Almost Sure Productivity

We define Almost Sure Productivity (ASP), a probabilistic generalization of the productivity condition for coinductively defined structures. Intuitively, a probabilistic coinductive stream or tree is ASP if it produces infinitely many outputs with probability 1. Formally, we define almost sure productivity using a final coalgebra semantics of programs inspired from Kerstan and K\"onig. Then, we introduce a core language for probabilistic streams and trees, and provide two approaches to verify ASP: a sufficient syntactic criterion, and a reduction to model-checking pCTL* formulas on probabilistic pushdown automata. The reduction shows that ASP is decidable for our core language

An overview of Digital Lexicography and directions for its future: An interview with Gilles-Maurice de Schryver

In this contribution Rove Chishman and Bruna da Silva present questions to the President of the European Association for Lexicography, Gilles-Maurice de Schryver. In answering, G-M de Schryver calls a spade a spade: No, there is no theory of lexicography, but yes, there is a future for lexicographers. For that future to be bright, lexicographers will have to join hands with the Big Data companies, and accept that their invaluable input will be all but invisible to the users. Artificial Intelligence components will have to be used in earnest, so that ‘searches’ (not look-ups!) will instantly lead to context-sensitive answers. Browsing lexical data only starts from these answers and proceeds from there in two- (and why not three-) dimensional multimedia spaces. To achieve this, G-M de Schryver points to the most promising research ideas at present, as well as the top teams involved in digital dictionary user research.Keywords: EURALEX; eLex; digital lexicography; e-dictionaries; corpora; automation; crowdsourcing; Corpus Query Packages (CQPs); Dictionary Writing Systems (DWSs); artificial intelligence (AI); user-friendliness; mobile devices; augmented writing assistants; eye-tracking; digital user research

Quantum clocks are more accurate than classical ones

A clock is, from an information-theoretic perspective, a system that emits information about time. One may therefore ask whether the theory of information imposes any constraints on the maximum precision of clocks. Here we show a quantum-over-classical advantage for clocks or, more precisely, the task of generating information about what time it is. The argument is based on information-theoretic considerations: we analyse how the accuracy of a clock scales with its size, measured in terms of the number of bits that could be stored in it. We find that a quantum clock can achieve a quadratically improved accuracy compared to a purely classical one of the same size.Comment: 17 + 60 pages. V2: corrected typos and improved discussio

As grandes cheias de Ponte de Lima : uma abordagem metodológica à análise do risco de inundação na perspectiva da directiva relativa à avaliação e gestão dos riscos de inundação

A partir do estudo das grandes cheias do rio Lima, pela sua passagem na vila de Ponte de Lima, pretende dar-se um contributo sobre alguns aspectos metodológicos a considerar no cumprimento da Directiva 2007/60/CE do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho, de 23 de Outubro de 2007, que tem, por objectivo, “reduzir o risco e as consequências negativas das inundações na União Europeia”.From the study of the major floods of the river Lima, for their passage in the town of Ponte de Lima, is intended to give a contribution on some methodological aspects to be considered in compliance with Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2007, which has for objective to "reduce the risk and adverse consequences of floods in the European Union.

Subclinical endometritis differentially affects the transcriptomic profiles of endometrial glandular, luminal, and stromal cells of postpartum dairy cows

In postpartum dairy cows, subclinical endometritis flammation, which has profound detrimental effects on subsequent reproductive performance. To date, transcriptomic studies related to this condition were either based on biopsy-derived whole-endometrium tissue or endometrial swab or cytobrush samples, thus masking effects of disease on cell type-specific gene expression. This study tested the hypothesis that different endometrial health statuses are associated with distinct transcription profiles of endometrial stromal, glandular, and luminal epithelial cells. At 44 d postpartum (DPP), endometrial biopsies were taken from dairy or affected by persistent SCE, according to endometrial cytology taken at 21 and 44 DPP. Stromal, glandular, and luminal epithelial cells were isolated from the whole-tissue biopsy by laser capture microdissection, and the cell-specific transcription profiles were determined by RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression demonstrated that global transcriptomic profiles and corresponding lists of differentially expressed genes beamong cell types. Results also showed that although healthy and recovered cows presented similar endoprior presence of immune cells still affected the transcriptome of endometrial cells at this stage, delaying complete functional recovery. Recovery or persistence of inflammation was associated with gene expression patterns involved not only in immune function but also in tissue remodeling, cell adhesion, and uterine recep-tivity in a cell type-specific manner. Identifying these signatures may contribute to the development of novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies. In addition, these results may help to define preventive measures or ways to stimulate recovery from endometrial inflamma-tion, thus helping to restore the fertility of postpartum dairy cows

The effect of magnetic activity on low-mass stars in eclipsing binaries

In recent years, analyses of eclipsing binary systems have unveiled differences between the observed fundamental properties of low-mass stars and those predicted by stellar structure models. Particularly, radius and effective temperatures computed from models are ~ 5-10% lower and ~ 3-5% higher than observed, respectively. These discrepancies have been attributed to different factors, notably to the high levels of magnetic activity present on these stars. In this paper, we test the effect of magnetic activity both on models and on the observational analysis of eclipsing binaries using a sample of such systems with accurate fundamental properties. Regarding stellar models, we have found that unrealistically high spot coverages need to be assumed to reproduce the observations. Tests considering metallicity effects and missing opacities on models indicate that these are not able to explain the radius discrepancies observed. With respect to the observations, we have tested the effect of several spot distributions on the light curve analysis. Our results show that spots cause systematic deviations on the stellar radii derived from light curve analysis when distributed mainly over the stellar poles. Assuming the existence of polar spots, overall agreement between models and observations is reached when ~ 35% spot coverage is considered on stellar models. Such spot coverage induces a systematic deviation in the radius determination from the light curve analysis of ~ 3% and is also compatible with the modulations observed on the light curves of these systems. Finally, we have found that the effect of activity or rotation on convective transport in partially radiative stars may also contribute to explain the differences seen in some of the systems with shorter orbital periods.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Desarrollo de un cuestionario para estimar las habilidades digitales de estudiantes universitarios

The purpose of this article is to show the methodological route carried out to develop a questionnaire to estimate the educational digital skills of students of a Mexican public university as well as to show evidence of construct validity through structural equation modeling. The development of a questionnaire based on four dimensions is described: management of information, communication, organization and portable technology. We draw on expert consultation for the delimitation of the factors, the development of reagents and the estimation of an indicator of unambiguity. A preliminary analysis based on structural modeling of equations is applied to obtain evidence of validity of the developed scale. The questionnaire was applied to a random sample of 350 students. Additionally, we propose a conceptual model for the construct of digital skill, which showed the expected congruency between the observed variables and the proposed structure. After an initial application we were able to obtain acceptable values in three of the goodness of fit indices (RMSEA, GFI and AGFI), with the exception for Chi-square and possibilities were identified for adapting the scale based on the modification rates derived from the AMOS program. The information obtained will improve the proposed scale. Determining the digital skills of the students is a current interest in the search of innovation and efficiency of educational activities.El propósito del artículo es mostrar la ruta metodológica seguida para desarrollar un cuestionario para estimar las habilidades digitales con propósito educativo que tienen los estudiantes de una universidad pública mexicana y aportar evidencias de validez de constructo mediante el modelado estructural de ecuaciones. El cuestionario se articula en cuatro dimensiones: manejo de información, de comunicación, de organización y de tecnología portátil. Se recurre a la consulta de expertos para la delimitación de los factores, la elaboración de los reactivos y la estimación de un indicador de univocidad. El cuestionario se aplicó al azar a una muestra de 350 estudiantes de una universidad pública mexicana. Se propuso un modelo conceptual para el constructo habilidad digital, el cual tuvo la congruencia esperada entre las variables observadas y la estructura propuesta. Tras una primera aplicación y una re-especificación del modelo, se lograron obtener valores aceptables en tres de los índices de bondad de ajuste (RMSEA, CFI e IFI), con excepción de Chi-cuadrada. Los hallazgos dan cuenta del camino a seguir para aportar evidencias de validez de constructo del cuestionario elaborado. Un producto de la investigación fue la obtención de un cuestionario para estimar el constructo habilidad digital con suficiente evidencia empírica de que se mide lo deseado. Por el carácter dinámico de las tecnologías portátiles, se sugiere disponer de un esquema de actualización a dicho cuestionario para que no sea obsoleto en corto tiempo