Abstract Argumentation / Persuasion / Dynamics

The act of persuasion, a key component in rhetoric argumentation, may be viewed as a dynamics modifier. We extend Dung's frameworks with acts of persuasion among agents, and consider interactions among attack, persuasion and defence that have been largely unheeded so far. We characterise basic notions of admissibilities in this framework, and show a way of enriching them through, effectively, CTL (computation tree logic) encoding, which also permits importation of the theoretical results known to the logic into our argumentation frameworks. Our aim is to complement the growing interest in coordination of static and dynamic argumentation.Comment: Arisaka R., Satoh K. (2018) Abstract Argumentation / Persuasion / Dynamics. In: Miller T., Oren N., Sakurai Y., Noda I., Savarimuthu B., Cao Son T. (eds) PRIMA 2018: Principles and Practice of Multi-Agent Systems. PRIMA 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11224. Springer, Cha

Diversity and Abundance of Fish Species in Gbedikere Lake, Bassa, Kogi State

Experimental gill net and artisanal fishery of Gbedikere Lake, Bassa, Kogi State, Nigeria were assessed between October 2006 and September 2008. Fish species diversity was found to be low; twelve species representing ten families were identified namely, Protopteridae, Mormyridae, Clariidae, Mochokidae, Cichlidae, Malapteruridae, Osteoglossidae, Gymnarcidae and Citharinidae. Cichlids were numerically most dominant of the catches (Oreochromis niloticus, (17.90%) and Tilapia zilli (13.01%). In terms of biomass the trend was found to be the same. Other species of numerical importance were Heterotis niloticus (15.56%), Clarias gariepinus (13.16%), Gymnarchus niloticus (8.78%), Heterobranchus bidorsalis (7.14%), Synodontis nigrita (6.69%), Mormyrus rume(5.68%), Citharinus citharus(3.91%), Labeo senegalensis(2.93%) and Protopterus annectens (2.74%). Oreochromis niloticus dominated the catches in all the months, contributing over 17.90% to catches by number and between 13.40% by weight throughout the duration of the sampling. The mean annual yield obtained through catch assessment surveys during the study was 240.2 tons. A log transformed length-weight regression analysis for four of the economically most important species revealed the following linear relationships. Log W = -1.2366 + 2.8028 Log L (r = 0.9798) for Heterotis niloticus; Log W = -1.7525 +3.047 Log L (r =0.9361) for Oreochromis niloticus; Log W = -2.3449 + 3.496 Log L (r = 0.9548), for Tilapia zilli and Log W =-1.0306 + 2.321 Log L (r =0.9351) for Clarias gariepinus

Using Extended Genealogy to Estimate Components of Heritability for 23 Quantitative and Dichotomous Traits

Important knowledge about the determinants of complex human phenotypes can be obtained from the estimation of heritability, the fraction of phenotypic variation in a population that is determined by genetic factors. Here, we make use of extensive phenotype data in Iceland, long-range phased genotypes, and a population-wide genealogical database to examine the heritability of 11 quantitative and 12 dichotomous phenotypes in a sample of 38,167 individuals. Most previous estimates of heritability are derived from family-based approaches such as twin studies, which may be biased upwards by epistatic interactions or shared environment. Our estimates of heritability, based on both closely and distantly related pairs of individuals, are significantly lower than those from previous studies. We examine phenotypic correlations across a range of relationships, from siblings to first cousins, and find that the excess phenotypic correlation in these related individuals is predominantly due to shared environment as opposed to dominance or epistasis. We also develop a new method to jointly estimate narrow-sense heritability and the heritability explained by genotyped SNPs. Unlike existing methods, this approach permits the use of information from both closely and distantly related pairs of individuals, thereby reducing the variance of estimates of heritability explained by genotyped SNPs while preventing upward bias. Our results show that common SNPs explain a larger proportion of the heritability than previously thought, with SNPs present on Illumina 300K genotyping arrays explaining more than half of the heritability for the 23 phenotypes examined in this study. Much of the remaining heritability is likely to be due to rare alleles that are not captured by standard genotyping arrays

Investigating the association between obesity and asthma in 6- to 8-year-old Saudi children:a matched case-control study

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between obesity and asthma, but there remains considerable uncertainty about whether this reflects an underlying causal relationship. Aims: To investigate the association between obesity and asthma in pre-pubertal children and to investigate the roles of airway obstruction and atopy as possible causal mechanisms. Methods: We conducted an age- and sex-matched case–control study of 1,264 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren with and without asthma recruited from 37 randomly selected schools in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold thickness of the 632 children with asthma were compared with those of the 632 control children without asthma. Associations between obesity and asthma, adjusted for other potential risk factors, were assessed separately in boys and girls using conditional logistic regression analysis. The possible mediating roles of atopy and airway obstruction were studied by investigating the impact of incorporating data on sensitisation to common aeroallergens and measurements of lung function. Results: BMI was associated with asthma in boys (odds ratio (OR)=1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.20; adjusted OR=1.11, 95% CI, 1.03–1.19) and girls (OR=1.37, 95% CI, 1.26–1.50; adjusted OR=1.38, 95% CI, 1.23–1.56). Adjusting for forced expiratory volume in 1 s had a negligible impact on these associations, but these were attenuated following adjustment for allergic sensitisation, particularly in girls (girls: OR=1.25; 95% CI, 0.96–1.60; boys: OR=1.09, 95% CI, 0.99–1.19). Conclusions: BMI is associated with asthma in pre-pubertal Saudi boys and girls; this effect does not appear to be mediated through respiratory obstruction, but in girls this may at least partially be mediated through increased risk of allergic sensitisation

Plasmodium knowlesi Genome Sequences from Clinical Isolates Reveal Extensive Genomic Dimorphism.

Plasmodium knowlesi is a newly described zoonosis that causes malaria in the human population that can be severe and fatal. The study of P. knowlesi parasites from human clinical isolates is relatively new and, in order to obtain maximum information from patient sample collections, we explored the possibility of generating P. knowlesi genome sequences from archived clinical isolates. Our patient sample collection consisted of frozen whole blood samples that contained excessive human DNA contamination and, in that form, were not suitable for parasite genome sequencing. We developed a method to reduce the amount of human DNA in the thawed blood samples in preparation for high throughput parasite genome sequencing using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq sequencing platforms. Seven of fifteen samples processed had sufficiently pure P. knowlesi DNA for whole genome sequencing. The reads were mapped to the P. knowlesi H strain reference genome and an average mapping of 90% was obtained. Genes with low coverage were removed leaving 4623 genes for subsequent analyses. Previously we identified a DNA sequence dimorphism on a small fragment of the P. knowlesi normocyte binding protein xa gene on chromosome 14. We used the genome data to assemble full-length Pknbpxa sequences and discovered that the dimorphism extended along the gene. An in-house algorithm was developed to detect SNP sites co-associating with the dimorphism. More than half of the P. knowlesi genome was dimorphic, involving genes on all chromosomes and suggesting that two distinct types of P. knowlesi infect the human population in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. We use P. knowlesi clinical samples to demonstrate that Plasmodium DNA from archived patient samples can produce high quality genome data. We show that analyses, of even small numbers of difficult clinical malaria isolates, can generate comprehensive genomic information that will improve our understanding of malaria parasite diversity and pathobiology

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force recommendations for a veterinary epilepsy-specific MRI protocol

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases in veterinary practice. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is regarded as an important diagnostic test to reach the diagnosis of idiopathic epilepsy. However, given that the diagnosis requires the exclusion of other differentials for seizures, the parameters for MRI examination should allow the detection of subtle lesions which may not be obvious with existing techniques. In addition, there are several differentials for idiopathic epilepsy in humans, for example some focal cortical dysplasias, which may only apparent with special sequences, imaging planes and/or particular techniques used in performing the MRI scan. As a result, there is a need to standardize MRI examination in veterinary patients with techniques that reliably diagnose subtle lesions, identify post-seizure changes, and which will allow for future identification of underlying causes of seizures not yet apparent in the veterinary literature. There is a need for a standardized veterinary epilepsy-specific MRI protocol which will facilitate more detailed examination of areas susceptible to generating and perpetuating seizures, is cost efficient, simple to perform and can be adapted for both low and high field scanners. Standardisation of imaging will improve clinical communication and uniformity of case definition between research studies. A 6–7 sequence epilepsy-specific MRI protocol for veterinary patients is proposed and further advanced MR and functional imaging is reviewed

Evaluation of fish handling techniques employed by artisanal fishers on quality of Lethrinids and Siganids fish genera at landing time along the Kenyan coast using sensory and microbiological methods

In artisanal fishery, traditional handling methods such as tossing fish onto the boat bottom or into woven mat baskets and gunny bags after capture are commonly employed. These practices accelerate fish spoilage due to cross contamination and exposure to high ambient temperature. This study aimed at investigating the effect of non-icing (onboard handling methods) on the quality of Lethrinids (Emperor fish, local name: Changu) and Siganids (Rabbitfish, local name: Tafi) landed along the Kenyan coast in comparison to iced fish. Monthly, samples were assessed by sensory methods using Quality Index Method (QIM), Total Viable Counts (TVC) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) producing bacteria considered as specific spoilage organisms (SSO) counts for raw fish; Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) and Torry score for cooked fillets. Iced fish was characterised by better freshness quality attributes at landing time compared to non-iced at both landing sites. According to the QIM, iced treatment recorded better quality scores that were significantly different from non-iced groups (p<0.05) throughout the study with regard to fish genera. Cooked fillets showed both treatments to be within human consumption limits although non-iced fish were characterised by marginal quality attributes. Microbial assessment depicted TVC to be on average 102- 103 CFU/g and 103- 104 CFU/g in iced and non-iced Lethrinids respectively at both sampling sites. In Siganids higher numbers of 104- 105 CFU/g were recorded in non–iced group, with H2S producing bacteria constituting a higher proportion of TVC. Iced Siganids recorded 102- 103 CFU/g throughout the study. Fish quality was reported to be inconsistent over the sampled month which reflects the large pressure systems of the Western Indian Ocean and the two distinct monsoon periods considered to differ in warmth. The major cause of deteriorated fish quality observed at landing time in the fishery was attributed to bacterial proliferation accelerated most importantly by non-icing onboard handling practises reported such as tossing fish onto the boat bottom or into woven mat baskets and gunny bags employed by the fishers. Sensory evaluation of cooked fillets and microbiological analysis showed fish was acceptable for human consumption regardless of handling method employed. This assures consumers of acceptable fish quality at landing time as long as good hygienic practices are observed at subsequent stages to consumption.Key words: Lethrinids, Siganids, Quality, Sensory, Handlin

Novel genetic analysis for case-control genome-wide association studies: quantification of power and genomic prediction accuracy

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are routinely conducted for both quantitative and binary (disease) traits. We present two analytical tools for use in the experimental design of GWAS. Firstly, we present power calculations quantifying power in a unified framework for a range of scenarios. In this context we consider the utility of quantitative scores (e.g. endophenotypes) that may be available on cases only or both cases and controls. Secondly, we consider, the accuracy of prediction of genetic risk from genome-wide SNPs and derive an expression for genomic prediction accuracy using a liability threshold model for disease traits in a case-control design. The expected values based on our derived equations for both power and prediction accuracy agree well with observed estimates from simulations