The CFR Task Force Report on “U.S. Education Reform and National Security”: A Reply and a Response

English and American Literature and Languag

Johnson on Blackmore, Pope, Shakespeare—and Johnson

English and American Literature and Languag

Widener Library Thirty Years Later

English and American Literature and Languag

Application of Evolutionary Algorithms in Guaranteed Parameter Estimation

Model-based optimization and control is becoming more and more important in the process industries and in general. Modelling almost always involves the estimation of parameters from available data. The parameter estimation problem is usually posed as the minimization of the prediction error or the maximization of the likelihood function. If the uncertainty of the measurements taken from a real process is assumed to be an interval around the measured values, a set of parameter vectors exists that is able to describe the behavior of the systems within these uncertainties. Guaranteed parameter estimation deals with the problem of determining all parameter vectors that are compatible with uncertain observations. The solution of guaranteed parameter estimation problems for nonlinear dynamic models is computationally very demanding. In this contribution we present a memetic algorithm that determines the sets of feasible model parameters efficiently. It is applied to the estimation of kinetic parameters of a model that describes a copolymerization reaction. In the memetic algorithm, the fitness evaluation is based on the distance of the feasible solutions to each other, thus the presented approach is not restricted to a specific type of models

Imparando da Vico. Quarant’anni di riflessioni

Traducción del inglés por Pablo Badillo O’FarrellLa filosofía y la retórica (la retórica considerada éticamente, en un espíritu auto-crítico) no son antagonistas, sino aliadas y guías para la vida. La retórica es la corporeización en el lenguaje, y también en otros sistemas semióticos, de lo que motiva a la mayoría de la gente, lo que une lógica y pasión y ética. Una de las esperanzas de Vico es que filosofía y retórica, nuestros poderes racionales e imaginativos, se usen éticamente, para el bien vivir en sociedad. El Autor interpreta la valía del mensaje educacional y social de Vico, cuyo compromiso permanece como algo que ahora –en estos tiempos tecnológicos– necesitamos profundamente.According to the Author’s experience, philosophy and rhetoric (rhetoric considered ethically, in a selfcritical spirit) are not antagonists, but allies and guidelines for life. Rhetoric is the embodiment in language, and also in other semiotic systems, of what motivates most people, what unites logic and passion and ethics. One of Vico’s hopes is that philosophy and rhetoric, our rational and our imaginative powers, may be used ethically, for the improvement of life in society. The Author interprets the value of the educational and social message of Vico, whose commitments remain something that nowadays—in these technological times—we are in deep need of.Filosofia e retorica (retorica considerata eticamente, in uno spirito autocritico) non sono antagonisti, ma alleati e guide per la vita. La retorica è l’incarnazione nel linguaggio, così come in altri sistemi semiotici, di ciò che muove la maggior parte delle persone, di ciò che unisce logica, passione ed etica. Una delle speranze di Vico è che la filosofia e la retorica, i nostri poteri razionali e immaginativi, siano usati eticamente, per il miglioramento della vita in società. L’Autore interpreta il valore del messaggio educativo e sociale di Vico, il cui impegno resta come qualcosa di cui ora –in questi tempi tecnologici– abbiamo profondamente bisogno

Romantic Poetry and the Culture of Modernity

English and American Literature and Languag

Johnson on Novelty and Originality

English and American Literature and LanguageLiterature and Comparative Literatur

Johnson, Steady and Restless

English and American Literature and Languag

Analysis of a memetic algorithm for global optimization in chemical process synthesis

Engineering optimization often deals with very large search spaces which are highly constrained by nonlinear equations that couple the continuous variables. In this contribution the development of a memetic algorithm (MA) for global optimization in the solution of a problem in the chemical process engineering domain is described. The combination of an evolutionary strategy and a local solver based on the general reduced gradient method enables the exploitation of a significant reduction in the search space and of the ability of local mathematical programming solvers to efficiently handle large continuous problems containing equality constraints. The global performance of the MA is improved by the exclusion of regions that are defined by approximations of the basins of attraction of the local optima. The MA is compared to the combination of a scatter search based multi-start heuristic using OQNLP and the local solver CONOPT