108 research outputs found

    A Description Logic of Typicality for Conceptual Combination

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    We propose a nonmonotonic Description Logic of typicality able to account for the phenomenon of combining prototypical concepts, an open problem in the fields of AI and cognitive modelling. Our logic extends the logic of typicality ALC + TR, based on the notion of rational closure, by inclusions p :: T(C) v D (“we have probability p that typical Cs are Ds”), coming from the distributed semantics of probabilistic Description Logics. Additionally, it embeds a set of cognitive heuristics for concept combination. We show that the complexity of reasoning in our logic is EXPTIME-complete as in ALC

    Comparability of Raman Spectroscopic Configurations: A Large Scale Cross-Laboratory Study

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Chemical Society via the DOI in this recordThe variable configuration of Raman spectroscopic platforms is one of the major obstacles in establishing Raman spectroscopy as a valuable physicochemical method within real-world scenarios such as clinical diagnostics. For such real world applications like diagnostic classification, the models should ideally be usable to predict data from different setups. Whether it is done by training a rugged model with data from many setups or by a primary-replica strategy where models are developed on a 'primary' setup and the test data are generated on 'replicate' setups, this is only possible if the Raman spectra from different setups are consistent, reproducible, and comparable. However, Raman spectra can be highly sensitive to the measurement conditions, and they change from setup to setup even if the same samples are measured. Although increasingly recognized as an issue, the dependence of the Raman spectra on the instrumental configuration is far from being fully understood and great effort is needed to address the resulting spectral variations and to correct for them. To make the severity of the situation clear, we present a round robin experiment investigating the comparability of 35 Raman spectroscopic devices with different configurations in 15 institutes within seven European countries from the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) action Raman4clinics. The experiment was developed in a fashion that allows various instrumental configurations ranging from highly confocal setups to fibre-optic based systems with different excitation wavelengths. We illustrate the spectral variations caused by the instrumental configurations from the perspectives of peak shifts, intensity variations, peak widths, and noise levels. We conclude this contribution with recommendations that may help to improve the inter-laboratory studies.COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)Portuguese Foundation for Science and TechnologyNational Research Fund of Luxembourg (FNR)China Scholarship Council (CSC)BOKU Core Facilities Multiscale ImagingDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation

    Dietary intake of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs of the Belgian Population

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    The World Health Organization recommends assessing human exposure to contaminants on a regular basis. In order to assess the current dietary exposure of the Belgian adult population to PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs and to update exposure estimates of 2000–2001, a total diet study was designed. The mean dietary intake of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in the Belgian adult population in 2008 was estimated to be 0.72 pg TEQ kgbw-1 d-1 (middle bound concentrations, TEF of 1998) based on occurrence data of 2008 and national food consumption data of 2004. This value is clearly below the Tolerable Weekly Intake (TWI) of 14 pg TEQ kgbw-1 week-1 set by the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission and below the provisional tolerable monthly intake of 70 pg TEQ kgbw-1 month-1 set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Considering the cumulative distribution, the intake was less than 1 pg TEQ kgbw-1 d-1 for more than 80% of the population, and less than 2 pg TEQ kgbw-1 d-1 for the entire population. When using the 2005 TEF instead of the 1998 TEF, the mean dietary intake in the Belgian adult population was estimated to be 0.61 pg TEQ kgbw-1 d-1

    Hydrocarbon-Burner

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    Patent for a multi-use burner for household usage
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