Learning about knowledge: A complex network approach

This article describes an approach to modeling knowledge acquisition in terms of walks along complex networks. Each subset of knowledge is represented as a node, and relations between such knowledge are expressed as edges. Two types of edges are considered, corresponding to free and conditional transitions. The latter case implies that a node can only be reached after visiting previously a set of nodes (the required conditions). The process of knowledge acquisition can then be simulated by considering the number of nodes visited as a single agent moves along the network, starting from its lowest layer. It is shown that hierarchical networks, i.e. networks composed of successive interconnected layers, arise naturally as a consequence of compositions of the prerequisite relationships between the nodes. In order to avoid deadlocks, i.e. unreachable nodes, the subnetwork in each layer is assumed to be a connected component. Several configurations of such hierarchical knowledge networks are simulated and the performance of the moving agent quantified in terms of the percentage of visited nodes after each movement. The Barab\'asi-Albert and random models are considered for the layer and interconnecting subnetworks. Although all subnetworks in each realization have the same number of nodes, several interconnectivities, defined by the average node degree of the interconnection networks, have been considered. Two visiting strategies are investigated: random choice among the existing edges and preferential choice to so far untracked edges. A series of interesting results are obtained, including the identification of a series of plateaux of knowledge stagnation in the case of the preferential movements strategy in presence of conditional edges.Comment: 18 pages, 19 figure

Ultrasound-controlled cryoneurolysis for peripheral mononeuropathies: a retrospective cohort study.

Aim: Cryoneurolysis is a potential therapy for peripheral mononeuropathies, but randomized studies of its effects on the duration of pain reduction are lacking. Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated the analgesic effects of cryoneurolysis on patients with refractory peripheral mononeuropathy. We included 24 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided cryoneurolysis between June 2018 and July 2022. The daily maximum pain level was recorded using a numerical rating scale before and 1, 3 and 6 months after the procedure. Results: At 1 month, 54.2% of patients reported pain reduction of at least 30%. This percentage was significantly lower at 3 and 6 months (13.8 and 9.1%, respectively). Conclusion: Our results suggest that repeated cryoneurolysis may be a viable treatment for refractory mononeuropathy. Further investigations are needed

Фізико-хімічна геотехнологія

Розглянуто принципові засади геотехнологічного видобування різнома- нітних корисних копалин. Викладено питання розкриття та підготовки родовищ за допомогою свердловинної розробки, проаналізовано способи буріння і кріп- лення геотехнологічних свердловин, а такж застосоване обладнання. Розкрито сутність технологічних процесів, які виконуються при диспергуванні гірських порід, розчиненні солей, вилуговуванні металів, підземній виплавці сірки і га- зифікації вугілля, видобуванні в’язкої нафти та сланцьового газу. Навчальний посібник призначений для студентів, які навчаються за спе- ціальністю «Розробка родовищ та видобування корисних копалин», а також для студентів інших спеціальностей гірничих вузів і факультетів та інженерно- технічних працівників підприємств і проектних організацій гірничовидобувних галузей промисловості України

Acceptance, Satisfaction, and Preference With Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021-2022: Survey Among Patients With Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many health care providers to make changes in their treatment, with telemedicine being expanded on a large scale. An earlier study investigated the acceptance of telephone calls but did not record satisfaction with treatment or patients' preferences. This warranted a follow-up study to investigate acceptance, satisfaction, and preferences regarding telemedicine, comprising of phone consultations, among health care recipients. OBJECTIVE The primary aim was to assess the acceptance and satisfaction of telemedicine during the subsequent months of 2021-2022, after the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. Furthermore, we aimed to assess patients' preferences and whether these differed in patients who had already experienced telemedicine in the past, as well as correlations between acceptance and satisfaction, pain intensity, general condition, perception of telemedicine, and catastrophizing. Finally, we aimed to investigate whether more governmental restrictions were correlated with higher acceptance. METHODS An anonymous cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted between January 27, 2021, and February 4, 2022, enrolling patients undergoing outpatient pain therapy in a tertiary university clinic. We conducted a descriptive analysis of acceptance and satisfaction with telemedicine and investigated patients' preferences. Further, we conducted a descriptive and correlational analysis of the COVID-19 stringency index. Spearman correlation analysis and a chi-square test for categorical data were used with Cramer V statistic to assess effect sizes. RESULTS Our survey was completed by 60 patients. Telemedicine acceptance and satisfaction were high, with an average score of 7.6 (SD 3.3; on an 11-point Numeric Rating Scale from 0=not at all to 10=completely), and 8.8 (SD 1.8), respectively. Respondents generally preferred on-site consultations to telemedicine (n=35, 58% vs n=24, 40%). A subgroup analysis revealed that respondents who already had received phone consultation, showed a higher preference for telemedicine (n/N=21/42, 50% vs n/N=3/18, 17%; χ22 [N=60]=7.5, P=.02, Cramer V=0.354), as well as those who had been treated for more than 3 months (n/N=17/31, 55% vs n/N=7/29, 24%; χ22 [N=60]=6.5, P=.04, Cramer V=0.329). Acceptance of telemedicine showed a moderate positive correlation with satisfaction (rs{58}=0.41, P<.05), but there were no correlations between the COVID-19 stringency index and the other variables. CONCLUSIONS Despite high acceptance of and satisfaction with telemedicine, patients preferred on-site consultations. Preference for telemedicine was markedly higher in patients who had already received phone consultations or had been treated for longer than 3 months. This highlights the need to convey knowledge of eHealth services to patients and the value of building meaningful relationships with patients at the beginning of treatment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the modality of patient care should be discussed individually

Keeping it in the family: Parental influences on young people's attitudes to police

Prior research finds young people are less satisfied with police than their older counterparts. Despite this, our understanding of youth attitudes to police is limited, as most research has focused on adult attitudes to police. This study adds to our understanding by examining the influence of parent–child dynamics on youth attitudes to police. We predict that youth attitudes to police will be influenced by their parents’ attitudes. A survey of 540 school students in South East Queensland reveals that perceived parental attitudes to police are associated with youth attitudes to police. However, this effect is partially mediated by maternal, but not paternal attachment. These findings suggest that youth attitudes to police are not simply influenced by contact with police and delinquency, but that familial context is important. Consequently, our theoretical understanding of youth attitudes to police must move beyond a focus upon police contact and delinquency

Access to shops: The views of low-income shoppers

Concern is mounting as the retail stranglehold upon access to food grows. Research on the implications of restructuring retailing and health inequality has failed to involve low-income consumers in this debate. This paper reports on an exercise conducted for the UK Government's, Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team on Access to Shops. The survey provides a useful baseline of the views of low-income groups in England. The choices that people on low income can make were found to be dominated by certain factors such as income and, most importantly, transport. Consumers reported varying levels of satisfaction with retail provision. The findings suggest gaps between what people have, what they want and what the planning process does and does not offer them. Better policy and processes are needed to include and represent the interests of low-income groups

Modelling and Analysing Genetic Networks: From Boolean Networks to Petri Nets

Abstract. In order to understand complex genetic regulatory networks researchers require automated formal modelling techniques that provide appropriate analysis tools. In this paper we propose a new qualitative model for genetic regulatory networks based on Petri nets and detail a process for automatically constructing these models using logic mini-mization. We take as our starting point the Boolean network approach in which regulatory entities are viewed abstractly as binary switches. The idea is to extract terms representing a Boolean network using logic minimization and to then directly translate these terms into appropri-ate Petri net control structures. The resulting compact Petri net model addresses a number of shortcomings associated with Boolean networks and is particularly suited to analysis using the wide range of Petri net tools. We demonstrate our approach by presenting a detailed case study in which the genetic regulatory network underlying the nutritional stress response in Escherichia coli is modelled and analysed.

The Generic Model of Computation

Over the past two decades, Yuri Gurevich and his colleagues have formulated axiomatic foundations for the notion of algorithm, be it classical, interactive, or parallel, and formalized them in the new generic framework of abstract state machines. This approach has recently been extended to suggest a formalization of the notion of effective computation over arbitrary countable domains. The central notions are summarized herein.Comment: In Proceedings DCM 2011, arXiv:1207.682

Reversibility in Chemical Reactions

open access bookIn this chapter we give an overview of techniques for the modelling and reasoning about reversibility of systems, including outof- causal-order reversibility, as it appears in chemical reactions. We consider the autoprotolysis of water reaction, and model it with the Calculus of Covalent Bonding, the Bonding Calculus, and Reversing Petri Nets. This exercise demonstrates that the formalisms, developed for expressing advanced forms of reversibility, are able to model autoprotolysis of water very accurately. Characteristics and expressiveness of the three formalisms are discussed and illustrated

Service orchestration with priority constraints

Business process management is an operational management approach that focuses on improving business processes. Business processes, i.e., collections of important activities in an organization, are represented in the form of a workflow, an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activities amenable to automated analysis and control. Priority is an important concept in modeling workflows. We need priority to model cancelable and compensable tasks within transactional business processes. We use the Reo coordination language to model and formally analyze workflows. In this paper, we propose a constraint-based approach to formalize priority in Reo. We introduce special channels to propagate and block priority flows, define their semantics as constraints, and model priority propagation as a constraint satisfaction problem