A Recursive Inclusion Checker for Recursively Defined Subtypes

We present a tableaux procedure that checks logical relations between recursively defined subtypes of recursively defined types and apply this procedure to the problem of resolving ambiguous names in a programming language. This work is part of a project to design a new programming language suitable for efficient implementation of logic. Logical formulas are tree-like structures with many constructors having different arities and argument types. Algorithms that use these structures must perform case analysis on the constructors, and access subtrees whose type and existence depend on the constructor used. In many programming languages, case analysis is handled by matching, but we want to take a different approach, based on recursively defined subtypes. Instead of matching a tree against different constructors, we will classify it by using a set of disjoint subtypes. Subtypes are more general than structural forms based on constructors, we expect that they can be implemented more efficiently, and in addition can be used in static type checking. This makes it possible to use recursively defined subtypes as preconditions or postconditions of functions. We define the types and the subtypes (which we will call adjectives), define their semantics, and give a tableaux-based inclusion checker for adjectives. We show how to use this inclusion checker for resolving ambiguous field references in declarations of adjectives. The same procedure can be used for resolving ambiguous function calls.

Intestinal Recruitment of CCR6-Expressing Th17 Cells By Suppressing miR-681 Alleviates Endotoxemia-Induced Intestinal Injury And Reduces Mortality

BackgroundSepsis or endotoxemia can induce intestinal dysfunction in the epithelial and immune barrier. Th17 cells, a distinct subset of CD4+ T-helper cells, act as “border patrol” in the intestine under pathological condition and in the previous studies, Th17 cells exhibited an ambiguous function in intestinal inflammation. Our study will explore a specific role of Th17 cells and its relevant mechanism in endotoxemia-induced intestinal injury.MethodsLipopolysaccharide was used to establish mouse model of endotoxemia. miR-681 was analyzed by RT-PCR and northern blot analysis and its regulation by HIF-1α was determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay. Intestinal Th17 cells isolated from endotoxemic mice were quantitatively evaluated by flow cytometry and its recruitment to the intestine controlled by miR-681/CCR6 pathway was assessed by using anti-miRNA treatment and CCR6 knockout mice. Intestinal histopathology, villus length, intestinal inflammation, intestinal permeability, bacterial translocation and survival were investigated, by histology and TUNEL analysis, ELISA, measurement of diamine oxidase, bacterial culture, with or without anti-miR-681 treatment in endotoxemic wild-type and (or) CCR6 knockout mice.ResultsIn this study, we found that miR-681 was significantly promoted in intestinal Th17 cells during endotoxemia, which was dependent on hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Interestingly, miR-681 could directly suppress CCR6, which was a critical modulator for Th17 cell recruitment to the intestines. In vivo, anti-miR-681 enhanced survival, increased number of intestinal Th17 cells, reduced crypt and villi apoptosis, decreased intestinal inflammation and bacterial translocation, resulting in protection against endotoxemia-induced intestinal injury in mice. However, CCR6 deficiency could neutralize the beneficial effect of anti-miR-681 on the intestine during endotoxemia, suggesting that the increment of intestinal Th17 cells caused by anti-miR-681 relies on CCR6 expression. ConclusionThe results of the study indicate that control of intestinal Th17 cells by regulating novel miR-681/CCR6 signaling attenuates endotoxemia-induced intestinal injury.

Derrida's Missing Woman

Since Sarah Kofman's death in 1994, many critics have investigated her friendship with Jacques Derrida, and have tried to make sense of its striking dissymmetry. Contrary to those merely deeming Kofman ‘an orthodox Derridean’ (Alice Jardine), thus ascribing to her the unrewarding role of the disciple, Penelope Deutscher and more recently Ginette Michaud, among others, have endeavoured to interpret Derrida's odd silences and omissions regarding Kofman's work in a more subtle manner. Drawing on these readings, this article questions the erasure of ‘Sarah Kofman’ from Derrida's oeuvre by comparing it to the paradoxical effacement of ‘woman’ in the philosopher's texts, arguing that ‘Sarah Kofman’ both as a proper name and as a corpus figures the ‘woman’ missing from Derrida's work. Drawing on the work of feminist critics like Jardine, Miller and Spivak, the article retraces the ambiguous function of ‘woman’ in Derrida's writing, before stressing parallels between ‘Sarah Kofman’ and the Derridean ‘woman’.

Management analysis as part of the internal control environment

Subject. Being a type of the economic analysis, management analysis has not been discussed in the scientific and methodological literature for a long time. Management analysis has an ambiguous function within analytical methods. The contemporary business community clearly prioritizes accounting and analytical techniques by goal. As for the management analysis, its main goal is not always defined, though it relates to the controlling function of governance. That is the subject of the article. Objectives. I provide the rationale that management analysis goals be better understood for purposes of management and internal control. Methods. The study relies upon general methods of research. Using the systems approach and logic summary, I sorted prevailing points of view on the definition of management analysis. Modeling helped sum up the main conclusions. Results. Management analysis was found to serve for management purposes. As long as entities treat their managerial goals as a set of related tasks to be controlled, management analysis seems a means of internal control over the goals and managerial tasks to be accomplished. Conclusions and Relevance. Considering the management analysis in terms of corporate governance, the entity should remember that it is inseparable from control as the critical function of governance. On the contrary, management analysis goals totally depend on control objectives, which are set to help managers understand the extent to which the goals and tasks have been achieved at all levels and by functional departments. The findings are designated to unfold theoretical views on control and its accounting and analytical framework. Management analysis should be understood, since the management needs to choose specific analytical techniques depending on managerial business goals. Therefore, target benchmarks and mechanisms are set to monitor them. The findings can be used for scientific and practical purposes of internal control.

Worlds of last-resort safety nets? A proposed typology of minimum income schemes in Europe

ABSTRACTOver the past twenty years, minimum income schemes (MIS) have undergone major transformations in their functions and role. From mainly residual instruments that aimed to guarantee minimum income support and to prevent extreme marginality, in most countries they now have an ambiguous function of providing income support and favouring social and labour market inclusion. Against this background, this article provides an analytical grid that allows describing the different features of last-resort safety nets across Europe, building on the definition of key main dimensions of variation of MISs in Europe – generosity, eligibility and conditionality requirements, institutional configuration, active inclusion profiles. Then, it introduces a new typology of MIS in Europe, building on a new dataset with data on expenditures and coverage collected from National Statistical Offices.

Inverse Ambiguous Functions and Automorphisms on Finite Groups

If G is a finite group, then a bijective function f : G → G is inverse ambiguous if and only if f(x)−1 = f−1(x) for all x ∈ G. We give a precise description when a finite group admits an inverse ambiguous function and when a finite group admits an inverse ambiguous automorphism.

Informality and Ukrainian higher educational institutions: Happy together?

In post-socialist spaces, informal payments in educational institutions have often been at the centre of anti-corruption campaigns. A direct consequence, so far, has been that reforms in the public sector have largely been based on attempts to eradicate, or at least minimize, the phenomenon of informal payments. Ukraine is no exception. According to several independent surveys, educational institutions are second only to health care providers for the number of informal transactions recorded. While more than two in three of Ukrainians claim to have engaged with informal exchanges in the past 12 months, almost half of them has made an informal payment in an educational institution, be this a university or a school. The goal of this paper is two-fold. First, we explore the nature and relevance of the phenomenon of informal payments in the educational sector. We rely for this on quantitative studies showing how widespread informal payments are. Second, we provide an alternative explanation on informal payments by suggesting that they have an ambiguous function: while often regarded as a legacy of the socialist period, they can also be seen as a way to cope with an ineffective system that is mostly based on informal rules. By doing this we will provide some recommendations on how anti-corruption policies, and in general reforms aimed at decreasing the amount of informal payments in the country, could be improved.