A reified temporal logic

This paper presents a reified temporal logic for representing and reasoning about temporal and non-temporal relationships between non-temporal assertions. A clear syntax and semantics for the logic is formally provided. Three types of predicates, temporal predicates, non-temporal predicates and meta-predicates, are introduced. Terms of the proposed language are partitioned into three types, temporal terms, non-temporal terms and propositional terms. Reified propositions consist of formulae with each predicate being either a temporal predicate or a meta-predicate. Meta-predicates may take both temporal terms and propositional terms together as arguments or take propositional terms alone. A standard formula of the classical first-order language with each predicate being a non-temporal predicate taking only non-temporal terms as arguments is reified as just a propositional term. A general time ontology has been provided which can be specialized to a variety of existing temporal systems. The new logic allows one to predicate and quantify over propositional terms while according a special status of time; for example, assertions such as ‘effects cannot precede their causes’ is ensured in the logic, and some problematic temporal aspects including the delay time between events and their effects can be conveniently expressed. Applications of the logic are presented including the characterization of the negation of properties and their contextual sentences, and the expression of temporal relations between actions and effects.

Guest Editorial. Special Issue: Temporal logic in engineering

Logic-based models are thriving within artificial intelligence. A great number of new logics have been defined, and their theory investigated. Epistemic logics introduce modal operators for knowledge or belief; deontic logics are about norms, and introduce operators of deontic necessity and possibility (i.e., obligation or prohibition). And then we have a much investigated class—temporal logics—to whose application to engineering this special issue is devoted. This kind of formalism deserves increased widespread recognition and application in engineering, a domain where other kinds of temporal models (e.g., Petri nets) are by now a fairly standard part of the modelling toolbox.

A sound and complete reified temporal logic

There are mainly two known approaches to the representation of temporal information in Computer Science: modal logic approaches (including tense logics and hybrid temporal logics) and predicate logic approaches (including temporal argument methods and reified temporal logics). On one hand, while tense logics, hybrid temporal logics and temporal argument methods enjoy formal theoretical foundations, their expressiveness has been criticised as not power enough for representing general temporal knowledge; on the other hand, although current reified temporal logics provide greater expressive power, most of them lack of complete and sound axiomatic theories. In this paper, we propose a new reified temporal logic with a clear syntax and semantics in terms of a sound and complete axiomatic formalism which retains all the expressive power of the approach of temporal reification.

Narrating the archive and archiving narrative: the electronic book and the logic of the index

The creation of my hypermedia work Index of Love, which narrates a love story as an archive of moments, images and objects recollected, also articulated for me the potential of the book as electronic text. The book has always existed as both narrative and archive. Tables of contents and indexes allow the book to function simultaneously as linear narrative and non-linear, searchable database. The book therefore has more in common with the so-called 'new media' of the 21st century than it does with the dominant 20th century media of film, video and audiotape, whose logic and mode of distribution are resolutely linear. My thesis is that the non-linear logic of new media brings to the fore an aspect of the book - the index - whose potential for the production of narrative is only just beginning to be explored. When a reader/user accesses an electronic work, such as a website, via its menu, they simultaneously experience it as narrative and archive. The narrative journey taken is created through the menu choices made. Within the electronic book, therefore, the index (or menu) has the potential to function as more than just an analytical or navigational tool. It has the potential to become a creative, structuring device. This opens up new possibilities for the book, particularly as, in its paper based form, the book indexes factual work, but not fiction. In the electronic book, however, the index offers as rich a potential for fictional narratives as it does for factual volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

US imperialism in action: An audit-based appraisal of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq

This paper drawing from audit reports reflects upon the post-Iraq war administration the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). It argues that the CPA’s compliance with basic levels of decent public administration were akin to Guantanamo’s compliance with basic levels of natural justice. The audit reports demonstrate that the CPA was a chaotic administration which spent billions without proper controls or procedures and left precious Iraqi oil revenues open to fraudulent acts. The CPA failed to comply with its obligations under UN resolutions. It identifies the geopolitical/economic implications of the US government which was partly motivated by economic concerns but it was also motivated by political concerns—the imposition of US hegemony. It then turns to the broader economic imperatives of the falling rate of profit and the imposition of neoliberalism (market fundamentalism).

Prooxidant action of knipholone anthrone: Copper dependent reactive oxygen species generation and DNA damage

Knipholone (KP) and knipholone anthrone (KA) are natural 4-phenylanthraquinone structural analogues with established differential biological activities including in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. By using DNA damage as an experimental model, the comparative Cu(II)-dependent prooxidant action of these two compounds were studied. In the presence of Cu(II) ions, the antioxidant KA (3.1-200 [mu]M) but not KP (6-384 [mu]M) caused a concentration-dependent pBR322 plasmid DNA strand scission. The DNA damage induced by KA could be abolished by reactive oxygen species scavengers, glutathione and catalase as well as EDTA and a specific Cu(I) chelator bathocuproine disulfonic acid. In addition to Cu(II) chelating activity, KA readily reduces Cu(II) to Cu(I). Copper-dependent generation of reactive oxygen species and the subsequent macromolecular damage may be involved in the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of KA.

Epilobium parviflorum Schreb. - in vitro study of biological action

Epilobium parviflorum Schreb. (Onagraceae) is used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is regarded as an endocrine disorder caused by age-related hormone imbalance and increased oxidative damage [1,2,3]. Epilobium can moderate the obstructive and the irritative symptoms of BPH [1] but its biological action is not entirely identified. E. parviflorum is rich in phytosterols, flavonoids (myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol and their glycosides), phenolic acids, catechins, ellagi- and gallotannins [4]. The potential biological effects of Epilobium parviflorum Schreb. have been investigated, in respect to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, enzyme-inhibitory and anti-androgenic effect. The whole-plant water extract showed higher antioxidant effect (IC50=1.65±0.05µg/mL) in DPPH assay than Trolox or ascorbic acid and inhibited the lipid peroxidation examined in TBA assay (IC50=2.31±0.18mg/mL). In concentrations 0.20-15.00µg/mL the extract possessed a protective effect comparable to catalase enzyme (2500 IU/mL), against oxidative damage generated on fibroblast cells. The examination of the COX-inhibitory effect showed that E. parviflorum had an anti-inflammatory effect (IC50=1.38±0.08µg/mL). Investigation of steroid receptor binding ability and the aromatase enzyme-inhibition showed negative results in the concentration range examined.

The missing link between information and action: hastenings and delays as universal reactions to performance feedback

This chapter focuses on what the key decision makers in organizations decide after having received information on the current state of the organizational performance. Because of strong attributions to success and failure, it is impossible to predict in advance which concrete actions will occur. We can however find out what kinds of actions are decided upon by means of an organizational learning model that focuses on the hastenings and delays after performance feedback. As an illustration, the responses to performance signals by trainers and club owners in Dutch soccer clubs are analyzed.