Reasoning with Generics Based on Truth-Conditional Semantics

Generics have been analyzed in two main trends. In this paper, they are analyzed in the truth-conditional semantics. One major problem with previous truth-conditional analyses is that they did not make correct predictions on reasonable inferences, especially on inferences related to so-called graded normality. And so far negations of generics, which I call weak generics, have not been seriously handled In this paper, I propose a truth-conditional analysis which considers weak generics as well as strong generics and allows us to account for nonmonotonicity in reasoning with generics, and in doing this, I introduce the notion of minimal world/frame and constrain a frame with regard to each generic sentence including weak generics. It will be shown that weak generics may make a frame inconsistent, but they have significant effect only when they are exceptions to other generic sentences.This work was supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2000-003-A00015)

The Semantics of -ketun in Korean

The conditional connective -ketun in Korean has some restrictions in both the antecedent clause and the consequent clause. In the antecedent clause the event or state denoted by the predicate must be perceptible. There are some exceptions to this restriction. The exceptional cases are where the event or state denotes a personal feeling on the part of the addressee (or addresser, in some cases). From these observations, it is concluded that the antecedent clause must be an event or state which can be directly experienced by the addressee (or, addresser). In the consequent clause, the mood must be imperative, hortative or promissive. When the mood is declarative or interrogative, the modality must be volitional. These moods or modality can be characterized as something that can be satisfied by some action on the part of the addresser or addressee. The relation between these two restrictions is that the antecedent clause changes the knowledge state of the addresser or addressee based on direct experience of something, and the addresser or addressee sets a goal and a plan for achieving the goal. And the consequent clause is an action included in the plan. This is the basic semantics of the conditional connective -ketun. I give a more specific reptesentation of this semantics in this paper

Mesoscopic Stacking Reconfigurations in Stacked van der Waals Film

Mesoscopic-scale stacking reconfigurations are investigated when van der Waals films are stacked. We have developed a method to visualize complicated stacking structures and mechanical distortions simultaneously in stacked atom-thick films using Raman spectroscopy. In the rigid limit, we found that the distortions originate from the transfer process, which can be understood through thin film mechanics with a large elastic property mismatch. In contrast, with atomic corrugations, the in-plane strain fields are more closely correlated with the stacking configuration, highlighting the impact of atomic reconstructions on the mesoscopic scale. We discovered that the grain boundaries don`t have a significant effect while the cracks are causing inhomogeneous strain in stacked polycrystalline films. This result contributes to understanding the local variation of emerging properties from moir\'e structures and advancing the reliability of stacked vdW material fabrication.Comment: 38 pages, 23 figure

Association of Adenotonsillar Disease and Adenotonsillectomy With the Development of Vitiligo: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is a common acquired skin depigmentation disorder and is associated with various other autoimmune diseases which include thyroid disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Similarly, adenotonsillar disease (ATD) may induce inflammatory or autoimmune diseases in other organs which include the skin. However, the influence of ATD on the development of vitiligo has not been studied. OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between ATD and adenotonsillectomy, and the development of vitiligo. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using data from the National Health Insurance Service database, patients diagnosed with ATD between 2008 and 2010 were included in the study. We performed two rounds of 1:1 propensity score matching in the ATD and adenotonsillectomy groups. The ATD and non-ATD groups both included 206,514 individuals. Among the ATD group, the adenotonsillectomy and non-adenotonsillectomy groups both included 23,354 individuals. Each individual was monitored until 2019. The primary end point was the risk of vitiligo. Using the Cox Proportional Hazards model, the incidence of vitiligo and the hazard ratio (HR) were calculated. RESULTS: The incidence of vitiligo was 1.16-fold higher in the ATD group than in the non-ATD group [adjusted HR (aHR), 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09-1.24] and 0.82-fold lower in the adenotonsillectomy group than in the non-adenotonsillectomy group (aHR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68-0.99). Additionally, the other risk factors for developing vitiligo included thyroid disease (aHR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.11-1.98), age younger than 30 years (aHR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.09-1.27), and age over 60 years (aHR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06-1.41), whereas factors including rural residency (aHR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.98) and low economic status (aHR 0.87; 95% CI, 0.82-0.93) were associated with decreased incidence of vitiligo. CONCLUSION: In this study, ATD increases the risk of vitiligo and adenotonsillectomy attenuates its development. Clinicians should consider ATD as a pathogenic factor for vitiligo and the potential effect of adenotonsillectomy in its management

Epigenomic analysis of aberrantly methylated genes in colorectal cancer identifies genes commonly affected by epigenetic alterations.

Methylation profiling based on bead-chip arrays is an effective method for screening aberrantly methylated genes in CRC. In addition, we identified novel methylated genes that are candidate diagnostic or prognostic markers for CRC