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My claim in this article is that the thesis that Buddhism has no God, insofar as it is taken to apply to Buddhism universally, is false. I defend this claim by interpreting a central text in East-Asian Buddhism – The Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna – through the lenses of perfect being theology (PBT), a research programme in philosophy of religion that attempts to provide a description of God through a two-step process: (1) defining God in terms of maximal greatness; (2) inferring the properties or attributes that God must have in virtue of satisfying the definition. My argument comprises two steps. First, I argue that, since PBT is a method for providing a description of God starting from a definition of God, any text that contains a PBT ipso facto contains a notion of God. Second, I argue through textual evidence that The Awakening articulates a PBT, concluding that it contains a notion of God. Since the method of PBT leaves open what descriptions are to be inferred, my argument allows me to conclude that a text contains a notion of God without previously committing to any particular conception of the divine, which makes it particularly versatile and powerful.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a biologically active compound present in the plants of the Cannabis family, used as anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, and more recently, anticancer drug. In this work, its use as a new self-assembly inducer in the formation of nanoparticles is validated. The target conjugates are characterized by the presence of different anticancer drugs (namely N-desacetyl thiocolchicine, podophyllotoxin, and paclitaxel) connected to CBD through a linker able to improve drug release. These nanoparticles are formed via solvent displacement method, resulting in monodisperse and stable structures having hydrodynamic diameters ranging from 160 to 400 nm. Their biological activity is evaluated on three human tumor cell lines (MSTO-211H, HT-29, and HepG2), obtaining GI50 values in the low micromolar range. Further biological assays were carried out on MSTO-211H cells for the most effective NP 8B, confirming the involvement of paclitaxel in cytotoxicity and cell death mechanism

Hetero-nanoparticles self-assembled from a conjugate bearing folic acid as the targeting agent, and another bearing paclitaxel as the active agent are reported. Hetero-nanoparticles containing varying percentages of folic acid conjugates are characterised, and their biological activity is determined.

The concept of Smart City has spread as a solution to ensure better access to information and services to citizens, but also as a means to reduce the environmental footprint of cities. To this end, a continuous and wide observation of the environment is necessary to analyze information that enables government bodies to act on the environment appropriately. Moreover, a diffused acquisition of information requires adequate infrastructure and proper devices, which results in relevant installation and maintenance costs. Our proposal enables reducing the number of necessary sensors to be deployed while ensuring that information is available at any time and anywhere. We present the HybridIoT system to cope with the lack of environmental information in the urban context through an estimation technique that integrates heterogeneous data acquired from some different sensors. HybridIoT can be deployed in large-scale contexts and ensures data accessibility even if devices enter or leave the system at any time and everywhere. We compare the results to those obtained by state-of-the-art techniques to assess the validity of our proposal, in particular concerning the properties of openness, large-scale, and heterogeneity, of primary importance in the context of the development of systems to be deployed in the smart city context.

La ville intelligente s’intéresse à l’amélioration de la qualité de vie de ses habitants. De nombreux capteurs ad hoc nécessitent alors d’être déployés pour connaître l’état de l’environnement dans lequel les activités humaines se déroulent. Si ces capteurs sont souvent bon marché, leurs coûts d’installation et de maintenance augmentent rapidement avec leur nombre. La problématique adressée dans ce papier consiste à estimer des informations environnementales où des capteurs physiques ne sont pas disponibles, pour limiter les coûts engendrés par l’installation de capteurs supplémentaires. Cet article présente le système HybridIoT, qui permet d’estimer les valeurs environnementales manquantes dans des réseaux de capteurs à grande échelle. Notre contribution est triple : la définition d’une approche pour estimer des valeurs manquantes dans des environnements à grande échelle, l’utilisation des systèmes multi- agents pour adresser simultanément les propriétés d’ouverture et d’hétérogénéité, et enfin le dé- ploiement du système dans le contexte du GIS neOCampus.

Aims Coronary arterial fistula consists in a communication between a coronary artery and a cardiac cavity. It is tipically a congenital condition, but it can also be a result of invasive cardiac procedure. Although chest truama generally evolve to massive pericardial effusion, in some cases it can determine also a coronary perforation, with a consequent coronary arterial fistula. Methods and results A 22-year-old male patient, with no cardiovascular history, was admitted after a road accident, reporting pelvis break, 17 costal break, and sternal break, with consequent chest pain. On admission the patient had a heart rate of 100 b.p.m. and a blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg. Elettrocardiogram (ECG) reported ST elevation in antero-septal derivations (V1–V4). Echocardiogram showed a global left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction of 55%, with an apical-septal akinesia, with a minimal anterior pericardial effusion, not emodinamically significant. So, an emergency coronary angiography was performed, showing a fistula of the distal segment of the left anterior discendent coronary (LAD). In this case there were two possible options, a previously unknown congenital coronary arterial fistula, or a traumatic coronary perforation, determining a coronary arterial fistula. Considering the possibility of a traumatic coronary perforation, with the consequent risk of rapid pericardial effusion worsening, the decision was to perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a covered stent (Biotronik Papyrus 2.5 × 20 mm, 8 atm), with a good final result, with total occlusion of fistula. Conclusions At 1 month follow-up, the patient was asymptomatic for dyspnoea or chest pain, with a heart rate of 70 b.p.m. and a blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg. ECG showed no anomalies in ST-T tract.

Proceedings of the SMC2021- 18th Sound and Music Computing Conference,June 29th-July 1st2021. smc2021conference.org

Music shuffling is a common feature, available in most audio players and music streaming platforms. The goal of this function is to let songs be played in random, or constrained random, order. The results obtained by in-use shuffling algorithms can be unsatisfactory due to several factors including: the variability of user expectations to what constitutes a “successful” playlist, the common bias of being unable to recognize true randomness, and the tendency of humans to find nonexistent patterns in random structures. In this paper, a new shuffling algorithm called Ruffle is presented. Ruffle lets the user decide which aspects of the music library have to be actually shuffled, and which features should remain unchanged between consecutive extractions. First, an online survey was conducted to collect users’ feedback about the characteristics used for shuffling. It is worth noting that, in general, the algorithm could address any metadata and/or audio extracted feature. Then, in order to test the algorithm on personal playlists, a Web version based on Spotify API has been released. For this reason, a second survey is marking an ongoing effort placed on validating the effectiveness of the algorithm by collecting users’ feedback, and measuring the level of user satisfaction.

Smart cities leverage large amounts of data acquired in the urban environment in the context of decision support tools. These tools enable monitoring the environment to improve the quality of services offered to citizens. The increasing diffusion of personal Internet of things devices capable of sensing the physical environment allows for low-cost solutions to acquire a large amount of information within the urban environment. On the one hand, the use of mobile and intermittent sensors implies new scenarios of large-scale data analysis, on the other hand, it involves different challenges such as intermittent sensors and integrity of acquired data. To this effect, edge computing emerges as a methodology to distribute computation among different IoT devices to analyze data locally. We present here a new methodology for imputing environmental information during the acquisition step, due to missing or otherwise out of order sensors, by distributing the computation among a variety of fixed and mobile devices. Numerous experiments have been carried out on real data to confirm the validity of the proposed method.

International audience; In this paper we introduce a dataset of environmental information obtained via indoor and outdoor sensors deployed in the SMART Infrastructure Facility of the University of Wollongong (Australia). The acquired dataset is also made open-sourced along with this paper. We also propose a novel approach based on an evolutionary algorithm to determine pairs of correlated sensors. We compare our approach with three other standard techniques on the same dataset: on average, the accuracy of the evolutionary method is about 62,92%. We also evaluate the computational time, assessing the suitability of the proposed pipeline for real-time applications.

Conceptual engineering is a branch of philosophy characterised by a normative approach towards representation. The fundamental assumption of it is that our representational devices can be defective. Conceptual engineering is then the activity consisting of identifying the defects of such devices and putting in place ameliorative strategies. This paper illustrates the fundamental issues for a theory of conceptual engineering: what does this activity consist of? How can we implement it? What mechanisms regulate the formation of representational devices? Can we have an influence over those mechanisms? Moreover, it will be presented an objection to conceptual engineering and various responses to it. L'ingegneria concettuale è una branca della filosofia caratterizzata da un approccio normativo nei confronti della rappresentazione. Assunzione fondamentale è che i nostri dispositivi rappresentazionali possano essere difettosi. Si configura dunque come l'attività che consiste nell'identificare i difetti in tali dispositivi e mettere in atto strategie di miglioramento. Verranno illustrate le questioni fondamentali a cui una teoria di ingegneria concettuale deve rispondere: in cosa consiste esattamente questa attività? Come possiamo attuarla? Quali meccanismi regolano la formazione dei dispositivi rappresentazionali? Possiamo influire su tali meccanismi? Verrà inoltre presentata un'obiezione all'ingegneria concettuale e varie risposte.

The development of sustainable smart cities requires the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure better services and available information at any time and everywhere. As IoT devices become more powerful and low-cost, the implementation of an extensive sensor network for an urban context can be expensive. This thesis proposes a technique for estimating missing environmental information in large scale environments. Our technique enables providing information whereas devices are not available for an area of the environment not covered by sensing devices. The contribution of our proposal is summarized in the following points: * limiting the number of sensing devices to be deployed in an urban environment; * the exploitation of heterogeneous data acquired from intermittent devices; * real-time processing of information; * self-calibration of the system. Our proposal uses the Adaptive Multi-Agent System (AMAS) approach to solve the problem of information unavailability. In this approach, an exception is considered as a Non-Cooperative Situation (NCS) that has to be solved locally and cooperatively. HybridIoT exploits both homogeneous (information of the same type) and heterogeneous information (information of different types or units) acquired from some available sensing device to provide accurate estimates in the point of the environment where a sensing device is not available. The proposed technique enables estimating accurate environmental information under conditions of uncertainty arising from the urban application context in which the project is situated, and which have not been explored by the state-of-the-art solutions: * openness: sensors can enter or leave the system at any time without the need for any reconfiguration; * large scale: the system can be deployed in a large, urban context and ensure correct operation with a significative number of devices; * heterogeneity: the system handles different types of information without any a priori configuration. Our proposal does not require any input parameters or reconfiguration. The system can operate in open, dynamic environments such as cities, where a large number of sensing devices can appear or disappear at any time and without any prior notification. We carried out different experiments to compare the obtained results to various standard techniques to assess the validity of our proposal. We also developed a pipeline of standard techniques to produce baseline results that will be compared to those obtained by our multi-agent proposal.; Le développement de villes intelligentes et durables nécessite le déploiement des technologies de l'information et de la communication (ITC) pour garantir de meilleurs services et informations disponibles à tout moment et partout. Comme les dispositifs IoT devenant plus puissants et moins coûteux, la mise en place d'un réseau de capteurs dans un contexte urbain peut être coûteuse. Cette thèse propose une technique pour estimer les informations environnementales manquantes dans des environnements à large échelle. Notre technique permet de fournir des informations alors que les dispositifs ne sont pas disponibles dans une zone de l'environnement non couverte par des capteurs. La contribution de notre proposition est résumée dans les points suivants : - limiter le nombre de dispositifs de détection à déployer dans un environnement urbain ; - l'exploitation de données hétérogènes acquises par des dispositifs intermittents ; - le traitement en temps réel des informations ; - l'auto-calibration du système. Notre proposition utilise l'approche AMAS (Adaptive Multi-Agent System) pour résoudre le problème de l'indisponibilité des informations. Dans cette approche, une exception est considérée comme une situation non coopérative (NCS) qui doit être résolue localement et de manière coopérative. HybridIoT exploite à la fois des informations homogènes (informations du même type) et hétérogènes (informations de différents types ou unités) acquises à partir d'un capteur disponible pour fournir des estimations précises au point de l'environnement où un capteur n'est pas disponible. La technique proposée permet d'estimer des informations environnementales précises dans des conditions de variabilité résultant du contexte d'application urbaine dans lequel le projet est situé, et qui n'ont pas été explorées par les solutions de l'état de l'art : - ouverture : les capteurs peuvent entrer ou sortir du système à tout moment sans qu'aucune configuration particulière soit nécessaire ; - large échelle : le système peut être déployé dans un contexte urbain à large échelle et assurer un fonctionnement correct avec un nombre significatif de dispositifs ; - hétérogénéité : le système traite différents types d'informations sans aucune configuration a priori. Notre proposition ne nécessite aucun paramètre d'entrée ni aucune reconfiguration. Le système peut fonctionner dans des environnements ouverts et dynamiques tels que les villes, où un grand nombre de capteurs peuvent apparaître ou disparaître à tout moment et sans aucun préavis. Nous avons fait différentes expérimentations pour comparer les résultats obtenus à plusieurs techniques standard afin d'évaluer la validité de notre proposition. Nous avons également développé un ensemble de techniques standard pour produire des résultats de base qui seront comparés à ceux obtenus par notre proposition multi-agents.

The development of sustainable smart cities requires the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure better services and available information at any time and everywhere. As IoT devices become more powerful and low-cost, the implementation of an extensive sensor network for an urban context can be expensive. This thesis proposes a technique for estimating missing environmental information in large scale environments. Our technique enables providing information whereas devices are not available for an area of the environment not covered by sensing devices. The contribution of our proposal is summarized in the following points: * limiting the number of sensing devices to be deployed in an urban environment; * the exploitation of heterogeneous data acquired from intermittent devices; * real-time processing of information; * self-calibration of the system. Our proposal uses the Adaptive Multi-Agent System (AMAS) approach to solve the problem of information unavailability. In this approach, an exception is considered as a Non-Cooperative Situation (NCS) that has to be solved locally and cooperatively. HybridIoT exploits both homogeneous (information of the same type) and heterogeneous information (information of different types or units) acquired from some available sensing device to provide accurate estimates in the point of the environment where a sensing device is not available. The proposed technique enables estimating accurate environmental information under conditions of uncertainty arising from the urban application context in which the project is situated, and which have not been explored by the state-of-the-art solutions: * openness: sensors can enter or leave the system at any time without the need for any reconfiguration; * large scale: the system can be deployed in a large, urban context and ensure correct operation with a significative number of devices; * heterogeneity: the system handles different types of information without any a priori configuration. Our proposal does not require any input parameters or reconfiguration. The system can operate in open, dynamic environments such as cities, where a large number of sensing devices can appear or disappear at any time and without any prior notification. We carried out different experiments to compare the obtained results to various standard techniques to assess the validity of our proposal. We also developed a pipeline of standard techniques to produce baseline results that will be compared to those obtained by our multi-agent proposal.; Le développement de villes intelligentes et durables nécessite le déploiement des technologies de l'information et de la communication (ITC) pour garantir de meilleurs services et informations disponibles à tout moment et partout. Comme les dispositifs IoT devenant plus puissants et moins coûteux, la mise en place d'un réseau de capteurs dans un contexte urbain peut être coûteuse. Cette thèse propose une technique pour estimer les informations environnementales manquantes dans des environnements à large échelle. Notre technique permet de fournir des informations alors que les dispositifs ne sont pas disponibles dans une zone de l'environnement non couverte par des capteurs. La contribution de notre proposition est résumée dans les points suivants : - limiter le nombre de dispositifs de détection à déployer dans un environnement urbain ; - l'exploitation de données hétérogènes acquises par des dispositifs intermittents ; - le traitement en temps réel des informations ; - l'auto-calibration du système. Notre proposition utilise l'approche AMAS (Adaptive Multi-Agent System) pour résoudre le problème de l'indisponibilité des informations. Dans cette approche, une exception est considérée comme une situation non coopérative (NCS) qui doit être résolue localement et de manière coopérative. HybridIoT exploite à la fois des informations homogènes (informations du même type) et hétérogènes (informations de différents types ou unités) acquises à partir d'un capteur disponible pour fournir des estimations précises au point de l'environnement où un capteur n'est pas disponible. La technique proposée permet d'estimer des informations environnementales précises dans des conditions de variabilité résultant du contexte d'application urbaine dans lequel le projet est situé, et qui n'ont pas été explorées par les solutions de l'état de l'art : - ouverture : les capteurs peuvent entrer ou sortir du système à tout moment sans qu'aucune configuration particulière soit nécessaire ; - large échelle : le système peut être déployé dans un contexte urbain à large échelle et assurer un fonctionnement correct avec un nombre significatif de dispositifs ; - hétérogénéité : le système traite différents types d'informations sans aucune configuration a priori. Notre proposition ne nécessite aucun paramètre d'entrée ni aucune reconfiguration. Le système peut fonctionner dans des environnements ouverts et dynamiques tels que les villes, où un grand nombre de capteurs peuvent apparaître ou disparaître à tout moment et sans aucun préavis. Nous avons fait différentes expérimentations pour comparer les résultats obtenus à plusieurs techniques standard afin d'évaluer la validité de notre proposition. Nous avons également développé un ensemble de techniques standard pour produire des résultats de base qui seront comparés à ceux obtenus par notre proposition multi-agents.

This contribution provides an overview of the Sound and Music Computing conference and community over the course of its sixteen years. As a sequel to a previous corresponding contribution investigating the community ten years ago, here we analyze the proceedings of the past editions, as well as the changes in the organization of the conference itself. The analysis reveals the growth of the SMC community in terms of attendees and countries represented at the conference, highlights the changes in trends and topics, and provides insights on the directions of the conference. A reflection is made with regards to the SMC roadmap originally conceived in 2004. Motivated by similar initiatives in “sister” communities, this resource is made available to the community at http://smc.lim.di.unimi.it/.&nbsp

The chemical reactivity of cannabidiol is based on its ability to undergo intramolecular cyclization driven by the addition of a phenolic group to one of its two double bonds. The main products of this cyclization are Δ9-THC (trans-Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and Δ8-THC (trans-Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol). These two cannabinoids are isomers, and the first one is a frequently investigated psychoactive compound and pharmaceutical agent. The isomers Δ8-iso-THC (trans-Δ-8-iso-tetrahydrocannabinol) and Δ4(8)-iso-THC (trans-Δ-4,8-iso-tetrahydrocannabinol) have been identified as additional products of intramolecular cyclization. The use of Lewis and protic acids in different solvents has been studied to investigate the possible modulation of the reactivity of CBD (cannabidiol). The complete NMR spectroscopic characterizations of the four isomers are reported. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis and 1H NMR spectra of the reaction mixture were used to assess the percentage ratio of the compounds formed.

With this paper, we want to stimulate the discussion about technologies for inter-operation between various music datasets and collections. Among the many standards for music representation, IEEE 1599 is the only one which was born with the exact purpose of representing the heterogeneous structures of music documents, granting full synchronization of all the different aspects of music (audio recordings, sheet music images, symbolic representations, musicological analysis, etc). We propose the adoption of IEEE 1599 as an interoperability framework between different collections for advanced music experience, musicological applications, and Music Information Retrieval (MIR). In the years to come, the format will undergo a review process aimed at providing an updated/improved version. It is now the perfect time, for all the stakeholders, to come together and discuss how the format can evolve to better support their requirements, enhancing its descriptive strength and available tools. Moreover, this standard can be profitably applied to any field that requires multi-layer and synchronized descriptions.

International audience; The quality of life of users and energy consumption could be optimized by a complex network of sensors. Nevertheless, smart environments depend on their size, so it is expensive to provide enough sensors at low cost to monitor each part of the environment. We propose a cooperative multi-agent solution to estimate missing environmental information in smart environment when no sensors are available. We evaluated our proposal on a real dataset and compared the results to standard state-of-the-art solutions.