Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic signatures of parental contribution in black and white populations in Brazil

Two hundred and three individuals classified as white were tested for 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms plus two insertion/deletions in their Y-chromosomes. A subset of these individuals (n = 172) was also screened for sequences in the first hypervariable segment of their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In addition, complementary studies were done for 11 of the 13 markers indicated above in 54 of 107 black subjects previously investigated in this southern Brazilian population. The prevalence of Y-chromosome haplogroups among whites was similar to that found in the Azores (Portugal) or Spain, but not to that of other European countries. About half of the European or African mtDNA haplogroups of these individuals were related to their places of origin, but not their Amerindian counterparts. Persons classified in these two categories of skin color and related morphological traits showed distinct genomic ancestries through the country. These findings emphasize the need to consider in Brazil, despite some general trends, a notable heterogeneity in the pattern of admixture dynamics within and between populations/groups.
Sensorineural hearing loss in very low birth weight infants with histological chorioamnionitis

Abstract Objective: Histological chorioamnionitis (HCAM) has been associated with inflammatory diseases of preterm infants. Recently we have observed that it increased the risk of speech delay and hearing loss. So the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) of VLBW infants and HCAM. Methods: We performed an observational study on VLBW infants admitted to the NICU of Padua. Each patient with HCAM was matched with one control without HCAM. All infants underwent hearing screening before discharge by means of automated transient–evoked otoacustic emissions and automated auditory brainstem responses, which were repeated at 3 and 6 months of age with tympanometry measurement. Incidence of SNHL at 6 months of age was compared in the 2 groups and risk factors for hearing loss were studied. Results: Two of 77 (2.6%) newborns with HCAM e 6/73 (8.2%) without it presented SNHL at 6 months of corrected age (p = 0.16). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified surgical ligation of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) as independent predictors of SNHL (OR: 5.75, 95% CI 1.34–24.84, p = 0.02), whereas the effect of HCAM on SNHL was only near to statistical significance level. Conclusions: Surgical ligation of PDA is associated with an increased risk of SNHL in VLBW infants, regardless of HCAM.
Periphytic diatoms (Bacillariophyta) in streams from three Conservation Units of central Brazil: Pinnularia Ehrenberg

Este estudo objetivou inventariar o genero Pinnularia Ehrenberg (Bacillariophyta) em cinco riachos preservados localizados em tres unidades de conservacao (Parque Nacional de Brasilia, Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros e Parque Estadual de Terra Ronca). O perifiton foi coletado em diferentes substratos durante estacoes secas e chuvosas (anos de 2012 e 2013), totalizando 25 unidades amostrais. Ao todo 23 taxons foram identificados, sendo P. subanglica, P. Angustivalva e P. butantanum as mais frequentes. Seixos e silte foram os substratos mais ricos em especies, com nove taxons cada. Entre os 23 taxons, 13 sao citados pela primeira vez para o Brasil Central: P. angusta var. angusta, P. angustivalva, P. butantanum, P. divergensvar. biconstricta, P. divergens var. mesoleptiformis, P. gibba var. subundulata, P. paulensis, P. persudeticavar. persudetica, P. subgibba var. angustarea, P. subgibba var. capitada, P. superpaulensis, P. viridiformisvar. minor e P. undula var. undula.
Next generation analytic tools for large scale genetic epidemiology studies of complex diseases

Over the past several years, genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have succeeded in identifying hundreds of genetic markers associated with common diseases. However, most of these markers confer relatively small increments of risk and explain only a small proportion of familial clustering. To identify obstacles to future progress in genetic epidemiology research and provide recommendations to NIH for overcoming these barriers, the National Cancer Institute sponsored a workshop entitled “Next Generation Analytic Tools for Large‐Scale Genetic Epidemiology Studies of Complex Diseases” on September 15–16, 2010. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate discussions on (1) statistical strategies and methods to efficiently identify genetic and environmental factors contributing to the risk of complex disease; and (2) how to develop, apply, and evaluate these strategies for the design, analysis, and interpretation of large‐scale complex disease association studies in order to guide NIH in setting the future agenda in this area of research. The workshop was organized as a series of short presentations covering scientific (gene‐gene and gene‐environment interaction, complex phenotypes, and rare variants and next generation sequencing) and methodological (simulation modeling and computational resources and data management) topic areas. Specific needs to advance the field were identified during each session and are summarized. Genet. Epidemiol. 36 : 22–35, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Assessment of SMADI and SWDI agricultural drought indices using remotely sensed root zone soil moisture

Abstract. The increasing frequency of drought events has expanded the research interest in drought monitoring. In this regard, remote sensing is a useful tool to globally mapping the agricultural drought. While this type of drought is directly linked to the availability of root zone soil moisture (RZSM) for plants growth, current satellite soil moisture observations only characterize the water content of the surface soil layer (0–5 cm). In this study, two soil moisture-based agricultural drought indices were obtained at a weekly rate from June 2010 to December 2016, using RZSM estimations at 1 km from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, instead of surface soil moisture (SSM). The RZSM was estimated by applying the Soil Water Index (SWI) model to the SMOS SSM. The Soil Moisture Agricultural Drought Index (SMADI) and the Soil Water Deficit Index (SWDI) were assessed over the Castilla y León region (Spain) at 1 km spatial resolution. They were compared with the Atmospheric Water Deficit (AWD) and the Crop Moisture Index (CMI), both computed at different weather stations distributed over the study area. The level of agreement was analyzed through statistical correlation. Results showed that the use of RZSM does not influence the characterization of drought, both for SMADI and SWDI.
Improving formal timing analysis of switched ethernet by exploiting FIFO scheduling

Ethernet is an emerging technology in the automotive domain and is capable to overcome the bandwidth and scalability limits of traditional buses like CAN or FlexRay. Formal performance analysis methods are required to verify the timing, e.g. by providing upper bounds on end-to-end latencies, in safety-critical real-time systems, such as automotive control and advanced driver assistance systems. In many real-time capable Ethernet implementations such as IEEE 802.1Q or AVB, frames can be prioritized and frames of equal priority are scheduled in FIFO order at the switch ouput ports. In this paper, we show how to exploit Ethernet's FIFO scheduling in a compositional formal performance analysis to derive tighter timing guarantees. In an automotive Ethernet setup, our proposed analysis leads to a significant reduction in end-to-end latency guarantees.
A stochastic geometry framework for LOS/NLOS propagation in dense small cell networks

The need to carry out analytical studies of wireless systems often motivates the usage of simplified models which, despite their tractability, can easily lead to an overestimation of the achievable performance. In the case of dense small cells networks, the standard single slope path-loss model has been shown to provide interesting, but supposedly too optimistic, properties such as the invariance of the outage/coverage probability and of the spectral efficiency to the base station density. This paper seeks to explore the performance of dense small cells networks when a more accurate path-loss model is taken into account. We first propose a stochastic geometry based framework for small cell networks where the signal propagation accounts for both the Line-of-Sight (LOS) and Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) components, such as the model provided by the 3GPP for evaluation of pico-cells in Heterogeneous Networks. We then study the performance of these networks and we show the dependency of some metrics such as the outage/coverage probability, the spectral efficiency and Area Spectral Efficiency (ASE) on the base station density and on the LOS likelihood of the propagation environment. Specifically, we show that, with LOS/NLOS propagation, dense networks still achieve large ASE gain but, at the same time, suffer from high outage probability.
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum A72, a Strain with Antioxidant Properties, Obtained through ARTP Mutagenesis, Affects Caenorhabditis elegans Anti-Aging

This research endeavored to elucidate the antioxidant attributes of lactic acid bacteria, specifically their impact on anti-aging and lifespan augmentation in Caenorhabditis elegans. The study focused on Lactiplantibacillus plantarum A72, identified through ARTP mutagenesis for its potent antioxidant properties. In vitro analysis affirmed its free radical neutralizing capacity. In C. elegans, the strain not only extended the lifespan by 25.13% and amplified motility 2.52-fold, but also maintained reproductive capabilities. Remarkably, Lpb. plantarum A72 diminished reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in C. elegans by 34.86% and 69.52%, respectively, while concurrently enhancing its antioxidant enzyme activities. The strain also bolstered C. elegans survival rates by 46.33% and 57.78% under high temperature and H2O2 conditions, respectively. Transcriptomic scrutiny revealed that Lpb. plantarum A72 could retard C. elegans aging and extend lifespan by upregulating the sod-5 and hsp-16.1 genes and downregulating the fat-6 and lips-17 genes. These findings propose Lpb. plantarum A72 as a potential antioxidant and anti-aging lactic acid bacteria.
THE NATURE OF HYPERVELOCITY STARS AND THE TIME BETWEEN THEIR FORMATION AND EJECTION

We obtain Keck HIRES spectroscopy of HVS5, one of the fastest unbound stars in the Milky Way halo. We show that HVS5 is a 3.62 ± 0.11 M☉ main-sequence B star at a distance of 50 ± 5 kpc. The difference between its age and its flight time from the Galactic center is 105 ± 18 (stat) ±30 (sys) Myr; flight times from locations elsewhere in the Galactic disk are similar. This 108 yr “arrival time” between formation and ejection is difficult to reconcile with any ejection scenario involving massive stars that live for only 107 yr. For comparison, we derive arrival times of 107 yr for two unbound runaway B stars, consistent with their disk origin where ejection results from a supernova in a binary system or dynamical interactions between massive stars in a dense star cluster. For HVS5, ejection during the first 107 yr of its lifetime is ruled out at the 3σ level. Together with the 108 yr arrival times inferred for three other well-studied hypervelocity stars (HVSs), these results are consistent with a Galactic center origin for the HVSs. If the HVSs were indeed ejected by the central black hole, then the Galactic center was forming stars ≃200 Myr ago, and the progenitors of the HVSs took ≃100 Myr to enter the black hole's loss cone.
Earnings Management : New Evidence Based on Deferred Tax Expense

We examine the usefulness of deferred tax expense as compared to various accrual measures employed in prior research in detecting earnings management in three settings where earnings management likely occurs. The motivation for using deferred tax expense to detect earnings management is that there is typically more discretion under generally accepted accounting principles than under tax rules, and we assume that managers exploit such discretion to manage income upwards primarily in ways that do not affect current taxable income. Thus, we expect that decisions to manage earnings upwards will generate book-tax differences that increase deferred tax expense. Our results provide evidence of the incremental usefulness of deferred tax expense in detecting earnings management activities vis-à-vis total accruals and abnormal accruals derived from two versions of the Jones model. Deferred tax expense is generally incrementally useful beyond all three accruals-based measures with regard to detecting earnings management to avoid an earnings decline and with regard to detecting earnings management to avoid a loss. We also find that deferred tax expense is significantly more accurate than any of the accrual measures in classifying firm-years as successfully avoiding a loss, whereas no one measure is relatively more accurate than the others in classifying firm-years that successfully avoid an earnings decline. With regard to meeting analysts’ earnings forecasts, only total accruals detects earnings management.
Group Paging-Based Energy Saving for Massive MTC Accesses in LTE and Beyond Networks

Next generation cellular networks (5G) have to deal with massive deployment of machine-type-communication (MTC) devices, expected to cause congestion and system overload in both the radio access network (RAN) and the core network (CN). Moreover, not only would the network suffer from the system overload, but also the MTC devices would experience high latency to access the channel and high power consumption due to the retransmission attempts. Indeed, power consumption is a critical issue in MTC, as the devices are not plugged into the electrical supply, e.g., in the case of sensor devices. To alleviate system overload (caused by the massive MTC deployment), the 3GPP proposed the group paging (GP) method. However, its performances dramatically decrease when increasing the number of MTC devices being paged. In this paper, we devise a novel method, named further improvement-traffic scattering for group paging (FI-TSFGP), which aims to improve the performance of GP when the number of MTC devices is high. FI-TSFGP scatters the paging operation of the MTC devices over a GP interval instead of letting all of the devices start the channel access procedure at nearly the same time. By doing so, FI-TSFGP achieves high-channel access probability for MTC devices, leading to the reduction of both the channel access latency and power consumption. Compared to GP and two other schemes, simulation results clearly demonstrate the high performance of FI-TSFGP in terms of: success and collision probabilities, average access delay, average number of preamble transmissions, and ultimately energy conservation.
An Information Theoretic, Microfluidic-Based Single Cell Analysis Permits Identification of Subpopulations among Putatively Homogeneous Stem Cells

An incomplete understanding of the nature of heterogeneity within stem cell populations remains a major impediment to the development of clinically effective cell-based therapies. Transcriptional events within a single cell are inherently stochastic and can produce tremendous variability, even among genetically identical cells. It remains unclear how mammalian cellular systems overcome this intrinsic noisiness of gene expression to produce consequential variations in function, and what impact this has on the biologic and clinical relevance of highly ‘purified’ cell subgroups. To address these questions, we have developed a novel method combining microfluidic-based single cell analysis and information theory to characterize and predict transcriptional programs across hundreds of individual cells. Using this technique, we demonstrate that multiple subpopulations exist within a well-studied and putatively homogeneous stem cell population, murine long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs). These subgroups are defined by nonrandom patterns that are distinguishable from noise and are consistent with known functional properties of these cells. We anticipate that this analytic framework can also be applied to other cell types to elucidate the relationship between transcriptional and phenotypic variation.
Direct nm-Scale Spatial Mapping of Traps in CIGS

Nanometer-scale deep-level transient spectroscopy (nano-DLTS) is used to simultaneously map the spatial distribution of the EV + 0.47 eV trap in p-type Cu(In,Ga)Se2 with surface topography, providing a spatially resolved correlation between electrical traps with physical structure. It is demonstrated that the observed EV + 0.47 eV trap properties using nano-DLTS match those seen with conventional macroscopic device-scale DLTS measurements. Additionally, maps of the EV + 0.47 eV trap reveal that this trap is not uniformly distributed and is likely associated with specific grain boundary structures. The combined approach reveals overall trap impact from the local nanometer scale to the device (micrometer-centimeter) scale and correlation with physical structures on the nanometer-scale that can be broadly applied to any semiconductor material.
Embryonic Lethality of Molecular Chaperone Hsp47 Knockout Mice Is Associated with Defects in Collagen Biosynthesis

Triple helix formation of procollagen after the assembly of three α-chains at the C-propeptide is a prerequisite for refined structures such as fibers and meshworks. Hsp47 is an ER-resident stress inducible glycoprotein that specifically and transiently binds to newly synthesized procollagens. However, the real function of Hsp47 in collagen biosynthesis has not been elucidated in vitro or in vivo. Here, we describe the establishment of Hsp47 knockout mice that are severely deficient in the mature, propeptide-processed form of α1(I) collagen and fibril structures in mesenchymal tissues. The molecular form of type IV collagen was also affected, and basement membranes were discontinuously disrupted in the homozygotes. The homozygous mice did not survive beyond 11.5 days postcoitus (dpc), and displayed abnormally orientated epithelial tissues and ruptured blood vessels. When triple helix formation of type I collagen secreted from cultured cells was monitored by protease digestion, the collagens of Hsp47+/+ and Hsp47+/− cells were resistant, but those of Hsp47−/− cells were sensitive. These results indicate for the first time that type I collagen is unable to form a rigid triple-helical structure without the assistance of molecular chaperone Hsp47, and that mice require Hsp47 for normal development.
Impact of Inflation on Monetary Policy and Economic Development in Nigerian, 1980-2010. Evidence from Empirical Data

The study explores the efficacy in the effective operation of monetary policy in Nigeria with emphasis in inflation. A number of monetary variables which include domestic credit, interest rate, exchange rate and broad money supply were employed for the study. Additionally, fiscal deficit and trade openness were included as a function of inflation in Nigeria. Again, to assess the impact of inflation on the country‟s growth rate, domestic credit and money supply were added to inflation as determinants of economic growth. A simple linear regression was adopted for the study and results reveal that domestic credit, fiscal deficit and a one year lag of inflation are statistically significant in explaining inflation in Nigeria. On the relationship between inflation and the explanatory variables: fiscal deficit, money supply and interest rate have a positive correlation with inflation while exchange rate, trade openness and past level of inflation have a negative impact on inflation. The findings also reveal that impact of inflation on economic growth is negative while that of money supply and domestic credit is positive. The study recommends, among other things, that since impact of inflation on economic growth is negative, policy measures aimed at curtailing such impact should include targeting of less than double digit inflation through effective monetary policy and increase in output and productivity through effective agriculture and full capacity utilization in manufacturing sector.
Synergistic effect of interaction between perceived health and social activity on depressive symptoms in the middle-aged and elderly: a population-based longitudinal study

Objective To examine the synergistic effect of interaction between perceived health and social activity on depressive symptoms. Methods We investigated whether the interaction between perceived health and social activity has a synergistic effect on depressive symptoms in the middle-aged and elderly using data from 6590 respondents aged 45 and older in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (KLoSA), 2006–2012. A generalised linear mixed-effects model was used to investigate the association in a longitudinal data form. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression 10 Scale (CES-D10). Perceived health and level of social activity were categorical variables with three values. Participation in six social activities was assessed. Results Interactions between perceived health status and social activity were statistically significant for almost all social activity/perceived health combinations. Addition of the interaction term significantly decreased CES-D10 scores, confirming the synergistic effect of the interaction between perceived health status and social activity (‘normal×moderate’, β=−0.1826; ‘poor×moderate’, β=−0.5739; ‘poor×active’, β=−0.8935). In addition, we performed stratified analyses by region: urban or rural. In urban respondents, the additional effect of the interaction term decreased CES-D10 scores and all social activity/perceived health combinations were statistically significant (‘normal×moderate’, β=−0.2578; ‘normal×active’, β=−0.3945; ‘poor×moderate’, β=−0.5739; ‘poor×active’, β=−0.8935). In rural respondents, only one social activity/perceived health combination was statistically significant, and the additional effect of the interaction term showed no consistent trend on CES-D10 scores. Conclusions The interaction between perceived health and social activity has a synergistic effect on depressive symptoms; the additional effect of the interaction term significantly decreased CES-D10 scores in our models.
Virulence Genes Content and Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli from Broiler Chickens

A total of 121 E. coli strains were isolated from broiler chickens (96 extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) strains from diseased broiler chickens and 25 avian fecal E. coli (AFEC) from healthy ones). Ten of the isolates (6 from diseased chickens and 4 from healthy birds) were serogrouped and 25 were examined for 4 virulence markers (tsh, papC, colV, and iss genes) as well as for their antimicrobial resistance. Five strains were nontypable and the rest were serotyped as follows: O86:K61 (2/5), O78:K80 (1/5), and O128:K67 (1/5) were recovered from diseased chickens, while O111:K58 strain (1/4) was isolated from healthy ones. The iss gene was found in 72.2% of the examined ExPEC strains in contrast to zero percentages (0%) in the AFEC strains, which may serve as a good marker for distinguishing APEC and its knocking out may help in creation of candidate vaccine that may prove sucess in elimination of infections in broiler chickens. Antimicrobial resistance patterns revealed a complete resistance to gentamicin, pefloxacin, amoxicillin, and enrofloxacin among examined strains followed by varying degrees of resistance for the rest of tested agents. The highest resistance was recorded against norfloxacin, in 24 isolates (96%), in contrast to the lowest resistance was recorded against colistin sulphate, in 14 strains (56%). These findings suggest the need for the prudent use of antimicrobials with broiler chickens and act as a warrant for the possibility of avian sources to transmit these resistant isolates to humans.