Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transplantation of HCV Viremic Livers into HCV Viremic Recipients Followed by Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy

Abstract Background and Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected organs are underutilized. We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) therapy in HCV viremic patients who are transplanted with a liver from a HCV viremic donor. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study, including patients seen from July 2015 to April 2017. HCV viremic patients transplanted with a liver from a HCV viremic donor and subsequently treated with DAAs were included. Outcomes assessed included undetectable viral load at 12 weeks after completing DAA therapy (sustained virologic response, SVR12), adverse events, and interactions with immunosuppression. Results: Twenty-four HCV viremic recipients received livers from HCV viremic donors. Median age was 63 years, and the majority (79.2%) were genotype 1a. Donors and recipients were viremic at the time of transplant. Median modified model for end-stage liver disease score was 19, and median time on the waitlist was 81 days. Median time from transplant to initiation of DAA therapy was 123 days. Several DAA regimens were used and 15 (62.5%) patients did not receive ribavirin. Treatment duration ranged from 12 to 24 weeks. Twenty-three (95.8%) patients achieved SVR12. Five (20.8%) patients developed adverse events; however, none required DAA discontinuation. Conclusions: DAA therapy was efficacious and well tolerated in HCV viremic recipients who underwent liver transplantation from a HCV viremic donor.
Caracterização funcional e estrutural da proteína ZapA, envolvida na divisão celular bacteriana = Functional and structural characterization of ZapA protein, involved in bacterial cell division

The ZapA protein is involved in bacterial cell division. Several cellular elements are organized at the right time of the cell cycle in order to divide a single bacterial cell into two daughter cells. For this division to occur, the cell wall and cell envelope create a septum, guided by a macromolecular complex called divisome. The separation of the daughter cells is assisted by the constriction of a ring-shaped structure, the Z ring. This ring is formed by FtsZ polymers, a tubulin homolog that polymerize into protofilaments, which in turn, are organized in bundles, which are connected in a circular structure. The Z ring formation is a key event, and interconnects several proteins involved in cell division. The place and the time of this division have to be finely regulated, in order to prevent the formation of nonfunctional daughter cells. It must occur in the medial region, only after all the cellular components have already doubled and segregated to their respective poles. Among the proteins that interfere in this process, there are those involved in the regulation / synthesis of cell wall and proteins that modulate the Z ring. These modulators act by stimulating or inhibiting the Z ring formation, according to the cell requirement. conducted structural studies of , by solving its structure by and performing computational molecular of studied the nature of by such as indicated association and by co-purification between and (wild and mutants), each We have identified a possible interaction these proteins the helix H3 and N-terminal region (serine 13) of FtsZ have an important role as well as the H1 ZapA helix. cell Abstract Bacterial division begins with the formation of a contractile protein ring at midcell, which constricts the bacterial envelope to generate two daughter cells. The central component of the division ring is FtsZ, a tubulin-like protein capable of self-assembling into filaments which further associate into a higher order structure known as the Z ring. Proteins that bind to FtsZ play a crucial role in the formation and regulation of the Z ring. One such protein is ZapA, a widely conserved 21 kDa homodimeric protein that associates with FtsZ filaments and promotes their bundling. Although ZapA was discovered more than a decade ago, the structural details of its interaction with FtsZ remain unknown. In this work, backbone and side chain NMR assignments for the Geobacillus stearothermophilus ZapA homodimer are described. We titrated FtsZ into (15)N(2)H-ZapA and mapped ZapA residues whose resonances are perturbed upon FtsZ binding. This information provides a structural understanding of the interaction between FtsZ and ZapA.
Wireless networks: a labeling problem

In the 20th century more and more wireless networks have been developed to ease communication between any two systems. This paper addresses the issue of efficient communication between wireless broadcasts. We will model radio transmissions using graphs and assume that in order for transmissions not to interfere, in other words be efficient, the channel assignment or the distance between two broadcasters has to be maximally spaced out. The paper will discuss what maximally distant means from a graph theory point of view. For some types of graphs, the channel assignment can be easily determined, such as for the complete graph, the star graph, the wheel graph and the complete bipartite graph. For more complex cases such as the chain or cycle graph we conjectured a channel assignment process, based on a Python program, but were only able to prove bounds for them. To verify the accuracy of our model, we created a simulation in Python that computes how much more efficiently a channel assignment based on our model is, compared to a random assignment. The results indicate a more efficient communication for the algorithm-based labeling. The final chapter of this paper aims at expanding the utility of this channel assignment process to sensor communication schemes, but we lack evidence that such an extension provides better communication.
The influence of a forward model of arm dynamics on eye behavior in saccadic tracking of manual reaching tasks

To compensate for the potentially destabilizing effects of sensorimotor delays on human movement, it has been proposed that the brain implements a forward model of dynamics. Such a model would predict future state of the body (or a particular body part) by using efferent copy of motor commands to integrate forward from a delayed sense of state. Simulations of a hypothesized arm controller utilizing a forward model have been shown to generate similar behaviors as humans performing point-to-point reaching movements in novel dynamical environments. These environments are generated by having the subjects grip a handle connected to a robotic manipulandum that is capable of applying perturbing forces to the hand while performing the reaching task. In the experiments described in this thesis, subjects made reaching movements while gripping this same manipulandum and were trained to look at the perceived location of their hands in the absence of visual feedback. The resulting eye motion was predominantly saccadic, having saccade endpoints which predicted arm behavior by several hundred milliseconds. In the presence of movement error (imposed by the robot), both efferent copy of arm motor commands and sensory feedback affected eye motion. The timing and location of saccade endpoints with respect to hand position are shown to be consistent with the output of a forward model of arm dynamics in their manner of predicting future arm state. In the light of previous work in motor learning and eye-hand coordination, these results support the role of forward models for not only control of individual motor systems, but also for the coordination of different motor systems. and gifts as scientists were my inspiration for research and were significant contributors to whatever advances I have made as a scientist and thinker. I would also like to thank the numerous wonderful individuals both in the laboratory and in the department of Biomedical Engineering as a whole who not only provided me with advice and encouragement, but also with brains and arms as experimental subjects. Among them, I owe special thanks to like to thank my reviewers, Drs. Eric Young and Kurt Thoroughman, both for taking the time to lend their insights to my work and also for their valuable instruction. Many friends outside of the university were also profoundly important to me in these past few years. have my deepest respect and affection. Perhaps the greatest contributing factor to my accomplishments, in graduate school and throughout …
Modelagem e soluções para redes de anúncios.

Ad Networks promote the distribution of ads in the internet, so as to maximize the revenue generated by their display of ads in websites. These networks typically operate using the CPC (Cost per Click) business model, where the advertiser pays a monetary value when a user clicks in its advertisement. The choice of how the Ad Network distributes ads to websites is of utmost importance, since the rate of clicks on ads is extremely low. The allocation of ads has been done by an approximate solution based on data from an early period of time, which is calculated using linear programming combined with heuristics. However, this problem is clearly a sequential decision process in which multiple sequential restrictions apply, such as: the budget of the advertisers, minimum limits on the number of views for each campaign, categories of advertisements. In this dissertation we argue that MDPs (Markov Decision Processes) provide a better model for the problem, since they can automatically take into account the dynamics of the system, considering, for example, an ad with little chance of being clicked can be allocated in an efficient way, even when other ads would provide a higher profit in the short term. However, due to the large number of states, an optimal solution through MDPs is impractical; therefore we analyze here the relative performance between the linear programming and the MDP approaches, deriving guarantees that the approximate solution based on linear programming is not far from the MDP optimal solution, and in large problems (similar to those found in practice) this difference can be disregarded. Finally, we propose a model based on reinforcement learning using two different approaches, one disregarding the contextual information, and the other using contextual information. We argue that the use of reinforcement learning is more suitable for solving the problem of allocation of ads, since it is able to adapt its allocation policy to reflect changes that occur, e.g., in the user profile.
Analysis of small RNA changes in different Brassica napus synthetic allopolyploids

Allopolyploidy is an evolutionary and mechanisticaly intriguing process involving the reconciliation of two or more sets of diverged genomes and regulatory interactions, resulting in new phenotypes. In this study, we explored the small RNA changes of eight F2 synthetic B. napus using small RNA sequencing. We found that a part of miRNAs and siRNAs were non-additively expressed in the synthesized B. napus allotetraploid. Differentially expressed miRNAs and siRNAs differed among eight F2 individuals, and the differential expression of miR159 and miR172 was consistent with that of flowering time trait. The GO enrichment analysis of differential expression miRNA target genes found that most of them were concentrated in ATP-related pathways, which might be a potential regulatory process contributing to heterosis. In addition, the number of siRNAs present in the offspring was significantly higher than that of the parent, and the number of high parents was significantly higher than the number of low parents. The results have shown that the differential expression of miRNA lays the foundation for explaining the trait separation phenomenon, and the significant increase of siRNA alleviates the shock of the newly synthesized allopolyploidy. It provides a new perspective between small RNA changes and trait separation in the early stages of allopolyploid polyploid formation.
BLENDED LEARNING - THE FUTURE OF LEARNING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

This article deals with the issue of blended learning from a perspective less used in the specialized literature, applying blended learning to foreign language learning. There are highlighted several advantages of using this type of learning in the process of acquiring a foreign language, which can be extended to other areas of learning and that meet the central idea of the article, that blended learning is the future in terms of methods, learning strategies and lifelong learning. A big advantage is to have the assistance of a tutor 24 hours a day, managing to combine time saving, space, that an online classic program with the presence of human factor offers, without which the coherent, effective, genuine and lasting learning can not occur. The article also highlights the disadvantages of this concept; an important one being the fact that some students are not familiar with the latest technology. The last part approaches the issue of online platforms that continue to provide ever more useful applications, at affordable prices and tools for language learning. Even if blended learning has been a functional process for about ten years, there are already numerous supporters of this type of learning, particularly in higher education, where the combination of traditional courses and online interactive activities have already been implemented.
The discrete event control of robotic assembly tasks

The authors take a new approach to robotic assembly, treating assembly as a discrete event system. A discrete event in assembly is defined as a change in contact state reflecting a change in geometric constraint. Based on the discrete event model, a discrete event controller is presented. The problems of task-level planning and synthesis are addressed. Given a nominal event trajectory, discrete controls are defined. Given the discrete controls, continuous robot velocity commands are determined which follow the desired discrete event trajectory. <<ETX>>
A convolutional neural network combined with aggregate channel feature for face detection

Face detection has been studied intensively over the past several decades and achieved great improvements via convolutional neural network (CNN) which has greatly improved the performance in image classification and object detection. In this paper, similar to the idea of R-CNN [1], we present a new method that combines the aggregate channel features (ACF) [2] and CNN for face detection. The proposed method uses ACF to select the possible human face regions and then trains a CNN model to filter out non-face candidates. Then we merge the results of ACF and CNN to get the final detection window(s). Evaluations on two popular face detection benchmark datasets show that our method outperforms the ACF method and has achieved competitive performance against the state-of-the-art algorithms.
Structured Information Extraction System from Web Pages

The World Wide Web is a vast and rapidly growing source of information. Most of this information is in the form of unstructured text, making information hard to query. Many websites that have large collections of pages containing structured data. For example, Amazon lay out the author, title, comments, etc. in the same way in all its book pages. The values used to generate the pages (e.g. the author, title,.) typically come from a database. In this paper, we study the problem of automatically extracting the database values from template generated web pages without learning examples or other similar human input. We formally define a template and propose a model that describes how values are encoded into pages using a template. We present an algorithm that takes, as input, a set of template-generated pages, deduces the unknown template used to generate the pages and extracts, as output, the values encoded in the pages. Experimental evaluation on a large number of real input page collections indicates that our algorithm correctly extracts data in most cases.
Phase-Only Power Pattern Synthesis of Linear Arrays Using Autocorrelation Matching Method

Autocorrelation matching method is proposed for phase-only synthesis of power pattern of linear antenna arrays. This method is based on equating the autocorrelation coefficients of an array having given amplitude of excitations to those of a previously designed amplitude-phase array. Some examples are brought to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for both pencil-beam and shaped beam patterns.
Morphological differences between phyllosoma larvae from the western–central and eastern Pacific populations of the pronghorn spiny lobster Panulirus penicillatus

The pronghorn spiny lobster Panulirus penicillatus is known to have the widest distribution among palinurid lobster species, occurring in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. In the Pacific Ocean, mitochondrial DNA analyses have revealed that the western–central and eastern populations are genetically isolated. We performed morphological investigations on mid- to late-stage phyllosoma larvae collected in these two areas. The larvae of the western–central population had a significantly narrower cephalic shield, shorter abdomen, and longer eyestalk than those of the eastern population. Additionally, for larvae larger than about 25-mm body length, the widest position of the cephalic shield in the western–central population was located closer to the middle of the median line of the cephalic shield than that in the eastern population. The ratio of width to length of cephalic shield and the ratio of cephalic shield width to thorax width are key traits for distinguishing between the larvae of the two populations.
Analysis and Research of Data Security Policy Based on Cloud Storage

Cloud computer technology is one of current hot areas of the development of the information technology, and the data storage service based on the cloud is developing rapidly, which makes more and more enterprises and individuals enjoy the efficiency, convenience as well as low cost supplied by cloud storage. However, at the same time, the security problem of cloud storage arouses users' attention. This paper firstly expounds the basic information and system of cloud storage, then analyses the status quo of the development of cloud storage, and finally offers some preventive strategies based on cloud storage security.
First report of cestode infection in the crustacean Artemia persimilis from Southern Chilean Patagonia and its relation with the Neotropical aquatic birds

The brine shrimp genus Artemia Leach (Crustacea, Branchiopoda), a keystone group in hipersaline wetlands all over the world, offers an excellent model to study species interactions (parasitism) and to explore “hidden fauna” (avian endoparasites). The present study is the first report on the parasite infection of the South American species Artemia persimilis from the Southern Chilean Patagonia (50°S–53°S). Samples were collected in Los Cisnes and Amarga lagoons, the two most austral populations of this crustacean described to date, during two seasons (spring and autumn). A total of 98 larvae of cestodes of the family Hymenolepididae (Cestoda, Cyclophyllidea) were found and identified as belonging to the following taxa: Confluaria podicipina (adult parasitic in grebes), Flamingolepis sp. (a cestode parasite of flamingos), Fimbriarioides (? ) sp. (adults of the species of this genus infect waterfowl and shorebirds) and Wardium sp. (definitive host unknown, most probably charadriiform birds). This is a new geographical record of C. podicipina and the genus Fimbriarioides for the Neotropical Region, the latter being the most widely distributed species at both localities and seasons surveyed, and the only species recorded in autumn (April). Cestode community composition in Los Cisnes population was characterised by dominance of Flamingolepis sp. , representing more than 65% of the total cestode species recorded, whereas in the Amarga population the most abundant parasite (>83%) was Fimbriarioides (? ) sp. Significant seasonal variations were detected in Los Cisnes lagoon for Flamingolepis sp. and C. podicipina, with exclusive presence of them in spring (November). Besides providing novel information on cestodes infection in A. persimilis, this study provides new data on the life cycle of cestodes of Neotropical aquatic birds such as South American flamingos and grebes. Our finding expands the knowledge on the biodiversity and population dynamics of extreme and unique environments from high latitudes (Patagonia) and makes evident the need of further taxonomical and ecological studies for better understanding the life cycles of avian helminth parasites in the Neotropics and the role of aquatic invertebrates in them.
A Dynamic IP Lookup Architecture using Parallel Multiple Hash in GPU-based Software Router

As the fiber propagation velocity grows and the routing scale expands, IP lookup speed becomes the major bottleneck of high-performance network. Its efficiency directly determines the throughput of the entire routing channel. Recently, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), highly parallel, flexibility for program and low price, is widely adopted in different areas including software router. In this paper, we propose an architecture named GPU-Based Parallel Multiple Hash IP Lookup/Update Architecture (GPMHIA) to perform high-performance IP address lookup/update. We design a high-speed IP address lookup/update architecture based on IPv4, and this architecture can be easily extended to IPv6. Meanwhile, parallel multiple hash functions have been used for accelerating the matching speed and we propose an Adaptive Optimal XOR Hash (AOXH) to construct hash functions. Simulation results using 5 real IPv4 forwarding tables present that GPMHIA is a high-performance IP forwarding architecture.
Carnosine Mitigates Manganese Mitotoxicity in an In Vitro Model of Isolated Brain Mitochondria

Purpose: Manganese (Mn) is a neurotoxic chemical which induces a wide range of complications in the brain tissue. Impaired locomotor activity and cognitive dysfunction are associated with high brain Mn content. At the cellular level, mitochondria are potential targets for Mn toxicity. Carnosine is a dipeptide abundantly found in human brain. Several pharmacological properties including mitochondrial protecting and antioxidative effects have been attributed to carnosine. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of carnosine treatment on Mn-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in isolated brain mitochondria. Methods: Mice brain mitochondria were isolated based on the differential centrifugation method and exposed to increasing concentrations of Mn (10 µM-10 mM). Carnosine (1 mM) was added as the protective agent. Mitochondrial indices including mitochondrial depolarization, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, mitochondrial dehydrogenases activity, ATP content, and mitochondrial swelling and permeabilization were assessed. Results: Significant deterioration in mitochondrial indices were evident in Mn-exposed brain mitochondria. On the other hand, it was found that carnosine (1 mM) treatment efficiently prevented Mn-induced mitochondrial impairment. Conclusion: These data propose mitochondrial protection as a fundamental mechanism for the effects of carnosine against Mn toxicity. Hence, this peptide might be applicable against Mn neurotoxicity with different etiologies (e.g., in cirrhotic patients).
The consistency and reliability of the activity history data in the Families and Children Study (FACS)

The purpose of this report is to examine the consistency and reliability of the activity history data collected in the FACS. Using data from the first five waves of the FACS and from the first thirteen waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) as a comparison survey, carefully matched samples have been analysed to calibrate the completeness and consistency of the activity history data collected in the FACS and to test whether the FACS generates labour market statistics similar to the comparison survey.