Some Epistemic Extensions of G\"odel Fuzzy Logic

In this paper, we introduce some epistemic extensions of G\"odel fuzzy logic whose Kripke-based semantics have fuzzy values for both propositions and accessibility relations such that soundness and completeness hold. We adopt belief as our epistemic operator, then survey some fuzzy implications to justify our semantics for belief is appropriate. We give a fuzzy version of traditional muddy children problem and apply it to show that axioms of positive and negative introspections and Truth are not necessarily valid in our basic epistemic fuzzy models. In the sequel, we propose a derivation system $K_F$ as a fuzzy version of classical epistemic logic $K$. Next, we establish some other epistemic-fuzzy derivation systems $B_F, T_F, B_F^n$ and $T_F^n$ which are extensions of $K_F$, and prove that all of these derivation systems are sound and complete with respect to appropriate classes of Kripke-based models

Experimental study on the natural dynamic characteristics of steel-framed modular structures

Corner-supported modular structures are made of repetitive prefurnished, prefinished modular units, which are fabricated in a factory and transported to the site of a building to form a permanent building block. The modular units are then tied together through the use of so-called intermodular connections, or inter-connections, which form a different configuration at joints compared to conventional steel structures. The presence of inter-connections in these structures, in addition to beam-to-column connections or intra-connections, may change their dynamic characteristics, including natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios. This paper aims to investigate the dynamic characteristics of a modular building through the use of operational modal analysis (OMA). A half-scaled three-storey modular structure, designed and instrumented with highly sensitive accelerometers, was experimentally tested under pure and randomly generated vibrations. The time history of the response acceleration of the structure was recorded using a data acquisition system. Different output-only techniques of OMA, based on both frequency and time domains, were employed to analyse the recorded response acceleration of the structure and extract the natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios. These techniques are peak picking (PP), enhanced frequency-domain decomposition (EFDD), and stochastic subspace identification (SSI). The outcomes in this paper can be used for further research on the development of an experimental formula for the design of multistorey modular buildings against lateral loads

Effect of temperature on pollen germination for several Rosaceae species: influence of freezing conservation time on germination patterns

[EN] Between February 2018 and April 2018, flowers were collected from eight Rosaceae species. Flowers were kept in a freezer at -20 degrees C for three freezing times (Treatment 1, two months; Treatment 2, four months; Treatment 3, six months). After extracting pollen, in vitro germination was induced in a culture medium and incubated at six different temperatures for 72 h. The percentage of pollen germination, average pollen tube length and maximum pollen tube length were measured. Pollen germination was maximum for all species between 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C. Cydonia oblonga, Malus sylvestris, Prunus avium, Prunus domestica, Prunus dulcis, Prunus persica and Pyrus communis obtained 30-52% pollen germination between 15 degrees C and 20 degrees C. Prunus cerasifera had 40% pollen germination at 30 degrees C. All species studied reached the maximum pollen tube length between 10 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Germination did not change significantly for any of the species with freezing time, but we found significant differences in the three parameters measured between treatments. The highest germination percentages were obtained in Treatment 2 (four months frozen at -20 degrees C), while the maximum pollen tube length was reached in Treatment 1 (two months frozen at -20 degrees C). According to our results, freezing time affected the germination-temperature patterns. This could indicate that studies on the effect of temperature on pollen germination should always be carried out with fresh pollen to obtain more conclusive data.This work was supported by the Asociacion Club de Variedades Vegetales Protegidas as a part of a project with the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV 20170673). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Beltrán, R.; Valls, A.; Cebrián, N.; Zornoza, C.; García-Breijo, F.; Reig Armiñana, J.; Garmendia, A.... (2019). Effect of temperature on pollen germination for several Rosaceae species: influence of freezing conservation time on germination patterns. PeerJ. 7:1-18. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8195S1187Acar, I., & Kakani, V. G. (2010). The effects of temperature on in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of Pistacia spp. Scientia Horticulturae, 125(4), 569-572. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2010.04.040Boavida, L. C., & McCormick, S. (2007). TECHNICAL ADVANCE: Temperature as a determinant factor for increased and reproducible in vitro pollen germination in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal, 52(3), 570-582. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2007.03248.xBrewbaker, J. L., & Kwack, B. H. (1963). 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Sexual incompatibility in Rosaceae fruit tree species: molecular interactions and evolutionary dynamics. Biologia plantarum, 56(2), 201-209. doi:10.1007/s10535-012-0077-3Heide, O. M., & Prestrud, A. K. (2005). Low temperature, but not photoperiod, controls growth cessation and dormancy induction and release in apple and pear. Tree Physiology, 25(1), 109-114. doi:10.1093/treephys/25.1.109Iglesias, A., Garrote, L., Quiroga, S., & Moneo, M. (2011). A regional comparison of the effects of climate change on agricultural crops in Europe. Climatic Change, 112(1), 29-46. doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0338-8KAKANI, V. G., PRASAD, P. V. V., CRAUFURD, P. Q., & WHEELER, T. R. (2002). Response of in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube growth of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes to temperature. Plant, Cell & Environment, 25(12), 1651-1661. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3040.2002.00943.xKAKANI, V. G., REDDY, K. R., KOTI, S., WALLACE, T. P., PRASAD, P. V. V., REDDY, V. R., & ZHAO, D. (2005). Differences in in vitro Pollen Germination and Pollen Tube Growth of Cotton Cultivars in Response to High Temperature. Annals of Botany, 96(1), 59-67. doi:10.1093/aob/mci149Mesejo, C., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Reig, C., Rivas, F., & Agustí, M. (2006). The inhibitory effect of CuSO4 on Citrus pollen germination and pollen tube growth and its application for the production of seedless fruit. Plant Science, 170(1), 37-43. doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2005.07.023Pham, V. T., Herrero, M., & Hormaza, J. I. (2015). Effect of temperature on pollen germination and pollen tube growth in longan ( Dimocarpus longan Lour.). Scientia Horticulturae, 197, 470-475. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2015.10.007Reddy, K. R., & Kakani, V. G. (2007). Screening Capsicum species of different origins for high temperature tolerance by in vitro pollen germination and pollen tube length. Scientia Horticulturae, 112(2), 130-135. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2006.12.014Rosell, P., Herrero, M., & Galán Saúco, V. (1999). Pollen germination of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.). Scientia Horticulturae, 81(3), 251-265. doi:10.1016/s0304-4238(99)00012-6Sanzol, J., & Herrero, M. (2001). The «effective pollination period» in fruit trees. Scientia Horticulturae, 90(1-2), 1-17. doi:10.1016/s0304-4238(00)00252-1Saxe, H., Cannell, M. G. R., Johnsen, Ø., Ryan, M. G., & Vourlitis, G. (2001). Tree and forest functioning in response to global warming. New Phytologist, 149(3), 369-399. doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.2001.00057.xSedgley, M. (1977). The Effect of Temperature on Floral Behaviour, Pollen Tube Growth and Fruit Set in the Avocado. Journal of Horticultural Science, 52(1), 135-141. doi:10.1080/00221589.1977.11514739Silva, G. J., Souza, T. M., Barbieri, R. L., & Costa de Oliveira, A. (2014). Origin, Domestication, and Dispersing of Pear (Pyrusspp.). Advances in Agriculture, 2014, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2014/541097Sorkheh, K., Azimkhani, R., Mehri, N., Chaleshtori, M. H., Halász, J., Ercisli, S., & Koubouris, G. C. 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Systematic review and meta-analysis of global prevalence of HBsAG and HIV and HCV antibodies among people who inject drugs and female sex workers

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and their co-infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) and female sex workers (FSWs). Data sources were searched from January 2008 to October 2018 in different databases. Data were analyzed in Stata 16 software using the Metaprop command. The results showed that the prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV among PWID was 15, 60 and 6, respectively. The prevalence of HIV, HCV and HBV among FSWs was 5, 1 and 3, respectively. The prevalence of HIV/HCV, HIV/HBV, HCV/HBV and HIV/HCV/HBV co-infections among PWID was 13, 2, 3 and 2, respectively. The prevalence of HIV/HCV and HIV/HBV co-infections among FSWs was 3 and 1, respectively. The results show that the prevalence of HCV and HIV infections in PWID and the prevalence of HIV in FSWs is higher than their prevalence in the general population. Interventions for the prevention of HIV and HCV in PWID appear to be poor, and may not be sufficient to effectively prevent HIV and HCV transmission. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

The impact of induction and/or concurrent chemoradiotherapy on acute and late patient-reported symptoms in oropharyngeal cancer:Application of a mixed-model analysis of a prospective observational cohort registry

BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to comprehensively investigate the association of chemotherapy with trajectories of acute symptom development and late symptom recovery in patients with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) by comparing symptom burden between induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (ICRT), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CRT), or radiotherapy (RT) alone.METHODS Among a registry of 717 patients with OPC, the 28-item patient-reported MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN) symptoms were collected prospectively at baseline, weekly during RT, and 1.5, 3 to 6, 12, and 18 to 24 months after RT. The effect of the treatment regimen (ICRT, CRT, and RT alone) was examined with mixed-model analyses for the acute and late period. In the CRT cohort, the chemotherapy agent relationship with symptoms was investigated.RESULTS Chemoradiation (ICRT/CRT) compared with RT alone resulted in significantly higher acute symptom scores in the majority of MDASI-HN symptoms (ie, 21 out of 28). No late symptom differences between treatment with or without chemotherapy were observed that were not attributable to ICRT. Nausea was lower for CRT with carboplatin than for CRT with cisplatin; cetuximab was associated with particularly higher scores for acute and late skin, mucositis, and 6 other symptoms. The addition of ICRT compared with CRT or RT alone was associated with a significant increase in numbness and shortness of breath.CONCLUSION The addition of chemotherapy to definitive RT for OPC patients was associated with significantly worse acute symptom outcomes compared with RT alone, which seems to attenuate in the late posttreatment period. Moreover, induction chemotherapy was specifically associated with worse numbness and shortness of breath during and after treatment.LAY SUMMARYChemotherapy is frequently used in addition to radiotherapy cancer treatment, yet the (added) effect on treatment-induced over time is not comprehensively investigatedThis study shows that chemotherapy adds to the symptom severity reported by patients, especially during treatment</p

Intensity standardization methods in magnetic resonance imaging of head and neck cancer

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) poses challenges in quantitative analysis because voxel intensity values lack physical meaning. While intensity standardization methods exist, their effects on head and neck MRI have not been investigated. We developed a workflow based on healthy tissue region of interest (ROI) analysis to determine intensity consistency within a patient cohort. Through this workflow, we systematically evaluated intensity standardization methods for MRI of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two HNC cohorts (30 patients total) were retrospectively analyzed. One cohort was imaged with heterogenous acquisition parameters (HET cohort), whereas the other was imaged with homogenous acquisition parameters (HOM cohort). The standard deviation of cohort-level normalized mean intensity (SD NMI c), a metric of intensity consistency, was calculated across ROIs to determine the effect of five intensity standardization methods on T2-weighted images. For each cohort, a Friedman test followed by a post-hoc Bonferroni-corrected Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to compare SD NMI c among methods. RESULTS: Consistency (SD NMI c across ROIs) between unstandardized images was substantially more impaired in the HET cohort (0.29 ± 0.08) than in the HOM cohort (0.15 ± 0.03). Consequently, corrected p-values for intensity standardization methods with lower SD NMI c compared to unstandardized images were significant in the HET cohort (p &lt; 0.05) but not significant in the HOM cohort (p &gt; 0.05). In both cohorts, differences between methods were often minimal and nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings stress the importance of intensity standardization, either through the utilization of uniform acquisition parameters or specific intensity standardization methods, and the need for testing intensity consistency before performing quantitative analysis of HNC MRI.</p

Performance, kinetic, and biodegradation pathway evaluation of anaerobic fixed film fixed bed reactor in removing phthalic acid esters from wastewater

Emerging and hazardous environmental pollutants like phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one of the recent concerns worldwide. PAEs are considered to have diverse endocrine disrupting effects on human health. Industrial wastewater has been reported as an important environment with high concentrations of PAEs. In the present study, four short-chain PAEs including diallyl phthalate (DAP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and phthalic acid (PA) were selected as a substrate for anaerobic fixed film fixed bed reactor (AnFFFBR). The process performances of AnFFFBR, and also its kinetic behavior, were evaluated to find the best eco-friendly phthalate from the biodegradability point of view. According to the results and kinetic coefficients, removing and mineralizing of DMP occurred at a higher rate than other phthalates. In optimum conditions 92.5, 84.41, and 80.39% of DMP, COD, and TOC were removed. DAP was found as the most bio-refractory phthalate. The second-order (Grau) model was selected as the best model for describing phthalates removal

Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Health system planning requires careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology, but data for morbidity and mortality of this disease are scarce or non-existent in many countries. We estimated the global, regional, and national burden of CKD, as well as the burden of cardiovascular disease and gout attributable to impaired kidney function, for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. We use the term CKD to refer to the morbidity and mortality that can be directly attributed to all stages of CKD, and we use the term impaired kidney function to refer to the additional risk of CKD from cardiovascular disease and gout. Methods The main data sources we used were published literature, vital registration systems, end-stage kidney disease registries, and household surveys. Estimates of CKD burden were produced using a Cause of Death Ensemble model and a Bayesian meta-regression analytical tool, and included incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, mortality, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). A comparative risk assessment approach was used to estimate the proportion of cardiovascular diseases and gout burden attributable to impaired kidney function. Findings Globally, in 2017, 1·2 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1·2 to 1·3) people died from CKD. The global all-age mortality rate from CKD increased 41·5% (95% UI 35·2 to 46·5) between 1990 and 2017, although there was no significant change in the age-standardised mortality rate (2·8%, −1·5 to 6·3). In 2017, 697·5 million (95% UI 649·2 to 752·0) cases of all-stage CKD were recorded, for a global prevalence of 9·1% (8·5 to 9·8). The global all-age prevalence of CKD increased 29·3% (95% UI 26·4 to 32·6) since 1990, whereas the age-standardised prevalence remained stable (1·2%, −1·1 to 3·5). CKD resulted in 35·8 million (95% UI 33·7 to 38·0) DALYs in 2017, with diabetic nephropathy accounting for almost a third of DALYs. Most of the burden of CKD was concentrated in the three lowest quintiles of Socio-demographic Index (SDI). In several regions, particularly Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, the burden of CKD was much higher than expected for the level of development, whereas the disease burden in western, eastern, and central sub-Saharan Africa, east Asia, south Asia, central and eastern Europe, Australasia, and western Europe was lower than expected. 1·4 million (95% UI 1·2 to 1·6) cardiovascular disease-related deaths and 25·3 million (22·2 to 28·9) cardiovascular disease DALYs were attributable to impaired kidney function. Interpretation Kidney disease has a major effect on global health, both as a direct cause of global morbidity and mortality and as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. CKD is largely preventable and treatable and deserves greater attention in global health policy decision making, particularly in locations with low and middle SDI

Scaling Consultative Selling with Virtual Reality: Design and Evaluation of Digitally Enhanced Services

Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies allow creation of powerful customer experiences and illustrative demonstrations especially in use cases that benefit from spatial visualizations. Our study focuses on the natural resource management sector and digitalizing of consultative selling process. More specifically, we look at how to improve customer engagement with the use of virtual reality (VR) and thus digitally scale consultative selling. In this process, a VR application is used to demonstrate various management operations and their economic results. Design research methodology is applied to a pre-development phase and three application development iterations between 2016 and 2018. Data consists of user interviews and video observations (N = 129) during various development iterations and three application development plans. The results show that VR offers an emotionally engaging and illustrative tool in consultative selling. Further, it opens a novel way for interaction between the salesperson and customer and possibilities to scale consultative selling digitally, emphasizing the role of trust.Peer reviewe