A Paraconsistent Higher Order Logic

Classical logic predicts that everything (thus nothing useful at all) follows from inconsistency. A paraconsistent logic is a logic where an inconsistency does not lead to such an explosion, and since in practice consistency is difficult to achieve there are many potential applications of paraconsistent logics in knowledge-based systems, logical semantics of natural language, etc. Higher order logics have the advantages of being expressive and with several automated theorem provers available. Also the type system can be helpful. We present a concise description of a paraconsistent higher order logic with countable infinite indeterminacy, where each basic formula can get its own indeterminate truth value (or as we prefer: truth code). The meaning of the logical operators is new and rather different from traditional many-valued logics as well as from logics based on bilattices. The adequacy of the logic is examined by a case study in the domain of medicine. Thus we try to build a bridge between the HOL and MVL communities. A sequent calculus is proposed based on recent work by Muskens.Comment: Originally in the proceedings of PCL 2002, editors Hendrik Decker, Joergen Villadsen, Toshiharu Waragai (http://floc02.diku.dk/PCL/). Correcte

Mental health in relation to changes in sleep, exercise, alcohol and diet during the COVID-19 pandemic: examination of four UK cohort studies

BACKGROUND: Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have included lockdowns and social distancing with considerable disruptions to people's lives. These changes may have particularly impacted on those with mental health problems, leading to a worsening of inequalities in the behaviours which influence health. METHODS: We used data from four national longitudinal British cohort studies (N = 10 666). Respondents reported mental health (psychological distress and anxiety/depression symptoms) and health behaviours (alcohol, diet, physical activity and sleep) before and during the pandemic. Associations between pre-pandemic mental ill-health and pandemic mental ill-health and health behaviours were examined using logistic regression; pooled effects were estimated using meta-analysis. RESULTS: Worse mental health was related to adverse health behaviours; effect sizes were largest for sleep, exercise and diet, and weaker for alcohol. The associations between poor mental health and adverse health behaviours were larger during the May lockdown than pre-pandemic. In September, when restrictions had eased, inequalities had largely reverted to pre-pandemic levels. A notable exception was for sleep, where differences by mental health status remained high. Risk differences for adverse sleep for those with the highest level of prior mental ill-health compared to those with the lowest were 21.2% (95% CI 16.2–26.2) before lockdown, 25.5% (20.0–30.3) in May and 28.2% (21.2–35.2) in September. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings suggest that mental health is an increasingly important factor in health behaviour inequality in the COVID era. The promotion of mental health may thus be an important component of improving post-COVID population health

PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING LOSS DURING COVID-19 SCHOOL CLOSURES IN 2020

Schools across the UK were mostly closed from March to July 2020 due to Covid-19. Therefore, parents and children found themselves thrust into a prolonged period of home-schooling. In this study, parents (N = 2,122) reported on their children’s (N = 3,230) home-schooling experiences and its impacts on their children’s academic progress. Parental reports suggest that children spent around 3 hours each weekday doing schoolwork at home. Children enrolled in private secondary schools received 4 hours of virtual lessons each weekday from teachers, while state school children received just 1 hour. Parents, on the whole, reported concern for children’s academic progress. This is particularly so for children in secondary school and, most strikingly, those in school years antecedent to final exams (Years 10 and 12). Parents were less concerned about academic progress for those in Years 11 and 13, who had received their final exam grades shortly before the time of the survey. This study highlights the fact that children have been unequally affected by Covid-19 school closures, depending on their year group and school type, which should be considered in future research and policy

Studies on the preparation of fish silage. 3. Dried silage products

An investigation was undertaken on the production of dried products from silver belly (Leiognathus splendens) silage mixed with plant filter materials. Silages produced using hydrochloric acid and/or formic acid when mixed with rice bran or maize meal and dried, yielded powders having an acceptable appearance and a pleasant odour, which are suitable for use in compounded chicken feeds

Cool Stars and Space Weather

Stellar flares, winds and coronal mass ejections form the space weather. They are signatures of the magnetic activity of cool stars and, since activity varies with age, mass and rotation, the space weather that extra-solar planets experience can be very different from the one encountered by the solar system planets. How do stellar activity and magnetism influence the space weather of exoplanets orbiting main-sequence stars? How do the environments surrounding exoplanets differ from those around the planets in our own solar system? How can the detailed knowledge acquired by the solar system community be applied in exoplanetary systems? How does space weather affect habitability? These were questions that were addressed in the splinter session "Cool stars and Space Weather", that took place on 9 Jun 2014, during the Cool Stars 18 meeting. In this paper, we present a summary of the contributions made to this session.Comment: Proceedings of the 18th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun, Eds G. van Belle & H. Harris, 13 pages, 1 figur

Studies on the preparation of fish silage. 1. Effect of quality of raw material and type of acid

An experiment was undertaken in which silver bellies (Leiognathus splendens) of different quality were used to produce silages using different concentrations of hydrochloric acid and formic acid. The quality and storage life of the various preparations are reported. Silages which keep for at least 30 days can be produced from silver belly held for 3 or 12 hours at 28°C by: 1) reducing the pH by addition of hydrochloric acid; 2) adding 0.5% formic acid and reducing the pH to 3.5 with hydrochloric acid; or 3) adding 2.5% formic acid

Radio Emission from the Exoplanetary System ε Eridani

As part of a wider search for radio emission from nearby systems known or suspected to contain extrasolar planets, ε Eridani was observed by the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in the 2–4 GHz and 4–8 GHz frequency bands. In addition, as part of a separate survey of thermal emission from solar-like stars, ε Eri was observed in the 8–12 GHz and the 12–18 GHz bands of the VLA. Quasi-steady continuum radio emission from ε Eri was detected in the three high-frequency bands at levels ranging from 67 to 83 μJy. No significant variability is seen in the quasi-steady emission. The emission in the 2–4 GHz emission, however, is shown to be the result of a circularly polarized (up to 50%) radio pulse or flare of a few minutes in duration that occurred at the beginning of the observation. We consider the astrometric position of the radio source in each frequency band relative to the expected position of the K2V star and the purported planet. The quasi-steady radio emission at frequencies ≥8 GHz is consistent with a stellar origin. The quality of the 4–8 GHz astrometry provides no meaningful constraint on the origin of the emission. The location of the 2–4 GHz radio pulse is >2.5σ from the star; however, based on the ephemeris of Benedict et al., it is not consistent with the expected location of the planet either. If the radio pulse has a planetary origin, then either the planetary ephemeris is incorrect or the emission originates from another planet

Storage life of silverbelly (Leiognathus sp.) with delayed icing

Silver belly (leiognathus splendens) caught in September spoiled faster than the fish caught in May. This could be due to seasonal changes. For silver belly, Total Volatile Base (TVB) value could be used as a measure of spoilage. At the beginning of spoilage TVB value is between 30-40 mg. N/100g sample. The main spoilage for silver belly appears to start between 6 and 8 hours (at 28° C-30°C) after landing on board. Therefore it is not necessary to ice silverbelly immediately; it seems to be sufficient if icing can be done within 6 hours of landing on board