Semantics of looping programs in Propositional Dynamic Logic

Standard and nonstandard models of Propositional Dynamic Logic differ in their interpretation of loops. In Standard models, a loop is interpreted as the Kleene closure of the interpretation of its loop body; in nonstandard (Loop Invariant) models, a loop is interpreted as a program which preserves invariant assertions over the loop body.In this paper we show that both interpretations are adequate to represent loops in PDL. We demonstrate this in two ways: First we note that Standard and Loop Invariant models are distinct but not distinguishable within PDL. Second, we show that the class of Loop Invariant models is complete with respect to the Segerberg axiomatization of PDL. Since completeness of the class of Loop Invariant models implies completeness of the class of Standard models, Standard models are also complete with respect to this axiomatization.The research reported here was supported in part by NSF Grants MCS77-02474 and MCS80-05387. Most of the results in this paper were announced in A Completeness Technique forD-axiomatizable Semantics presented at the 11th Annual ACM Symposium on the Theory of Computing in May, 1979.     

Stable isotopes in obesity research

Obesity is recognized as a major public health problem. Obesity is a multifactorial disease and is often associated with a wide range of comorbidities including hypertension, non-insulin dependent (Type II) diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, all of which contribute to morbidity and mortality. This review deals with stable isotope mass spectrometric methods and the application of stable isotopes to metabolic studies of obesity. Body composition and total energy expenditure (TEE) can be measured by mass spectrometry using stable isotope labeled water, and the metabolism of protein, lipid, and carbohydrate can be measured using appropriate labeled tracer molecules.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Toxicological Properties of New Cationic Bleach Activators

Three new bleach activators for cotton containing pyridinium (PBBC), nicotinamido (NABBC), and 3‐methylpyridinium (3‐PBBC) cationic groups were synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR and HPLC–mass spectrometry. They were then applied to cotton fabric in a bleaching process and evaluated for their performance against the prototype N‐[4‐(triethylammoniomethyl)benzoyl]butyrolactam chloride (TBBC) at a relatively low bleaching temperature (55 °C) and pH 8.5. Measurement of Commission internationale de l’éclairage (International Commission on Illumination) (CIE) whiteness index (WI) values showed that PBBC (WI = 64), NABBC (WI = 58), and 3‐PBBC (WI = 71) impart a significant increase in CIE whiteness compared to a control sample (WI = 40). Among the three new activators, 3‐PBBC exhibited the best performance. Its WI was comparable to that of fabric bleached using the prototype bleach activator TBBC. The acute toxicity of TBBC and the new bleach activators was evaluated using the microcrustacean Daphnia similis. The chronic toxicity of TBBC and 3‐PBBC was evaluated using the green alga Raphidocelis subcapitata, and mutagenicity was evaluated in the Salmonella/microsome assay using the strain TA100. 3‐PBBC was 86 times less toxic to D. similis, 18 times less toxic to R. subcapitata, and 10 times less mutagenic to TA100 in comparison with TBBC.     

Hydrodynamic modeling of particle rotation for segregation in bubbling gas-fluidized beds

A multi-fluid Eulerian model has been improved by incorporating particle rotation using kinetic theory for rapid granular flow of slightly frictional spheres. A simplified model was implemented without changing the current kinetic theory framework by introducing an effective coefficient of restitution to account for additional energy dissipation due to frictional collisions. Simulations without and with particle rotation were performed to study the bubble dynamics and bed expansion in a monodispersed bubbling gas-fluidized bed and the segregation phenomena in a bidispersed bubbling gas-fluidized bed. Results were compared between simulations without and with particle rotation and with corresponding experimental results. It was found that the multi-fluid model with particle rotation better captures the bubble dynamics and time-averaged bed behavior. The model predictions of segregation percentages agreed with experimental data in the fluidization regime where kinetic theory is valid to describe segregation and mixing.     

Chemical signals involved in spacing behavior of breeding female bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber 1780, Microtidae,Rodentia)

In order to study the mechanism involved in the seasonal territoriality of breeding bank voles, the social behavior and scent marking of paired females were observed throughout a reproductive cycle. Initially unfamiliar females were kept in large laboratory pens provided with individual burrows. After a brief period of hostility, females behaved in a friendly manner towards each other, sharing the same nest even in the presence of a male and until the middle of pregnancy. They scarcely marked with urine. Continuous olfactory assessment appeared to play an important role in maintaining the friendly interactions. In late pregnant and lactating females, on the contrary, the odor of a familiar female triggered aggressiveness and scent marking with urine and probably with flank glands. These reactions may be interpreted as spacing behavior. Moreover, the interaction between females may inhibit reproduction in one of them. These results are discussed in relation with the available ecological data.     

Genre identification for office document search and browsing

When searching or browsing documents, the genre of a document is an important consideration that complements topical characterization. We examine design considerations for automatic tagging of office document pages with genre membership. These include selecting features that characterize genre-related information in office documents, examining the utility of text-based features and image-based features, and proposing a simple ensemble method to improve the performance of genre identification. Experiments were conducted on the open-set identification of four coarse office document genres: technical paper, photo, slide, and table. Our experiments show that when combined with image-based features, text-based features do not significantly influence performance. These results provide support for a topic-independent approach to identification of coarse office document genres. Experiments also show that our simple ensemble method significantly improves performance relative to using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier alone. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by integrating our automatic genre tags in a faceted search and browsing application for office document collections.     

Study of electrochemical phosphate sensing systems: Spectrometric, potentiometric and voltammetric evaluation

Characterization of the interaction of a urea-functionalized calix[4]arene ionophore and phosphate was undertaken by combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry, potentiometric selectivity coefficient evaluation and voltammetric ion transfer at the interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES). NMR revealed that the urea protons were involved in complexation with the target anion and potentiometric separate solution selectivity data indicated selectivity for phosphate over chloride and sulphate. Voltammetry at the ITIES confirmed that the ionophore-facilitated transfer of monohydrogen phosphate occurred in preference to dihydrogen phosphate transfer. The results correlate with previously reported data on the potentiometric evaluation of this calixarene as an anionophore in PVC-membrane electrodes. The data provide the basis for development of amperometric monohydrogen phosphate sensors based on the ion-transfer principle.