Formalising arguments about the burden of persuasion.

This paper presents an argument-based logic for reasoning about allocations of the burden of persuasion. The logic extends the system of Prakken (2001), which in turn modified the system of Prakken & Sartor (1996) with the possibility to distribute the burden of proof over both sides in an argument game. First the (2001) system is put in the context of a distinction of three types of proof burdens and it is argued that the proof burdens of that system are in fact burdens of persuasion. Then the (2001) system is modified to allow for defeasible reasoning about allocations of such burdens within the logic. The usefulness of the resulting system is illustrated with applications to real legal cases

Temperature dependence of single-particle properties in nuclear matter

The single-nucleon potential in hot nuclear matter is investigated in the framework of the Brueckner theory by adopting the realistic Argonne V18 or Nijmegen 93 two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction supplemented by a microscopic three-body force. The rearrangement contribution to the single-particle potential induced by the ground state correlations is calculated in terms of the hole-line expansion of the mass operator and provides a significant repulsive contribution in the low-momentum region around and below the Fermi surface. Increasing temperature leads to a reduction of the effect, while increasing density makes it become stronger. The three-body force suppresses somewhat the ground state correlations due to its strong short-range repulsion, increasing with density. Inclusion of the three-body force contribution results in a quite different temperature dependence of the single-particle potential at high enough densities as compared to that adopting the pure two-body force. The effects of three-body force and ground state correlations on the nucleon effective mass are also discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

OWL-POLAR : semantic policies for agent reasoning

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comPostprin

Bisphenol A‐associated alterations in the expression and epigenetic regulation of genes encoding xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes in human fetal liver

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106679/1/em21823.pd

Is the abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii relevant to Crohn's disease?

Reports that bacteria within the Firmicutes phylum, especially the species Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, are less abundant in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients and supernatants from cultures of this bacterium are anti-inflammatory prompted the investigation of the possible correlations between the abundance of F.prausnitzii and the response to treatment in patients with gut diseases and healthy controls. In a randomized, double-blind trial, faeces were collected from healthy volunteers, and from patients with active CD, ulcerative colitis (UC) and irritable bowel syndrome before and after treatment. The levels of F. prausnitzii DNA in faecal suspensions were determined by PCR. Treatment by an elemental diet was effective, resulting in decreases in both the Harvey and Bradshaw index (P<0.001) and the concentrations of serum C-reactive protein (P<0.05). The total levels of F. prausnitzii in faecal samples from CD patients at presentation were lower than those in the other groups both before and after the treatment. There was no correlation between F. prausnitzii abundance and the severity of CD before treatment. Clinical improvement unexpectedly correlated with a significant decrease in the abundance of F. prausnitzii, especially the A2-165 subgroup (P<0.05). Our data suggest that a paucity of F. prausnitzii in the gastrointestinal microbial communities is likely to be a minor aetiological factor in CD: recovery following elemental diet is attributed to lower levels of gut flora

Are Occupation Numbers Observable?

The question of whether occupation numbers and momentum distributions of nucleons in nuclei are observables is considered from an effective field theory perspective. Field redefinitions lead to variations that imply the answer is negative, as illustrated in the interacting Fermi gas at low density. Implications for the interpretation of (e,e'p) experiments with nuclei are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, revtex4, 4 ps figure