Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A unifying definition for artifact and biological functions

Physical artifacts and biological systems have been studied from a variety of perspectives in different disciplines. These entities show many common characteristics and are investigated using similar notions except for one important aspect: functionality. Notwithstanding many attempts, the search for a unified notion of functionality that could encompass both the functions attributed to natural objects, like biological organisms, as well as those attributed to designed objects, like artifacts, to date has remained an open challenge. Deepening an earlier characterization of engineering functions, this paper starts with an introduction to the notions of behavior and context, which become the basic blocks for the construction of a general framework for a unified definition of function. The approach distinguishes three types of functional contexts (systemic, user and design) and clarifies the role of goals in defining biological and artifact functions. Finally, it shows that the notion of systemic function, as detailed in the paper, succeeds in comprising both biological and artifact functions. The proposal is evaluated against a collection of desiderata and examples taken from the literature.
Exact controllability of a class of nonlinear distributed parameter systems using back-and-forth iterations

ABSTRACT We investigate the exact controllability of a nonlinear plant described by the equation , where t ≥ 0. Here A is the infinitesimal generator of a strongly continuous group on a Hilbert space X, B and , defined on Hilbert spaces U and , respectively, are admissible control operators for and the function is continuous in t and Lipschitz in x, with Lipschitz constant independent of t. Thus, B and can be unbounded as operators from U and to X, in which case the nonlinear term in the plant is in general not Lipschitz in x. We assume that there exist linear operators F and F b such that the triples and are regular and A + BF Λ and −A + BF b, Λ are generators of operator semigroups and on X such that decays to zero exponentially. We prove that if is sufficiently small, then the nonlinear plant is exactly controllable in some time τ > 0. Our proof is constructive, i.e. given an initial state x 0 ∈ X and a final state x τ ∈ X, we propose an approach for constructing a control signal u of class L 2 for the nonlinear plant which ensures that if x(0) = x 0, then x(τ) = x τ. We illustrate our approach using two examples: a sine-Gordon equation and a nonlinear wave equation. Our main result can be regarded as an extension of Russell's principle on exact controllability to a class of nonlinear plants.
Effect of Irsogladine on Gap Junctions in Cerulein‐Induced Acute Pancreatitis in Rats

The capacity for intercellular communication (IC) via gap junctions is found in normal pancreatic acinar cells. The major role of IC is considered to be the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and the regulation of signal transmissions. Up to now, the participation of IC via gap junctions in acute pancreatitis has not been reported. We investigated the role of IC in cerulein (Cn)-induced acute pancreatitis in rats using irsogladine, an enhancer of IC via gap junction. Acute edematous pancreatitis was induced in rats by two intraperitoneal injections of 40 μg/kg Cn. Rats received various doses (25, 50, or 100 mg/kg body weight) of irsogladine orally, 15 and 2 h before the first Cn injection. The normal control group received only vehicle. The severity of pancreatitis was evaluated enzymatically and histologically 5 h after the first Cn injection. In Cn-induced acute pancreatitis, irsogladine significantly lowered the serum amylase level, the pancreatic wet weight, and the pancreatic amylase and DNA contents, in a dose-dependent manner. Particularly, the amylase content improved to the level of the normal controls. Histologically, the severity of pancreatitis was reduced significantly by treatment with irsogladine and no discernible vacuolization was seen in the group with 100 mg/kg irsogladine treatment. By immunofluorostaining pancreata with anti-connexin 32 (Cx32; a gap junction protein) antibody, we found that pancreatic acini were diffusely positive for Cx32 in the control group, but the number of Cx32-positive grains decreased markedly, to 19%, in the pancreatitis group. With 100 mg/kg irsogladine treatment, the number of Cx32 grains recovered to 70% of the normal control value. These findings indicate that IC via gap junction is disturbed in Cn-induced pancreatitis, which may result in the breakdown of tissue homeostasis and the progression of acute pancreatitis.
Patterns of actual and perceived control: are control profiles differentially related to internalizing and externalizing problems in youth?

Abstract This study provided an initial test of a theoretical model which emphasizes patterns of actual and perceived control. The model suggests that profiles of actual and perceived control are differentially related to emotional and behavioral problems. We examined whether anxiety and depression symptoms and aggressive behavior would differ among diverse patterns of actual (caregiver reported competencies) and perceived control (anxiety-related control beliefs) in youth (n=203). Results were consistent with the theoretical predictions in that reported levels of anxiety and depression symptoms and aggressive behavior varied depending upon youth's control profiles. For example, youth with high actual and low perceived control exhibited relatively more anxiety/depression symptoms than aggressive behavior, while those youth with low actual and high perceived control exhibited relatively more aggressive behavior. Furthermore, youth with both high actual and perceived control reported and were reported by caregivers as having the least anxiety/depression symptoms and aggressive behavior, respectively. The findings provide empirical support for the model and suggest the importance of considering the role of actual and perceived control in emotional and behavioral problems. Implications for future tests of the model are also discussed.
Comparison of five algorithms for the detection of ventricular fibrillation from the surface ECG.

The introduction and widening application of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) present very strong requirements for external ECG signal analysis. Highly accuratc discrimination between shockable and non-shockable rhythms is required, with sensitivity and specificity aimed to approach the maximum values of 100%. We undertook an assessment of the performance of five detection algorithms, selected from among several others for their good published results. Test signals were 71 8 s ECG episodes on sinus rhythm and 90 8 s episodes on ventricular fibrillation, which were taken from the well known ECG-signal databases of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH-'cudb' and 'vfdb' files). The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of the algorithms with signals other than those used for their development. An expected reduction of the sensitivity and specificity was found. The results could be used for further assessment, e.g. of noise and artefact sensitivity, for comparison with newly developed algorithms, etc.
Changes in relevance criteria and problem stages in task performance

The objective of this study is to analyse how changes in relevance criteria are related to changes in problem stages during the task performance process. Relevance is understood as a task‐ and process‐oriented user construct. The assessment of relevance is based on both retrieved bibliographical information and the documents acquired and read on the basis of this information. The participants of the study were eleven students who attended a course for one term for preparing a research proposal for the master’s thesis. The students were asked to make an IR search at the beginning, middle and end of the course. Data for describing their understanding of the work task, search goals and tactics as well as relevance assessments were collected during the search sessions. Pre‐ and post‐search interviews were conducted during each session. The students were asked to think aloud during the search session. The transaction logs were captured and the thinking aloud was recorded. Research and search diaries were also collected. The findings support to a certain extent the overall hypotheses that a person’s problem stage during task performance is related to his or her use of relevance criteria in assessing retrieved references and documents. There is a connection between an individual’s changing understanding of his or her task and how the relevance of references and full texts is judged. The more structured the task in the process, the more able the person is to distinguish between relevant and other sources. The relevance criteria of documents changed more than the criteria of references during the process. Moreover, it seems that understanding of topicality varies depending on the phase of the process.
Assessment of psychosocial problems in children with type 1 diabetes and their families: the added value of using standardised questionnaires in addition to clinical estimations of nurses and paediatricians.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To investigate the assessment of psychosocial problems in children with type 1 diabetes by means of clinical estimations made by nurses and paediatricians and by using standardised questionnaires. BACKGROUND Although children with type 1 diabetes and their parents show increased risk for psychosocial problems, standardised assessment of these problems lacks in diabetes care. DESIGN By comparing these different modes of assessment, using a cross-sectional design, information about the additional value of using standardised questionnaires is provided. METHODS Participants were 110 children with type 1 diabetes (aged 4-16), their parents, and healthcare professionals. Children filled out the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Diabetes Module. Parents filled out the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire parent-report and the Parenting Stress Index. Independently, nurses and paediatricians filled out a short questionnaire, which assessed their clinical estimations of the children's psychosocial problems and quality of life, and parents' levels of parenting stress. Reports of children and parents were compared to clinical estimations. RESULTS Children in our sample showed more psychosocial problems and lower health-related quality of life than their healthy peers. In approximately half of the children, dichotomous estimations by healthcare professionals and dichotomised reports by patients and parents were in agreement. In 10% of the children, no psychosocial problems were present according to professionals' estimations, although patients and parents-reported psychosocial problems. In 40%, psychosocial problems were present according to professionals' estimations, although parents and patients did not report psychosocial problems. CONCLUSION Children with type 1 diabetes show more psychosocial problems than healthy children. Professionals seem to tend towards overestimating psychosocial problems. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Extending the assessment of psychosocial problems with routine screening on patient-reported outcomes, using validated questionnaires, could be of additional value in tailoring care to the needs of the individual child and parents.
- Temporal Model for 6-DoF VideoClip Relocalization

Machine learning techniques, namely convolutional neural networks (CNN) and regression forests, have recently shown great promise in performing 6-DoF localization of monocular images. However, in most cases imagesequences, rather only single images, are readily available. To this extent, none of the proposed learning-based approaches exploit the valuable constraint of temporal smoothness, often leading to situations where the per-frame error is larger than the camera motion. In this paper we propose a recurrent model for performing 6-DoF localization of video-clips. We find that, even by considering only short sequences (20 frames), the pose estimates are smoothed and the localization error can be drastically reduced. Finally, we consider means of obtaining probabilistic pose estimates from our model. We evaluate our method on openly-available real-world autonomous driving and indoor localization datasets.
Las enzimas 9-lipoxigenasas y el etileno regulan la respuesta de estrés oxidativo durante la activación de la inmunidad vegetal

La accion de enzimas con actividades lipoxigenasa (9-LOX o 13-LOX) y alpha-dioxigenasa, catalizan la oxigenacion de acidos grasos, iniciando rutas biosinteticas complejas que generan una amplia familia de metabolitos lipidicos, de estructura diversa, designados como oxilipinas. La participacion de las oxilipinas derivadas de la accion de las 13-LOXs, en la respuesta de defensa de la planta frente a la infeccion de patogenos, ha sido ampliamente demostrada. Sin embargo, la informacion disponible acerca del papel de las oxilipinas generadas a traves de las rutas iniciadas por las 9-LOXs y alpha-dioxigenasas, asi como de las generadas de forma no enzimatica, es todavia limitada. En el presente trabajo nos propusimos examinar la participacion de los enzimas 9-LOX, y por tanto de las oxilipinas generadas a traves de esta ruta biosintetica, en la respuesta de las plantas frente a la infeccion de bacterias hemibiotrofas del genero Pseudomonas. A este objeto, disenamos una estrategia genetica dirigida a generar y caracterizar plantas mutantes carentes de actividad 9-LOX (lox1 lox5), asi como a caracterizar los mutantes noxy6 y noxy22, (non-responding to oxylipins) alterados en las rutas de senalizacion activada por la accion del acido 9-hidroxioctadecatrienoico (9-HOT), compuesto derivado de las 9-LOX, cuya participacion en la defensa de la planta se concluye de los resultados que demostraban su acumulacion en respuesta a una infeccion patogenica, asi como de su accion como senal activadora de respuestas de defensa.
Current-Controlled Current-Mode Universal Biquad Employing Multi-Output Transconductors

This paper deals with RC active biquad working in the so-called current mode (CM). The design approach uses only three transconductors (OTA) with the minimum necessary number of outputs and with only three passive grounded elements. The proposed filter has simple circuit configuration providing all standard transfer functions such as high-pass (HP), band-pass (BP), low-pass (LP), band-reject (BR) and all-pass (AP). Electronic tuning and independent adjusting of the quality factor and bandwidth of BP filter is possible. The presented circuits are verified by PSpice simulations utilizing OTAs on transistor level of abstraction. The linear parasitic effects of the real active elements in each suggested circuit are briefly discussed. Experimental verification is also given. Designed networks can be used in many applications such as antialiasing filters, in high-speed data telecommunication systems, for signal processing in the cable modems, in regulation and measurement techniques etc.
Phytoplankton biomass dynamics and environmental variables around the Rocas Atoll Biological Reserve, South Atlantic

A Reserva Biologica do Atol das Rocas situa-se no Oceano Atlântico, a 3o 51 'S e 33o 49' W, distante 143 milhas nauticas da cidade de Natal, estado do Rio Grande do Norte (Brasil). Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a hidrologia, massas de agua, correntes e o teor de clorofila a para determinar a dinâmica da biomassa fitoplanctonica em torno do Atol das Rocas. As amostras foram coletadas em julho de 2010 na area em torno do atol, usando o navio Oceanografico da Marinha do Brasil, Cruzeiro do Sul. Dois transectos foram estabelecidos de acordo com a corrente superficial, um transecto em direcao sudeste (SE) e o outro, em direcao noroeste (NO) do Atol das Rocas. Nestes transectos foram determinados tres pontos de coleta para cada um. As amostras foram coletadas em diferentes profundidades (superficie e PMC - Profundidade Maxima de Clorofila) e diferentes periodos do dia (dia e noite). De acordo com a ACP (Analise de Componentes Principais), observou-se que os nutrientes analisados, NID (nitrogenio inorgânico dissolvido), PID (fosforo inorgânico dissolvido) e silicato, correlacionaram-se inversamente com a temperatura e oxigenio dissolvido. A maioria das variaveis ambientais apresentou aumento significativo em funcao da turbulencia no transecto noroeste. Pode-se observar que houve aumento dos teores de clorofila a e nutrientes, e reducao da temperatura e oxigenio na camada de mistura em funcao da influencia da ACAS (Agua Central do Atlântico Sul). Apesar do aumento observado em algumas variaveis, como sais nutrientes e clorofila a, a temperatura na camada de mistura esteve com valor medio de 23,23 oC, devido ao predominio da Agua Tropical. Portanto, o aumento de biomassa fitoplanctonica no transecto NW foi provocado pelo "efeito ilha" e nao pela ressurgencia.
The Role of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Imatinib in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and Metastatic or Unresectable Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor used as first-line treatment in Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) and metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for imatinib has been suggested to improve efficacy, assess compliance, and evaluate drug–drug interactions. Imatinib has proven efficacy in improving treatment response and survival in patients with Ph+ CML and GIST. Several analytical methods are available to quantify total plasma imatinib concentrations. A good relationship exists between total imatinib plasma concentrations and pharmacologic response. Clinical evaluation of pharmacologic response to imatinib alone may be insufficient given the long duration of therapy before clinical response in patients with Ph+ CML and GIST. Thus, the authors have used a previously published 9-step decision-making algorithm to evaluate the utility of TDM for imatinib. The suggested trough concentrations for improved complete cytogenetic or major molecular response in patients with Ph+ CML and improved time to progression for patients with GIST are >1000 and >1100 ng/mL, respectively. Imatinib exhibits interindividual pharmacokinetic variability. Increased apparent clearance of imatinib has been observed in chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia and increased body weight. Decreased apparent clearance has been observed in renal impairment and patients on concomitant medications with potent inhibition of cytochrome P450 3A4. Duration of therapy in patients with Ph+ CML and GIST is lifelong. Based on the available evidence, TDM for imatinib may provide additional information on efficacy, compliance, and safety than clinical evaluation alone. Patients with suboptimal response to treatment, treatment failure, rare adverse events, drug interactions, or suspected nonadherence will attain the greatest benefit from TDM.
Analytical Solutions of the Black-Scholes Pricing Model for European Option Valuation via a Projected Differential Transformation Method

In this paper, a proposed computational method referred to as Projected Differential Transformation Method (PDTM) resulting from the modification of the classical Differential Transformation Method (DTM) is applied, for the first time, to the Black–Scholes Equation for European Option Valuation. The results obtained converge faster to their associated exact solution form; these easily computed results represent the analytical values of the associated European call options, and the same algorithm can be followed for European put options. It is shown that PDTM is more efficient, reliable and better than the classical DTM and other semi-analytical methods since less computational work is involved. Hence, it is strongly recommended for both linear and nonlinear stochastic differential equations (SDEs) encountered in financial mathematics.
Origin of the first sharp diffraction peak in the structure factor of covalent glasses.

A model is proposed for the «first sharp diffraction peak» (FSDP) in glasses. The FSDP is a chemical-order prepeak due to interstitial volume around cation-centered structural units. Calculated FSDP positions of some covalent glasses agree well with experiment, and the anomalous temperature and pressure dependences of the FSDP can be understood in terms of density effects
Cataract Surgery in Patients with Alport Syndrome

Recently, Ecsedy et al (1) reported successful femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) in bilateral anterior lenticonus due to Alport syndrome. The success achieved with FLACS in such cases is of interest, since performing continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC) is difficult in patients with anterior lenticonus. In order to add more information and to enhance the discussion in this regard, we present our experience with cataract surgeries in Alport syndrome patients. We report 2 patients with Alport syndrome with bilateral anterior lenticonus and lens opacities (cataract), totaling 4 eyes with anterior lenticonus and cataract. One patient presented with spontaneous anterior capsule rupture (ACR) in one eye prior to the surgery. All eyes were submitted to phacoemulsification with 2.75 mm clear cornea incision and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. Surgeries were performed by the same surgeon (L.P.B.). It was difficult to perform the CCC because the anterior capsule seemed to be more prone to tear toward the lens periphery. Performing CCC was especially difficult in the eye with ACR. Fortunately, CCC was successfully performed and the IOL was placed in the capsular bag without complications in all eyes. The success in performing phacoemulsification in our patients is in accordance with Agrawal et al (2), who also achieved good results in a case of anterior lenticonus with spontaneous ACR. Nevertheless, performing the CCC remains a challenge in such patients with anterior lenticonus and ACR. Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery can be an interesting tool in order to achieve favorable results in this scenario, as suggested by Ecsedy et al (1).