Easy Semantification of Bioassays

Biological data and knowledge bases increasingly rely on Semantic Web technologies and the use of knowledge graphs for data integration, retrieval and federated queries. We propose a solution for automatically semantifying biological assays. Our solution contrasts the problem of automated semantification as labeling versus clustering where the two methods are on opposite ends of the method complexity spectrum. Characteristically modeling our problem, we find the clustering solution significantly outperforms a deep neural network state-of-the-art labeling approach. This novel contribution is based on two factors: 1) a learning objective closely modeled after the data outperforms an alternative approach with sophisticated semantic modeling; 2) automatically semantifying biological assays achieves a high performance F1 of nearly 83%, which to our knowledge is the first reported standardized evaluation of the task offering a strong benchmark model

SciBERT-based Semantification of Bioassays in the Open Research Knowledge Graph

As a novel contribution to the problem of semantifying biological assays, in this paper, we propose a neural-network-based approach to automatically semantify, thereby structure, unstructured bioassay text descriptions. Experimental evaluations, to this end, show promise as the neural-based semantification significantly outperforms a naive frequency-based baseline approach. Specifically, the neural method attains 72% F1 versus 47% F1 from the frequency-based method.Comment: In proceedings of the '22nd International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management' 'Demo and Poster section

Ocupação indígena da Amazônia com base no mtDNA: populações contemporâneas e ancestrais

Our main goal in this article is to answer some questions about the origins and the dispersion of population in the American continent. Through the analysis of the variability of the mithocondrial DNA (mtDNA) in contemporary indigenous population from the Amazon we’ve been able to conclude that 1) there has been a dramatical population reduction during the migration from Asia to America; 2) there are only, almost exclusively, four haplotypes that originate respectively from one founder haplotype; 3) there has been three or four main migrational waves between 22 and 29 thousand years B.P. To better define these conclusions we analysed also archaeological bones from the Amazon areaDiversas abordagens têm sido empregadas na tentativa de responder questões sobre a origem e a dispersão do homem nas Américas. Do ponto de vista da biologia, a investigação da variabilidade presente no DNA mitocondrial (mtDNA) tem se revelado um excelente instrumento para este fim. Os dados acumulados a partir da investigação de populações indígenas contemporâneas indicam: i) a existência de um estrangulamento populacional dramático durante a migração da Ásia para as Américas, ii) a presença quase que exclusiva de quatro grupos de haplótipos (haplogrupos A-D) cada um originado a partir de um único haplóide fundador, iii) a ocorrência de três ou quatro ondas principais de migração que teriam se iniciado entre 22 mil e 29 mil anos atrás. O número de haplótipos fundadores ocupa o ponto central das inferências acima citadas. Parte da diversidade presente entre os primeiros ameríndios pode ter sido perdida durante o processo de ocupação do continente pelos europeus a partir do início do século XVI ou pode estar sub-representada em função do número relativamente restrito de indivíduo investigados até o momento. Com o objetivo de solucionar parte dessas divergências nós investigamos a variabilidade do mtDNA de 139 indivíduos de oito tribos indígenas da Amazônia brasileira e de 18 fragmentos de ossos escavados em diferentes sítios arqueológicos da mesma região, com datação estimada entre 500-4.000 anos antes do presente. As análises revelaram que: i) todas as seqüências de mtDNA de indígenas contemporâneos enquadram-se em um dos haplogrupos (A-D) principais, entretanto, nossos dados são compatíveis com a existência de múltiplos haplótipos fundadores dentro de cada um dos haplogrupos, ii) 39% das seqüências ancestrais de mtDNA não pertencem a nenhum dos quatro haplogrupos. Esses resultados sugerem que as previsões sobre o tempo de chegada dos primeiros ameríndios ao continente podem ter sido superestimadas, e que a diversidade restrita das populações ameríndias atuais pode ser devida, em parte, à redução das populações indígenas durante a colonização européi

Electromagnetic energy harvesting using magnetic levitation architectures: a review

Motion-driven electromagnetic energy harvesters have the ability to provide low-cost and customizable electric powering. They are a well-suited technological solution to autonomously supply a broad range of high-sophisticated devices. This paper presents a detailed review focused on major breakthroughs in the scope of electromagnetic energy harvesting using magnetic levitation architectures. A rigorous analysis of twenty-one design configurations was made to compare their geometric and constructive parameters, optimization methodologies and energy harvesting performances. This review also explores the most relevant models (analytical, semi-analytical, empirical and finite element method) already developed to make intelligible the physical phenomena of their transduction mechanisms. The most relevant approaches to model each physical phenomenon of these transduction mechanisms are highlighted in this paper. Very good agreements were found between experimental and simulation tests with deviations lower than 15%. Moreover, the external motion excitations and electric energy harvesting outputs were also comprehensively compared and critically discussed. Electric power densities up to 8 mW/cm^3 (8 kW/m^3) have already been achieved; for resistive loads, the maximum voltage and current were 43.4 V and 150 mA, respectively, for volumes up to 235 cm^3. Results highlight the potential of these harvesters to convert mechanical energy into electric energy both for large-scale and small-scale applications. Moreover, this paper proposes future research directions towards efficiency maximization and minimization of energy production costs.in publicatio

Libidibia ferrea loaded in bacterial nanocellulose: evaluation of antimicrobial activity and wound care / Libidibia ferrea loaded in bacterial nanocellulose: evaluation of antimicrobial activity and wound care

The effects of Bacterial Nanocellulose (BNC) loaded with Libidibia ferrea (Lf) hydroalcoholic extract were investigated on the healing process of burn in diabetic and non-diabetic animals. In vivo assay was performed with 36 male rats, with streptozotocin-induced diabetes and burns induced by contact. Animals were divided into Nd-BNC (Non-diabetic + Bacterial nanocellulose membranes); Nd-BNC-Lf (Non-diabetic + Bacterial nanocellulose membranes + Libidibia ferrea); D-BNC (Diabetic + Bacterial nanocellulose membranes); D-BNC-Lf (Diabetic + Bacterial nanocellulose membranes + Libidibia ferrea). Wounds were evaluated for 28 days histologically. Lf extract and BNC-Lf extract showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The severe degree of infection, granulation and inflammation observed after 14 days in diabetic rats (exposed or not to Lf extract), disappeared after 21 days. On the 28th day, there was no histological difference among the groups. BNC-Lf extract demonstrated to have antimicrobial activity, however as an wound dressing, both BNC or BNC-Lf extract were effective in the healing of second-degree burn wounds

Understanding mobility in networks

Motivated by the growing number of mobile devices capable of connecting and exchanging messages, we propose a methodology aiming to model and analyze node mobility in networks. We note that many existing solutions in the literature rely on topological measurements calculated directly on the graph of node contacts, aiming to capture the notion of the node's importance in terms of connectivity and mobility patterns beneficial for prototyping, design, and deployment of mobile networks. However, each measure has its specificity and fails to generalize the node importance notions that ultimately change over time. Unlike previous approaches, our methodology is based on a node embedding method that models and unveils the nodes' importance in mobility and connectivity patterns while preserving their spatial and temporal characteristics. We focus on a case study based on a trace of group meetings. The results show that our methodology provides a rich representation for extracting different mobility and connectivity patterns, which can be helpful for various applications and services in mobile networks

New Algorithm to Discriminate Phase Distribution of Gas-Oil-Water Pipe Flow With Dual-Modality Wire-Mesh Sensor

Three-phase gas-oil-water flow is an important type of flow present in petroleum extraction and processing. This paper reports a novel threshold-based method to visualize and estimate the cross-sectional phase fraction of gas-oil-water mixtures. A 16×16 dual-modality wire-mesh sensor (WMS) was employed to simultaneously determine the conductive and capacitive components of the impedance of fluid. Then, both electrical parameters are used to classify readings of WMS into either pure substance (gas, oil or water) or two-phase oil-water mixtures (foam is neglected in this work). Since the wire-mesh sensor interrogates small regions of the flow domain, we assume that the three-phase mixture can be segmented according to the spatial sensor resolution (typically 2–3 mm). Hence, the proposed method simplifies a complex three-phase system in several segments of single or two-phase mixtures. In addition to flow visualization, the novel approach can also be applied to estimate quantitative volume fractions of flowing gas-oil-water mixtures. The proposed method was tested in a horizontal air-oil-water flow loop in different flow conditions. Experimental results suggest that the threshold-based method is able to capture transient three-phase flows with high temporal and spatial resolution even in the presence of water-oil dispersion regardless of the continuous phase

19th World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education

Todos os trabalhos se desenvolveram no Austria Center Vienna, o mais moderno centro de congressos da capital austríaca, adjacente ao complexo das Nações Unidas, na margem esquerda do Danúbio, a menos de quinze minutos de metro do centro da cidade. Com mais de mil e trezentos participantes, na Conferência estiveram representados setenta e nove países, sendo trinta europeus, dezasseis asiáticos, quinze americanos, catorze africanos e quatro da zona do Pacífico. Em termos de representação individual, a Europa, com mais de 57% de presenças, foi a zona do globo mais visível. De salientar, contudo, a presença significativa de um elevado número de representantes de países em busca de desenvolvimento, de todos os continentes, da Letónia à Eslováquia, da Mongólia ao Vietname, da República Dominicana ao Equador, do Botswana à Tunísia, passando pelo Chade e pelo Togo

Endotoxin levels correlate positively with a sedentary lifestyle and negatively with highly trained subjects

Introduction: A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. This phenomenon is supported by recent studies suggesting a chronic, low-grade inflammation status. Endotoxin derived from gut flora may be key to the development of inflammation by stimulating the secretion of inflammatory factors. This study aimed to examine plasma inflammatory markers and endotoxin levels in individuals with a sedentary lifestyle and/or in highly trained subjects at rest. Methods: Fourteen male subjects (sedentary lifestyle n = 7; highly trained subjects n = 7) were recruited. Blood samples were collected after an overnight fast (similar to 12 h). the plasmatic endotoxin, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP1), ICAM/CD54, VCAM/CD106 and lipid profile levels were determined.Results: Endotoxinemia was lower in the highly trained subject group relative to the sedentary subjects (p < 0.002). in addition, we observed a positive correlation between endotoxin and PAI-1 (r = 0.85, p < 0.0001), endotoxin and total cholesterol (r = 0.65; p < 0.01), endotoxin and LDL-c (r = 0.55; p < 0.049) and endotoxin and TG levels (r = 0.90; p < 0.0001). the plasma levels of MCP-1, ICAM/CD54 and VCAM/CD106 did not differ.Conclusion: These results indicate that a lifestyle associated with high-intensity and high-volume exercise induces favorable changes in chronic low-grade inflammation markers and may reduce the risk for diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, Div Nutr, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biosci, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Canc Metab Grp, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Cell & Dev Biol, BR-05508 São Paulo, BrazilUniv Prebiteriana Mackenzie, Dept Phys Educ, Biol & Hlth Sci Ctr, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Physiol, Div Nutr, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biosci, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2008/03533-1Web of Scienc