Detecting Determinacy in Prolog Programs: 22nd International Conference, ICLP 2006, Seattle, WA, USA, August 17-20, 2006. Proceedings

In program development it is useful to know that a call to a Prolog program will not inadvertently leave a choice-point on the stack. Determinacy inference has been proposed for solving this problem yet the analysis was found to be wanting in that it could not infer determinacy conditions for programs that contained cuts or applied certain tests to select a clause. This paper shows how to remedy these serious deficiencies. It also addresses the problem of identifying those predicates which can be rewritten in a more deterministic fashion. To this end, a radically new form of determinacy inference is introduced, which is founded on ideas in ccp, that is capable of reasoning about the way bindings imposed by a rightmost goal can make a leftmost goal deterministic

Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics and cardiovascular outcomes according to diabetes status in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction. A report from the Irbesartan in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Trial (I-Preserve)

Background—In patients with HF and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), little is known about the characteristics of and outcomes in those with and without diabetes. Methods—We examined clinical and echocardiographic characteristics and outcomes in the Irbesartan in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction trial (I-Preserve), according to history of diabetes. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for cardiovascular outcomes adjusted for known predictors, including age, sex, natriuretic peptides, and comorbidity. Echocardiographic data were available in 745 patients and were additionally adjusted for in supplementary analyses. Results—Overall, 1134 of 4128 patients (27%) had diabetes. Compared to those without diabetes, they were more likely to have a history of myocardial infarction (28% vs. 22%), higher BMI (31kg/m2 vs. 29kg/m2), worse Minnesota living with HF score (48 vs. 40), higher median NT-proBNP concentration (403 vs 320 pg/ml; all p<0.01), more signs of congestion but no significant difference in LVEF. Patients with diabetes had a greater left ventricular (LV) mass and left atrial area than patients without diabetes. Doppler E wave velocity (86 vs 76 cm/sec, p<0.0001) and the ratio of E/e' (11.7 vs 10.4, p=0.010) were higher in patients with diabetes. Over a median follow-up of 4.1 years, cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization occurred in 34% of patients with diabetes vs. 22% of those without diabetes; adjusted HR 1.75 (95% CI 1.49-2.05) and 28% vs. 19% of patients with and without diabetes died; adjusted HR 1.59 (1.33-1.91). Conclusions—In HFpEF, patients with diabetes have more signs of congestion, worse quality of life, higher NT-proBNP levels, and a poorer prognosis. They also display greater structural and functional echocardiographic abnormalities. Further investigation is needed to determine the mediators of the adverse impact of diabetes on outcomes in HFPEF, and whether they are modifiable

The Mars Science Laboratory Organic Check Material

The Organic Check Material (OCM) has been developed for use on the Mars Science Laboratory mission to serve as a sample standard for verification of organic cleanliness and characterization of potential sample alteration as a function of the sample acquisition and portioning process on the Curiosity rover. OCM samples will be acquired using the same procedures for drilling, portioning and delivery as are used to study martian samples with The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite during MSL surface operations. Because the SAM suite is highly sensitive to organic molecules, the mission can better verify the cleanliness of Curiosity's sample acquisition hardware if a known material can be processed through SAM and compared with the results obtained from martian samples

Evaluation of the influence of kyphosis and scoliosis on intervertebral disc extrusion in French bulldogs

Although thoracic vertebral malformations with kyphosis and scoliosis are often considered incidental findings on diagnostic imaging studies of screw-tailed brachycephalic breeds, they have been suggested to interfere with spinal biomechanics and intervertebral disc degeneration. It is however unknown if an abnormal spinal curvature also predisposes dogs to develop clinically relevant intervertebral disc herniations. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the occurrence of thoracic vertebral malformations, kyphosis or scoliosis would be associated with a higher prevalence of cervical or thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion in French bulldogs

Liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals - enhanced light-matter interactions for lab-on-a-chip applications

Optical techniques are finding widespread use in analytical chemistry for chemical and bio-chemical analysis. During the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on miniaturization of chemical analysis systems and naturally this has stimulated a large effort in integrating microfluidics and optics in lab-on-a-chip microsystems. This development is partly defining the emerging field of optofluidics. Scaling analysis and experiments have demonstrated the advantage of micro-scale devices over their macroscopic counterparts for a number of chemical applications. However, from an optical point of view, miniaturized devices suffer dramatically from the reduced optical path compared to macroscale experiments, e.g. in a cuvette. Obviously, the reduced optical path complicates the application of optical techniques in lab-on-a-chip systems. In this paper we theoretically discuss how a strongly dispersive photonic crystal environment may be used to enhance the light-matter interactions, thus potentially compensating for the reduced optical path in lab-on-a-chip systems. Combining electromagnetic perturbation theory with full-wave electromagnetic simulations we address the prospects for achieving slow-light enhancement of Beer-Lambert-Bouguer absorption, photonic band-gap based refractometry, and high-Q cavity sensing.Comment: Invited paper accepted for the "Optofluidics" special issue to appear in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics (ed. Prof. David Erickson). 11 pages including 8 figure

Environmental trade-offs of pig production systems under varied operational efficiencies

Production of pork, the most consumed meat globally, is estimated to emit 668 m tonnes CO2-eq of greenhouse gases each year. Amongst various production systems that comprise the pig industry, grainbased intensive production is widely regarded as the largest polluter of the environment, and thus it is imperative to develop alternative systems that can provide the right balance between sustainability and food security. Using an original dataset from the Republic of Ireland, this paper examines the life-cycle environmental impacts of representative pig farms operating under varying production efficiencies. For the baseline farm with an average production efficiency, global warming potential (GWP), acidifi- cation potential (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP) per kg carcass weight departing the slaughterhouse were estimated to be 3.5 kg CO2-eq, 43.8 g SO2-eq and 32.1 g PO4-eq, respectively. For herds with a higher production efficiency, a 9% improvement in feed conversion ratio was met by 6%, 15% and 12% decreases in GWP, EP, AP, respectively. Scenario and sensitivity analyses also revealed that (a) a switch to high-protein diets results in lower GWP and higher AP and EP, and (b) reducing transportation distances by sourcing domestically produced wheat and barley does not lower environmental impacts in any notable manner. To improve cross-study comparability of these findings, results based on an auxiliary functional unit, kg liveweight departing the farm gate, are also reported

Microalbuminuria among Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients of African origin in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

BACKGROUND: The prevalences and risk factors of microalbuminuria are not full described among black African diabetic patients. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of microalbuminuria among African diabetes patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and relate to socio-demographic features as well as clinical parameters. METHODS: Cross sectional study on 91 Type 1 and 153 Type 2 diabetic patients. Two overnight urine samples per patient were analysed. Albumin concentration was measured by an automated immunoturbidity assay. Average albumin excretion rate (AER) was used and were categorised as normalbuminuria (AER < 20 ug/min), microalbuminuria (AER 20–200 ug/min), and macroalbuminuria (AER > 200 ug/min). Information obtained also included age, diabetes duration, sex, body mass index, blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, serum creatinine, and glycated hemoglobin A(1c). RESULTS: Overall prevalence of microalbuminuria was 10.7% and macroalbuminuria 4.9%. In Type 1 patients microalbuminuria was 12% and macroalbuminuria 1%. Among Type 2 patients, 9.8% had microalbuminuria, and 7.2% had macroalbuminuria. Type 2 patients with abnormal albumin excretion rate had significantly longer diabetes duration 7.5 (0.2–24 yrs) than those with normal albumin excretion rate 3 (0–25 yrs), p < 0.001. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure among Type 2 patients with abnormal albumin excretion rate were significantly higher than in those with normal albumin excretion rate, (p < 0.001). No significant differences in body mass index, glycaemic control, and cholesterol levels was found among patients with normal compared with those with elevated albumin excretion rate either in Type 1 or Type 2 patients. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis among Type 2 patients, revealed AER (natural log AER) as the dependent variable to be predicted by [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)] diabetes duration 0.090 (0.049, 0.131), p < 0.0001, systolic blood pressure 0.012 (0.003–0.021), p < 0.010 and serum creatinine 0.021 (0.012, 0.030). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of micro and macroalbuminuria is higher among African Type 1 patients with relatively short diabetes duration compared with prevalences among Caucasians. In Type 2 patients, the prevalence is in accordance with findings in Caucasians. The present study detects, however, a much lower prevalence than previously demonstrated in studies from sub-Saharan Africa. Abnormal AER was significantly related to diabetes duration and systolic blood pressure