B4DS @ PRELEARN: Ensemble method for prerequisite learning

In this paper we describe the methodologies we proposed to tackle the EVALITA 2020 shared task PRELEARN. We propose both a methodology based on gated recurrent units as well as one using more classical word embeddings together with ensemble methods. Our goal in choosing these approaches, is twofold, on one side we wish to see how much of the prerequisite information is present within the pages themselves. On the other we would like to compare how much using the information from the rest of Wikipedia can help in identifying this type of relation. This second approach is particularly useful in terms of extension to new entities close to the one in the corpus provided for the task but not actually present in it. With this methodologies we reached second position in the challenge

B4DS @ PRELEARN: Ensemble Method for Prerequisite Learning

In this paper we describe the methodologies we proposed to tackle the EVALITA 2020 shared task PRELEARN. We propose both a methodology based on gated recurrent units as well as one using more classical word embeddings together with ensemble methods. Our goal in choosing these approaches, is twofold, on one side we wish to see how much of the prerequisite information is present within the pages themselves. On the other we would like to compare how much using the information from the rest of Wikipedia can help in identifying this type of relation. This second approach is particularly useful in terms of extension to new entities close to the one in the corpus provided for the task but not actually present in it. With this methodologies we reached second position in the challenge

Exploring Vitamin B1 Cycling and Its Connections to the Microbial Community in the North Atlantic Ocean

Vitamin B1 (thiamin) is an essential coenzyme for all cells. Recent findings from experimental cell biology and genome surveys have shown that thiamin cycling by plankton is far more complex than was previously understood. Many plankton cells cannot produce thiamin (are auxotrophic) and obligately require an exogenous source of thiamin or one or more of 5 different thiamin-related compounds (TRCs). Despite this emerging evidence for the evolution among plankton of complex interactions related to thiamin, the influence of TRCs on plankton community structure and productivity are not understood. We report measurements of three dissolved TRCs 4-amino-5-aminomethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (AmMP), 5-(2-hydroxyethyl)-4-methyl-1,3-thiazole-2-carboxylic acid (cHET), and 4-methyl-5-thiazoleethanol (HET) that have never before been assayed in seawater. Here we characterize them alongside other TRCs that were measured previously [thiamin and 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (HMP)], in depth profiles from a latitudinal transect in the north Atlantic in March 2018. TRC concentrations ranged from femptomolar to picomolar. Surface depletion relative to a maximum near the bottom of the euphotic zone and low concentrations at deeper depths were consistent features. Our observations suggest that when bacterial abundance and production are low, TRC concentrations approach a steady state where TRC production and consumption terms are balanced. Standing stocks of TRCs also appear to be positively correlated with bacterial production. However, near the period of peak biomass in the accumulation phase of a bloom we observed an inverse relationship between TRCs and bacterial production, coincident with an increased abundance of Flavobacteria that comparative genomics indicates could be vitamin B1 auxotrophs. While these observations suggest that the dissolved pool of TRCs is often at steady state, with TRC production and consumption balanced, our data suggests that bloom induced shifts in microbial community structure and activity may cause a decoupling between TRC production and consumption, leading to increased abundances of some populations of bacteria that are putatively vitamin B1 auxotrophs

A comparison between two optimisation alternatives for mapping in wireless network on chip

Network on Chip (NoC) is a well known approach that aims at improving the performance of many-core systems. The design of such systems involves the optimal mapping of tasks to nodes, and the corresponding scheduling of the tasks at every node, which results in a challenging optimisation problem considering the constraints that need to be respected. In this paper, after formalising the problem and elaborating on its complexity, we present an AI approach to solve the problem and evaluate it against a MIP approach. Our empirical evaluation shows that the AI approach is able to obtain solutions of good quality very quickly

Principios para la Formalización de la Ingeniería de Software

In this article a proposal is presented for a software engineering based on the premise of establishing a necessary set of principles to formalize a body of knowledge guided not alone for work activities, methods and technical but also strengthened by properties that indeed can be used and applied without there is discrimination in the project type that it is carried out.En este artículo se presenta una propuesta para una ingeniería de software basada en la premisa de establecer un conjunto de principios necesarios para formalizar un cuerpo de conocimiento guiado no solo por actividades de trabajo, métodos y técnicas sino también fortalecida por propiedades que en efecto puedan ser utilizadas y aplicadas sin que haya discriminación en el tipo de proyecto que se realice

Propuesta de una ecuación lineal para valorar la velocidad de crecimiento somático a partir de la masa corporal de ratas machos Wistar

Introduction: In order to determine the degree of biological maturation in rodents it is necessary to apply non-invasive and invasive methods, for which studies covering different strains of rats need simple procedures to control the confounding effects of biological maturation they may cause. Objectives: To determine from body mass growth velocity of Wistar male rats and to propose linear regression equations to predict growth velocity peak (GVP). Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Institution: State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, Department of Pharmacology. Methods: From 101 rats 25 male Wistar rats 21 days old were selected in probabilistic-random (randomized tables). Body mass (g) was assessed every week until 16 weeks of life. For statistical analysis, descriptive statistics were used in arithmetic average (X) and standard deviation (SD). To determine significant differences between ages ANOVA for repeated measures was used (p <0.001) and to correlate age variables weight and GVP Pearson (r) was used (p <0.01). GVP prediction was carried out through simple linear regression analysis and multiple stepwise (p <0.001). Main outcome measures: Growth speed; proposal of linear regression equations to predict growth velocity peak. Results: Growth velocity peak assessed by body mass appeared at about 42 days of life. Three equations and multiple linear regression were generated, where determination of (R2) coefficient for model 1 was 0.99, for model 2 0.89 and model 3 0.99, respectively. These equations predicted the proximity and separation of male Wistar rats GVP and results could be interpreted through 14 levels. Conclusions: GVP occurred at 42 days of life and linear regression equations were generated from body weight and age in order to predict somatic maturation degree of male Wistar rats.Introducción: Para conocer el grado de maduración biológica de los roedores es necesaria la aplicación de métodos invasivos y no-invasivos, para lo cual los estudios que engloban diversas cepas de ratas necesitan de procedimientos simples de manera de controlar los efectos de confusión que la maduración biológica pudiera ocasionar. Objetivos: Determinar la velocidad de crecimiento (VC) de ratas machos Wistar a partir de la masa corporal y proponer ecuaciones de regresión lineal para predecir el pico de velocidad de crecimiento (PVC). Diseño: Estudio longitudinal de cohorte. Institución: Universidad Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil, Departamento de Farmacología. Métodos: De un total de 101 ratas, se seleccionó de forma probabilística-aleatoria (tablas aleatorias) 25 ratas machos Wistar de 3 semanas de vida (21 días de edad). Se evaluó la masa corporal (g) cada semana, hasta las 16 semanas de vida. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó la estadística descriptiva de la media aritmética (X) y desviación estándar (DE). Para determinar las diferencias significativas entre las edades se usó ANOVA para medidas repetitivas (p<0,001) y para correlacionar las variables de edad, peso y PVC se utilizó (r) de Pearson (p<0,001). La predicción del PVC se efectuó a través del análisis de regresión lineal simple y múltiple StepWise (p<0,001). Principales medidas de resultados: Velocidad de crecimiento; propuesta de ecuaciones de regresión lineal para predecir el pico de velocidad de crecimiento. Resultados: Los resultados muestran que la velocidad de crecimiento evaluada a través de la masa corporal se presentó alrededor de los 42 días de vida. Con dichos resultados se generó tres ecuaciones de regresión lineal simple y múltiple, donde el coeficiente de determinación (R2) para el modelo 1 fue 0,99, para el modelo 2, 0,89 y para el modelo 3, 0,99, respectivamente. Estas ecuaciones permiten predecir la proximidad y el alejamiento del PVC de ratas machos Wistar y los resultados pueden ser interpretados a través de 14 niveles. Conclusiones: El PVC se produjo a los 42 días de vida y las ecuaciones de regresión lineal generadas a partir del peso corporal y la edad permitieron predecir el grado de maduración somática de ratas machos Wistar

Protein crystallization in short-peptide supramolecular hydrogels: A versatile strategy towards biotechnological composite materials

Protein crystallization in hydrogels has been explored with the main purpose of facilitating the growth of high quality crystals while increasing their size to enhance their manipulation. New avenues are currently being built for the use of protein crystals as source materials to create sensors and drug delivery vehicles, to name just a few. In this sense, short-peptide supramolecular hydrogels may play a crucial role in integrating protein crystals within a wider range of applications. In this article, we show that protein crystallization in short-peptide supramolecular hydrogels is feasible and independent of the type of peptide that forms the hydrogel and/or the protein, although the output is not always the same. As a general trend, it is confirmed that hydrogel fibers are always incorporated within crystals so that novel composite materials for biotechnological applications with enhanced properties are produced.This research was funded by the MICINN (Spain) projects BIO2010-6800 (JAG), CTQ2012-34778 (JJDM), and “Factoría Española de Cristalización” Consolider-Ingenio 2010 (JAG & MCM), and by Junta de Andalucía (Spain) project P12-FQM- 2721 (LAC). EDRF funds JAG, LAC & JMC. JJDM thanks MICINN for a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship and MCM thanks CSIC for her JAE Fellowshi

Non-productive angiogenesis disassembles Aß plaque-associated blood vessels

The human Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain accumulates angiogenic markers but paradoxically, the cerebral microvasculature is reduced around Aß plaques. Here we demonstrate that angiogenesis is started near Aß plaques in both AD mouse models and human AD samples. However, endothelial cells express the molecular signature of non-productive angiogenesis (NPA) and accumulate, around Aß plaques, a tip cell marker and IB4 reactive vascular anomalies with reduced NOTCH activity. Notably, NPA induction by endothelial loss of presenilin, whose mutations cause familial AD and which activity has been shown to decrease with age, produced a similar vascular phenotype in the absence of Aß pathology. We also show that Aß plaque-associated NPA locally disassembles blood vessels, leaving behind vascular scars, and that microglial phagocytosis contributes to the local loss of endothelial cells. These results define the role of NPA and microglia in local blood vessel disassembly and highlight the vascular component of presenilin loss of function in AD

EVALITA Evaluation of NLP and Speech Tools for Italian - December 17th, 2020

Welcome to EVALITA 2020! EVALITA is the evaluation campaign of Natural Language Processing and Speech Tools for Italian. EVALITA is an initiative of the Italian Association for Computational Linguistics (AILC, http://www.ai-lc.it) and it is endorsed by the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AIxIA, http://www.aixia.it) and the Italian Association for Speech Sciences (AISV, http://www.aisv.it)