Gene expression studies on bovine oocyytes and embryos subjected to various heat stress and heat shock conditions

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências Agrárias, 14 de junho de 2018, Universidade dos Açores.Increasing temperature mainly by global warming has been showing rapid environmental temperature chances, unpredictable climatic changes. Increasing temperature has been showing a greater effect on reproductive performance of lactating cows, ultimately affecting dairy economy. Ambient temperatures in subtropical zones during summers affecting cows, as the temperature level were reaching more the upper critical temperature or else above theromonetual zone. Terceira-Azores being considered a dry summer tropical climate, it is important to study the seasonal changes impact on Holstein cows in the islands. Besides this, they still lot unknown factors effecting the heat stress oocytes and embryos, as fertility is a multifactorial problem that affects physiological and cellular functions in several tissues. […]. Aims and Objectives: Increasing environmental temperatures have been showing a greater effect on the fertility of cattle, which eventually affecting global economy of dairy industry. As describe above there is an increasing global warming effect in temperate zone, and subtropical regions , Terceira-Azores (situated in the North Atlantic Ocean: 38° 43' N 27° 12' W) being a dry summer subtropical climate presumed having similar effect. To determine this climatic / Heat stress effect and to study the molecular mechanism involved in reproductive performance of cows following objectives were performed. Objectives Chapter 2: The major objective of this study to evaluate reproductive performances of all day grazing Holstein cows in a warm temperature region of Azores, in relation to environmental stress, but also to determine the in vitro development of oocytes and embryos during cold and warmer months. Apart from this effect of heat shock under different temperatures during in vitro maturation (IVM) of bovine oocytes and further embryonic development after IVF was also evaluated. Chapter 3: To study molecular mechanism/gene expression analysis it is important to stabilize a standardized protocol for the extraction of total RNA from a minimum number bovine oocytes and embryos samples. As so far no proper standardize protocol was descried in specific to Bovine cells. Hence the major aim of this work is to design a standardize protocol which is specific for bovine oocytes and embryos and reliable for the downstream process (Gene amplification and Gene quantification). Chapter 4: To understand the molecular mechanism involved in low fertility rate of cows under heat stress (in vivo and in vitro) the following objective has to be performed. Gene expression studies of developmental genes (Cx43, CDH1, DNMT1 and HSPA14) in different developmental stages (2-cell, 4-cell, morula and blastocyst) of embryos developed from oocytes under prolonged heat shock, as well as oocytes collected during hot and cold seasons has to be studied. Chapter 5: As it is important to understand maternal heat stress factors and to analyze the heat stock condition based on time and exposure, following objectives were performed. Gene expression analysis of kinetic heat shocked oocytes and oocytes matured in the summer and the winter. Chapter 6: An overview and discussion of the results of these studies and their possible implications for the practice and for future research are given

Memes inside and outside the Internet - how digital entertainment mirrors the human psyche

The essay sets out to explain how the meme-sharing mechanism on the Internet is the reflection of human psyche. Starting from Richard Dawkins’ definition of meme, the analysis focuses on the search of what make Internet memes go viral, with the supporting theories of Richard Brodie about the effect of memes on human mind and Limor Shifman’s studies about memes in digital culture. Having described the elements of adaptability, accessibility, belonging, exclusivity, nonsense, irony, cuteness, contrast, surprise, political incorrectness, and stereotype, meme genres such as image macros, videos and photoshop-edited pictures are analyzed across the spectrum of such factors. The result is subsequently compared to the ones obtained by Shifman in 2014, in order to find common elements to outline a spreading pattern. The third and last section focus on the effects of memes on human brain, starting from Brodie’s “button pushing” theory, which refers to many mechanisms such as “repetition”, “cognitive dissonance”, and “creating value” that trigger humans’ most basic instincts. By comparing such theory with Shifman’s about memes providing freedom of expression, the suggested solution concentrate on raising awareness the real potential of memes among people and providing them the means to make memes work for a more conscious society

The multisensory body revealed through its cast shadows

One key issue when conceiving the body as a multisensory object is how the cognitive system integrates visible instances of the self and other bodies with one\u2019s own somatosensory processing, to achieve self-recognition and body ownership. Recent research has strongly suggested that shadows cast by our own body have a special status for cognitive processing, directing attention to the body in a fast and highly specific manner. The aim of the present article is to review the most recent scientific contributions addressing how body shadows affect both sensory/perceptual and attentional processes. The review examines three main points: (1) body shadows as a special window to investigate the construction of multisensory body perception; (2) experimental paradigms and related findings; (3) open questions and future trajectories. The reviewed literature suggests that shadows cast by one\u2019s own body promote binding between personal and extrapersonal space and elicit automatic orienting of attention toward the bodypart casting the shadow. Future research should address whether the effects exerted by body shadows are similar to those observed when observers are exposed to other visual instances of their body. The results will further clarify the processes underlying the merging of vision and somatosensation when creating body representations

Characterization of open cluster remnants

Despite progress in the theoretical knowledge of open cluster remnants and the growing search for observational identifications in recent years, open questions still remain. The methods used to analyze open cluster remnants and criteria to define them as physical systems are not homogeneous. In this work we present a systematic method for studying these objects that provides a view of their properties and allows their characterization. Eighteen remnant candidates are analyzed by means of photometric and proper motion data. These data provide information on objects and their fields. We establish criteria for characterizing open cluster remnants, taking observational uncertainties into account. 2MASS J and H photometry is employed (i) to study structural properties of the objects by means of radial stellar density profiles, (ii) to test for any similarity between objects and fields with a statistical comparison method applied to the distributions of stars in the CMDs, and (iii) to obtain ages, reddening values, and distances from the CMD, taking an index of isochrone fit into account. The UCAC2 proper motions allowed an objective comparison between objects and large solid angle offset fields. The objective analysis based on the present methods indicates 13 open-cluster remnants in the sample. Evidence of the presence of binary stars is found, as expected for dynamically evolved systems. Finally, we infer possible evolutionary stages among remnants from the structure, proper motion, and CMD distributions. The low stellar statistics for individual objects is overcome by means of the construction of composite proper motion and CMD diagrams. The distributions of remnants in the composite diagrams resemble the single-star and unresolved binary star distributions of open clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, A&A accepte

A Novel Approach for Elastic Query Processing in the Cloud

Cloud computing is a promising model of serviceoriented computing. One major advantage of cloud computing is its elasticity, i.e., the system's capability to supply and take away resources dynamically at runtime. For that, it's essential to design and implement a systematic and effective technique that takes complete advantage of the system's potential flexibility. This paper presents a non-invasive approach that monitors the performance of relational database management systems in cloud infrastructure, and dynamically makes choices to maximise the effectiveness of the provider's environment whereas still satisfying specified service level agreements" (SLAs)

The association between data intermediaries and bond rating classification model prediction accuracy

Kamstra et al. (2001) developed a bond rating classification model that was based on a similar model developed by Ederington (1985). While both studies use Moody\u27s bond ratings as dependent variables, the studies differ with respect to the independent variable data source, that is, Kamstra et al. (2001) use financial statement data extracted from Moody\u27s Industrial Manual (now known as Mergent) while Ederington (1985) uses financial statement data extracted from Compustat. Given this, and given the divergent results of the two studies, the following question must be addressed: Do different data sources yield models that differ considerably with respect to overall performance of bond rating classification? New bond issues for the period January 2004 to June 2006 that are common to both the Moody\u27s bond rating database and the Standard and Poor\u27s (S&P) bond rating database are included in the analysis. The most recent annual financial statement data reported prior to the issuance of each issue were extracted from both the Mergent database and the Compustat database. Using ordered logit models, I determine the predicted probabilities of the bond ratings, as well as the correct classification rates using the Kamstra et al. (2001) bond rating model for each of the following four data source combinations: Moody\u27s/Mergent; Moody\u27s/Compustat; S&P/Compustat; and, S&P/Mergent. The results of the Wilk\u27s Lambda test show data source dependency while the results of McNemar test did not show data source dependency. The difference in test results may relate to the level of precision of the tests, that is, the Wilk\u27s Lambda test focuses on the predicted probabilities of the bond rating while the McNemar test focuses on the bond rating categories. Since the predicted probabilities of the bond ratings represent compositional data, I transformed the data in order to avoid spurious interpretations. The need to transform compositional data was not an issue in the previous literature since that research focused on bond ratings and not the predicted probabilities of the bond ratings

Hemorrhage Detection and Analysis in Traumatic Pelvic Injuries

Traumatic pelvic injuries associated with high-energy pelvic fractures are life-threatening injuries. Extensive bleeding is relatively common with pelvic fractures. However, bleeding is especially prevalent with high-energy fractures. Hemorrhage remains the major cause of death that occur within the first 24 hours after a traumatic pelvic injury. Emergent-life saving treatment is required for high-energy pelvic fractures associated with hemorrhage. A thorough understanding of potential sources of bleeding within a short period is essential for diagnosis and treatment planning. Computed Tomography (CT) images have been widely in use in identifying the potential sources of bleeding. A pelvic CT scan contains a large number of images. Analyzing each slice in a scan via simple visual inspection is very time consuming. Time is a crucial factor in emergency medicine. Therefore, a computer-assisted pelvic trauma decision-making system is advantageous for assisting physicians in fast and accurate decision making and treatment planning. The proposed project presents an automated system to detect and segment hemorrhage and combines it with the other extracted features from pelvic images and demographic data to provide recommendations to trauma caregivers for diagnosis and treatment. The first part of the project is to develop automated methods to detect arteries by incorporating bone information. This part of the project merges bone edges and segments bone using a seed growing technique. Later the segmented bone information is utilized along with the best template matching to locate arteries and extract gray level information of the located arteries in the pelvic region. The second part of the project focuses on locating the source of hemorrhage and its segmentation. The hemorrhage is segmented using a novel rule based hemorrhage segmentation approach. This approach segments hemorrhage through hemorrhage matching, rule optimization, and region growing. Later the position of hemorrhage in the image and the volume of the hemorrhage are determined to analyze hemorrhage severity. The third part of the project is to automatically classify the outcome using features extracted from the medical images and patient medical records and demographics. A multi-stage feature selection algorithm is used to select the predominant features among all the features. Finally, boosted logistic model tree is used to classify the outcome. The methods are tested on CT images of traumatic pelvic injury patients. The hemorrhage segmentation and classification results seem promising and demonstrate that the proposed method is not only capable of automatically segmenting hemorrhage and classifying outcome, but also has the potential to be used for clinical applications. Finally, the project is extended to abdominal trauma and a novel knowledge based heuristic technique is used to detect and segment spleen from the abdominal CT images. This technique is tested on a limited number of subjects and the results are promising

Some Considerations on Training ETD Teams in Developing Countries

An ETD project requires various skills, besides the interaction of different groups of the university. Among the skills, a very important one is the knowledge about digital libraries - from metadata element sets to the capture, storage and preservation of digital objects. Most universities in developing nations do not have staff with such qualification. In some cases, they are not aware of all tasks to be performed and how tho write a project or model a workflow. Issues of digital preservation, authors rights, etc must also be brought into discussion. Another important aspect is the multidisciplinary nature of an ETD project. It requires the active participation of the Graduate Programs as well as of the ICT group, besides the library. Last but not least, graduate students play a key role. This work addresses some characteristics that the training that all parts involved must receive in order to start a project in a developing nation. It is baesd on the fact that in developing nations infrastructure, training and access to information are not equivalent to those in the first world. Besides that, there may exist very sharp differences among regions in the same country. This work also discusses the need of team development during the training session, so that all parts work together and in a cooperative manner

Double-Helix Microscopy for Wide-Field 3-D Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging

We present methods to improve the localization accuracy in wide-field 3-D single-molecule double-helix microscopy. We analyze the optical efficiency of the system, the fundamental limit for 3-D localization, the estimation algorithms, and polarization sensitive detection