The CIFF Proof Procedure for Abductive Logic Programming with Constraints: Theory, Implementation and Experiments

We present the CIFF proof procedure for abductive logic programming with constraints, and we prove its correctness. CIFF is an extension of the IFF proof procedure for abductive logic programming, relaxing the original restrictions over variable quantification (allowedness conditions) and incorporating a constraint solver to deal with numerical constraints as in constraint logic programming. Finally, we describe the CIFF system, comparing it with state of the art abductive systems and answer set solvers and showing how to use it to program some applications. (To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming - TPLP)

Association between sleep duration and diabetes mellitus: Isfahan Healthy Heart Program

Background: Recent studies revealed an association between sleep disturbance and metabolic disorders, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome. An aim of this study was to assess the relation between sleep duration and diabetes mellitus in a representative sample of the Iranian population.Materials and Methods: Participants were 12514 individuals, (6123 men  and 6391 women) studied in the baseline survey of a community based program entitled Isfahan healthy heart program (IHHP). Sleep time was obtained by validated questionnaire. Diabetes mellitus was defined as fasting glucose over 126 mg/dl or 2 hour post prandial glucose at glucose tolerance test over 200 mg/dl, or if the patient was on diabetic medication. The relation between the sleep time and diabetes was examined using categorical logistic regression with adjustment for sex, body mass index and waist circumference.Results: Compared with those, sleeping 7.8 hours per night, the  individuals with sleeping time of 5 hours or less and aged <60 years had an increased odd ratio for diabetes and an impaired glucose tolerance. (OR = 1.37 and 95% CI = 1.13,1.67).Conclusion: Sleep duration of 5 hours or less in individuals under age 60 years is associated with an increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus and an impaired glucose tolerance test. This finding should be confirmed in longitudinal studies.Key words: Diabetes mellitus, glucose tolerance, slee

Factorization in Formal Languages

We consider several novel aspects of unique factorization in formal languages. We reprove the familiar fact that the set uf(L) of words having unique factorization into elements of L is regular if L is regular, and from this deduce an quadratic upper and lower bound on the length of the shortest word not in uf(L). We observe that uf(L) need not be context-free if L is context-free. Next, we consider variations on unique factorization. We define a notion of "semi-unique" factorization, where every factorization has the same number of terms, and show that, if L is regular or even finite, the set of words having such a factorization need not be context-free. Finally, we consider additional variations, such as unique factorization "up to permutation" and "up to subset"

Bethe Ansatz Equations for General Orbifolds of N=4 SYM

We consider the Bethe Ansatz Equations for orbifolds of N =4 SYM w.r.t. an arbitrary discrete group. Techniques used for the Abelian orbifolds can be extended to the generic non-Abelian case with minor modifications. We show how to make a transition between the different notations in the quiver gauge theory.Comment: LaTeX, 66 pages, 9 eps figures, minor corrections, references adde

Comments on Supersymmetry Algebra and Contact Term in Matrix String Theory

Following hep-th/0309238 relating the matrix string theory to the light-cone superstring field theory, we write down two supercharges in the matrix string theory explicitly. After checking the supersymmetry algebra at the leading order, we proceed to discuss higher-order contact terms.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, v2: eq. (5.1) and related appendices corrected, v3: final version to appear in JHE

Recurrent Partial Words

Partial words are sequences over a finite alphabet that may contain wildcard symbols, called holes, which match or are compatible with all letters; partial words without holes are said to be full words (or simply words). Given an infinite partial word w, the number of distinct full words over the alphabet that are compatible with factors of w of length n, called subwords of w, refers to a measure of complexity of infinite partial words so-called subword complexity. This measure is of particular interest because we can construct partial words with subword complexities not achievable by full words. In this paper, we consider the notion of recurrence over infinite partial words, that is, we study whether all of the finite subwords of a given infinite partial word appear infinitely often, and we establish connections between subword complexity and recurrence in this more general framework.Comment: In Proceedings WORDS 2011, arXiv:1108.341

Novel RNA modifications in the nervous system: form and function

Modified RNA molecules have recently been shown to regulate nervous system functions. This mini-review and associated mini-symposium provide an overview of the types and known functions of novel modified RNAs in the nervous system, including covalently modified RNAs, edited RNAs, and circular RNAs. We discuss basic molecular mechanisms involving RNA modifications as well as the impact of modified RNAs and their regulation on neuronal processes and disorders, including neural fate specification, intellectual disability, neurodegeneration, dopamine neuron function, and substance use disorders

Solvable models of strings in homogeneous plane wave backgrounds

We solve closed string theory in all regular homogeneous plane-wave backgrounds with homogeneous NS three-form field strength and a dilaton. The parameters of the model are constant symmetric and anti-symmetric matrices k_{ij} and f_{ij} associated with the metric, and a constant anti-symmetric matrix h_{ij} associated with the NS field strength. In the light-cone gauge the rotation parameters f_{ij} have a natural interpretation as a constant magnetic field. This is a generalisation of the standard Landau problem with oscillator energies now being non-trivial functions of the parameters f_{ij} and k_{ij}. We develop a general procedure for solving linear but non-diagonal equations for string coordinates, and determine the corresponding oscillator frequencies, the light-cone Hamiltonian and level matching condition. We investigate the resulting string spectrum in detail in the four-dimensional case and compare the results with previously studied examples. Throughout we will find that the presence of the rotation parameter f_{ij} can lead to certain unusual and unexpected features of the string spectrum like new massless states at non-zero string levels, stabilisation of otherwise unstable (tachyonic) modes, and discrete but not positive definite string oscillator spectra.Comment: 48 pages, LaTeX2e, v2: additional reference and cosmetic correction

Classification of IIB backgrounds with 28 supersymmetries

We show that all IIB backgrounds with strictly 28 supersymmetries are locally isometric to the plane wave solution of arXiv:hep-th/0206195. Moreover, we demonstrate that all solutions with more than 26 supersymmetries and only 5-form flux are maximally supersymmetric. The N=28 plane wave solution is a superposition of the maximally supersymmetric IIB plane wave with a heterotic string solution. We investigate the propagation of strings in this background, find the spectrum and give the string light-cone Hamiltonian.Comment: 30 pages, typos correcte

Parallelisable Heterotic Backgrounds

We classify the simply-connected supersymmetric parallelisable backgrounds of heterotic supergravity. They are all given by parallelised Lie groups admitting a bi-invariant lorentzian metric. We find examples preserving 4, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 of the 16 supersymmetries.Comment: 17 pages, AMSLaTe