Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on Daily Demand Forecasting Orders using Artificial Neural Network

In recent decades, Brazil has undergone several transformations, from a closed economy to a market economy. Transport, processing and distribution of orders remained follow these trends. As a result, the delivery parcel service has become highly complex and competitive. In this context, the forecast demand of orders comes as differential, leading structured productivity and high level of customer service. The paper aims to provide for the daily demand of orders in an Orders Treatment Centre for fifteen days using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The methodological synthesis of the article is the development of a Artificial Neural Network Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), trained by error back-propagation algorithm. The data for the experiments were collected for 60 days, 45 days to training and 15 days for testing. Experiments were performed with four different topologies of RNA by changing the following parameters: number of hidden layers, number of neurons in the hidden layers, learning rate, momentum rate and stopping criteria. The results obtained with use of RNA in daily demand forecast orders showed good adhesion to the experimental data in the training and testing phases.
On hybrid method for medium-term multi-product continuous plant scheduling

In this paper, we develop a hybrid approach to solve a production scheduling problem of special type. The approach is based on a general decomposition scheme proposed in earlier studies and is extended by a constructive greedy heuristic for medium term scheduling and a genetic algorithm for solving the auxiliary subproblem on a set of critical (bottleneck) processing units. The experimental study on a large-scale data showed a significant improvement of the solution quality and the solving time comparing to the previously known results, and confirmed the suitability of the proposed approach for the real-life production scheduling.
Acute exercise effects on vascular and autonomic function in overweight men.

AIM The acute effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on vascular and cardiac autonomic function of overweight males was investigated. METHODS Fifteen normal weight (NW) and 15 overweight (OW) males had their vascular and cardiac function assessed before and after a 30-min bout of cycling exercise performed at 65% of maximal oxygen uptake. Forearm blood flow (FBF) was assessed using Hokanson Plethysmography with occlusion technique. Forearm vascular resistance (FVR) was determined by dividing mean arterial pressure by FBF. Arterial stiffness was assessed using applanation tonometry through pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx), a measure of wave reflection, which was calculated as the ratio of augmented pressure and pulse pressure. Autonomic function was assessed through baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS) and heart rate variability (HRV). RESULTS FBF was increased in both groups, NW: from 2.57 ± 0.18 to 4.98 ± 0.49 and OW: from 3.16 ± 0.29 to 4.11 ± 0.27. The increase in FBF was also accompanied by a decrease in FVR by 46 % in NW (from 34.5 ± 2.76 to 18.5 ± 2.79) and by 29 % in OW (from 28.2 ± 2.32 to 19.9 ± 1.53) P < 0.05. There were no changes in PWV, BRS, and HRV at post exercise. AIx, however, was increased in both groups, NW: from -4.53 ± 2.72 to 2.60 ± 1.46 and OW: from 4.46 ± 2.43 to 10.5 ± 1.90. CONCLUSION Overweight compared to normal weight males failed to increase FBF after exercise which indicated inhibited vasodilation.
No association between the 2D:4D fetal testosterone marker and multidimensional attentional abilities in children with ADHD

Aim It has been suggested that high levels of prenatal testosterone exposure are implied in the aetiology of attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined the association between the ratio of the length of the second and fourth digits (2D:4D ratio), a marker of fetal testosterone exposure, and the presence of ADHD‐related cognitive and behavioural problems in children with ADHD and in typically developing comparison individuals.
Practical application of the Hybrid Power Flow Controller

The Hybrid Power Flow Controller (HPFC) is a Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) controller recently proposed to replace the Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) at lower capital costs, while providing similar regulation capabilities to address congestion problems. In this paper, an overview of the HPFC and its controls is presented, and its application to the Ontario-Canada grid is discussed. The results show the feasibility of using this controller for congestion relief in practical grids, at lower costs than those of a UPFC.
Chilling Effects: Online Surveillance and Wikipedia Use

This article discusses the results of the first empirical study providing evidence of regulatory “chilling effects” of Wikipedia users associated with online government surveillance. The study explores how traffic to Wikipedia articles on topics that raise privacy concerns for Wikipedia users decreased after the widespread publicity about NSA/PRISM surveillance revelations in June 2013. Using an interdisciplinary research design, the study tests the hypothesis, based on chilling effects theory, that traffic to privacy-sensitive Wikipedia articles reduced after the mass surveillance revelations. The Article finds not only a statistically significant immediate decline in traffic for these Wikipedia articles after June 2013, but also a change in the overall secular trend in the view count traffic, suggesting not only immediate but also long-term chilling effects resulting from the NSA/PRISM online surveillance revelations. These, and other results from the case study, not only offer compelling evidence for chilling effects associated with online surveillance, but also offer important insights about how we should understand such chilling effects and their scope, including how they interact with other dramatic or significant events (like war and conflict) and their broader implications for privacy, U.S. constitutional litigation, and the health of democratic society. This study is among the first to demonstrate — using either Wikipedia data or web traffic data more generally — how government surveillance and similar actions may impact online activities, including access to information and knowledge online.
Autocrine and Paracrine Regulation of Keratinocyte Proliferation through a Novel Nrf2–IL-36γ Pathway

The Nrf2 transcription factor is well known for its cytoprotective functions through regulation of genes involved in the detoxification of reactive oxygen species or toxic compounds. Therefore, activation of Nrf2 is a promising strategy for the protection of tissues from various types of insults and for cancer prevention. However, recent studies revealed a proinflammatory activity of activated Nrf2 and a stimulating effect on epithelial cell proliferation, but the underlying mechanisms of action and the responsible target genes are largely unknown. Using a combination of gene expression profiling, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and targeted proteomics via selected reaction monitoring, we show that the gene encoding the proinflammatory cytokine IL-36γ is a novel direct target of Nrf2 in keratinocytes and hepatocytes in vitro and in vivo. As a consequence, upregulation of IL-36γ expression occurred upon genetic or pharmacological activation of Nrf2 in the epidermis and in the normal and regenerating liver. Functional in vitro studies demonstrate that IL-36γ directly stimulates proliferation of keratinocytes. In particular, it induces expression of keratinocyte mitogens in fibroblasts, suggesting that the Nrf2–IL-36γ axis promotes keratinocyte proliferation through a double paracrine loop. These results provide mechanistic insight into Nrf2 action in the control of inflammation and cell proliferation through regulation of a proinflammatory cytokine with a key function in various inflammatory diseases.
Early diagnosis and treatment for remission of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis complicated by rapid progress interstitial lung disease: a report of two cases

We report two cases of clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) complicated by rapid progress interstitial lung disease (RPILD). The diagnosis of CADM was based on Gottron’s papule and RPILD, and the absence of muscle weakness. The female patients were treated with early immunosuppressive therapies including steroid pulse therapy, resulting in significant improvement in respiratory symptoms, clinical data, and imaging. Measurement of anti-CADM-140/MDA5 antibody was useful for obtaining a definitive diagnosis of CADM in these cases.
Predicting Filipino mothers’ and fathers’ reported use of corporal punishment from education, authoritarian attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment

The relations of education, authoritarian child-rearing attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment to Filipino parents’ reported use of corporal punishment were examined using two waves of data. Structured interviews using self-report questionnaires were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers from 120 families when their children were 8 years old, and again a year later. Path analyses showed that, among mothers, higher education predicted lower authoritarian attitudes, which in turn predicted lower reports of corporal punishment use. Among fathers, higher education predicted lower endorsement of corporal punishment, which in turn predicted lower reports of its use. Results suggest that education has an indirect relation to use of corporal punishment through parenting cognitions, and highlight distinctions in Filipino mothers’ and fathers’ parenting roles.
Quantum switching and quantum merge sorting

This paper proposes a quantum switching architecture that can dynamically permute each input quantum data to its destination port to avoid using the fully connected networks. In addition, in order to reduce the execution time of the quantum switching, an efficient quantum merge sorting (QMS) algorithm that provides a parallel quantum computation is also developed. The quantum switching utilizes the QMS algorithm as a subroutine so that the total running time can be reduced to polylogarithmic time. Furthermore, to evaluate the feasibility of the quantum switching, we also define three different kinds of performance factors that can be used to estimate the complexity in implementation and the time delay in execution for quantum instruments. From the evaluation results, it can be seen that the proposed quantum switching is feasible in practice.
Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Reduces Allergen-Induced Asthma-Like Reaction in Sensitized Guinea Pigs

In this study, we have evaluated the effects of the polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant molecule that also enhances constitutive nitric-oxide synthase (NOS) activity, on antigen-induced asthma-like reaction in sensitized guinea pigs. For comparison, we used epicatechin, which shares antioxidant but not NOS-modulating properties with EGCG. Ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs placed in a respiratory chamber were challenged with ovalbumin. EGCG (25 mg/kg b.wt.) or epicatechin (25 mg/kg b.wt.) was given i.p. 20 min before ovalbumin challenge. We analyzed latency time for the onset of respiratory abnormalities, cough severity, duration of dyspnea, lung tissue histopathology, mast cell activation (by granule release), leukocyte/eosinophilic infiltration (by major basic protein and myeloperoxidase), oxygen free radical-mediated injury (by nitrotyrosine and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine and superoxide dismutase), NOS activity, and bronchial inflammatory response [by tumor necrosis factor-α in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)]. In the sensitized animals, severe respiratory abnormalities appeared soon after the antigen challenge, accompanied by bronchoconstriction, alveolar inflation, and a marked increase in the assayed parameters of inflammatory cell recruitment, free radical lung injury, and release of proinflammatory molecules in BAL fluid. This was associated with marked depression of constitutive NOS activity. Pretreatment with EGCG, but not epicatechin, significantly reduced all the above parameters and sustained endothelial-type NOS activity. These findings provide evidence that EGCG, probably by modulating NOS activity, can counteract allergic asthma-like reaction in sensitized guinea pigs and suggest its possible future use for the treatment of asthma.
Immunohistochemical Localization of Peroxisomal Enzymes in Developing Rat Kidney Tissues

We studied the developmental changes in the localization of peroxisome-specific enzymes in rat kidney tissues from embryonic Day 16 to postnatal Week 10 by immunoblot analysis and immunohistochemistry, using antibodies for the peroxisomal enzymes catalase, d-amino acid oxidase, L-α-hydroxyacid oxidase (isozyme B), and enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase bifunctional protein. Peroxisomal enzymes were detected in the neonatal kidney by immunoblot analysis and their amount increased with kidney development. By light microscopic immunohistochemistry, they were first localized in a few proximal tubules in the juxtamedullary cortex of 18-day embryos. The distribution of proximal tubules positive for them expanded towards the superficial cortex with development. The full thickness of the cortex became positive for the staining by 14 days after birth. Peroxisomes could be detected by electron microscopy in structurally immature proximal tubules in 18-day embryos. Their size increased and the ultrastructure of subcompartments became clear with continuing development of proximal tubules. These results show that peroxisomal enzymes appear in the immature proximal tubules in the kidney of embryos and that the ultrastructure of the peroxisomes and localization of the peroxisomal enzymes develop along with the maturation of proximal tubules and kidney tissues.
p53 and K-ras gene mutations correlate with tumor aggressiveness but are not of routine prognostic value in colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE p53 gene and K-ras mutations are among the most common genetic alterations present in colorectal cancer. The prognostic utility of such mutations remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the prognostic significance of p53 and K-ras gene mutations in colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred forty patients were analyzed. Tumors belonging to the microsatellite mutator phenotype were excluded (n = 8). Mutations at the K-ras and p53 genes were detected and characterized by restriction fragment length polymorphism, single-strand conformation polymorphism, and sequencing, as appropriate. RESULTS p53 mutations were detected in 66 (50%) and K-ras mutations were detected in 54 (41%) of the 132 patients. In 26 cases (20%), ras and p53 mutations coexisted; in 38 cases (29%), neither mutation was found. Multivariate analysis of the whole population analyzed (n = 132) showed that survival was strongly correlated with the presence of p53 mutations alone or in combination with K-ras mutations (P = .002; log-rank test). When only patients undergoing a radical resection were considered (R0; n = 101), p53 mutations were no longer of prognostic significance. CONCLUSION p53 mutations alone or in combination with K-ras mutations are correlated with a worse outcome. However, the routine use of these mutations as prognostic markers in the clinical setting is not recommended.
Useful Radiation Dose Biomarkers for Early Identification of Partial-body Exposures

AbstractAlthough less urgent than the physical injuries caused by an unexpected nuclear and radiological (NR) event, radiation damages can be treated more effectively if the intensity and extent of the exposure are evaluated rapidly. In this work, the authors followed within the first 7 d after exposure a few early biomarkers that could be easily deployable (simple and fast sampling and analysis) to determine their potential in distinguishing a total body irradiation (TBI) from a dose-equivalent partial exposure. A plausible accident scenario was created for this study by exposing unilaterally nonhuman primates of body mass comparable to humans to 5 Gy, to either the whole body or to part of it. Using logistic regression analysis, it was shown that both a combination of three parameters together [absolute neutrophil count; monocyte count on the first day; and C-reactive protein (CRP) 5 d after exposure] or CRP 7 d after irradiation completely separated the partial exposures from the TBIs. A quasi-complete separation using receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) was observed for neutrophil count to lymphocyte count ratio during the first day after exposure.
Economic and Health Implications of Long-Term Unemployment: Earnings, Disability Benefits, and Mortality

Data from the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation are linked to longitudinal records from the Social Security Administration to examine the relationship between the long-term unemployment that prime-aged (ages 25-55) male workers experienced around the time of the 1980-1982 twin recessions with earnings, receipt of either Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income (DI-SSI) benefits, and mortality. Separate estimations are made for those who voluntarily and involuntarily left employment and the combined sample of these two groups. We find that 20 years later, long-term joblessness was associated with significantly lower earnings and higher likelihoods of the receipt of DI-SSI benefits as well as mortality.
‘Locked‐on’ and ‘locked‐off’ signal transduction mutations in the periplasmic domain of the Escherichia coli NarQ and NarX sensors affect nitrate‐ and nitrite‐dependent regulation by NarL and NarP

The Escherichia coli NarX, NarQ, NarL and NarP proteins comprise a two‐component regulatory system that controls the expression of many anaerobic electron‐transport and fermentation‐related genes in response to nitrate and nitrite. Either of the two sensor‐transmitter proteins, NarX and NarQ, can activate the response‐regulator proteins, NarL and NarP, which in turn are able to bind at their respective DNA regulatory sites to modulate gene expression. NarX contains a conserved 17 amino acid sequence, designated the ‘P‐box’ element, that is essential for nitrate sensing. In this study we characterize narQ mutants that also confer altered nitrate control of NarL‐dependent nitrate reductase (narGHJI ) and fumarate reductase (frdABCD) gene expression. While some narQ mutations cause the constitutive activation or repression of reporter‐gene expression even when the cells are grown in the absence of the nitrate signal (i.e. a ‘locked‐on’ phenotype), other mutations abolish nitrate‐dependent control (i.e. a ‘locked‐off’ phenotype). Interestingly the narQ (A42→T) and narQ (R50→Q) mutations along with the analogous narX18 (A46→T) and narX902 (R54→E) mutations also confer a ‘locked‐on’ or a ‘locked‐off’ phenotype in response to nitrite, the second environmental signal detected by NarQ and NarX. Furthermore, these narQ and narX mutations also affect NarP‐dependent gene regulation of nitrite reductase (nrfABCDEFG) and aeg‐46.5 gene expression in response to nitrite. We therefore propose that the NarQ sensor‐transmitter protein also detects nitrate and nitrite in the periplasmic space via its periplasmic domain. A signal transduction model, which we previously proposed for NarX, is now extended to NarQ, in which a nitrate‐ or nitrite‐detection event in the periplasmic region of the cell is followed by a signal transduction event through the inner membrane to the cytoplasmic domain of NarQ and NarX proteins to modulate their protein kinase/phosphatase activities.
Genetic Analyses of Multiple Myeloma and Related Plasma Cell Dyscrasias

Acquired genetic changes have proved to be of diagnostic and prognostic importance in different hematologic malignancies as well as in some solid tumor types. However, although multiple myeloma (MM), an incurable disease, and its proceeding stage monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) are quite common, little is known about the karyotypic features of these plasma cell dyscrasias. One reason for this is that a large proportion of the cases are karyotypically normal, despite the fact that molecular genetic studies have revealed that virtually all MM and most MGUS harbor cytogenetic aberrations. Thus, the non-neoplastic cells seem to have a proliferative advantage in vitro. The goals of the present thesis were to develop different culture methods and to identify and characterize chromosomal abnormalities in MGUS/MM. A total of 279 cell cultures were investigated as part of this thesis, and various culture conditions were evaluated in articles I, IV, and V. Chromosomal anomalies were identified in 46-63% of the MM/MGUS/smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) cases by conventional cytogenetics and the majority were aberrant when performing both cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization. There was no evidence that gender, age, disease phase, culture time, plasma cell percentage, or cytokine stimulation significantly influenced the karyotypic features. In article II, cytogenetic features in 783 cytogenetically abnormal MM cases were ascertained. Hyperdiploidy was the most common modal number and about 3/4 of the MM karyotypes were complex, with a median of eight changes per patient. The most frequent genomic breakpoints and imbalances were 14q32, 11q13, 1q10, 8q24, 1p11, 1q21, 22q11, 1p13, 19q13, 1p22, 6q21, 17p11, and +9, -13, +15, +19, +11, and -Y. Hyperdiploidy was more common in elderly patients, trisomy 11 and monosomy 15 were more common among men, while -X was more frequent in women. Loss of chromosome Y, as the sole change, and +5 were more common in elderly patients, and -14 was more frequent in the younger age group. The salient results of article III were that cytogenetic features generally can be used to distinguish between MM and myelodysplastic syndromes/ acute myeloid leukemia arising after previous chemotherapy (t-MDS/t-AML) for MM, that del(20q) as a sole change is found in approximately 10% of MM/MGUS, that the presence of 20q- in MM/MGUS/SMM not by necessity implies emerging MDS/AML, that it frequently arises de novo, i.e. in untreated MM/MGUS/SMM patients, and that del(20q) is present in myeloid and lymphoid cells as well as in progenitor/stem cells, at least in the MGUS case investigated.
Neural Networks for Emotion Recognition Based on Eye Tracking Data

We present an approach for emotion recognition using information of the pupil. In last years, the pupil variables have been used as an assessment of emotional arousal. In this article, we generate signals of pupil size and gaze position monitored during image viewing. The emotions are provoked by visual stimuli of colored images. Those images were taken from the International Affective Picture System which has been the reference for objective emotional assessment based on visual stimuli. For recognising the emotions we use the evolution of the eye tracking data during a window of time. The learning dataset is composed by the evolution of the pupil size and the gaze position, and labels associated to the emotional states. We study two kinds of learning tools based on Neural Networks. We obtain promising empirical results that show the potential of using temporal learning tools for emotion recognition.