Hybrid Model For Word Prediction Using Naive Bayes and Latent Information

Historically, the Natural Language Processing area has been given too much attention by many researchers. One of the main motivation beyond this interest is related to the word prediction problem, which states that given a set words in a sentence, one can recommend the next word. In literature, this problem is solved by methods based on syntactic or semantic analysis. Solely, each of these analysis cannot achieve practical results for end-user applications. For instance, the Latent Semantic Analysis can handle semantic features of text, but cannot suggest words considering syntactical rules. On the other hand, there are models that treat both methods together and achieve state-of-the-art results, e.g. Deep Learning. These models can demand high computational effort, which can make the model infeasible for certain types of applications. With the advance of the technology and mathematical models, it is possible to develop faster systems with more accuracy. This work proposes a hybrid word suggestion model, based on Naive Bayes and Latent Semantic Analysis, considering neighbouring words around unfilled gaps. Results show that this model could achieve 44.2% of accuracy in the MSR Sentence Completion Challenge

Dynamic gastrointestinal system as a tool to evaluate the behaviour of carbohydrates after ingestion: from macro to nano scale

GLUPOR 12 - 12nd International Meeting of the Portuguese Carbohydrate Chemistry GroupIn the recent years, much effort has been dedicated to the development of in vitro gastrointestinal systems that closely mimic the physiological processes occurring during human digestion , i.e ., systems that provide accurate results in short time , serving as a tool for rapid screening of foods or delivery systems with different compositions and structures [1] . Static gastrointestinal systems are extensively used , however , most of the times , their simplified gastrointestinal conditions do not accurately simulate the complex physicochemical and physiological processes that occur within the human gastrointestinal tract. A dynamic gastrointestinal system , composed of stomach, duodenum, jejunum and ileum and that simulates the main events that occur during human digestion has been used by our group to evaluate the behaviour of food structures (from macro to nano scale ) under digestion . This dynamic gastrointestinal system can be used for example to predict the glycemic index of food (e .g ., rice) , predicting the blood glucose response after their ingestion and allowing the se lection of the appropriate diet for people that suffer from glucose intol erance. Also , the knowledge of the behaviour of nanostructures (e .g ., carbohydrate- based nanostructures) as well as the fate of the bioactive compounds encapsulated within them in the gastrointestinal tract is of utmost importance for optimizing the bioactivity of encapsulated compounds and to ensure that these structures are safe for human consumption . In fact, the development of novel delivery systems for food applications through the use of nanotechnology has been extensive ly explored [2] . Although the encapsulation of bioactive compounds in bio-based nanostructures have been reported as promising mean of protecting the valuable bioactive compounds and providing new functiona li ties (e.g. increase of bioavailab ility ), the use of very small particle sizes may alter the biological fate of the ingested materials and bioactive compounds , wh i ch could potentially have adverse effects on human health [3]Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for her fellowship (SFRH/BPD/1011811/2014). This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the Project PTDC/AGR-TEC/52151/2014 and of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/044691/2013 unit, and COMPETE 2020 (POCl-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 -Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors would also like to thank the investement project n° 017931, co-funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through Programa Operacional Competitividade e lnternacionalização (COMPETE 2020)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploring the potential of primary sludges from paper mills for the production of value-added compounds

Background & Objectives: Industrial residues are emerging as low-cost alternatives to typical lignocellulosic materials, usually more expensive and hard to process, being currently the center of an urgent transition into a greener economy. One possible example are the primary sludges abundantly produced by paper mills, typically burned for heat generation. This work aimed to assess the potential of primary sludges to enzymatically produce monomer sugars that can be later converted into different compounds. Methods: Pressed sludges from the primary treatment of effluents from a paper mill were provided by RAIZ (Aveiro, Portugal). These were subjected to a chemical treatment to remove a high content of calcium carbonate, allowing to concentrate their cellulosic fraction. This treated material was hydrolyzed using a commercial cocktail of cellulases (Cellic Ctec 2) at 500C under different solids loadings and feeding regimes. The hydrolysis performance was evaluated from the levels of glucose released over time, quantified by HPLC. Results: Initial compositional analysis of the primary sludges determined a rather modest cellulose content, around 30 %. Different neutralization processes were tested to remove the high content of carbonates, the best option allowing to concentrate cellulose fraction to 58 %. The neutralized solid was then tested for its hydrolysis susceptibility. A saccharification efficiency of 92 % was achieved in 140 h of a batch hydrolyses with 9 % solids. When superior solid loadings were employed, specifically 15 and 17.5 %, the saccharification efficiency slightly decreased to 90 and 87 %, respectively, still representing very interesting levels. For the 17.5 % suspension, a maximum of 102 g/L of glucose was obtained, which already represents an attractive level of glucose that can be further converted into a variety of compounds. Using an alternative strategy comprising a batch process (12.5 % solids) combined with multiple pulses of 2 % solid resulted in a slight reduction of the saccharification yield (82 %) but a 35 % reduction on enzymes consumption. Conclusions: Primary sludges from paper mills are an interesting raw-material to produce several added-value compounds, relying on a sugar-rich and easy-to-process material. This can also represent a new and more attractive valorization route for this residue, representing an important economic gain for paper manufacturing sector.This work had the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the scope of Project EcoTech (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032206). The authors also acknowledge RAIZ for providing the primary sludges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unravelling the behavior of nanostructures during digestion and absorption

The food industry is increasingly focused on preventing nutrition-related diseases and improving consumers’ wellbeing. As a result, there is a growing trend towards healthy foods, enriched with bioactive compounds (such as vitamins, probiotics, bioactive peptides and antioxidants) produced through the application of innovative and safe technologies. In this context, the development of novel delivery systems for food applications through the use of nanotechnology has been extensively explored [1]. In fact, the encapsulation of bioactive compounds in bio-based nanostructures have been reported as promising mean of protecting the valuable bioactive compounds and providing new functionalities (e.g. increase of bioavailability). However, the use of very small particle sizes may alter the biological fate of the ingested materials and bioactive compounds, which could potentially have adverse effects on human health [2]. Therefore, the emerging field of nanotechnology offers new challenges to food industry not only by offering novel tools to improve food quality and human health, but also by introducing questions about nanostructures’ behaviour within the human body. The challenges that must be overcome before nanotechnology can be entirely embraced by food industry, includes the optimisation of nanostructures’ formulations to increase stability and bioactive compounds’ bio availability and the risk assessment of their use in food. The understanding of the behaviour of different nano-based delivery systems (e.g. nanoemulsions, nanoparticles) under digestion conditions, assessing their efficiency and safety is therefore of utmost importance to enable its widespread application in the food industry. This evaluation can be challenging, however, there are opportunities to take advantage from the lessons learned from pharmaceutical industry and of the considerable progress in the development of more realistic in vitro models to more accurately predict the behaviour of bio-based nanostructures once ingestedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Control of zootechnology leads to improved Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, L.) reproduction performance up to pre-industrial levels

Cephalopods are gaining momentum as an alternate group for aquaculture species diversification, not only because they are a good food source (highly appreciated in some worldwide markets) but they also have the potential to quickly reach a market size. However, there are some bottlenecks impeding the transition of culture technology from the laboratory to industry. One is related to control over reproduction in captivity. The objective of the present experiment was to verify the effects of tanks with different bottom areas/volumes on the reproduction performance of S. officinalis breeding stocks, when sex ratios were controlled a priori; and the food cost associated with such performance when individuals are fed a natural frozen diet. One hundred and ninety two juvenile cuttlefish were used to compare three different round-shaped tanks: one type with 3000L volume and two types with 9000L volume (with differences in bottom areas and water column). Individuals had their sex and maturity stage determined to establish a sexual ratio of 2 female:1 male per tank and assure that cuttlefish were still immature. Biological data was collected during both growth and reproduction stages and until the death of all females in each tank. The experiment lasted nearly 300 days. Temperature differences between tank types were registered during both stages. The optimizing of rearing conditions has allowed for higher growth and a higher amount of cuttlefish available for breeding purposes. A total of 123,751 eggs (in 85 batches) was obtained during this experiment, which is a number that may meet a small scale cuttlefish commercial hatchery facility requirements. The present conditions contributed to a better and predictable reproduction performance in specific 9000L tanks, with values reaching pre-industrial numbers (approximate to 24,000 eggs/tank). Moreover, both the amount of eggs per batch and the overall quality of eggs has increased. Three of these 9000L tanks have an overall consumption of approximate to 38.64 Kg tank(-1), which translates in an investment in feed of approximate to 193 (sic) tank(-1), 8.40 (sic) per cuttlefish and an overall daily tank expense of 1.76 (sic) d(-1).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of alternative alkali pretreatment for oat straw saccharification and fermentation

ECO-BIO 2016Introduction: Lignocellulosic biofuels production requires the sustainable pretreatment for its processing. Lime pretreatment is considered an alternative alkali pretreatment, easily to recover and inexpensive that allows to operate under milder conditions of temperature and pressure. The aim of this work was the evaluation of lime pretreatment for bioethanol production from oat straw. Methods: Oat straw was subjected to lime pretreatment at liquid to solid ratio of 10 g/g. The following operational conditions of lime pretreatment were evaluated: temperature (in the range 90-134 ºC), time (30-120 min) and Ca(OH)2/g (01-04 g/g). The pretreated oat straw was recovered by filtration, washed until pH=7 and analysed for chemical composition. The enzymatic susceptibility of lime pretreated solids was evaluated under favourable conditions of solid and enzymes loadings (25 g/g and 25 FPU of CellicTec2/g). Selected condition of lime pretreatment (134 ºC, 30 min and 0.1 g of Ca(OH)2/g of oat straw) was used for the bioethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (14 % of solids and 20 FPU/g) using an industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae PE-2 strain and its metabolic engineered version (MEC1133) for xylose consumption. Results and Discussion: Under selected conditions (134 ºC for 30 min and a Ca(OH)2 load of 0.1g/g) 96 % of glucan and 77 % of xylan were recovered and 42 % of delignification was achieved. Moreover, the lime pretreatment allowed enhancing the enzymatic saccharification achieving 75 % of glucan to glucose conversion and 100 % of xylan to xylose conversion. The use of MEC1133 strain increased a 20 % of ethanol concentration comparing to PE-2 obtaining 41 and 34 g/L of ethanol, respectively. This work provides a suitable process for the fractionation of oat straw. Lime pretreatment yields a pretreated raw material with high polysaccharide content susceptible to be efficiently converted into ethanol.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neuromuscular Jumping Performance and Upper-Body Horizontal Power of Volleyball Players

Gonçalves, CA, Lopes, TJD, Nunes, C, Marinho, DA, and Neiva, HP. Neuromuscular jumping performance and upper-body horizontal power of volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2019-The aim of the current study was to characterize the neuromuscular jumping performance and upper-body horizontal power of elite and subelite volleyball players. In addition, those neuromuscular performances were compared between field positions. One hundred twenty-two male volleyball players participated in the study: 83 elite players (mean ± SD: 24.11 ± 5.57 years) and 39 subelite players (25.38 ± 6.19 years). They were divided according to their playing position: setters (n = 22), opposite hitters (n = 16), middle hitters (n = 30), right-side hitters (n = 38), and liberos (n = 16). Each participant randomly performed 3 repetitions of medicine ball throwing (MBT), countermovement jump (CMJ), CMJ with free arms (CMJFA), and spike jump (SPJ). The results showed no significant differences between positions in the analyzed variables. However, there were differences between elite and subelite in the CMJ (p = 0.000, ηp = 0.12), the CMJFA (p = 0.000, ηp = 0.15), the SPJ (p = 0.000, ηp = 0.21), and MBT (p = 0.001, ηp = 0.09), showing a tendency for increased jumping performance and upper-body horizontal power for elite players. The elite opposite hitters and right-side hitters recorded greater CMJ performances (d = 1.20 and d = 1.62, respectively). The right-side hitters were the only group that showed greater horizontal upper-body muscular power (p = 0.000, d = 1.50). It is suggested that jumping performance is a determining factor for higher-level players, which was more relevant for the opposite hitters and right-side hitters. Nevertheless, the movement pattern of MBT seems to be relevant for the right-side hitters. Coaches should seek to develop jumping ability for the improvement of volleyball performances, without disregarding upper-body performances, depending on the position-specific demands.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Ichthyofauna assemblages from two unexplored Atlantic seamounts: Northwest Bank and João Valente Bank (Cape Verde archipelago)

Underwater censuses by divers were used to study the fish assemblages from two unexplored Atlantic seamounts in the Cape Verde archipelago. Fifty three species of 27 families were recorded: 27 in Northwest Bank and 46 in João Valente Bank. Northwest Bank had dense schools, while João Valente Bank had higher species richness and smaller schools. Both seamounts were dominated mainly by coastal species directly depending on seabed habitat (Demersal or benthopelagic). Of the 53 fish species recorded, 22.6% were of continental African origin, while 9.4% and 5.7% were endemic of the Cape Verde Islands and of the Macaronesia province, respectively. Most species (64.2%) had a very wide biogeographic distribution: cosmopolitan (22.6%), amphi-Atlantic (28.3%) and Atlantic-Mediterranean (13.2%). Northwest Bank and João Valente Bank may have a permanent fish community supported by various oceanographic-topographic interactions. João Valente Bank seems more diverse, which is probably associated with algae cover and with a larger area providing additional suitable and more varied habitats. The geographic proximity to the coast and the presence of oceanic and/or oceanodromous species suggests that the upper part of these seamounts may act both as attraction points and as “stepping-stones” for the dispersal of coastal species.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Probable Person-to-Person Transmission of Legionnaires’ Disease

Correspondence to the Editor.Legionnaires’ disease is an often severe form of pneumonia that is typically acquired by susceptible persons (e.g., elderly persons and smokers) through inhalation of aerosols that contain legionella species.1-4 A cluster of cases of this disease occurred in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, in 2014