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Potential functions are a general class of heuristics for classical planning. For satisficing planning, previous work suggested the use of descending and dead-end avoiding (DDA) potential heuristics, which solve planning tasks by backtrack-free search. In this work we study the complexity of devising DDA potential heuristics for classical planning tasks. We show that verifying or synthesizing DDA potential heuristics is PSPACE-complete, but suitable modifications of the DDA properties reduce the complexity of these problems to the first and second level of the polynomial hierarchy. We also discuss the implications of our results for other forms of heuristic synthesis in classical planning.

We investigate the combined finite-size and thermo-magnetic effects on the properties of the quark matter, in the context of the two-flavored Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. In particular, by using the mean-field approximation and the Schwinger proper time method in a toroidal topology with periodic or antiperiodic conditions, we evaluate the chiral phase transition, the constituent quark mass and the thermal and spatial susceptibilities under the change of the size, temperature and strength of external magnetic field. To take into account the inverse magnetic catalysis phenomenon, we make use of a recently proposed magnetized coupling constant. The findings suggest that the observables are strongly affected by the variation of the variables and also by the periodicity of the boundary conditions, with the final outcomes depending on the balance of these competing phenomena., 26 pages, 7 figures; revised version incorporating reviewer comments

Potential heuristics are weighted functions over state features of a planning task. A recent study defines the complexity of a task as the minimum required feature complexity for a potential heuristic that makes a search backtrack-free. This gives an indication of how complex potential heuristics need to be to achieve good results in satisficing planning. However, these results do not directly transfer to optimal planning.In this paper, we empirically study how complex potential heuristics must be to represent the perfect heuristic and how close to perfect heuristics can get with a limited number of features. We aim to identify the practical trade-offs between size, complexity and time for the quality of potential heuristics. Our results show that, even for simple planning tasks, finding perfect potential heuristics might be harder than expected.

Source code used in the experiments from the paper "The FF Heuristic for Lifted Classical Planning" (Corrêa et al. AAAI 2022). The zip file contains the source code directory, a Python script to run the lifted planner, a Singularity script to generate the planner image, and a README file explaining the usage of the planner and the scripts.

Source code used in the experiments from the paper "Best-First Width Search for Lifted Classical Planning" (Corrêa and Seipp ICAPS 2022). There are three different files: 1. The zip file "correa-seipp-icaps2022-code.zip" contains the source code directory, a Python script to run the lifted planner, a Singularity script to generate the planner image, and a README file explaining the usage of the planner and the scripts. 2. The file "scripts.zip" contain all scripts used for the experiments. 3. The file "experiment-data-lifted-bfws.zip" contains all the raw data from the experiments.

Source code used in the experiments from the paper "The FF Heuristic for Lifted Classical Planning" (Corrêa et al. AAAI 2022). The zip file contains the source code directory, a Python script to run the lifted planner, a Singularity script to generate the planner image, and a README file explaining the usage of the planner and the scripts.

Exercise intolerance, a hallmark of patients with heart failure (HF), is associated with muscle weakness. However, its causative microcirculatory and muscle characteristics among those with preserved or reduced ejection fraction (HFpEF or HFrEF) phenotype is unclear. The musculoskeletal abnormalities that could result in impaired peripheral microcirculation are sarcopenia and muscle strength reduction in HF, implying lowered oxidative capacity and perfusion affect transport and oxygen utilization during exercise, an essential task from the microvascular muscle function. Besides that, skeletal muscle microcirculatory abnormalities have also been associated with exercise intolerance in HF patients who also present skeletal muscle myopathy. This cross-sectional study aimed to compare the muscle microcirculation dynamics via near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) response during an isokinetic muscle strength test and ultrasound-derived parameters (echo intensity was rectus femoris muscle, while the muscle thickness parameter was measured on rectus femoris and quadriceps femoris) in heart failure patients with HFpEF and HFrEF phenotypes and different functional severities (Weber Class A, B, and C). Twenty-eight aged-matched patients with HFpEF (n = 16) and HFrEF (n = 12) were assessed. We found phenotype differences among those with Weber C severity, with HFrEF patients reaching lower oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb, μM) (−10.9 ± 3.8 vs. −23.7 ± 5.7, p = 0.029) during exercise, while HFpEF reached lower O2Hb during the recovery period (−3.0 ± 3.4 vs. 5.9 ± 2.8, p = 0.007). HFpEF with Weber Class C also presented a higher echo intensity than HFrEF patients (29.7 ± 8.4 vs. 15.1 ± 6.8, p = 0.017) among the ultrasound-derived variables. Our preliminary study revealed more pronounced impairments in local microcirculatory dynamics in HFpEF vs. HFrEF patients during a muscle strength exercise, combined with muscle-skeletal abnormalities detected via ultrasound imaging, which may help explain the commonly observed exercise intolerance in HFpEF patients.

Heuristics for lifted planning are not yet as informed as the best heuristics for ground planning. Recent work introduced the idea of using Datalog programs to compute the additive heuristic over lifted tasks. Based on this work, we show how to compute the more informed FF heuristic in a lifted manner. We extend the Datalog program with executable annotations that can also be used to define other delete-relaxation heuristics. In our experiments, we show that a planner using the lifted FF implementation produces state-of-the-art results for lifted planners. It also reduces the gap to state-of-the-art ground planners in domains where grounding is feasible.

Source code used in the experiments from the paper "Delete-Relaxation Heuristics for Lifted Classical Planning" (Corrêa et al. ICAPS 2021). The zip file contains the source code directory, a Python script to run the lifted planner, a Singularity script to generate the planner image, and a README file explaining the usage of the planner.

This paper presents the Task on Irony Detection in Portuguese (IDPT), held within Iberian Languages Evaluation Forum (IberLEF 2021). We asked the participants to develop systems capable of identifying irony in texts. We created two corpora containing tweets and news articles. Twelve teams registered to the task, among which six submitted both predictions and technical reports. The best performing system achieved a Balanced Accuracy (Bacc) value of 0.52 for tweets (Team PiLN) and 0.92 for news (Team BERT4EVER). Este artículo presenta la Tarea sobre Detección de Ironías en Portugués (IDPT), realizada en el IberLEF 2021. Les pedimos a los participantes que desarrollaran sistemas capaces de identificar la ironía en los textos. Creamos dos corpora que contienen tweets y artículos de noticias. Doce equipos se inscribieron en la tarea, entre los cuales seis presentaron predicciones e informes técnicos. El sistema con mejor rendimiento logró un valor de precisión equilibrada (Bacc) de 0,52 para los tweets (Equipo PiLN) y 0,92 para las noticias (Equipo BERT4EVER).

Source code used in the experiments from the paper "An Empirical Study of Perfect Potential Heuristics " (Corrêa and Pommerening ICAPS 2019).

Changes in temperature and precipitation intensity and frequency have influenced the water demand for irrigation. Regions that have agriculture-based economies, as in the Ijuí River basin, are often affected by periods of drought or excessive rainfall, which is harmful for agricultural productivity. This study aimed to evaluate future irrigation water demands of four crops in this basin (bean, corn, wheat and soybean), comparing them with a baseline period. Meteorological data forecasts were obtained from the regional climate model ETA 40 CTRL for the climatic scenario A1B, for the baseline (1961-1990) and future (2011-2100) periods. The one-dimensional SWAP model was used to estimate the water demand for irrigation. The results showed that, in the future, irrigation water requirements will be smaller for all crops. In the short term (2011-2040), water demands were similar to those for the baseline period, but from the middle of the century onwards (2041-2100), greater reductions were observed. RESUMO A alteração de temperatura e da intensidade e frequência dos índices pluviométricos tem influenciado a demanda de água para irrigação. Regiões que possuem sua economia voltada para a agricultura, como na bacia hidrográfica do rio Ijuí, são frequentemente afetadas por períodos de estiagem ou de excesso de chuva que prejudicam a produtividade agrícola. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo estimar as demandas futuras de água para irrigação em quatro culturas nesta bacia (feijão, milho, trigo e soja), comparando com um cenário atual. Os dados das projeções meteorológicas foram obtidos por meio do modelo climático regional ETA 40 CTRL, em um cenário futuro A1B, referentes ao período atual (1961-1990) e futuro (2011-2100). O modelo unidimensional SWAP foi utilizado para simular as demandas de água para irrigação. Os resultados mostraram que no futuro a necessidade de irrigação será menor para todas as culturas analisadas. Em curto prazo (2011-2040), as demandas se mantiveram próximo ao período atual. Contudo, da metade do século em diante (2041-2100) houve maiores reduções.

The contents of soybean can modify the structure of the reproductive system, especially, when consumed for prolonged periods. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the consumption of transgenic soybean on rat penis morphology after prolonged use. Wistar rats (n = 30) were divided into three groups according to diet: Transgenic Soybean (TS) group, Organic Soybean (OS) group and Control (C) group. After 455 days of intake, the rats were sacrificed and the penises were excised and fixed in formalin for subsequent histological processing. The samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Weigert’s resorcin-fuchsin stain, and picrosirius red with polarization. The images were scanned for the histomorphometric analyses of the corpora cavernosa, corpus spongiosum, erectile tissue, and tunica albuginea as well as the measurement of the thickness of the tunica albuginea. The diameter and areas of the penile arteries with the intima and media tunica were also measured. The elastic fibers of the tunica albuginea, corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum were quantified using stereological methods. No significant differences were observed in the collagen and elastic components among the groups. We concluded that no statistically significant differences were found among the groups, demonstrating that the prolonged consumption of OS and TS does not affect the penile structure. El contenido de frijoles de soja puede modificar la estructura del sistema reproductivo, especialmente, cuando se consume durante períodos prolongados. En este estudio, se evaluaron los efectos del consumo de frijoles de soja transgénica en la morfología del pene de rata después de un uso prolongado. Las ratas Wistar (n = 30) se dividieron en tres grupos según la dieta: grupo de frijoles de soja transgénica (TS), grupo de frijoles de soja orgánica (OS) y grupo control (C). Después de 455 días de ingesta, se sacrificaron las ratas y se extirparon los penes y se fijaron en formalina para posterior procesamiento histológico. Las muestras se tiñeron con hematoxilina y eosina, tinción de resorcina-fucsina de Weigert y rojo de picrosirius con polarización. Las imágenes fueron escaneadas para análisis histomorfométrico de los cuerpos cavernosos, cuerpo esponjoso, tejido eréctil y túnica albugínea, así como para la medición del espesor de la túnica albugínea. También se midieron el diámetro y las áreas de las arterias penianas con las túnicas íntima y media. Se cuantificaron las fibras elásticas de la túnica albugínea, cuerpos cavernosos y cuerpos esponjosos utilizando métodos estereológicos. No se observaron diferencias significativas en los componentes colágenos y elásticos entre los grupos. Se concluyó que no se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los grupos, lo que demuestra que el consumo prolongado de OS y TS no afecta a la estructura del pene.

The contents of soybean can modify the structure of the reproductive system, especially, when consumed for prolonged periods. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the consumption of transgenic soybean on rat penis morphology after prolonged use. Wistar rats (n = 30) were divided into three groups according to diet: Transgenic Soybean (TS) group, Organic Soybean (OS) group and Control (C) group. After 455 days of intake, the rats were sacrificed and the penises were excised and fixed in formalin for subsequent histological processing. The samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Weigert’s resorcin-fuchsin stain, and picrosirius red with polarization. The images were scanned for the histomorphometric analyses of the corpora cavernosa, corpus spongiosum, erectile tissue, and tunica albuginea as well as the measurement of the thickness of the tunica albuginea. The diameter and areas of the penile arteries with the intima and media tunica were also measured. The elastic fibers of the tunica albuginea, corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum were quantified using stereological methods. No significant differences were observed in the collagen and elastic components among the groups. We concluded that no statistically significant differences were found among the groups, demonstrating that the prolonged consumption of OS and TS does not affect the penile structure.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-11T00:36:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PROCI17.0221EstudoComparativodeTomatesporTomografia.pdf: 440131 bytes, checksum: ccea8a2caca719a8c4ef4777803f34c2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-13

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, agente etiológico do mal-do-Panamá, vem provocando perdas elevadas na cultura da bananeira, sendo fator limitante ao cultivo de variedades apreciadas pelo mercado. O presente trabalho objetivou comparar dois métodos de inoculação deste fungo, utilizando a técnica de avaliação por imagens digitais.

Tese apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas da UNESP - Campus de Botucatu, para obtenção do título de Doutor em Agronomia (Proteção de Plantas). Orientador: Wagner Bettiol, Embrapa Meio Ambiente.

A adição de impurezas em café torrado e moído tem se revelado um negócio rendoso para quem o pratica, um custo financeiro razoável para o consumidor e alto para a sociedade; assim, controlar laboratorialmente esta adição é crucial. Nos métodos tradicional e por imagem, o preparo da unidade de exame é o mesmo, mas no método tradicional, a quantificação de impurezas demanda tempo muito maior e muito grande. Para se adotar o método de imagem é necessário validá-lo, em especial para cascas e paus. Então este método foi validado do ponto de vista dos diversos requisitos de validação em normas e guias. Ele se revelou seletivo para cascas e paus frente às concentrações de soja estudadas, por exemplo; seus limites de detecção e quantificação foram 0,03 e 0,05% respectivamente; a linearidade da medição foi significativa e sem evidência de falta de ajuste; a faixa de trabalho foi de 0,05 a 4%. Não foram verificados vícios significativos ao longo da medição; variações intralaboratoriais foram estabelecidas, e os resultados de medição poderão ser escritos X ± 0,14, para X = média de duplicatas, até nova avaliação. Adicionalmente, para cascas e paus na presença de soja, não foi evidenciado falso positivo ou negativo. Nos requisitos apresentados, o método foi considerado válido, mas do ponto de vista métrico e de interesse legal, sugeriu-se refinamento da precisão no intervalo 0,20 a 2,2%, e nessa oportunidade testar o limite de detecção 0,03% e de quantificação 0,05%.

A doença de Creutzfeldt-Jakob (DCJ) é a encefalopatia espongiforme subaguda transmissível mais frequente nos seres humanos. Aproximadamente 85% dos casos pertencem à forma esporádica da doença. Os outros 15% consistem na forma genética e iatrogênica. Relatamos o caso de uma paciente com a forma esporádica da doença de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, com comprometimento medular e apresentação clínica caracterizada por síndrome demencial e cerebelar, miofasciculação com arreflexia difusa e crises convulsivas do tipo tônico-clônico generalizada. É rara a associação das duas últimas manifestações clínicas. O caso foi considerado como provável DCJ até confirmação por autópsia e imunohistoquímica. Concluímos que se deve sempre pensar na DCJ em pacientes que apresentam demência rapidamente progressiva e, na ausência de sinais piramidais ou extrapiramidais, pensar em acometimento periférico e/ou medular. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most common subacute transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Approximately 85% of the cases are sporadic. The remaining 15% consist of genetic and iatrogenic forms. We report a sporadic form of CJD with spinal cord involvement and a clinical manifestation characterized by dementia and cerebellar syndrome, myofasciculation with absent reflexes and seizures. The two last manifestations are rare. The clinical hypothesis was probable CJD which was confirmed with autopsy and immunohistochemistry. We conclude that CJD should always be suspected when rapidly progressive dementia occurs and the absence of pyramidal or extrapyramidal signs suggest a spinal cord and/or peripheral nerve involvement.

RESUMO - Foi feito levantamento das espécies de geometrídeos ocorrentes em soja, em 1976, na cultivar 'Bragg' e na linhagem ED-73-371, e em 1976 e 1977, na cultivar UFV-1'. Foram observadas as espécies Iridopsis vaciliarta Waiker, Oxydia nfrn bata Guenée, SemiotI, ira regulara Fabricius, Semiothlsa sp., Stenalcldla sp. Em geral, as lagartas ocorreram em maior abundância no final do ciclo da soja, de meados do período de enchimento das vagens a sua maturação fisiológica. Comparando-se parcelas tratadas e não tratadas com inseticidas, observou-se, naquelas, um nível populacional duas vezes superior, cerca de quatro semanas após o tratamento, caracterizando o fenômeno da ressuxgência. ABSTRACT - A survey of geometrid caterpillars was carried out in soybean piou during 1976, on cultivar Bragg and ED 73-371 lineage,and on cultivar UFV-1' during the 1976 and 1977seasons. The foliowing species were coilected: lridopsis vacillaria Waiker, Oxydia nim bata Guenée,Sem/otbisa, egulata Fabriclus, Semiothisa sp., Stenakidia sp. Geometrid Iarvae were collected in greater numbers from mid pod-filling to the maturity stage. Resurgence of ttia pest population occurred each four weeks after Insecticide application, being two times more abundant iii treated than in untreated piou. Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-10T05:37:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 geometrideos.pdf: 136156 bytes, checksum: 73ca6fdd8f5055b8357cee4f4a10ed34 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1992-05-06

The standard PDDL language for classical planning uses several first-order features, such as schematic actions. Yet, most classical planners ground this first-order representation into a propositional one as a preprocessing step. While this simplifies the design of other parts of the planner, in several benchmarks the grounding process causes an exponential blowup that puts otherwise solvable tasks out of reach of the planners. In this work, we take a step towards planning with lifted representations. We tackle the successor generation task, a key operation in forward-search planning, directly on the lifted representation using well-known techniques from database theory. We show how computing the variable substitutions that make an action schema applicable in a given state is essentially a query evaluation problem. Interestingly, a large number of the action schemas in the standard benchmarks result in acyclic conjunctive queries, for which query evaluation is tractable. Our empirical results show that our approach is competitive with the standard (grounded) successor generation techniques in a few domains and outperforms them on benchmarks where grounding is challenging or infeasible.

Objectives: This longitudinal study assessed the prevalence of dental fear in adulthood and the association with socio-economic, behavioural and clinical variables. Also, the existence of a vicious cycle of dental fear was tested. Methods: A random sample of adults (n = 535) from the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort, Brazil, was selected. Socio-economic data, behavioural characteristics and clinical variables were collected during different cohort waves. Oral health data were collected at ages 15, 24 and 31 years old, using questionnaires and oral examination. Dental fear (the outcome) was assessed by the question: ‘Are you afraid of going to the dentist?’, with possible responses: dichotomized into ‘No’ or ‘A little/Yes/A lot’. Exposure variables were as follows: dental visit in the last years (at the ages 15 and 31); caries experience (DMFT ≥ mean) at the ages 15 and 31; the trajectory of caries prevalence from 15 to 31 years old; dental pain in the last six months in the two ages evaluated; and self-rated oral health at age 31. Several multivariable Poisson regression models were used to investigate the association between each of the exposure variables and dental fear. Results: Dental fear prevalence was 22.1%, and it was more prevalent among non-white individuals and females. After controlling for potential confounders, dental fear was more likely to be reported by those individuals who had dental pain or a higher prevalence of dental caries at the age 15. Dental fear was also associated with a worse trajectory of dental caries, negative self-rated oral health at age 31 and with not having visited the dentist in the last year (at the age 31). Results supported the proposed vicious cycle of dental fear. Conclusions: Dental fear in adulthood was related to exposures occurring across the lifecourse. Also, it was possible to observe the occurrence of the vicious cycle of dental fear in the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort. Therefore, preventive measures during different periods of the life course are required to prevent dental fear and adulthood. Refereed/Peer-reviewed