Digital filter implementation over FPGA platform with LINUX OS

AbstractThe embedded processors on FPGA's are a good tool to specific propose works. In this work we present how the FPGA is used to apply a Sobel filter to a set of images, also the step needed to set-up the entire system is described. An embedded processor, with a Linux distribution implemented is used to run a special compilation of C filter program, the filter is compared with the results obtained with a PC running the same filter, in the embedded system all the process runs in the FPGA and the exit file can be accessed by ftp or http server embedded into the Linux system

Diversity of vegetable landraces in the Pampa biome of Brazil and Uruguay: utilization and conservation strategies.

The historical meeting between originally American people, European colonizers, and slaved peoples from Africa in the biome Pampa in South Brazil and Uruguay involved a cultural syncretism and a great genetic diversity of landraces of cultivated species. Genetic richness evolved by selection and cultural processes in response to different environments, cultural backgrounds, and needs. This review summarized the knowledge on vegetable and maize landraces in South Brazilian and Uruguayan Pampa biome, to design a strategy towards the rediscovery, conservation, and sustainable use. Landraces diversity maintained in situ and ex situ is described, specific case studies are presented, and the main problems and tools towards landraces re-valorization are discussed. We show that traditional family farming systems maintain diverse vegetable species, mainly squashes (Cucurbita spp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), beans (Phaseolus spp.), onion (Allium cepa), peppers (Capsicum spp.), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), next to leafy vegetables and maize, among others. We propose the priority of systematic surveys as a basis for monitoring genetic erosion, increasing complementariness between in situ and ex situ conservation, and implementing sustainable conservation and utilization. The case studies highlight genetic diversity within each cultivated species, with different crop physiological responses; disease resistances, different quality traits and associated uses, from animal feeding in maize to a range of culinary uses linked to traditional culture in maize and vegetable species, and ornamental uses of specific Capsicum and Cucurbita. Some landraces were the basis for breeding, where improved cultivars allowed the competitiveness of landrace germplasm in the markets. Renewed industrialized products allowed the competitive and sustainable use of Capsicum landraces in Brazilian farmers communities. Strategies towards in situ conservation improvements and valorization are discussed; emphasizing the role played by agroecology, community seed banks and custodian farmers, participatory plant breeding, promotion of landraces specialties among consumers, and the need of research and capacity building, among others. Farmers’ participation in the decisions is a key factor, along with the academia and the public sector. Landraces and associated knowledge are treasures to be used to benefit from farmers to consumers, directing the course of agriculture towards sustainable directions.Sec. Crop and Product Physiology. Published: 10 November 2023

Productive response of lambs fed with fresh or dehydrated spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L.)

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) supplementation on lamb animal performance, during a 11-week period. For this purpose, 27 male lambs of commercial crossbreeds were used, with initial live weight mean of 21.4±3.8 kg. They were distributed homogeneously into three groups of nine each, and then randomly assigned to each of the following treatments: (T1) control diet, (2) diet with 17% (dry matter basis) of dehydrated cactus, and (3) diet with 17% (dry matter basis) of fresh cactus. Digestibility in situ of the diet, dry matter intake (DMI), daily gain weight (DGW), feeding conversion (FC) and efficiency (FE), back fat, hot and cold carcass yield, biological hot and cold carcass yield, and carcass pH at slaughtering and 24h post mortem, were evaluated. A completely random design using Proc GLM was used, and when statistical differences were observed, a mean comparison was done using the Tukey test. There were significant differences (P≤0.001) on DM digestibility, with higher value (42.0%) on the control diet during the first 6 hours of incubation, but after 48 hours, the highest digestibility (88.6%) was on the fresh cactus diet. There were not significant differences (P>0.05) between treatments on animal performance, except on back fat, being higher (P<0.001) on dehydrated (4.1 mm) and fresh (3.3 mm) diets, compared to the control one (7.8 mm). The means for hot and cold carcass yield, biological hot and cold carcass yield, and carcass pH at slaughtering and 24h post mortem were 50.6%, 47.0%, 55.4%, 49.5%, 6.6% and 5.8%, respectively. Diet including cactus had similar effect on productive parameters than that of the commercial one, which makes it a viable feeding strategy, and from the economical point of view, could be attractive to the farmer, since the cactus is a plant that grows over the year. However, there is a need of doing more research to confirm these results, not only on fattening lambs, but also on the different animal life stages, considering different levels of cactus, and working on different animal breed and species

Disease networks identify specific conditions and pleiotropy influencing multimorbidity in the general population

Multimorbidity is an emerging topic in public health policy because of its increasing prevalence and socio-economic impact. However, the age- and gender-dependent trends of disease associations at fine resolution, and the underlying genetic factors, remain incompletely understood. Here, by analyzing disease networks from electronic medical records of primary health care, we identify key conditions and shared genetic factors influencing multimorbidity. Three types of diseases are outlined: "central", which include chronic and non-chronic conditions, have higher cumulative risks of disease associations; "community roots" have lower cumulative risks, but inform on continuing clustered disease associations with age; and "seeds of bursts", which most are chronic, reveal outbreaks of disease associations leading to multimorbidity. The diseases with a major impact on multimorbidity are caused by genes that occupy central positions in the network of human disease genes. Alteration of lipid metabolism connects breast cancer, diabetic neuropathy and nutritional anemia. Evaluation of key disease associations by a genome-wide association study identifies shared genetic factors and further supports causal commonalities between nervous system diseases and nutritional anemias. This study also reveals many shared genetic signals with other diseases. Collectively, our results depict novel population-based multimorbidity patterns, identify key diseases within them, and highlight pleiotropy influencing multimorbidity

International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: meal frequency

Position Statement: Admittedly, research to date examining the physiological effects of meal frequency in humans is somewhat limited. More specifically, data that has specifically examined the impact of meal frequency on body composition, training adaptations, and performance in physically active individuals and athletes is scant. Until more research is available in the physically active and athletic populations, definitive conclusions cannot be made. However, within the confines of the current scientific literature, we assert that:1. Increasing meal frequency does not appear to favorably change body composition in sedentary populations.2. If protein levels are adequate, increasing meal frequency during periods of hypoenergetic dieting may preserve lean body mass in athletic populations.3. Increased meal frequency appears to have a positive effect on various blood markers of health, particularly LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and insulin.4. Increased meal frequency does not appear to significantly enhance diet induced thermogenesis, total energy expenditure or resting metabolic rate.5. Increasing meal frequency appears to help decrease hunger and improve appetite control.The following literature review has been prepared by the authors in support of the aforementioned position statement

Prolonged institutional rearing is associated with atypically large amygdala volume and difficulties in emotion regulation

Early adversity, for example poor caregiving, can have profound effects on emotional development. Orphanage rearing, even in the best circumstances, lies outside of the bounds of a species-typical caregiving environment. The long-term effects of this early adversity on the neurobiological development associated with socio-emotional behaviors are not well understood. Seventy-eight children, who include those who have experienced orphanage care and a comparison group, were assessed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure volumes of whole brain and limbic structures (e.g. amygdala, hippocampus). Emotion regulation was assessed with an emotional go-nogo paradigm, and anxiety and internalizing behaviors were assessed using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, the Child Behavior Checklist, and a structured clinical interview. Late adoption was associated with larger corrected amygdala volumes, poorer emotion regulation, and increased anxiety. Although more than 50% of the children who experienced orphanage rearing met criteria for a psychiatric disorder, with a third having an anxiety disorder, the group differences observed in amygdala volume were not driven by the presence of an anxiety disorder. The findings are consistent with previous reports describing negative effects of prolonged orphanage care on emotional behavior and with animal models that show long-term changes in the amygdala and emotional behavior following early postnatal stress. These changes in limbic circuitry may underlie residual emotional and social problems experienced by children who have been internationally adopted

An Overview of the 2014 ALMA Long Baseline Campaign

A major goal of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is to make accurate images with resolutions of tens of milliarcseconds, which at submillimeter (submm) wavelengths requires baselines up to ~15 km. To develop and test this capability, a Long Baseline Campaign (LBC) was carried out from September to late November 2014, culminating in end-to-end observations, calibrations, and imaging of selected Science Verification (SV) targets. This paper presents an overview of the campaign and its main results, including an investigation of the short-term coherence properties and systematic phase errors over the long baselines at the ALMA site, a summary of the SV targets and observations, and recommendations for science observing strategies at long baselines. Deep ALMA images of the quasar 3C138 at 97 and 241 GHz are also compared to VLA 43 GHz results, demonstrating an agreement at a level of a few percent. As a result of the extensive program of LBC testing, the highly successful SV imaging at long baselines achieved angular resolutions as fine as 19 mas at ~350 GHz. Observing with ALMA on baselines of up to 15 km is now possible, and opens up new parameter space for submm astronomy.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters; this version with small changes to affiliation

Enhanced oxidative stress by alcohol use in HIV+ patients: possible involvement of cytochrome P450 2E1 and antioxidant enzymes

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is prevalent amongst HIV positive population. Importantly, chronic alcohol use is reported to exacerbate HIV pathogenesis. Although alcohol is known to increase oxidative stress, especially in the liver, there is no clinical evidence that alcohol increases oxidative stress in HIV positive patients. The mechanism by which alcohol increases oxidative stress in HIV positive patients is also unknown. METHODS: To examine the effects of alcohol use on oxidative stress we recruited HIV+ patients who reported mild-to-moderate alcohol use. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to reduce the effect of other therapeutic drugs metabolized via the hepatic system as well as the effect of co-morbidities such as active tuberculosis on the interaction between alcohol and HIV infection, respectively. Blood samples were collected from HIV-negative alcohol-users and HIV positive alcohol-users followed by collection of plasma and isolation and fractionation of monocytes from peripheral blood. We then determined oxidative DNA damage, glutathione level, alcohol level, transcriptional level of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and several antioxidant enzymes, and plasma level of cytokines. RESULTS: Compared to HIV-negative alcohol users, HIV-positive alcohol users demonstrated an increase in oxidative DNA damage in both plasma and CD14+ monocytes, as well as, a relative increase in oxidized/reduced glutathione (GSSG/GSH) in plasma samples. These results suggest an increase in oxidative stress in HIV-positive alcohol users compared with HIV-negative alcohol users. We also examined whether alcohol metabolism, perhaps by CYP2E1, and antioxidant enzymes are involved in alcohol-mediated increased oxidative stress in HIV-positive patients. The results showed a lower plasma alcohol level, which was associated with an increased level of CYP2E1 mRNA in monocytes, in HIV-positive alcohol users compared with HIV-negative alcohol users. Furthermore, the transcription of major antioxidants enzymes (catalase, SOD1, SOD2, GSTK1), and their transcription factor, Nrf2, were reduced in monocytes obtained from HIV positive alcohol users compared to the HIV-negative alcohol user group. However, no significant change in levels of five major cytokines/chemokines were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggests that alcohol increases oxidative stress in HIV+ patients, perhaps through CYP2E1- and antioxidant enzymes-mediated pathways. The enhanced oxidative stress is accompanied by a failure of cellular antioxidant mechanisms to maintain redox homeostasis. Overall, the enhanced oxidative stress in monocytes may exacerbate HIV pathogenesis in HIV positive alcohol users