First Order Logic

Understanding the thermal desorption of large molecules from solid surfaces is an important goal in applications such as assembly at surfaces, catalysis, and molecular electronics. The binding energies of n-alkanes on a variety of solid, single-crystal surfaces have been characterized experimentally with temperature-programmed desorption. On several surfaces, the binding energy is observed to increase with increasing chain length in a

The Curie-Weiss Potts model is a mean field version of the well-known Potts model. In this model, the critical line β = βc(h) is explicitly known and corresponds to a first order transition when q > 2. In the present paper we describe the fluctuations of the density vector in the whole domain β 0 and h 0, including the conditional fluctuations on the critical line and the non-Gaussian fluctuations at the extremity of the critical line. The probabilities of each of the two thermodynamically stable states on the critical line are also computed. Similar results are inferred for the Random-Cluster model on the complete graph.

The kinetics a nd mec hanis m of the ho moge neollsly Pd (lI ) cata lysed oxidati o n of D-arabinose (Arb) and D-ribose (Ri b) by N-bro moacetamide (NBA) in perchloric ac id med ium , usin g mercuric acetate as scavenger for Br io ns as well as cocatalyst have been investigated in the te mperature range 308-32 3 K. T he kineti c res ults ex hibit tlrst o rder kinetics at low [NBAJ and [sugars) (A rb a nd Rib), te nd towa rd s zero-order at hi gh INBA) and [sugars]. The o xidati o n rate is direct ly proportional to lPd(I1 )]. while in verse fractiona l o rder in cach of [W] , [e r] and racetamide] is obse rved. A positive effect o n the rate of the reacti o n has been found o n the successive add iti o n of [H g(OAc) 2]' whe reas c ha nge in the ion ic stre ngth (11 ) o f the medium does not intlue nce the reacti o n rate. Formi c acid and D-e rythro nic acid for the o xida ti o n of both Arb and Rib ha ve been identified as main oxidation produc ts of the reactio ns. The vari o us ac tivati o n parameters have also bee n evaluated. A pl ausible mechanism involving reaction sto ic hi o metry. produ ct analysis has also be.:n proposed.

Urban stormwater runoff, which consists of inorganic and organic contaminants, is a major source of pollutants to receiving waters and therefore they need to be removed. Simultaneous removal of contaminants, Cd 2+ , Cu 2+ , Ni 2+ , Zn 2+ (heavy metal cations), and SeO 4 2-(oxyanion) from a simulated stormwater by a hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) was studied in batch and column sorption experiments. In the batch experiment the rate of sorption of the ions was rapid at the beginning and reached equilibrium in approximately 300 min. The amounts of ions sorbed were proportionate to the respective initial concentration of the ions added to the HFO. Cluster analysis showed that all heavy metals had similar sorption behavior, whereas Se had a distinctly different sorption process. Of the three different kinetic models tested the pseudo-first order kinetic model fitted the data the best. The column experimental results beyond 180 min were consistent with those of the batch experiment that the removal efficiencies of the ions were in proportion to the ion concentration in the feed. Below 180 min, Cu appeared to be preferentially removed than Zn.

We present results of numerical studies of the two dimensional XY model with four and eight fold symmetry breaking fields. This model has recently been shown to describe hydrogen induced reconstruction on the W (100) surface. Based on mean-field and renormalization group arguments, we first show how the interplay between the anisotropy fields can give rise to different phase transitions in the model. When the fields are compatible with each other there is a continuous phase transition when the fourth order field is varied from negative to positive values. This transition becomes discontinuous at low temperatures. These two regimes are separated by a multicritical point. In the case of competing four and eight fold fields, the first order transition at low temperatures opens up into two Ising transitions. We then use numerical methods to accurately locate the position of the multicritical point, and to verify the nature of the transitions. The different techniques used include Monte Carlo histogram methods combined with finite size scaling analysis, the real space Monte Carlo Renormalization Group method, and the Monte Carlo Transfer Matrix method. Our numerical results are in good agreement with the theoretical arguments.

The aim of this paper is to show a method that is able to detect a particular class of semantic inconsistencies in a deductive system (DS). A DS verified by this method contains a set of production rules, and an OWL Lite ontology that defines the problem domain. The antecedent of a rule is a formula in Disjunctive Normal Form, which encompasses first-order literals and linear arithmetic constraints, and the consequent is a list of actions that can add or delete assertions in a non-monotonic manner. By building an ATMS-like theory the method is able to give a specification of all the initial Fact Bases (FBs), and the rules that would have to be executed from these initial FBs to produce an inconsistency.

Nondeterministic programming within the frame of first order classical logic, Part 1 By T. Gergely and L. Úry 1. Introduction 1.1 Nondeterminism in computer science In computer practice a lot of phenomena have arisen that deviate from the deterministic attitude forming the base of ...

This dissertation examines several of the problems that Hilbert discovered in the foundations of mathematics, from a metalogical perspective. The problems manifest themselves in four different aspects of Hilbert’s views: (i) Hilbert’s axiomatic approach to the foundations of mathematics; (ii) His response to criticisms of set theory; (iii) His response to intuitionist criticisms of classical mathematics; (iv) Hilbert’s contribution to the specification of the role of logical inference in mathematical reasoning. This dissertation argues that Hilbert’s axiomatic approach was guided primarily by model theoretical concerns. Accordingly, the ultimate aim of his consistency program was to prove the model-theoretical consistency of mathematical theories. It turns out that for the purpose of carrying out such consistency proofs, a suitable modification of the ordinary first-order logic is needed. To effect this modification, independence-friendly logic is needed as the appropriate conceptual framework. It is then shown how the model theoretical consistency of arithmetic can be proved by using IF logic as its basic logic. Hilbert’s other problems, manifesting themselves as aspects (ii), (iii), and (iv)—most notably the problem of the status of the axiom of choice, the problem of the role of the law of excluded middle, and the problem of giving an elementary account of quantification—can likewise be approached by using the resources of IF logic. It is shown that by means of IF logic one can carry out Hilbertian solutions to all these problems. The two major results concerning aspects (ii), (iii) and (iv) are the following: (a) The axiom of choice is a logical principle; (b) The law of excluded middle divides metamathematical methods into elementary and non-elementary ones. It is argued that these results show that IF logic helps to vindicate Hilbert’s nominalist philosophy of mathematics. On the basis of an elementary approach to logic, which enriches the expressive resources of ordinary first-order logic, this dissertation shows how the different problems that Hilbert discovered in the foundations of mathematics can be solved.

In , Duchêne and Rigo introduced the notion of invariance for take-away games on heaps. Roughly speaking, these are games whose rulesets do not depend on the position. Given a sequence S of positive tuples of integers, the question of whether there exists an invariant game having S as set of P-positions is relevant. In particular, it was recently proved by Larsson et al. [23] that if S is a pair of complementary Beatty sequences, then the answer to this question is always positive. In this paper, we show that for a fairly large set of sequences (expressed by infinite words), the answer to this question is decidable.

During the last several years, lidar has become a widely used technique for data collection from the earth surface and vegetation canopy being the large volume of high density lidar data the main drawback for its interpretation and analysis. In addition, parcelbased segmentation of high-resolution remotely sensed data can provide convenient and useful spatial and structural information. In this paper, a methodology for semi-automatic updating of forest land use/land cover geo-spatial databases, using high spatial resolution imagery and lidar data, is presented. High spatial resolution multispectral imagery and low density lidar data (0.5 points/m 2 ) has been employed. Cartographic limits from a cadastre geospatial database have been used in order to segment the territory and create analysis objects. The objects are characterized using a set of descriptive features: spectral, structural, shape and texture features computed from the multispectral image. These features are combined with 3D features derived from lidar data: density profiles based indices and statistics from point cloud, intensity values and normalized digital surface models. The lidar descriptive features proposed provide a more intuitive interpretation of the vegetation canopy structure than the raw data. The classification is performed using the decision trees technique combined with the boosting multi-classifier. Classification assessment is done by using ground truth data.

Electrochemical etching of amorphous SiC in fluoride solution was studied. Anodic dissolution and passivation are observed for p-type electrodes under dark illumination. The dissolution of p-type a-Si 1 À x C x is found to be under mixed transport/kinetic control; the diffusion current is of first order in fluoride concentration. Porous etching was not observed in this case. The surface finish of 6H-SiC depends on the experimental conditions; both uniform and porous etching is observed. In this paper, we report the formation of porous p-type amorphous SiC (a-Si 1 À x C x ) films, elaborated previously by DC magnetron sputtering and analyze the porous layers (PSC) using scanning electron microscopy, spectrophotometer and photoluminescence. The crystal structures and the preparation conditions of porous SiC are shown to have an effect on the structural and electrical properties of the material obtained. SEM observation indicates that the porous a-Si 1 À x C x layers have shown some specific feature; a semi-cylindrical structure of the porous network has been observed.

The voltammetric response of a first-order catalytic mechanism at disc electrodes has been studied under transient and stationary conditions and compared with that obtained at spherical electrodes. From the analytical solutions here presented we demonstrate that the expression for the current is given by the product of a potential-dependent function and a function of time, the electrode size, shape, and the chemical kinetics. This fact is physically insightful since it shows that the dimensionless current-potential curve is independent of time, the geometry of the electrode and the chemical kinetics, being identical to that corresponding to a reversible E mechanism both under transient and stationary conditions. Analytical equations for a catalytic mechanism at disc electrodes were only available under limiting current conditions. The steady state cyclic voltammetric response is also analyzed, describing three different situations where a time-independent response is attained in function of the electrode size and the kinetics of the regeneration reaction. Necessary and sufficient mathematical conditions to obtain constant equivalence relationships in voltammetric techniques at electrodes of any geometry are given and applied to the time-independent voltammetric curves obtained for a first-order catalytic mechanism at disc and hemispherical electrodes of any size.

The kinetics of oxidation of iota-and lambda-carrageenan as sulfated carbohydrates by permanganate ion in aqueous perchlorate solutions at a constant ionic strength of 2.0 mol dm3 have been investigated spectrophotometrically. The pseudofirst-order plots were found to be of inverted S-shape throughout the entire courses of reactions. The initial rates were found to be relatively slow in the early stages, followed by an increase in the oxidation rates over longer time periods. The experimental observations showed first-order dependences in permanganate and fractional first-order kinetics with respect to both carrageenans concentration for both the induction and autoacceleration periods. The results obtained at various hydrogen ion concentrations showed that the oxidation processes in these redox systems are acid-catalyzed throughout the two stages of oxidation reactions. The added salts lead to the prediction that MnIII is the reactive species throughout the autoacceleration periods. Kinetic evidence for the formation of 1:1 intermediate complexes was revealed. The kinetic parameters have been evaluated and tentative reaction mechanisms in good agreement with the kinetic results are discussed.

We present a selective backtracking method for Horn clause programs, as applied to Prolog (2)[8) (11)[12], a programming language based on first-order predicate calculus (3)(4)~ developed at the university of Marseille (18]. This method is based on the general method expounded in (7] for backtracking intelligently in AND/OR trees. It consists, essentially, in avoiding backtracking to any goal whose alternative solutions cannot possibly prevent the repetition of the failures which caused backtracking. This is a renewed version of an earlier report (8), which was spurred by the work of Bruynooghe (1). In (g] we present an implementation of a selective backtracking interpreter using the methods discussed in this paper.

This paper describes a prototype knowledge based system which answers English questions about some of the products supplied by a garden store. The system answers questions such as what can I use to kill snails ? is there anything I can use that will fertilize my lawn ? what can I use to kill weeds in my lawn in spring ? • does product A kill dandelions in less than 20 days ? in less than one second each, and it produces a helpful phrase when it cannot answer a question. The syntax, semantics and knowledge needed by the system are written in the language Prolog. The behavior of the system indicates that Prolog appears to be a good language for the construction of practical knowledge based systems which can answer questions in ordinary English.

Nanoscale zerovalent copper supported on a cation resin was successfully synthesized to enhance the removal of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) from contaminated water. The use of the cation resin as a support prevents the reduction of surface area due to agglomeration of nanoscale zerovalent copper particles. Moreover, the cation resin recycles the copper ions resulting from the reaction between CCl 4 and Cu 0 by simultaneous ion exchange. The decline in the amount of CCl 4 in aqueous solution results from the combined effects of degradation by nanoscale zerovalent copper and sorption by the cation resin; thus the amount of CCl 4 both in aqueous solution and sorbed onto the resin were measured. The pseudo-first-order rate constant normalized by the surface-area and the mass concentration of nanoscale zerovalent copper (k SA ) was 2.1 ± 0.1 • 10 À2 l h À1 m À2 , approximately twenty times that of commercial powdered zerovalent copper (0.04 mm). Due to the exchange between Cu 2+ and the strongly acidic ions (H + or Na + ), the pH was between 3 and 4 in unbuffered solution and Cu 2+ at the concentration of less than 0.1 mg l À1 was measured after the dechlorination reaction. In the above-ground application, resin as a support would facilitate the development of a process that could be designed for convenient emplacement and regeneration of porous reductive medium.

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Knowledge about the root system structure and the uptake efficiency of root orders is critical to understand the adaptive plasticity of plants towards salt stress. Thus, this study describes the phenological and physiological plasticity of Citrus volkameriana rootstocks under severe NaCl stress on the level of root orders. Phenotypic root traits known to influence uptake processes, for example frequency of root orders, specific root area, cortical thickness, and xylem traits, did not change homogeneously throughout the root system, but changes after 6 months under 90 mM NaCl stress were root order specific. Chloride accumulation significantly increased with decreasing root order, and the Cl 2 concentration in lower root orders exceeded those in leaves. Water flux densities of firstorder roots decreased to <20% under salinity and did not recover after stress release. The water flux densities of higher root orders changed marginally under salinity and increased 2-to 6-fold in second and third root orders after short-term stress release. Changes in root order frequency, morphology, and anatomy indicate rapid and major modification of C. volkameriana root systems under salt stress. Reduced water uptake under salinity was related to changes of water flux densities among root orders and to reduced root surface areas. The importance of root orders for water uptake changed under salinity from root tips towards higher root orders. The root order-specific changes reflect differences in vulnerability (indicated by the salt accumulation) and ontogenetic status, and point to functional differences among root orders under high salinity.

Jack the educator. The Syracuse Mathematics Department is housed in Carnegy Library. Imagine heavy snowfall and a slim, tall figure approaching the Carnegy building, propping the heavy door open with one knee while his hands are busy shaking the snow off the Daily Orange (SU student newspaper) and the figure seemingly freezing in this position for as long as it takes to read the front page article. For SU students this is a familiar image of Jack E. Graver, always interested in students and always finding time to read their news. Jack the administrator. A surprisingly deep dark voice resonating from the chairman's office inside Carnegie singing "Nobody knows the trouble I have seen, nobody knows my sorrows" is another image of Jack E. Graver. Jack the researcher. The mathematician Graver is described on MathSciNet by publication in the areas of biology and other natural sciences, combinatorics, convex and discrete geometry, game theory, economics, social and behavioral sciences, geometry manifolds and cell complexes, operations research, mathematical programming, probability theory and stochastic processes. Graver received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1964 under Andrew Hugh Wallace. His dissertation's title was "An Analytic Triangulation of an Arbitrary Real Analytic Variety", the field algebraic topology. It is remarkable that the 1964 paper [3] of the same title is cited more than once in this millennium. In 1966 he cashed an Erdös check for results in [8], a paper that may be called his first major work (cited more than 10 times in this millennium!). Because of this paper, written with Jim Yackel at Dartmouth ( John Wesley Young Research Instructor), Jack Graver is known as a Ramsey Theorist. From 1966 to present, he teaches at Syracuse University. Why Syracuse? Because I felt at home here, he says. In 1975 he published On the foundations of linear and integer linear programming I [4], a paper that turned his name into an adjective. On Wickipedia you can read up on Graver bases, but if you want a more reliable source, try , where the relationship of Gröbner bases to Hilbert bases and Graver bases is presented. If you look for On the foundations of linear and integer linear programming II, you need to read Amir Fourudi's thesis, one of Jack Graver's 9 (so far) Ph.D. students -Jack himself was handicapped by his 1977-1994 chairmanship. However, despite administrative duties, his collaboration with Mark Watkins turned him to Graph Theory, as major contributions to the field. A fortunate diversion into Architecture produced not only a novel and unusual text [1], but awoke Jack's interest in rigidity of frameworks and he promoted matroids as a major tool in a colloquium talk that changed my life. I became his Ph.D. student, one of four simultaneously supervised by an acting chair. We did not fight over mathematical issues as Jack had all four of us work on totally disjoint topics, we merely fought for being next in line to enter the chairman's office. Combinatorial rigidity [2] (100 citations) is to this very day the focus of my research. xix Meanwhile Jack has moved on to new Ph.D. students and new topics, namely, Fullerenes . When asked about retirement he justifies the non-existence of plans by stating with a smile: "Normally people retire around 65, but next year will be only my 50 th year at SU, so I have some time to think about that." There's more to life than math-there is family, scouting, Shakespeare, gardening, fine dining, stories. Whenever you tell him a story, Jack will tell you a funnier and better one than you have ever heard. We have told but a small part of an interesting life to which we may look up to for future inspiration.

Jack the educator. The Syracuse Mathematics Department is housed in Carnegy Library. Imagine heavy snowfall and a slim, tall figure approaching the Carnegy building, propping the heavy door open with one knee while his hands are busy shaking the snow off the Daily Orange (SU student newspaper) and the figure seemingly freezing in this position for as long as it takes to read the front page article. For SU students this is a familiar image of Jack E. Graver, always interested in students and always finding time to read their news.

In [A. Guessab, O. Nouisser, G. Schmeisser, Multivariate approximation by a combination of modified Taylor polynomials, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 196 (2006) 162-179], a general method is proposed to increase the approximation order of approximation operators. In this work, by using these enhancement techniques, we introduce and study new schemes based on a C 1 -spline quasi-interpolant on a type-2 triangulation. They are designed for approximating real-valued functions defined on R 2 . The proposed method is based on the following idea: from a discrete quasi-interpolant defined by the quadratic box-spline exact on P 2 and by judiciously choosing the first-order Taylor coefficients, we derive a cubic differential quasi-interpolant yielding optimal approximation order. In addition, when the derivatives are not available or are extremely expensive to compute, we approximate them by finite difference approximations having the desired accuracy to derive a new class of discrete quasi-interpolants. As an essential difference to some of the existing methods, we only use the given data values and, then, we do not modify the original triangulation. Finally, we present some numerical tests which confirm the efficiency of the newly quasi-interpolant and demonstrate good visual quality. In particular, we compare it with a differential quasi-interpolant done by Lai [M.-J. Lai, Approximation order from bivariate C 1 -cubics on a four-directional mesh is full, Comput. Aided Geom. Design 11 (2) (1994) [215][216][217][218][219][220][221][222][223] which is also exact on P 3 but uses third order partial derivatives.

We introduce a refinement strategy to bring the parallel performance analysis closer to the user. The analysis starts with a simple high-level performance model. It is based on first-order approximations, in terms of the logical constituents of the parallel program and characteristics of the system. This model is then gradually refined with more detailed low-level performance aspects, to explain divergences from a 'normal', linear regime. We use a causal model to structure the relations between all variables involved. The approach intends to serve as a link between detailed performance data and the developer. It is demonstrated with a parallel matrix multiplication algorithm.

The design of the first Real-Time-Tomographic-Holography (RTTH) optical system for augmented-reality applications is presented. RTTH places a viewpoint-independent real-time (RT) virtual image (VI) of an object into its actual location, enabling natural hand-eye coordination to guide invasive procedures, without requiring tracking or a head-mounted device. The VI is viewed through a narrow-band Holographic Optical Element (HOE) with built-in power that generates the largest possible near-field, in-situ VI from a small display chip without noticeable parallax error or obscuring direct view of the physical world. Rigidly fixed upon a medicalultrasound probe, RTTH could show the scan in its actual location inside the patient, because the VI would move with the probe. We designed the image source along with the system-optics, allowing us to ignore both planer geometric distortions and field curvature, respectively compensated by using RT pre-processing software and attaching a custom-surfaced fiber-optic-faceplate (FOFP) to our image source. Focus in our fast, non-axial system was achieved by placing correcting lenses near the FOFP and custom-optically-fabricating our volumephase HOE using a recording beam that was specially shaped by extra lenses. By simultaneously simulating and optimizing the system's playback performance across variations in both the total playback and HOE-recording optical systems, we derived and built a design that projects a 104x112 mm planar VI 1 m from the HOE using a laser-illuminated 19x16 mm LCD+FOFP image-source. The VI appeared fixed in space and well focused. Viewpoint-induced location errors were <3 mm, and unexpected first-order astigmatism produced 3 cm (3% of 1 m) ambiguity in depth, typically unnoticed by human observers.

The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), a longitudinal investigation of a diverse sample of 1,700 fifth graders and 1,117 of their parents, tests developmental contextual ideas linking PYD, youth contributions, and participation in community youth development (YD) programs, representing a key ecological asset. Using data from Wave 1 of the study, structural equation modeling procedures provided evidence for five firstorder latent factors representing the “Five Cs” of PYD (competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring) and for their convergence on a second-order PYD latent construct. A theoretical construct, youth contribution, was also created and examined. Both PYD and YD program participation independently related to contribution. The importance of longitudinal analyses for extending the present results is discussed.

We present a framework for processing formulas in automatic theorem provers, with generation of detailed proofs. The main components are a generic contextual recursion algorithm and an extensible set of inference rules. Clausification, skolemization, theory-specific simplifications, and expansion of 'let' expressions are instances of this framework. With suitable data structures, proof generation adds only a linear-time overhead, and proofs can be checked in linear time. We implemented the approach in the SMT solver veriT. This allowed us to dramatically simplify the code base while increasing the number of problems for which detailed proofs can be produced, which is important for independent checking and reconstruction in proof assistants.

It is shown how tools from the area of Model Theory, specically from the Theory of o-minimality, can be used to prove that a class of functions is VC- subgraph (in the sense of Dudley (1987)), and therefore satises a uniform poly- nomial metric entropy bound. We give examples where the use of these methods signicantly improves the existing metric entropy bounds. The methods proposed here can be applied to nite dimensional parametric families of functions without the need for the parameters to live in a compact set, as is sometimes required in the- orems that produce similar entropy bounds (for instance Theorem 19.7 of van der Vaart (1998)).

We present the results of a neutron diffraction study of the antiferromagnet MnO embedded in a porous glass. The type of magnetic ordering and the structural distortion are similar to those of the bulk, but the ordered magnetic moment of 3.84͑4͒m B ͞ion is strongly reduced and the Néel temperature is enhanced. The magnetic transition is second order, in contrast to the first order transition of the bulk. The size of the magnetic region is smaller than the average size of the nanoparticles. The reasons for this behavior are discussed.

We have previously characterized the trafficking of transferrin (Tf) through HEp2 human carcinoma cells (Ghosh, R. N., D. L. Gelman, and F. R. Maxfield, 1994. J. Cell Sci. 107:2177-2189). Early endosomes in these cells are comprised of both sorting endosomes and recycling compartments, which are distinct separate compartments. Endocytosed Tf initially appears in punctate sorting endosomes that also contain recently endocytosed LDL. After short loading pulses, Tf rapidly sorts from LDL with first-order kinetics (t1/2 approximately 2.5 min), and it enters the recycling compartment before leaving the cell (t1/2 approximately 7 min). Here, we report a second, slower rate for Tf to leave sorting endosomes after HEp2 cells were labeled to steady state with fluorescein Tf instead of the brief pulse used previously. We determined this rate using digital image analysis to measure the Tf content of sorting endosomes that also contained LDL. With an 11-min chase, the Tf in sorting endosomes wa...

We generalize the classical notion of Vapnik-Chernovenkis (VC) dimension to ordinal VC-dimension, in the context of logical learning paradigms. Logical learning paradigms encompass the numerical learning paradigms commonly studied in Inductive Inference. A logical learning paradigm is defined as a set W of structures over some vocabulary, and a set D of first-order formulas that represent data. The sets of models of in W, where varies over D, generate a natural topology W over W. We show that if D is closed under boolean operators, then the notion of ordinal VC-dimension offers a perfect characterization for the problem of predicting the truth of the members of D in a member of W, with an ordinal bound on the number of mistakes. This shows that the notion of VC-dimension has a natural interpretation in Inductive Inference, when cast into a logical setting. We also study the relationships between predictive complexity, selective complexity-a variation on predictive complexity-and mind change complexity. The assumptions that D is closed under boolean operators and that W is compact often play a crucial role to establish connections between these concepts. We then consider a computable setting with effective versions of the complexity measures, and show that the equivalence between ordinal VC-dimension and predictive complexity fails. More precisely, we prove that the effective ordinal VC-dimension of a paradigm can be defined when all other effective notions of complexity are undefined. On a better note, when W is compact, all effective notions of complexity are defined, though they are not related as in the noncomputable version of the framework.

This work introduces a framework for the creation and analysis of efficient gaits for legged systems based on the exploitation of natural dynamics. It summarizes the theory behind hybrid dynamic modeling, the identification of optimal periodic motions with single shooting and direct collocation, and the analysis of first order stability. Three examples introduce various aspects of gait creation and analysis: a stability study of a passive dynamic walker determines the ideal position of the leg's center of mass, the cost of transportation is minimized for a prismatic monopod hopper based on series elastic actuators, and a basic controller is created for the model of a bounding robot. The presented tools and examples are freely available at www.asl.ethz.ch/people/cremy/personal/GaitCreation.

Resumo: Experimentos de cinética, isoterma e equilíbrio termodinâmico, referentes à adsorção do corante têxtil violeta 5R Remazol sobre quitosana em meio aquoso, foram estudados neste trabalho, além da caracterização do material adsorvente. Os métodos de caracterização utilizados foram: IV, TG, DR-X e MEV. As adsorções foram realizadas variando-se a concentração do corante (construção das isotermas), o tempo (testes de cinética), a temperatura (nos experimentos termodinâmicos) e o pH do meio. Os resultados de pH indicaram a melhor faixa de adsorção entre 4,0 e 6,0. A cinética reacional se baseia numa lei de pseudo-segunda ordem e a isoterma está de acordo com o modelo de Langmuir, sugerindo a quimiossorção como modelo de adsorção. Os resultados de ∆G° sempre apresentaram valores negativos nas temperaturas estudadas, indicando espontaneidade nesses processos. Já os valores positivos de ∆H° e ∆S° sugerem que a adsorção é um processo endotérmico com aumento na desordem do sistema. Palavras-chave: Quitosana. Biopolímeros. Adsorção. Corantes têxteis.

Indeterminate forms such as ∞-∞ and 0 • ∞ are usually dismissed as undefined, yet they arise naturally in calculus, analysis, and symbolic computation. Motivated by the question of whether these forms could be given structure, I introduce a new symbol, σ, and explore its behavior within a consistent algebraic framework. I drafted axioms for σ, tested multiple approaches that led to contradictions, and ultimately developed the pair model, which satisfies the axioms and avoids collapse. I also prove basic lemmas about σ, compare the system to other extensions of the reals, and reflect on its potential use in symbolic computation and mathematics education.

Abstract
In this article, we embark on a scientific and literary journey to reveal how our environment can serve as a source of silent illnesses that hinder us from realizing our full potential. We examine common psychological and physical disorders—such as chronic anxiety and social phobia—and directly link them to the effects of negative environmental influences. Beyond identifying the problem, the article offers a practical guide to constructing a "psychological fortress" through simple yet effective strategies for designing a supportive environment that fosters comfort and creativity. Finally, the discussion is reinforced with scientific evidence from empirical studies, demonstrating that inner peace is not merely a feeling, but a direct outcome of the environment one deliberately creates.

We discuss the generalized Plateau problem in the 3+1 dimensional Schwarzschild background. This represents the physical situation, which could for instance have appeared in the early universe, where a cosmic membrane (thin domain wall) is located near a black hole. Considering stationary axially symmetric membranes, three different membrane-topologies are possible depending on the boundary conditions at infinity: 2+1 Minkowski topology, 2+1 wormhole topol-

The isomerization of 3-buten-2-ol to butanone catalyzed by Ru(II)Cp-complexes (Cp = g 5 -cyclopentadienyl) with phosphine and amine ligands is described. The reaction catalyzed by [RuCp(MeCN) 3 ](PF 6 ) and two equivalents of triphenylphospine is first order in substrate with a k ini of 0.43 h À1 and an initial TOF of 13,000 h À1 . The catalyst precursor complex [RuClCp(dppb)] (dppb = bis(diphenylphosphino)butane) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction. This compound features a seven-membered ring incorporating the ruthenium centre and the dppb ligand. Combination of two equivalents of primary, secondary or tertiary amines and [RuCp(MeCN) 3 ](PF 6 ) results in active catalyst precursors. Within each group, increasing the bulk of the ligand gives lower isomerization rates. The combined effects of optimal pK a , nucleophilicity and steric bulk make RuCp-complexes with secondary amines the most active precursors. With di-n-butylamine, 745 turnovers can be reached after 1 h. 31 P NMR spectra indicate that the resting state in the catalytic cycle is a complex in which 3-buten-2-ol is g 2 -coordinated through the alkene moiety. This implies that coordination of the oxygen moiety and concomitant b-hydrogen abstraction is the rate-limiting step. A counterintuitive result is that allylic alcohols bind stronger to RuCp complexes with phosphine ligands than dienes. Inhibition of the catalyst appears to be a result of interaction of the diene with a ruthenium-allyl alcohol complex, which is sufficiently strong to prevent coordination of the oxygen moiety of the allylic alcohol. This hinders orientation of the allylic alcohol substrate in a suitable way to undergo b-hydrogen abstraction, thereby blocking isomerization catalysis.

We present a technique for finding security vulnerabilities in Web applications. SQL Injection (SQLI) and crosssite scripting (XSS) attacks are widespread forms of attack in which the attacker crafts the input to the application to access or modify user data and execute malicious code. In the most serious attacks (called second-order, or persistent, XSS), an attacker can corrupt a database so as to cause subsequent users to execute malicious code. This paper presents an automatic technique for creating inputs that expose SQLI and XSS vulnerabilities. The technique generates sample inputs, symbolically tracks taints through execution (including through database accesses), and mutates the inputs to produce concrete exploits. Ours is the first analysis of which we are aware that precisely addresses second-order XSS attacks. Our technique creates real attack vectors, has few false positives, incurs no runtime overhead for the deployed application, works without requiring modification of application code, and handles dynamic programming-language constructs. We implemented the technique for PHP, in a tool A. We evaluated A on five PHP applications and found 68 previously unknown vulnerabilities (23 SQLI, 33 first-order XSS, and 12 second-order XSS).

The effect of pH and temperature on the stability and visual colour of aqueous anthocyanin (ACY) extracts from purple-and red-flesh potatoes was evaluated and compared to commercial ACY extracts from grape and purple carrot. Extracts from purple carrot and redflesh potatoes showed higher stability than grape and purple-flesh potato extracts. Stability to pH (63) and thermal degradation of extracts (pH 3) followed first-order kinetics. Changes in lightness and hue followed zero-order kinetics, while changes in chroma followed first-order kinetics. Degradation parameters such as t 1/2 , k-, D-, z-and Q 10 -values were determined. Extracts from red-and purple-flesh potatoes at pH 3 showed similar hues to FD&C Red #40 and red cabbage extracts, respectively. The visual colour of both potato ACY extracts was also affected by tinctorial strength. The use of purple-and red-flesh potatoes as a source of natural colorants shows potential use in the pH region around 3.

The existence and multiplicity of positive periodic solutions for first non-autonomous singular systems are established with superlinearity or sublinearity assumptions at infinity for an appropriately chosen parameter. The proof of our results is based on the Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem in a cone.

Structure-property relationships for methyl-terminated alkyl self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are developed using near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). NEXAFS C K-edge spectra are used to compute the dichroic ratio, which provides a quantitative measure of the molecular structure. AFM data are analyzed with an elastic adhesive contact model, modified by a first-order elastic perturbation method to include substrate effects, to extract the monolayer mechanical properties. Using this approach, the measured mechanical properties are not influenced by the substrate, which allows universal structure-property relationships to be developed for methyl-terminated alkyl SAMs.

Alpaca fibre has potential uses in textile and fashion field as a specialty luxurious fibre for high end garments. For such applications, the alpaca fleece needs to be processed to produce a clean, high quality, fine, uniformly sized fibres based products such as roving and yarn. Prior to processing mechanically in the mills the fleece were cleaned, washed and dried for further studies. In this processing investigation alpaca fleece washed with consumer detergents combining with dehumidification drying enhanced the fibre processing with respect to opening, carding, and spinning and improved the quality of the roving and yarn in terms color, glossiness, and strength. Alpaca fleeces were processed using Belfast Mini-mills fibre processing equipments. The alpaca was processed through a series five machines to produce the fine, clean, and uniform fibres required for a textile industries. It is also found that proper processing steps reduce the wastage (<10%) of fibre during processing. Impact of the proper fibre handling produces good quality product (roving, yarn). The processing of alpaca fibre is a very important for sustainability of alpaca industries in Canada. The challenges faced by the alpaca producers are due to lack of processing facilities and knowledge

used to interpret results from solute transport experiments. For certain conditions (e.g., negligible matrix In two-domain schematizations of macroporous soils or fractured domain flux, steady-state water flow and instantaneous rock systems, lateral mass exchange between macropores and the soil matrix is generally modeled as an apparent first-order process. With adsorption), the transfer rate coefficients for solute (␣ s ) respect to lateral diffusion, the system is thus characterized by a single can be determined from moment analysis of the concenparameter, the transfer rate coefficient, which is difficult to estimate tration breakthrough curve (BTC) (e.g., . a priori. We conducted water infiltration experiments in a laboratory This methodology was tested by Hu and Brusseau (1995) column with an artificial macropore. The novel design of the experiin a series of leaching experiments through artificial soil mental setup allowed us to discriminate between matrix flow and columns. The authors explored different aggregate gemacropore flow, from which we could estimate the water exchange flux ometries, for which theoretical expressions of the transbetween the two domains. Most of the parameters in a dual-permeabilfer coefficients are available, and with most of the paity model could be determined independently of the experimental rameters of the two-region Mobile-Immobile Model data. In particular, a theoretical expression for the transfer rate coeffi-(MIM) (van Genuchten and Wierenga, 1976) detercient was derived by assuming lateral water and solute diffusion to be similar processes. Numerical analysis of the water exchange process mined independently of the data. revealed that the transfer coefficient depended also on the macropore In more general cases, for example when water moves conductivity. When this dependency was taken into account, the model through both the matrix and the macropore regions, reproduced the experimental data reasonably well.

We show that in the presence of a slowly rotating strong transverse magnetic field there is an infinite spectrum of harmonic wave functions An due to the first order QED correction (in α 2 ) given by the Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian. The frequency shifts are integer multiples ±ω0 n of the magnetic field angular frequency rotation ω0 = 2πνm and the several modes n are coupled to the nearest harmonics n ± 1. This is a new effect due to QED vacuum fluctuations, not exploit before, that can explain, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the recent experimental results of the PVLAS collaboration without the need of a low mass intermediate particle, hence may dismiss the recent claim of the discovery of the axion.

The paper discusses several first-order modal logics that extend the classical predicate calculus. The model theory involves possible worlds with world-variable domains. The logics rely on the philosophical tenet known as serious actualism in that within modal contexts they allow existential generalization from atomic formulae. The language may or may not have a sign of identity, includes no primitive existence predicate, and has individual constants. Some logics correspond to various standard constraints on the accessibility relation, while others correspond to various constraints on the domains of the worlds. Soundness and strong completeness are proved in every case; a novel method is used for proving completeness.