Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cryopreservation of Prochilodus brevis semen: freezing media and thawing rates

O Prochilodus brevis e um peixe reofilico, importante componente do ecossistema fluvial e apreciado na culinaria nordestina. No entanto, acoes antropicas tem ameacado sua sobrevivencia. Desta forma, surge, nos pesquisadores, o interesse no desenvolvimento de protocolos de conservacao do material genetico, como a criopreservacao seminal. Logo, a determinacao do meio de congelacao e da taxa de descongelacao adequados, sao passos fundamentais que possibilitarao a utilizacao dessa biotecnologia na producao de curimata comum, reduzindo os riscos a sua sobrevivencia. Portanto, o objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de diferentes meios de congelacao e taxas de descongelacao sobre a qualidade do semen criopreservado de P. brevis. Para isso, 18 horas antes da coleta de semen, os machos receberam dose unica de extrato hipofisario de carpa. Cada animal foi sedado com solucao a base de eugenol e o semen foi coletado. As amostras foram diluidas em quatro meios de congelacao (5% Glicose + Metilglicol 10%; 5% Glicose + DMSO 10%; 0,9% NaCl + Metilglicol 10%; 0,9% NaCl + DMSO 10%) envasadas em palhetas de 0,25 mL e congeladas em vapor de nitrogenio liquido. O semen foi descongelado apos sete dias em tres taxas de descongelacao: 25 °C 30 s-1; 30 °C 16 s-1; 40 °C 12 s-1. Foram feitas as analises de motilidade, vitalidade e morfologia com auxilio de sistema automatizado de analise seminal (CASA). As caracteristicas do semen in natura assemelharam-se, em sua maioria, as encontradas na literatura. Para os parâmetros analisados, o semen in natura apresentou qualidade seminal superior a todos os tratamentos com o semen criopreservado (p 0,05). Para o semen criopreservado, os maiores indices foram alcancados quando se utilizou DMSO e as taxas de descongelacao de 30 °C 16 s-1 ou 40 °C 12 s-1. Quanto a analise morfologica, a maior porcentagem de espermatozoides normais foi obtida utilizando as taxas de 25 °C 30 s-1 e 40 °C 12 s-1, independente do meio de congelacao. A qualidade seminal sofre interferencia do meio de congelacao, bem como da interacao entre seus componentes (diluente e crioprotetor) e da taxa de descongelacao empregada. Sob as condicoes metodologicas empregadas, recomenda-se a criopreservacao do semen de P. brevis em 5% Glicose + DMSO 10% e descongelacao a 30 °C durante 16 segundos ou 40 °C durante 12 segundos.
Investigation of the Thermal Behaviour of Non‐metallic Curved‐Face‐Width Spur Gears

This paper describes a curved-face-width spur gear, specially designed for manufacture from non-metallic materials. The benefits of this gear are the higher contact ratio, bending and Hertzian contact resistance, and greater tooth stiffness compared to standard spur gears. A modified geometry is proposed for the gear tooth, the height of which varies along the gear face width. Due to the reduction in tooth height, in sections away from the gear centre, lower sliding friction is expected, with consequences for the gear's thermal behaviour. The complex gear geometry makes the design of a die difficult; therefore the gears were cut on a milling machine, using a special kinematic generation process and related equipment. The tooth flank profile, an involute or near involute in sections away from the gear half-width plane, as well as the flank surface quality determined by the single-cutter tool used for gear manufacture, influence the meshing condition, and can be detrimental to the thermal behaviour of the gear. Experimental tests were carried out to examine the influence of load and speed on the temperature of the curved-face-width spur gears with modified geometry. The measured temperature of the non-standard gear is further compared with the predicted temperature of plastic standard spur gears of the same specification.
A new multiple folded successive cancellation decoder for polar codes

We consider a new variant of successive cancellation decoder (SCD) for polar codes based on the concept of folding, which was proposed in [1], [2] as technique to reduce the decoding latency at the cost of a higher computational complexity. In this paper, we first formally define the multiple folding operation (iterated κ times), which decomposes the original encoding graph into a number of smaller polar encoding graphs. More specifically, we show that the multiple folding gives rise to a two stage interpretation of the graph representing the polar encoder and the SCD. Based on this, we propose the improved multiple folded successive cancellation decoder (IMFSCD), which combines SCD in one stage and maximum-likelihood decoding in the other. This decoder exhibits a latency gain by a factor of 2κ, still retaining a complexity close to the classic SCD. The small increase in complexity is due to a short maximum likelihood decoder (MLD) used in place of a SCD in the last decoding stage within the IMFSCD. Moreover, we observe by simulation that the decoder performance is exactly the same as that of an SCD at all rates.
Aperiodic servers with resource constraints

Integrating soft and hard activities in a real-time environment has been an active area of research both under fixed priority scheduling and dynamic priority scheduling. Most of the existing work, however, has been done under the assumption that soft real-time tasks and hard real-time tasks are independent. The paper presents an efficient method that allows soft realtime aperiodic tasks and hard real-time tasks to share resources.
Complete Mitochondrial Complex I Deficiency Induces an Up-Regulation of Respiratory Fluxes That Is Abolished by Traces of Functional Complex I1[OPEN]

Respiratory chain complex I acts as a negative regulator of fluxes through glycolysis and the TCA cycle. Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is central to cellular NAD+ recycling and accounts for approximately 40% of mitochondrial ATP production. To understand how complex I function impacts respiration and plant development, we isolated Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) lines that lack complex I activity due to the absence of the catalytic subunit NDUFV1 (for NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase flavoprotein1) and compared these plants with ndufs4 (for NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase Fe-S protein4) mutants possessing trace amounts of complex I. Unlike ndufs4 plants, ndufv1 lines were largely unable to establish seedlings in the absence of externally supplied sucrose. Measurements of mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis revealed that compared with ndufv1, the complex I amounts retained by ndufs4 did not increase mitochondrial respiration and oxidative phosphorylation capacities. No major differences were seen in the mitochondrial proteomes, cellular metabolomes, or transcriptomes between ndufv1 and ndufs4. The analysis of fluxes through the respiratory pathway revealed that in ndufv1, fluxes through glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were dramatically increased compared with ndufs4, which showed near wild-type-like fluxes. This indicates that the strong growth defects seen for plants lacking complex I originate from a switch in the metabolic mode of mitochondria and an up-regulation of respiratory fluxes. Partial reversion of these phenotypes when traces of active complex I are present suggests that complex I is essential for plant development and likely acts as a negative regulator of respiratory fluxes.
Treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia with the natural plant alkaloid berberine.

CONTEXT Berberine, a natural plant alkaloid, is usually used as an antibiotic drug. The potential glucose-lowering effect of berberine was noted when it was used for diarrhea in diabetic patients. In vitro and in vivo studies have then showed its effects on hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of berberine in the treatment of type 2 diabetic patients with dyslipidemia. DESIGN One hundred sixteen patients with type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia were randomly allocated to receive berberine (1.0 g daily) and the placebo for 3 months. The primary outcomes were changes in plasma glucose and serum lipid concentrations. Glucose disposal rate (GDR) was measured using a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp to assess insulin sensitivity. RESULTS In the berberine group, fasting and postload plasma glucose decreased from 7.0 +/- 0.8 to 5.6 +/- 0.9 and from 12.0 +/- 2.7 to 8.9 +/- 2.8 mm/liter, HbA1c from 7.5 +/- 1.0% to 6.6 +/- 0.7%, triglyceride from 2.51 +/- 2.04 to 1.61 +/- 1.10 mm/liter, total cholesterol from 5.31 +/- 0.98 to 4.35 +/- 0.96 mm/liter, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol from 3.23 +/- 0.81 to 2.55 +/- 0.77 mm/liter, with all parameters differing from placebo significantly (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, P = 0.001, P < 0.0001, and P <0.0001, respectively). The glucose disposal rate was increased after berberine treatment (P = 0.037), although no significant change was found between berberine and placebo groups (P = 0.063). Mild to moderate constipation was observed in five participants in the berberine group. CONCLUSIONS Berberine is effective and safe in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia.
Efficacy of high-dose glycine in the treatment of enduring negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Disturbances of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated glutamatergic neurotransmission may play an important role in the pathophysiology of negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Glycine, a small nonessential amino acid, functions as an obligatory coagonist at NMDA receptors through its action at a strychnine-insensitive binding site on the NMDA receptor complex. Glycine-induced augmentation of NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission may thus offer a potentially safe and feasible approach for ameliorating persistent negative symptoms of schizophrenia. METHODS Twenty-two treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 6-week, crossover treatment trial with 0.8 g/kg per day of glycine added to their ongoing antipsychotic medication. Clinical assessments, including the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Simpson-Angus Scale for Extrapyramidal Symptoms, and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale, were performed biweekly throughout the study. Clinical laboratory values and amino acid serum levels were monitored. RESULTS Glycine treatment was well tolerated and induced increased glycine (P=.001) and serine (P=.001) serum levels. Glycine administration resulted in (1) a significant (P<.001) 30%+/-16% reduction in negative symptoms, as measured by the PANSS, and (2) a significant (P<.001) 30%+/-18% improvement in the BPRS total scores. The improvement in negative symptoms was unrelated to alterations in extrapyramidal effects or symptoms of depression. Low pretreatment glycine serum levels significantly predicted (r= 0.80) clinical response. CONCLUSION These findings support hypoglutamatergic hypotheses of schizophrenia and suggest a novel approach for the pharmacotherapy of negative symptoms associated with this illness.
Multi-view clustering via canonical correlation analysis

Clustering data in high dimensions is believed to be a hard problem in general. A number of efficient clustering algorithms developed in recent years address this problem by projecting the data into a lower-dimensional subspace, e.g. via Principal Components Analysis (PCA) or random projections, before clustering. Here, we consider constructing such projections using multiple views of the data, via Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Under the assumption that the views are un-correlated given the cluster label, we show that the separation conditions required for the algorithm to be successful are significantly weaker than prior results in the literature. We provide results for mixtures of Gaussians and mixtures of log concave distributions. We also provide empirical support from audio-visual speaker clustering (where we desire the clusters to correspond to speaker ID) and from hierarchical Wikipedia document clustering (where one view is the words in the document and the other is the link structure).
The VMC Survey - XIII : Type II Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud

The VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds System (VMC) is collecting deep $K_\mathrm{s}$--band time--series photometry of the pulsating variable stars hosted in the system formed by the two Magellanic Clouds and the Bridge connecting them. In this paper we have analysed a sample of 130 Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Type II Cepheids (T2CEPs) found in tiles with complete or near complete VMC observations for which identification and optical magnitudes were obtained from the OGLE III survey. We present $J$ and $K_\mathrm{s}$ light curves for all 130 pulsators, including 41 BL Her, 62 W Vir (12 pW Vir) and 27 RV Tau variables. We complement our near-infrared photometry with the $V$ magnitudes from the OGLE III survey, allowing us to build a variety of Period-Luminosity ($PL$), Period-Luminosity-Colour ($PLC$) and Period-Wesenheit ($PW$) relationships, including any combination of the $V, J, K_\mathrm{s}$ filters and valid for BL Her and W Vir classes. These relationships were calibrated in terms of the LMC distance modulus, while an independent absolute calibration of the $PL(K_\mathrm{s})$ and the $PW(K_\mathrm{s},V)$ was derived on the basis of distances obtained from $Hubble Space Telescope$ parallaxes and Baade-Wesselink technique. When applied to the LMC and to the Galactic Globular Clusters hosting T2CEPs, these relations seem to show that: 1) the two population II standard candles RR Lyrae and T2CEPs give results in excellent agreement with each other; 2) there is a discrepancy of $\sim$0.1 mag between population II standard candles and Classical Cepheids when the distances are gauged in a similar way for all the quoted pulsators. However, given the uncertainties, this discrepancy is within the formal 1$\sigma$ uncertainties.
Discovering Missing Values in Semi-Structured Databases

We explore the problem of discovering multiple missing values in a semi-structured database. For this task, we formally develop Structured Relevance Model (SRM) built on one hypothetical generative model for semi-structured records. SRM is based on the idea that plausible values for a given field could be inferred from the context provided by the other fields in the record. Small-scale experiments on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) show that SRM matched three state-of-the-art relational learning approaches on the movie label prediction tasks. Large-scale experiments on a snapshot of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) repository show that SRM is highly effective at discovering possible values for free-text fields even with quite modest amounts of training data, compared with state-of-the-art machine learning approaches.
Statistical Analysis of Second Order Differential Power Analysis

Second order Differential Power Analysis (2O-DPA) is a powerful side-channel attack that allows an attacker to bypass the widely used masking countermeasure. To thwart 2O-DPA, higher order masking may be employed but it implies a nonnegligible overhead. In this context, there is a need to know how efficient a 2O-DPA can be, in order to evaluate the resistance of an implementation that uses first order masking and, possibly, some hardware countermeasures. Different methods of mounting a practical 2O-DPA attack have been proposed in the literature. However, it is not yet clear which of these methods is the most efficient. In this paper, we give a formal description of the higher order DPA that are mounted against software implementations. We then introduce a framework in which the attack efficiencies may be compared. The attacks we focus on involve the combining of several leakage signals and the computation of correlation coefficients to discriminate the wrong key hypotheses. In the second part of this paper, we pay particular attention to 2O-DPA that involves the product combining or the absolute difference combining. We study them under the assumption that the device leaks the Hamming weight of the processed data together with an independent Gaussian noise. After showing a way to improve the product combining, we argue that in this model, the product combining is more efficient not only than absolute difference combining, but also than all the other combining techniques proposed in the literature.
α-Synuclein: membrane interactions and toxicity in Parkinson's disease.

In the late 1990s, mutations in the synaptic protein α-synuclein (α-syn) were identified in families with hereditary Parkinson's disease (PD). Rapidly, α-syn became the target of numerous investigations that have transformed our understanding of the pathogenesis underlying this disorder. α-Syn is the major component of Lewy bodies (LBs), cytoplasmic protein aggregates that form in the neurons of PD patients. α-Syn interacts with lipid membranes and adopts amyloid conformations that deposit within LBs. Work in yeast and other model systems has revealed that α-syn-associated toxicity might be the consequence of abnormal membrane interactions and alterations in vesicle trafficking. Here we review evidence regarding α-syn's normal interactions with membranes and regulation of synaptic vesicles as well as how overexpression of α-syn yields global cellular dysfunction. Finally, we present a model linking vesicle dynamics to toxicity with the sincere hope that understanding these disease mechanisms will lead to the development of novel, potent therapeutics.
Draft Genome Sequences of Two Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C Clinical Isolates

ABSTRACT Neisseria meningitidis is a human-specific pathogen known for its capability to cause sepsis and meningitis. Here we report the availability of 2 draft genome sequences obtained from patients infected during the same epidemic outbreak. Both bacterial isolates belong to serogroup C, but their genome sequences show local and remarkable differences compared with each other or with the reference genome of strain FAM18.
me-Commerce: An Infrastructure for Personal Predictive Mobile Commerce

Given mobile phone penetration statistics and current mobile phone technical specifications, it is apparent that in developed countries, the majority of citizens carry not just mobile phones, but true mobile computing devices. These devices are still primarily used for telephony, although information access is slowly emerging as a popular service on these devices. Despite the availability of network connectivity and device characteristics that make Information Access possible, this is currently generally confined to accessing the WWW. While useful, this method is not the best way of providing information access to mobile devices. This paper discusses current research in the use of mobile services and proceeds by presenting a background on an infrastructure for a focused information access application for mobile commerce. Through this background, we discuss the need for embedding multi-dimensional context awareness into the design of applications that provide dedicated, targeted and personalised information access to users, and describe the dimensional vectors necessary for the acquisition of contextual information. Further to this, the paper highlights the challenges that must be overcome in obtaining contextual information on a mobile computing scenario, as required by the design we propose.
The secure haptic keypad: a tactile password system

Authentication in public spaces poses significant security risks. Most significantly, passwords can be stolen, potentially leading to fraud. A common method to steal a PIN is through an observation attack, either using a camera or through direct observation (e.g. shoulder-surfing). This paper addresses this problem by presenting the design and implementation of a novel input keypad which uses tactile cues as means to compose a password. In this system, passwords are encoded as a sequence of randomized vibration patterns, making it visually impossible for an observer to detect which items are selected. An evaluation of this system shows it outperforms previous interfaces which have used tactile feedback to obfuscate passwords.
Extensive White Matter Alterations and Its Correlations with Ataxia Severity in SCA 2 Patients

Background Previous studies of SCA2 have revealed significant degeneration of white matter tracts in cerebellar and cerebral regions. The motor deficit in these patients may be attributable to the degradation of projection fibers associated with the underlying neurodegenerative process. However, this relationship remains unclear. Statistical analysis of diffusion tensor imaging enables an unbiased whole-brain quantitative comparison of the diffusion proprieties of white matter tracts in vivo. Methods Fourteen genetically confirmed SCA2 patients and aged-matched healthy controls participated in the study. Tract-based spatial statistics were performed to analyze structural white matter damage using two different measurements: fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Significant diffusion differences were correlated with the patient's ataxia impairment. Results Our analysis revealed decreased FA mainly in the inferior/middle/superior cerebellar peduncles, the bilateral posterior limb of the internal capsule and the bilateral superior corona radiata. Increases in MD were found mainly in cerebellar white matter, medial lemniscus, and middle cerebellar peduncle, among other regions. Clinical impairment measured with the SARA score correlated with FA in superior parietal white matter and bilateral anterior corona radiata. Correlations with MD were found in cerebellar white matter and the middle cerebellar peduncle. Conclusion Our findings show significant correlations between diffusion measurements in key areas affected in SCA2 and measures of motor impairment, suggesting a disruption of information flow between motor and sensory-integration areas. These findings result in a more comprehensive view of the clinical impact of the white matter degeneration in SCA2.
Optic Neuritis, A New Variant of Experimental Encephalomyelitis, A Durable Model for All Seasons, Now In Its Seventieth Year

One of the most enduring models of human disease now celebrates the seventieth anniversary of its publication in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Thomas Rivers, working at the Hospital of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, along with his colleagues D.H. Sprunt and G.P. Berry, submitted the article entitled, “Observations on Attempts to Produce Disseminated Encephalomyelitis in Monkeys,” on Feb. 21, 1933 (1). Rivers established this model to try to understand what caused neurological reactions to certain viral infections like smallpox and in some circumstances to vaccinations like rabies: the very first sentence of this landmark paper reads, “During convalescence from certain diseases notably smallpox, vaccinia and measles, and during or following vaccination against rabies, an occasional patient develops symptoms and signs referable to the central nervous system. ” One of the most devastating complications of vaccination and viral infection is acute optic neuritis (2). In the current issue, Bettelli and colleagues have been able to establish a model of acute optic neuritis, without accompanying inflammation elsewhere in the central nervous system (3).