Stable Model Counting and Its Application in Probabilistic Logic Programming

Model counting is the problem of computing the number of models that satisfy a given propositional theory. It has recently been applied to solving inference tasks in probabilistic logic programming, where the goal is to compute the probability of given queries being true provided a set of mutually independent random variables, a model (a logic program) and some evidence. The core of solving this inference task involves translating the logic program to a propositional theory and using a model counter. In this paper, we show that for some problems that involve inductive definitions like reachability in a graph, the translation of logic programs to SAT can be expensive for the purpose of solving inference tasks. For such problems, direct implementation of stable model semantics allows for more efficient solving. We present two implementation techniques, based on unfounded set detection, that extend a propositional model counter to a stable model counter. Our experiments show that for particular problems, our approach can outperform a state-of-the-art probabilistic logic programming solver by several orders of magnitude in terms of running time and space requirements, and can solve instances of significantly larger sizes on which the current solver runs out of time or memory.Comment: Accepted in AAAI, 201

CHERLY BENARD : DEMOCRATIC ISLAM NEW YORK. THE RAND. CROP AND THE FREE PRESS 2004

The post 9/11 era has made the western thinking elite take Islam seriously. An effort is being made to understand Islamic values and ideals and to discover some similarities of icleals. This it is hoped, would pave the way for the West to put its own meanings into the epistemological heritage of Islam. Post modernism, in the last century, has already made it impossible to accept Western ideals, values and culture as universal, or rational. Why should Western civilization be considered as superior?. No answer can be given to this question except that the West has such military power that it can enforce its values and culture on the world. This exercise of hard power can clearly be observed in Afghanistan and Iraq. It would however be a grave mistake to use hard power where soft power could suffice and it makes sense to develop strategies for ‘friends among foes’. This is where Cheryl Benard comes in

Pseudomonas necrotizing fasciitis in an otherwise healthy infant

Necrotizing fasciitis is an uncommon rapidly progressing infection of soft tissue characterized by a severe inflammation of the fascia and soft tissue. The disease is associated with necrosis and subcutaneous gangrene of the inflamed tissue with systemic toxicity that carries a significant mortality unless timely diagnosed and aggressively treated. Monomicrobial necrotizing fasciitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an exceptionally uncommon condition with only few cases reported in the literature so far. We are reporting a six-month-old female infant who was previously healthy and who presented with necrotizing fasciitis and isolates Pseudomonas aeruginosa both from the blood and tissue. The child improved after the intensive treatment

Radiological findings in peri-partum neurological emergencies: experience from a tertiary care hospital

Acute neurological diseases requiring hospitalization are unusual in young women. Some of these diseases are unique to pregnancy and the post-partum period including pre-ecclampsia. Others such as cerebral venous thrombosis, ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, etc. are indirectly related to pregnancy and seen less frequently. To explore the causes of neurological emergencies in this specific patient population, we performed a radiological audit of young women in pregnancy and postpartum period presenting with neurological emergencies. Material and methods: This was a retrospective study carried in the Department of Radiology, Liaquat National Hospital over one year from January 2013 till January 2014, after approval by ethical review committee of the hospital. Patients presenting with neurological signs and symptoms during pregnancy or in postpartum period (up to 6 weeks) requiring medical referral were included in the study. Result: A total of 18 patients presented with acute neurological emergencies during postpartum period. Imaging was done in all those patients including CT and MRI while MRV was done in selective patients. Age range was between 20-33 years. The commonest radiological diagnosis was PRES in 9 patients. Other patients had cerebral venous thrombosis (4 patients), intra-cerebral hemorrhage (2 patients), infarction (1 patient), ADEMS (1 patient) and arterio-venous malformation (1 patient). Conclusion: Young women in pregnancy and post-partum period can present with a variety of acute neurological emergencies. In our series, PRES was the commonest diagnosis

Frontotemporal Dementias: A Review

Dementia is a clinical state characterized by loss of function in multiple cognitive domains. It is a costly disease in terms of both personal suffering and economic loss. Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the term now preferred over Picks disease to describe the spectrum of non-Alzheimers dementias characterized by focal atrophy of the frontal and anterior temporal regions of the brain. The prevalence of FTD is considerable, though specific figures vary among different studies. It occurs usually in an age range of 35–75 and it is more common in individuals with a positive family history of dementia. The risk factors associated with this disorder include head injury and family history of FTD. Although there is some controversy regarding the further syndromatic subdivision of the different types of FTD, the three major clinical presentations of FTD include: 1) a frontal or behavioral variant (FvFTD), 2) a temporal, aphasic variant, also called Semantic dementia (SD), and 3) a progressive aphasia (PA). These different variants differ in their clinical presentation, cognitive deficits, and affected brain regions. Patients with FTD should have a neuropsychiatric assessment, neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging studies to confirm and clarify the diagnosis. Treatment for this entity consists of behavioral and pharmacological approaches. Medications such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizer and other novel treatments have been used in FTD with different rates of success. Further research should be directed at understanding and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities to improve the patients' prognosis and quality of life

Valproic Acid-Induced Myoclonus in a Demented Patient: A Case Report

Valproic acid and its derivatives are now commonly used to treat various psychiatric disorders in the elderly. Data indicates that the elderly patients are more susceptible to developing neuropsychiatric complications when treated with these medications. In this report, we describe the case of a 66-year-old woman with early-onset, Alzheimer's type dementia, who developed myoclonus when treated with a valproic acid preparation for behavioral disturbances associated with the dementia

Disaster decision-making with a mixing regret philosophy DDAS method in Fermatean fuzzy number

In this paper, the use of the Fermatean fuzzy number (FFN) in a significant research problem of disaster decision-making by defining operational laws and score function is demonstrated. Generally, decision control authorities need to brand suitable and sensible disaster decisions in the direct conceivable period as unfitting decisions may consequence in enormous financial dead and thoughtful communal costs. To certify that a disaster comeback can be made, professionally, we propose a new disaster decision-making (DDM) technique by the Fermatean fuzzy Schweizer-Sklar environment. First, the Fermatean fuzzy Schweizer-Sklar operators are employed by decision-makers to rapidly analyze their indefinite and vague assessment information on disaster choices. Then, the DDM technique based on the FFN is planned to identify highly devastating disaster choices and the best available choices. Finally, the proposed regret philosophy DDM technique is shown functional to choose the ideal retort explanation for a communal fitness disaster in Pakistan. The dominance and realism of the intended technique are further defensible through a relative study with additional DDM systems