CASAnova: A multiclass support vector machine model for the classification of human sperm motility patterns

The ability to accurately monitor alterations in sperm motility is paramount to understanding multiple genetic and biochemical perturbations impacting normal fertilization. Computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) of human sperm typically reports motile percentage and kinematic parameters at the population level, and uses kinematic gating methods to identify subpopulations such as progressive or hyperactivated sperm. The goal of this study was to develop an automated method that classifies all patterns of human spermmotility during in vitro capacitation following the removal of seminal plasma. We visually classified CASA tracks of 2817 sperm from 18 individuals and used a support vector machine-based decision tree to compute four hyperplanes that separate five classes based on their kinematic parameters.We then developed a web-based program, CASAnova, which applies these equations sequentially to assign a single classification to each motile sperm. Vigorous sperm are classified as progressive, intermediate, or hyperactivated, and nonvigorous sperm as slow or weakly motile. This program correctly classifies sperm motility into one of five classes with an overall accuracy of 89.9%. Application of CASAnova to capacitating sperm populations showed a shift from predominantly linear patterns of motility at initial time points to more vigorous patterns, including hyperactivated motility, as capacitation proceeds. Both intermediate and hyperactivated motility patterns were largely eliminated when sperm were incubated in noncapacitating medium, demonstrating the sensitivity of this method. The five CASAnova classifications are distinctive and reflect kinetic parameters of washed human sperm, providing an accurate, quantitative, and high-throughput method for monitoring alterations in motility

Accretion, Outflows, and Winds of Magnetized Stars

Many types of stars have strong magnetic fields that can dynamically influence the flow of circumstellar matter. In stars with accretion disks, the stellar magnetic field can truncate the inner disk and determine the paths that matter can take to flow onto the star. These paths are different in stars with different magnetospheres and periods of rotation. External field lines of the magnetosphere may inflate and produce favorable conditions for outflows from the disk-magnetosphere boundary. Outflows can be particularly strong in the propeller regime, wherein a star rotates more rapidly than the inner disk. Outflows may also form at the disk-magnetosphere boundary of slowly rotating stars, if the magnetosphere is compressed by the accreting matter. In isolated, strongly magnetized stars, the magnetic field can influence formation and/or propagation of stellar wind outflows. Winds from low-mass, solar-type stars may be either thermally or magnetically driven, while winds from massive, luminous O and B type stars are radiatively driven. In all of these cases, the magnetic field influences matter flow from the stars and determines many observational properties. In this chapter we review recent studies of accretion, outflows, and winds of magnetized stars with a focus on three main topics: (1) accretion onto magnetized stars; (2) outflows from the disk-magnetosphere boundary; and (3) winds from isolated massive magnetized stars. We show results obtained from global magnetohydrodynamic simulations and, in a number of cases compare global simulations with observations.Comment: 60 pages, 44 figure

Saberes docentes e formação de professores: um breve panorama da pesquisa brasileira Teacher's knowledge and teacher's education: a panorama of Brazilian research

As pesquisas sobre formação e profissão docentes apontam para uma revisão da compreensão da prática pedagógica do professor, que é tomado como mobilizador de saberes profissionais. Considera-se assim que este, em sua trajetória, constrói e reconstrói seus conhecimentos conforme a necessidade de sua utilização, suas experiências, seus percursos formativos e profissionais etc. O objetivo deste texto é apresentar uma análise de como e quando a questão dos saberes docentes aparece nas pesquisas sobre formação de professores na literatura educacional brasileira, identificando as diferentes referências e abordagens teórico-metodológicas que os fundamentam, os enfoques e tipologias utilizadas e criadas por pesquisadores brasileiros. Acredita-se que a investigação dessa temática possibilitará identificar um percurso de pesquisa desenvolvido com características próprias, mas em compasso com uma tendência internacional no âmbito das pesquisas sobre o ensino e sobre os docentes.<br>The researches about teacher's education and profession point to a comprehension's revision of pedagogical practice of the teacher who is consider as a professional knowledge mobilizer. It consider so, that this, in your trajectory, build and rebuild your knowledge as according to the necessity of your utilization, your experiences, your professional and formative routes, etc. The objective of this text is present analysis of how and when the question of teachers knowledge appears on researches about teacher's education in the brazilian educational literature, identifying the different references and theoretical-methodological approaches that justify them, the focus and typology utilized and created by brazilian researchers. It believes that the investigations of this thematic will allow identify a way of research developed with own characteristics, but in time with a international tendency in the scope of researches about teaching and about teachers

Oxytocin: Coevolution of human and domesticated animals

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) and its homologues are produced in specialized neurons located in Vertebrates exclusively in a deep and evolutionarily old part of the forebrain, the hypothalamus. The axons of OT neurons form the classical hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal tract terminating on blood vessels of the neurohypothysis to release OT into the systemic blood circulation. However, as was recently demonstrated in mammals, collaterals of OT axons concomitantly project to various forebrain regions to modulate the activity of local networks. At the behavioral level, OT facilitates intraspecific social contacts in mammals via various mechanisms ranging from the suppression of neuroendocrine stress responses to the direct OT action on neurons of socially relevant brain regions. Recent reports indicated possible contribution of OT to the formation of the social bond between domesticated mammals (dog, sheep, cattle) and humans. Indeed, social interaction between humans and a domesticated animal resulted in the elevation of peripheral OT levels (in blood, saliva or urine) and, in congruence, exogenous (intranasal) OT application led to more frequent contacts between the owner and the domesticated animal. It has been known for decades that domesticated animals exhibit profound socio-communicative abilities accompanied by suppressed aggression and stress responsiveness. These peculiarities of their behavior and physiology may be influenced by the activity of the central OT system. Therefore, in the present mini-review we focus on the role of OT in the orchestration of distinct forms of social behavior, including the monogamous bond, maternal care, social memory and recognition, aggression, and anxiety. As a conclusion, we propose possible directions for exploration of the OT contribution to empathy between humans and domesticated animals, which was likely established in the course of their co-evolution during last 10.000– 15.000 years