The Kumaraswamy-G Poisson Family of Distributions

For any baseline continuous G distribution, we propose a new generalized family called the Kumaraswamy-G Poisson (denoted with the prefix “Kw-GP”) with three extra positive parameters. Some special distributions in the new family such as the Kw-Weibull Poisson, Kw-gamma Poisson and Kw-beta Poisson distributions are introduced. We derive some mathematical properties of the new family including the ordinary moments, generating function and order statistics. The method of maximum likelihood is used to fit the distributions in the new family. We illustrate its potentiality by means of an application to a real data set

BioCode gold-nanobeacon for the detection of fusion transcripts causing chronic myeloid leukemia

This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Ministry of Science and Education (FCT/MEC) [PTDC/QUI-QUI/112597/2009; PTDC/BBB-NAN/1812/2012; CIGMH (PEST-OE/SAU/UI0009/2011); SFRH/BD/87836/2012 to M.C. and SFRH/BPD/88322/2012 to L.G.]; and by Unidade de Ciencias Biomoleculares Aplicadas-UCIBIO [(UID/Multi/04378/2013) and co-financed by the ERDF under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007728)].BACKGROUND: Gold-nanobeacons (Au-nanobeacons) have proven to be versatile systems for molecular diagnostics and therapeutic actuators. Here, we present the development and characterization of two gold nanobeacons combined with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based spectral codification for dual mode sequence discrimination. This is the combination of two powerful technologies onto a single nanosystem. RESULTS: We proved this concept to detect the most common fusion sequences associated with the development of chronic myeloid leukemia, e13a2 and e14a2. The detection is based on spectral shift of the donor signal to the acceptor, which allows for corroboration of the hybridization event. The Au-nanobeacon acts as scaffold for detection of the target in a homogenous format whose output capability (i.e. additional layer of information) is potentiated via the spectral codification strategy. CONCLUSIONS: The spectral coded Au-nanobeacons permit the detection of each of the pathogenic fusion sequences, with high specificity towards partial complementary sequences. The proposed BioCode Au-nanobeacon concept provides for a nanoplatform for molecular recognition suitable for cancer diagnostics.publishersversionpublishe

On the thickness of the double layer in ionic liquids

In this study, we examined the thickness of the electrical double layer (EDL) in ionic liquids using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We focused on the BF4- anion adsorption from 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMImBF4) ionic liquid on the Au(111) surface. At both DFT and MD levels, we evaluated the capacitance-potential dependence for the Helmholtz model of the interface. Using MD simulations, we also explored a more realistic, multilayer EDL model accounting for the ion layering. Concurrent analysis of the DFT and MD results provides a ground for thinking whether the electrical double layer in ionic liquids is one- or multi-ionic-layer thick

A new extended mixture normal distribution

The normal distribution is the most important model in statistics for analysis of continuous data. We propose a new distribution, called the extended mixture normal distribution, based on a linear mixture model. We obtain explicit expressions for the ordinary and incomplete moments, generating and quantile functions, mean deviations and two measures of entropy. The maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods are used to estimate the model parameters. We prove empirically that the new distribution can be a better model than the normal and other classical distributions by means of an application to real data

Índice multiefeitos e estimativas de parâmetros genéticos em aceroleira.

A seleção pelo Índice Multiefeitos baseia-se em um sistema que considera, simultaneamente, o comportamento do indivíduo e sua família, bem como o efeito da parcela em que o indivíduo foi plantado. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo estimar os parâmetros genéticos em uma população de aceroleira e comparar os ganhos genéticos obtidos por meio de seis métodos de seleção. O experimento foi instalado sob delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados com 62 progênies, três repetições e quatro plantas por parcelas. A altura da planta e o diâmetro do caule foram avaliados no primeiro, segundo e terceiro ano de idade das plantas; diâmetro da copa, avaliado no segundo e terceiro ano; e a produção total de frutos, avaliada no período de um ano, por meio de colheitas semanais. Os parâmetros genéticos populacionais estimados indicaram condições favoráveis à seleção, tendo em vista o fato de as herdabilidades serem de moderadas magnitudes. A seleção baseada no Índice Multiefeitos foi eficiente, pois fornece maior ganho genético e alta acurácia, em relação à seleção entre e dentro de progênies, seleção de genitores com base no comportamento da progênie e seleção individua

Bioprospecção de bactérias isoladas de milho para promoção de crescimento de plantas.

Isolados bacterianos associados a raízes de milho identificados por sequenciamento parcial do gene 16S RNAr foram avaliados em testes de promoção de crescimento vegetal. Também foram conduzidos testes in vitro para a capacidade de produção de sideróforos, solubilização de fosfato, produção de AIA, FBN e produção de enzimas líticas. Cinco isolados apresentaram resultados promissores na caracterização enzimática e nos testes de atividade promotora de crescimento e, portanto, poderão ser avaliados in vivo quanto a parâmetros de crescimento vegetal em ensaios em casa de vegetação

Verification of Magnitude and Phase Responses in Fixed-Point Digital Filters

In the digital signal processing (DSP) area, one of the most important tasks is digital filter design. Currently, this procedure is performed with the aid of computational tools, which generally assume filter coefficients represented with floating-point arithmetic. Nonetheless, during the implementation phase, which is often done in digital signal processors or field programmable gate arrays, the representation of the obtained coefficients can be carried out through integer or fixed-point arithmetic, which often results in unexpected behavior or even unstable filters. The present work addresses this issue and proposes a verification methodology based on the digital-system verifier (DSVerifier), with the goal of checking fixed-point digital filters w.r.t. implementation aspects. In particular, DSVerifier checks whether the number of bits used in coefficient representation will result in a filter with the same features specified during the design phase. Experimental results show that errors regarding frequency response and overflow are likely to be identified with the proposed methodology, which thus improves overall system's reliability