Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and static magnetic fields on neural stem cell differentiation by transcriptomic techniques

Neural stem cells (NSCs)-based cell therapy provides promising treatment for the neurodegenerative diseases. The success of stem cell therapy relies on the efficient differentiation of transplanted stem cells into functional cells. Therefore, directed differentiation of NSCs into neurons is essential for its application in the neurodegenerative diseases. In recent years, magnetic fields and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) have shown potential in the regulation of stem cell behaviors. Here, we investigated the regulatory effects of static magnetic fields (SMFs) and the combination with SPIO on NSC differentiation by transcriptome sequencing analysis techniques. Our results found that SPIOs caused more differentially expressed genes than SMF alone. Interestingly, the number of differentially expressed genes induced by the combination was less than that of SPIO alone, which may imply that the regulation is not a simple superposition effect. Our findings provide experimental evidence for the regulation of SMF and SPIO on NSC differentiation at the transcriptomic level.
Residual levels on medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) impregnated sponges after estrus synchronization treatment in cyclic ewes

Preparou-se um conjunto de esponjas de poliuretano impregnadas com acetato de medroxiprogesterona (MAP). O nivel real do progestageno nas esponjas foi checado com anterioridade a insercao das esponjas do tratamento. Um total de 126 ovelhas Merino em periodo reprodutivo (primavera) foram tratadas com esponjas intravaginais impregnadas com MAP para sincronizacao do estro. As esponjas foram retiradas apos 14 dias de tratamento. Utilizaram-se carneiros vasectomizados para deteccao do cio. As ovelhas foram observadas para a presenca das marcas duas vezes ao dia. As ovelhas que apresentaram cio foram inseminadas artificialmente com semen fresco diluido, empregando-se uma dose de 300x106 espermatozoides totais. A inseminacao artificial foi praticada 12 horas depois da apresentacao do cio. Os niveis residuais de MAP (RMAP) nas esponjas retiradas foram medidos por espectrofotometria a 241 nM e examinados em relacao a resposta estral e a fertilidade. A dose real de MAP foi como media 54 mg. RMAP encontrados em esponjas apos o tratamento foram como media 25,00 ± 0,84 mg. A porcentagem de sincronizacao dos cios foi 92,86% e a taxa de prenhez, 50,43%. Nao foram encontradas diferencas significativas entre RMAP das ovelhas com (24,70 ± 0,86 mg) e sem (28,89 ± 3,65 mg) resposta estral (p>0,10). Tambem nao foram encontradas diferencas significativas entre RMAP das ovelhas prenhes (25,56 ± 1,25 mg) e nao-prenhes (23,83 ± 1,18 mg) (p>0,10). Conclui-se que a dose de 60 mg MAP utilizada convencionalmente para sincronizacao do estro em ovelhas e superior a quantidade utilizada pelas femeas.
USING EMOJI PICTURES TO STRENGTHEN THE IMMUNITY OF PASSWORDS AGAINST ATTACKERS

User authentication is an essential step in information security. Textual passwords are the most traditional ways used in most user authentication systems to achieve the security of information, but textual passwords are vulnerable to many types of attacks such as: dictionary attacks, shoulder surfing, and spyware. Graphical password can overcome the shortcomings of the textual passwords, but it still vulnerable to shouldersurfing attacks, takes much space in the system and sometimes user takes a long time to enter. By using Emoji-pictures, a new technique that overcomes the drawbacks of both textual and graphical passwords was presented in this paper. The proposed technique is resistant to dictionary attacks, shoulder surfing, and spyware in addition to that it doesn't take large space in the system's database and provides a safe and enjoyable session for users during entering the password.
Ideas for Improving the Digital Design Lab

In all undergraduate programs related to electrical, electronics and computer engineering, a lab course on Digital Logic design is invariably included. The experiments in this lab class require the student to build combinational and sequential circuits using TTL integrated circuits such as gates and flip-flops. Some autonomous institutions have included hardware description language tools in the syllabus. In the past two years, due to the “online” teaching that educational institutions have resorted to, access to labs became impossible. In this paper, we propose the use of high-level programming languages like C or Python to carry out design and simulation experiments. Due to reasons such as cost and the learning curve associated with them, HDL tools are hard to integrate into a digital lab. Modern FPGA, with gate capacities of millions of gates, are suited for teaching Computer Architecture, but are overkill for an introductory digital lab. Schematic capture tools with a graphical user interface are an alternate, but the existing experiments in the syllabi are rarely able to exploit their capabilities. The use of complex tool environments may be distracting and may pose impediments to the learning. We suggest the use of simpler programming tools so that the focus on design is restored. We also explain how these tools can also be used creatively to touch on topics such as design verification, validation, and testing.
Single Germanium MOSFET-Based Low Energy and Controllable Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Neuron for Spiking Neural Networks

In this work, a single transistor based on germanium (Ge) is used to construct a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron with significant improvement in energy efficiency, area efficiency, and reduction in cost. Using 2-D calibrated simulation, we validated that Ge-MOSFET LIF neuron is able to imitate the neuron behavior accurately. The Ge-MOSFET shows low breakdown voltage, high impact ionization coefficient, and sharp breakdown. All these factors are responsible for achieving low energy per spike and higher spiking current. The proposed Ge-MOSFET-based spiking LIF neuron needs only 8 pJ/spike of energy as compared to recently reported silicon-based silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFET, which needs 45 pJ/spike of energy. The use of gate voltage makes Ge-MOSFET LIF neuron firing controllable, which can improve the energy efficiency of the spiking neural network (SNN) by inducing sparse action.
Radiographic characteristics in the periapical healing post endodontic treatment in patients of the Autonomous University of Yucatan, School of Dentistry

Introduction : The radiographic control of the root canal treatment can evaluate the healing of the periapical lesions. The objective of this study was to determinate the characteristics of the radiographic healing that was observed after one year, during follow-up sessions; so, the healing of the lesions according to the periapical pathology at the beginning of the treatment and the causes of failure of the endodontic treatments were recorded. Method : This is a prospective, observational, descriptive and longitudinal study, carried out in patients who attended control one year after endodontic treatment through the Periapical Index (PAI). Results : A total of 395 teeth of patients who underwent endodontic treatment one year prior to data collection, 87 presented radiogaphically observable periapical lesions; of these, 40 (45.97%) attended the control at one year. The frequency of cases in which some degree of radiographic healing was observed one year after treatment was 97.46%. The pathology with more cases of complete healing was periodontitis with sinus tract. In general, 84.61% of the cases decreased two levels in their PAI after one year. The 100% of the cases of failure presented vertical root fractures. Conclusion : The frequency of periapical healing after endodontic treatment is high. The main cause for the failure of the treatments documented in this study was the lack of coronal restoration that caused vertical fractures.
Efficient Robust Yield Method for Preparing Bacterial Ghosts by Escherichia coli Phage ID52 Lysis Protein E

Bacterial ghosts (BGs) are nonliving empty bacterial shells without cytoplasm retaining original morphology and identical antigenicity of natural bacteria, making them high potential and promising vaccine candidates and delivery vehicles. However, the low yield of commonly used BGs preparation methods limits its mass production and widely application. In order to improve BGs production, E. coli phage ID52 lysis protein E was introduced to generating BGs for the first time. Above all, we compared the lysis activity of lysis protein of E. coli phage φX174 and E. coli phage ID52 as well as the effects of promoters on the lysis activity of ID52-E, which shown that the lysis activity and BGs formation rate of protein ID52-E was significantly higher than protein φX174-E. Further, the lysis activity of ID52-E was significantly improved under the control of L-arabinose inducible promoter which initial induction OD600 reached as high as 2.0. The applicability of lysis protein ID52-E induced by L-arabinose was proved by preparing probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917 BGs and pathogenic Salmonella typhimurium BGs in mass production. This paper introduced a novel and highly efficient method for BGs preparation depending on recombinant expression of E. coli phage ID52-E under eco-friendly and reasonable price inducer L-arabinose.
Extreme Hyperleukocytosis in an Extremely Preterm Infant

An extremely preterm male infant at 25.1 weeks gestation developed extreme hyperleukocytosis on Day of life (DOL) 3, with a peak white blood cell (WBC) count of 146.5 ×109/L on DOL 5. The patient was admitted to the NICU due to prematurity, respiratory distress, and suspected sepsis. Laboratory analyses were done to exclude sepsis with a leukemoid-like reaction, Down syndrome by karyotype, leukemia, or other myeloproliferative disorders. After a meticulous investigation and ruling out the most common causes of leukocytosis in preterm neonates, we concluded that the hyperleukocytosis in this extreme premature infant was likely caused by maternal chorioamnionitis and fetal funisitis as reported by placental pathology. We present this rare case of hyperleukocytosis in an extremely premature infant to highlight the importance of a thorough investigation, including sources of infection in the mother's history and placental pathology report, to determine the cause of hyperleukocytosis in the preterm neonates.
Design and Analysis of the Self-Biased PLL with Adaptive Calibration for Minimum of the Charge Pump Current Mismatch

A digital adaptive mismatch calibration (DAMC) circuit is proposed to decrease the output jitter of phase-locked loop (PLL). After amplifying the phase error with a linear time amplifier (TA), the DAMC adopts a successive approximation pulse width calibration method to reduce the mismatch current of the charge pump. The PLL prototype is fabricated in a 40nm process, the static phase error of the proposed PLL can be reduced from 358 ps to 10 ps at a 50 MHz reference clock approximately, and the RMS jitter of the PLL output is reduced from 4.91 ps to 3.59 ps, and the extended DAMC area only occupies 1.3% of the whole PLL area.
Sub-Inhibitory Concentrations of Amoxicillin and Tylosin Affect the Biofilm Formation and Virulence of Streptococcus suis

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) can form a protective biofilm during infection and lead to prolonged disease. Oral antibiotics are often used for treatment in clinical practice, but sub-inhibitory concentration levels often exist due to low oral absorption rate, resulting in disease deterioration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Amoxicillin and Tylosin on the biofilm formation and virulence of S. suis HA9801 at sub-inhibitory concentration. We first determined that the test groups (1/4MIC Amoxicillin and Tylosin) could significantly increase the amount of biofilm formation without affecting bacterial growth. The LD50 value of the test groups was significantly higher than that of the control group in the mouse infection model. In the mouse infection model, the LD50 value of the experimental group was significantly increased, but the tissue bacterial load was significantly decreased. Further RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of virulence-related genes in the experimental group were significantly reduced. Our study suggests that both Amoxicillin and Tylosin at sub-inhibitory concentrations could enhance the biofilm formation ability of S. suis HA9801 and reduce its virulence to form persistent infection.
Functional Transposition of After from a Diachronic Perspective

The paper aims at tracing the origin of the preposition, adverb, and conjunction after, starting with the first examples registered before 850; distinguishing the primary and transposed categories; and reconstructing the process of functional transposition in general. The analysis is undertaken on the basis of the examples, which have been manually selected from the HCET and the CLMET and have undergone the following PoS tagging, and the statistical data retrieved from the COHA and the BNC. It is proved that after emerges as the preposition and transposes into the adverb and conjunction. The preposition, which predominates throughout Old English, loses its position in favor of the adverb in the second half of the Middle English period. Later, it stabilizes the correlation, which remains more or less consistent up to now. The adverb reaches its peak in Early Modern English, then it starts rapid declension, and now its quantity is close to null. The conjunction, being neglected up to the middle of the Early Modern English period, starts its increase and is at the peak in Present-Day English. It testifies that functional transposition, which is undeservingly disregarded in linguistics, is still remaining in progress for fundamental and newly-coined lexical units.
Review of technical issues influencing the decoupling of DG converter design from the distribution system protection strategy

Several issues need to be considered in the design and control of converters for converter-interfaced distributed generators (DGs). Under fault conditions, the semiconductor devices withstand ratings must not be exceeded. The converter control strategy is also required to facilitate fault ride through (FRT) capability. On the other hand, protection against fault is better served by employing control strategies that allow the converter-interfaced DGs to contribute short duration fault current sufficient to aid the detection of faults. Semiconductor devices protection and FRT capability have the same objective of limiting the magnitude of the fault current. Protection coordination in the complex DG-integrated network is difficult and may result in protection settings that are not optimal or contribute to long relay operating times that may impact FRT support. On this basis, this study proposes the de-coupling of the protection solution from FRT and semiconductor device considerations. This study critically reviews various strategies proposed in the literature for the protection of the DG-integrated distribution system and develops an argument that aims to influence a paradigm shift towards voltage-based protection that may see protection design decoupled from inverter design and control, since fault current contribution may not be required to achieve effective protection.
Water Sustainability in the Context of Global Warming: A Bibliometric Analysis

Sustainable water use is becoming a key problem in the present time, since global warming is having a strong impact on usable water resources. This study aims to provide a systematic bibliometric analysis on water sustainability in the context of global warming, in order to provide a clearer view on the existing research trends and to find eventual gaps in research that can be exploited in the future. The selection and analysis of the most relevant papers discussing the chosen topic pointed out a strong increase in research in the last period, dominated by US scientists and research entities, with researchers focusing on either the present impact of global warning on water sustainability and its effects on water supply and ecosystem functioning, or on problem solving and creating a framework for water sustainability in the context of global warming, or on the future perspectives and potential solutions for achieving water sustainability in the future period. The study pointed out that only 6% of the article regarding water sustainability include information about global warming, with an increasing trend in the latter period in both the number of articles and citations, but the field of study seems to be incipient, with a large number of journals publishing a very low number of articles. The main drawbacks identified were the orientation of a large majority of the studies on present day problems and not on future approaches, the complete lack of studies regarding the role of preserving natural habitats or of spontaneous renaturalization, as well as the relative absence of including cultural aspects in addressing water-sustainability issues.
Hotel Recognition to Combat Human Trafficking

We built a CNN-based hotel recognition system to combat human trafficking in this paper. Hotel recognition helps combating human trafficking by predicting the precise geographic locations of victims given hotel room images posted on the criminal networks. Recognizing hotels with hotel room images is challenging because hotel rooms look similar and images are often occluded by victims of human trafficking. We heavily applied data augmentation techniques, including random erasing and automatic augmentation, to overcome these issues, and to mitigate the limited amount of data available to us. We also formulated hotel recognition as a deep metric learning task besides as an image classification task and trained the CNN with triplet loss, motivated by face recognition. Combining both formulations by multi-task training, the model achieved the best performance. We did experiments on the Hotel-ID 2022 dataset to evaluate our system both qualitatively and quantitatively, which showed that it successfully recognized hotels through hotel room images.
Differential Control Strategy based on an Equal Slip Rate for an All - wheel Electric - drive Underground Articulated Dumping Truck

A differential control strategy based on equal slip rates is introduced to improve the steering stability of an all-wheelelectric-drive underground articulated dumping truck. Steering kinematic and dynamic models of the truck are derived to describe the movement relationship and force of the driving wheels. In consideration of the difficulty of obtaining the absolute velocity for an all-wheel-drive truck, an acceleration sensor was set on a test truck, and a kalman filter was applied to obtain the actual value for the truck body. Simulation results for an equal-slip control strategy were compared with experimental results for an equal-torque control strategy. In the simulation, the four-wheel slip rate was 0.08 and the steering system of the truck was stable. The results verify that the equal-slip control strategy makes better use of the ground adhesion coefficient, is able to reasonably distribute drive power, notably reduces tire wear, and improves the use of driving power.
ECOLOGIA DE BENTOS: UMA SEMENTE NO SEDIMENTO DO LABORATÓRIO DE LIMNOLOGIA DA UFRJ

Os estudos relacionados à Ecologia de Organismos Bentônicos dedicam-se aos organismos que habitam o sedimento e substratos de fundo, consolidados ou não, de ecossistemas aquáticos continentais, tais como rios, riachos de cabeceira, lagos e reservatórios. Este artigo apresenta uma síntese sobre a importante contribuição do Prof. Francisco de Assis Esteves, do Laboratório de Limnologia da UFRJ, à formação de pessoal e à produção científica na área de Ecologia de Organismos Bentônicos no Brasil. Avaliamos os curricula vitae dos ex-alunos do Prof. Esteves, e seus orientados. Foram analisadas as bases Lattes/CNPq e Scopus, realizando avaliações qualitativas e quantitativas, respectivamente. Avaliamos a formação de pessoal desde a criação do Laboratório de Limnologia na UFRJ no final dos anos 80 e a produção científica (livros, capítulos de livros, artigos científicos publicados em revistas nacionais e internacionais), áreas de atuação, periódicos e programas de pós-graduação associados a ex-alunos do Prof. Esteves em que atualmente são realizados estudos sobre Ecologia de Organismos Bentônicos no Brasil. A contribuição científica desses estudos foi classificada em três grandes áreas: (i) Distribuição Espaço-temporal de Populações e Assembleias, e Estrutura de Comunidades Bentônicas; (ii) sua participação em Processos Ecológicos (p.ex.: Ciclagem de Nutrientes, Bioturbação e Decomposição de Matéria Orgânica, Interações Tróficas e Estequiometria Ecológica); e (iii) sua utilização como Bioindicadores de Qualidade de Água e em Índices Multimétricos de Integridade Ecológica. Identificamos as principais linhas de pesquisa desenvolvidas no período 1996-2021 e projetamos as perspectivas de novas abordagens para os próximos 20 anos, considerando o cenário político-ambiental no Brasil e na perspectiva de mudanças ambientais globais. A semente plantada no Laboratório de Limnologia da UFRJ pelo Prof. Esteves cresceu, frutificou e tem dispersado novas sementes para diferentes regiões do Brasil.
Modular LEGO brick microfluidics

Wider use and adaptation of microfluidic systems is hindered by the infrastructure, knowledge, and time required to build prototype devices, especially when multiple fluid operations and measurements are required. As a result, rapid prototyping methods based on planar and three-dimensional printing are attracting interest; however, these techniques cannot produce structures with the resolution, smoothness, and feature size needed for standard microfluidic devices. Herein I present a new approach to rapidly construct modular microfluidic systems by modification and assembly of interlocking injection-molded blocks. I demonstrate this principle using micromilling of store-bought LEGO® bricks to create surface fluidic pathways on bricks, and develop procedures for sealing and interconnecting bricks to form modular, reconfigurable microfluidic systems. Micromilling using a desktop machine achieves channel dimensions of 50 pm in depth and 150 pm in width, or greater, etched into the sidewalls of blocks. Sealing these channels with adhesive films allows internal fluid pressure of at least 400 kPa. The intrinsic tolerances of injection molded bricks and their elastically averaged connections gives mechanical locating repeatability of 1 pm, which enables fluid to pass between bricks via an O-ring with >99.9% sealing reliability. Using the LEGO-based approach, I build systems made of assembled brick units for generating droplets, sensing light, sorting with inertial and magnetic forces, and repeatably positioning a smartphone camera, and characterize their performance. Then, I fabricate and measure LEGO-like bricks made by FDM and SLA three-dimensional printing, showing that they can integrate with injection-molded bricks to add useful function, although their surface quality, resolution, and material limit performance. In addition, I adapt these components for two educational activities for high school students: a colorimetric titration device and a modular designable boat. The standard interface among all bricks enables a wide variety of brick units to be incorporated onto a common platform, making this "lab on a brick" a new and viable platform for advancing research and education in microfluidics.