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In this paper a method is proposed for the determination of the correctable and detectable errors number, which ensures an optimum compromise between the incorrect decoding probability and the transmission rate. The method is based on the fact that by decreasing the correctable errors number and increasing the detectable errors number, both the incorrect decoding probability and transmission rate are reduced. Among the types of problems which can be solved by this method the most interesting is that of adapting the decoder to the transmission channel. In this paper the binary symmetrical channel is considered, but for other types of channels similar results can also be obtained.

Models describe complex systems or events in simple terms. A better understanding is achieved by replacing intricate and complex systems with simpler and more familiar analogies. This paper deals with the complex visual system. The bibliographical survey given in this paper aims at showing the analogies adopted by authoritative workers in order to obtain a better understanding of “how and what we see”.

This paper is a survey and classification of a number of factors that relate directly to cost in the computer engineering design of arithmetic units. The general factors considered are inputs, gates, thresholds, algebras, inputs versus gates, values, reliability, implementability, and complexity. The paper contains some recent logic calculations by the author on gate versus input counts and reduction of complexity in the case of ternary logic.

Primordial pattern is the name given by Grigg to the curve representing the response of many biologic systems to a single stimulus. This curve consists of a fast ascent and a lingering descent. The equation had been chosen empirically to describe the primordial pattern. This equation taken in isolation does not reveal its close interconnection with the physical world. In this paper it is seen as one of the solutions of a second‐order damped system representable by the differential equation with zero initial displacement but some initial velocity. Such a system involves contributing responses by components of threekinds: inertial, restoring and resistive. This observation should stimulate scientists to extract these different components from any biologic response. The resistive component is a term proportional to the first derivative of the response with respect to time. Evidence for the necessity of this frictional component to obtain a primordial pattern is presented. Such frictional component imparts to a process an irreversible character in agreement with Poincarés thermodynamic formulation and provides the physico‐mathematical substrata to the concept of biologic relativity, namely: as the primordial pattern runs its course, there occurs an incessant change, not only in the recorded response, but also in the respondent's reactivity. This paper offers a unifying view of biology and physics. It should be the task of biologists henceforth to try to find the pertinent analogies with inertial, restoring and resistive components of biologic entities and responses. As an example, consider the fact that the primordial pattern requires of necessity the existence of frictional elements within the system. It will be of great interest to look into these elements and try to identify them. Then, perhaps, they could be manipulated from outside the system to increase or diminish them for mankind's advantage.

In this paper we construct a representation of 2‐valued logic, not in terms of sets as in Boolean algebra, but in terms of ordinary numerical algebra. When applied as a physical model of how the brain might actually effect logical computations, it provides a picture of a system which is dynamic and continuous, rather than the usual digital picture arising from the on/off behaviour of the neurons in the brain. A discreteness does appear within the formalism, but of the kind which represents a physical system possessing natural modes of oscillation. P. H. Greene has already suggested resonant neural activity as a model for certain kinds of behaviour, and the results of this paper would tend to support his hypothesis.

The theory of pursuit games is obviously fragmentary at present. We know that general determinability of such games is incompatible with analysis, based on the principle of time continuity; but we also witness some reasonably successful probing on a smaller scale. The problem is one of existence of winning strategies for quite general sets and spaces. It will be shown here that in one case, where multivalued strategies are used, such strategies must necessarily be subclasses of Polish spaces and in the other, the monovalued case, the loser's set either has to be a first category set in the sense of Baire or an ideal, but in any case a kind of small set. This paper is meant to provide a common topological basis for the appreciation of more recent results.

In this paper two effective algorithms are given for optimizing power systems schedules. These algorithms are based on the simplex method. Rapid convergence of the iterative processes, on which these algorithms are based, and a relatively brief calculation time at each iterative step lead to a high efficiency of the procedure for optimizing the schedules.

Line theory and the description of phenomena in subthreshold stimulated nerve fibres have many common features. This paper offers accurate formulations of these relations. It starts with the partial differential equation u″ = r1 · Cm · u + r1gm · u for subthreshold changes of the deviation of the membrane potential from the resting value. For sinusoidal stimulation the characteristic quantities describing the subthreshold behaviour of a nerve fibre are derived from this equation. For step stimulation a (the attenuation constant) becomes independent of frequency and is a measure of the spatial decay of the membrane voltage changes, while transients are characterized by the time constant of the nerve fibre. The investigation of biological processes in neuron systems with the help of electro‐technical concepts may be included in the realm of cybernetic methods.

In recent years, a new view of man has begun to emerge. This view, inspired by the concepts of cybernetics, holds that man's behavior and experience can be accounted for by feedback‐control processes and that these processes are hierarchically organized. In this paper, the ideas of three authors who have best expressed this new view, Arthur Koestler, Ervin Laszlo and William Powers, are summarized and compared. The conclusion is reached that, despite differences in detail, the three authors articulate remarkably consistent theories of the nature of man.

In this paper we exploit a new correlation coefficient ρX1 for pairs of discrete‐valued lung function parameters X1, X2 based on the expected maximal probability of predicting an Xj value given any Xi value. Then, for X1, X2 representing two different lung function parameters one can use ρX1, ρX2 in order to measure the strength of predicting Xi from Xj. E(max.g(y/X)) is a reasonable replacement for the information entropy function when dealing with discrete‐valued random variables X, Y. (In the Appendix and Program MX = X1 and KY = X2.)

The systemic sciences, be they politico‐socio‐econometric, medico‐systemic, psycho‐neurological, or ecologico‐environmental, must be founded on a computer science that permits not only the expeditious and conscientious modelling of collections of natural phenomena, but also a methodology which ensures that computerized simulation models are stringently verified and assiduously validated by both their authors and their critics. The paper delineates the operational procedure by which simulation models can be well‐written, yet, despite their complexity, subjected to the scrutiny of the entire scientific community in order that they be deemed credible mimics of the complex systems that they describe. The important aspects and evolutionary development of computational linguistics are placed in the context of providing ad hoc simulation languages especially amenable to the systemic scientist. In this context, the role, and value of the use of, the telecommunications technology to the verification and validation of the computerized models of the systemic scientists are delineated.

This paper deals with research of patterns and structures in a sequence of data with a finite number of states. After preliminary estimates, two optimization criteria are presented, which based on a schema of referential probabilities enable the construction of a vocabulary of patterns, or basic morphological units. The determination of structures, which may link these patterns is subsequently discussed, first from a morphological viewpoint, then from a generative viewpoint. Morphological structures may be constructed from classical schema of Markov chains or from graph theory; the identification of generative structures is based on the definition of a set of normed transformations on the vocabulary, which leads to various numerical estimates.

This paper contains a generalization of the existing theory of Garden of Eden configurations in tessellation automata. We consider spaces of at most two dimensions but with transition functions having arbitrarily large neighborhoods. A configuration c is said to be Garden of Eden of degree n just in case there is no configuration from which c can arise in n time steps; c is Garden of Eden of minimal degree n just in case there is no smaller m such that c is Garden of Eden of degree m. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of Garden of Eden configurations of higher degree (and of degree 1) are established. Results are obtained relating decision procedures for Garden of Eden configurations of degree one to decision procedures for Garden of Eden configurations of higher degree.