Towards an efficient prover for the C1 paraconsistent logic

The KE inference system is a tableau method developed by Marco Mondadori which was presented as an improvement, in the computational efficiency sense, over Analytic Tableaux. In the literature, there is no description of a theorem prover based on the KE method for the C1 paraconsistent logic. Paraconsistent logics have several applications, such as in robot control and medicine. These applications could benefit from the existence of such a prover. We present a sound and complete KE system for C1, an informal specification of a strategy for the C1 prover as well as problem families that can be used to evaluate provers for C1. The C1 KE system and the strategy described in this paper will be used to implement a KE based prover for C1, which will be useful for those who study and apply paraconsistent logics.Comment: 16 page

Generalising the logistic map through the qq-product

We investigate a generalisation of the logistic map as $x_{n+1}=1-ax_{n}\otimes_{q_{map}} x_{n}$ ($-1 \le x_{n} \le 1$, $0<a\le2$) where $\otimes_q$ stands for a generalisation of the ordinary product, known as $q$-product [Borges, E.P. Physica A {\bf 340}, 95 (2004)]. The usual product, and consequently the usual logistic map, is recovered in the limit $q\to 1$, The tent map is also a particular case for $q_{map}\to\infty$. The generalisation of this (and others) algebraic operator has been widely used within nonextensive statistical mechanics context (see C. Tsallis, {\em Introduction to Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics}, Springer, NY, 2009). We focus the analysis for $q_{map}>1$ at the edge of chaos, particularly at the first critical point $a_c$, that depends on the value of $q_{map}$. Bifurcation diagrams, sensitivity to initial conditions, fractal dimension and rate of entropy growth are evaluated at $a_c(q_{map})$, and connections with nonextensive statistical mechanics are explored.Comment: 12 pages, 23 figures, Dynamics Days South America. To be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS - IOP

The economic enterprise risk management innovation program for healthcare organizations : E2RMhealthcare

A Gestão de Riscos Corporativos (ERM), a partir das publicações da ISO 31000 em 2009 e do guia do COSO em 2007, vem sendo aplicada e adaptada às especificidades de múltiplos mercados. O contexto hospitalar, caracterizado pela necessidade de avanços em sistemas e métodos gerenciais que permitam maior acurácia de informações e sustento na orientação à tomada de decisão, passou a, também, interessar-se pelo valor da ERM. Influenciado pelos programas de qualidade e segurança do paciente e de gestão de riscos assistencial, presentes na cultura hospitalar mundial, gestores estratégicos à frente de organizações de saúde começaram a procurar por metodologias que possam ser adaptadas à complexidade de um hospital e apoiem a implementação da ERM. A literatura prévia ao desenvolvimento desta tese não apresenta um modelo que consolida e orienta a operacionalização da ERM em organizações de saúde, mas destaca em múltiplas publicações a necessidade que os hospitais têm de atentar a metodologias que permitam gerir de forma proativa e estratégica seus negócios, que estão expostos a riscos internos e externos. Motivada pela lacuna descrita, esta tese explorou o mercado brasileiro e norte americano através de entrevistas, estudos de caso e survey, e propôs um modelo global de ERM para organizações de saúde: o E2RMhealthcare. Este sugere requisitos para a operacionalização global da ERM e é fragmentado em 4 níveis: risk baseline, education, quantitative e governance que orientam uma implementação gradual, considerando a maturidade de gestão da organização. Formas de como explorar as características do hospital e capital humano para exercer a ERM também foram estudadas, sendo proposto uma relação entre as equipes de avaliação de tecnologias de saúde hospitalar e de ERM no processo de criação de valor da organização através de um mapa de causa e efeito. Como destaque do negócio saúde, essa tese inova propondo o primeiro inventário de riscos corporativos orientado a organizações de saúde que foi validado por gestores de múltiplos países, identificando o risco de ataques cibernéticos como o principal. Por fim, o uso de métodos de análise multicriterial e de custeio por atividade são aplicados como soluções inovadoras para a priorização e avaliação econômica de riscos ao longo dos níveis Baseline e Quantitative do E2RMhealthcare. O avanço do E2RMhealthcare com estas metodologias incorporadas para um software com capacidade de inteligência artificial é deixado como sugestão de trabalhos futuros além da sua real aplicação em múltiplos casos.Since the ISO 31000 publication in 2009 and the COSO guide in 2007 Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has been applied and adapted to the specificities of different business markets. The hospital context characterized by the demand for advances in management systems and methods that allow to improve information accuracy and to support the decision-making process, also became interested in the value of ERM. Influenced by quality and patient safety and healthcare risk management programs presents in the global hospital culture, managers at the top of healthcare organizations started to look for methodologies that can be adapted to the hospital management complexity to support the ERM implementation. The literature, prior to the development of this thesis, does not present a model that consolidates a guide to operationalize ERM in healthcare organizations. Although emphasizes, in multiple publications, the urgency for methodologies that enable proactive and strategic management of healthcare businesses, which are exposed to internal and external risks. Motivated by the described gap, this thesis explored the Brazilian and American healthcare market through interviews, case studies and survey, and proposed a global ERM model for healthcare organizations: E2RMhealthcare. It suggests requirements for global operationalization of the ERM and is organized in 4 levels: risk baseline, education, quantitative and governance that guide a gradual implementation, considering the maturity of the organization management. Different manners to explore the features of the hospital and human capital to operate the ERM were also studied, and it was proposed a relation between the hospital healthcare technology assessment teams and the ERM in the value creation process of the organization through a cause and effect map. Focusing on the healthcare business, this thesis innovates by proposing the first enterprise risk inventory aimed at healthcare organizations that was confirmed by risk managers from different countries. Cyber-attack was identified as the main enterprise risk in healhtcare. Finally, the use of multicriterial analysis methods and activity-based costing are applied as innovative solutions for prioritization and economic assessment of risks throughout the Baseline and Quantitative levels of E2RMhealthcare. The progress of E2RMhealthcare with these incorporated methodologies for a software with artificial intelligence capacity is left as a suggestion for future studies, in addition to its actual application in multiple cases

Are there specific design elements of choice experiments and types of people that influence choice response certainty?

The development of more realistic choice experiments has taken on board a number of suggestions in the broader hypothetical bias literature. One issue, in particular, is the increasing interest in finding ways to bridge the gap between the stated choice response and real choosing, as a way of increasing the confidence with which an individual would hypothetically purchase or use an alternative that is actually chosen in the choice experiment. In this paper we investigate the relationship between the respondent's response to a certainty question, defined on a 1-10 scale of surety, and features of the choice experiment that may have a bearing on the degree of confidence that can be placed on the stated choice, controlling for exogenous effects such as socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes to vehicle emissions. The focus on response certainty in this paper is as an external validity test. We find, using a generalised ordered logit model, compelling evidence that the number of acceptable alternatives and hence associated levels of attributes, together with the contrast of attribute levels of each designed alternative relative to an experienced status quo (or reference) alternative, play an important role in establishing certainty of response in a real market. The evidence should be taken on board in the future design of more realistic choice experiments

Wave-sheltered embayments are recruitment hotspots for tropical fishes on temperate reefs

© Inter-Research 2016. Poleward redistribution of species, facilitated by global warming, will be compromised if habitats at higher latitudes do not support the species' early life stages. For tropical reef fishes, reef structure may mediate colonisation of temperate regions; however, an understanding of key habitat requirements for colonisation is currently lacking. We show that density, diversity (taxonomic and trophic) and species richness of newly recruited tropical reef fishes were greater in embayed than exposed reefs in 2 mid-latitude temperate zones, where coastal waters are rapidly warming: southeastern Australia (30.5-33° S) and western Japan (32-33.5° N). Dietary generalists (e.g. planktivores and herbivores) and specialists (corallivores) associated more commonly with embayed reefs. Wave exposure was a stronger predictor of the density and richness of dietary generalists than water temperature, latitude, predatory fish densities, reef rugosities, benthos and distance to river mouths. Corallivores were strongly associated with branching corals, which were exclusive to highly sheltered reefs. We also explored habitat associations of 7 focal species within a coral reef, One Tree Island (OTI), Great Barrier Reef. Four species associated with wave - sheltered over exposed reef on OTI and temperate Australian reef. However, Abudefduf vaigiensis, Pomacentrus coelestis and Acanthurus triostegus associated more with wave-sheltered reef in temperate regions. We hypothesise that cool temperate waters promote greater sheltering of some warm-adapted, tropical fishes by impacting their swimming/physiological performance. Results suggest availability of embayed temperate reefs may influence where some tropical fishes colonise with warming waters, through impacting recruitment. Wave exposure of reefs should be considered when predicting geographic responses of tropical fishes to climate change

Isolating the direct effects of adverse developmental conditions on in vivo cardiovascular function at adulthood: the avian model.

It is now well accepted that exposure to adverse environmental conditions in utero can predispose a fetus to disease later in life. Using an avian model to study the programming of disease has a unique advantage as it allows isolation of the direct effects of adverse conditions on fetal physiology, without any confounding effects via the mother or placenta. However, experiments in avian models are limited by the lack of well-established surgical protocols for the adult bird, which we have established in this study. Surgery was performed on seven young adult Bovan Brown chickens (body weight 1617±214 g, mean±s.d.) in order to instrument them with femoral arterial and venous catheters and a femoral arterial flow probe. Isoflurane and lidocaine were both found to have depressive effects on chicken cardiovascular function. Optimised methods of anaesthesia, intraoperative monitoring, surgical approach, postoperative care, and experimentation are described. Chickens recovered rapidly from surgery without significant blood gas perturbation, and basal in vivo cardiovascular studies were performed following 5 days of recovery. These techniques allow detailed investigation of avian cardiometabolic function, permitting determination of the consequences in later life of direct environmental insults to fetal physiology, isolated from additional effects on maternal physiology and/or placental endocrinology

An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria)

Marsupials and their fossil relatives, which collectively comprise Metatheria, have been of scientific interest for centuries, with many aspects of their evolution and systematics subject to intense research and debate. Here, we review progress over the last 25 years, which has included the description of many new species (modern and fossil), and major improvements in understanding of their phylogenetic relationships, as well as the overall evolutionary history and biogeography of Marsupialia (crown-clade) and Metatheria (total-clade). Significant advances have included the deployment of increasingly sophisticated molecular, morphological, and total evidence analyses, which have resolved most previously disputed relationships among and within the modern marsupial orders. A broad systematic consensus is now emerging, although several major areas of contention remain, particularly among fossil metatherians. New modern species continue to be described at an impressive rate, with almost 50 named in the last 25 years, and many more await discovery. There has also been an explosion in the discovery and description of fossil marsupials and non-marsupial metatherians (~270 species), principally from Australasia and the Americas but also from Antarctica, Europe, and Asia. Most are represented by dental specimens only, but some consist of complete and well-preserved material, which has led to major improvements in our understanding of the evolution of cranial and postcranial morphology. Improvements in the fossil record and advances in methods for inferring divergence times have helped clarify when and where key events occurred in metatherian evolution, and the patterns of subclade diversification. We also have improved understanding of biogeographical relationships among metatherians on different landmasses. Despite enormous progress, numerous key uncertainties remain due to major gaps in the fossil record (e.g., Antarctica, Late Cretaceous, and early Paleogene of Australia) and a comparative lack of studies that directly combine molecular and fossil data. Future advances will largely depend on improvements in the fossil record and studies that better integrate neontological and paleontological evidence

Strategies and procedures in literacy cycle children in problem situations involving information processing

In this article, we report on a study of the axis of “Provinha Brasil de Matemática” content with respect to the math axis of information processing. The aim is to present key strategies and procedures based on the Theory of Conceptual Fields for use by children during the literacy cycle to resolve situation-problems related to this content block. Information processing relates to the reading and organization of data as well as the different presentations of reading in everyday life, especially with respect to graphs and tables. The methodological design is sustained in qualitative studies of researchaction in schools.The information processing axis is a block of content with great potential for the development of mathematical thinking, as the children must focus on the proposed situation-problem and use their skills to read and interpret data. We note that the ability to read information presented in tables, charts and other textual carriers is rarely addressed in the context of the classroom; thus, the student’s use of procedures and strategies is very rudimentary or is used for other mathematical content