Disjunctive logic programming with types and objects: The DLV system

The paper presents DLV⁺, a Disjunctive Logic Programming (DLP) system with object-oriented constructs, including classes, objects, (multiple) inheritance, and types. DLV⁺ is built on top of DLV (a state-of-the art DLP system), and provides a graphical user interface that allows one to specify, update, browse, query, and reason on knowledge bases. Two strong points of the system are the powerful type-checking mechanism and the advanced interface for visual querying.DLV⁺ is already used for the development of knowledge based applications for information extraction and text classification.     

Spousal caregiver confidence and recovery from ambulatory activity limitations in stroke survivors.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether spousal confidence in care-recipient recovery can predict recovery from activity limitations following stroke and how spousal confidence relates to stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery. DESIGN: A prospective design was used. Measures were gathered from stroke survivor/spouse dyads at two time points, both postdischarge from the hospital following stroke (N=109). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The dependent variable was recovery from ambulatory activity limitations over 6 weeks, as measured by the Functional Limitations Profile. A single spousal confidence item was tailored to an ambulatory behavior that the stroke survivors could not perform at Time 1. RESULTS: Spousal confidence was correlated with ambulation recovery (r=-0.23, p<.05) and stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery (r=.25, p<.05). Higher spousal confidence was associated with a better recovery and greater stroke survivor self-efficacy for recovery, but not with initial health status or practical support received. CONCLUSION: The relationship between caregiver confidence, care-recipient self-efficacy for recovery, and recovery outcomes needs further elucidation.     

ENTHEOGENS,MYSTICISM, AND NEUROSCIENCE

Entheogens or psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are associated with mystical states of experience. Drug laws currently limit research, but important new work is under way at major biomedical research facilities showing that entheogens reliably occasion mystical experiences and thereby allow research into brain states during these experiences. Are drug‐occasioned mystical experiences neurologically the same as more traditional mystical states? Are there phenomenological and theological differences? As this research goes forward and the public becomes more widely aware of its achievements, religious scholars and experts in science and religion will be called upon to interpret the philosophical and theological presuppositions that underpin this research and the significance of the findings that flow from it.     

Biases in attention and interpretation in adolescents with varying levels of anxiety and depression

ABSTRACT

This is the first study to investigate multiple cognitive biases in adolescence simultaneously, to examine whether anxiety and depression are associated with biases in attention and interpretation, and whether these biases are able to predict unique variance in self-reported levels of anxiety and depression. A total of 681 adolescents performed a Dot Probe Task (DPT), an Emotional Visual Search Task (EVST), and an Interpretation Recognition Task. Attention and interpretation biases were significantly correlated with anxiety. Mixed results were reported with regard to depression: evidence was found for an interpretation bias, and for an attention bias as measured with the EVST but not with the DPT. Furthermore, interpretation and attention biases predicted unique variance in anxiety and depression scores. These results indicate that attention and interpretation biases are unique processes in anxiety and depression. They also suggest that anxiety and depression are partly based on similar underlying cognitive mechanisms.