Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Argumentation Mining in Persuasive Essays and Scientific Articles from the Discourse Structure Perspective

In this paper, we analyze and discuss approaches to argumentation mining from the discourse structure perspective. We chose persuasive essays and scientific articles as our example domains. By analyzing several example arguments and providing an overview of previous work on argumentation mining, we derive important tasks that are currently not addressed by existing argumentation mining systems, most importantly, the identification of argumentation structures. We discuss the relation of this task to automated discourse analysis and describe preliminary results of two annotation studies focusing on the annotation of argumentation structure. Based on our findings, we derive three challenges for encouraging future research on argumentation mining.
Surface Impedance Measurement of Resistive Coatings at Microwave Frequencies

A simple approach to estimate the surface impedance of a thin ink deposition on dielectric substrates is described. The measured sample is transversally accommodated in a waveguide, and the scattering parameters are measured. Then, the surface impedance value is recovered by recurring to an efficient transmission-line approach. Closed-form relations are proposed, which allow removing the dispersive effect of the substrate on the estimated surface impedance. The robustness of the retrieving procedure is analyzed, showing that the one based on the transmission coefficient provides more accurate results than the reflection-based one. The positioning of the sample is also investigated, highlighting that the placement inside the waveguide leads to incorrect estimations of the surface impedance with fictitious high imaginary parts because of the presence of air gaps between the sample and the waveguide walls, which transform the uniform layer to a capacitive resistive frequency selective surface. A modified setup with a uniform resistive ink deposition pressed between the waveguide flanges is therefore adopted. Additional experimental results on the effect of the dielectric substrate and on the homogeneity of the ink deposition are reported.
Usefulness of computed tomography virtual bronchoscopy in the evaluation of bronchi divisions

Summary Background: Since introduction of multislice CT scanners into clinical practice, virtual brochoscopy has gained a lot of quality and diagnostic potential. Nevertheless it does not have established place in diagnostics of tracheal and bronchi disorders and its potential has not been examined enough. Nowadays a majority of bronchial tree variants and lesions are revealed by bronchofiberoscopy, which is an objective and a relatively safe method, but has side effects, especially in higher-risk subjects. Therefore noninvasive techniques enabling evaluation of airways should be consistently developed and updated. Material/Methods: Material consisted of 100 adults (45 female, 55 male) aged between 18 and 65 years (mean 40 years, median 40.5 years, SD 14.02), who underwent chest CT examination by means of a 16-slice scanner. Every patient had normal appearance of chest organs, with the exception of minor abnormalities that did not alter airways route. Divisions of bronchial tree to segmental level were evaluated and assigned to particular types by means of virtual bronchoscopy projection. In case of difficulties MPR or MinIP projection was used. Results: The frequency of lobar bronchi divisions other than the typical ones was in: right upper lobar bronchi 45%, left 55%; middle lobar bronchi 21%, lingula 26%; right lower lobar bronchi 28%, left 29%. Subsuperior bronchus or bronchi were found on the right side in 44% and on the left side in 37%. No dependency between types of bronchial divisions on different levels was found.
Perceptions of Writing and Communication Aid Use Among Children with a Physical Disability

ABSTRACT Children with physical disabilities (CPD) often experience decreased opportunities to participate in daily occupations. Occupational therapists (OTs) prescribe writing and communication aids; however, little is known about this population's perceptions of the technology. This qualitative study explored the perceptions that CPD had regarding their writing and communication aids. Children were interviewed; a focus group of one parent and two OTs provided context to the children's comments. Enablers and barriers to using communication aids were found. Participants reported a greater sense of pride, more self-confidence, and a greater sense of autonomy and productivity with the technology. Analysis of the interviews, focus group, and reflective notes resulted in a model showing how enablers and barriers of on-screen technology usage relates to occupational enhancement or occupational detriment. This study contributes to an understanding of the meaning that CPD associate with writing technology and the factors associated with usage.
Grounding Action Words in the Sensorimotor Interaction with the World: Experiments with a Simulated iCub Humanoid Robot

This paper presents a cognitive robotics model for the study of the embodied representation of action words. The present research will present how an iCub humanoid robot can learn the meaning of action words (i.e. words that represent dynamical events that happen in time) by physically interacting with the environment and linking the effects of its own actions with the behavior observed on the objects before and after the action. The control system of the robot is an artificial neural network trained to manipulate an object through a Back-Propagation-Through-Time algorithm. We will show that in the presented model the grounding of action words relies directly to the way in which an agent interacts with the environment and manipulates it.
Isolated and combined risks for anemia in children attending the nurseries of daycare centers.

OBJECTIVES To identify and quantify isolated and combined risk factors for anemia, providing a comprehensive view of the likelihood of its occurrence. METHODS Cross-sectional study with 482 children aged 4 to 29 months attending the nurseries of philanthropic and public daycare centers in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, who participated in two surveys (2004 and 2007). Mothers were interviewed, blood was collected using digital puncture, and anthropometry was performed. Anemia was characterized by hemoglobin levels below 11 g/dL. Unconditional logistic regression was adjusted for anemia risk factors. A value of p < or = 0.05 indicated statistically significant associations. Post-test odds and likelihood ratios were calculated to define post-test probabilities. Epi-Info 2000 and Stata 10.0 software packages were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Prevalence of anemia was 43.6% (95%CI 39.1-48.1). The final logistic model included five categorical variables: mother's age less than 28 years (OR = 1.50; p = 0.041), per capita income below half a minimum wage (OR = 1.56; p = 0.029), exclusive breastfeeding less than 2 months (OR = 1.71; p = 0.009), decrease in weight/age z score from birth to survey (OR = 1.47; p = 0.050), and age less than 17 months (OR = 2.44; p < 0,001). Post-test probabilities in the associations of isolated and combined risk factors for anemia ranged from 54.5 to 100%. CONCLUSIONS The probability of anemia progressively increased as the identified risk factors were added. This calculation provides a simple and rapid tool for suspicion of anemia in children both in clinical practice and population screening.
Bilayer LDPC Codes for the Relay Channel

This paper describes a methodology for efficient implementation of binning and block-Markov coding for the relay channel using powerful features of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. We devise bilayer LDPC codes to approach the theoretically promised rate of the decode-and-forward relaying strategy by incorporating relay-generated random linear paritybits in a specially designed bilayer graphical code structure. Bilayer density evolution is devised as a novel extension of the standard density evolution algorithm to analyze the performance of the proposed bilayer LDPC code. Based on this bilayer density evolution technique, an EXIT-chart-based code design method using linear programming is developed. While conventional LDPC codes are sensitively tuned to operate efficiently at a certain channel parameter, the proposed bilayer LDPC code is capable of working at two different channel parameters, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the relay and the SNR at the destination. In this paper, for specific channel parameters, it is demonstrated that a bilayer LDPC code can approach the theoretical decode-and-forward rate of the relay channel within a 0.19 dB gap to the source-relay channel capacity and a 0.34 dB gap to the relay-destination channel capacity.
Pregnancy during Adolescence and Associated Risks: An 8-Year Hospital-Based Cohort Study (2007–2014) in Romania, the Country with the Highest Rate of Teenage Pregnancy in Europe

Aim. To determine pregnancy and delivery outcomes among teenagers. Materials and Methods. An 8-year retrospective comparative hospital-based cohort study is analysing singleton pregnancy comorbidities and delivery parameters of a teenage group under the age of 20 compared with a young adult group 20–24 years of age in a university hospital. Results. Teenage is a risk factor for preterm birth <37 weeks (1.21 [1.08–1.35]), foetal growth restriction (1.34 [1.21–1.48]), episiotomy (1.27 [1.21–1.34]), uterine revision (1.15 [1.06–1.25]), APGAR <7 at 1 min (2.42 [1.21–1.67]), cephalopelvic disproportion (1.26 [1.07–1.48]), and postpartum haemorrhage (1.42 [1.25–1.62]); however, caesarean delivery occurs less frequently in teenagers than in adults (0.75 [0.70–0.80]). The following comorbidities are risk factors for teenage pregnancy (risk ratio [CI 95%]): anaemia (1.13 [1.10–1.17]), low urinary tract infection (1.10 [1.03–1.18]), pediculosis (2.42 [1.90–3.00]), anogenital condyloma (1.50 [1.04–2.17]), and trichomoniasis (1.74 [1.12–2.68]). The risks for hepatitis B and hepatitis C, premature rupture of membranes, and placenta praevia were lower compared with those in the young adult group, respectively, 0.43 (0.26–0.71), 0.90 (0.85–0.96), and 0.29 (0.20–0.41), while the risk for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia were the same in both groups. Conclusion. Considering the high risks for teenage pregnancy, this information should be provided to pregnant adolescent women and their caregivers.
Chronic Heart Failure Detection from Heart Sounds Using a Stack of Machine-Learning Classifiers

Chronic heart failure represents a global pandemic, currently affecting over 26 million of patients worldwide. It is a major contributor in the death rate of patients with cardiovascular diseases and results in more than 1 million hospitalizations annually in Europe and North America. Methods for chronic heart failure detection can be utilized to act preventive, improve early diagnosis and avoid hospitalizations or even life-threatening situations, thus highly enhance the quality of patient&#x2019;s life. In this paper, we present a machine-learning method for chronic heart failure detection from heart sounds. The method consists of: filtering, segmentation, feature extraction and machine learning. The method was tested with a leave-one-subject-out evaluation technique on data from 122 subjects, gathered in the study. The method achieved 96% accuracy, outperforming a majority classifier for 15 percentage points. More specifically, it detects (recalls) 87% of the chronic heart failure subjects with a precision of 87%. The study confirmed that advanced machine learning applied on real-life sounds recorded with an unobtrusive digital stethoscope can be used for chronic heart failure detection.
Design, integration and evaluation of an application for input of taxiroutes

Earlier research has explored the potential of aircraft-based route conformance monitoring for airport navigation. In this research, the route-conformance monitoring function was hosted on an experimental electronic flight bag (EFB) and evaluated in a simulated operation. A datalink was used to load the route from air traffic control (ATC). The current research addresses the design, integration and evaluation of a manual input option and the comparison with a previously developed voice input option. Results suggest that with the manual input option it is possible to enter the route during its reception (i.e. instructions from ATC via R/T) and perform the readback based on the data presented on the EFB. This way, the integrity of the route used by the conformance-monitoring function is assessed by ATC.
On the Predictability of Random Tests for Object-Oriented Software

Intuition suggests that random testing of object-oriented programs should exhibit a significant difference in the number of faults detected by two different runs of equal duration. As a consequence, random testing would be rather unpredictable. We evaluate the variance of the number of faults detected by random testing over time. We present the results of an empirical study that is based on 1215 hours of randomly testing 27 Eiffel classes, each with 30 seeds of the random number generator. Analyzing over 6 million failures triggered during the experiments, the study provides evidence that the relative number of faults detected by random testing over time is predictable but that different runs of the random test case generator detect different faults. The study also shows that random testing quickly finds faults: the first failure is likely to be triggered within 30 seconds.
The role of alginate in Pseudomonas aeruginosa EPS adherence, viscoelastic properties and cell attachment

Among various functions, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) provide microbial biofilms with mechanical stability and affect initial cell attachment, the first stage in the biofilm formation process. The role of alginate, an abundant polysaccharide in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, in the viscoelastic properties and adhesion kinetics of EPS was analyzed using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) monitoring technology. EPS was extracted from two P. aeruginosa biofilms, a wild type strain, PAO1, and a mucoid strain, PAOmucA22 that over-expresses alginate production. The higher alginate content in the EPS originating from the mucoid biofilms was clearly shown to increase both the rate and the extent of attachment of the EPS, as well as the layer's thickness. Also, the presence of calcium and elevated ionic strength increased the thickness of the EPS layer. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed that the presence of calcium and elevated ionic strength induced intermolecular attractive interactions in the mucoid EPS molecules. For the wild type EPS, in the presence of calcium, an elevated shift in the distribution of the diffusion coefficients was observed with DLS due to a more compacted conformation of the EPS molecules. Moreover, the alginate over-expression effect on EPS adherence was compared to the effect of alginate over-expression on P. aeruginosa cell attachment. In a parallel plate flow cell, under similar hydraulic and aquatic conditions as those applied for the EPS adsorption tests in the QCM-D flow cell, reduced adherence of the mucoid strain was clearly observed compared to the wild type isogenic bacteria. The results suggest that alginate contributes to steric hindrance and shielding of cell surface features and adhesins that are known to promote cell attachment.
Bias and Oxide Thickness Dependence of Trapped Charge Buildup in MOS devices

Abstract : A rate equation for charge buildup, which includes sweep-out, hole / electron trapping, tunneling, recombination, and the effects of internal fields, is generalized to apply to negative gate biases and include electron injection from the silicon and aluminum gate interfaces. The dependence of the midgap voltage shift on oxide thickness is explicitly examined. The theoretical results are verified by comparison with experimental results obtained on p-type silicon test capacitors of different oxide thicknesses under varying positive and negative gate biases.
Susceptibilities of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains of Campylobacter jejuni to 11 oral antimicrobial agents

The resistance of Campylobacter jejuni strains to the fluoroquinolones is increasingly frequent, and in our area it reaches nearly 50%. We studied the susceptibilities of 60 of these strains to 11 oral antibiotics. All strains except one were susceptible to the macrolides tested, with azithromycin being the most active agent tested. Of the rest of the antibiotics studied, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, clindamycin, and fosfomycin displayed good in vitro activities. Knowledge of the susceptibilities of these microorganisms to a varied group of oral agents is necessary in view of the appearance of multiresistant strains, such as those included in our series.
THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC PARAMETERS AND RECOVERY OF TWO TEMPERATE BENTHIC MICROALGAE, AMPHORA CF. COFFEAEFORMIS AND COCCONEIS CF. SUBLITTORALIS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) 1

Temperature and irradiance are the most important factors affecting marine benthic microalgal photosynthetic rates in temperate intertidal areas. Two temperate benthic diatoms species, Amphora cf. coffeaeformis (C. Agardh) Kütz. and Cocconeis cf. sublittoralis Hendey, were investigated to determine how their photosynthesis responded to temperatures ranging from 5°C to 50°C after short‐term exposure (1 h) to a range of irradiance levels (0, 500, and 1,100 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1). Significant differences were observed between the temperature responses of maximum relative electron transport rate (rETRmax), photoacclimation index (Ek), photosynthetic efficiency (α), and effective quantum yield (ΔF/Fm’) in both species. A. coffeaeformis had a greater tolerance to higher temperatures than C. sublittoralis, with nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) activated at temperatures of 45°C and 50°C. C. sublittoralis, however, demonstrated a more rapid rate of recovery at ambient temperatures. Temperatures between 10°C and 20°C were determined to be optimal for photosynthesis for both species. High temperatures and irradiances caused a greater decrease in ΔF/Fm’ values. These results suggest that the effects of temperature are species specific and that short‐term exposure to adverse temperature slows the recovery process, which subsequently leads to photoinhibition.
Proteasome Composition and Enzymatic of Cytotoxic T Cell Epitopes by Modifying HIV-1 Tat Protein Modulates the Generation

Tat, the trans activation protein of HIV, is produced early upon infection to promote and expand HIV replication and transmis-sion. However, Tat appears to also have effects on target cells, which may affect Ag recognition both during infection and after vaccination. In particular, Tat targets dendritic cells and induces their maturation and Ag-presenting functions, increasing Th1 T cell responses. We show in this work that Tat modiﬁes the catalytic subunit composition of immunoproteasomes in B and T cells either expressing Tat or treated with exogenous biological active Tat protein. In particular, Tat up-regulates latent membrane protein 7 and multicatalytic endopeptidase complex like-1 subunits and down-modulates the latent membrane protein 2 subunit. These changes correlate with the increase of all three major proteolytic activities of the proteasome and result in a more efﬁcient generation and presentation of subdominant MHC-I-binding CTL epitopes of heterologous Ags. Thus, Tat modiﬁes the Ag processing and modulates the generation of CTL epitopes. This may have an impact on both the control of virally infected cells during HIV-1 infection and the use of Tat for vaccination strategies. The Journal of Immunology, 2004, 173: 3838–3843. infectivity acute of T Tat extracellular milieu in the absence of cell or permeability changes
Theories of Meaning in Schema Matching: A Review

Schema matching is the identification of database elements with similar meaning as preparation for subsequent database integration. Over the past 20 years, different schema-matching methods have been proposed and have been shown to be successful to various degrees. However, schema matching is an ongoing research area and the problem is not yet considered to be solved. This article reviews existing schema-matching methods from the perspective of theories of meanings drawn from philosophy and psychology. It positions existing methods, raises questions for future research based on these theories, and shows how these theories can form a firm theoretical basis as well as guide future schema-matching research.
Imagined 3D hand movement trajectory decoding from sensorimotor EEG rhythms

Reconstruction of the three-dimensional (3D) trajectory of an imagined limb movement using electro-encephalography (EEG) poses many challenges. However, if achieved, more advanced non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for the physically impaired could be realized. The most common motion trajectory prediction (MTP) BCI employs a time-series of band-pass filtered EEG potentials for reconstructing the 3D trajectory of limb movement using multiple linear regression (mLR). Most MTP BCI studies report the best accuracy using low delta (0.5–2Hz) band-pass filtered EEG potentials. In a recent study, we showed spatiotemporal power distribution of theta (4–8Hz), mu (8–12Hz), and beta (12–28Hz) EEG frequency bands contain richer information associated with movement trajectory. This finding is in line with the results in the extensive literature on traditional sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) based multiclass (MC) BCI studies, which report the best accuracy of limb movement classification using power values of mu and beta frequency bands. Here, we show the reconstruction of actual and imagined 3D limb movement trajectory with an MTP BCI using a time-series of bandpower values (BTS model). Furthermore, we show the proposed BTS model outperforms the standard potential time-series model (PTS model). The BTS model yielded best results in the mu and beta bands (R∼0.5 for actual and R∼0.2 for imagined movement reconstruction) and not in the low delta band, as previously reported for MTP studies using the PTS model. Our results show for the first time how mu and beta activity can be used for decoding imagined 3D hand movement from EEG.
Grain boundary segregation in Nimonic PE16

AbstractThe changes in composition of the grain boundary regions in Nimonic PE16, which occur during heat treatment and on neutron irradiation, are described. The results show that the composition of these regions is sensitive to heat treatment variables, bulk composition, and irradiation. In particular, molybdenum has a strong tendency to segregate to grain boundaries both on cooling from solution treatment and on aging. The non-equilibrium segregation which occurs on cooling increases with increasing boron content of the alloy. Chromium also segregates to grain boundaries under these conditions, though there is no dependence on boron content. Aging at 700°C causes molybdenum and chromium to segregate to grain boundaries until the onset of precipitation of M23C6, M6C, and Laves phase causes a decrease in the concentrations of these elements. The effects of neutron irradiation are dependent on the boron content of the alloy.MST/1336