Algoritmos genéricos para otimização de uma arquitetura de controle inteligente híerárquico

A hierarchical fuzzy control scheme is applied to improve vibration suppression by using an electro-mechanical system based on the lever principle. The hierarchical intelligent controller consists of a hierarchical fuzzy supervisor, one fuzzy controller and one robust controller. The supervisor combines controllers output signal to generate the control signal that will be applied on the plant. The objective is to improve the performance of the electromechanical system, considering that the supervisor could take advantage of the different techniques based controllers. The robust controller design is based on a linear mathematical model. Genetic algorithms are used on the fuzzy controller and the supervisor tuning, which are based on non-linear mathematical model. In order to attest the efficiency of the hierarchical fuzzy control scheme, digital simulations were employed. Some comparisons involving the optimized hierarchical controller and the non-optimized hierarchical controller will be made to prove the efficiency of the genetic algorithms and the advantages of its use

Desenvolvimento de software para simulação de motores com dispositivos de partida baseada na integração do atp com o toprede

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Regulador automático de tensão robusto utilizando técnicas de controle adaptativo

The stability of synchronous generators connected to power grid has been the object of study and research for years. The interest in this matter is justified by the fact that much of the electricity produced worldwide is obtained with the use of synchronous generators. In this respect, studies have been proposed using conventional and unconventional control techniques such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, and adaptive controllers to increase the stabilitymargin of the systemduring sudden failures and transient disturbances. Thismaster thesis presents a robust unconventional control strategy for maintaining the stability of power systems and regulation of output voltage of synchronous generators connected to the grid. The proposed control strategy comprises the integration of a sliding surface with a linear controller. This control structure is designed to prevent the power system losing synchronism after a sudden failure and regulation of the terminal voltage of the generator after the fault. The feasibility of the proposed control strategy was experimentally tested in a salient pole synchronous generator of 5 kVA in a laboratory structure

O imaginário da mediunidade no processo de escritura em Fernando Pessoa

The answer to creating a fictional world? Repulsion or form of reaction to an outside world? Mental illness, whose brand can be symbolic simulation or depersonalization? Hard to take a stand when the deed is a poet Fernando Pessoa as what is at stake. Notes Schlafman Léo (1998) who, at the age of 20 years, Fernando Pessoa wrote in English, in his diary, "One of my mental complications is the fear of madness, which in itself already is crazy." What rid of madness, notes Robert Bréchon (1986), was the taste of the game and was playing it for your writing. Even though it has rid the madness, the poet does not quit seeking explanations - or provide it - for the phenomena much bother him, or defined.'s where we come across the alignment of Fernando Pessoa within philosophical as occultism and reading about psychological and mental disorders treated. paths were pursued by him to explain the existence of his heteronyms and its entry process. This work therefore presents main objective: to analyze the personal papers of Fernando Pessoa, whose outstanding feature is the presence of occult and alleged mediumship demonstrations held in response to non-literary and heteronímicas. Therefore, I focused on specific goals, which are: a) to study the speech of Fernando Pessoa on his mediumship / occult b) analyzing specific texts that are, for the poet, psychic demonstrations, c) study of a series of excerpts personal letters in which Fernando Pessoa suggested to be a medium. Admittedly, this essay will touch many arguments already made by scholars and experts of Fernando Pessoa, but consider the possibility of developing issues and contribute to the critical fortune of the poet. We assume that announces the Portuguese scholar Jerome Pizarro (2006), one of the greatest scholars of the work Pessoan: those interested in Fernando Pessoa be lost in the maze created by him. It is the image of a person-Minotaur, devouring all but, holding us in its labyrinthine tessitura, as marked by mystery. Will draw on our analysis, a theory aligned themselves to objects of research, whose main authors are Sigmund Freud (1908) Carl Jung (1991.1996). Gaston Bachelard (1996), Helena Blavatsky (2008), among others

Força muscular respiratória e capacidade funcional em idosas hipertensas com sonolência diurna excessiva

The restriction of physical fitness is directly related with hypertension and sleep disorders, while the respiratory muscle strength is associated with hypertension, but the literature is scarce regarding its relationship with sleep disorders and particularly with excessive daytime sleepiness. Objectives: To compare physical fitness and strength of respiratory muscles between people with hypertension with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and non EDS people, those who do not feel excessive daytime sleepiness, in addition to relate aerobics resistance and functional mobility of patients. Methods: An observational, analytical and transversal study, evaluated 32 elderly with hypertension, divided into two groups (EDS and non EDS), in which the following topics were measured; respiratory muscular strength, functional fitness, level of physical activity, level of excessive daytime sleepiness, quality of sleep and intensity of the patients snoring. Results: There was a significant difference in the level of EDS (P=0,00) and quality of sleep (p=0,03), however, the data related to snoring intensity (p=0,18), maximum inspiratory pressure PImax (p=0,39) and maximum expiratory pressure PEmax (p=0,98) did not show any difference. Also, no significant difference was observed concerning physical fitness, presenting p=0,08 for the sitting and getting up test on the chair in 30 ; p=0,54 for the extension and flexing of the elbow test in 30 ; p=0,38 for the walking test 6 ; p=0,38 for the parking gear test 2 , p=0,08 for the sitting and reaching test; p=0,42 for the scratching the back test; p=0,49 for the getting up and walking test; and p=0,62 for the global rate of activity limitation. There was moderate positive correlation between 6MWT and 2MST, r=0,54 (p=0,01) and negative moderate correlation between 6MWT and TUG, r=-0,61 (p=0,000) and between 2MST and TUG, r=-0,60 (p=0,000). Conclusion: The presence of EDS in the hypertension people studied, showed a bad quality of sleep, however this sleepiness did not influence the strength of the respiratory muscles. The physical fitness came out diminished in all hypertension people, regardless of the presence or non presence of sleep disturbance; and there is a close relationship between cardiovascular resistance and physical mobility, since when there is less cardiovascular resistance, there is precarious physical mobility and vice-versa

Avaliação da função pulmonar em obesos mórbidos com sonolência diurna excessiva

Background: Obesity impairment to the pulmonary function related to the magnitude of adiposity and is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and snoring, among others symptoms of respiratory disorders related to sleep. It is possible that obese individuals with excessive daytime sleepiness may make changes in lung function on spirometry monitored during the day as a consequence of fragmented sleep or episodes of nocturnal hypoventilation that cause respiratory and changes that can persist throughout the day. The combination of these findings alone sleepiness observed by subjective scales with pulmonary function in obese patients is unknown. Objective: To assess the influence of EDS and snoring on pulmonary function in morbidly obese and distinguish between different anthropometric markers, the snoring and sleepiness which the best predictors of spirometric function and respiratory muscle strength and endurance of these patients. Methods: We evaluated 40 morbidly obese markers on the anthropometric, spirometric respiratory variables, maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIP and MEP) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) and the measured excessive daytime sleepiness (the Epworth sleepiness scale) and snoring (snoring scale of Stanford). The data were treated when the differences between the groups of obese patients with and without sleepiness, whereas the anthropometric variables, respiratory and snoring. Pearson's correlation was performed, and multiple regression analysis assessed the predictors of pulmonary function. For this we used the software SPSS 15.0 for windows and p <0.05. Results: 39 obese patients were included (28 women), age 36.92+11.97y, body mass index (BMI) 49.3+5.1kg/m², waist-hip ratio (WHR) 0.96+0.07 and neck circumference (NC) 44.1+4.2 cm. Spirometric values and respiratory pressures were up 80% of predicted values, except for endurance (MVV <80%). Obese with EDS have lower tidal volume. Positive correlation was observed between BMI and EDS, EDS and NC and between snoring and BMI, and negative correlation between EDS and tidal volume (TV), and between snoring and snoring FVC and FEV1. In linear regression the best predictor of pulmonary function was snoring, followed by NC. NC has more obese with higher strength (MEP, p = 0.031) and endurance (MVV p = 0.018) respiratory muscle. Conclusion: Obese with EDS tend to have lower TV. In addition, snoring and NC can better predict pulmonary function in obese when compared with other anthropometric markers or EDS. Obese patients with higher NC tend to have greater capacity for overall strength of respiratory muscles, but may have low muscle endurance

Influência da fadiga no comportamento neuromuscular do quadríceps femoral, após reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior

Muscle fatigue is a phenomenon that promotes physiological and biomechanical disorders and their changes in healthy subjects have been widely studied and have significant importance for care in preventing injuries, but we do not have many information about its effects in patients after ACL reconstruction. Thus, this study is to analyze the effects of fatigue on neuromuscular behavior of quadriceps after ACL reconstruction. To reach this objective, participants were forty men, twenty healthy (26,90 ± 6,29 years) and twenty after ACL reconstruction (29,75 ± 7,01 years) with a graft of semitendinosus and gracilis tendons, between four to six months after surgery. At first, there was an assessment of joint position sense (JPS) at the isokinetic dynamometer at a speed of 5°/s and target angle of 45° to analyze the absolute error of JPS. Next, we applied the a muscle fatigue protocol, running 100 repetitions of isokinetic knee flexion-extension at 90°/s. Concurrently with this protocol, there was the assessment of muscle performance, as the peak torque (PT) and fatigue index, and electromyographic activity (RMS and median frequency). Finally, we repeated the assessment of JPS. The statistical analysis showed that patients after ACL reconstruction have, even under normal conditions, the amended JPS compared with healthy subjects and that after fatigue, both have disturbances in the JPS, but this alteration is significantly exacerbated in patients after ACL reconstruction. About muscle performance, we could notice that these patients have a lower PT, although there are no differences between the dynamometric and EMG fatigue index. These findings show the necessity about the cares of pacients with ACL reconstruction in respect of the risks of articulate instability and overload in ligamentar graft

Efeitos da prática mental na marcha de indivíduos com doença de parkinson: ensaio clínico randomizado

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Interferindo com oscilações de alta frequência no hipocampo epiléptico: consequências para as crises espontâneas

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Caracterização comportamental e distribuição de neurônios inibitórios em um modelo animal de autismo induzido por ácido valpróico

Autism comprises a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affects the brain maturation and produces sensorial, motor, language and social interaction deficits in early childhood. Several studies have shown a major involvement of genetic factors leading to a predisposition to autism, which are possibly affected by environmental modulators during embryonic and post-natal life. Recent studies in animal models indicate that alterations in epigenetic control during development can generate neuronal maturation disturbances and produce a hyper-excitable circuit, resulting in typical symptoms of autism. In the animal model of autism induced by valproic acid (VPA) during rat pregnancy, behavioral, electrophysiological and cellular alterations have been reported which can also be observed in patients with autism. However, only a few studies have correlated behavioral alterations with the supposed neuronal hyper-excitability in this model. The aim of this project was to generate an animal model of autism by pre-natal exposure to VPA and evaluate the early post-natal development and pre-puberal (PND30) behavior in the offspring. Furthermore, we quantified the parvalbumin-positive neuronal distribution in the medial prefrontal cortex and Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of VPA animals. Our results show that VPA treatment induced developmental alterations, which were observed in behavioral changes as compared to vehicle-treated controls. VPA animals showed clear behavioral abnormalities such as hyperlocomotion, prolonged stereotipies and reduced social interaction with an unfamiliar mate. Cellular quantification revealed a decrease in the number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and in the prelimbic cortex of the mPFC, suggesting an excitatory/inhibitory unbalance in this animal model of autism. Moreover, we also observed that the neuronal reduction occurred mainly in the cortical layers II/III and V/VI. We did not detect any change in the density of Purkinje neurons in the Crus I region of the cerebellar cortex. Together, our results strengthens the face validity of the VPA model in rats and shed light on specific changes in the inhibitory circuitry of the prefrontal cortex in this autism model. Further studies should address the challenges to clarify particular electrophysiological correlates of the cellular alterations in order to better understand the behavioral dysfunctions

Revisitando o eletrocorticograma intra-operatório na epilepsia mesial do lobo temporal: relevância das oscilações de alta frequência

Epilepsies are neurological disorders characterized by recurrent and spontaneous seizures due to an abnormal electric activity in a brain network. The mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most prevalent type of epilepsy in adulthood, and it occurs frequently in association with hippocampal sclerosis. Unfortunately, not all patients benefit from pharmacological treatment (drug-resistant patients), and therefore become candidates for surgery, a procedure of high complexity and cost. Nowadays, the most common surgery is the anterior temporal lobectomy with selective amygdalohippocampectomy, a procedure standardized by anatomical markers. However, part of patients still present seizure after the procedure. Then, to increase the efficiency of this kind of procedure, it is fundamental to know the epileptic human brain in order to create new tools for auxiliary an individualized surgery procedure. The aim of this work was to identify and quantify the occurrence of epilepticform activity -such as interictal spikes (IS) and high frequency oscillations (HFO) - in electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals acutely recorded during the surgery procedure in drug-resistant patients with MTLE. The ECoG recording (32 channels at sample rate of 1 kHz) was performed in the surface of temporal lobe in three moments: without any cortical resection, after anterior temporal lobectomy and after amygdalohippocampectomy (mean duration of each record: 10 min; N = 17 patients; ethic approval #1038/03 in Research Ethic Committee of Federal University of São Paulo). The occurrence of IS and HFO was quantified automatically by MATLAB routines and validated manually. The events rate (number of events/channels) in each recording time was correlated with seizure control outcome. In 8 hours and 40 minutes of record, we identified 36,858 IS and 1.756 HFO. We observed that seizure-free outcome patients had more HFO rate before the resection than non-seizure free, however do not differentiate in relation of frequency, morphology and distribution of IS. The HFO rate in the first record was better than IS rate on prediction of seizure-free patients (IS: AUC = 57%, Sens = 70%, Spec = 71% vs HFO: AUC = 77%, Sens = 100%, Spec = 70%). We observed the same for the difference of the rate of pre and post-resection (IS: AUC = 54%, Sens = 60%, Spec = 71%; vs HFO: AUC = 84%, Sens = 100%, Spec = 80%). In this case, the algorithm identifies all seizure-free patients (N = 7) with two false positives. To conclude, we observed that the IS and HFO can be found in intra-operative ECoG record, despite the anesthesia and the short time of record. The possibility to classify the patients before any cortical resection suggest that ECoG can be important to decide the use of adjuvant pharmacological treatment or to change for tailored resection procedure. The mechanism responsible for this effect is still unknown, thus more studies are necessary to clarify the processes related to it

Administração repetida de baixas doses de reserpina: um possível modelo para o estudo de déficits cognitivos e motores associados à Doença de Parkinson

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative brain disorders and is characterized primarily by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons nigroestriatais. The main symptoms of this disease are motor alterations (bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor at rest), which can be highly disabling in advanced stages of the condition. However, there are symptomatic manifestations other than motor impairment, such as changes in cognition, mood and sensory systems. Animal models that attempt to mimic clinical features of PD have been used to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying neurophysiological disturbance of this disease. However, most models promote an intense and immediate motor impairment, consistent with advanced stages of the disease, invalidating these studies for the evaluation of its progressive nature. The administration of reserpine (a monoamine depletor) in rodents has been considered an animal model for studying PD. Recently we found that reserpine (in doses lower than those usually employed to produce the motor symptoms) promotes a memory deficit in an aversive discrimination task, without changing the motor activity. It was suggested that the administration of this drug in low doses can be useful for the study of memory deficits found in PD. Corroborating this data, in another study, acute subcutaneous administration of reserpine, while preserving motor function, led to changes in emotional context-related (but not neutral) memory tasks. The goal of this research was to study the cognitive and motor deficits in rats repeatedly treated with low doses of reserpine, as a possible model that simulates the progressive nature of the PD. For this purpose, 5-month-old male Wistar rats were submitted to a repeated treatment with vehicle or different doses of reserpine on alternate days. Cognitive and motor parameters and possible changes in neuronal function were evaluated during treatment. The main findings were: repeated administration of 0.1 mg / kg of reserpine in rats is able to induce the gradual appearance of motor signs compatible with progressive features found in patients with PD; an increase in striatal levels of oxidative stress and changes in the concentrations of glutamate in the striatum were observed five days after the end of treatment; in animals repeatedly-treated with 0. 1 mg/kg, cognitive deficits were observed only after the onset of motor symptoms, but not prior to the onset of these symptoms; 0.2 mg / kg reserpine repeated treatment has jeopardized the cognitive assessment due to the presence of severe motor deficits. Thus, we suggest that the protocol of treatment with reserpine used in this work is a viable alternative for studies of the progressive appearance of parkinsonian signs in rats, especially concerning motor symptoms. As for the cognitive symptoms, we suggest that more studies are needed, possibly using other behavioral models, and / or changing the treatment regimen

Efeitos da prática de Yoga na memória e em parâmetros psicológicos e fisiológicos de indivíduos saudáveis

Techniques of mind & body control seem to benefit human organism in general and cognition in particular, because they involve a mindfulness practice. However, there is still a scarcity of studies with well-controlled methods to investigate the possible effects of Yoga practice. In this study, we investigated the effects of regular Yoga practice, based on Yoga postures (asanas), breathing techniques, and meditation exercises, on memory and physiologic and psychological parameters related to quality of life. There were significant improvements on performance tasks of short term memory and long term memory. We also observed significant beneficial effects on psychological and physiological parameters such as mood, anxiety, depression, stress, and modulation of the autonomic nervous system in Yoga practitioners group compared to the conventional physical exercises group. The results suggest the possible influences of stress, emotional state and mental training on cognitive effects of yoga practice. Our results support the indication of practice of Yoga for the treatment or prevention of stress, psychological disorders and their possible cognitive consequences

Saguis (Callithrix jacchus) sob ciclo claro-escuro de 21 h: um modelo de dessincronização forçada em primata diurno

The circadian system consists of multiple oscillators organized hierarchically, with the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) as the master oscillator to mammalians. There are lots of evidences that each SCN cell is an oscillator and that entrainment depends upon coupling degree between them. Knowledge of the mechanism of coupling between the SCN cells is essential for understanding entrainment and expression of circadian rhythms, and thus promote the development of new treatments for circadian rhythmicity disorders, which may cause various diseases. Some authors suggest that the dissociation model of circadian rhythm activity of rats under T22, period near the limit of synchronization, is a good model to induce internal desynchronization, and in this way, enhance knowledge about the coupling mechanism. So, in order to evaluate the pattern of the motor activity circadian rhythm of marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, in light-dark cycles at the lower limit of entrainment, two experiments were conducted: 1) 6 adult females were submitted to the LD symmetric cycles T21, T22 and T21.5 for 60, 35 and 48 days, respectively; 2) 4 male and 4 female adults were subjected to T21 for 24 days followed by 18 days of LL, and then back to T21 for 24 days followed by 14 days of LL. Vocalizations of all animals and motor activity of each one of them were continuously recorded throughout the experiments, but the vocalizations were recorded only in Experiment 1. Under the Ts shorter than 24 h, two simultaneous circadian components appeared in motor activity, one with the same period of LD cycle, named light-entrained component, and the other in free-running, named non-light-entrained component. Both components were displayed for all the animals in T21, five animals (83.3%) in T21.5 and two animals (33.3%) in T22. For vocalizations both components were observed under the three Ts. Due to the different characteristics of these components we suggest that dissociation is result of partial synchronization to the LD cycle, wherein at least one group oscillator is synchronized to the LD by relative coordination and masking processes, while at least another group of oscillators is in free-running, but also under the influence of masking by the LD. As the T21 h was the only cycle able to promote the emergence of both circadian components in circadian rhythms of all Callithrix jacchus, this was then considered the lower entrainment limit of LD cycle promoter of dissociation in circadian rhythmicity of this species, and then suggested as a non-human primate model for forced desynchronization

Comportamento e ecologia acústica da baleia jubarte (Megaptera novaeangliae) na região Nordeste do Brasil

The acoustic ecology concept involve the relation between the live organisms and their sound environment and is applied in the present work to study the context in which the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) singing behavior, known as the most complex display in the nature, occurred in the northeastern Brazilian coast, outside the core area of Abrolhos Bank, between 2005 and 2010.I analyze the singer male occurrence , their spatial distribution and probable relations with oceanographic features, such as depth, tide regimen and moon phases. I also describe the acoustic structure and temporal variation of the singing behavior, based on song frequency and time measurements outside the Abrolhos Bank, and further compare the song complexity, registered in the same period, between Abrolhos Bank (16°- 19° S, 37°- 39° W) and the adjacent North Coast, herein considered from Itacaré (14° S, 38° W) to Aracaju (11° S, 37° W). Additionally, I look for describe and analyze anthropogenic noise sources in the marine environment of the study area, produced by the oil industry as well as by the whale watching operation, relating their frequencies to the acoustic niche utilized by the humpbacks. The results indicated a great plasticity in the singing behavior, evidenced by the occurrence of singer males in diverse social structures, from solitary individuals to other groups, even containing females and calves, as well as by the diversity which compound the song, when compared between two regions inside the same breeding area, which present distinct oceanographic characteristics. The singer male distribution may be related with the continental shelf extent along the study area. The anthropogenic noise presented frequency range, amplitude and sound intensity in potential to interfere acoustically in the singing behavior of the species, may resulting in disturbance during the breeding season in the Brazilian coast. Implications about the obtained results in the humpback whale mating system are discussed. In this way, I pretend to contribute with the acoustic ecology subject and provide information to subsidize humpback whale conservation