Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
S‐adenosylmethionine in the chemoprevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in a rat model

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a common cancer worldwide that lacks effective chemoprevention or treatment. Chronic liver disease often leads to impaired hepatic S‐adenosylmethionine (SAMe) biosynthesis, and mice with SAMe deficiency develop HCC spontaneously. SAMe is antiapoptotic in normal hepatocytes but proapoptotic in cancerous hepatocytes. The present study investigated SAMe's effectiveness in prevention and treatment of HCC. Two weeks after injecting 2.5 million H4IIE cells into the liver parenchyma of ACI rats, they typically form a 1‐cm tumor. When SAMe (150 mg/kg/day) was delivered through continuous intravenous infusion, hepatic SAMe levels reached 0.7 mM (over 10‐fold) 24 hours later. This regimen, started 1 day after injecting H4IIE cells and continued for 10 days, was able to reduce tumor establishment and growth. However, if intravenous SAMe was started after HCC had already developed, it was ineffective in reducing tumor growth for 24 days. Although plasma SAMe levels remained elevated, hepatic SAMe levels were minimally increased (30% higher). Chronic SAMe administration led to induction of hepatic methyltransferases, which prevented SAMe accumulation. To see if SAMe's preventive effect on tumor establishment involves angiogenesis, the effect of SAMe on angiogenesis genes was studied. SAMe treatment of H4IIE cells altered the expression of several genes with the net effect of inhibiting angiogenesis. These changes were confirmed at the protein level and functionally in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Conclusion: SAMe is effective in preventing HCC establishment but ineffective in treating established HCC because of induction of hepatic methyltransferases, which prevents SAMe level to reach high enough to kill liver cancer cells. SAMe's chemopreventive effect may be related to its proapoptotic action and its ability to inhibit angiogenesis. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
ESTUDO DA QUALIDADE DE SERVIÇOS OFERECIDOS EM HOTÉIS DE PORTO ALEGRE/RS: OFERTA DE ALIMENTOS ISENTOS DE GLÚTEN E LACTOSE NO CAFÉ DA MANHÃ

Este estudo sobre as restricoes alimentares tem por objetivo pesquisar as informacoes disponibilizadas no buffet do cafe da manha em tres hoteis de Porto Alegre/RS e as formas de preparo dessa refeicao para hospedes com Doenca Celiaca e Intolerância a Lactose. Este estudo foi construido a partir de referencias em literaturas da area nacional, internacional e sites. Apresenta um metodo comparativo descritivo atraves de questionario com perguntas abertas e fechadas em hoteis de categoria confortavel, medio conforto e muito confortavel. Pode-se analisar que os hoteis pesquisados tem o conhecimento das restricoes alimentares (Doenca Celiaca e Intolerância a Lactose) e sabem que o cafe da manha diferenciado para esse publico e importante; no entanto, nao planejam e nao fazem um estoque minimo desses produtos e nem ha uma identificacao no buffet para melhor atender este hospede e satisfaze-lo. Lembrando que um planejamento correto e adequado para atender as necessidades do hospede com restricoes alimentares vai alem de uma simples elaboracao de cardapio; antes de mais nada, deve passar pela capacitacao dos funcionarios e pelo envolvimento de toda equipe no empreendimento hoteleiro. P a l a b r a s - c l a v e : Cafe da manha. Hotelaria. Doenca Celiaca. Intolerância a lactose.
Relative price variability in Brazil: an analysis of headline and core inflation rates

O objetivo deste artigo e estudar a relacao causal entre inflacao e variabilidade de precos relativos no Brasil, para o periodo entre janeiro de 1995 e junho de 2011. O foco e o IPCA e seu nucleo, levando-se tambem em conta o periodo das metas de inflacao. A analise de series temporais mostra que: 1) a correlacao entre inflacao e dispersao de precos relativos e positiva e significante (o mesmo se aplica ao nucleo da inflacao); 2) para o periodo referente as metas para a inflacao, ha queda da dispersao de precos; 3) ha bi-causalidade entre inflacao total e dispersao total de precos, ao passo que a causalidade e do nucleo de inflacao para sua respectiva variabilidade; 4) as funcoes de respostas a impulsos mostram que choques no nucleo do IPCA nao afetam a dispersao dos precos do nucleo tanto quanto os choques ao IPCA total afetam a dispersao total de precos; 5) a decomposicao de variância relacionada ao nucleo do IPCA e seu respectivo RPV parece estar reduzida em relacao aos dados do IPCA cheio.
Spatio-Temporal Approaches for Handling Occlusions Based on Object Tracking

This paper proposes two different approaches to tracks two occlusion targets. Occlusion means hiding an object by another object. In this paper, two approaches are devised to handle the occlusion detection. In a video, during the tracking process, the states of the object are gradually adjusted one by one to eliminate the occlusion effects. The edges are detected and identified whether the occlusion is partial or full. Spatial approach is used to handle partial occlusion and temporal approach is used to handle full occlusion detection. The spatial approach uses edge-based restoration scheme that 1) identifies areas that are likely to contain wrong motion vectors, 2) finds artifacts within these areas, and 3) restores these artifacts. The temporal approach is planned to fill the missing parts from the past history of a person if available.
Measurement of Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetries for Midrapidity Production of Neutral Pions and Charged Hadrons in Polarized p + p Collisions at √s = 200 GeV

Transverse single-spin asymmetries to probe the transverse-spin structure of the proton have been measured for neutral pions and nonidentified charged hadrons from polarized proton-proton collisions at midrapidity and root s = 200 GeV. The data cover a transverse momentum (pT) range 1.0-5.0 GeV/c for neutral pions and 0.5-5.0 GeV/c for charged hadrons, at a Feynman-x value of approximately zero. The asymmetries seen in this previously unexplored kinematic region are consistent with zero within errors of a few percent. In addition, the inclusive charged hadron cross section at midrapidity from 0.5 < P-T < 7.0 GeV/c is presented and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD ( pQCD) calculations. Successful description of the unpolarized cross section above similar to 2 GeV/c suggests that pQCD is applicable in the interpretation of the asymmetry results in the relevant kinematic range.
Extending interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control (IDA-PBC) to underactuated mechanical systems with nonholonomic Pfaffian constraints: The mobile inverted pendulum robot

In this paper, we extend the interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control strategy to systems subjected to nonholonomic Pfaffian constraints. The results are applied to stabilize the pitch dynamics of an underactuated mobile inverted pendulum (MIP) robot subjected to nonholonomic constraints arising out of no-slip conditions. A novel feature of this paper is that we reduce the kinetic energy partial differential equations and potential energy partial differential equation to a set of ordinary differential equations, that are explicitly solved.
Is the combination of mitomycin C, bleomycin and methotrexate effective as a neoadjuvant treatment for cervical cancer in women?

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of the combination of mitomycin C, bleomycin and methotrexate as a neoadjuvant treatment in preparation for surgical treatment of cervical cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS Twenty-seven patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stages exophytic IB2 and IIB-IIIB) who had not previously undergone any treatment received mitomycin C, bleomycin and methotrexate in five sessions, once every four weeks. RESULTS The objective response rate was approximately 81%, including 16 complete responses and six partial responses. Significant toxic effects were not observed. Responsive patients underwent surgery and remained without evidence of disease for the next 20 years. Unresponsive patients did not fare well and passed away within five years after treatment. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that this strategy may be effective for advanced cases, enabling patients to receive surgical treatment.
Interaction of Leishmania gp63 with Cellular Receptors for Fibronectin

ABSTRACT The most abundant protein on the surface of the promastigote form of the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp. is a 63-kDa molecule, designated gp63 or leishmanolysin. Because gp63 has been shown to possess fibronectin-like properties, we examined the interaction of gp63 with the cellular receptors for fibronectin. We measured the direct binding of Leishmania to human macrophages or to transfected mammalian cells expressing human fibronectin receptors. Leishmania expressing gp63 exhibited modest but reproducible adhesion to human macrophages and to transfected CHO cells expressing α4/β1 fibronectin receptors. In both cases, this interaction depended on gp63 but occurred independently of the SRYD sequence of gp63, because parasites expressing gp63 with a mutated SRYD sequence bound to macrophages and α4/β1 receptor-expressing cells as well as did wild-type parasites. The contribution of gp63 to parasite adhesion was more pronounced when the assays were performed in the presence of complement, suggesting that the receptors for complement and fibronectin may cooperate to mediate the efficient adhesion of parasites to macrophages. The interaction of gp63 with fibronectin receptors may also play an important role in parasite internalization by macrophages. Erythrocytes to which gp63 was cross-linked were efficiently phagocytized by macrophages, whereas control erythrocytes opsonized with complement alone bound to macrophages but remained peripherally attached to the outside of the cell. Similarly, parasites expressing wild-type gp63 were rapidly and efficiently phagocytized by resting macrophages, whereas parasites lacking gp63 were internalized more slowly. This rapid internalization of gp63-expressing parasites was dependent on the β1 integrins, because pretreatment of macrophages with monoclonal antibodies to the β1 integrins decreased the internalization of gp63-expressing parasites. These observations indicate that complement receptors are the primary mediators of parasite adhesion; however, maximal parasite adhesion and internalization may require the participation of the β1 integrins, which recognize fibronectin-like molecules such as gp63 on the surface of the parasite.
Evaluation of upper extremity reachable workspace using Kinect camera.

BACKGROUND In clinical evaluation of upper extremity, there is a lack of assessment methods that are quantitative, reliable, and informative of the overall functional capability of an individual. OBJECTIVE We present new methodology for the assessment of upper extremity impairments based on the concept of 3-dimensional reachable workspace using Microsoft Kinect. METHODS We quantify the reachable workspace by the relative surface area representing the portion of the unit hemi-sphere that is covered by the hand movement. We examine accuracy of joint positions, joint angles, and reachable workspace computation between the Kinect and motion capture system. RESULTS The results of our analysis in 10 healthy subjects showed that the accuracy of the joint positions was within 66.3 mm for our experimental protocol. We found that the dynamic angle measurements had relatively large deviations (between 9° to 28°). The acquired reachable workspace envelope showed high agreement between the two systems with high repeatability between trials (correlation coefficients between 0.86 and 0.93). CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate that the proposed Kinect-based 3D reachable workspace analysis provides sufficiently accurate and reliable results as compared to motion capture system. The proposed method could be promising for clinical evaluation of upper extremity in neurological or musculoskeletal conditions.
Imaging in Stroke

Cerebro-vascular disease (stroke) is the second leading cause of death. Prior to CT era, diagnosis was essentially clinical supported by angio and lumbar puncture. Imaging techniques have been very important for classification, understanding patho-physiology and management of stroke. Newer techniques are helping us to directly image the ischemic process and understand the underlying pathophysiology of stroke. To extend the therapeutic window, improve efficacy, and limit complications, imaging should address 4 essential issues: 1. The presence of hemorrhage; 2. The presence of an intravascular thrombus that can be treated with thrombolysis or thrombectomy 3. The presence and size of a core of irreversibly infarcted tissue 4. The presence of hypoperfused tissue at risk for subsequent infarction unless adequate perfusion is restored.
O Negrinho do Pastoreio e a escravidão no Rio Grande do Sul: Historiografia e Identidade

O presente artigo busca analisar aspectos da historia da escravidao no Rio Grande do Sul, atraves do estudo da lenda do Negrinho do pastoreio. Realizou-se um breve relato da lenda, observando o contexto de seu surgimento, suas diferentes versoes e as maneiras como alguns dos principais folcloristas brasileiros e sul-rio-grandenses perceberam o seu significado. Constatou-se que a lenda e objeto de uma disputa historiografica maior, ainda que velada, pelo estatuto da escravidao no Rio Grande do Sul, constituida por parte da historiografia gaucha em torno do mito da “democracia pastoril”. Enfatiza-se, acima de tudo, que, para alem das disputas historiograficas e identitarias, a lenda diz respeito ao sofrimento real de incontaveis “negrinhos do pastoreio” na historia da escravidao no Rio Grande do Sul. Palavras-chave: Negrinho do Pastoreio. Escravidao. Historiografia.
TAXES , CAPITAL STRUCTURE CHOICES , AND FIRM VALUE

We use a multitude of reforms across 29 OECD countries from 1981 through 2009 that affected statutory corporate or personal tax rates as natural experiments to estimate the market value of the tax benefits of debt financing. We report time-series evidence that tax reforms are followed by large changes in firm value. However, the impact of tax reforms on value is greatly mitigated by the presence of leverage. Consistent with a tax story, the value of debt tax savings is greater among top tax payers, highly profitable firms, and in countries where tax laws are more strongly enforced. The results are robust to a battery of endogeneity tests. JEL Classifications: G3; G32; F3
Conditions d'utilisation d'un "cuiseur-extrudeur à très faible coût" pour la fabrication de farines infantiles au Vietnam

L'objectif general de la these est de completer les connaissances necessaires a la maitrise de l'utilisation et du transfert de «cuiseurs-extrudeurs a tres faible cout» (CE-TFC) mis au point au Vietnam pour la production locale de farines infantiles a partir des matieres premieres disponibles et de comparer, en fonction de leurs modalites de production, les niveaux d'ingeres de farines produites ou non avec le CE-TFC chez des enfants de 6 a 10 mois. Les effets de certaines variables du procede de production (teneurs en amidon, lipides et eau des melanges avant extrusion; nature des sources amylacees utilisees; longueur et niveau d'usure de la vis) ont ete etudies sur certains parametres de l'extrusion (temperature, pression), sur certaines caracteristiques des extrudats (expansion, gonflement et solubilite dans l'eau, pertes en lipides et taux de gelatinisation) et sur la viscosite apparente de bouillies preparees a partir des farines d'extrudats pour en calculer un indice d'instantaneite. Ce travail a permis de preciser les modalites de production permettant d'obtenir soit des farines instantanees soit des farines a cuisson rapide. Preparees a partir de riz, soja, sesame et sucre, les farines instantanees et les farines a cuisson rapide, apres ajout de complements mineraux et vitaminiques et, pour la farine a cuisson rapide, d'amylases, permettent de preparer des bouillies fortifiees de consistance et de densite energetique appropriees a la consommation par de jeunes enfants. Bien que les quantites de bouillie ingerees soient plus faibles, les bouillies preparees a partir de ces deux types de farines -instantanee ou a cuisson rapide- permettent chez des enfants de 6 a 10 mois, des ingeres energetiques moyens par repas de respectivement 37% et 65% superieurs a ceux de bouillies de faible densite energetique preparees a partir d'une farine de meme composition mais non extrudee et sans ajout d'amylases. Par ailleurs, consommees deux fois par jour par des enfants continuant a avoir acces a leur alimentation habituelle, les bouillies preparees a partir de la farine instantanee permettent d'augmenter de 58% leurs apports energetiques par rapport a ceux d'enfants de meme âge ne consommant que les aliments de complement habituellement distribues par leurs meres
The sounds of silence: language, cognition, and anxiety in selective mutism.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether oral language, working memory, and social anxiety differentiate children with selective mutism (SM), children with anxiety disorders (ANX), and normal controls (NCs) and explore predictors of mutism severity. METHOD Children ages 6 to 10 years with SM (n = 44) were compared with children with ANX (n = 28) and NCs (n = 19) of similar age on standardized measures of language, nonverbal working memory, and social anxiety. Variables correlating with mutism severity were entered in stepwise regressions to determine predictors of mute behavior in SM. RESULTS Children with SM scored significantly lower on standardized language measures than children with ANX and NCs and showed greater visual memory deficits and social anxiety relative to these two groups. Age and receptive grammar ability predicted less severe mutism, whereas social anxiety predicted more severe mutism. These factors accounted for 38% of the variance in mutism severity. CONCLUSIONS Social anxiety and language deficits are evident in SM, may predict mutism severity, and should be evaluated in clinical assessment. Replication is indicated, as are further studies of cognition and of intervention in SM, using large, diverse samples.
The Effects of Visual Depth and Eccentricity on Manual Bias, Induced Motion, and Vection

The relationship between the effects of visual-surround roll motion on compensatory manual tracking of a central display and the perceptual phenomena of induced motion and vection were investigated. To determine if manual-control biases generated in the direction of surround rotation compensate primarily for the perceived counterrotation of the central display (‘induced motion’) or the perceived counterrotation of the entire body (‘vection’), the depth and eccentricity of the visual surround were varied. In the first experiment, twelve subjects attempted to keep an unstable central display level while viewing rotating visual surrounds in three depth planes: near (∼20 cm in front of the central display), coplanar, and far (∼21 cm behind the central display). In the second experiment, twelve additional subjects viewed a rotating surround that was presented either in the full visual field (0–110 deg) or in central and peripheral regions of similar width. Manual-control biases and induced motion were shown to be closely related to one another and strongly influenced both by central and by peripheral surround motion at or beyond the plane of fixation. Vection, on the other hand, was shown to be much more dependent on peripheral visual inputs.
Heterogeneous Computing with Focus on Mechanical Engineering

During the past few years there has been a revolution in the design of desktop computers. Most processors today include more than one processor core, allowing parallel execution of programs. Furthermore, most commodity computers include a graphical processor that outperforms the central processor by at least one order of magnitude. Tapping into this vast resource is commonly referred to as heterogeneous computing. The change in hardware invalidates old software-design truths. There is therefore need for new algorithms, and research into adapting existing algorithms to these architectures. Our main focus has been to accelerate algorithms relevant for mechanical engineering. In this dissertation we present four algorithms devoted to take advantage of the computational strengths of heterogeneous architectures. Each work is based on state-of-the-art hardware available at the time the research was performed. First we describe an algorithm for high-quality visualization of parametric surfaces. This is useful in a CAD setting, were an accurate rendering is important for visual validation of model quality. We further describe simulation of shallow-water waves using a state-of-the-art numerical scheme. Our accelerated implementation gave a speedup of up to 40 times compared to an optimized reference implementation. Our implementation features real time simulation and visualization of semi-realistic nonlinear wave effects. Finally we present two algorithms for shape simplification of 3D-models. The algorithms aim at reducing time spent on preparing models for finite element analysis. Finite element analysis is important to determine mechanical properties of objects prior to manufacture. Such analysis can be used to investigate thermal behavior and determine the strengths and weaknesses of physical components. Before the analysis can take place the models must undergo a preparation phase where shape simplification plays an important role. The first work we describe for shape simplification is a hybrid algorithm, using graphics hardware for the computationally demanding operations, and the main processor for maintaining the data structure. Our second work describes a shape simplification algorithm highly suitable for heterogeneous architectures and a reference implementation on the Cell BE.