X-Ray Emission of the γ-ray-loud Young Radio Galaxy NGC 3894

The radio source 1146+596 is hosted by the elliptical/S0 galaxy NGC 3894, with a low-luminosity active nucleus. The radio structure is compact, suggesting a very young age for the jets in the system. Recently, the source has been confirmed as a high-energy (HE; >0.1 GeV) γ-ray emitter in the most recent accumulation of Fermi Large Area Telescope data. Here we report on the analysis of the archival Chandra X-ray Observatory data for the central part of the galaxy, consisting of a single 40 ks long exposure. We have found that the core spectrum is best fitted by a combination of an ionized thermal plasma with a temperature of ≃0.8 keV, and a moderately absorbed power-law component (photon index Γ = 1.4 ± 0.4, hydrogen column density N H/1022 cm−2 = 2.4 ± 0.7). We have also detected the iron Kα line at 6.5 ± 0.1 keV, with a large equivalent width of 1.0 − 0.5 + 0.9 keV. Based on the simulations of Chandra's point-spread function, we have concluded that while the soft thermal component is extended on the scale of the galaxy host, the hard X-ray emission within the narrow photon energy range 6.0–7.0 keV originates within the unresolved core (effectively the central kiloparsec radius). The line is therefore indicative of the X-ray reflection from a cold neutral gas in the central regions of NGC 3894. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of the X-ray Baldwin effect. NGC 3894 is the first young radio galaxy detected in HE γ-rays with the iron Kα line.

THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF LINGUISTIC THEORY: البنية المنطقية للنظرية اللسانية: ستيفن ر. أندرسون، جامعة ييل

The object of inquiry in Linguistics is the human ability to acquire and use a natural language, and the goal of linguistic theory is an explicit characterization of that ability. Looking at the communicative abilities of other species, it becomes clear that our linguistic ability is specific to our species, undoubtedly a product of our biology. But how do we go about determining the specifics of this Language faculty? _here are two primary ways in which we infer the nature of Language from the properties of individual languages: arguments from the Poverty of the Stimulus, and the search for universals that characterize every natural language. Arguments of the first sort are not easy to construct (though not as difficult as sometimes suggested), and apply only to a tiny part of Language as a whole. Arguments from universals or typological generalizations are also quite problematic. In phonology, morphology, and syntax, factors of historical development, functional underpinnings, limitations of the learning situation, among others conspire to compromise the explanatory value of arguments from observed cross-linguistic regularities. Confounding the situation is the likelihood that properties found across languages as a consequence of such external forces have been incorporated into the Language faculty evolutionarily through the ‘Baldwin Effect.’ _e conflict between the biologically based specificity of the human Language faculty and the difficulty of establishing most of its properties in a secure way cannot, however, be avoided by ignoring or denying the reality of either of its poles.

Embodied intelligence via learning and evolution

The intertwined processes of learning and evolution in complex environmental niches have resulted in a remarkable diversity of morphological forms. Moreover, many aspects of animal intelligence are deeply embodied in these evolved morphologies. However, the principles governing relations between environmental complexity, evolved morphology, and the learnability of intelligent control, remain elusive, because performing large-scale in silico experiments on evolution and learning is challenging. Here, we introduce Deep Evolutionary Reinforcement Learning (DERL): a computational framework which can evolve diverse agent morphologies to learn challenging locomotion and manipulation tasks in complex environments. Leveraging DERL we demonstrate several relations between environmental complexity, morphological intelligence and the learnability of control. First, environmental complexity fosters the evolution of morphological intelligence as quantified by the ability of a morphology to facilitate the learning of novel tasks. Second, we demonstrate a morphological Baldwin effect i.e., in our simulations evolution rapidly selects morphologies that learn faster, thereby enabling behaviors learned late in the lifetime of early ancestors to be expressed early in the descendants lifetime. Third, we suggest a mechanistic basis for the above relationships through the evolution of morphologies that are more physically stable and energy efficient, and can therefore facilitate learning and control.

Evaluation of Cloud 3D Printing Order Task Execution Based on the AHP-TOPSIS Optimal Set Algorithm and the Baldwin Effect

Focusing on service control factors, rapid changes in manufacturing environments, the difficulty of resource allocation evaluation, resource optimization for 3D printing services (3DPSs) in cloud manufacturing environments, and so on, an indicator evaluation framework is proposed for the cloud 3D printing (C3DP) order task execution process based on a Pareto optimal set algorithm that is optimized and evaluated for remotely distributed 3D printing equipment resources. Combined with the multi-objective method of data normalization, an optimization model for C3DP order execution based on the Pareto optimal set algorithm is constructed with these agents’ dynamic autonomy and distributed processing. This model can perform functions such as automatic matching and optimization of candidate services, and it is dynamic and reliable in the C3DP order task execution process based on the Pareto optimal set algorithm. Finally, a case study is designed to test the applicability and effectiveness of the C3DP order task execution process based on the analytic hierarchy process and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (AHP-TOPSIS) optimal set algorithm and the Baldwin effect.

A Baldwin interpretation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis: from functional relevance to physiopathology

Hippocampal adult neurogenesis has been associated to many cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions and dysfunctions, and its status as a selected effect or an “appendix of the brain” has been debated. In this review, we propose to understand hippocampal neurogenesis as the process underlying the “Baldwin effect”, a particular situation in evolution where fitness does not rely on the natural selection of genetic traits, but on “ontogenetic adaptation” to a changing environment. This supports the view that a strong distinction between developmental and adult hippocampal neurogenesis is made. We propose that their functions are the constitution and the lifelong adaptation, respectively, of a basic repertoire of cognitive and emotional behaviors. This lifelong adaptation occurs through new forms of binding, i.e., association or dissociation of more basic elements. This distinction further suggests that a difference is made between developmental vulnerability (or resilience), stemming from dysfunctional (or highly functional) developmental hippocampal neurogenesis, and adult vulnerability (or resilience), stemming from dysfunctional (or highly functional) adult hippocampal neurogenesis. According to this hypothesis, developmental and adult vulnerability are distinct risk factors for various mental disorders in adults. This framework suggests new avenues for research on hippocampal neurogenesis and its implication in mental disorders.

Epigenetic inheritance and evolution: a historian's perspective

The aim of this article is to put the growing interest in epigenetics in the field of evolutionary theory into a historical context. First, I assess the view that epigenetic inheritance could be seen as vindicating a revival of (neo)Lamarckism. Drawing on Jablonka's and Lamb's considerable output, I identify several differences between modern epigenetics and what Lamarckism was in the history of science. Even if Lamarckism is not back, epigenetic inheritance might be appealing for evolutionary biologists because it could potentiate two neglected mechanisms: the Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation. Second, I go back to the first ideas about the Baldwin effect developed in the late nineteenth century to show that the efficiency of this mechanism was already linked with a form of non-genetic inheritance. The opposition to all forms of non-genetic inheritance that prevailed at the time of the rise of the Modern Synthesis helps to explain why the Baldwin effect was understood as an insignificant mechanism during the second half of the twentieth century. Based on this historical reconstruction, in §4, I examine what modern epigenetics can bring to the picture and under what conditions epigenetic inheritance might be seen as strengthening the causal relationship between adaptability and adaptation. Throughout I support the view that the Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation, even if they are quite close, should not be conflated, and that drawing a line between these concepts is helpful in order to better understand where epigenetic inheritance might endorse a new causal role.This article is part of the theme issue ‘How does epigenetics influence the course of evolution?’

Evaluation of Cloud 3D Printing Order Task Execution Based on the AHP-TOPSIS Optimal Set Algorithm and The Baldwin Effect

Focusing on service control factors, rapid changes in manufacturing environments, the difficulty of resource allocation evaluation, resource optimization for 3D printing services (3DPSs) in cloud manufacturing environments and so on, an indicator evaluation framework is proposed for the cloud 3D printing (C3DP) order task execution process based on a Pareto optimal set algorithm that is optimized and evaluated for remotely distributed 3D printing equipment resources. Combined with the multi-objective method of data normalization, an optimization model for C3DP order execution based on the Pareto optimal set algorithm is constructed with these agents' dynamic autonomy and distributed processing. This model can perform functions such as automatic matching and optimization of candidate services, and it is dynamic and reliable in the C3DP order task execution process based on the Pareto optimal set algorithm. Finally, a case study is designed to test the applicability and effectiveness of the C3DP order task execution process based on the analytic hierarchy process and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (AHP-TOPSIS) optimal set algorithm and the Baldwin effect.

Placing LOFAR-detected quasars in C iv emission space: implications for winds, jets and star formation

ABSTRACT We present an investigation of the low-frequency radio and ultraviolet properties of a sample of ≃10 500 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14, observed as part of the first data release of the Low-Frequency-Array Two-metre Sky Survey. The quasars have redshifts 1.5 < z < 3.5 and luminosities $44.6 \lt \log _{10}\left(L_{\text{bol}}/\rm{erg\,s}^{-1}\right) \lt 47.2$. We employ ultraviolet spectral reconstructions based on an independent component analysis to parametrize the C iv λ1549-emission line that is used to infer the strength of accretion disc winds, and the He ii λ1640 line, an indicator of the soft X-ray flux. We find that radio-detected quasars are found in the same region of C iv blueshift versus equivalent-width space as radio-undetected quasars, but that the loudest, most luminous and largest radio sources exist preferentially at low C iv blueshifts. Additionally, the radio-detection fraction increases with blueshift whereas the radio-loud fraction decreases. In the radio-quiet population, we observe a range of He ii equivalent widths as well as a Baldwin effect with bolometric luminosity, whilst the radio-loud population has mostly strong He ii, consistent with a stronger soft X-ray flux. The presence of strong He ii is a necessary but not sufficient condition to detect radio-loud emission suggesting some degree of stochasticity in jet formation. Using energetic arguments and Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the plausibility of winds, compact jets, and star formation as sources of the radio quiet emission, ruling out none. The existence of quasars with similar ultraviolet properties but differing radio properties suggests, perhaps, that the radio and ultraviolet emission is tracing activity occurring on different time-scales.