Almost toric manifolds form a class of singular Lagrangian fibered symplectic manifolds that is a natural generalization of toric manifolds. Notable examples include the K3 surface, the phase space of the spherical pendulum and rational balls useful for symplectic surgeries. The main result of the paper is a complete classification up to diffeomorphism of closed almost toric four-manifolds. A k...

We explore combining reinforcement learning with a hand-crafted local controller in a manner suggested by the chaotic control algorithm of Vincent, Schmitt and Vincent (1994). A closedloop controller is designed using conventional means that creates a domain of attraction about a target state. Chaotic behavior is used or induced to bring the system into this region, at which time the local cont...

After briefly attempting to describe situated action and distributed cognition, we examine their contributions from the point of view of activity theories and more specifically based on the relations between the functioning and development of activity. We argue that situated action identifies a limit in cognitive psychology in seeking to bring the subject back into the situation and in reintegr...

We describe an experimental conceptual design for observation and reduction of radiation pressure noise. The radiation pressure noise is increased in a high finesse cavity with a small mass mirror. In our experiment a Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometer with a homodyne detection scheme will be built with Fabry-Perot cavities of finesse of 10000 containing suspended mirrors of 23mg. To observe ...

The theory of damping finds its roots in Newton’s Principia [1] and has been exhaustively tested in objects as disparate as the Foucault pendulum, mirrors used in gravitational-wave detectors, and submicron mechanical resonators. Owing to recent advances in nanotechnology it is now possible to explore damping in systems with transverse dimensions on the atomic scale. Here, we study the damping ...

In this article, the authors analyze the relationship between labor sociology and trade unionism in Brazil by focusing on its three key phases. Against the backdrop of successive political and economical scenarios, the authors go from the first generation of labor sociologists to the most recent period, trying to identify the transition points in this trajectory. This study develops the hypothe...

We study redundant robot kinematics around singular configurations of corank 1. Sufficient conditions are derived under which the kinematics become equivalent to a hyperbolic normal form. These conditions are specified further to non-redundant kinematics, and illustrated with examples of a double pendulum with links of equal length at the fully folded down configuration as well as of the PUMA m...

Easier, More Potent, Less Toxic Therapy • Benefits of Earlier Treatment Initiation in Cohort Studies • Decreased Transmission Risk • Preservation of R5-tropic Virus • Cost-effectiveness • Prevention of Specific Complications of HIV Infection • Prevention of Non-opportunistic Complications • Potential Immunologic Benefits • Special Considerations: Treatment Above 350 CD4+ cells/μL • Caveats and ...