In this report, IOzSeF, a search factory for Mozart/Oz, is presented. Search plays an important role in constraint programming. In Mozart/Oz, search is done by library procedures or the Explorer, a graphical search tool. All these have some shortcomings, mainly that features like recomputation, best solution search and visualisation cannot be combined with freely. IOzSeF aims at combining the a...

The authors investigate the influence of El Niño on midtropospheric CO2 from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and the Model for Ozone and Related Chemical Tracers, version 2 (MOZART-2). AIRS midtropospheric CO2 data are used to study the temporal and spatial variability of CO2 in response to El Niño. CO2 differences between the central and western Pacific Ocean correlate well with the So...

A controversy exists over the “Mozart effect,” which is the influence of Mozart’s classical music on spatial-reasoning abilities. There are contradicting studies of whether listening to Mozart’s music improves performance on spatial-reasoning tasks. This study tested the effect of classical music on performance and investigated the role of arousal and relaxation. Participants were randomly assi...

The problem of reconfiguring power distribution system to reduce power losses has been extensively studied because of its significant economic impact. A variety of approximation computational models have recently been proposed. We describe a constraint programming model for this problem, using the MOzArt system. To handle real world reconfiguration systems we implemented and integrated into MOz...

Steele (2003) raised several concerns regarding Rauscher, Robinson, & Jens’ (1998) study that found improved maze running following early music exposure in rats. Steele’s primary criticisms were that the rats in the Rauscher et al. study were only able to hear 31% of the notes, and that a selection bias resulting in pre-existing differences between groups could account for the disparity in thei...

I’m sorry to report that we’re all about to become obsolete. For proof, one need look no farther than the story that swept the globe 2 September. Here’s how the Toronto Star informed its readers: “Scientists have genetically engineered smarter mice, pointing the way to a brave new world in which parents could — in theory, at least — create baby Einsteins.” The news graced the front page of pape...

BACKGROUND The effect of different musical styles on serum cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate is currently unknown. METHODS 60 subjects were randomly assigned to three groups that listened to various compositions by W. A. Mozart, J. Strauss Jr., or ABBA for 25 minutes. Their serum cortisol concentrations, heart rate, and blood pressure were measured before and after the listening...

Instances (“Mozart”) are ontologically distinct from concepts or classes (“composer”). Natural language encompasses both, but instances have received comparatively little attention in distributional semantics. Our results show that instances and concepts differ in their distributional properties. We also establish that instantiation detection (“Mozart – composer”) is generally easier than hyper...

Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky recently reported that exposure to brief periods of music by Mozart produced a temporary performance increase in tasks taken from the StanfordBinet IQ measure. The present study examined whether this effect occurred on performance in a backwards digit span task. Thirty-six undergraduates were exposed to 10-min periods of Mozart music, a recording of rain, or silence in a ...