Foundations Of Logic Programming With Equality

An obstacle to practical logic programming systems with equality is infinite computation. In the dissertation we study three strategies for eliminating infinite searches in Horn clause logic programming systems and develop an extension of Prolog that has the symmetry, transitivity and predicate substitutivity of equality built-in. The three strategies are: (1) Replacing logic programs with infinite search trees by equivalent logic programs with finite search trees; (2) Building into the inference machine the axioms that cause infinite search trees; (3) Detecting and failing searches of infinite branches.;The dissertation consists of two parts. General theories of the three strategies identified above are developed in Part I. In Part II we apply these strategies to the problem of eliminating infinite loops in logic programming with equality.;Part I. General Theories. We introduce the notion of CAS-equivalent logic programs: logic programs with identical correct answer substitutions. Fixpoint criteria for equivalent logic programs are suggested and their correctness is established. Semantic reduction is introduced as a means of establishing the soundness and completeness of extensions of SLD-resolution. The possibility of avoiding infinite searches by detecting infinite branches is explored. A class of SLD-derivations called repetitive SLD-derivation is distinguished. Many infinite derivations are instances of repetitive SLD-derivations. It is demonstrated that pruning repetitive SLD-derivations from SLD-trees does not cause incompleteness.;Part II. Extended Unification for Equality. An extension of SLD-resolution called SLDEU-resolution is presented. The symmetry, transitivity and predicate substitutivity of equality are built into SLDEU-resolution by extended unification. Extended unification, if unrestricted, also introduces infinite loops. We can eliminate some of these infinite loops by restricting SLDEU-resolution to non-repetitive right recursive SLDEU-resolution; this forbids extended unification of the first terms in equality subgoals and has a built-in mechanism for detecting repetitive derivations. The soundness and completeness of non-repetitive right recursive SLDEU-resolution are proved

Downlink and Uplink Intelligent Reflecting Surface Aided Networks: NOMA and OMA

Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) are envisioned to provide reconfigurable wireless environments for future communication networks. In this paper, both downlink and uplink IRS-aided non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and orthogonal multiple access (OMA) networks are studied, in which an IRS is deployed to enhance the coverage by assisting a cell-edge user device (UD) to communicate with the base station (BS). To characterize system performance, new channel statistics of the BS-IRS-UD link with Nakagami-$m$ fading are investigated. For each scenario, the closed-form expressions for the outage probability and ergodic rate are derived. To gain further insight, the diversity order and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) slope for each scenario are obtained according to asymptotic approximations in the high-SNR regime. It is demonstrated that the diversity order is affected by the number of IRS reflecting elements and Nakagami fading parameters, but the high-SNR slope is not related to these parameters. Simulation results validate our analysis and reveal the superiority of the IRS over the full-duplex decode-and-forward relay.Comment: Accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Applying Theories of Particle Packing and Rheology to Concrete for Sustainable Development

Concrete is one of the most important construction materials. However, it is not so compatible with the demands of sustainable development because manufacturing of cement generates a large amount of carbon dioxide and therefore cement consumption produces a huge carbon footprint. Currently, the cement consumption is generally lowered by adding supplementary cementitious materials to replace part of the cement. Nonetheless, in order to maintain performance, there is a limit to such cement replacement by supplementary cementitious materials. To further reduce the cement consumption, the total cementitious materials content has to be reduced. This requires the packing density of the aggregate particles to be maximized so that the amount of voids in the bulk volume of aggregate to be filled with cement paste could be minimized and the surface area of the aggregate particles to be minimized so that the amount of cement paste needed to form paste films coating the surfaces of aggregate particle for rheological performance could be minimized. Such optimization is not straightforward and modern concrete science based on particuology is needed. Herein, a number of new theories regarding particle packing and rheology of concrete, which are transforming conventional concrete technology into modern concrete science, are presented. These theories would help to develop a more scientific and systematic concrete mix design method for the production of high-performance concrete with minimum cement consumption

NASA advanced design program: Analysis, design, and construction of a solar powered aircraft

Increase in energy demands coupled with rapid depletion of natural energy resources have deemed solar energy as the most logical alternative source of power. The major objective of this project was to build a solar powered remotely controlled aircraft to demonstrate the feasibility of solar energy as an effective, alternate source of power. The final design was optimized for minimum weight and maximum strength of the structure. These design constraints necessitated a carbon fiber composite structure. Surya is a lightweight, durable aircraft capable of achieving level flight powered entirely by solar cells

Complete genome sequence of a novel recombinant GII. Pe_GII. 17 norovirus strain from Hong Kong in 2015

The complete genome sequence of a novel recombinant GII.Pe_GII.17 norovirus strain, tentatively named GII.17 Hong Kong 2015, was determined. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase has 95.6% and 98.4% and viral protein 1 has 90.6% and 95.9% identity at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively, to the closest sequences in GenBank

Viral Load Distribution in SARS Outbreak

Airborne transmission may have resulted in an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong

Complete genome sequence of an emergent recombinant GII. P16-GII. 2 norovirus strain associated with an epidemic spread in the winter of 2016-2017 in Hong Kong, China

A new recombinant norovirus, GII.P16-GII.2, emerged in the winter of 2016-2017. Here, we report the complete genome of this strain (Hu/GII/HK/2016/GII.P16-GII.2/CUHK-NS-1082), which was collected from a patient hospitalized with gastroenteritis in September 2016 in Hong Kong, China, and sequenced using next-generation sequencing. This genome had a 95.2% nucleotide identity to the closest sequence in GenBank

The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction program on the mental health of family caregivers: a randomized controlled trial

<b>Background</b> Caregivers of people with chronic conditions are more likely than non-caregivers to have depression and emotional problems. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in improving their mental well-being. <p></p> <b>Methods</b> Caregivers of persons with chronic conditions who scored 7 or above in the Caregiver Strain Index were randomly assigned to the 8-week MBSR group (n = 70) or the self-help control group (n = 71). Validated instruments were used to assess the changes in depressive and anxiety symptoms, quality of life, self-efficacy, self-compassion and mindfulness. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention and at the 3-month follow-up. <p></p> <b>Results </b>Compared to the participants in the control group, participants in the MBSR group had a significantly greater decrease in depressive symptoms at post-intervention and at 3 months post-intervention (p < 0.01). The improvement in state anxiety symptoms was significantly greater among participants in the MBSR group than those of the control group at post-intervention (p = 0.007), although this difference was not statistically significant at 3 months post-intervention (p = 0.084). There was also a statistically significant larger increase in self-efficacy (controlling negative thoughts; p = 0.041) and mindfulness (p = 0.001) among participants in the MBSR group at the 3-month follow-up compared to the participants in the control group. No statistically significant group effects (MBSR vs. control) were found in perceived stress, quality of life or self-compassion. <p></p> <b>Conclusions </b>MBSR appears to be a feasible and acceptable intervention to improve mental health among family caregivers with significant care burden, although further studies that include an active control group are needed to make the findings more conclusive

SARS Coronavirus Detection Methods

Using clinical samples from patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome, we showed that the sensitivities of a quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (80% for fecal samples and 25% for urine samples) were higher than those of the polyclonal (50% and 5%) and monoclonal (35% and 8%) antibody-based nucleocapsid antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays