Urban Traffic Control and Monitoring - An Approach for the Brazilian Intelligent Cities Project

This paper describes an urban traffic control system which aims at contributing to a more efficient traffic management system in the cities of Brazil. It uses fuzzy sets, case-based reasoning, and genetic algorithms to handle dynamic and unpredictable traffic scenarios, as well as uncertain, incomplete, and inconsistent information. The system is composed by one supervisor and several controller agents, which cooperate with each other to improve the system's results through Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

Optimized Allocation of Control and Protective Devices in Electric Distribution Systems

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Visual information and body sway coupling in infants during sitting acquisition

The purpose of this study was to examine if there is any developmental change in the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants as they acquire the sitting position. Twenty-four infants distributed in four groups (6-, 7-, 8-, and 9-month-old) were sat inside a moving room that oscillated back and forward at frequencies of 0.2 and 0.5 Hz. The results revealed that trunk sway matched to the moving room at both frequencies but did not differ among the four age groups. Coherence and gain revealed that the coupling was weaker at 0.2 than at 0.5 Hz. Relative phase showed that at 0.2 Hz, infants were swaying with no lag but at 0.5 Hz they were lagging the room. These results showed that the coupling between visual information and trunk sway in infants varies with the visual stimulus but does not change as infants acquire the sitting position. © 2001 Elsevier B.V.

Optimized allocation of sectionalizing switches and control and protection devices for reliability indices improvement in distribution systems

Reliability of power supply is related, among other factors, to the control and protection devices allocation in feeders of distribution systems. In this way, optimized allocation of sectionalizing switches and protection devices in strategic points of distribution circuits, improves the quality of power supply and the system reliability indices. In this work, it is presented a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model, with real and binary variables, for the sectionalizing switches and protection devices allocation problem, in strategic sectors, aimed at improving reliability indices, increasing the utilities billing and fulfilling exigencies of regulatory agencies for the power supply. Optimized allocation of protection devices and switches for restoration, allows that those faulted sectors of the system can be isolated and repaired, re-managing loads of the analyzed feeder into the set of neighbor feeders. Proposed solution technique is a Genetic Algorithm (GA) developed exploiting the physical characteristics of the problem. Results obtained through simulations for a real-life circuit, are presented. © 2004 IEEE.

Visual signaling and reproductive biology in a nocturnal treefrog, genus Hyla (Anura: Hylidae)

We investigated reproductive activity, courtship behavior, call structure, body size, clutch size, oviposition site, and reproductive mode of Hyla sp. (aff. ehrhardti). Males called in all months, but showed a peak of activity during the rainy season. Three pair formations were observed and courtship involved stereotyped behavioral sequences, including visual signaling. Males emitted three different vocalization types: advertisement calls, courtship calls, and a vocalization of unknown function. Females attained larger body sizes than males and deposited an average of 74.5 unpigmented eggs per clutch. Early larval stages are aquatic but restricted to water in constructed subterranean nests; subsequent to flooding of nests, exotrophic tadpoles live in ponds or streams. Courtship behavior in Hyla sp. (aff. ehrhardti) is complex and the diverse repertoire of limb movements, exhibited by males, probably provide visual stimuli to females in this nocturnal treefrog. Hyla sp. (aff. ehrhardti) belongs to the H. albomarginata group. Considering the reproductive modes in this group, the complexes of H. albosignata and of H. albofrenata can be considered more close related to each other than to the H. albomarginata complex. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2004.

Genetic effects on preweaning weight gain of Nelore-Hereford calves according to different models and estimation methods

Additive and nonadditive genetic effects on preweaning weight gain (PWG) of a commercial crossbred population were estimated using different genetic models and estimation methods. The data set consisted of 103,445 records on purebred and crossbred Nelore-Hereford calves raised under pasture conditions on farms located in south, southeast, and middle west Brazilian regions. In addition to breed additive and dominance effects, the models including different epistasis covariables were tested. Models considering joint additive and environment (latitude) by genetic effects interactions were also applied. In a first step, analyses were carried out under animal models. In a second step, preadjusted records were analyzed using ordinary least squares (OLS) and ridge regression (RR). The results reinforced evidence that breed additive and dominance effects are not sufficient to explain the observed variability in preweaning traits of Bos taurus x Bos indicus calves, and that genotype x environment interaction plays an important role in the evaluation of crossbred calves. Data were ill-conditioned to estimate the effects of genotype x environment interactions. Models including these effects presented multicolinearity problems. In this case, RR seemed to be a powerful tool for obtaining more plausible and stable estimates. Estimated prediction error variances and variance inflation factors were drastically reduced, and many effects that were not significant under ordinary least squares became significant under RR. Predictions of PWG based on RR estimates were more acceptable from a biological perspective. In temperate and subtropical regions, calves with intermediate genetic compositions (close to 1/2 Nelore) exhibited greater predicted PWG. In the tropics, predicted PWG increased linearly as genotype got closer to Nelore. ©2006 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved.

Virtual instrumentation: A practical approach to control and supervision process

This work describes a control and supervision application takes into account the virtual instrumentation advantages to control and supervision industrial manufacturing stations belonging to the modular production system MPS® by Festo. These stations integrate sensors, actuators, conveyor belt and other industrial elements. The focus in this approach was to replace the use of programmable logic controllers by a computer equipped with a software application based on Labview and, together, performs the functions of traditional instruments and PLCs. The manufacturing stations had their processes modeled and simulated in Petri nets. After the models were implemented in Labview environment. Tests and previous similar works in MPS® installed in Automation Laboratory, at UNESP Sorocaba campus, showed the materials and methods used in this work allow the successful use of virtual instrumentation. The results indicate the technology as an advantageous approach for the automation of industrial processes, with gains in flexibility and reduction in project cost. © 2011 IEEE.

Mobile Robot navigation modelling, control and applications

This work presents and discusses the main topics involved on the design of a mobile robot system and focus on the control and navigation systems for autonomous mobile robots. Introduces the main aspects of the Robot design, which is a holistic vision about all the steps of the development process of an autonomous mobile robot; discusses the problems addressed to the conceptualization of the mobile robot physical structure and its relation to the world. Presents the dynamic and control analysis for navigation robots with kinematic and dynamic model and, for final, presents applications for a robotic platform of Automation, Simulation, Control and Supervision of Mobile Robots Navigation, with studies of dynamic and kinematic modelling, control algorithms, mechanisms for mapping and localization, trajectory planning and the platform simulator. © 2012 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.

Robust control applied to power flow control in single-phase inverter with LCL filter, using droop control and D-stability

This paper proposes a new methodology to control the power flow between a distributed generator (DG) and the electrical power distribution grid. It is used the droop voltage control to manage the active and reactive power. Through this control a sinusoidal voltage reference is generated to be tracked by voltage loop and this loop generates the current reference for the current loop. The proposed control introduces feed-forward states improving the control performance in order to obtain high quality for the current injected to the grid. The controllers were obtained through the linear matrix inequalities (LMI) using the D-stability analysis to allocate the closed-loop controller poles. Therefore, the results show quick transient response with low oscillations. Thus, this paper presents the proposed control technique, the main simulation results and a prototype with 1000VA was developed in the laboratory in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed control. © 2012 IEEE.

Daily biofilm control and oral health: Consensus on the epidemiological challenge-Latin American Advisory Panel

Our understanding of dental plaque biofilm has evolved since the nonspecific plaque hypothesis that considered plaque as a nonspecific mass of native microorganisms that, because of lack of oral hygiene, builds up in proportions great enough to overcome the host resistance threshold and affect the tooth structure and tooth supporting tissues. A great diversity of microorganisms-over 700 species-was detected in the oral cavity, and evidence shows that the investigation of specific microorganisms or associations of microorganisms as etiological agents for periodontal diseases and caries is not a simplistic approach. Although clinical evidence shows that oral mechanical hygiene is fundamental to prevent and control caries and periodontal disease, it is important to highlight that optimal control is not achieved by most individuals. Thus the complementary use of chemotherapeutic agents has been investigated as a way to overcome the deficiencies of mechanical oral hygiene habits, insofar as they reduce both plaque formation and gingival inflammation, and represent a valid strategy to change the biofilm and maintain dental and periodontal health. The role of the dental professional is to monitor patients and offer them the best recommendations to preserve oral health throughout their life. With this in mind, chemical control should be indicated as part of daily oral hygiene, together with mechanical procedures, for all individuals who present supragingival and/or subgingival biofilm, taking into account age, physical and/or psychological limitations, allergies, and other factors.

Extended Daily Dialysis in Acute Kidney Injury Patients: Metabolic and Fluid Control and Risk Factors for Death

Intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) and continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRT) are used as Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) therapy and have certain advantages and disadvantages. Extended daily dialysis (EDD) has emerged as an alternative to CRRT in the management of hemodynamically unstable AKI patients, mainly in developed countries.Objectives: We hypothesized that EDD is a safe option for AKI treatment and aimed to describe metabolic and fluid control of AKI patients undergoing EDD and identify complications and risk factors associated with death.Study Selection: This is an observational and retrospective study describing introduction of EDD at our institution. A total of 231 hemodynamically unstable AKI patients (noradrenalin dose between 0.3 and 1.0 ucg/kg/min) were assigned to 1367 EDD session. EDD consisted of 6-8 h of HD 6 days a week, with blood flow of 200 ml/min, dialysate flows of 300 ml/min.Data Synthesis: Mean age was 60.6 +/- 15.8 years, 97.4% of patients were in the intensive care unit, and sepsis was the main etiology of AKI (76.2). BUN and creatinine levels stabilized after four sessions at around 38 and 2.4 mg/dl, respectively. Fluid balance decreased progressively and stabilized around zero after five sessions. Weekly delivered Kt/V was 5.94 +/- 0.7. Hypotension and filter clotting occurred in 47.5 and 12.4% of treatment session, respectively. Regarding AKI outcome, 22.5% of patients presented renal function recovery, 5.6% of patients remained on dialysis after 30 days, and 71.9% of patients died. Age and focus abdominal sepsis were identified as risk factors for death. Urine output and negative fluid balance were identified as protective factors.Conclusions: EDD is effective for AKI patients, allowing adequate metabolic and fluid control. Age, focus abdominal sepsis, and lower urine output as well as positive fluid balance after two EDD sessions were associated significantly with death.

Benefits of Multimodal Exercise Intervention for Postural Control and Frontal Cognitive Functions in Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease: A Controlled Trial

Objective To verify the effects of a systematized multimodal exercise intervention program on frontal cognitive function, postural control, and functional capacity components of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD).DesignNonrandomized controlled trial with pre- and posttraining tests in a training group and a control group.SettingKinesiotherapy program for seniors with AD, SAo Paulo State University.ParticipantsConvenience sample of older adults with AD (n=30) were assigned to a training (n=14; aged 78.67.1) and a control (n=16; aged 77.06.3) group.InterventionThe intervention program was structured with the aim of simultaneously promoting better balance and frontal cognitive capacity. The participants attended a 1-hour session three times a week for 16weeks, whereas the control group did not participate in any activity during the same period.MeasurementsFrontal cognitive function was evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Clock Drawing Test, the Frontal Assessment Battery, and the Symbol Search Subtest. Postural control (center of pressure area) was analyzed under four dual-task conditions. Functional capacity components were analyzed using the Timed Up and Go Test, the 30-second sit-to-stand test, the sit-and-reach test, and the Berg Functional Balance Scale.ResultsIntervention group participants showed a significant increase in frontal cognitive function (P<.001, partial (2)=0.838), with less body sway (P=.04, partial (2)=0.04) during the dual tasks, and greater functional capacity (P=.001, partial (2)=0.676) after the 16-week period.ConclusionIntervention participants performed better on dual-task activities and had better postural balance and greater functional capacity than controls.