Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Os supermercados na oferta de alimentos orgânicos: apelando ao estilo de vida ego-trip

As the production and commercialisation of organic food has been expanding since the 90s, both in the international and Brazilian context, supermarkets have assumed a dominant role in relation to alternative markets. This article intends to contribute to the analysis of this role, especially in the commercialisation of fruits, legumes and vegetables (FLV), and to identify the types of consumer that are addressed by their strategies. I use diverse bibliographic references - specialized publications of the retail sector and reports of international consultancy agencies. Through this material it is possible to characterized supermarket strategies in relation to organics in the world and particularly in Brazil. Also, through the analysis of those strategies, it is discussed the profile of the organic consumer. One of the main arguments of this article is that the growing consumption of organics at the supermarkets is part of a more broad demand for healthy food, that is also part of a lifestyle characterized as ego-trip, in opposition with one that can be more ecological responsible, the ecological-trip style of life.
Equity, Intergroup bias and Interpersonal bias in Reward allocation

Decisions to allocate rewards to ingroup and outgroup members are under the dual pressures of equity and intergroup bias. This study examined variations in equity and bias resulting from the incongruity and salience of intergroup status. Incongruity arose from a mismatch between high subjective and low accorded status. Congruity occurred when subjective status and accorded status were both high or both low. By pairing school classes with known subjective and accorded statuses, an incongruous and a congruous status setting were derived naturally. The setting was made either salient or nonsalient experimentally. It was hypothesized that bias would progressively increase, and equity would progressively decrease, with incongruity and salience. Each set of hypotheses was partially supported. Further data analysis showed a robust tendency to under-reward both ingroup and outgroup members. This interpersonal negativity bras was shown by incongruous status allocators either when rewarding superior performance or in the salient condition. Apparently, it served to safeguard personal rather than social identity. The implications for equity and social identity theories were discussed.
Approval of Cross-Sex-Role Behavior

Previous research has indicated that sex-role preferences of boys were more clearly masculine than girls' preferences were feminine. In order to provide a partial explanation of this phenomenon, the responses of 107 college students to descriptions of cross-sex-role behavior of young boys and girls were investigated. Ss rated 10 one-sentence descriptions of cross-sex-role behavior on an approval-disapproval dimension. Both male and female Ss indicated greater disapproval of cross-sex-role behavior of boys than of girls. The relationship of these findings to previous research was discussed.
Balancing exploration and exploitation: a new algorithm for active machine learning

Active machine learning algorithms are used when large numbers of unlabeled examples are available and getting labels for them is costly (e.g. requiring consulting a human expert). Many conventional active learning algorithms focus on refining the decision boundary, at the expense of exploring new regions that the current hypothesis misclassifies. We propose a new active learning algorithm that balances such exploration with refining of the decision boundary by dynamically adjusting the probability to explore at each step. Our experimental results demonstrate improved performance on data sets that require extensive exploration while remaining competitive on data sets that do not. Our algorithm also shows significant tolerance of noise.
Vowel harmony and speech segmentation in Finnish

Abstract Finnish vowel harmony rules require that if the vowel in the first syllable of a word belongs to one of two vowel sets, then all subsequent vowels in that word must belong either to the same set or to a neutral set. A harmony mismatch between two syllables containing vowels from the opposing sets thus signals a likely word boundary. We report five experiments showing that Finnish listeners can exploit this information in an on-line speech segmentation task. Listeners found it easier to detect words like hymy at the end of the nonsense string puhymy (where there is a harmony mismatch between the first two syllables) than in the string pyhymy (where there is no mismatch). There was no such effect, however, when the target words appeared at the beginning of the nonsense string (e.g., hymypu vs hymypy ). Stronger harmony effects were found for targets containing front harmony vowels (e.g., hymy ) than for targets containing back harmony vowels (e.g., palo in kypalo and kupalo ). The same pattern of results appeared whether target position within the string was predictable or unpredictable. Harmony mismatch thus appears to provide a useful segmentation cue for the detection of word onsets in Finnish speech.
A Smooth Transition? Students' Experiences of Credit Transfer into a Social Work Degree in Scotland

From April 2004 until March 2008 a project examining the ways in which the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework could be embedded in the social services sector was carried out by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). As part of this project, a pilot study examining credit transfer to a degree in social work was commissioned. Universities are developing different arrangements for the development of advanced entry to the degree programme either through credit transfer from courses such as the HNC in Social Care, SVQ3 or through informal experiential learning. This pilot study explored students' preparedness for a social work honours degree course when they were admitted to the programme with advanced entry. This group was compared with those completing the full programme. The study also considered what supports these students might need and makes some recommendations about where such supports might be located. It found that, although students entered with a range of qualifications, there were more similarities than differences in their experiences of the programme. While students valued the study skills they had acquired from achieving their previous qualifications, they also thought that life and work experience had been crucial in preparing them for further study. Students also had similar views about the supports they needed to succeed. These included knowledgeable and sympathetic tutors, good quality materials and support from family and friends.
Inhibition of I (cid:1) B Kinase Activity by Acetyl-boswellic Acids Promotes Apoptosis in Androgen-independent PC-3 Prostate Cancer Cells in Vitro and in Vivo

Signaling through NF- (cid:1) B has been implicated in the malignant phenotype as well as the chemoresistance of various cancers. Here we show that the natural compounds acetyl- (cid:2) -boswellic acid and acetyl-11-keto- (cid:2) -bo-swellic acid (AK (cid:2) BA) inhibit proliferation and elicit cell death in chemoresistant androgen-independent PC-3 prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo . Induction of apoptosis was demonstrated in cultured PC-3 cells by several parameters including mitochondrial cytochrome c release and DNA fragmentation. At the molecular level these compounds inhibit constitutively activated NF- (cid:1) B signaling by intercepting the I (cid:1) B kinase (IKK) activity; signaling through the interferon-stimu-lated response element remained unaffected, suggesting specificity for IKK inhibition. The impaired phosphorylation of p65 and the reduced nuclear translocation of NF- (cid:1) B proteins were associated with down-regulation of the constitutively overexpressed and NF- (cid:1) B-dependent antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-x L . In addition, ex- pression probed with specific antibodies, and detected as described previously (20, 21). Mouse monoclonal antibodies were used for actin (Chemicon), p65 phosphorylated at Ser-536 (Cell Signaling Technology), and Bcl-2 (Biomedicals, Switzerland), whereas rabbit polyclonal antibodies were used for I (cid:1) B (cid:3) (Santa Cruz), Bcl-x L , and cyclin D1 (both from Dianova, Germany). Reverse Transcriptase-PCR— Total RNA (1.5 (cid:5) g) extracted using Trizol (Invitrogen) was analyzed by reverse transcriptase-PCR with Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase and Taq DNA polymerase (Invitrogen). Primers for Bcl-2, Bcl-x L , and cyclin D1 were as described (22, 23). Conditions were such that the PCR reactions did not reach the saturation phase. Control experiments showed no DNA contaminations. Normalization was carried out using glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase as the internal standard (24). The PCR products had the appropriate size, and their identity was confirmed by direct sequencing (Abi Prism 310, Applied Biosystems). Cytotoxicity Apoptosis Cytotoxicity was quantified by the release of lactate dehydrogenase from apoptotic cells after the indicated times using a kit (Roche Diagnostics) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The total amount of lactate dehydrogenase in appropriately treated cell lysates served as a positive control. Additionally, cell proliferation was analyzed by monitoring the mitochondrial reduction of XTT (Roche Diagnostics). P]ATP. blots for IKKs. M GST-IKK (cid:2) fusion M or (cid:2) precipitated cell with 1 (cid:5) g/ml lipopolysaccharide for Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK2) in to the IKK assays using the immu- noprecipitated ERK2 and recombinant GST-Elk-1 fusion protein (Cell as substrate.
Building blocks for the formation of spiral arms and rings in barred galaxies

We propose a theory to explain the formation of spiral arms and of all types of outer rings in barred galaxies, extending and applying the technique used in celestial mechanics to compute transfer orbits. Thus, our theory is based on the chaotic orbital motion driven by the invariant manifolds associated to the periodic orbits around the hyperbolic equilibrium points. In particular, spiral arms and outer rings are related to the presence of heteroclinic or homoclinic orbits. Thus, R1 rings are associated to the presence of heteroclinic orbits, while R1R2 rings are associated to the presence of homoclinic orbits. Spiral arms and R2 rings, however, appear when there exist neither heteroclinic nor homoclinic orbits. We examine the parameter space of three realistic, yet simple, barred galaxy models and discuss the formation of the different morphologies according to the properties of the galaxy model. The different morphologies arise from differences in the dynamical parameters of the galaxy.
Measuring processing load during sentence comprehension: Visuomotor tracking

This investigation examined processing load during aspects of sentence comprehension in non-brain-damaged subjects. Our goals were to begin the process of quantifying the loads associated with on-line and off-line aspects of sentence processing and to evaluate the utility of visuomotor tracking as an index of the resource demand associated with elements of sentence comprehension. Subjects were required to track an unpredictable visual target with their forefinger while listening to sentences and answering Yes-No comprehension questions. In general, tracking performance declined during the off-line task of responding to questions compared to the on-line task of listening to sentences and questions. Performance was also poorer during the beginning and end of the sentence compared to the middle of the sentence. Results are discussed in relation to resource theories of normal and aphasic sentence comprehension.
Role of vascular endothelial growth factor in the communication between human osteoprogenitors and endothelial cells

Proper bone remodeling requires an active process of angiogenesis which in turn supplies the necessary growth factors and stem cells. This tissue cooperation suggests a cross‐talk between osteoblasts and endothelial cells. This work aims to identify the role of paracrine communication through vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in co‐culture between osteoblastic and endothelial cells. Through a well defined direct contact co‐culture model between human osteoprogenitors (HOPs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), we observed that HUVECs were able to migrate along HOPs, inducing the formation of specific tubular‐like structures. VEGF165 gene expression was detected in the HOPs, was up‐regulated in the co‐cultured HOPs and both Flt‐1 and KDR gene expression increased in co‐cultured HUVECs. However, the cell rearrangement observed in co‐culture was promoted by a combination of soluble chemoattractive factors and not by VEGF165 alone. Despite having no observable effect on endothelial cell tubular‐like formation, VEGF appeared to have a crucial role in osteoblastic differentiation since the inhibition of its receptors reduced the co‐culture‐stimulated osteoblastic phenotype. This co‐culture system appears to enhance both primary angiogenesis events and osteoblastic differentiation, thus allowing for the development of new strategies in vascularized bone tissue engineering. J. Cell. Biochem. 106: 390–398, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Bidirectional- and Multi-Drop-Transmission-Line Interconnect for Multipoint-to-Multipoint On-Chip Communications

This paper investigates a bidirectional- and multi-drop-transmission-line interconnect for on-chip high-speed networks that have big impact in chip performances. Point-to-point on-chip transmission line interconnects have been developed and demonstrated widely. The present paper applies transmission line interconnect technologies to multipoint-to-multipoint on-chip communications. We propose the novel transceiver that consists of a single differential-amplifier and serves as both a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx) for transmitting signals to multipoint. The 5-mm-long prototype interconnect with six transceivers performs 8 Gbps signaling with power dissipation of 1.2 mW per transceiver in a 90 nm Si CMOS process. Our interconnect achieves multipoint communications with small delay and high power efficiencies.
Preparation, Micro‐Patterning and Electrical Characterization of Functionalized Carbon‐Nanotube Polydimethylsiloxane Nanocomposite Polymer

Summary: We present the preparation, improved micro-patterning, and electrical property characterization of COOH- functionalized mutli-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) conductive nanocomposite polymers that can be employed for lab on a chip applications. The nanocomposites are prepared by mixing functionalized MWCNTs into an uncured PDMS matrix and employing high frequency ultrasonics (∼ 42-50 kHz) using a horn tip probe. The prepared nanocomposites are micromolded using soft lithography techniques down to a feature size of 25 µm against a micropatterned SU-8 polymer master. An array of peg like microstructures have been fabricated with a radii of 25 µm and height of 100 µm, that are embedded on a non-conductive PDMS substrate using novel and improved fabrication techniques. The percolation threshold of the prepared nanocomposite is achieved at 1.5 weight percentage (wt.%) of COOH- functionalized MWCNT in the PDMS matrix. Resistivity levels at 2 wt. % of functionalized MWCNTs are 62 Ω-cm or better, which is an improvement over our previously reported nanocomposite resistivity value of 100 Ω-cm at 2 wt. % of nonfunctionalized MWCNT's in a PDMS matrix. The nanocomposites also have fairly uniform dispersion and no agglomeration of COOH- functionalized MWCNT as shown by SEM analysis. Furthermore, the nanocomposites show a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity (NTCR), making them ideal candidates for micropatternable temperature microsensors for lab on a chip systems.
Low Levels of Physical Activity Are Associated with Increased Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors in Korean Adults

Background Low levels of physical activity (PA) are strongly associated with the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and chronic diseases. However, few studies have examined this association in Koreans. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the associations between PA and MetS risks in Korean adults. Methods A total of 1,016 Korean adults (494 males and 522 females) participated in this study. PA levels were assessed using the International PA Questionnaire. MetS risk factors were determined using clinically established diagnostic criteria. Results Compared with the highest PA group, the group with the lowest level of PA was at greater risk of high triglyceride (TG) in males (odds ratio [OR], 1.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07 to 3.24) and of hemoglobin A1c ≥5.5% in females (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.00 to 3.04) after adjusting for age and body mass index. Compared with subjects who met the PA guidelines, those who did not meet the guidelines were more likely to have low high density lipoprotein cholesterol in both males (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.11 to 2.58), and females (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.20 to 2.77). Furthermore, those who did not meet the PA guidelines were at increased risk of high TG levels in males (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.23 to 2.86) and abnormal fasting glucose (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.17 to 3.20) and MetS (OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.15 to 3.84) in females. Conclusion Increased levels of PA are significantly associated with a decreased risk of abnormal MetS components.
Adaptive Responses by Mouse Early Embryos to Maternal Diet Protect Fetal Growth but Predispose to Adult Onset Disease1

Abstract Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy can alter postnatal phenotype and increase susceptibility to adult cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. However, underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we show that maternal low protein diet (LPD), fed exclusively during mouse preimplantation development, leads to offspring with increased weight from birth, sustained hypertension, and abnormal anxiety-related behavior, especially in females. These adverse outcomes were interrelated with increased perinatal weight being predictive of later adult overweight and hypertension. Embryo transfer experiments revealed that the increase in perinatal weight was induced within blastocysts responding to preimplantation LPD, independent of subsequent maternal environment during later pregnancy. We further identified the embryo-derived visceral yolk sac endoderm (VYSE) as one mediator of this response. VYSE contributes to fetal growth through endocytosis of maternal proteins, mainly via the multiligand megalin (LRP2) receptor and supply of liberated amino acids. Thus, LPD maintained throughout gestation stimulated VYSE nutrient transport capacity and megalin expression in late pregnancy, with enhanced megalin expression evident even when LPD was limited to the preimplantation period. Our results demonstrate that in a nutrient-restricted environment, the preimplantation embryo activates physiological mechanisms of developmental plasticity to stablize conceptus growth and enhance postnatal fitness. However, activation of such responses may also lead to adult excess growth and cardiovascular and behavioral diseases.
1 REGULATION OF IRF-3 DEPENDENT INNATE IMMUNITY BY THE PAPAIN-LIKE PROTEASE DOMAIN OF THE SARS CORONAVIRUS

REGULATION OF IRF-3 DEPENDENT INNATE IMMUNITY BY THE PAPAIN-LIKE PROTEASE DOMAIN OF THE SARS CORONAVIRUS Santhana G. Devaraj, Nan Wang, Zhongbin Chen, Zihong Chen, Monica Tseng, Naina Barretto, Rongtuan Lin, Clarence J. Peters, Chien-Te K. Tseng, Susan C. Baker, Kui Li From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Center of Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University of Chicago, Maywood, IL; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Montreal, Canada. Running Title: SARS-CoV PLpro inhibits IRF-3 activation Address Correspondence to: Kui Li, M.D., Ph.D., 4.142G Blocker Medical Research Building, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1019. Tel: 409-772-4934; Fax: 409-772-5065; Email: kuli@utmb.edu.
Artificial Neural Network for the Analysis of Electroencephalogram

Electroencephalography is an important tool for diagnosing, monitoring and managing neurological disorders related to epilepsy. The presence of epileptiform activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) confirms the diagnosis of epilepsy. During the seizures, the scalp of patients with epilepsy is characterized by high amplitude synchronized periodic EEG waveforms, reflecting abnormal discharge of a large group of neurons. Between the seizures, the electroencephalogram (EEG) of the patients who suffer from epilepsy is normally characterized by occasional spikes or spike and wave complexes (inter-ictal activity). It is difficult to detect these and sometimes is missed by the clinicians who observe the paper records. The purpose of the work describes the automated detection of epileptic events based on wavelet analysis of electroencephalogram. Three layered feedforward back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) is designed to classify the epileptic seizure and non-epileptic seizure.
Long-Lasting Cortical Reorganization as the Result of Motor Imagery of Throwing a Ball in a Virtual Tennis Court

In order to characterize the neural signature of a motor imagery (MI) task, the present study investigates for the first time the oscillation characteristics including both of the time-frequency measurements, event related spectral perturbation and intertrial coherence (ITC) underlying the variations in the temporal measurements (event related potentials, ERP) directly related to a MI task. We hypothesize that significant variations in both of the time-frequency measurements underlie the specific changes in the ERP directly related to MI. For the MI task, we chose a simple everyday task (throwing a tennis ball), that does not require any particular motor expertise, set within the controlled virtual reality scenario of a tennis court. When compared to the rest condition a consistent, long-lasting negative fronto-central ERP wave was accompanied by significant changes in both time frequency measurements suggesting long-lasting cortical activity reorganization. The ERP wave was characterized by two peaks at about 300 ms (N300) and 1000 ms (N1000). The N300 component was centrally localized on the scalp and was accompanied by significant phase consistency in the delta brain rhythms in the contralateral central scalp areas. The N1000 component spread wider centrally and was accompanied by a significant power decrease (or event related desynchronization) in low beta brain rhythms localized in fronto-precentral and parieto-occipital scalp areas and also by a significant power increase (or event related synchronization) in theta brain rhythms spreading fronto-centrally. During the transition from N300 to N1000, a contralateral alpha (mu) as well as post-central and parieto-theta rhythms occurred. The visual representation of movement formed in the minds of participants might underlie a top-down process from the fronto-central areas which is reflected by the amplitude changes observed in the fronto-central ERPs and by the significant phase synchrony in contralateral fronto-central delta and contralateral central mu to parietal theta presented here.