Illuminating Anti-Luminosity

In this essay I argue that the anti-luminosity argument Timothy Williamson presents in Knowledge and Action runs into problems in trying to establish its conclusion. Anti-luminosity is the position that we sometimes do not know our current mental states, for example I can feel cold and not know that I do. Williamson’s argument initially seems plausible; however, it relies on an inadequately supported premise. Williamson needs to assume that the process by which we come to know our current inner states is fallible, but in doing so begs the question. Without assuming a fallible inner sense, the anti- luminosity argument looks like just another sorites paradox. Without problematically assuming fallible introspectors the anti-luminosity argument cannot establish its conclusion. One may think that this assumption is justified, but I argue that it is not. There are at least two other positions on the table that avoid a problem Williamson’s position must face

Noi abordări în tratamentul leziunilor intraepiteliale de grad sporit ale colului uterin

Background. In 2018, according to the latest GLOBOKAN data, 527,600 new cases of cervical cancer patients and 265,700 deaths were diagnosed worldwide. The most important risk factor is HPV infection. Treatment of HSIL lesions of the cervix associated with HPV may delay or prevent progression to cervical cancer. Objective of the study. The aim of this study is to evaluate surgical, antiviral and immunomodulatory treatment in patients with HSIL of the cervix. Material and Methods. This is a prospective study of 26 patients with high-grade intraepithelial lesions of cervical malignancy (CIN II, CIN III, CIS) treated surgically, antivirally and immunomodulatory during the years 2017-2020 in IMSP Oncological Institute of the Republic of Moldova. Results. Case reports of patients which have been analysed ranged from 23 to 48 years old. The average age of the examined patients was 33 years. Patients with HSIL were treated surgically with LLETZ (89%) and total hysterectomy (11%). The postoperative histological result was CIN II-33%, CIN III-56% and CIS-11%. Antiviral therapy was administered to 28% of patients, antiviral and immunomodulatory therapy was administered to 88%, and 12% of patients did not receive any treatment. All patients were monitored by liquid-based cytology + HPV genotyping at 6 months, 88.46% were determined NILM with negative HPV, 11.54%- were determined LSIL + HPV positive insignificant load. Conclusion. The treatment of high-grade neoplasms of the cervix is combined surgically, antiviral and immunomodulatory. At follow-up the cytology was NILM and HPV negative in 88.46% of patients, thus decreasing the risk of recurrence of the disease and a subsequent transformation to cervical carcinoma. Introducere. Conform datelor GLOBOKAN din 2018, pe glob au fost diagnosticate 527600 cazuri noi și 265700 decese provocate de cancerul de col uterin. Factorul de risc major este infecţia cu HPV. Tratamentul leziunilor HSIL de col uterin, asociate cu HPV, pot întârzia sau preveni progresia spre cancer cervical. Scopul lucrării. Evaluarea tratamentului chirurgical, antiviral și imunomodulator la pacientele cu HSIL colului uterin. Material și Metode. Este un studiu prospectiv a 26 paciente cu HSIL ale colului uterin (CIN II, CIN III, Ca is), tratate chirurgical, antiviral și imunomodulator, pe parcursul anilor 2017-2020 în IMSP Institutul Oncologic din Republica Moldova. Rezultate. Vârsta pacientelor a fost de la 23 la 48 ani, vârsta medie- 33 ani. Pacientele cu HSIL au fost tratate chirurgical prin LEETZ (89%) şi prin histerectomie totală (11%). Rezultatele histologice postoperatorii au determinat CIN II- 33%, CIN III- 56% și CIS- 11%. La 28% dintre paciente s-a administrat tratament antiviral şi la 88%- tratament antiviral și imunomodulator, la 12% paciente tratament antiviral nu a fost administrat. Toate pacientele au fost monitorizate cu colectarea citologiei în mediul lichid+ HPV genotipare la 6 luni. Rezultatele au demonstrat că la 88,46% s-a determinat NILM cu HPV negativ, la 11,54% s-a determinat LSIL+ HPV pozitiv încărcătura sumară neînsemnată. Concluzii. Tratamentul neoplaziilor de grad înalt al colului uterin este combinat chirurgical, antiviral şi imunomodulator. La follow-up citologia a fost NILM şi HPV negativ prezentă la 88,46% dintre paciente, astfel scade riscul de recidivă a bolii şi o ulterioară transformare spre carcinomul cervical

Class Anchor Margin Loss for Content-Based Image Retrieval

The performance of neural networks in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is highly influenced by the chosen loss (objective) function. The majority of objective functions for neural models can be divided into metric learning and statistical learning. Metric learning approaches require a pair mining strategy that often lacks efficiency, while statistical learning approaches are not generating highly compact features due to their indirect feature optimization. To this end, we propose a novel repeller-attractor loss that falls in the metric learning paradigm, yet directly optimizes for the L2 metric without the need of generating pairs. Our loss is formed of three components. One leading objective ensures that the learned features are attracted to each designated learnable class anchor. The second loss component regulates the anchors and forces them to be separable by a margin, while the third objective ensures that the anchors do not collapse to zero. Furthermore, we develop a more efficient two-stage retrieval system by harnessing the learned class anchors during the first stage of the retrieval process, eliminating the need of comparing the query with every image in the database. We establish a set of four datasets (CIFAR-100, Food-101, SVHN, and Tiny ImageNet) and evaluate the proposed objective in the context of few-shot and full-set training on the CBIR task, by using both convolutional and transformer architectures. Compared to existing objective functions, our empirical evidence shows that the proposed objective is generating superior and more consistent results

USING CROP DUSTERS FOR PHYTOSANITARY PROTECTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY CROPS

In some conditions, like the excess moisture content in the soil is not possible to use terrestrial equipments for pest and disease control. As an alternative, using crop dusters at the current time constitutes an important and effective means to perform agricultural and forestry works. The possibility of carrying out treatments with low volume and ultra low volume of pharmacologically substance, using pneumatic and centrifugal scattering systems, has determined that the specialists in this field to grant this technology a special importance. The work raises in a uniform manner problems concerning an uniform application of the sprayed solution and presents the possibilities for the determination of the liquid flow, the treated areas, all of these in direct relation with the productivity of the crop duster. Highlighting the obtained effect of combating and also the superior effectiveness of treatments carried out with crop dusters is one of the major features of this work

CLINICAL AND RADIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF DIRECT PULP CAPPING PROCEDURES PERFORMED BY POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Aim of study. To evaluate the outcome of direct pulp capping procedures in permanent teeth performed by postgraduate students during their training program in Endodontics. Material and Methods. 39 patients with dental pulp exposures were evaluated clinically and radiologically after direct pulp capping procedure and followed for at least 24 months. The results were considered successful if the tooth remained vital, with neither symptoms nor periapical radiolucency. Results. The success rate of direct pulp capping was 59.3%, associated more with traumatic exposure than with carious exposure (75% versus 29.03%, p˂0,001) and more with class I occlusal restorations (85.71%) than with proximal restorations (class II 59.09%, class III 66.67%, p=0,009). Conclusions. The choice of direct pulp capping procedures in caries lesions or traumatic exposure must be supported by a correct diagnosis, evaluation of pain history, symptoms and radiographic examination. The best results are noted in young patients with recent traumatic exposures

CLINICAL AND RADIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF DIRECT PULP CAPPING PROCEDURES PERFORMED BY POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Aim of study. To evaluate the outcome of direct pulp capping procedures in permanent teeth performed by postgraduate students during their training program in Endodontics. Material and Methods. 39 patients with dental pulp exposures were evaluated clinically and radiologically after direct pulp capping procedure and followed for at least 24 months. The results were considered successful if the tooth remained vital, with neither symptoms nor periapical radiolucency. Results. The success rate of direct pulp capping was 59.3%, associated more with traumatic exposure than with carious exposure (75% versus 29.03%, p˂0,001) and more with class I occlusal restorations (85.71%) than with proximal restorations (class II 59.09%, class III 66.67%, p=0,009). Conclusions. The choice of direct pulp capping procedures in caries lesions or traumatic exposure must be supported by a correct diagnosis, evaluation of pain history, symptoms and radiographic examination. The best results are noted in young patients with recent traumatic exposures

The irrigation system in Brăila – a farmer economic focused approach

In the present context marked by ever increasing global climate changes, the use of irrigations in agriculture represents not only an option but more and more a necessity for ensuring a higher yield of agricultural products whose demand increases every year based on population growth. The present paper focuses on the specific elements of the irrigation systems from Brăila County, the way the farmers have access to and the different implications derived by using these systems. The paper turns to quantitative analysis of available statistical data and qualitative analysis of the interviews with local farmers focused on economic efficiency of the water used for irrigations.