Preservation of Semantic Properties during the Aggregation of Abstract Argumentation Frameworks

An abstract argumentation framework can be used to model the argumentative stance of an agent at a high level of abstraction, by indicating for every pair of arguments that is being considered in a debate whether the first attacks the second. When modelling a group of agents engaged in a debate, we may wish to aggregate their individual argumentation frameworks to obtain a single such framework that reflects the consensus of the group. Even when agents disagree on many details, there may well be high-level agreement on important semantic properties, such as the acceptability of a given argument. Using techniques from social choice theory, we analyse under what circumstances such semantic properties agreed upon by the individual agents can be preserved under aggregation.Comment: In Proceedings TARK 2017, arXiv:1707.0825

Blurred Lines: border crossing between Macau and Zhuhai

Since Macau returned to China after ending the colonial era in 1999, the relationship between Macao and the mainland has experienced more in-depth and diversified exchanges. Although Macao and inland cities are located in one country, they have different cultures, politics and economy. This thesis attempts to study the unique architectural types in Macao and show the cultural characteristics of Macao\u27s changes under the historical background of different ages.. Political factors have caused Macau’s sense of nationality to shift several times. Since its completion, the Gongbei port, which connects the two places, has witnessed historical changes on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and is also the physical boundary connecting Chinese Mainland and Macao. The port is expanding to accommodate more tourists. In the future, with the deepening of exchanges, as the largest customs clearance port, it will also carry a deeper significance and practical role.Its role in the colonial period was as a boundary, but now it has become a bridge between differing people, culture and economy. Anthropologist Victor Turner once proposed that the threshold is an intermediate zone, a process of change and ambiguity, but here at Gongbei Port, it is a process of integration. This thesis aims to project ambiguity onto the architecture, so that the boundary can host both cultures, so as to respond to the cultural characteristics and history of the two places. My intervention is mainly to convey a concept of transition through architecture. I want to enhance the site’s cultural attributes in space. Travelers can also visit exhibitions and understand the history of the two places when passing through the gateway, which reflects the architectural form of both cultures. I want to mention the design through the single element of the wall which breaks the original division, forming an interactive and shared space from Macau to Zhuhai and from Zhuhai to Macau

A Reliability Case Study on Estimating Extremely Small Percentiles of Strength Data for the Continuous Improvement of Medium Density Fiberboard Product Quality

The objective of this thesis is to better estimate extremely small percentiles of strength distributions for measuring failure process in continuous improvement initiatives. These percentiles are of great interest for companies, oversight organizations, and consumers concerned with product safety and reliability. The thesis investigates the lower percentiles for the quality of medium density fiberboard (MDF). The international industrial standard for measuring quality for MDF is internal bond (IB, a tensile strength test). The results of the thesis indicated that the smaller percentiles are crucial, especially the first percentile and lower ones. The thesis starts by introducing the background, study objectives, and previous work done in the area of MDF reliability. The thesis also reviews key components of total quality management (TQM) principles, strategies for reliability data analysis and modeling, information and data quality philosophy, and data preparation steps that were used in the research study. Like many real world cases, the internal bond data in material failure analysis do not follow perfectly the normal distribution. There was evidence from the study to suggest that MDF has potentially different failure modes for early failures. Forcing of the normality assumption may lead to inaccurate predictions and poor product quality. We introduce a novel, forced censoring technique that closer fits the lower tails of strength distributions, where these smaller percentiles are impacted most. In this thesis, such a forced censoring technique is implemented as a software module, using JMP® Scripting Language (JSL) to expedite data processing which is key for real-time manufacturing settings. Results show that the Weibull distribution models the data best and provides percentile estimates that are neither too conservative nor risky. Further analyses are performed to build an accelerated common-shaped Weibull model for these two product types using the JMP® Survival and Reliability platform. The use of the JMP® Scripting Language helps to automate the task of fitting an accelerated Weibull model and test model homogeneity in the shape parameter. At the end of modeling stage, a package script is written to readily provide the field engineers customized reporting for model visualization, parameter estimation, and percentile forecasting. Furthermore, using the powerful tools of Splida and S Plus, bootstrap estimates of the small percentiles demonstrate improved intervals by our forced censoring approach and the fitted model, including the common shape assumption. Additionally, relatively more advanced Bayesian methods are employed to predict the low percentiles of this particular product type, which has a rather limited number of observations. Model interpretability, cross-validation strategy, result comparisons, and habitual assessment of practical significance are particularly stressed and exercised throughout the thesis. Overall, the approach in the thesis is parsimonious and suitable for real time manufacturing settings. The approach follows a consistent strategy in statistical analysis which leads to more accuracy for product conformance evaluation. Such an approach may also potentially reduce the cost of destructive testing and data management due to reduced frequency of testing. If adopted, the approach may prevent field failures and improve product safety. The philosophy and analytical methods presented in the thesis also apply to other strength distributions and lifetime data

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia Michx) extracts as influenced by solvent extraction methods and cultivars

Muscadine seeds from three cultivars (‘Carlos’, ‘Noble’ and ‘Ison’) were processed by 100% v:v methanol, 95% v:v ethanol and 70% v:v acetone. The acetone seed extracts exhibited the highest (p\u3c0.05) total phenolics (21.62~24.84mg/g of dw) and antioxidant activity. A strong correlation (R2=0.891, p\u3c0.01) was found between total phenolics and antioxidant activity. Methanol and ‘Carlos’ seed extracts generally showed the highest antimicrobial capacity against pathogen strains tested, which correlated well with tannic acid, catechin, epicatechin and tartaric acid content. Hot water-soluble muscadine skin extracts from 17 muscadine cultivars (6 bronze and 11 dark) showed effective antioxidant properties. Significant variations (p\u3c0.05) were observed among the 17 cultivars in total phenolics, organic acids and antioxidant activity. ‘Alachua’, ‘Albermarle’, ‘Southland’, ‘Janebell’ and ‘CA9-37’ were the cultivars found to have the highest antioxidant capacity. Skin extracts of dark-skin cultivars showed higher (p\u3c0.05) content than bronze-skin cultivars in phenolics, tartaric acid, tannic acid and ellagic acids

Synthesis Of 4\u27-O-Glycopyranosyl Paromomycin Aminoglycoside Antibiotics: Influence Of The Glycoside On Antiribosomal, Antibacterial Activity And Utilization Of Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry To Evaluate Reactivity Of Glycosyl Phosphate

The data in this thesis is trying to address two problems. The first problem is paromomycin associated ototoxicity; the second problem is the lack of precise reactivity data of glycosyl donors in one-pot synthesis. Paromomycin is out of the market as an antibiotic due to its ototoxicity. Previous work done by Vasella and Böttger\u27s groups identified 4\u27-O position of paromomycin as a promising site of modification to reduce the side effect. A series of 4\u27-O-glycopyranosyl paromomycin has been synthesized and tested for their biological activity and selectivity. From the results of anti bacterial ribosomal activity, anti hybrid ribosomal activity and antibacterial activity, it was found that 4\u27-O-4-amino-α-D-glucopyranosyl paromomycin is the most active among the sixteen 4\u27-O-glycosyl paromomycin derivatives synthesized. However, 4\u27-O-4-amino-α-D-glucopyranosyl paromomycin shows an inability to differentiate eukaryotic ribosomal A site from prokaryotic ribosomal A site. 4\u27-O-glycosyl paromomycin derivatives with equatorially oriented glycosidic bond at the 4\u27-O-glycosyl ring has more selectivity toward mitochondrial hybrid ribosomes than their corresponding derivatives with axially oriented glycosidic bonds. Therefore, it is promising to introduce an equatorially oriented substituent to the 4\u27-O position of paromomycin in the future drug design to reduce ototoxicity. To evaluate the relative reactivity of glycosyl phosphate donors as a function of stereochemistry and protecting groups, electrospray ionization mass spectrometric fragmentation experiments were performed. Two methods to quantitatively access relative stability of glycosyl phosphates have been used: cone voltage fragmentation experiment and collision induced dissociation. Results from both methods showed that the α anomers of glucosyl phosphates are more stable than their corresponding β anomers regardless the protecting group. In the contrary, the α anomers of mannosyl phosphates are less stable than their corresponding β anomers irrespective with the protecting group. So it\u27s likely glycosyl phosphates with the C1-dibutyl phosphate bond syn to the C2-H bond dissociate through a McLafferty rearrangement, but glycosyl phosphates with the C1-dibutyl phosphate bond anti to C2-H bond dissociate through an oxocarbenium ion. Cone voltage fragmentation experiment gave results contradicting the well-known benzylidene effect. Therefore, it seems the relative stability of glycosyl phosphates cannot reflect their relative reactivity in glycosylation reaction