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

Geographic Distribution of Chagas Disease Vectors in Brazil Based on Ecological Niche Modeling

Although Brazil was declared free from Chagas disease transmission by the domestic vector Triatoma infestans, human acute cases are still being registered based on transmission by native triatomine species. For a better understanding of transmission risk, the geographic distribution of Brazilian triatomines was analyzed. Sixteen out of 62 Brazilian species that both occur in >20 municipalities and present synanthropic tendencies were modeled based on their ecological niches. Panstrongylus geniculatus and P. megistus showed broad ecological ranges, but most of the species sort out by the biome in which they are distributed: Rhodnius pictipes and R. robustus in the Amazon; R. neglectus, Triatoma sordida, and T. costalimai in the Cerrado; R. nasutus, P. lutzi, T. brasiliensis, T. pseudomaculata, T. melanocephala, and T. petrocchiae in the Caatinga; T. rubrovaria in the southern pampas; T. tibiamaculata and T. vitticeps in the Atlantic Forest. Although most occurrences were recorded in open areas (Cerrado and Caatinga), our results show that all environmental conditions in the country are favorable to one or more of the species analyzed, such that almost nowhere is Chagas transmission risk negligible

Caffeine and adenosine A 2A receptor inactivation decrease striatal neuropathology in a lentiviral-based model of Machado–Joseph disease

Objective: Machado–Joseph disease (MJD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with an abnormal CAG expansion, which translates into an expanded polyglutamine tract within ataxin-3. There is no therapy to prevent or modify disease progression. Because caffeine (a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist) and selective adenosine A2A receptor (A2A R) blockade alleviate neurodegeneration in different brain diseases, namely at early stages of another polyglutamine-related disorder such as Huntington’s disease, we now tested their ability to control MJD-associated neurodegeneration. Methods: MJD was modeled by transducing the striatum of male adult C57Bl/6 mice with lentiviral vectors encoding mutant ataxin-3 in one hemisphere and wild-type ataxin-3 in the other hemisphere (as internal control). Caffeine (1g/L) was applied through the drinking water. Mice were killed at different time points (from 2 to 12 weeks) to probe for the appearance of different morphological changes using immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Mutant ataxin-3 caused an evolving neuronal dysfunction (loss of DARPP-32 staining) leading to neurodegeneration (cresyl violet and neuronal nuclei staining) associated with increased number of mutant ataxin-3 inclusions in the basal ganglia. Notably, mutant ataxin-3 triggered early synaptotoxicity (decreased synaptophysin and microtubule-associated protein-2 staining) and reactive gliosis (glial fibrillary acidic protein and CD11b staining), which predated neuronal dysfunction and damage. Caffeine reduced the appearance of all these morphological modifications, which were also abrogated in mice with a global A2A R inactivation (knockout). Interpretation: Our findings provide a demonstration that synaptotoxicity and gliosis are precocious events in MJD and that caffeine and A2A R inactivation decrease MJD-associated striatal pathology, which paves the way to consider A2A Rs as novel therapeutic targets to manage MJD

Deep Learning Algorithms Improve Automated Identification of Chagas Disease Vectors

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Medical Entomology following peer review. The version of record is available online at: https;//doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjz065Vector-borne Chagas disease is endemic to the Americas and imposes significant economic and social burdens on public health. In a previous contribution, we presented an automated identification system that was able to discriminate among 12 Mexican and 39 Brazilian triatomine (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) species from digital images. To explore the same data more deeply using machine-learning approaches, hoping for improvements in classification, we employed TensorFlow, an open-source software platform for a deep learning algorithm. We trained the algorithm based on 405 images for Mexican triatomine species and 1,584 images for Brazilian triatomine species. Our system achieved 83.0 and 86.7% correct identification rates across all Mexican and Brazilian species, respectively, an improvement over comparable rates from statistical classifiers (80.3 and 83.9%, respectively). Incorporating distributional information to reduce numbers of species in analyses improved identification rates to 95.8% for Mexican species and 98.9% for Brazilian species. Given the ‘taxonomic impediment’ and difficulties in providing entomological expertise necessary to control such diseases, automating the identification process offers a potential partial solution to crucial challenges

Caracterização ao corte da ligação entre conector de GFRP e betão auto-compactável reforçado com fibras de aço

A utilização de compósitos poliméricos reforçados com fibras (FRP) mostra-se bastante competitiva em aplicações específicas de engenharia civil. No caso de elementos estruturais mistos, de que são exemplo os painéis sandwich constituídos por duas lâminas de betão separadas por uma camada de isolamento ou as vigas mistas com perfil em FRP e laje de betão, é necessário utilizar conectores capazes de garantir o funcionamento conjunto dos elementos que constituem a secção, de forma a assegurar a transferência de esforços entre eles. Os conectores metálicos são a solução mais corrente em painéis sandwich, mas o uso de conectores de FRP apresenta potenciais vantagens que resultam das propriedades mais relevantes deste material: baixa condutibilidade térmica, baixo peso específico, imunidade à corrosão, bom amortecimento ao choque e bom isolamento eletromagnético. Neste trabalho, apresenta-se um novo tipo de conector de polímero reforçado com fibras de vidro (GFRP) a ser empregue em painéis de betão estruturais do tipo sandwich, e descrevem-se os ensaios experimentais preliminares realizados na Universidade do Minho para caracterizar o comportamento ao corte da respetiva ligação. Nos ensaios apresentados são utilizados conectores planos perfurados, embebidos em camadas de betão auto-compactável reforçado com fibras de aço (BACRFA). A utilização de BACRFA tem como objetivo dispensar a utilização de armaduras convencionais e a vibração do betão, o que se torna particularmente vantajoso quando a camada de betão tem uma espessura reduzida. De acordo com ensaios anteriormente realizados pelos autores, a utilização de BACRFA contribui ainda para aumentar a ductilidade da ligação. A configuração de ensaio utilizada baseia-se nas recomendações relativas ao ensaio de push-out descrito na NP EN1994-1-1, com algumas adaptações específicas. Por fim, o comportamento do conector testado é caracterizado pelos modos de rotura que lhe estão associados, pela curva carga versus escorregamento obtida no decorrer do ensaio e pela avaliação de parâmetros relevantes como a carga máxima.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) e QREN - Quadro de Referência Estratégico Naciona

Failure modes in filled hole GFRP laminates for connections between FRP and concrete

The PERFOFRP connector consists on a perforated glass fibre reinforce polymer (GFRP) rib that is specially designed to perform the connection between thin concrete layers, which can be also useful in the context of structural rehabilitation. It stays embedded in the concrete layers, avoiding the use of complementary connecting techniques, like special gluing or bolting. This type of connection is similar to the Perfobond steel connectors proposed for steel and concrete composites structures. Perfobond shear connector failure depends on the concrete dowels load capacity, since the steel connector failure does not occur in ribs with adequate thickness. However, in the case of the PERFOFRP connectors, the load capacity can be limited by the failure of the connector itself. To achieve a better understanding on the behaviour of the GFRP connector, an experimental study, based on tests with perforated GFRP laminates submitted to pin-bearing tests, is carried out. The tests are performed with four different rectangular GFRP plates containing a circular hole of 30 mm diameter, and differing from each other in terms of stacking and amount of fibre plies. Two different geometries of specimens are studied to enhance the evaluation of two expected failure modes. Finally, the failure modes, the peak loads and the evolution of strain in the vicinity of the holes are presented and discussed.QREN-ADI, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Can the angular scale of cosmic homogeneity be used as a cosmological test?

In standard cosmology, the cosmic homogeneity scale is the transition scale above which the patterns arising from non-uniformities -- such as groups and clusters of galaxies, voids, and filaments -- become indistinguishable from a random distribution of sources. Recently, different groups have investigated the feasibility of using such a scale as a cosmological test and arrived at different conclusions. In this paper, we complement and extend these studies by exploring the evolution of the spatial (${\cal{R}}_H$) and angular ($\theta_H$) homogeneity scales with redshift, assuming a spatially flat, $\Lambda$-Cold Dark Matter %($\Lambda$CDM) universe and linear cosmological perturbation theory. We confirm previous results concerning the non-monotonicity of ${\cal{R}}_H$ with the matter density parameter $\Omega_{m0}$ but also show that it exhibits a monotonical behavior with the Hubble constant $H_0$ within a large redshift interval. More importantly, we find that, for $z \gtrsim 0.6$, the angular homogeneity scale not only presents a monotonical behavior with $\Omega_{m0}$ and $H_0$ but is quite sensitive to $H_0$, especially at higher redshifts. These results, therefore, raise the possibility of using $\theta_H$ as a new, model-independent way to constrain cosmological parameters.Comment: 10 pages, 24 figure

The angular scale of homogeneity with SDSS-IV DR16 Luminous Red Galaxies

We report measurements of the angular scale of cosmic homogeneity ($\theta_{H}$) using the recently released luminous red galaxy sample of the sixteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV LRG DR16). It consists of a model-independent method, as we only use the celestial coordinates of these objects to carry out such an analysis. The observational data is divided into thin redshift bins, namely $0.67<z<0.68$, $0.70<z<0.71$, and $0.73<z<0.74$, in order to avoid projection biases, and we estimate our uncertainties through a bootstrap method and a suite of mock catalogues. We find that the LRGs exhibit an angular scale of homogeneity consistent with the predictions of the standard cosmology within the redshift interval studied. Considering the bootstrap method, in which the measurements are obtained in a model-independent way, we found at 1$\sigma$ level that $\theta_H^{boot}(0.675) = 7.57 \pm 2.91$ deg, $\theta_H^{boot} (0.705) = 7.49 \pm 2.63$ deg and $\theta_H^{boot} (0.735) = 8.88 \pm 2.81$ deg. Such results are in good agreement with the ones obtained using mock catalogues built under the assumption of the standard cosmological model.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables. References updated; matches version published in JCA

Biochemical, bone and renal patterns in hyperparathyroidism associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1

Primary hyperparathyroidism associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1) differs in many aspects from sporadic hyperparathyroidism, which is the most frequently occurring form of hyperparathyroidism. Bone mineral density has frequently been studied in sporadic hyperparathyroidism but it has very rarely been examined in cases of hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Cortical bone mineral density in hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 cases has only recently been examined, and early, severe and frequent bone mineral losses have been documented at this site. Early bone mineral losses are highly prevalent in the trabecular bone of patients with hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. In summary, bone mineral disease in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-related hyperparathyroidism is an early, frequent and severe disturbance, occurring in both the cortical and trabecular bones. In addition, renal complications secondary to sporadic hyperparathyroidism are often studied, but very little work has been done on this issue in hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. It has been recently verified that early, frequent, and severe renal lesions occur in patients with hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, which may lead to increased morbidity and mortality. In this article we review the few available studies on bone mineral and renal disturbances in the setting of hyperparathyroidism/multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. We performed a meta-analysis of the available data on bone mineral and renal disease in cases of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1-related hyperparathyroidism