"A Smack of Irrelevance" in Inconsistent Mathematics?

Recently, some proponents and practitioners of inconsistent mathe- matics have argued that the subject requires a conditional with ir- relevant features, i.e. where antecedent and consequent in a valid conditional do not behave as expected in relevance logics —by shar- ing propositional variables, for example. Here we argue that more fine-grained notions of content and content-sharing are needed to ex- amine the language of (inconsistent) arithmetic and set theory, and that the conditionals needed in inconsistent mathematics are not as irrelevant as it is suggested in the current literature

"A Smack of Irrelevance" in Inconsistent Mathematics?

Recently, some proponents and practitioners of inconsistent mathe- matics have argued that the subject requires a conditional with ir- relevant features, i.e. where antecedent and consequent in a valid conditional do not behave as expected in relevance logics —by shar- ing propositional variables, for example. Here we argue that more fine-grained notions of content and content-sharing are needed to ex- amine the language of (inconsistent) arithmetic and set theory, and that the conditionals needed in inconsistent mathematics are not as irrelevant as it is suggested in the current literature

Differences between Logics and Meaning-Variance:A Categorial Approach

We argue here that the meanings of logical connectives need not differ in different logics. treatment of the logical connectives, we argue against the well-known Quinean thesis that a difference between logics implies a difference in the meanings of connectives. We thus locate this change in the difference between certain objects rather than in the difference between the meaning of connectives. Finally, we by to show that the category-theoretic treatment of logical connectives is a form of semantic minimalism, according to which not all the usual semantic components are relevant in fixing the meaning of a connective.</p

In vitro gas production and digestibility of oat and triticale forage mixtures ensiled with fibrolytic enzymes and inoculants

Objective: To evaluate the fibrolytic enzymes (FE) and acid-lactic bacterial inoculants (ALB) added to 40 d silages with oats and triticale (O:T) on the proportion and composition of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and its further in vitro gas production (GP) and digestibility of dry matter (IVDMD). Design/methodology/approach: pH, NDF, acid detergen fiber and lignin (ADF, ADL), hemicellulose (Hem), cellulose (Cel), dry matter (DM), and crude protein (PC), along with the PG (Maximum velocity (Vmax), fractional rate (S), Lag), and IVDMD (24h) of silages O:T (forage proportions (FP): 60:40%, 80:20%) treated with EF (control=0, low dose (LD)=075, medium (MD)=1, and high (HD)=1.25 g/kg of forage in humid base (HB)), and ALB (Control=0, LD=0.188, MD=0.25, and HD=0.31 g/kg HB). Variance analysis (ANOVA) included complete randomized designs (CRD) with factorial and divided parcels arrangements, considering fixed (doses, additives, and FP) and random (place/moment of sampling). Results: ALB improved the IVDMD24 of 60:40 and 80:20 O:T silages. FE did not reduce the NDF of 60:40 silages, but LD and MD increased the Hem and CP, and reduced the ADF, ADL, and Cel, that correlated (r) with the improvement of pH pattern, GP, and IVDMD24. Limitations/implications: The differences in the NDF of mixtures of FP could affect the effectiveness of FE and ALB. Findings/conclusions: Although FE and ALB could not reduce the NDF, they would change the proportions of ADF, ADL, Hem, Cel, and CP of silages, that might improve the GP and IVDMD24.Objective: To assess the effects of adding fibrolytic enzymes (FE) or lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculants to 40 d silages with oat and triticale (O:T) mixtures on the ratio and composition of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and its subsequent in vitro gas production (GP) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) at 24 h. Design/Methodology/Approach: Silages elaborated with two O:T ratios (60:40 and 80:20) treated with low (LD), medium (MD), and high (HD) doses of FE (0.75, 1, and 1.25 g/kg forage in wet basis (WB), respectively), and LAB (0.188, 0.25, and 0.31 g/kg WB, respectively). In both cases (FE and LAB), the control had a value of 0. Subsequently, pH, NDF, acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), hemicellulose (HEM), cellulose (CEL), dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), GP parameters, and IVDMD were assessed. GP parameters included maximum velocity (Vmax), fractional rate (S), and lag. Experiments were planned in complete randomized designs (CRD), including factorial and split-plot arrangements. Variance analysis (ANOVA) models included fixed (doses, additives, and FR) and random (place/moment of sampling) effects. Results: LAB improved the IVDMD at 24 h of 60:40 and 80:20 O:T silages. FE did not reduce the NDF of 60:40 silages, but LD and MD increased the HEM and CP, and reduced the ADF, ADL, and CEL; these results are correlated (r) with the improvement of pH pattern, GP, and IVDMD. Study Limitations/Implications: The differences in the NDF of FR mixtures could affect the effectiveness of FE and LAB. Findings/Conclusions: Although FE and LAB did not reduce the NDF, they changed the ratios of ADF, ADL, HEM, CEL, and CP of silages, potentially improving the GP and IVDMD

a cross-sectional study

Objectives We determined the seroprevalence and correlates of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in Aguascalientes City, Mexico. Design A cross-sectional survey. Setting Pregnant women were enrolled in the central Mexican city of Aguascalientes. Participants We studied 338 pregnant women who attended prenatal care in 3 public health centres. Primary and secondary outcome measures Women were examined for IgG/IgM antibodies to T. gondii by using commercially available enzyme immunoassays, and an avidity test. Multiple analyses were used to determine the association of T. gondii seropositivity with the characteristics of the pregnant women. Results Of the 338 pregnant women studied, 21 (6.2%) had IgG antibodies to T. gondii, and 1 (4.8%) of them was also positive for IgM antibodies to T. gondii. Avidity of IgG antibodies to T. gondii was high in the IgM-positive sample. Logistic regression analysis of sociodemographic, behavioural and housing variables showed that T. gondii seropositivity was associated with white ethnicity (OR=149.4; 95% CI 10.8 to 2054.1; p<0.01), not washing hands before eating (OR=6.41; 95% CI 1.73 to 23.6; p=0.005) and use of latrine (OR=37.6; 95% CI 4.63 to 306.31; p=0.001). Conclusions Results demonstrate that pregnant women in Aguascalientes City have a low seroprevalence of T. gondii infection. However, this low prevalence indicates that most pregnant women are at risk for a primary infection. Factors associated with T. gondii exposure found in this study, including food hygiene, may be useful to determine preventive measures against T. gondii infection and its sequelae

Comparative and functional genomics of the protozoan parasite Babesia divergens highlighting the invasion and egress processes

Babesiosis is considered an emerging disease because its incidence has significantly increased in the last 30 years, providing evidence of the expanding range of this rare but potentially life-threatening zoonotic disease. Babesia divergens is a causative agent of babesiosis in humans and cattle in Europe. The recently sequenced genome of B. divergens revealed over 3,741 protein coding-genes and the 10.7-Mb high-quality draft become the first reference tool to study the genome structure of B. divergens. Now, by exploiting this sequence data and using new computational tools and assembly strategies, we have significantly improved the quality of the B. divergens genome. The new assembly shows better continuity and has a higher correspondence to B. bovis chromosomes. Moreover, we present a differential expression analysis using RNA sequencing of the two different stages of the asexual lifecycle of B. divergens: the free merozoite capable of invading erythrocytes and the intraerythrocytic parasite stage that remains within the erythrocyte until egress. Comparison of mRNA levels of both stages identified 1,441 differentially expressed genes. From these, around half were upregulated and the other half downregulated in the intraerythrocytic stage. Orthogonal validation by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR confirmed the differential expression. A moderately increased expression level of genes, putatively involved in the invasion and egress processes, were revealed in the intraerythrocytic stage compared with the free merozoite. On the basis of these results and in the absence of molecular models of invasion and egress for B. divergens, we have proposed the identified genes as putative molecular players in the invasion and egress processes. Our results contribute to an understanding of key parasitic strategies and pathogenesis and could be a valuable genomic resource to exploit for the design of diagnostic methods, drugs and vaccines to improve the control of babesiosis.This work was funded by grants from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad from Spain (AGL2010-21774 and AGL2014-56193 R to EM and LMG). ES was awarded a research fellowship from Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (http://www.mineco.gob.es/portal/site/mineco/). Work in CL’s laboratory is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (https://www.nih.gov/) NIH- 1R01HL140625-01. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscriptS

CD32 is expressed on cells with transcriptionally active HIV but does not enrich for HIV DNA in resting T cells

The persistence of HIV reservoirs, including latently infected, resting CD4+ T cells, is the major obstacle to cure HIV infection. CD32a expression was recently reported to mark CD4+ T cells harboring a replication-competent HIV reservoir during antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppression. We aimed to determine whether CD32 expression marks HIV latently or transcriptionally active infected CD4+ T cells. Using peripheral blood and lymphoid tissue of ART-treated HIV+ or SIV+ subjects, we found that most of the circulating memory CD32+ CD4+ T cells expressed markers of activation, including CD69, HLA-DR, CD25, CD38, and Ki67, and bore a TH2 phenotype as defined by CXCR3, CCR4, and CCR6. CD32 expression did not selectively enrich for HIV- or SIV-infected CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood or lymphoid tissue; isolated CD32+ resting CD4+ T cells accounted for less than 3% of the total HIV DNA in CD4+ T cells. Cell-associated HIV DNA and RNA loads in CD4+ T cells positively correlated with the frequency of CD32+ CD69+ CD4+ T cells but not with CD32 expression on resting CD4+ T cells. Using RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization, CD32 coexpression with HIV RNA or p24 was detected after in vitro HIV infection (peripheral blood mononuclear cell and tissue) and in vivo within lymph node tissue from HIV-infected individuals. Together, these results indicate that CD32 is not a marker of resting CD4+ T cells or of enriched HIV DNA–positive cells after ART; rather, CD32 is predominately expressed on a subset of activated CD4+ T cells enriched for transcriptionally active HIV after long-term ART