Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Jose Saramago "Revises," Or Out of Africa and Into Cyber-History

Nobel Prize winnerjose Saramago's most cited novels are complexly allusive to Portuguese culture. Everything from official history and canonized literature to historical documentation, local histories, urban planning, and many strands of contemporary popular culture, both national and international are invoked, in jumbled and a-chronistic fashion, in such titles as Memorial do Convento (1982) (English trans.: Baltasar and Blimunda) . It is probably because of that mode of presentationand the irreverent tone that accompanies itthat while Saramago sells extremely well in Portugal and the rest of the Portuguese-speaking world and has become so well-known internationally that the Nobel Prize for literature has followed, he is not held in high regard by a significant portion of the Portuguese literary and intellectual establishment. His long-standing public adherence to the Portuguese Communist Party doubtlessly adds to that low regard which perhaps in turn underpins his preference to make his home in neighboring, and rival, Spain. Another way of characterizing Saramago's practice is to observe that rather than focus on a discrete set of issues, as conventional novelistics dictates, his novels regularly mix discourses, cutting across a broad swath within the Portuguese symbolic, explicating, critiquing, interrelating, and intervening, apparently at whim, as they goand clearly, in the process, claiming a considerable operativity for themselves within that symbolic realm. This practice is most in evidence
Assessing Social Approachability: Individual Differences, In-Group Biases, and Experimental Control

The willingness of strangers to approach others and engage in social interactions is a fundamental social evaluation. Yet, evidence is lacking on how well these social engagement decisions can be assessed. The authors evaluated the psychometric characteristics of an experimentally based measure of social approachability tendencies. Young adults (N 130) rated the approachability of 48 emotionally neutral and mildly positive faces. Significant variance in approachability judgements was attributable to differences in the faces and in the participants making the judgements. Face-level approachability ratings were comparable across face gender and face race. Person-level approachability ratings identified reliable individual differences, gender, and race in-group biases, and subtle mere-exposure effect preferences. Thus, this social approachability measure is internally reliable, sensitive to individual differences, and amenable to experimental manipulations. This ability to differentiate individual-, group-, and experimental-level responses is important for furthering the understanding of the primary social decision of when to approach and socially engage others.
ADC and DAC modelling and testing - state of the art

The analog to digital front ends of measuring instruments affect crucially the interpretation of the signals acquired from the real world into the digital domain and their back presentation. The signal processing in the digital domain due to its stability meets usually the requirements on the uncertainty of the measuring instruments easily. ADCs and DACs influence dominantly the accuracy of instruments and limit the signal dynamic and their applicability. The exact error description and standardised testing methods are required by the end user. Moreover, the simplification of the error description by dominant error parameters is a permanent task for metrologist and producers. This paper is aimed at providing a metrological overview of ADC and DAC topics by referring to their: i) architectures, ii) modelling and testing, and iii) standardization.
On binary constraint problems

The concepts of binary constraint satisfaction problems can be naturally generalized to the relation algebras of Tarski. The concept of path-consistency plays a central role. Algorithms for path-consistency can be implemented on matrices of relations and on matrices of elements from a relation algebra. We give an example of a 4-by-4 matrix of infinite relations on which on iterative local path-consistency algorithm terminates. We give a class of examples over a fixed finite algebra on which all iterative local algorithms, whether parallel or sequential, must take quadratic time. Specific relation algebras arising from interval constraint problems are also studied: the Interval Algebra, the Point Algebra, and the Containment Algebra.
New 1700V SPT+ IGBT and diode chip set with 175°C operating junction temperature

In this paper we present a newly developed 1700V IGBT and diode chip set generation with optimized performances for 175°C junction temperature operations. The planar 1700V IGBT (SPT+) cell has been improved by exploiting the full potential of the N-enhancement layer with the consequent reduction of the conduction losses. In addition a substantial leakage current reduction has been achieved by designing a novel termination based on the biased ring concept. A new diode has been developed which uses the Field Shielded Anode (FSA) concept to enable a reduction of the high temperature leakage current by a factor of 3 when compared with the previous diode platform. This paper will illustrate the most important design features and based on measurement data discuss the chip set performances for low to medium inductance applications.
Significant Life Experiences and Formative Influences on the Development of Adults’ Environmental Awareness in the UK, Australia and Canada

Summary Environmental educators in Australia (n = 82), and Canada (n = 48) wrote autobiographical statements describing the formative influences and significant life experiences (SLE) which led to their concern for the environment. Content analysis identified the influences/experiences mentioned most often, both as single factors, e.g. ‘close family’, and as groups of logically related factors, e.g. ‘people’, a group composed of the factors ‘close family’, ‘older friends'’, ‘friends'’, and ‘having children’. The final lists of single factors were similar but not identical in the two countries, and both differed slightly from the list already derived from a sample of environmental educators in the UK (n = 233). Here we present the single and grouped factors named most often in Australia, then do the same for Canada, and then compare the principal factors in all three nations.
A Framework for Workload-Aware Views Materialisation of Semantic Databases

Views materialisation is well known in the context of relational databases. However, unlike relational databases, the semantic graph model lacks restrictive structure. Instead, the semantic data rely on an evolving schema. This resulted in a challenge for views materialisation while allowing for open repositories of data to emerge. Open repositories combine knowledge from many different areas. Therefore, it can be assumed that various data structures within a repository may exhibit different daily access patterns, i.e. That the user interests change during the day. This research verifies this assumption and proposes a new views selection model. By analysing how access patterns of individual views contribute to the overall system workload, the proposed model aims at selection of candidates offering the highest reduction of the peak workload. The proposed selection method has been integrated as a part of a new optimisation framework, which operates as a proxy for a SPARQL-enabled database. The approach has a potential to accelerate the adaptation of views materialisation for SPARQL. The proposed approach is evaluated both experimentally and using qualitative analysis.
Empty follicle syndrome

Empty follicle syndrome (EFS) is a condition in which no oocytes are retrieved after an apparently adequate ovarian response to stimulation and meticulous follicular aspiration. EFS can be classified into 'genuine' and 'false' types according to hCG levels. It is a rare condition of obscure etiology. The existence of genuine EFS has been questioned and is still controversial. The limitation around EFS is that the definition of EFS is obscure. Management of patients with EFS is a challenge to physicians. No single treatment is known to be universally effective. However, patients should be adequately informed regarding the importance of correct hCG administration because improper hCG administration is a common and preventable cause of EFS. EFS is a syndrome that deserves additional study because such investigation could lead to a further understanding of ovarian biology and infertility.
History of Prepubertal Overweight in Adolescent Girls With Pronounced Body Dissatisfaction

Abstract In a group of 257 high school girls, aged 16–17, 10% showed a body mass index (BMI) above 26, and on the Body Attitude Test (BAT; M. Probst, W. Vandereycken, H. Van Coppenolle, & J. Vand-erlin, 1995) almost 25% scored within the pathological range (above the cutoff point of 36). An analysis of the medical records at the local school health center (examinations conducted every 2 years between the age of 8 and 14 years) revealed that adolescent girls with a pronounced body dissatisfaction had a higher BMI at the age of 8 years and that their BMI increased relatively more in the following 4 years. These findings show that a negative body image in adolescence might have its roots in childhood overweight.
Querying OWL 2 QL ontologies under the SPARQL Metamodeling Semantics Entailment Regime

OWL2QL is the profile of OWL2 targeted to Ontology-Based Data Access (OBDA) scenarios, where large amount of data are to be accessed, and thus answering conjunctive queries over data is the main task. However, this task is quite restrained wrt the classical KR Ask-and-Tell framework based on querying the whole theory, not only facts (data). If we use SPARQL as query language, we get much closer to this ideal. Indeed, SPARQL queries over OWL2QL, under the so-called Direct Semantics Entailment Regime, may comprise any assertion expressible in the language, i.e., both ABox atoms and TBox atoms, including inequalities expressed by means of DifferentIndividuals. Nevertheless this regime is hampered by the assumption that variables in queries need to be typed, meaning that the same variable cannot occur in positions of different types, e.g., both in class and individual position (punning). In this paper we dismiss this limiting assumption by resorting to a recent meta modeling semantics and show that query answering in the resulting entailment regime is polynomially compilable into Datalog (and hence PTIME wrt both TBox and ABox).
A morphogenetic wave of p27Kip1 transcription directs cell cycle exit during organ of Corti development

The molecular mechanisms coordinating cell cycle exit with cell differentiation and organogenesis are a crucial, yet poorly understood, aspect of normal development. The mammalian cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 is required for the correct timing of cell cycle exit in developing tissues, and thus plays a crucial role in this process. Although studies of p27Kip1 regulation have revealed important posttranscriptional mechanisms regulating p27Kip1 abundance, little is known about how developmental patterns of p27Kip1 expression, and thus cell cycle exit, are achieved. Here, we show that during inner ear development transcriptional regulation of p27Kip1 is the primary determinant of a wave of cell cycle exit that dictates the number of postmitotic progenitors destined to give rise to the hair cells and supporting cells of the organ of Corti. Interestingly, transcriptional induction from the p27Kip1 gene occurs normally in p27Kip1-null mice, indicating that developmental regulation of p27Kip1 transcription is independent of the timing of cell cycle exit. In addition, cell-type-specific patterns of p27Kip1 transcriptional regulation are observed in the mature organ of Corti and retina, suggesting that this mechanism is important in differential regulation of the postmitotic state. This report establishes a link between the spatial and temporal pattern of p27Kip1 transcription and the control of cell number during sensory organ morphogenesis.
Mortality Hazard Associated with Anxiolytic and Hypnotic Drug Use in the National Population Health Survey

Objective: Although widely used in the general population, sleeping pills and minor tranquilizers, also known as antianxiety agents, have been associated with undesirable outcomes. Reports about the association of these drugs with an elevated mortality rate are inconsistent and controversial. This study was designed to assess the mortality hazard associated with anxiolytic and hypnotic drug use in the National Population Health Survey in Canada. It was hypothesized that anxiolytic and hypnotic drug use would be associated with an elevated mortality hazard. Method: A population-based sample of 14 117 people aged 18 to 102 years participated in a longitudinal panel survey, with data collected every second year from 1994 to 2007. The primary outcome measures reported in this study are self-report use of anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs, and death. Results: For respondents who reported anxiolytic or hypnotic drug use in the past month the odds of mortality were 3.22 times more (95% CI 2.70 to 3.84) than for those who did not use anxiolytic or hypnotic drugs in the past month. After controlling for confounding sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors (including depression), the odds ratio was reduced to 1.36 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.70) but remained significant. Conclusion: Sedative drug use is associated with a small but significant increase in mortality risk. Further research is required to confirm the mechanisms by which sedative drug use increases mortality risk. Where possible, physicians should systematically consider possibilities for nonpharmacological treatment of sleep disturbances and anxiety.
Twin and Genetic Effects on Life Events

Abstract Twin studies that examine the effect of specific environmental risk factors on psychiatric disorders assume that there are no differences in prevalences of these risk factors between twins and singletons. Violation of this assumption signifies that the results from twin studies might not generalize to singletons. Another assumption, not only often underlying twin studies but also epidemiological research, is that life- events are not influenced by familial factors. We tested differences in prevalences of experienced life events in a Dutch sample of 2086 monozygotic (MZ) twins, 2090 dizygotic (DZ) twins and 1307 of their siblings. Self-reported data on life events (illness of self, illness of a significant other, spouse/romantic relationship, divorce/break-up of a relationship, death of a significant other, traffic accident, robbery, violent assault, sexual assault) were available from a survey- study. We further investigated whether familial resemblance was present for the exposure to these life events and, if so, whether this resemblance was due to genetic or common environmental factors. No differences were found in the prevalences of life events between MZ twins, DZ twins and their siblings. There was evidence for familial aggregation of all life events, except for traffic accidents in women. Results indicated genetic control on the presence of a spouse or involvement in a relationship. Familial resemblance of illness and death of a significant other was mainly due to common environment. For the other life events, it was not possible to distinguish between genetic and common environmental effects.
Assessment of Invasive Breast Cancer Heterogeneity Using Whole-Tumor Magnetic Resonance Imaging Texture Analysis

Abstract There is no study that investigates the potential correlation between the heterogeneity obtained from texture analysis of medical images and the heterogeneity observed from histopathological findings. We investigated whether texture analysis of magnetic resonance images correlates with histopathological findings. Seventy-five patients with estrogen receptor positive invasive ductal carcinoma who underwent preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were included. Tumor entropy and uniformity were determined on T2- and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images under different filter levels. Two pathologists evaluated the detailed histopathological findings of the tumors including tumor cellularity, dominant stroma type, central scar, histologic grade, extensive intraductal component (EIC), and lymphovascular invasion. Entropy and uniformity values on both T2- and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images were compared with detailed pathological findings. In a multivariate analysis, entropy significantly increased only on unfiltered T2-weighted images (P = 0.013). Tumor cellularity and predominant stroma did not affect the uniformity or entropy on both T2- and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images. High histologic grades showed increased uniformity and decreased entropy on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images, whereas the opposite tendency was observed on T2-weighted images. Invasive ductal carcinoma with an EIC or lymphovascular invasion only affected the contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images, through increased uniformity and decreased entropy. The best uniformity results were recorded on T2- and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images at a filter level of 0.5. Entropy showed the best results at a filter level of 0.5 on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted subtraction images. However, on T2-weighted images, an ideal model was achieved on unfiltered images. MRI texture analysis correlated with pathological tumor heterogeneity.
Individual pulmonary vein imaging by transthoracic echocardiography: an inadequate traditional interpretation.

AIMS There existed an ambiguity in the current echo literature about the identification of the pulmonary veins imaged by echocardiography. This study was designed to identify the site and blood flow of individual pulmonary veins by transthoracic echocardiography. METHODS AND RESULTS Transthoracic echocardiography was used to display individual pulmonary veins in the apical and parasternal short-axis views in 20 adult patients with atrial septal defect. Cardiac catheterization, selective angiography, and contrast echocardiography were used to identify and validate the exact site of individual pulmonary veins. The right lower and upper veins were best seen in the apical four-chamber and the near apical five-chamber views, respectively. Both left pulmonary veins were best displayed in the parasternal short-axis view. When all the individual pulmonary veins were seen simultaneously in the apical views, from left to right of the sector, they were the right upper, right lower, left lower, and left upper pulmonary veins, respectively. CONCLUSION This prospective study provides a feasible method to prove that transthoracic echocardiography can visualize clearly and identify accurately the exact site of each pulmonary vein. The information should be helpful to study various pulmonary venous diseases.
Needs Sensing: The Yeast for R&D Organizations

Research and development (R&D) organizations value information about needs. Needs are viewed as the building blocks of useful R&D agencies. A clear sense of what's needed not only provides a logical rationale for initiating R&D programs but adds accountability to the R&D process. Needs sensing activities facilitate communication among R&D organizations, their constituents, and their sponsors, and build confidence in research.
Fuzzy control of a log carrying robot on tree-filled steep-sloping terrains

A modular robotic system and its fuzzy logic based controller are proposed for use in logging operations in forest environments with steep slopes. The Log-Carrying Robot (LCR) concept is composed of two modular wheeled robotic agents with individual wheel steering that connect to the ends of a log to a form a centrally controlled robot. A fuzzy controller specifies the desired direction of travel using four factors: the presence of obstacles, boundaries limiting the robot’s travel space, the heading of the goal position relative to the robot, and the slope of the terrain. The capabilities of the proposed controller are demonstrated in simulation using a rectangular robot with four individually actuated and steered wheels. Results indicate that the controller successfully steers the robot towards the goal position while avoiding obstacles using only eleven fuzzy rules. Additionally, the simple rules are shown to be effective at automatically compensating for sloped terrain by avoiding direct travel down hills, as well as adapting for various robot lengths.
Low level laser treatment of tendinopathy: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES To assess the clinical effectiveness of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) in the treatment of tendinopathy. Secondary objectives were to determine the relevance of irradiation parameters to outcomes, and the validity of current dosage recommendations for the treatment of tendinopathy. BACKGROUND LLLT is proposed as a possible treatment for tendon injuries. However, the clinical effectiveness of this modality remains controversial, with limited agreement on the most efficacious dosage and parameter choices. METHOD The following databases were searched from inception to 1(st) August 2008: MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, AMED, EMBASE, All EBM reviews, PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), SCOPUS. Controlled clinical trials evaluating LLLT as a primary intervention for any tendinopathy were included in the review. Methodological quality was classified as: high (> or =6 out of 10 on the PEDro scale) or low (<6) to grade the strength of evidence. Accuracy and clinical appropriateness of treatment parameters were assessed using established recommendations and guidelines. RESULTS Twenty-five controlled clinical trials met the inclusion criteria. There were conflicting findings from multiple trials: 12 showed positive effects and 13 were inconclusive or showed no effect. Dosages used in the 12 positive studies would support the existence of an effective dosage window that closely resembled current recommended guidelines. In two instances where pooling of data was possible, LLLT showed a positive effect size; in studies of lateral epicondylitis that scored > or =6 on the PEDro scale, participants' grip strength was 9.59 kg higher than that of the control group; for participants with Achilles tendinopathy, the effect was 13.6 mm less pain on a 100 mm visual analogue scale. CONCLUSION LLLT can potentially be effective in treating tendinopathy when recommended dosages are used. The 12 positive studies provide strong evidence that positive outcomes are associated with the use of current dosage recommendations for the treatment of tendinopathy.
Procurement and allocation of solid organs for transplantation.

The success of solid-organ transplantation has increased the need for an expanded supply of organ donors.1,2 In response to this need, the age limit for cadaveric donors has been increased, and donors over the age of 50 years are now routinely evaluated. The use of organs from living related donors, living unrelated donors, and asystolic donors (those declared dead on the basis of cardiopulmonary criteria) has also increased. Transplanted organs have even been reused.3–5 Nevertheless, there has been a progressively widening gap between the number of patients waiting for transplants and the number of transplantations performed. The number .