Constraint Satisfaction with Counting Quantifiers

We initiate the study of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) in the presence of counting quantifiers, which may be seen as variants of CSPs in the mould of quantified CSPs (QCSPs). We show that a single counting quantifier strictly between exists^1:=exists and exists^n:=forall (the domain being of size n) already affords the maximal possible complexity of QCSPs (which have both exists and forall), being Pspace-complete for a suitably chosen template. Next, we focus on the complexity of subsets of counting quantifiers on clique and cycle templates. For cycles we give a full trichotomy -- all such problems are in L, NP-complete or Pspace-complete. For cliques we come close to a similar trichotomy, but one case remains outstanding. Afterwards, we consider the generalisation of CSPs in which we augment the extant quantifier exists^1:=exists with the quantifier exists^j (j not 1). Such a CSP is already NP-hard on non-bipartite graph templates. We explore the situation of this generalised CSP on bipartite templates, giving various conditions for both tractability and hardness -- culminating in a classification theorem for general graphs. Finally, we use counting quantifiers to solve the complexity of a concrete QCSP whose complexity was previously open

Duct-lining materials and concepts

Acoustic characteristics evaluation of duct lining materials and design of acoustically absorptive aircraft inlets and fan duct

O Virgin of Virgins, Our Mother: A Feminist Reconstruction of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity as a Model for Christian Discipleship

In this paper I aim to recover the revolutionary force of Mary’s perpetual virginity as a model for Christian discipleship in two stages: first, I search the writings of Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo as well as the medieval hagiographic tradition of virgin martyr tales for resources which recognize the possible concurrence of virginity and sexual activity, given that the sexual activity in question lacks full consent; second, I push the tradition beyond itself to reach toward a new understanding of virginity which can admit the possible coincidence of virginity and fully consensual sexual activit

Energy avalanches in a rice-pile model

We investigate a one-dimensional rice-pile model. We show that the distribution of dissipated potential energy decays as a power law with an exponent $\alpha=1.53$. The system thus provides a one-dimensional example of self-organized criticality. Different driving conditions are examined in order to allow for comparison with experiments.Comment: 8 pages, elsart sty files (provided

THE EFFECT OF ATHLETE ENDORSEMENTS ON BRAND EQUITY

Marketing trends have recently seen an increase in the use of athlete endorsements. While celebrity endorsements are not a new practice, the use of athletes as endorsers is still relatively new to the field. This thesis investigates the effect of athlete endorsements on brand equity. Using the Aaker’s model, brand equity is split into the categories of brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty for thorough exploration. A quantitative, non-experimental research approach was designed to examine consumers’ perceptions of these four elements of brand equity. The resulting survey was administered online to 117 participants. The data revealed 4 statistically significant correlations between consumer perceptions and brand equity elements – as well as a predictive relationship between social media usage and likelihood to perceive products endorsed by athletes as more environmentally friendly and sustainable than most other brands

Continuity in the neural system supporting children's theory of mind development: Longitudinal links between task-independent EEG and task-dependent fMRI.

Children's explicit theory of mind (ToM) understandings change over early childhood. We examined whether there is longitudinal stability in the neurobiological bases of ToM across this time period. A previous study found that source-localized resting EEG alpha attributable to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was associated with children's performance on a battery of theory of mind tasks. Here, we investigated a small subset of children (N = 12) in that original study as a preliminary investigation of whether behavioral measures of ToM performance, and/or EEG localized to the DMPFC or RTPJ predicted ToM-specific fMRI responses 3.5 years later. Results showed that preschoolers' behavioral ToM-performance positively predicted later ToM-specific fMRI responses in the DMPFC. Preschoolers' resting EEG attributable to the DMPFC also predicted later ToM-specific fMRI responses in the DMPFC. Given the small sample, results represent a first exploration and require replication. Intriguingly, they suggest that early maturation of the area of the DMPFC related to ToM reasoning is positively linked with its specific recruitment for ToM reasoning later in development, affording implications for characterizing conceptual ToM development, and its underlying neural supports