Towards Syntactic Iberian Polarity Classification

Lexicon-based methods using syntactic rules for polarity classification rely on parsers that are dependent on the language and on treebank guidelines. Thus, rules are also dependent and require adaptation, especially in multilingual scenarios. We tackle this challenge in the context of the Iberian Peninsula, releasing the first symbolic syntax-based Iberian system with rules shared across five official languages: Basque, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish. The model is made available.Comment: 7 pages, 5 tables. Contribution to the 8th Workshop on Computational Approaches to Subjectivity, Sentiment and Social Media Analysis (WASSA-2017) at EMNLP 201

A new navigation paradigm for virtual reality: the guided visit through a virtual world

The three main navigation paradigms for virtual worlds, i.e., free navigation, automatic tours, and multiuser navigation show important limitations when dealing with guided visits that involve interactive cooperation among several users in 3D virtual worlds over the Internet. In this paper, we present our research into this issue and some important results. We propose a new navigation paradigm denominated guided visit through a virtual world, where the capacity of a user guiding several remote users through the virtual world is enriched with the capacity to dynamically interchange the role of guiding between the connected users. The user that acts as a guide moves freely through the virtual world, and his/her movements are reproduced by the browsers of the other guided users. We also present the architecture and the system we developed that implements this paradigm, as well as its integration in a working realworld application that demonstrates its use

X-ray - cosmic shear cross-correlations: first detection and constraints on baryonic effects

We report a first detection, at very high significance ($25\sigma$), of the cross-correlation between cosmic shear and the diffuse X-ray background, using data from the Dark Energy Survey and the ROSAT satellite. The X-ray cross-correlation signal is sensitive to the distribution of the surrounding gas in dark matter haloes. This allows us to use our measurements to place constraints on key physical parameters that determine the impact of baryonic effects in the matter power spectrum. In particular, we determine the mass of haloes in which feedback has expelled half of their gas content on average to be $\log_{10}(M_c/M_\odot)=13.643^{+0.081}_{-0.12}$, and the polytropic index of the gas to be $\Gamma = 1.231^{+0.015}_{-0.011}$. This represents a first step in the direct use of X-ray cross-correlations to obtain improved constraints on cosmology and the physics of the intergalactic gas.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

A construção do conhecimento profissional na formação inicial e no período de indução – resultados preliminares de um estudo exploratório

Considerando a crescente importância de um modelo de currículo centrado no desenvolvimento de uma prática profissional reflexiva e em perspectivas teóricas construtivistas na construção do conhecimento profissional e na formação de professores, o propósito deste estudo passa pela investigação do impacto do modelo de formação de professores do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, implementado no Instituto de Estudos da Criança, da Universidade do Minho, nas percepções dos professores principiantes relativas à construção do conhecimento profissional durante a formação inicial de professores e o período de indução profissional. O estudo tenta entender como os professores principiantes avaliam a implementação do currículo de formação e o período de indução (como orientadores e reguladores do processo de construção do seu conhecimento profissional), e como constroem o seu próprio projecto profissional. O estudo longitudinal envolve três coortes (estudantes formados entre 2002 e 2004) de onde foram seleccionados três grupos de cinco estudantes. Entrevistas de grupo semi-estruturadas, reflexões individuais escritas como síntese do conteúdo das entrevistas, e reflexões escritas como resultado da interacção num blog especialmente concebido para o efeito, são os instrumentos de recolha de dados a serem usados. Neste texto, para além da apresentação do desenho do estudo, queremos dedicarmos ao tratamento e análise de conteúdo, ainda que numa fase exploratória, das interacções que resultaram do blog, como estratégia de acompanhamento da investigação e prolongamento das reflexões suscitadas nas entrevistas de grupo.CIEC - Centro de Investigação em Estudos da Criança, IE, UMinho (UI 317 da FCT), Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Temporary cable force monitoring techniques during bridge construction-phase: the Tajo River Viaduct experience

This article deals with the comparative analysis of current cable force monitoring techniques. In addition, the experience of three cable stress monitoring techniques during the construction phase is included: (a) the installation of load cells on the active anchorages of the cables, (b) the installation of unidirectional strain gauges, and (c) the evaluation of stresses in cables applying the vibrating wire technique by means of the installation of accelerometers. The main advantages and disadvantages of each technique analysed are highlighted in the Construction Process context of the Tajo Viaduct, one of the most singular viaducts recently built in Spain.This work has received funding from the European’s Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Grant Agreement No. 769373 (FORESEE project)

The environmental costs of water flow regulation: an innovative approach based on the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) explicitly requires the full cost recovery of water services, including the environmental costs incurred from the damage that water uses inflict on the environment. Although flow regulation by river damming is one of the most prominent human impact on fresh water ecosystems its environmental costs are not properly included in water pricing. This paper presents a novel approach to assessing the environmental costs of flow regulation based on the polluter-pays principle. The methodology includes three steps: (i) assessing the admissible range of regulated flow variability, derived from the natural flow regime variability, (ii) estimating the daily environmental impact of regulated flows according to deviations from the admissible range of flow variability, and (iii) calculating the environmental costs of flow regulation. The procedure is applied to four river case studies in Spain, UK and Norway. The advantages over other water cost valuation methods are discussed. The methodology enlarges the current recognition of environmental costs of water use and represents a practical management tool within the WFD context, encouraging transparency and stakeholder communication

A Role for Pre-mRNA-PROCESSING PROTEIN 40C in the Control of Growth, Development, and Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Because of their sessile nature, plants have adopted varied strategies for growing and reproducing in an ever-changing environment. Control of mRNA levels and pre-mRNA alternative splicing are key regulatory layers that contribute to adjust and synchronize plant growth and development with environmental changes. Transcription and alternative splicing are thought to be tightly linked and coordinated, at least in part, through a network of transcriptional and splicing regulatory factors that interact with the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II. One of the proteins that has been shown to play such a role in yeast and mammals is pre-mRNA-PROCESSING PROTEIN 40 (PRP40, also known as CA150, or TCERG1). In plants, members of the PRP40 family have been identified and shown to interact with the CTD of RNA Pol II, but their biological functions remain unknown. Here, we studied the role of AtPRP40C, in Arabidopsis thaliana growth, development and stress tolerance, as well as its impact on the global regulation of gene expression programs. We found that the prp40c knockout mutants display a late-flowering phenotype under long day conditions, associated with minor alterations in red light signaling. An RNA-seq based transcriptome analysis revealed differentially expressed genes related to biotic stress responses and also differentially expressed as well as differentially spliced genes associated with abiotic stress responses. Indeed, the characterization of stress responses in prp40c mutants revealed an increased sensitivity to salt stress and an enhanced tolerance to Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psm) infections. This constitutes the most thorough analysis of the transcriptome of a prp40 mutant in any organism, as well as the first characterization of the molecular and physiological roles of a member of the PRP40 protein family in plants. Our results suggest that PRP40C is an important factor linking the regulation of gene expression programs to the modulation of plant growth, development, and stress responses.Fil: Hernando, Carlos Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: García Hourquet, Mariano. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: de Leone, María José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Careno, Daniel Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Iserte, Javier Alonso. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Mora Garcia, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yanovsky, Marcelo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Response of fish communities in rivers subjected to a high sediment load

Erosion and sediment yield are a significant problem in the Guadalquivir River basin. Such phenomena are largely driven by a land use devoted to intensive cultivation of olive trees, with a large socioeconomic influence in Andalusia. This sediment overload in rivers causes serious impacts on all fluvial ecosystem components. In this study we assess the chronic effect of sediment yield on fish communities at 104 river sites located in two different sub-catchments ? the Bembézar and Guadajoz rivers ? both with different lithological composition and erosion rates. Sediment yield was estimated using a semi-quantitative Factorial Score Model (FSM), developed specifically for Spanish rivers. The fish populations of both basins were evaluated in composition and abundances by the study of Fernández-Delgado et al., 2014. The influence of sediment yield on the fish community was analyzed using General Additive Models. The sediment yield was higher in the Guadajoz basin (921 T/Km2 per year) than in Bembézar (701 T/Km2 per year). In the former, fish communities were poorer in both fish density and diversity, with Luciobarbus sclateri as the only substantially present species and a significant relationship between sediment yield and load, and fish density. In contrast, in the Bembézar basin, sediment yield was correlated with total fish density, including Luciobarbus sclateri, Pseudochondrostoma willkommii, Cobitis paludica, Iberochondrostoma lemmingii, Anaecypris hispanica, and Cyprinus carpio. Intermediate values of sediment yield led to maximum densities, while those higher decreased the density of these species

Low X-Ray Luminosity Galaxy Clusters. II. Optical properties and morphological content at 0.18 < z < 0.70

This is the second of a series of papers on low X-ray luminosity galaxy clusters, in which we present the $r^\prime$, $g^\prime$ and $i^\prime$ photometry obtained with GMOS-IMAGE at Gemini North and South telescopes for seven systems in the redshift range of 0.18 to 0.70. Optical magnitudes, colours and morphological parameters, namely, concentration index, ellipticity and visual morphological classification, are also given. At lower redshifts, the presence of a well-defined red cluster sequence extending by more than 4 magnitudes showed that these intermediate-mass clusters had reached a relaxed stage. This was confirmed by the small fraction of blue galaxy members observed in the central regions of $\sim$ 0.75 Mpc. In contrast, galaxy clusters at higher redshifts had a less important red cluster sequence. We also found that the galaxy radial density profiles in these clusters were well fitted by a single power law. At 0.18 $<$ z $<$ 0.70, we observed an increasing fraction of blue galaxies and a decreasing fraction of lenticulars, with the early-type fraction remaining almost constant. Overall, the results of these intermediate-mass clusters are in agreement with those for high mass clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Using fuzzy cognitive maps for predicting river management responses: A case study of the Esla River basin, Spain

The planning and management of river ecosystems affects a variety of social groups (i.e., managers, stakeholders, professionals and users) who have different interests about water uses. To avoid conflicts and reach an environmentally sustainable management, various methods have been devised to enable the participation of these actors. Mathematical modelling of river systems is highly recommended to forecast, but we do not always have enough information to do it. In these cases, the soft and meta-models can be valid alternatives to simulate these complex systems. The Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) are presented as a tool that facilitates the modelling of ecological systems, functions and services. FCM networking concepts are intertwined through causal relationships. The FCM concept spatial arrangement and the use of fuzzy logic facilitate the integration of different expert opinions. In our study, from a panel of seven experts from representatives of different social sectors, an aggregated FCM was obtained. The most central concept in the aggregated map was cross barriers, dams and weirs. Using our FCM expert model, we performed a number of simulations from different possible scenarios, such as the continuous degradation of natural conditions and the improvement of river natural conditions. A regular increment in the natural conditions generates a substantial enhance in variables as natural water flow and sediment transport. Conversely, the increment in human activities as agro-forestry production addresses to a deterioration of river banks among other variables. In the Esla River, the FCM indicators showed an ecosystem that was greatly influenced by human activity, especially by the presence of barriers, in which the economic variables presented high network influence even though their centrality indices were relatively low. Meanwhile, the essential elements for the proper functioning of this ecosystem, as a natural flow regime, showed very low values that were visibly affected by anthropogenic variables. FCM methodology enabled us not only to understand the perception of current fluvial ecosystems but also to generate plausible management scenarios based on expert knowledge in this field