This paper presents a general, consistency-based framework for expressing belief change. The framework has good formal properties while being well-suited for implementation. For belief revision, informally, in revising a knowledge base K by a sentence α, we begin with α and include as much of K as consistently possible. This is done by expressing K and α in disjoint languages, asserting that th...

OBJECTIVE The interindividual variation in platelet α(2)β(1) exceeds a 2-fold variance in platelet α(IIb)β(3) level. Our objective was to parse the contribution of mean platelet volume (MPV) and integrin gene alleles to this variation in large cohorts of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and normal subjects. METHODS AND RESULTS Platelet α(IIb)β(3) and α(2)β(1) levels were measured b...

In this paper two external schema generation algorithms are presented. These algorithms are defined in the framework of the new external schema definition methodology for OODBs put forward in (Samos, 1995); they generate an external schema from a set of classes selected from those existing in an external schema definition repository. Their main characteristic is that they avoid the generation o...

There have been no longitudinal studies on α-synuclein as a potential biomarker for the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, blood plasma 'total α-synuclein' and 'Ser-129 phosphorylated α-synuclein' were assayed at 4-6 monthly intervals from a cohort of 189 newly-diagnosed patients with PD. For log-transformed data, plasma total α-synuclein levels increased with time for up to 20 yrs ...

introduction: inflammation and edema symptoms are physiological response to triggers that can be induced by different mediators such as cytokines. rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of arthritis which is characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane, severe and debilitating pain and progressive cartilage injury. it is clear that cytokines are involved in different sta...

The project management discipline is expanding within many engineering activities. This discipline can facilitate strivings toward successful accomplishment of an engineering project. Therefore, many academic institutes teach the “project management” program. This study presents a novel approach that educates engineering students to become successful project managers based on contextual learnin...

Ambivalence, the presence of positive and negative reactions toward an object, typically involves the subjective experience of conflict. We investigate the role that the perceived validity of each side of an ambivalent attitude plays in producing subjective ambivalence (SA). Consistent with the metacognitive model of attitudes, we demonstrated that SA is reduced when people doubt either the pos...

The functional perspective on attitudes suggests that individuals will be more persuaded by advertisements that match their individual needs or attitude functions. Although previous research provided correlational support for this functional approach, the current study aimed to provide a stronger, experimental test. A pilot study validated situational manipulations of the value-expressive and k...