Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Connexive Modal Logic

Connexive logic is a neglected direction in non-classical logic. In the present paper, first an axiomatic system of connexive propositional logic is presented. This logic, C, is shown to be sound and complete with respect to a class of relational models. It seems that this semantics is, in fact, the first known intuitively plausible interpretation of a system of connexive logic. The presentation of C suggests that connexive logic is constructive. It is a variant of David Nelson’s constructive logics with strong negation. In Nelson’s logics the verification conditions of implications are dynamic, whereas all falsification conditions are static conditions of falsification on the spot. In C, both the verification and the falsification conditions of implications are dynamic. This is enough to ensure that C is connexive and can be given a comprehensible and clear interpretation in terms of information states. In a second step, the language of the system C is extended by the modal operators and ♦ to obtain a connexive analogue of the smallest normal modal propositional logic K. Aiming at a connexive analogue of K that can be faithfully embedded by a modal translation into QC, quantified C, we arrive at a system that will be called CK, connexive K. The system CK is a connexive version of the constructive modal logic FSK characterized in [12]. CK is shown to be sound and complete with respect to relational models and to be decidable. We shall also critically discuss the evaluation clauses for the modal operators that are induced by the standard translation from modal propositional logic into first-order logic. In the context of the connexive base logic, the falsification clauses of formulas A induced by the standard translation appear to be intuitively implausible. In any case, both syntactic duality axioms ∼ A ↔ ♦ ∼ A and ∼ ♦ ↔ ∼ A fail to hold. It seems that CK is the first system of connexive modal logic considered in the modal logic literature. This paper may therefore be seen as a contribution to establishing connexive modal logic as a respectable branch of modal logic. Advances in Modal Logic, Volume 5. c © 2005, Heinrich Wansing. 368 Heinrich Wansing 1 Aristotle’s Theses and Boethius’ Theses The following principle is well-known as “Aristotle’s Thesis”:
Should thrombolysis be given to a stroke patient refusing therapy due to profound anosognosia?

We read the article by Katz and Segal with interest.1 We agree that anosognosia due to acute stroke is common and can cause difficulty in the consent process. If the patient fails to perceive that a stroke has occurred, declining treatment is reasonable. We do not believe, however, that this refusal necessarily obviates the option of thrombolysis. Valid consent requires “adequate decision-making capacity,” including the ability to understand pertinent information regarding her/his condition, to process that information, and to express a decision.2 A person with anosognosia has limited capacity to provide valid consent because of the inability to recognize deficits. At our institution and many others offering thrombolysis as …
Commentary: Attentional control and the self: The Self-Attention Network (SAN)

1 Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Neurology, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 3 Faculty of Elementary and Special Education, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina, UDP-INECO Foundation Core on Neuroscience, Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile, 5 Faculty of Psychology, National University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina, Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia, Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australian Research Council, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Adaptive twist sliding mode control: A Lyapunov design

A novel adaptive-gain twist sliding mode controller is proposed. The disturbance term is assumed to be bounded with unknown bounds. The proposed Lyapunov-based approach consists in using dynamically adaptive control gains that ensure the establishment, in finite time, of a real second order sliding mode. Also the adaptation algorithm doesn't overestimate the values of the control gain. A numerical example confirms the efficacy of the proposed adaptive-gain twisting control.
Iterative Structure-Based Peptide-Like Inhibitor Design against the Botulinum Neurotoxin Serotype A

The botulinum neurotoxin serotype A light chain (BoNT/A LC) protease is the catalytic component responsible for the neuroparalysis that is characteristic of the disease state botulism. Three related peptide-like molecules (PLMs) were designed using previous information from co-crystal structures, synthesized, and assayed for in vitro inhibition against BoNT/A LC. Our results indicate these PLMS are competitive inhibitors of the BoNT/A LC protease and their Ki values are in the nM-range. A co-crystal structure for one of these inhibitors was determined and reveals that the PLM, in accord with the goals of our design strategy, simultaneously involves both ionic interactions via its P1 residue and hydrophobic contacts by means of an aromatic group in the P2′ position. The PLM adopts a helical conformation similar to previously determined co-crystal structures of PLMs, although there are also major differences to these other structures such as contacts with specific BoNT/A LC residues. Our structure further demonstrates the remarkable plasticity of the substrate binding cleft of the BoNT/A LC protease and provides a paradigm for iterative structure-based design and development of BoNT/A LC inhibitors.
A cDNA Cloning of a Novel Alpha-Class Tyrosinase of Pinctada fucata: Its Expression Analysis and Characterization of the Expressed Protein

Tyrosinase plays an important role in the formation of the shell matrix and melanin synthesis in mollusks shells. A cDNA clone encoding a 47 kDa protein was isolated from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata. The cDNA was 1,957 base pairs long and encodes a 417 residue protein that has extensive sequence identity with tyrosinase (polyphenol oxidase: EC 1.14.18.1). This tyrosinase-like protein, termed PfTy, contains an N-terminal signal sequence and the two copper-binding domain signatures (CuA and CuB), suggesting that PfTy belongs to the α-subclass of type-3 copper proteins. Enzyme activity of PfTy was examined by a spectrophotometric method using the translation product derived from an S30 T7 high-yield protein expression system. Tyrosinase activity was seen in this recombinant product. RT-PCR analysis showed that PfTy mRNA was expressed in the mantle pallial, but not in the mantle edge. Therefore, PfTy may participate in insoluble shell matrix formation of the nacreous layer. PfTy expression was also observed in the foot, liver, and adductor muscle, suggesting that PfTy participates in the synthesis of melanins, which are effective scavengers of free radicals formed in multiple intracellular oxidative processes. This is the first report of a novel α-class tyrosinase from the pearl oyster P. fucata.
Branched-Chain and Aromatic Amino Acids Are Predictors of Insulin Resistance in Young Adults

OBJECTIVE Branched-chain and aromatic amino acids are associated with the risk for future type 2 diabetes; however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We tested whether amino acids predict insulin resistance index in healthy young adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Circulating isoleucine, leucine, valine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and six additional amino acids were quantified in 1,680 individuals from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (baseline age 32 ± 5 years; 54% women). Insulin resistance was estimated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) at baseline and 6-year follow-up. Amino acid associations with HOMA of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glucose were assessed using regression models adjusted for established risk factors. We further examined whether amino acid profiling could augment risk assessment of insulin resistance (defined as 6-year HOMA-IR >90th percentile) in early adulthood. RESULTS Isoleucine, leucine, valine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine were associated with HOMA-IR at baseline and for men at 6-year follow-up, while for women only leucine, valine, and phenylalanine predicted 6-year HOMA-IR (P < 0.05). None of the other amino acids were prospectively associated with HOMA-IR. The sum of branched-chain and aromatic amino acid concentrations was associated with 6-year insulin resistance for men (odds ratio 2.09 [95% CI 1.38–3.17]; P = 0.0005); however, including the amino acid score in prediction models did not improve risk discrimination. CONCLUSIONS Branched-chain and aromatic amino acids are markers of the development of insulin resistance in young, normoglycemic adults, with most pronounced associations for men. These findings suggest that the association of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids with the risk for future diabetes is at least partly mediated through insulin resistance.
Sparse and cross-term free time-frequency distribution based on Hermite functions

Hermite functions are an effective tool for improving the resolution of the single-window spectrogram. In this paper, we analyze the Hermite functions in the ambiguity domain and show that the higher order terms can introduce undesirable cross-terms in the multiwindow spectrogram. The optimal number of Hermite functions depends on the location and spread of signal auto-terms in the ambiguity domain. We apply and compare several sparsity measures, namely ℓ1 norm, the Gini index and the time-frequency concentration measure, for determining the optimal number of Hermite functions, leading to the most desirable time-frequency representation. Among the employed measures, the Gini index provides the sparsest solution. This solution corresponds to a well-concentrated and cross-term reduced time-frequency signature.
The inhibitory mechanism of Cordyceps sinensis on cigarette smoke extract-induced senescence in human bronchial epithelial cells

Objectives Cellular senescence is a state of irreversible growth arrest induced either by telomere shortening (replicative senescence) or stress. The bronchial epithelial cell is often injured by inhaled toxic substances, such as cigarette smoke. In the present study, we investigated whether exposure to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) induces senescence of bronchial epithelial cells; and Cordyceps sinensis mechanism of inhibition of CSE-induced cellular senescence. Methods Human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells) cultured in vitro were treated with CSE and/or C. sinensis. p16, p21, and senescence-associated-galactosidase activity were used to detect cellular senescence with immunofluorescence, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), PI3K/AKT/mTOR and their phosphorylated proteins were examined to testify the activation of signaling pathway by ROS fluorescent staining and Western blotting. Then, inhibitors of ROS and PI3K were used to further confirm the function of this pathway. Results Cellular senescence was upregulated by CSE treatment, and C. sinensis can decrease CSE-induced cellular senescence. Activation of ROS/PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway was enhanced by CSE treatment, and decreased when C. sinensis was added. Blocking ROS/PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway can attenuate CSE-induced cellular senescence. Conclusion CSE can induce cellular senescence in human bronchial epithelial cells, and ROS/PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway may play an important role in this process. C. sinensis can inhibit the CSE-induced senescence.
LSF mapping for voice conversion with very small training sets

To make voice conversion usable in practical applications, the number of training sentences should be minimized. With traditional Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based techniques small training sets lead to over-fitting and estimation problems. We propose a new approach for mapping line spectral frequencies (LSFs) representing the vocal tract. The idea is based on inherent intra-frame correlations of LSFs. For each target LSF, a separate GMM is used and only the source and target LSF elements best correlating with the current LSF are used in training. The proposed method is evaluated both objectively and in listening tests, and it is shown that the method outperforms the conventional GMM approach especially with very small training sets.
Some New Techniques in Design and Analysis of Exact (Exponential) Algorithms

This survey concerns techniques in design and analysis of algo- rithms that can be used to solve NP hard problems faster than ex- haustive search algorithms (but still in exponential time). We discuss several of such techniques: Measure & Conquer, Exponential Lower Bounds, Bounded Tree-width, and Memorization. We also consider some extensions of the mentioned techniques to parameterized algo- rithms.
A survey of interdomain routing policies

Researchers studying the inter-domain routing system typically rely on models to fill in the gaps created by the lack of information about the business relationships and routing policies used by individual autonomous systems. To shed light on this unknown information, we asked 100 network operators about their routing policies, billing models, and thoughts on routing security. This short paper reports the survey's results and discusses their implications.
The effect of attack of chloride and sulphate on ground granulated blast furnace slag concrete

This concrete is one of the most versatile construction material widely used for almost a century now. It was considered to be very durable material and required a little or no maintenance since long time. The assumption is very true, except when it is subjected to highly aggressive environments. The deterioration of concrete structures day by day due to aggressive environment is compelling engineers to assess the loss in advance so that proper preventive measure can be taken to achieve required durability to concrete structures. The compounds present in cement concrete are attacked by many salt solutions and acids. These chemicals are encountered by almost all concrete structures. The present study has been undertaken to investigate the effect of attack of chlorides and sulphates with varying severity on compressive strength of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) concrete after immersion in salt solution for 28 days. The results indicate that the durability of GGBFS concrete increases with the increase in percentage replacement of cement by GGBFS for 20% and then gradually decreases with increases in percentage of GGBFS with cement (as in the study for 40% and 60%). Also there is increase in strength of GGBFS concrete with increase in age. Thus the durability of concrete improves when GGBFS is added as partial replacement of cement. In this study the strength of GGBFS concrete is less affected by chemicals as compared to conventional concrete when exposed to aggressive environment.
Stigma experienced by people with nonspecific chronic low back pain: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES To determine participant experience of exercise programs for nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP). Systematic reviews have concluded that exercise is effective for decreasing pain and improving function in adults with NSCLBP. Participation is a key ingredient in exercise and patient's experiences during these programs may be important in influencing outcomes. DESIGN Qualitative methods with three focus groups facilitated by an independent, experienced facilitator. METHODS Eighteen people aged over 18 years were included. They had to speak, read and understand English and participated in an exercise program for NSCLBP. Each group was guided with a series of predetermined questions to elicit their experience of participation in exercise programs. Participants were encouraged to give personal opinions freely. Transcribed data were read independently by two researchers and analysed thematically with grounded theory. RESULTS Stigma emerged as a significant theme in all focus group transcripts. The results demonstrate that people with NSCLBP experience both subtle and overt stigmatization. The following subthemes emerged: stigma perpetrated by health care providers; stigma facilitated by the "sickness versus wellness" model; stigma applied by friends, family, the community, the workplace, and the low back pain subgroup; stigma-associated diagnostic uncertainty and the need for pathology driven validation. CONCLUSIONS The ramifications of stigma and discrimination are enduring, potentially disabling and appear to interfere with care-seeking, rehabilitation participation, and potentially, rehabilitation outcomes. Public and health professional education, low back pain-specific support groups and dissemination of success stories may help to alleviate stigma.
Arabic Tokenization System

Tokenization is a necessary and non-trivial step in natural language processing. In the case of Arabic, where a single word can comprise up to four independent tokens, morphological knowledge needs to be incorporated into the tokenizer. In this paper we describe a rule-based tokenizer that handles tokenization as a full-rounded process with a preprocessing stage (white space normalizer), and a post-processing stage (token filter). We also show how it handles multiword expressions, and how ambiguity is resolved.
Risk factors for a major coronary event after myocardial infarction in the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S). Impact of predicted risk on the benefit of cholesterol-lowering treatment.

AIMS To analyse (1) the prognostic importance of clinical findings and lipids in patients with a previous myocardial infarction and (2) the relative and absolute benefit of simvastatin in patients at low, medium and high predicted risk. METHODS The 4S was a double-blind, randomized, clinical trial of long-term treatment with simvastatin or matching placebo in patients with myocardial infarction or angina pectoris, serum total cholesterol 5.5-8.0 mmol x l(-1), and serum triglycerides <or=2.5 mmol x l(-1). The present study only deals with those 3525 patients who had a previous myocardial infarction. End-points comprised coronary death, definite and probable hospital verified myocardial infarction, and resuscitated cardiac arrest. Because there were few women the primary analyses were performed among men. RESULTS A Cox model analysis in the placebo group identified the following independent predictors of coronary events: a history of hypertension (P=0.023), diabetes (P=0.0001), smoking after the myocardial infarction (P=0.010), total cholesterol (P=0.020), and HDL cholesterol (P=0.062). The relative reduction of risk by simvastatin treatment in patients at low, medium and high predicted risk was 38%, 39% and 42%, respectively, but the corresponding absolute benefit per 100 patients treated for 6 years increased from 7.9 to 16.2. CONCLUSION In addition to serum lipids, clinical variables contributed significantly to prediction. The relative benefit from simvastatin treatment was independent of predicted risk, but the absolute benefit increased from low to high risk.
Optimal Signal to Noise Ratio in Feedback over Communication Channels with Memory

Communication channels impose a number of obstacles to feedback control, such as delay, noise, and constraints in communication data-rate. One alternate line of recent work considers the problem of feedback stabilization subject to a constraint in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It has been shown for continuous-time systems that the optimal control problem arising in achieving minimal SNR can be formulated as a linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control problem with weights chosen as in the loop transfer recovery (LTR) technique. The present paper extends such LQG/LTR formulation to discrete-time systems with feedback over channels with memory. By using such formulation, we derive exact expressions for the LTI controller and loop sensitivity functions that achieve minimal SNR under the effect of time-delay, non minimum phase zeros and colored additive noise. For the minimum-phase case with white noise and no time delay, we show that the optimal feedback loop obtained after applying LTR has a structure equivalent to that of a communication channel with feedback from the output to the input
Heart Rate Variability Dynamics for the Prognosis of Cardiovascular Risk

Statistical, spectral, multi-resolution and non-linear methods were applied to heart rate variability (HRV) series linked with classification schemes for the prognosis of cardiovascular risk. A total of 90 HRV records were analyzed: 45 from healthy subjects and 45 from cardiovascular risk patients. A total of 52 features from all the analysis methods were evaluated using standard two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (KS-test). The results of the statistical procedure provided input to multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural networks, radial basis function (RBF) neural networks and support vector machines (SVM) for data classification. These schemes showed high performances with both training and test sets and many combinations of features (with a maximum accuracy of 96.67%). Additionally, there was a strong consideration for breathing frequency as a relevant feature in the HRV analysis.
The Eta Pairing Revisited

In this paper, we simplify and extend the Eta pairing, originally discovered in the setting of supersingular curves by Barreto , to ordinary curves. Furthermore, we show that by swapping the arguments of the Eta pairing, one obtains a very efficient algorithm resulting in a speed-up of a factor of around six over the usual Tate pairing, in the case of curves that have large security parameters, complex multiplication by an order of Qopf (radic-3), and when the trace of Frobenius is chosen to be suitably small. Other, more minor savings are obtained for more general curves
Self-related health, physical activity, BMI and musculoskeletal complaints: A comparison between foreign and Swedish high school students

UNLABELLED Physical activities during leisure time and school hours as well as nutritional habits have changed over the past years by adolescents being less physically active and adopting a sedentary life-style. The aim of the present study was to investigate possible differences between foreign and Swedish high school students in terms of self-related health, physical activity, overweight, and possible complaints from the musculoskeletal system. METHODS 1,090 high school students, 450 with foreign background and 640 with Swedish background, aged 16-26 years answered a questionnaire. RESULTS A higher percentage of students with foreign background reported poor self-related health compared with students with Swedish background (p = .038). Students with a foreign background were to a greater extent less physically active than students of Swedish background (p = .003). No differences were found between the groups regarding musculoskeletal complaints. Students with foreign background were more often overweight than students with Swedish background and overweight was more frequent among males than females. Physical activity (moderate and high level) was concluded to be a factor with significant positive effect on self-related general health (moderate level p = .042, high level (p < .001), and musculoskeletal complaints were negative factors on self-related general health (p < .001). CONCLUSION The results suggest that adolescents with foreign background should participate in physical activity to prevent overweight and thereby improve physical health.