A Parallel Algorithm for Large-Scale Multiple Sequence Alignment

Multiple sequence alignment is a central topic of extensive research in computational biology. Basically, two or more protein sequences are compared to evaluate their similarity and to identify conserved regions. This work reports a methodology for parallel processing of a multiple sequence alignment algorithm (ClustalW) in an environment of networked computers. A detailed description of the modules that compose the distributed system is provided, giving special attention to the way a dynamic programming algorithm is run in multilevel parallelism. Extensive experiments were done to evaluate performance and scalability of the reported method. Results suggest that the proposed method is very promising for large-scale multiple protein sequence alignment

Promotion of mental health literacy and mental well-being in a Portuguese unemployed population sample : effectiveness assessment of a capacity building community-based intersectoral intervention

Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier Masson SASIntroduction: Economic crises have consequences on labor market, with impacts on mental health (MH) and psychological well-being (PWB). We describe the effectiveness of an intervention among unemployed, performed within EEA Grants Healthy Employment project.Objectives Evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention for MH literacy, PWB and resilience among unemployed. Aims MH and PWB promotion, common mental disorders prevention and inequalities reduction linked to unemployment.Methods A five modules intervention (life-work balance; impact of unemployment on PWB and MH; stigma; depression and anxiety; health promotion) distributed by 20 hours was developed based on literature reviews and a Delphi panel. It was delivered to unemployees from two public employment centers (PECs).Inclusion criteria: 18–65 years old; registration in PEC for less than a year; minimum of nine years of formal education. Control groups from the same PECs received the care-as-usual. Measures of psychological WB, MH self-reported symptoms, life satisfaction,resilience and mental health literacy were collected through an online survey before and one week after intervention.Results Overall, 87 unemployed participated,48% allocated to the intervention group (IG); 56% women (21–64 years old), average education was 15 years. Mixed measures ANOVA showed that the interaction between time and group was significant for PWB and MH literacy measures. The IG showed better self-reported PWB and improved MH literacy after intervention, compared to controls. No significant interactions were found for MH symptoms, life satisfaction and resilience.Conclusions This study shows the contribution of short-term community-based interventions in increasing MH literacy and PWB among unemployed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Classificação de Contexto para Processamento da Linguagem Natural Baseado em Representação Vetorial de Palavras e no Agrupamento por K-Means

Este trabalho traz como proposta a associação do algoritmo skipgram, para representação vetorial de palavras, com o algoritmo de agrupamento não-supervisionado k-means. Ao longo do texto, além de detalhar esta metodologia e demonstrar sua eficácia de 75.3% na classificação de contexto em documentos escritos utilizando linguagem natural, buscamos discutir as vantagens e limitações do método proposto em uma perspectiva de longo prazo, inserida tanto na metodologia empírica de processamento da linguagem natural quanto na busca de modelos descritivos para a linguagem

The effects of frenotomy on breastfeeding

Although the interference of tongue-tie with breastfeeding is a controversial subject, The use of lingual frenotomy has been widely indicated by health professionals. Objective : To observe changes in breastfeeding patterns after lingual frenotomy concerning the number of sucks, pause length between groups of sucking and mother's complaints. Material and Methods : Oral yes/no questions about breastfeeding symptoms and sucking/swallowing/breathing coordination were answered by the mothers of 109, 30 day old infants. On the same day the infants had their lingual frenulum assessed by administering a lingual frenulum protocol. After the assessment, all tongue-tied infants were referred for frenotomy; nevertheless, only 14 underwent the surgery. Of the 109 infants, 14 infants who did not have frenulum alterations were included as controls. Birth order and gender were the criteria for recruiting the control group. The tongue-tied infants underwent lingual frenotomy at 45 days of age. At the conclusion of the frenotomy, the infants were breastfed. At 75 days old, both groups – control and post-frenotomy – were reassessed. Before the reassessment the same oral yes/no questions were answered by the mothers of the 14 infants who underwent frenotomy. The mothers of the control group answered the questionnaire only at the time of the first assessment. Data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results : After frenotomy, the number of sucks increased and the pause length between sucking decreased during breastfeeding. The controls maintained the same patterns observed in the first assessment. From the questionnaire answered by the mothers of the 14 tongue-tied infants, at 30 days and 75 days, we observed that the symptoms concerning breastfeeding and sucking/swallowing/breathing coordination were improved after lingual frenotomy Conclusions : after lingual frenotomy, changes were observed in the breastfeeding patterns of the the tongue-tied infants while the control group maintained the same patterns. Moreover, all symptoms reported by the mothers of the tongue-tied infants had improved after frenotomy

Stress and psychological health: testing the mediating role of cognitive appraisal

This study tested the mediating role of primary (e.g., threat and challenge perceptions) and secondary (e.g., coping potential and control perception) cognitive appraisal in the relationship between occupational stress and psychological health. This mediation was tested using a cross-sectional study based on self-reported measures. The total sample consisted of 2,302 nurses, 1,895 females (82.3%) and 407 males (17.7%), who completed an evaluation protocol with measures of occupational stress, cognitive appraisal, and psychological health. To test the mediating role of cognitive appraisal in the relationship between cognitive appraisal and psychological health, we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results confirmed that primary and secondary cognitive appraisals partially mediated the relationship between occupational stress and psychological health; however, the direct effects of stress on psychological health cannot be ignored. The findings indicated that cognitive appraisal is an important underlying mechanism in explaining adaptation at work.This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of MInho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653)

Intraperitoneal but Not Intravenous Cryopreserved Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Home to the Inflamed Colon and Ameliorate Experimental Colitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were shown to have immunomodulatory activity and have been applied for treating immune-mediated disorders. We compared the homing and therapeutic action of cryopreserved subcutaneous adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) in rats with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. METHODS: After colonoscopic detection of inflammation AT-MSCs or BM-MSCs were injected intraperitoneally. Colonoscopic and histologic scores were obtained. Density of collagen fibres and apoptotic rates were evaluated. Cytokine levels were measured in supernatants of colon explants. For cell migration studies MSCs and skin fibroblasts were labelled with Tc-99m or CM-DiI and injected intraperitonealy or intravenously. RESULTS: Intraperitoneal injection of AT-MSCs or BM-MSCs reduced the endoscopic and histopathologic severity of colitis, the collagen deposition, and the epithelial apoptosis. Levels of TNF-α and interleukin-1β decreased, while VEGF and TGF-β did not change following cell-therapy. Scintigraphy showed that MSCs migrated towards the inflamed colon and the uptake increased from 0.5 to 24 h. Tc-99m-MSCs injected intravenously distributed into various organs, but not the colon. Cm-DiI-positive MSCs were detected throughout the colon wall 72 h after inoculation, predominantly in the submucosa and muscular layer of inflamed areas. CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneally injected cryopreserved MSCs home to and engraft into the inflamed colon and ameliorate TNBS-colitis

Avaliação Ecológica Rápida de Qualidade de Água e Bioindicadores Bentônicos no Parque Nacional da Serra do Gandarela, Minas Gerais

Durante uma disciplina de pós-graduação, realizamos uma Avaliação Ecológica Rápida sobre qualidade de água e biodiversidade de bioindicadores bentônicos no Parque Nacional (PARNA) da Serra do Gandarela, MG. Os objetivos foram: (a) capacitar profissionais na utilização de metodologias atuais em Rapid Assessment Protocols (RAP) para estudos de diagnóstico e monitoramento de integridade ecológica de ecossistemas aquáticos em regiões de cabeceira de bacias hidrográficas; (b) contribuir ao conhecimento da biodiversidade aquática em corpos d’água no PARNA Serra do Gandarela; (c) fomentar intercâmbio e colaboração entre mestrandos, doutorandos, guarda-parques, visitantes, membros de comitês de bacia, gestores ICMBio, moradores e interessados na conservação de biodiversidade no Quadrilátero Ferrífero; (d) gerar informações de base sobre qualidade de água, biodiversidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos bioindicadores de qualidade de água no PARNA Serra do Gandarela. Os principais resultados revelam que o PARNA Serra do Gandarela é guardião de riachos de cabeceira em condições de referência, com elevada diversidade de hábitats aquáticos e ótima qualidade de água, onde vivem organismos bentônicos sensíveis, tolerantes e resistentes à poluição. Sendo a Serra do Gandarela responsável pela segurança hídrica de grande parte dos municípios do Quadrilátero Ferrífero de Minas Gerais, é extremamente importante que estes riachos em condições de referência sejam conservados e utilizados em futuros estudos de avaliação de impactos ambientais e programas de monitoramento de condições ecológicas de longo prazo. As condições de alta preservação devem servir como baliza de referência para tomadores de decisão em processos de licenciamento ambiental de empreendimentos potencialmente causadores de impactos ambientais e riscos à biodiversidade