A novela “Lado a Lado” e as narrativas negras sobre o passado, o presente e o futuro do Brasil

O presente artigo tem como objetivo compreender as potenciais relações entre a telenovela “Lado a Lado” (Rede Globo, 2012) e o ano de 2012, tendo em vista a responsividade da telenovela como enunciado e considerando-a como uma obra de arte que se emprenha de sentidos em sua relação com a dimensão extra-verbal mais ampla (VOLOCHÍNOV [BAKHTIN], 2009; BAKHTIN, 2011; VOLOCHÍNOV, 2013). Assim, em se tratando de uma telenovela de época, ambientada, na maior parte da narrativa em 1910, compreendemos em que medida a trama estabelece pontes com discursos em circulação na sociedade brasileira de 2012; e, sobretudo, ao tratar o racismo e as desigualdades raciais, produz dizeres tanto sobre os prejuízos históricos atuais da população negra brasileira, como também refere-se a uma ordem social futura

Pre-processing for noise detection in gene expression classification data

Due to the imprecise nature of biological experiments, biological data is often characterized by the presence of redundant and noisy data. This may be due to errors that occurred during data collection, such as contaminations in laboratorial samples. It is the case of gene expression data, where the equipments and tools currently used frequently produce noisy biological data. Machine Learning algorithms have been successfully used in gene expression data analysis. Although many Machine Learning algorithms can deal with noise, detecting and removing noisy instances from the training data set can help the induction of the target hypothesis. This paper evaluates the use of distance-based pre-processing techniques for noise detection in gene expression data classification problems. This evaluation analyzes the effectiveness of the techniques investigated in removing noisy data, measured by the accuracy obtained by different Machine Learning classifiers over the pre-processed data.São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP)CNP

Antifungal Activity of Benzoquinones Produced by Tribolium castaneum in Maize-Associated Fungi

Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) adults produce 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ), methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (MBQ), and ethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (EBQ). These components are chemical defenses used as repellents and irritants, and BQ has a negative impact on the growth of some fungal species. In this work, the inhibitory and/or lethal effects of these benzoquinones on the development of six fungi identified inmaize, namely Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp., and Trichoderma sp., were evaluated. Ten-day-long disk diffusion trials were performed using benzoquinones. The experiments simulated the activity of BQ (B1) or “EBQ +MBQ” (B2) released by 40-day-old insect adults (n = 200), considering a total average release of 45 g per adult. Inhibition halos imposed by benzoquinones on fungal growth showed a significant effect when compared with the controls (water and solvent). Mycelial growth was decreased for all fungi, with the level of response depending on the fungal species. B1 and B2 displayed an inhibitory effect against all fungi, but Trichoderma sp. and A. niger showed rapid recoveries. B2 showed a lethal effect on Penicillium sp. The inhibitory and lethal activities of benzoquinones released by T. castaneum adults may contribute to regulate fungal growth, and understanding their interaction is important to develop innovative control strategiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Interaction between Tribolium castaneum and Mycotoxigenic Aspergillus flavus in Maize Flour

Tribolium castaneum is one of the most common insect pests of stored products. Its presence makes cereals more susceptible to the spread of the fungi Aspergillus flavus, which may produce mycotoxins. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of T. castaneum adults on the development of a mycotoxigenic A. flavus strain in maize flour as well as the influence of this fungus on the insects. Maize flour was exposed to T. castaneum, spores of A. flavus or to both. The results revealed an interaction between T. castaneum and A. flavus as the flour exposed to both organisms was totally colonized by the fungus whereas almost all the insects were killed. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) revealed a significantly higher concentration in the flour inoculated with both organisms (18.8 g/kg), being lower when exposed only to A. flavus, suggesting that the presence of insects may trigger fungal development and enhance mycotoxin production. The ability of these organisms to thrive under the same conditions and the chemical compounds they release makes the interaction between them a subject of great importance to maintain the safety of stored maize. This is the first work evaluating the interaction between T. castaneum and A. flavus mycotoxin productioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Why not "do simple things in a simple way": Use of the Pap test as the first step in screening genetic stability for human cultured stem cell therapy?

The aim of this study was to analyze adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) using the Pap test as a first screening step to evaluate genetic stability. Human adipose tissue from six healthy female donors was obtained from elective liposuction procedures. The cells were isolated, cultivated at P2/P3, characterized by flow cytometric analysis, and differentiation induced. The AT-MSCs were stained by Papanicolaou staining and analyzed according to the Bethesda classification, and viability-apoptosis relationships were evaluated. The results of the Pap test for Sample I indicated high-grade alterations consistent with genetic instability; for Samples II-V, atypical cells of undetermined significance; and for Sample VI, normal cells. These results demonstrate the potential of using the Pap test as an initial screening step to evaluate the genetic stability of cultured AT-MSCs and also suggest its use for other adherent cells such as embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells

Adaptive algorithms in accelerometer biometrics

Nowadays, many services are available from mobile devices, like smartphones. A growing number of people are using these devices to access bank accounts, social networks and to store personal information. However, common authentication mechanisms already present in these devices may not provide enough security. Recently, a new authentication method, named accelerometer biometrics, has been proposed. This method allows the identification of users using accelerometer data. Accelerometers, usually present in modern smartphones, are devices that measure acceleration forces. In accelerometer biometrics, a model is induced for the user of the smartphone. However, as a behavioral biometric technology, user models may became outdated over time. This paper investigates the use of adaptation mechanisms to update biometric user models induced by accelerometer data along the time. The paper also proposes and evaluates a new adaptation mechanism with promising experimental results.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Determinantes das expectativas e satisfação das mulheres durante o trabalho de parto, parto e pós-parto

Enquadramento: A forma como a mulher percepciona as práticas obstétricas varia em função de um amplo e diverso conjunto de factores individuais, socioculturais, e situacionais. Conhecer o que a mulher considera importante dos cuidados de saúde, o que espera, o que encontra e sente, permite-nos adequar a assistência proporcionada às necessidades da mulher, melhorando o nível de satisfação e qualidade dos cuidados prestados. Objetivos: Identificar as determinantes das expectativas e satisfação das mulheres durante o trabalho de parto, parto e pós-parto. Determinar a influência de factores sociodemográficos e obstétricos nas expectativas e satisfação da mulher no trabalho de parto, parto e pós-parto. Determinar se a percepção da mulher face às práticas obstétricas influenciam as expectativas e satisfação com o trabalho de parto, parto e pós-parto. Métodos: Estudo não-experimental, quantitativo, transversal, descritivo e correlacional com uma amostra não probabilística por conveniência (n=104). A recolha de dados efectuou-se através de um questionário constituído por uma componente sociodemográfica e história obstétrica, duas escalas: a Importância e Percepção das Práticas Obstétricas e um Questionário de Experiência e Satisfação com o Parto. Este instrumento de colheita de dados foi aplicado as puérperas do serviço de Obstetrícia/Ginecologia. Resultados: A idade das mulheres oscilou entre os 19 e os 41 anos, 80,0% são casadas e 87,5% possuem uma família nuclear, são primíparas (46,4%), têm em média 38,63 semanas de gestação. 99% vigiou a gravidez. Verificou-se que a idade (p=0,042), a escolaridade (p=0,014), o local de vigilância da gravidez (p=0,020) influenciam as expectativas e satisfação das mulheres. A Percepção da actuação perante a dor tem poder preditivo sobre as expectativas da mulher, a percepção e actuação perante a dor, importância do apoio sociofamiliar e importância da atenção ao pós-parto/alta tem poder preditivo na satisfação das mulheres. Conclusão: Conhecer as expectativas, a satisfação da mulher perante as práticas obstétricas, permite aos profissionais introduzir mudanças nas suas práticas e desenvolver estratégias na procura da excelência do cuidar. Verificou-se que quanto maior forem as expectativas mais elevada será a satisfação da mulher face aos cuidados recebidos durante o trabalho de parto e parto havendo necessidade de considerar as várias dimensões da preparação para o parto e parentalidade no plano de vigilância de gravidez. Palavras-chave: Percepção, expectativas, satisfação, práticas obstétricas.ABSTRACT Background: The way women perceive obstetric practices varies according to a broad and diverse set of individual, socio-cultural, and situational factors. Knowing what the woman considers important regarding health care, what she expects, what she comes across with and what she feels, allows us to tailor the assistance provided to women's needs, improving the level of satisfaction and the quality of the care provided. Aims: To identify the determinants of women’s expectations and satisfaction during labour, delivery and postpartum. To determine the influence that socio-demographic and obstetric factors play in women’s expectations and satisfaction during labour, delivery and postpartum. To determine whether the perception of women towards obstetric practices influence the expectations and satisfaction with labour, delivery and postpartum. Methodology: A non-experimental, quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive and correlacional study with a non-probability convenience sample (n=104). Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire consisting of a socio-demographic and obstetric history component measured in two scales: Importance and Perception of Obstetric Practice and a Questionnaire regarding Labour Experience and Satisfaction. This data collection instrument was applied to the puerperae of the Obstetrics/Gynaecology service. Results: The women's age ranged from 19 to 41 years old, 80,0% are married and 87,5% have a nuclear family, are primiparous (46,4%), have on average a gestational length of 38,63 weeks. 99% had a medically supervised pregnancy. It was found that age (p=0,042), the education level (p=0,014), the place where the pregnancy was medically supervised (p=0,020) influence women’s expectations and satisfaction. The perception of action before the pain has a predictive power on women’s expectations, the perception and performance before the pain, the importance of sociofamiliar support and need for attention concerning postpartum/discharge has a foretelling power in women's satisfaction. Conclusion: Knowing women’s expectations and satisfaction regarding obstetric practices allows professionals to make changes in their practices and develop strategies in order to achieve the excellence of care provision. It was found that the higher the women’s expectations are, the higher is their satisfaction regarding the care received during labour and delivery. Thus, it is crucial to consider the various dimensions of labour and parenthood preparation in the pregnancy surveillance plan. Keywords: Perceptions, expectations, satisfaction, obstetric practices

Informative prior distribution applied to linseed for the estimation of genetic parameters using a small sample size

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar um procedimento para elicitação de distribuição a priori informativa, comparada à distribuição a priori não informativa, em tamanho amostral reduzido, com uso de 14 caracteres de três genótipos de linhaça (Linum usitatissimum), em sete épocas de semeadura. Os valores dos hiperparâmetros regulam a informatividade da distribuição a priori; portanto, para cada época, foram calculados os hiperparâmetros a serem utilizados na próxima época. As duas distribuições a priori, não informativa e informativa, foram comparadas pelo comprimento dos intervalos de credibilidade e pela variância da distribuição a posteriori. Em geral, quando a distribuição a priori informativa é adotada, os parâmetros genéticos apresentam menor comprimento do intervalo de credibilidade e estimativas mais precisas. O mecanismo de elicitação a priori informativa com uso de informações prévias de programas de melhoramento é eficiente para estimativa de parâmetros genéticos, incluindo herdabilidade e variância genética, mesmo quando o tamanho da amostra é pequeno. Na avaliação genética, o uso da distribuição a priori informativa é melhor do que o da distribuição não informativa para tamanho amostral pequeno. Em geral, os resultados das distribuições a priori informativas indicam que os valores genéticos da primeira época de semeadura são maiores para os seguintes caracteres: comprimento do ciclo, altura da planta, e número de cápsulas não granuladas e de ramos produtivos.The objective of this work was to evaluate a procedure for the elicitation of informative prior distribution, compared with non-informative prior distribution, in a small sample size, using 14 traits of three linseed (Linum usitatissimum) genotypes in seven sowing seasons. The values of the hyperparameters regulate the informativeness of the prior distribution; therefore, for each season, the hyperparameters to be used in the next season were calculated. The two prior distributions, non-informative and informative, were compared by the length of the credible interval and variance of the posterior distribution. In general, when the informative prior distribution is adopted, the genetic parameters present a shorter length of the credible interval and more precise estimates. The mechanism for informative prior elicitation using previous information from breeding programs is efficient for the estimation of genetic parameters, including heritability and genetic variance, even when the sample size is small. In genetic evaluation, the use of informative prior distribution is better than that of non-informative distribution for a small sample size. In general, the results of the informative prior distributions are indicative that the genetic values of the first sowing season are greater for the following traits: cycle length, plant height, and number of non-grained capsules and of productive branches

Adapting noise filters for ranking

Noise filtering can be considered an important preprocessing step in the data mining process, making data more reliable for pattern extraction. An interesting aspect for increasing data understanding would be to rank the potential noisy cases, in order to evidence the most unreliable instances to be further examined. Since the majority of the filters from the literature were designed only for hard classification, distinguishing whether an example is noisy or not, in this paper we adapt the output of some state of the art noise filters for ranking the cases identified as suspicious. We also present new evaluation measures for the noise rankers designed, which take into account the ordering of the detected noisy cases.FAPESPCNP