The ‘nec plus ultra’ of precision measurement: Geodesy and the forgotten purpose of the Metre Convention

Geodesy—the determination of the size and shape of the earth—has often been the science operating at the frontier of precision in the measurement of length. Its contribution to the technologies and standards of length measurement has, however, been underestimated in the literature. That, instead, places emphasis on the on the creation and international acceptance of the metric system as a whole. By new research into the standards-in-use of the community of geodesists, I rediscover the original purpose of the Metre Convention of 1875, and show for the first time the significant influence of geodesy on the standardisation of length measurement thereafter. I emphasise the role of the coherence of the web of measurement in the context of change and improvement in standards.     

隧道围岩施工监测及位移动态模拟分析

为了研究不同支护结构参数和不同开挖方法对围岩位移的影响,以百勺洋隧道为研究对象,通过现场实测、回归分析和数值模拟的技术手段,以大型非线性有限元软件ADINA为研究工具,建立有限元模型。通过改变锚杆支护相关参数和开挖方法,进行大量模拟运算。运算结果表明,随着锚杆长度的增加,地表点下沉量不断减小,隧道的底鼓幅度也逐渐减小,边墙的收敛量也逐渐减小;随着锚杆间距的增加,顶端最大下沉点的竖直方向沉降值增大,边墙收敛值也增大;开挖方法不同时,随着开挖步数的减少,地表下沉值增加,隧道底鼓现象也越明显。开挖步数越多,洞周收敛值越小。     

The Chemistry of the Universe: Historical Roots of Modern Cosmochemistry

During the second half of the twentieth century, the domain of geochemistry has greatly expanded and the field is today often seen as a branch of an extended chemistry of the Earth, called cosmochemistry. This paper is a historical introduction to cosmochemistry in which the wider cosmic aspects are surveyed up to about 1915, when nuclear physics changed the scene. These wider aspects or themes include, firstly, the attempts to determine the relative abundances of the elements, secondly, the extension of geochemistry to include physical geochemistry, thirdly, the study of meteorites and, fourthly, the spectroscopic study of the stars within the astrochemical tradition. Because of the lack of reliable data, a great deal of the protocosmochemistry described in the present paper was speculative. Nonetheless, by 1915 the contours of the cosmochemistry of the future were just visible and the developments here singled out can thus be seen as belonging to the prehistory of modern cosmochemistry.     

运载火箭全箭动特性三维建模技术

目前国内运载火箭动力学特性建模以梁模型为主,但梁模型是对运载火箭三维结构的一种简化,存在若干弊端.采用三维建模方法可以克服这些弊端.总结了作者近几年开展的运载火箭三维建模的研究工作,提出了运载火箭三维建模方法,包括硬壳与半硬壳结构建模方法、夹芯结构建模方法、发动机架及发动机建模方法、燃料液体建模方法、非结构质量建模方法以及连接建模方法.尤其针对液体建模,提出了燃料液体杆单元建模方法,使液体建模工作大为简化.通过工程实例应用以及和试验的对比,证明了建模方法的适用性.同时也提出了运载火箭建模当中的不确定因素.     

The Whewell-Mill debate on predictions,from Mill's point of view

John Stuart Mill, in his debate with William Whewell on the nature and logic of induction, is regarded as being the first to dismiss the supposed value of successful predictions as merely psychological. I shall argue that this view of the Whewell-Mill debate on predictions misconstrues Mill’s position and argument. From Mill’s point of view, the controversial point was not the question whether predictions ‘count more’ than ex-post explanations but the alleged assertion by Whewell that the successful predictions of the wave theory of light prove the existence of the ether. Mill argued that, on the one hand, the predictions of the wave theory of light do not and cannot provide evidence for the existence of the ether; as evidence for the laws of the theory, on the other hand, the predictions are superfluous, the laws being already well-confirmed. Mill actually endorsed a requirement of independent support closely resembling Whewell’s requirements for hypotheses; the controversy on the value of predictions is a product of the 20th century.     

On the mechanism of the involvement of endothelium in reactive hyperemia

Experiments on anesthetized dogs and on vascular test-preparations demonstrated that reactive hyperemia (RH) was accompanied by the appearance of vasodilator in the blood, and that the level increased with the duration of occlusion of the artery. Removal of the endothelium of the part of the vascular bed studied using saponin, decreased the RH and relaxation of a test-preparation. A rise of pressure in the vascular bed, and a decrease in the deformability of the endothelium resulting from pretreatment with dimerized glutaraldehyde, affected both the hyperemia and the reaction of the vascular preparation in a similar way. It was concluded that the RH resulted from the secretion of vasoactive substances by the endothelium in response to a fall in intravascular pressure.     

Stock market volatility and the forecasting performance of stock index futures

This study attempts to apply the general equilibrium model of stock index futures with both stochastic market volatility and stochastic interest rates to the TAIFEX and the SGX Taiwan stock index futures data, and compares the predictive power of the cost of carry and the general equilibrium models. This study also represents the first attempt to investigate which of the five volatility estimators can enhance the forecasting performance of the general equilibrium model. Additionally, the impact of the up‐tick rule and other various explanatory factors on mispricing is also tested using a regression framework. Overall, the general equilibrium model outperforms the cost of carry model in forecasting prices of the TAIFEX and the SGX futures. This finding indicates that in the higher volatility of the Taiwan stock market incorporating stochastic market volatility into the pricing model helps in predicting the prices of these two futures. Furthermore, the comparison results of different volatility estimators support the conclusion that the power EWMA and the GARCH(1,1) estimators can enhance the forecasting performance of the general equilibrium model compared to the other estimators. Additionally, the relaxation of the up‐tick rule helps reduce the degree of mispricing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Greek angles from Babylonian numbers

Models of planetary motion as observed from Earth must account for two principal anomalies: the nonuniform speed of the planet as it circles the zodiac, and the correlation of the planet’s position with the position of the Sun. In the context of the geometrical models used by the Greeks, the practical difficulty is to somehow isolate the motion of the epicycle center on the deferent from the motion of the planet on its epicycle. One way to isolate the motion of the epicycle center is to determine the longitude and time of oppositions of the planet with the mean Sun. A Greek astronomer might have realized that the predictions of mean oppositions by Babylonian models could serve as useful proxies for real empirical observations. It is shown that a Greek astronomer with a reasonable understanding of Babylonian System A models for the outer planets and the Sun–Moon could have used those models to estimate approximate values for the eccentricity e and longitude of apogee A required for geometrical models. The same method would work for the inner planets if conjunctions were observable, but they are not, and the variation of the observable synodic events—first and last morning and evening visibilities—is dominated more by the motion of the planet in latitude than the nonuniform motion of the epicycle center.     

高校产学研一体化发展的实践与前瞻

本文探讨我国高校产学研一体化发展的必要性、可行性及其前景。从人类社会发展的历史特点入手，并借鉴了美国硅谷发展的经验和我国改革开放推进社会主义市场发展的需求，对高校产学研一体化发展的道路作了论述。针对目前高校产学研一体化中存在的问题，作者提出了加速高校产学研一体化发展的四条建议：1，高校产学研一体化发展必须转变观念，积极参与社会大循环；2，推进高校产学研一体化要有过硬的产品和准确的市场定位；3，高校产学研一体化发展要依托高科技园区，切实解决经费投入问题；4，高校产学研一体化发展要突出以人为本的思想，努力造就发明家和企业家。     

Outline of a dynamical inferential conception of the application of mathematics

We outline a framework for analyzing episodes from the history of science in which the application of mathematics plays a constitutive role in the conceptual development of empirical sciences. Our starting point is the inferential conception of the application of mathematics, recently advanced by Bueno and Colyvan (2011). We identify and discuss some systematic problems of this approach. We propose refinements of the inferential conception based on theoretical considerations and on the basis of a historical case study. We demonstrate the usefulness of the refined, dynamical inferential conception using the well-researched example of the genesis of general relativity. Specifically, we look at the collaboration of the physicist Einstein and the mathematician Grossmann in the years 1912–1913, which resulted in the jointly published “Outline of a Generalized Theory of Relativity and a Theory of Gravitation,” a precursor theory of the final theory of general relativity. In this episode, independently developed mathematical theories, the theory of differential invariants and the absolute differential calculus, were applied in the process of finding a relativistic theory of gravitation. The dynamical inferential conception not only provides a natural framework to describe and analyze this episode, but it also generates new questions and insights. We comment on the mathematical tradition on which Grossmann drew, and on his own contributions to mathematical theorizing. The dynamical inferential conception allows us to identify both the role of heuristics and of mathematical resources as well as the systematic role of problems and mistakes in the reconstruction of episodes of conceptual innovation and theory change.     

Listening in Circles. Spoken Drama and the Architects of Sound, 1750–1830

The establishment of the discipline of architectural acoustics is generally attributed to the physicist Wallace Clement Sabine, who developed the formula for reverberation time around 1900, and with it the possibility of making calculated prognoses about the acoustic potential of a particular design. If, however, we shift the perspective from the history of this discipline to the history of architectural knowledge and praxis, it becomes apparent that the topos of ‘good sound’ had already entered the discourse much earlier. This paper traces the Europe-wide discussion on theatre architecture between 1750 and 1830. It will be shown that the period of investigation is marked by an increasing interest in auditorium acoustics, one linked to the emergence of a bourgeois theatre culture and the growing socio-political importance of the spoken word. In the wake of this development the search among architects for new methods of acoustic research started to differ fundamentally from an analogical reasoning on the nature of sound propagation and reflection, which in part dated back to antiquity. Through their attempts to find new ways of visualising the behaviour of sound in enclosed spaces and to rethink both the materiality and the mediality of theatre auditoria, architects helped pave the way for the establishment of architectural acoustics as an academic discipline around 1900.     

Biochemistry of liver development in the perinatal period

Just before birth, changes occur in the metabolic capacities of rat liver so that the animal can adapt to changes in the substrate supply. In utero, glucose is the main energy-generating fuel and the liver metabolism is directed towards glucose degradation. The activities of the rate-limiting enzymes of glycolysis, hexokinase and phosphofructokinase, are high. In preparation for post-natal life, when the continuous glucose supply from the mother is interrupted, very large amounts of glycogen are stored in the late fetal liver. With the intake of the fat-rich and carbohydrate-poor milk diet, the animal develops the ability to synthesize glucose de novo from non-carbohydrate precursors. During suckling, metabolic energy is derived mainly from the beta-oxidation of fatty acids, which in turn is an essential prerequisite for the high rate of gluconeogenesis, by yielding acetyl-CoA for the activation of pyruvate carboxylase and by generating a high NADH/NAD ratio for the shift of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction in the direction of glucose formation.--The developmental adaptation of metabolism and the process of enzymatic differentiation are closely connected with the maturation of the endocrine system and the changes in the concentration of circulating hormones. The neonatal regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and of tyrosine aminotransferase by variations in the hormonal milieu around birth, and also the interaction of hormonal and nutritional factors in the induction of serine dehydratase and glucokinase at the end of the suckling period, will be discussed in detail.     

The transcendental method from Newton to Kant

Kant’s transcendental method, as applied to natural philosophy, considers the laws of physics as conditions of the possibility of experience. A more modest transcendental project is to show how the laws of motion explicate the concepts of motion, force, and causal interaction, as conditions of the possibility of an objective account of nature. This paper argues that such a project is central to the natural philosophy of Newton, and explains some central aspects of the development of his thinking as he wrote the Principia. One guiding scientific aim was the dynamical analysis of any system of interacting bodies, and in particular our solar system; the transcendental question was, what are the conceptual prerequisites for such an analysis? More specifically, what are the conditions for determining “true motions” within such a system—for posing the question of “the frame of the system of the world” as an empirical question? A study of the development of Newton’s approach to these questions reveals surprising connections with his developing conceptions of force, causality, and the relativity of motion. It also illuminates the comparison between his use of the transcendental method and that of Euler and Kant.     

Sul meccanismo di azione della vaccinoterapia nella infezione tifoidea

Summary Having observed before that the blood serum of typhoid patients acquires under the stimulus of the vaccine an evident bacteriolytic action on the typhoid bacillus, we have studied variations brought about by the vaccine stimulus in the blood of the patients as to the redox-potential and to the glutathione in the blood.It has been seen that under vaccine stimulus there is a rapid increase of redox-potential and of the glutathione in the blood: lasting in the cases which tend to recovery, temporary in the cases in which the illness takes its natural course.The values of the total glutathione increase more than those of reduced glutathione, so that an increase of the values of the oxidized glutathione is found.The variations of the values of the redox-potential and of the oxidized glutathione brought about by the vaccine reaction in the blood of the patients leads us to consider the mechanism of the action of vaccine therapy in typhoid infection, on the same principle described by us regarding the action of penicillin.     

中国现代地震学的回顾与展望

在国际地震学与地球内部物理学协会（IASPEI）成立100周年之际，我们对20世纪中国现代地震学的发展历史进行了简要回顾，并讨论了作为一门观测科学的地震学的未来发展趋势，20世纪的中国地震学史，可以分成三个时期；20世纪上半叶；1950年代至1970年代；1970年代末至20世纪末，地震学的发展，除取决于科学发展本身的逻辑和观测技术的进步之外，也在很大程度上与地震的发生有着密切的关系。作为一门公益性的应用科学，地震学的发展在相当程度上取决于整个社会的努力。     

The problem of grounding natural modality in Kant's account of empirical laws of nature

One of the central problems of Kant's account of the empirical laws of nature is: What grounds their necessity? In this article I discuss the three most important lines of interpretation and suggest a novel version of one of them. While the first interpretation takes the transcendental principles as the only sources of the empirical laws' necessity, the second interpretation takes the systematicity of the laws to guarantee their necessity. It is shown that both views involve serious problems. The third interpretation, the “causal powers interpretation”, locates the source of the laws' necessity in the properties of natural objects. Although the second and third interpretations seem incompatible, I analyse why Kant held both views and I argue that they can be reconciled, because the metaphysical grounding project of the laws' necessity is accounted for by Kant's causal powers account, while his best system account explains our epistemic access to the empirical laws. If, however, causal powers are supposed to fulfil the grounding function for the laws' natural modality, then I suggest that a novel reading of the causal powers interpretation should be formulated along the lines of a genuine dispositionalist conception of the laws of nature.     

信息系统功能增强的多活性代理方法研究

本文在现有多活性代理复杂信息系统理论及其方法的研究基础上,进一步阐述了多活性代理理论体系的基本概念、活性代理的内涵;提出了活性度的概念、特性以及表征;基于活性度的研究,讨论了通过代理活性保持、协商协调增强信息系统的活性方法.首先,从组成复杂信息系统的集合、空间等概念出发,明确了多活性代理复杂信息系统理论体系所涉及的基本概念,以及这些基本概念之间的关系;其次,根据复杂信息系统功能层次上特点与活性自组织机理,提出了代理活性度的概念,并详细探讨了代理活性度的特性、表征及应用实例;同时,从活性的丧失、感知、调整以及判断决策等几个方面给出了多活性代理复杂信息系统活性保持策略;最后,本文详细探讨了多活性代理功能保持的协商协调机理、方法.上述研究成果进一步完善了多活性代理理论体系,并初步给出了代理活性和系统活性的定量表征表示方法,为进一步开展多活性代理复杂信息系统的理论和应用研究奠定了基础.     

韩江三角洲河网航道整治水动力数学模型

对韩江三角洲河网区河道进行概化，采用Preissmann有限差分格式和松弛迭代法建立韩江三角洲河网水动力数学模型，并利用2005年的实测水文资料对韩江三角洲河网的水面线、分流比进行验证，最后对2个整治工程方案的整治效果进行模拟计算和方案比选。结果表明：水位计算值与实测值误差一般小于0．05m；分流比计算值与实测值误差小于1％；在整治流量条件下，各河道水位变化很小，分流比增加值最大为2．35％；在洪水条件下，水位壅高值最大为0．07m，分流比增加值最大为2．06％。