may run up against ceilings of three kinds: constraints on physical resources, constraints on demand, and the budget constraint on enterprises. It is an important feature of a system which of these constraints takes effect. Resource-constrained systems can be distinguished from demand-constrained ones here. In the former, production is limited by production bottlenecks, in the latter by buyer demand. The socialist economy in its "classical" form belongs to the former type. It is related to whether the budget constraint on the enterprise is "hard" or "soft". If hard, enterprise spending is limited by its financial scope, if soft (its losses offset almost automatically) its demand becomes almost insatiable. The second part performs a macro-analysis, showing the mechanism of "suction" with the aid of a hydraulic analogy. The enterprise sector "pumps away" reserves and surpluses of the system, mainly due to the "investment hunger" that appears in the wake of expansionist efforts. Finally the article discusses briefly the interrelations between shortage and inflation.

Modeling of shape memory alloys with plasticity

Shape memory alloys are a special class of metals that can undergo large deformation yet still be able to recover their original shape through the mechanism of phase transformations. However, when they experience plastic slip, their ability to recover their original shape is reduced. This is due to the presence of dislocations generated by plastic flow that interfere with shape recovery through the shape memory effect and the superelastic effect. A one-dimensional model that captures the coupling between shape memory effect, the superelastic effect and plastic deformation is introduced. The shape memory alloy is assumed to have only 3 phases: austenite, positive variant martensite and negative variant martensite. If the SMA flows plastically, each phase will exhibit a dislocation field that permanently prevents a portion of it from being transformed back to other phases. Hence, less of the phase is available for subsequent phase transformations. A constitutive model was developed to depict this phenomena and simulate the effect of plasticity on both the shape memory effect and the superelastic effect in shape memory alloys. In addition, experimental tests were conducted to characterize the phenomenon in shape memory wire and superelastic wire. ^ The constitutive model was then implemented in within a finite element context as UMAT (User MATerial Subroutine) for the commercial finite element package ABAQUS. The model is phenomenological in nature and is based on the construction of stress-temperature phase diagram. ^ The model has been shown to be capable of capturing the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the coupling between plasticity and the shape memory effect and plasticity and the super elastic effect within acceptable limits. As a verification case a simple truss structure was built and tested and then simulated using the FEA constitutive model. The results where found to be close the experimental data. ^

Lattice Boltzmann modeling of fluid flow and solute transport in karst aquifers

A novel modeling approach is applied to karst hydrology. Long-standing problems in karst hydrology and solute transport are addressed using Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs). These methods contrast with other modeling approaches that have been applied to karst hydrology. The motivation of this dissertation is to develop new computational models for solving ground water hydraulics and transport problems in karst aquifers, which are widespread around the globe. This research tests the viability of the LBM as a robust alternative numerical technique for solving large-scale hydrological problems. The LB models applied in this research are briefly reviewed and there is a discussion of implementation issues. The dissertation focuses on testing the LB models. The LBM is tested for two different types of inlet boundary conditions for solute transport in finite and effectively semi-infinite domains. The LBM solutions are verified against analytical solutions. Zero-diffusion transport and Taylor dispersion in slits are also simulated and compared against analytical solutions. These results demonstrate the LBM’s flexibility as a solute transport solver. The LBM is applied to simulate solute transport and fluid flow in porous media traversed by larger conduits. A LBM-based macroscopic flow solver (Darcy’s law-based) is linked with an anisotropic dispersion solver. Spatial breakthrough curves in one and two dimensions are fitted against the available analytical solutions. This provides a steady flow model with capabilities routinely found in ground water flow and transport models (e.g., the combination of MODFLOW and MT3D). However the new LBM-based model retains the ability to solve inertial flows that are characteristic of karst aquifer conduits. Transient flows in a confined aquifer are solved using two different LBM approaches. The analogy between Fick’s second law (diffusion equation) and the transient ground water flow equation is used to solve the transient head distribution. An altered-velocity flow solver with source/sink term is applied to simulate a drawdown curve. Hydraulic parameters like transmissivity and storage coefficient are linked with LB parameters. These capabilities complete the LBM’s effective treatment of the types of processes that are simulated by standard ground water models. The LB model is verified against field data for drawdown in a confined aquifer.

Goma curriculum, a character education paradigm: Composing a text for shaping classroom character culture

The written text, and approaches to reading it, serves well as an analogy for the classroom space as a "text" that teachers are able to compose; and students are able to read, interpret meaning(s) of, and make responses to and about (Rosenblatt, 1988). Researchers point to ways in which the classroom can be conceptualized as a text to be evoked, experienced, and read (Freire & Macedo, 1987; Powell, 2009; Rosenblatt, 1988; Spears-Bunton & Powell, 2009).^ The present study analyzed secondary data including: 10 transcripts of teacher talks and six self-reports retrieved from the program evaluation archives of DOR Foundation. The data described six teachers' classroom experiences subsequent to professional development centered on Goma character education curriculum that was used during a summer youth program located in South Georgia. Goma, an acronym that stands for Goal, Objective, Method, and Attitude, is a character education paradigm derived from The Inclusive Community Building Ellison Model, the theoretical framework used for this study. The Model identifies conflict resolution as one of its five foci (Hunt, Howard, & Rice, 1998). Hunt (2006) conceived Goma as part of a 7-Step unitary process, also named the 7-Step pathway, to demonstrate how conflict resolution is accomplished within a variety of contexts.^ Analysis of the data involved: (a) a priori coding of teacher talks transcripts using the components of the Goma 7-Step pathway as coding categories, (b) emergent coding of teacher talks transcripts for the types of experiences teachers evidenced, and (c) emergent coding of teachers' self-reports for categories of teachers' instructional activities. Results of the study showed positive influence of Goma curriculum on participating teachers and their instructional practices. Teachers were shown to have had cognitive, instructional, emotional, and social experiences that were most evident when they reported changes in their attitudes toward their students, themselves, and their instructional practices. The present study provided implications for classroom teachers wherein all aspects of teachers' instructional practices can be guided by principles of positive character; and can be used to help compose the kinds of "texts" that may likely contribute to a classroom character culture.^

Making and Evaluating Strategy: Learning from the Military

Use of military analogy is rampant and considered an acceptable part of business vernacular. However, analogies only illustrate, and bad analogies make bad strategy. There are important lessons to be learned from military strategy, though. This article identifies "the ten principles of strategy" that corporate strategists could utilize in testing their strategic theories, concepts, and plans.

The Specialist: Coming Soon To Your Local Hotel

In an article entitled - The Specialist: Coming Soon To Your Local Hotel - by Stan Bromley, Regional Vice President and General Manager, Four Seasons Clift Hotel, San Francisco, the author’s introduction states: “An experienced hotelier discusses the importance of the delivery of a high “quality-to-value” ratio consistently to guests, particularly as the hotel market becomes specialized and a distinction is drawn between a “property” and a “hotel.” The author’s primary intention is to make you, the reader, aware of changes in the hospitality/hotel marketplace. From the embryo to the contemporary, the hotel market has consistently evolved; this includes but is not limited to mission statement, marketing, management, facilities, and all the tangibles and intangibles of the total hotel experience. “Although we are knocking ourselves out trying to be everything to everyone, I don't think hotel consumers are as interested in “mixing and matching” as they were in the past,” Bromley says. “Today's hotel guest is looking for “specialized care,” and is increasingly skeptical of our industry-wide hotel ads and promises of greatness.” As an example Bromley makes an analogy using retail outlets such as Macy’s, Saks, and Sears, which cater to their own unique market segment. Hotels now follow the same outline, he allows. “In my view, two key factors will make a hotel a success,” advises Bromley. “First, know your specialty and market to that segment. Second, make sure you consistently offer a high quality-to-value ratio. That means every day.” To emphasize that second point, Bromley offers this bolstering thought, “The second factor that will make or break your business is your ability to deliver a high "quality/value" ratio-and to do so consistently.” The author evidently considers quality-to-value ratio to be an important element. Bromley emphasizes the importance of convention and trade show business to the hotel industry. That business element cannot be over-estimated in his opinion. This doesn’t mean an operator who can accommodate that type of business should exclude other client opportunities outside the target market. It does mean, however, these secondary opportunities should only be addressed after pursuing the primary target strategy. After all, the largest profit margin lies in the center of the target. To amplify the above statement, and in reference to his own experience, Bromley says, “Being in the luxury end of the business I, on the other hand, need to uncover and book individuals and small corporate meetings more than convention or association business.