Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Construção e acionamento de um modelo de mediação da informação

Propoe discutir os constructos teoricos em torno da criacao e do acionamento de um modelo de mediacao da informacao, objetivando que esse modelo possa facilitar a producao de conhecimentos, por meio da implementacao de acoes de informacao e da promocao de competencias em informacao, incentivando o processo de conscientizacao dos moradores de uma comunidade popular urbana. Trata-se de pesquisa em andamento no doutorado do Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Ciencia da Informacao da Universidade Federal da Bahia, que tem como campo empirico a Comunidade Santa Clara (CSC), na cidade de Joao Pessoa, PB. Tem como base os pressupostos teorico-metodologicos da Ciencia da Informacao, com enfase no seu paradigma social, que preconiza que o conhecimento necessita ser construido coletivamente de forma dialogica com os sujeitos da pesquisa. Visa analisar o atual regime de informacao da Comunidade, apos a praxis no campo de pesquisa, onde sera possivel verificar as alteracoes ocorridas nas redes socio-comunicacionais. Entende-se que, o trabalho do profissional da informacao, nesse contexto social, como organizador e mediador, pode facilitar o acesso e o uso da informacao, no apoio a apropriacao, pelos protagonistas dessas acoes, das informacoes de que necessitam para sairem do estado de exclusao informacional em que se encontram. Conclui-se que e possivel promover um movimento de socializacao da informacao em busca da consciencia critica, do entendimento da realidade social pelos moradores da comunidade, de valorizacao do seu poder de pertencimento e do sentimento de sentir-se incluido na sociedade da informacao.
Using composition to design secure, fault-tolerant systems

Complex systems must be analyzed in smaller pieces. Analysis must support both bottom-up (composition) and top-down (refinement) development, and it must support the consideration of several critical properties, e.g. functional correctness, fault tolerance and security, as appropriate. We describe a mathematical framework, called the CSS (Composability for Secure Systems) framework, for performing composition and refinement analysis and discuss some lessons learned from its application. The framework is written and verified in the PVS specification language.
Theoretical and Practical Foundations of Large-Scale Agent-Based Micro-Storage in the Smart Grid

In this paper, we present a novel decentralised management technique that allows electricity micro-storage devices, deployed within individual homes as part of a smart electricity grid, to converge to profitable and efficient behaviours. Specifically, we propose the use of software agents, residing on the users' smart meters, to automate and optimise the charging cycle of micro-storage devices in the home to minimise its costs, and we present a study of both the theoretical underpinnings and the implications of a practical solution, of using software agents for such micro-storage management. First, by formalising the strategic choice each agent makes in deciding when to charge its battery, we develop a game-theoretic framework within which we can analyse the competitive equilibria of an electricity grid populated by such agents and hence predict the best consumption profile for that population given their battery properties and individual load profiles. Our framework also allows us to compute theoretical bounds on the amount of storage that will be adopted by the population. Second, to analyse the practical implications of micro-storage deployments in the grid, we present a novel algorithm that each agent can use to optimise its battery storage profile in order to minimise its owner's costs. This algorithm uses a learning strategy that allows it to adapt as the price of electricity changes in real-time, and we show that the adoption of these strategies results in the system converging to the theoretical equilibria. Finally, we empirically evaluate the adoption of our micro-storage management technique within a complex setting, based on the UK electricity market, where agents may have widely varying load profiles, battery types, and learning rates. In this case, our approach yields savings of up to 14% in energy cost for an average consumer using a storage device with a capacity of less than 4.5 kWh and up to a 7% reduction in carbon emissions resulting from electricity generation (with only domestic consumers adopting micro-storage and, commercial and industrial consumers not changing their demand). Moreover, corroborating our theoretical bound, an equilibrium is shown to exist where no more than 48% of households would wish to own storage devices and where social welfare would also be improved (yielding overall annual savings of nearly £1.5B).
Multi-level stable and energy-efficient clustering protocol in heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

Classical clustering protocols in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) assume that all nodes are equipped with the same amount of energy. As a result, they cannot take full advantage of the presence of node heterogeneity. In this study, a stable and energy-efficient clustering (SEEC) protocol for heterogeneous WSNs is proposed. In addition, the extension to multi-level of SEEC is presented. It depends on the network structure that is divided into clusters. Each cluster has a powerful advanced node and some normal nodes deployed randomly in this cluster. In the multi-level architectures, more powerful supper nodes are assigned to cover distant sensing areas. Each type of nodes has its role in the sensing, aggregation or transmission to the base station. At each level of heterogeneity, the optimum number of powerful nodes that achieves the minimum energy consumption of the network is obtained. The proposed protocol is a heterogeneous awareness to prolong the stability period, which is crucial for many applications. The performance of the proposed protocol is compared by existing homogeneous and heterogeneous protocols. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol provides a longer stability period, more energy efficiency and higher average throughput than the existing protocols.
Stability Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Circuits. Application to DC-40GHz PHEMT amplifier and Ku-band HBT power amplifier

Specific CAD oriented methods have been developed [1] for linear and non-linear stability analysis. Both methods are applied to multi-transistor MMIC circuits. These approaches can be easily implemented on any CAD packages and enable linear and non-linear stability to be analysed with a localization of instability paths within an N-transistor circuit. Simulations and measurements of two MMIC circuits (DC-40GHz PHEMT amplifier for optical links and Ku-band HBT power amplifier) demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methods during the MMIC design processs.
Environmental Induction of White–Opaque Switching in Candida albicans

Candida albicans strains that are homozygous at the mating type locus (MTL a or MTLα) can spontaneously switch at a low frequency from the normal yeast cell morphology (white) to an elongated cell type (opaque), which is the mating-competent form of the fungus. The ability to switch reversibly between these two cell types also contributes to the pathogenicity of C. albicans, as white and opaque cells are differently adapted to specific host niches. We found that in strain WO-1, a strain in which genomic alterations have occurred, but not in other tested strains, switching from the white to the opaque phase can also be induced by environmental conditions. Transient incubation of white cells under anaerobic conditions programmed the cells to switch en masse to the opaque phase. The anaerobic induction of white–opaque switching was controlled by the transcription factor CZF1, which in heterozygous MTL a/α cells regulates filamentous growth under embedded, hypoxic conditions. Intriguingly, passage of white cells of strain WO-1 through the mouse intestine, a host niche in which the cells are likely to be exposed to anaerobic conditions, resulted in a strongly increased frequency of switching to the opaque phase. These results demonstrate that white–opaque switching is not only a spontaneous process but, in combination with genomic alterations, can also be induced by environmental signals, suggesting that switching and mating of C. albicans may occur with high efficiency in appropriate niches within its human host.
Transcriptional Silencing of the TFPI-2 Gene by Promoter Hypermethylation in Choriocarcinoma Cells

Abstract Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2), a Kunitztype serine proteinase inhibitor associated with the extracellular matrix, has been shown to reduce tumor invasion. In the present study we identified the presence of a complete CpG island region spanning exon 1 and the three transcription initiation sites. We demonstrate that DNA demethylation by 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine restores TFPI-2 transcription in JAR choriocarcinoma cells. The effect of in vitro DNA methylation on TFPI-2 promoter function was also confirmed with TFPI-2/luciferase promoter constructs. Finally, we determined the precise methylation status of CpG sites of the TFPI-2 promoter in normal and tumor trophoblast cells using the bisulfite genomic sequencing method. We conclude that hypermethylation of the TFPI-2 gene is correlated with transcriptional silencing and that the TFPI-2 gene may be a candidate tumor suppressor gene.
Landscape portrait: A look at the impacts of radioactive contaminants on Chernobyl’s wildlife

The Chernobyl accident of 1986 released vast quantities of radioactive materials and significantly contaminated about 200,000 square kilometers of land. The Chernobyl Forum Report, an initiative of the International Atomic Energy Agency, suggested that the effects of radiation on wildlife were negligible relative to the impacts of human habitation, but this position was based on the very limited data available prior to this 2006 report. The wildlife of this region has been the subject of extensive study since 2005; since then, research has found that many birds, insects, spiders, and mammals show significant declines as a probable consequence of exposure to radionuclides. The best-studied group, birds, shows a 50 percent decrease in species richness and a 66 percent drop in abundance in the most contaminated areas compared to areas with normal background radiation in the same neighborhood. In addition, mutation rates and developmental abnormalities are dramatically higher, and survival rates and fertility are lower, in regions of moderate to high contamination. These findings challenge reports in the popular media and the conclusions of the Chernobyl Forum Report and are of relevance today, given recent interest in returning contaminated lands to agriculture use and the renaissance of the global nuclear power industry.
Tuberculosis in badgers; a review of the disease and its significance for other animals.

This review examines the current state of knowledge of aspects of tuberculosis in the badger. The gross pathology and pathogenesis are elaborated as well as the immune mechanism, diagnosis of infection and excretion and viability of infected products. The epidemiology in badgers is considered, as is the significance of infection in this species for other wildlife species as well as domestic animals sharing the same habitat. Trials of the effects of the removal of badgers on the occurrence of tuberculosis in cattle are summarised. It is concluded that badgers are well adapted as the primary host of bovine tuberculosis in parts of Britain and much of Ireland.
A video frequency low&#8211;voltage filter in CMOS technology

In this paper a continuous-time 4thorder Butterworth lowpass filter based on current-mode processing is presented for applications over the video frequency range. Using a very low-cost 2.4 µ CMOS process (Mietec), the circuit occupies 2.8 mm2and consumes 9 mW from a ±1.5 V supply. Experimental results are given for a 4.5 MHz to 12 MHz tunable lowpass filter with 58 dB of dynamic range at 10 MHz.
Robustness of Large-Scale Stochastic Matrices to Localized Perturbations

Many notions of network centrality can be formulated in terms of invariant probability vectors of suitably defined stochastic matrices encoding the network structure. Analogously, invariant probability vectors of stochastic matrices allow one to characterize the asymptotic behavior of many linear network dynamics, e.g., arising in opinion dynamics in social networks as well as in distributed averaging algorithms for estimation or control. Hence, a central problem in network science and engineering is that of assessing the robustness of such invariant probability vectors to perturbations possibly localized on some relatively small part of the network. In this work, upper bounds are derived on the total variation distance between the invariant probability vectors of two stochastic matrices differing on a subset W of rows. Such bounds depend on three parameters: the mixing time and the entrance time on the set W for the Markov chain associated to one of the matrices; and the exit probability from the set W for the Markov chain associated to the other matrix. These results, obtained through coupling techniques, prove particularly useful in scenarios where W is a small subset of the state space, even if the difference between the two matrices is not small in any norm. Several applications to large-scale network problems are discussed, including robustness of Google's PageRank algorithm, distributed averaging, consensus algorithms, and the voter model.
High frequency of chromosome 9p allelic loss and CDKN2 tumor suppressor gene alterations in squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder.

BACKGROUND In the Western Hemisphere, 90% of bladder cancers are transitional cell carcinomas, while only 7% are classified as squamous cell carcinomas. In contrast, in Egypt and regions of the Middle East and Africa, where infection by the trematode Schistosoma haematobium is endemic, squamous cell carcinoma is the most common bladder cancer as well as the most common cancer in men. PURPOSE We planned experiments to understand the genetic defects underlying the development of squamous cell carcinoma and to determine if the morphologically and clinically distinct squamous cell carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder evolve following different genetic alterations. METHODS Squamous cell carcinoma specimens from high-risk (Egypt, n = 19) and low-risk (Sweden, n = 12) populations were examined for genetic defects known to be involved in transitional cell carcinoma tumorigenesis. Homozygous deletions of the CDKN2 tumor suppressor gene were detected by comparative multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Mutations in the CDKN2 and p53 (also known as TP53) genes were analyzed by single-strand conformation polymorphism and DNA sequencing. Immunohistochemical staining of p53 protein was also performed. Allelic losses in chromosome arms 9p, 9q, and 17p were determined by microsatellite analysis. RESULTS Homozygous deletions and sequence mutations in the CDKN2 gene were found in 67% (eight of 12) of squamous cell carcinoma specimens, a frequency three times higher than that reported for uncultured transitional cell carcinomas (P = .009). Hemizygous and homozygous deletions in 9p, where CDKN2 resides, were found in 92% (11 of 12) of uncultured squamous cell carcinomas, while only about 39% (35 of 90) of transitional cell carcinomas showed these losses (P = .001). Deletions in 9p with no change in 9q were found in 92% (10 of 11) of squamous cell carcinomas compared with only 10% (11 of 110) of transitional cell carcinomas (P < .001) reported in the literature. The frequency of p53 mutations in squamous cell carcinomas was similar to that reported for invasive transitional cell carcinomas (60%), but the type and position of mutations differed between the two tumor types. Allelic losses in chromosome arm 17p, where the p53 gene resides, were found to be less frequent in squamous cell carcinomas (38%) than in invasive transitional cell carcinomas (60%). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that a putative tumor suppressor gene on 9p, possibly CDKN2, may contribute to squamous cell carcinoma tumorigenesis. Our data on squamous cell carcinoma and previously reported data on transitional cell carcinoma indicate that these two bladder carcinomas differ in their genetic alterations, suggesting that distinct underlying genetic defects may explain, at least in part, the pathological differences between the two tumors of the bladder epithelium. IMPLICATIONS Development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder based on its distinct genetic alterations is warranted.
Image resolution-variance tradeoffs using the uniform Cramèr-Rao bound

In image reconstruction and restoration, there exists an inherent tradeoff between the recovered spatial resolution and statistical variance: lower variance can be bought at the price of decreased spatial resolution. This tradeoff can be captured for a particular regularized estimator by tracing out the resolution and variance as a curve indexed by the estimator's smoothing parameter. When the resolution of an estimator is well characterized by the norm of the estimator bias-gradient the uniform Cramèr-Rao (CR) lower bound can be applied. The bias-gradient norm fails, however, to constrain the width of the estimator point response function and the uniform CR bound with bias-gradient norm can give counter-intuitive results. In this paper we present a modified uniform CR bound on estimator variance which captures the width of the estimator point response. These results on the theoretically minimum attainable resolution-variance curve are useful both for exploring near optimality of practical image estimation algorithms and for optimizing the design of image acquisition systems.
Job insecurity, coping resources and personality dispositions in occupational strain

This paper presents research on the relationships between the work-related stressor of perceived job insecurity and various indicators of occupational strain, taking into account employees' personality dispositions (trait negative and positive affectivity) and coping resources. Respondents were 222 Australian public servants surveyed during organizational restructuring that involved downsizing and threat to job certainty. The research was formulated within an adaptation of Osipow, Doty, and Spokane's (1985) framework of stress-strain-coping that included the possible direct as well as moderating effects of personality dispositions in reporting occupational strain (Parkes, 1990). Findings from hierarchical regression analyses indicate consistent significant independent effects of personality dispositions, coping resources and perceived job insecurity on various indicators of strain. There was also support for the moderating roles of negative affectivity and self-care in the relation between perceived job insecurity and physical strain. Implications for the role of dispositional factors, especially negative affectivity, and the utility of various coping resources in accounting for occupational strain in times of threatened job security are discussed.
Methionine metabolism in apple tissue: implication of s-adenosylmethionine as an intermediate in the conversion of methionine to ethylene.

If S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is the direct precursor of ethylene as previously proposed, it is expected that 5'-S-methyl-5'-thioadenosine (MTA) would be the fragment nucleoside. When [Me-(14)C] or [(35)S]methionine was fed to climacteric apple (Malus sylvestris Mill) tissue, radioactive 5-S-methyl-5-thioribose (MTR) was identified as the predominant product and MTA as a minor one. When the conversion of methionine into ethylene was inhibited by (l)-2-amino-4-(2'-aminoethoxy)-trans-3-butenoic acid, the conversion of [(35)S] or [Me(14)C]methionine into MTR was similarly inhibited. Furthermore, the formation of MTA and MTR from [(35)S]methionine was observed only in climacteric tissue which produced ethylene and actively converted methionine to ethylene but not in preclimacteric tissue which did not produce ethylene or convert methionine to ethylene. These observations suggest that the conversion of methionine into MTA and MTR is closely related to ethylene biosynthesis and provide indirect evidence that SAM may be an intermediate in the conversion of methionine to ethylene.When [(35)S]MTA was fed to climacteric or preclimacteric apple tissue, radioactivity was efficiently incorporated into MTR and methionine. However, when [(35)S]MTR was administered, radioactivity was efficiently incorporated into methionine but not MTA. This suggests that the sulfur of MTA is incorporated into methionine via MTR. A dual label experiment with [(35)S, Me-(3)H]MTA indicates that the CH(3)S group of MTA was transferred as a unit to form methionine.A scheme is presented for the production of ethylene from methionine, the first step being the activation of methionine by ATP to give SAM. SAM is fragmented to give ethylene, MTA, and other products. MTA is then hydrolyzed to MTR which donates its methylthio group to a four-carbon acceptor to reform methionine.
Effects of phenylbutazone on bone activity and formation in horses.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of phenylbutazone (PBZ) on bone activity and bone formation in horses. ANIMALS 12 healthy 1- to 2-year-old horses. PROCEDURES Biopsy was performed to obtain unicortical bone specimens from 1 tibia on day 0 and from the contralateral tibia on day 14. Fluorochromic markers were administered IV 2 days prior to and on days 0, 10, 15, and 25 after biopsy was performed. Six horses received PBZ (4.4 mg/kg of body weight, PO, q 12 h) and 6 horses were used as controls. All horses were euthanatized on day 30 and tissues from biopsy sites, with adjacent cortical bone, were collected. Osteonal density and activity, mineral apposition rate (MAR), and percentage of mineralized tissue filling the biopsy-induced defects in cortical bone were assessed. Serum samples from all horses were analyzed for bone-specific alkaline phosphatase activity and concentration of PBZ. RESULTS MAR was significantly decreased in horses treated with PBZ. Regional acceleratory phenomenon was observed in cortical bone in both groups but was significantly decreased in horses treated with PBZ. Osteonal activity was similar at all time points in all horses. In control horses, percentage of mineralized tissue filling the cortical defects was significantly greater in defects present for 30 days, compared with defects present for 14 days. Differences in percentage of mineralized tissue were not detected in horses treated with PBZ. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE PBZ decreased MAR in cortical bone and appeared to decrease healing rate of cortical defects in horses.
Dynamic Duo : Exploring Phone-Tablet Combinations for Mobile Usage

As an increasing number of users carry smartphones and tablets simultaneously, there is an opportunity to leverage the use of these two form factors in a more complementary way. Our work aims to explore this by a) defining the design space of distributed input and output solutions that rely on and benefit from phonetablet combinations working together physically and digitally; and b) reveal the idiosyncrasies of each particular device combination via interactive prototypes. Our research provides actionable insight in this emerging area by defining a design space, suggesting a mobile framework, and implementing prototypical applications in such areas as distributed information display, distributed control, and combinations of these. For each of these, we show a few example techniques and demonstrate an application combining more techniques.