Conversion between Number Systems in Membrane Computing
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper presents novel results. Methodological approach is rigorous. The results are potentially significant.
Author Response
Thank you for taking the time to process the submission of our original paper entitled “Conversion between number systems in membrane computing”.We appreciate your recognition of our manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
The idea of the paper "Conversion between number systems in membrane computing" sounds very interesting and promising. But in the end, it is the implementation of modulo function and multiplication in cell-like P systems using dissolving rules. That is what my master's students do as a part of the Membrane systems course.
1. In fact, there is NO conversion between decimal and binary numbers, you have to put into the system the number of objects you want to convert (you could say in unary code). It doesn't matter what numeric system the number is entered in, the P system doesn't work with digits 0 - 9. The first P system sends the resulting binary number to the environment as a sequence of objects. The second P system, in turn, reads the digits from the environment and stores the resulting number of objects in the membrane (i.e. in the opposite direction).
2. The proof of any theorem cannot be done by simulation in any software tool. The author has to prove that the system's behavior is correct.
3. Definition of the P system is incomplete and written carelessly - u and U, v and V, "object multiset" or "object multiple set" instead of "multiset of objects" as it is common in literature, O is an alphabet of non-empty finite sets? definition of types of rules is chaotic. You use only rewriting rules where left- and right-hand sides can be of the form:... The definition of a maximally parallel mode of computation is vague. Non-determinism is not the problem but a natural feature. What is the sign for the environment?
How the membrane structure is defined? What does it mean when i_0 \in \mu?
4. You wrote that the conversion between number systems plays an important role in computers, why?
5. One of the concepts in number system conversion in number system?
6. In tables and text around: what does it mean "time slice"? There is no definition of the way how the computation is done - a computational step, a computation, a result of a computation...
7. English of the paper must be polished as well.
8. Introductory part is weird, jumping from membrane computing to membrane systems and an uncertain description of these kinds of membrane systems, with Prof. Păun's name misspelled and an undefined reference. Text starting with "Because of the incredible... " on page 1 promises the use of real, tangible, or material membrane computers.
Author Response
Dear editor and reviewers,
Thank you very much for reviewing our manuscript "Conversion between number systems in membrane computing " and giving very valuable comments. We have considered these comments carefully during the past few days and highlighted the corresponding modifications in the revised manuscript with a yellow background.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The paper should be revised in accordance with the following comments:
1) Standardise the use of references. For example, the article appeared in the reference of the source is not found, the same article in the References appeared twice, References in the font size is not uniform and so on.
2) Unify the use of proper nouns to avoid ambiguity. For example, the P in P system should be capitalised, and the use of transport P system and transit P system should be standardised.
3)The placement of some paragraphs seems to be inaccurate. For example, the second paragraph of subsection 2.2 describes the importance of conversion rather than the method, so could this paragraph be placed in the Introduction?
4) The description of time complexity should be more accurate.
5) The description of time slid is ambiguous in Section 3.
6) Whether the study can be extended to conversion of arbitrary binary to make the study more general?
7) The effective content of the simulation section needs to be highlighted. Perhaps the code could be placed in an appendix, and the presentation of the experimental results should be clearer (the pictures should convey the information more clearly).
1) Unify the use of proper nouns to avoid ambiguity. For example, the P in P system should be capitalised, and the use of transport P system and transit P system should be standardised.
2) The writing should be more fluent. Use more varied sentence structure, make good use of conjunctions, and use correct tenses and modes of speech. The text can be further refined.
3) Some spelling mistakes need to be corrected.
Author Response
Dear editor and reviewers,
Thank you very much for reviewing our manuscript "Conversion between number systems in membrane computing " and giving very valuable comments. We have considered these comments carefully during the past few days and highlighted the corresponding modifications in the revised manuscript with a yellow background.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 4 Report
This paper investigates how to implement the conversion between number systems in the membrane computing framework. Overall, the paper was well organized, and the results were explained well. The reference in line 24-25 is not cited, indicating an error. The conclusion section should be revised since the conclusions were not explicitly written. The current version of the conclusion section is too general. I will suggestion the modification before the publication.
Author Response
Dear editor and reviewers,
Thank you very much for reviewing our manuscript " Conversion between number systems in membrane computing " and giving very valuable comments. We have considered these comments carefully during the past few days and highlighted the corresponding modifications in the revised manuscript with a yellow background.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
I thank the authors for the improvements they have made to the manuscript. The paper is now in an acceptable form, although I still disagree with the fact that the conversion from the decimal system is given (it is a unary representation of a number, the decimal representation of a number is given in the numerals 0 - 9 and this should be the input). However, even in this form the result is acceptable. One formal error in the definition was left uncorrected.
page 4. line 154: V is an alphabet - a finite non-empty set of objects.
Author Response
Dear editor and reviewers,
Thank you very much for reviewing our manuscript " Conversion between number systems in membrane computing " and giving very valuable comments. We have considered these comments carefully during the past few days and highlighted the corresponding modifications in the revised manuscript with a yellow background.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
