Logic in cognitive science

According to a brief and very general definition Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary scientific study of how information is represented and transformed in a human nervous system. “Information”, “representation” and “transformation” are keywords here. Many disciplines bring considerable contribution to Cognitive Science. Logic is one of them. Logic investigates these rules which allow us to recognize valid reasonings and distinguish them from those that fail to fulfill the condition of valid- ity. Thus logic investigates some representation (or representations) of reasoning. Significant part of information transformed in nervous system is related to reasoning and inference. This fact opens special perspectives on applying Logic in Cognitive Science both in representing as well as in transforming information. Any formal logical system constitutes a kind of representation of a class of propositions considered as sentence content. In this way each logical system provides a representation of a broad class of belief states. At the same time any inference relation, related to a given logical system, represents a transformation of some type of information. As a consequence it would be hard to find logical investigations which could not be applied in Cognitive Science. Such an idea guided us while we were preparing the present volume

UKŁAD STEROWANIA MAŁĄ ELEKTROWNIĄ WIATROWĄ Z GENERATOREM ASYNCHRONICZNYM

The article presents the control system wind turbine with asynchronous squirrel cage generator with a capacity of 11 kW. Asynchronous generator compared to the synchronous generator characterized by a lower cost and higher reliability, but because of the phenomena associated with excitation, it is necessary to use a more complex system of the converter and an additional devices supporting the operation of the wind power plant under realistic conditions. As a result, control of the power electronic inverter coupling generator with power grid requires additional expand on the ability to manage the entire power plant. The article discusses the issues and experimental results related to the states of the system of small wind power plant and process control loops of power processing.Artykuł przedstawia układ sterowania elektrownią wiatrową z generatorem asynchronicznym klatkowym o mocy 11 kW. Generator asynchroniczny w porównaniu do generatora synchronicznego cechuje niższy koszt i większa niezawodność, jednak ze względu na zjawiska związane ze wzbudzeniem, konieczne jest stosowanie bardziej złożonego układu przekształtnikowego oraz dodatkowej aparatury wspomagającej działanie elektrowni wiatrowej w rzeczywistych warunkach. W rezultacie układ sterowania przekształtnika energoelektronicznego sprzęgającego generator z siecią energetyczną wymaga dodatkowego rozbudowania o możliwość zarządzania całą elektrownią. W artykule omówiono zagadnienia i wyniki eksperymentalne związane ze stanami pracy systemu małej elektrowni wiatrowej oraz pętlami sterowania procesem przetwarzania mocy

Towards hydrogen-rich ionic (NH4)(BH3NH2BH2NH2BH3) and related molecular NH3BH2NH2BH2NH2BH3

Attempts of synthesis of ionic (NH4)(BH3NH2BH2NH2BH3) using metathetical approach resulted in a mixture of the target compound and a partly dehydrogenated molecular NH3BH2NH2BH2NH2BH3 product. The mixed specimen was characterized by NMR and vibrational spectroscopies, and the crystal structure of their cocrystal was solved from powder x-ray diffraction data, and supplemented by theoretical density functional theory calculations. Despite their impressive hydrogen content, and similarly to ammonia borane, both title compounds release hydrogen substantially polluted with borazine, and traces of ammonia and diborane.Comment: 8 pages, 10 Figures, 2 Tables, and electronic supplement of 19 page

Obesity as a risk factor of in-hospital outcomes in patients with endometrial cancer treated with laparoscopic surgical mode

Objectives: Obesity has been suggested to have a negative influence on procedural outcomes of endometrial cancer laparoscopic treatment. Obesity and other possible risk factors of laparoscopic endometrial cancer treatment has not been precisely described in the literature. The aim of the study is to determine the factors that have the greatest influence on the course of laparoscopic surgery for endometrial cancer, with particular emphasis on the influence of obesity. Material and methods: The study included 75 females who were treated for endometrial cancer by laparoscopic surgery. Preoperative body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference(WC), waist to hip ratio(WHR), and selected anatomical indices were measured. The duration of surgery and hospitalization stay, loss of hemoglobin, and procedural-related complications served as parameters of in-hospital outcomes. Results: Multiple linear regression analysis indicate the body mass as most sensitive parameter of obesity which influence in-hospital outcomes in patients treated with laparoscopic procedure. Procedural-related complications occurred in the group of patients with significantly greater WC and BMI. Multiple linear regression indicates also histological grading (G1–G3), external conjugate, intertrochanteric distance as significant risk factors. The multiple linear regression analysis confirmed also that implementation of sentinel lymph node procedure is related with decreased hemoglobin loss in patients with cancer of endometrium compare to lymphadenectomy without sentinel node biopsy(Est.: 0.488; 95% CI: 0.083–0.892, p = 0.018). Conclusions: The most sensitive risk factor of in-hospital outcomes in laparoscopic treatment of endometrial cancer is body mass. The implementation of the sentinel node procedure is associated with reduced surgery time and reduced hemoglobin loss

Transradial and transfemoral approach in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafting

The relationship between periprocedural complications and the type of vascular access in patients with prior history of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and treated with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) is less investigated than in the overall group of patients treated with PCI. The aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between the type of vascular access and selected periprocedural complications in a group of patients with prior history of CABG and treated with PCIs. Based on a Polish nationwide registry of interventional cardiology procedures called ORPKI, the authors analyzed 536,826 patients treated with PCI between 2014 and 2018. The authors extracted 32,225 cases with prior history of CABG. Then, patients with femoral and radial access as well as right and left radial access were compared. This comparison was proceeded by propensity score matching (PSM). After PSM, a multifactorial analysis revealed that patients treated with PCI from femoral access were significantly more often related to periprocedural deaths (odds ratio [OR]: 1.79; 95%, confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–3.0, p = 0.02) and cardiac arrests (OR: 1.98; 95%, CI: 1.38–2.87, p < 0.001). After inclusion of the Killip class grade and the occurrence of cardiac arrests before PCI into the PSM, the significance remained for procedural related cardiac arrests (OR: 1.55; 95%, CI: 1.07–2.28, p = 0.022]). However, a comparison of right and left radial access showed no significant differences between procedure-related complications. It has been confirmed that there is a statistical association between femoral access (compared to radial access) and a higher rate of periprocedural cardiac arrests in patients with prior history of CABG treated with PCI

Measurement capabilities upgrade of GEM soft X-ray measurement system for hot plasma diagnostics

The paper presents improvements of the developed system for hot plasma radiation measurement in the soft X-ray range based on a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector. Scope of work consists of a new solution for handling hardware time-synchronization with tokamak systems needed for better synchronization with other diagnostics and measurement quality. The paper describes the support of new modes of triggering on PC-side. There are communication and data path overview in the system. The new API is described, which provide separate channels for data and control and is more robust than the earlier solution. Work concentrates on stability and usability improvements of the implemented device providing better usage for end-user

Reimbursement Status and Recommendations Related to Orphan Drugs in European Countries

Objective: To review the reimbursement recommendations issued by selected European health technology assessment agencies for orphan drugs and the reimbursement status of these drugs; to assess the relationship between the type of recommendation and reimbursement status. Methods: The list of orphan drugs to be included in the analysis was obtained from the European Medicines Agency and Orphanet. Seven European states were included in the analysis: Belgium, England, France, Germany, Poland, Scotland, and Spain. For all identified orphan drugs, relevant data on the reimbursement status and type of recommendation were collected for each country. The relationship between the type of recommendation and reimbursement status was evaluated separately for each considered country, using Cohen’s kappa coefficient for the measurement of agreement; sub-analyses for oncology and metabolic drugs were performed. Results: Most reimbursement recommendations for orphan drugs were positive (71%), while approximately 17% were negative and almost 13% were conditional. The highest percentage of positive reimbursement recommendations was observed in Spain (97%) and France (95%) and the highest percentage of negative reimbursement recommendations was revealed for Poland (49%). On average, 65% of the 163 analyzed orphan drugs were reimbursed from public funds. The highest number of reimbursed orphan drugs was observed in Germany (n = 148), while the lowest, in Poland (n = 41). Considering all analyzed drugs, the highest agreement between recommendations and reimbursement status was observed for Spain (value of 1), and the lowest, for Germany (κ = -0.03). Conclusions: On average, more than 60% of identified orphan drugs were reimbursed from public funds in the included countries, and the majority of reimbursement recommendations were found to be positive. The agreement between reimbursement recommendations and reimbursement status differed between the countries, but overall, it did not show any patterns, as it ranged from -0.03 to 1 (κ coefficient)

Association between the mortality rate and operator volume in patients undergoing emergency or elective percutaneous coronary interventions

Background:  Previous studies have suggested that low operator and institutional volume may be associated with an increased risk of adverse events in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between operator volume and procedure­ ­related mortality in the emergent and elective settings. Methods: Data were obtained from a national registry of PCIs, maintained in cooperation with the Association of Cardiovascular Interventions of the Polish Cardiac Society. Registry data for the period from January 2014 to December 2017 were collected. During the study, there were 162 active catheterization laboratories, in which a total of 456 732 PCIs were performed. Results: The median number of PCIs performed in a single laboratory was 2643.5 (interquartile range [IQR], 1875–3598.5) over 4 years. The median number of PCIs performed by a single operator was 557 (IQR, 276.25–860.5) per year. We did not confirm a significant relationship between the operator volume and mortality in the overall group of patients treated with emergency and elective PCI. However, we noted a lower mortality rate for high­‑volume operators (odds ratio [OR], 0.79; 95% CI, 0.63–0.99; P = 0.04). When the operator volume was assessed as a continuous variable, there was a trend toward significance (OR, 0.94; 95% CI; 0.88–1.0007; P = 0.052) in patients treated with emergency PCI. Conclusions: High operator volume was associated with a lower periprocedural mortality rate than low operator volume in patients undergoing PCI due to acute coronary syndromes