Aphoristic manner of writing in a philosophical text

The article presents a short comparative overview of philosophical texts by A. Schopenhauer, G.W.F. Hegel, А. Nietzsche, A. Camus, L. Shestov, V.V. Rozanov. It is stated that it was A. Schopenhauer who introduced aesthetic significance to philosophical text. In his works the leading role is given to the whole conception and not to a separate thought. According to А. Nietzsche aphorism is a reflection of a “stream of consciousness”. Nietzsche creates in an aphorism possibility of multivariate understanding, and the leading role is given to metaphors and rhetoric questions. Ideas of А. Nietzsche, his unique and paradox style found followers in Russia, among them are L. Shestov and V.V. Rozanov.Приводится краткое сопоставительное прочтение философских текстов А. Шопенгауэра, Г. В. Ф. Гегеля, Ф. Ницше, А. Камю, Л. Шестова, В. В. Розанова. Отмечается, что А. Шопенгауэр первым в немецкой философии придал философскому произведению эстетическую значимость. В его философии ведущее значение имеет целостная концепция, а не отдельная мысль. У Ф. Ницше афоризмы – это отражение «потока сознания». Ницше задает в афоризме возможность поливариантного понимания, среди выразительных средств главная роль отводится метафоре и риторическому вопросу. Идеи Ф. Ницше, его уникальный и парадоксальный стиль нашли последователей в России, прежде всего в лице русских философов начала XX в. Л. Шестова и В. В. Розанова

Relative-time inversions in the Labrador Sea acoustic tomography experiment.

One-year long travel-time data from the second deployment period of the Labrador Sea acoustic tomography experiment are analyzed, using a relative-time matched-peak approach, in order to invert for the sound-speed field and simultaneously solve for an unknown travel-time offset. From the relative-time inversions oceanographic information in terms of vertically averaged temperatures are deduced, yielding satisfactory matching with respect to available independent observations. The estimated offsets can be attributed to differential clock drifts, showing a clear parabolic behaviour over the course of the experiment, reaching maximum deviations from linear clock drift corrections (end-point calibrations) of the order of 50 ms. By applying the estimated second-order corrections to the travel-time data, absolute-time matched-peak inversions can then be performed. The used matched-peak approach accounts for the non-linear behaviour of travel times, which is due to the seasonally variable acoustic propagation conditions in the probed region, and turns out to be an appropriate tool in dealing with unknown travel-time offsets

Probably Safe or Live

This paper presents a formal characterisation of safety and liveness properties \`a la Alpern and Schneider for fully probabilistic systems. As for the classical setting, it is established that any (probabilistic tree) property is equivalent to a conjunction of a safety and liveness property. A simple algorithm is provided to obtain such property decomposition for flat probabilistic CTL (PCTL). A safe fragment of PCTL is identified that provides a sound and complete characterisation of safety properties. For liveness properties, we provide two PCTL fragments, a sound and a complete one. We show that safety properties only have finite counterexamples, whereas liveness properties have none. We compare our characterisation for qualitative properties with the one for branching time properties by Manolios and Trefler, and present sound and complete PCTL fragments for characterising the notions of strong safety and absolute liveness coined by Sistla

Geology of New Providence Island, Bahamas: A Field Trip Guide

See other Smith authored Field Trip Guides of Gerace Research Centre

Health-related quality of life in patients with a germline BRCA mutation and metastatic pancreatic cancer receiving maintenance olaparib

Qualitat de vida relacionada amb la salut; Olaparib; Càncer de pàncreesCalidad de vida relacionada con la salud; Olaparib, Cáncer de páncreasHealth-related quality of life; Olaparib; Pancreatic cancerBackground Patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer often have a detriment in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In the randomized, double-blind, phase III POLO trial progression-free survival was significantly longer with maintenance olaparib, a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, than placebo in patients with a germline BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutation (gBRCAm) and metastatic pancreatic cancer whose disease had not progressed during first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. The prespecified HRQoL evaluation is reported here. Patients and methods Patients were randomized to receive maintenance olaparib (300 mg b.i.d.; tablets) or placebo. HRQoL was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30-item module at baseline, every 4 weeks until disease progression, at discontinuation, and 30 days after last dose. Scores ranged from 0 to 100; a ≥10-point change or difference between arms was considered clinically meaningful. Adjusted mean change from baseline was analysed using a mixed model for repeated measures. Time to sustained clinically meaningful deterioration (TSCMD) was analysed using a log-rank test. Results Of 154 randomized patients, 89 of 92 olaparib-arm and 58 of 62 placebo-arm patients were included in HRQoL analyses. The adjusted mean change in Global Health Status (GHS) score from baseline was <10 points in both arms and there was no significant between-group difference [−2.47; 95% confidence interval (CI) −7.27, 2.33; P = 0.31]. Analysis of physical functioning scores showed a significant between-group difference (−4.45 points; 95% CI −8.75, −0.16; P = 0.04). There was no difference in TSCMD for olaparib versus placebo for GHS [P = 0.25; hazard ratio (HR) 0.72; 95% CI 0.41, 1.27] or physical functioning (P = 0.32; HR 1.38; 95% CI 0.73, 2.63). Conclusions HRQoL was preserved with maintenance olaparib treatment with no clinically meaningful difference compared with placebo. These results support the observed efficacy benefit of maintenance olaparib in patients with a gBRCAm and metastatic pancreatic cancer.This study was sponsored by AstraZeneca and is part of an alliance between AstraZeneca and MSD (no grant number). This research was funded in part through the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30-17 CA008748

CPN Tools 4: Multi-formalism and Extensibility

Abstract. CPN Tools is an advanced tool for editing, simulating, and analyzing colored Petri nets. This paper discusses the fourth major re-lease of the tool, which makes it simple to use the tool for ordinary Petri nets, including adding inhibitor and reset arcs, and PNML export. This version also supports declarative modeling using constraints, and adds an extension framework making it easy for third parties to extend CPN Tools using Java.

A Logical Verification Methodology for Service-Oriented Computing

We introduce a logical verification methodology for checking behavioural properties of service-oriented computing systems. Service properties are described by means of SocL, a branching-time temporal logic that we have specifically designed to express in an effective way distinctive aspects of services, such as, e.g., acceptance of a request, provision of a response, and correlation among service requests and responses. Our approach allows service properties to be expressed in such a way that they can be independent of service domains and specifications. We show an instantiation of our general methodology that uses the formal language COWS to conveniently specify services and the expressly developed software tool CMC to assist the user in the task of verifying SocL formulae over service specifications. We demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of our methodology by means of the specification and the analysis of a case study in the automotive domain

Human behavioural adaptations to interglacial lakeshore environments

The Schöningen 13II-4 “Spear Horizon” is among the most famous lakeshore archaeological sites dating from the Middle Pleistocene in Europe. Multiple well-crafted wooden spears recovered together with a large assemblage of butchered horse bones at Schöningen stimulated a new outlook of the behavioural capabilities of Palaeolithic hunters. Since these discoveries, a wealth of geological and palaeoecological data have been generated to reconstruct the wider Schöningen interglacial lakeshore environment. Yet, the underlying social and economic behaviours of Middle Pleistocene hominins reflected in the archaeological record itself have received less attention. To address these shortcomings, we began a comprehensive zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the entire large mammalian assemblage from the Schöningen 13II-4 “Spear Horizon”, with the goal of re-focusing attention to the “human component” of this important site. Here we present the preliminary results of our research

BAFF production by antigen‐presenting cells provides T cell co‐stimulation

The B cell‐activating factor from the tumor necrosis factor family (BAFF) is an important regulator of B cell immunity. Recently, we demonstrated that recombinant BAFF also provides a co‐stimulatory signal to T cells. Here, we studied expression of BAFF in peripheral blood leukocytes and correlated this expression with BAFF T cell co‐stimulatory function. BAFF is produced by antigen‐presenting cells (APC). Blood dendritic cells (DC) as well as DC differentiated in vitro from monocytes or CD34+ stem cells express BAFF mRNA. Exposure to bacterial products further up‐regulates BAFF production in these cells. A low level of BAFF transcription, up‐regulated upon TCR stimulation, was also detected in T cells. Functionally, blockade of endogenous BAFF produced by APC and, to a lesser extent, by T cells inhibits T cell activation. Altogether, this indicates that BAFF may regulate T cell immunity during APC-T cell interactions and as an autocrine factor once T cells have detached from the AP