Pettis integrability of fuzzy mappings with values in arbitrary Banach spaces

In this paper we study the Pettis integral of fuzzy mappings in arbitrary Banach spaces. We present some properties of the Pettis integral of fuzzy mappings and we give conditions under which a scalarly integrable fuzzy mapping is Pettis integrable

Riemann type integrals for functions taking values in a locally convex space

summary:The McShane and Kurzweil-Henstock integrals for functions taking values in a locally convex space are defined and the relations with other integrals are studied. A characterization of locally convex spaces in which Henstock Lemma holds is given

Convergence Theorems for Varying Measures Under Convexity Conditions and Applications

In this paper, convergence theorems involving convex inequalities of Copson’s type (less restrictive than monotonicity assumptions) are given for varying measures, when imposing convexity conditions on the integrable functions or on the measures. Consequently, a continuous dependence result for a wide class of differential equations with many interesting applications, namely measure differential equations (including Stieltjes differential equations, generalized differential problems, impulsive differential equations with finitely or countably many impulses and also dynamic equations on time scales) is provided

Paradoxical psoriasis induced by Anti-TNFα treatment: Evaluation of disease-specific clinical and genetic markers

Paradoxical psoriasis (PP) may occur during treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) drugs in various chronic immune-mediated diseases, mainly inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and psoriasis. In this study, clinical and genetic characteristics of PP arising in IBD and psoriatic patients were investigated to identify disease-specific markers of the paradoxical effect. A total of 161 IBD and psoriatic patients treated with anti-TNF-α drugs were included in the study. Of these patients, 39 developed PP. All patients were characterized for the main clinical– pathologic characteristics and genotyped for six candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected for their possible role in PP susceptibility. In IBD patients, the onset of PP was associated with female sex, presence of comorbidities, and use of adalimumab. IBD patients with PP had a higher frequency of the TNF-α rs1799964 rare allele (p= 0.006) compared with cases without the paradoxical effect, and a lower frequency of the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-Cw06 rs10484554 rare allele (p= 0.03) compared with psoriatic patients with PP. Overall, these findings point to specific clinical and genetic characteristics of IBD patients with PP and provide data showing that genetic variability may be related to the paradoxical effect of anti-TNF-α drugs with possible implications into clinical practice

Opera and poison : a secret and enjoyable approach to teaching and learning chemistry

The storyline of operas, with historical or fictional characters, often include potions and poisons. This has prompted a study of the chemistry behind some operatic plots. The results were originally presented as a lecture given at the University of Minho in Portugal, within the context of the International Year of Chemistry. The same lecture was subsequently repeated at other universities as an invited lecture for science students and in public theaters for wider audiences. The lecture included a multimedia and interactive content that allowed the audience to listen to arias and to watch video clips with selected scenes extracted from operas. The present article, based on the lecture, demonstrates how chemistry and opera can be related and may also serve as a source of motivation and inspiration for chemistry teachers looking for alternative pedagogical approaches. Moreover, the lecture constitutes a vehicle that transports chemistry knowledge to wider audiences through examples of everyday molecules, with particular emphasis on natural products.The author is pleased to express his gratitude to Jorge Calado and Michael John Smith for useful discussions. The author also thanks the reviewers of the manuscript for their helpful comments and suggestions. Thanks are due to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT,Portugal), QREN and FEDER/EU for financial support through the research centers, CQ/UM PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2011. Ciencia Viva, Portugal, is also acknowledged for financial support of the activities organized by the University of Minho during the International Year of Chemistry. The author also expresses his gratitude to Ana Paula Ferreira and Andre Cunha Leal from RTP Antena 2 who contributed immensely to the popularization of the lecture on which this paper is based on

Vascular risk factors in glaucoma: the results of a national survey

Background The role of vascular risk factors in glaucoma is still being debated. To assess the importance of vascular risk factors in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), data from the medical history of 2,879 POAG patients and 973 age-matched controls were collected and analyzed. Methods Design: observational survey. Setting: 35 Italian academic centers. Study population: POAG patients and age-matched controls. In order to reduce bias consecutive patients were included. Observation procedures: data concerning vascular risk factors were collected for all patients with a detailed questionnaire. A complete ophthalmological examination with assessment of intraocular pressure (IOP), visual field, optic disc, and systemic blood pressure was performed. Main outcome measures: the ESH-ESC (European Society of Hypertension-European Society of Cardiology) guidelines were used to calculate the level of cardiovascular risk. Crude and adjusted estimates of the odds ratios (OR) were calculated for all cardiovascular risk factors in POAG and controls. Results The study included 2,879 POAG patients and 973 controls. POAG cases had a significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.001) and systolic perfusion pressure (p=0.02) as compared with controls. Also mean IOP was significantly higher in the POAG group (p=0.01), while diastolic perfusion pressure was not significantly different in the two groups. Myopia was more prevalent in the POAG group (23 vs 18%, p=0.005) as well as a positive family history for glaucoma (26 vs 12%, p= 0.004). POAG patients tended to have a higher cardiovascular risk than controls: 63% of glaucoma cases vs 55% of controls (OR: 1.38, p=0.005) had a “high” or “very high” cardiovascular risk. Conclusions The level of cardiovascular risk was significantly higher in glaucoma patients than in controls

An equivalent definition of the vector-valued McShane integral by means of partitions of unity

An integral for vector-valued functions on a σ-finite outer regular quasi-radon measure space is defined by means of partitions of unity and it is shown that it is equivalent to the McShane integral. The multipliers for both the McShane and Pettis integrals are characterize

MR2407444 (2009e:60101) Labuschagne, Coenraad C. A. Join-semilattices of integrable set-valued martingales. Thai J. Math. 5 (2007), no. 1, 53--69. (Reviewer: Valeria Marraffa)

Join-semilattices of integrable set-valued martingale