Multireference Alignment is Easier with an Aperiodic Translation Distribution

In the multireference alignment model, a signal is observed by the action of a random circular translation and the addition of Gaussian noise. The goal is to recover the signal's orbit by accessing multiple independent observations. Of particular interest is the sample complexity, i.e., the number of observations/samples needed in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (the signal energy divided by the noise variance) in order to drive the mean-square error (MSE) to zero. Previous work showed that if the translations are drawn from the uniform distribution, then, in the low SNR regime, the sample complexity of the problem scales as $\omega(1/\text{SNR}^3)$. In this work, using a generalization of the Chapman--Robbins bound for orbits and expansions of the $\chi^2$ divergence at low SNR, we show that in the same regime the sample complexity for any aperiodic translation distribution scales as $\omega(1/\text{SNR}^2)$. This rate is achieved by a simple spectral algorithm. We propose two additional algorithms based on non-convex optimization and expectation-maximization. We also draw a connection between the multireference alignment problem and the spiked covariance model

Um estudo sobre as práticas docentes que envolvem o movimento corporal em um centro municipal de educação infantil de Curitiba/PR

Orientador : Luciane Paiva Alves de OliveiraMonografia (especialização) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Educação, Curso de Especialização em Docência na Educação InfantilInclui referênciasResumo : Partindo do pressuposto de que a ação pedagógica que envolve o movimento deve propiciar condições para o conhecimento do corpo e das suas possibilidades na educação infantil, decidi investigar as práticas e saberes docentes em um Centro Municipal de Curitiba/PR. Teve como objetivos: verificar se ocorriam planejamentos, leituras, estudos prévios para a realização do trabalho docente; avaliar como aconteciam as intervenções pedagógicas no momento da aula e encaminhar como os docentes concebem os saberes em torno do movimento corporal. Para realizar essa pesquisa, utilizei estudos de Garanhani e Naldony( 2008 ),Garanhani(2004),Sayão(2008), Coutinho(2011),Vaz e Ritcher( 2010 ) entre outros.A investigação se baseou em uma metodologia qualitativa, por intermédio de observação participante e de aplicação de entrevistas

Bacterial infections in Indian cirrhotic patients: a prospective study

Background: Bacterial infections (BI) are more prevalent in liver cirrhosis (LC), high among hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to explore the epidemiological pattern of BI in hospitalized patients with LC, and identification the causative agents. Objective of the study was evaluation of therapeutic/empirical approaches for these infections.Methods: Inputs from the body fluid analysis and culture reports were recorded. The Child Pugh score (CPS) was used to assess the severity of liver disease. Antibiotic treatment strategy was analysed, prescribed antibiotics were checked for contraindications using Lexicomp software.Results: Of 60 enrolled patients, four had mixed infection and 55% were culture positive. There was a male preponderance (83.3%). BI was more frequent in those aged 51-60 years (38.3%) and >60 years (35%). Higher proportion of patients (60%) belonged to class C of CPS followed by class B (31.7%). The most common causative organisms identified were E. coli (28.5%), K. pneumonia (14.2%), Enterococcus spp (11.4 %) and less common were K. oxytoca, Coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, gram-positive cocci, gram-negative cocci, P. aeruginosa, S. hemolyticus, ß-hemolytic streptococcus spp. Majority of the subjects had spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (36.7%) followed by urinary tract infection (21%), lower respiratory tract infection (18.3%), sepsis (13.3%), cellulitis (3.3%) and acute gastroenteritis (1.7%). Cephalosporin (61.7%), rifaximin (51.7%), penicillin and β lactamase inhibitors (36.7%) were the common prescribed antimicrobials.Conclusions: There is a positive association between the risk of BI and severity of liver damage

Mejora de la gestión del almacén de materia prima y avíos para reducir los costos logísticos en la empresa Manufacturas Kukuli S. A. C.

El principal objetivo del trabajo de investigación es demostrar que al mejorar la gestión de almacenes de materia prima y avíos en la empresa Manufacturas Kukuli SAC, se reducen los costos logísticos. Al realizar el diagnostico situacional, se pudo observar que existen fallas en los procesos del área de almacén, los cuales se sub dividen en: recepción, almacenaje y despacho. En el proceso de recepción de materiales, se descubrió que sus principales fallas fueron: el espacio inadecuado de los materiales, mal ingreso del material al sistema ERP, y falta de utilización de métodos. En el proceso de almacenaje se obtuvo como distinción la incorrecta distribución de la mercancía, desorden en el almacén, ingresos múltiples del material en el sistema ERP y las fallas del sistema. Por último, en el proceso de despacho se resaltó la desorientación de los operarios al desconocer las cantidades existentes de mercancía, la falta de métodos para la organización y orden del área, la inconsistencia del inventario lógico con el físico y la tardanza de los materiales al ser despachados. Para la mejora de la gestión de almacén se empleó la técnica de observación directa y diferentes instrumentos para la recolección de datos. En la evaluación de costo – beneficio, se determinó la viabilidad económica del proyecto, la cual obtuvo una rentabilidad de S/ 4,111.76 en un periodo de cinco años. Así demostramos que la implementación del proyecto es factible para la empresa

4-aminopyridyl-based lead compounds targeting CYP51 prevent spontaneous parasite relapse in a chronic model and improve cardiac pathology in an acute model of Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

BackgroundChagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is the leading cause of heart failure in Latin America. The clinical treatment of Chagas disease is limited to two 60 year-old drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole, that have variable efficacy against different strains of the parasite and may lead to severe side effects. CYP51 is an enzyme in the sterol biosynthesis pathway that has been exploited for the development of therapeutics for fungal and parasitic infections. In a target-based drug discovery program guided by x-ray crystallography, we identified the 4-aminopyridyl-based series of CYP51 inhibitors as being efficacious versus T.cruzi in vitro; two of the most potent leads, 9 and 12, have now been evaluated for toxicity and efficacy in mice.Methodology/principal findingsBoth acute and chronic animal models infected with wild type or transgenic T. cruzi strains were evaluated. There was no evidence of toxicity in the 28-day dosing study of uninfected animals, as judged by the monitoring of multiple serum and histological parameters. In two acute models of Chagas disease, 9 and 12 drastically reduced parasitemia, increased survival of mice, and prevented liver and heart injury. None of the compounds produced long term sterile cure. In the less severe acute model using the transgenic CL-Brenner strain of T.cruzi, parasitemia relapsed upon drug withdrawal. In the chronic model, parasitemia fell to a background level and, as evidenced by the bioluminescence detection of T. cruzi expressing the red-shifted luciferase marker, mice remained negative for 4 weeks after drug withdrawal. Two immunosuppression cycles with cyclophosphamide were required to re-activate the parasites. Although no sterile cure was achieved, the suppression of parasitemia in acutely infected mice resulted in drastically reduced inflammation in the heart.Conclusions/significanceThe positive outcomes achieved in the absence of sterile cure suggest that the target product profile in anti-Chagasic drug discovery should be revised in favor of safe re-administration of the medication during the lifespan of a Chagas disease patient. A medication that reduces parasite burden may halt or slow progression of cardiomyopathy and therefore improve both life expectancy and quality of life

Picturing inequities for health impact assessment : linked electronic records, mortality and regional disparities in Portugal

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupHealth impact assessment (HIA) focuses on minimizing inequities when studying the effects of a policy on the population’s health. Nevertheless, it is seldom simultaneously quantified, multivariate, and visually graphically comprehensible for non-statisticians. This paper aims to address that gap, assessing a policy promoting the quality of Electronic Health Records, linking hospital and primary health care data (Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Waist Circumference, Body Mass Index) to mortality outcomes and regional inequities. Acute Myocardial Infarction patients admitted in the hospital are then followed regularly in Portuguese NHS Primary Care. Regional disparities regarding recorded information are observed and different association patterns with mortality identified, ranked, and visualized through adjusted ORs for sex, age, and indicators of severity of hospital admission, complemented with multivariate correspondence analysis. A pathway to handling equity within quantitative HIA shows that complexity in data and methods may generate simplicity and clarity through visual graphical aids. Tackling Big Data with Data Science in HIA may even be at the center of future health reforms, assessing impacts of health promotion and chronic disease policies.This work was partially supported by the CUTEHeart Project – Comparative Use of Technologies for Coronary Heart Disease, funded by FCT, QREN, COMPETE [grant number HMSP-ICT/0013/2011] (http://cuteheart.med.up.pt).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neutron-Unbound Excited States of 23N

Neutron unbound states in 23N were populated via proton knockout from an 83.4 MeV/nucleon 24O beam on a liquid deuterium target. The two-body decay energy displays two peaks at E1∼100keV and E2∼1MeV with respect to the neutron separation energy. The data are consistent with shell model calculations predicting resonances at excitation energies of ∼3.6MeV and ∼4.5MeV. The selectivity of the reaction implies that these states correspond to the first and second 3/2− states. The energy of the first state is about 1.3 MeV lower than the first excited 2+ in 24O. This decrease is largely due to coupling with the πp−13/2 hole along with a small reduction of the N=16 shell gap in 23N

A Validated LC Method for the Quantitation of Cefotaxime in pH-Sensitive Nanoparticles

A sensitive and rapid routine LC method was validated for measuring cefotaxime incorporated in three different pH-sensitive nanoparticles. The drug was chromatographed on a C18 reversed-phase column; the mobile phase used was 0.05 M aqueous ammonium acetate, acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran (87:11:2, v/v) adjusted to pH 5.5 with acetic acid. The flow rate was 1 mL min(-1) and cefotaxime was quantified at 254 nm, with a sensitivity range of 0.005 AUFS. The validated method was specific, linear (R (2) a parts per thousand yen 0.999), precise and accurate in a concentration range of 0.2-50.0 mu g mL(-1). The method was rapid, selective and suitable for evaluation of cefotaxime in pH-sensitive Eudragit nanoparticles

Expression and reactivation of HIV in a chemokine induced model of HIV latency in primary resting CD4+ T cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We recently described that HIV latent infection can be established <it>in vitro </it>following incubation of resting CD4+ T-cells with chemokines that bind to CCR7. The main aim of this study was to fully define the post-integration blocks to virus replication in this model of CCL19-induced HIV latency.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>High levels of integrated HIV DNA but low production of reverse transcriptase (RT) was found in CCL19-treated CD4+ T-cells infected with either wild type (WT) NL4.3 or single round envelope deleted NL4.3 pseudotyped virus (NL4.3- Δenv). Supernatants from CCL19-treated cells infected with either WT NL4.3 or NL4.3- Δenv did not induce luciferase expression in TZM-bl cells, and there was no expression of intracellular p24. Following infection of CCL19-treated CD4+ T-cells with NL4.3 with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) inserted into the <it>nef </it>open reading frame (NL4.3- Δnef-EGFP), there was no EGFP expression detected. These data are consistent with non-productive latent infection of CCL19-treated infected CD4+ T-cells. Treatment of cells with phytohemagluttinin (PHA)/IL-2 or CCL19, prior to infection with WT NL4.3, resulted in a mean fold change in unspliced (US) RNA at day 4 compared to day 0 of 21.2 and 1.1 respectively (p = 0.01; n = 5), and the mean expression of multiply spliced (MS) RNA was 56,000, and 5,000 copies/million cells respectively (p = 0.01; n = 5). In CCL19-treated infected CD4+ T-cells, MS-RNA was detected in the nucleus and not in the cytoplasm; in contrast to PHA/IL-2 activated infected cells where MS RNA was detected in both. Virus could be recovered from CCL19-treated infected CD4+ T-cells following mitogen stimulation (with PHA and phorbyl myristate acetate (PMA)) as well as TNFα, IL-7, prostratin and vorinostat.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this model of CCL19-induced HIV latency, we demonstrate HIV integration without spontaneous production of infectious virus, detection of MS RNA in the nucleus only, and the induction of virus production with multiple activating stimuli. These data are consistent with <it>ex vivo </it>findings from latently infected CD4+ T-cells from patients on combination antiretroviral therapy, and therefore provide further support of this model as an excellent <it>in vitro </it>model of HIV latency.</p

Cognitive rehabilitation with virtual reality in people of working age with sequele of stroke: an occupational therapy intervention

O livro de atas da 1ª Conferência Lusófona de Terapia Ocupacional é uma iniciativa do Núcleo de Terapia Ocupacional da RACS (Rede Académica de ciências da Saúde da Lusofonia). Nesta primeira edição, em formato virtual, no seguimento da pandemia que assolou o planeta, foram apresentados assincronamente 15 pósteres em formato vídeo e disponibilizados em https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKUR7eWoyi2QAmZdHuB8qapIIA3PGxPVf . Foram também apresentadas de forma síncrona 14 comunicações livres que resultaram em 13 artigos completos que foram publicados na RevSALUS - Revista Científica Internacional da Rede Académica das Ciências da Saúde da Lusofonia – RACS - https://revsalus.com/index.php/RevSALUS. Uma comunicação oral encontra-se em artigo completo neste livro. Neste livro de Atas encontram-se publicados os resumos dos artigos completos publicados na RevSalus assim com os artigos curtos que originaram os vídeo-pósteres. Com mais de 100 participantes internacionais, esta edição obteve um sucesso considerável atendendo à sua novidade e constrangimentos pandémicos.Introdução: O Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) é das principais causas de morte e de incapacidade motora e cognitiva adquirida. Na componente cognitiva podem surgir alterações em processos e mecanismos cerebrais que podem resultar em perturbações do desempenho ocupacional. A intervenção típica em caso de défices cognitivos baseia-se na utilização dos tradicionais exercícios de lápis e papel, classificados como entediantes e pouco inovadores. Surge então a Realidade Virtual (RV) como recurso terapêutico com atividades diversas, com capacidade de adaptação, possível motivação acrescida e que apresenta bastante diversidade. Objetivo: Esta investigação tem como principal objetivo avaliar a evolução das competências cognitivas decorrentes da intervenção com RV, em pessoas com sequelas de AVC com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e 55 anos. Material e Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo experimental com grupo de controlo de randomização de participantes. Os dados serão recolhidos em dois momentos, antes e após a intervenção. Serão utilizados dois questionários com questões fechadas e abertas, para obtenção de dados sociodemográficos, informações relativas ao estado de saúde do participante e, no fim, a sua satisfação relativamente à intervenção. Para a avaliação das intervenções serão aplicados o MiniMental State Examination (MMSE) e o Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA) como instrumento de avaliação cognitiva. Resultados: Espera-se que na implementação deste projeto se obtenham resultados que comprovem alterações relativas às competências cognitivas, mais acentuadas no grupo experimental, que utiliza a RV como método terapêutico. Conclusão: Este projeto é essencial para a construção científica no campo da reabilitação cognitiva, através da RV.Introduction: Stroke is one of the main causes of death and of acquired motor and cognitive disability. In the cognitive component, alterations may appear in a set of cerebral processes and mechanisms which may result in disturbances in occupational performance. The typical intervention in case of cognitive deficits is based on the use of traditional pencil and paper exercises, often called boring and not very innovative. Faced with this reality, VR has emerged as a therapeutic resource with diverse activities, adaptability, the possibility of increased motivation, and great diversity. Objective: The main objective of this research is to evaluate the evolution of cognitive skills resulting from the intervention with VR in people with stroke sequels with ages between 18 and 55 years old. Material and Methods: This is an experimental study with a control group of randomised participants. Data will be collected in two moments, before and after the intervention. Two questionnaires with closed and open questions will be used to obtain sociodemographic data, information regarding the participant's health status and, at the end, their satisfaction regarding the intervention. The MMSE and LOTCA will be used as cognitive assessment tools to assess the interventions. Results: It is hoped that the implementation of this project will yield results that prove changes in cognitive skills, more pronounced in the experimental group, which uses VR as a therapeutic method. Conclusion: This project is essential for scientific construction in the field of cognitive rehabilitation through VR.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio