Zeros of Jacobi functions of second kind

The number of zeros in (- 1, 1) of the Jacobi function of second kind Q(n)((alpha, beta)) (x), alpha, beta > - 1, i.e. The second solution of the differential equation(1 - x(2))y (x) + (beta - alpha - (alpha + beta + 2)x)y' (x) + n(n + alpha + beta + 1)y(x) = 0,is determined for every n is an element of N and for all values of the parameters alpha > - 1 and beta > - 1. It turns out that this number depends essentially on alpha and beta as well as on the specific normalization of the function Q(n)((alpha, beta)) (x). Interlacing properties of the zeros are also obtained. As a consequence of the main result, we determine the number of zeros of Laguerre's and Hermite's functions of second kind. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extended Cahill-Glauber formalism for finite-dimensional spaces. II. Applications in quantum tomography and quantum teleportation

By means of a mod(N)-invariant operator basis, s-parametrized phase-space functions associated with bounded operators in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space are introduced in the context of the extended Cahill-Glauber formalism, and their properties are discussed in details. The discrete Glauber-Sudarshan, Wigner, and Husimi functions emerge from this formalism as specific cases of s-parametrized phase-space functions where, in particular, a hierarchical process among them is promptly established. In addition, a phase-space description of quantum tomography and quantum teleportation is presented and new results are obtained.

Voz do cantor lírico e coordenação motora: uma intervenção baseada em Piret e Béziers

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Terapia de linguagem de irmãos com transtornos invasivos do desenvolvimento: estudo longitudinal

O objetivo deste trabalho foi descrever o processo de intervenção fonoaudiológica de dois irmãos com transtornos invasivos do desenvolvimento, por meio de um estudo longitudinal de caso clínico. Participaram dois irmãos, um de nove e outro de 11 anos de idade, ambos do gênero masculino, com autismo (Caso 1) e transtorno invasivo do desenvolvimento sem outra especificação (Caso 2). Como procedimento de coleta e análise de dados foi realizado um estudo longitudinal, por meio de acompanhamento dos casos ao longo de quatro anos de intervenção fonoaudiológica. Foram realizadas filmagens durante as sessões de terapia, análise documental de informações dos prontuários referentes à anamnese, avaliação e relatórios terapêuticos fonoaudiológicos, exames e avaliações multidisciplinares. em ambos os casos houve melhora no contato visual, na interação social, no vocabulário e na brincadeira simbólica. No Caso 1 ocorreu aumento de 2,0 para 6,2 atos comunicativos por minuto, no Caso 2 de 3,5 para 8,0 atos e ambos demonstraram predominância do meio verbal e maior variedade de funções comunicativas. Outros fatores influenciaram estes resultados, como a deficiência intelectual, a dinâmica familiar, os conflitos no relacionamento entre os irmãos e o ambiente escolar em que estavam inseridos. Confirmou-se a relevância do fonoaudiólogo em intervenções nos transtornos invasivos do desenvolvimento, junto a equipes multidisciplinares, para a discussão diagnóstica e de condutas mais adequadas. Estudos longitudinais podem contribuir para uma análise mais detalhada e fidedigna de intervenções terapêuticas nesses casos, para esclarecer lacunas existentes na literatura e subsidiar a atuação do fonoaudiólogo clínico.

Caracterização do perfil comunicativo de crianças com distúrbios do espectro autístico com diferentes interlocutores

OBJETIVO: caracterizar e comparar o perfil comunicativo de crianças com distúrbios do espectro autístico com dois diferentes interlocutores. MÉTODO: participaram da pesquisa nove sujeitos, sendo quatro crianças do gênero masculino, com faixa etária variando entre cinco anos e oito meses e onze anos, com distúrbios do espectro autístico e cinco terapeutas de linguagem. Foram realizadas análises do perfil comunicativo dessas crianças com os dois diferentes interlocutores (terapeuta de linguagem da própria criança e terapeuta desconhecida). Para análise dos dados foi empregado o Protocolo de Pragmática e tratamento estatístico dos resultados (p < 0,05; Teste dos Postos Sinalizados de Wilcoxon). RESULTADOS: foram levantados o número de atos comunicativos, o meio pelo qual esses atos foram expressos (vocal, verbal e gestual) e as funções comunicativas. em média, o número de atos comunicativos expressos pelos sujeitos tanto com os terapeutas das próprias crianças (5,10 atos/min) como com a terapeuta desconhecida (4,93 atos/min) não foi estatisticamente significante. Observou-se na situação de interação com o próprio terapeuta que a média do percentual da ocorrência do meio comunicativo verbal (31,50%) e a média de funções mais interativas (33,25%) são maiores do que com terapeuta desconhecida. CONCLUSÃO: os diferentes interlocutores, estudados nesta pesquisa, não tiveram uma influência no perfil comunicativo destas crianças. Deste modo, sugerem-se novos estudos, com inclusão de outros interlocutores, a fim de estabelecer quais variáveis interacionais interferem estatisticamente no perfil comunicativo de crianças do espectro autístico, com o intuito de contribuir para a elaboração de melhores propostas terapêuticas para esta população.

Urocortin in the central nervous system of a primate (Cebus apella): Sequencing, immunohistochemical, and hybridization histochemical characterization

The urocortin (UCN)-like immunoreactivity and UCN mRNA distribution in various regions of the nonprimate mammalian brain have been reported. However, the Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EW) appears to be the only brain site where UCN expression is conserved across species. Although UCN peptides are present throughout vertebrate phylogeny, the functional roles of both UCN and EW remain poorly understood. Therefore, a study focused on UCN system organization in the primate brain is warranted. By using immunohistochemistry (single and double labeling) and in situ hybridization, we have characterized the organization of UCN-expressing cells and fibers in the central nervous system and pituitary of the capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). In addition, the sequence of the prepro-UCN was determined to establish the level of structural conservation relative to the human sequence. To understand the relationship of acetylcholine cells in the EW, a colocalization study comparing choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and UCN was also performed. The cloned monkey prepro-UCN is 95% identical to the human preprohormone across the matched sequences. By using an antiserum raised against rat UCN and a probe generated from human cDNA, we found that the EW is the dominant site for UCN expression, although UCN mRNA is also expressed in spinal cord lamina IX. Labeled axons and terminals were distributed diffusely throughout many brain regions and along the length of the spinal cord. of particular interest were UCN-immunoreactive inputs to the medial preoptic area, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, the oral part of the spinal trigeminal nucleus, the flocculus of the cerebellum, and the spinal cord laminae VII and X. We found no UCN hybridization signal in the pituitary. In addition, we observed no colocalization between ChAT and UCN in EW neurons. Our results support the hypothesis that the UCN system might participate in the control of autonomic, endocrine, and sensorimotor functions in primates.

UNITARY POLE APPROXIMATION FOR THE COULOMB-PLUS-YAMAGUCHI POTENTIAL AND APPLICATION TO A 3-BODY BOUND-STATE CALCULATION

The unitary pole approximation is used to construct a separable representation for a potential U which consists of a Coulomb repulsion plus an attractive potential of the Yamaguchi type. The exact bound-state wave function is employed. U is chosen as the potential which binds the proton in the 1d5/2 single-particle orbit in F-17. Using the separable representation derived for U, and assuming a separable Yamaguchi potential to describe the 1d5/2 neutron in O-17, the energies and wave functions of the ground state (1+) and the lowest 0+ state of F-18 are calculated in the Gore-plus-two-nucleons model solving the Faddeev equations.

Experimental and theoretical study of the compound [Pd(dmba)(NCO)(imz)]

The compound [Pd(dmba)(NCO)(imz)] (dmba = N,N-dimethylbenzilamine; NCO = cyanate; imz = imidazole) was studied through experimental and theoretical methods. The complex was synthesized and characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy. To an appropriate representation of the molecular environment, Gaussian basis sets for the constituent atoms of the compound were built and, after adequate supplementation with polarization and diffuse functions, they were used to study the molecule. Calculations of electronic and vibrational structure of two possible isomers were carried out, showing that the compound, which contains the NCO GROUP trans to the Pd-C bond, is 4.29 kcal/mol more stable than the analogous one, where the imz ligand is trans to the Pd-C bond. The calculated molecular parameters, bond distances, and bond angles showed that the geometry around the metallic center is square-planar with the cyanate being linear. The theoretical infrared spectrum of C(1) symmetry (electronic state (1)A) is in accordance with the experimental one. It also verified the contribution of Pd (4d(xz) + 4d(yz)) and Pd (4d(xy)) in the HOMO and LUMO orbitals, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Altered Glucose Homeostasis and Hepatic Function in Obese Mice Deficient for Both Kinin Receptor Genes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Oriented texture classification based on self-organizing neural network and Hough transform

This paper presents a technique for oriented texture classification which is based on the Hough transform and Kohonen's neural network model. In this technique, oriented texture features are extracted from the Hough space by means of two distinct strategies. While the first operates on a non-uniformly sampled Hough space, the second concentrates on the peaks produced in the Hough space. The described technique gives good results for the classification of oriented textures, a common phenomenon in nature underlying an important class of images. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the new technique in comparison, with an implemented technique based on Gabor filters.

Plasma levels of transthyretin and retinol-binding protein in child-a cirrhotic patients in relation to protein-calorie status and plasma amino acids, zinc, vitamin a and plasma thyroid hormones

Transthyretin and retinal-binding protein are sensitive markers of acute protein-calorie malnutrition both for early diagnosis and dietary evaluation. A preliminary study showed that retinal-binding protein is the most sensitive marker of protein-calorie malnutrition in cirrhotic patients, even those with the mild form of the disease (Child A). However, in addition to being affected by protein-calorie malnutrition, the levels of these short half-life-liver-produced proteins are also influenced by other factors of a nutritional (zinc, tryptophan, vitamin A, etc) and non-nutritional (sex, aging, hormones, renal and liver functions and inflammatory activity) nature. These interactions were investigated in 11 adult male patients (49.9 ± 9.2 years of age) with alcoholic cirrhosis (Child-Pugh grade A) and with normal renal function. Both transthyretin and retinol binding protein were reduced below normal levels in 55% of the patients, in close agreement with their plasma levels of retinal. In 67% of the patients (4/6), the reduced levels of transthyretin and retinal-binding protein were caused by altered liver function and in 50% (3/6) they were caused by protein-calorie malnutrition. Thus, the present data, taken as a whole, indicate that reduced transthyretin and retinal-binding protein levels in mild cirrhosis of the liver are mainly due to liver failure and/or vitamin A status rather than representing an isolated protein-calorie malnutrition indicator.

Composition for a class of generalized functions in Colombeau's theory

In Colombeau's theory, given an open subset Ω of ℝn, there is a differential algebra G(Ω) of generalized functions which contains in a natural way the space D′(Ω) of distributions as a vector subspace. There is also a simpler version of the algebra G,(Ω). Although this subalgebra does not contain, in canonical way, the space D′(Ω) is enough for most applications. This work is developed in the simplified generalized functions framework. In several applications it is necessary to compute higher intrinsic derivatives of generalized functions, and since these derivatives are multilinear maps, it is necessary to define the space of generalized functions in Banach spaces. In this article we introduce the composite function for a special class of generalized mappings (defined in open subsets of Banach spaces with values in Banach spaces) and we compute the higher intrinsic derivative of this composite function.

Pseudospin symmetry and the relativistic harmonic oscillator

A generalized relativistic harmonic oscillator for spin 1/2 particles is studied. The Dirac Hamiltonian contains a scalar S and a vector V quadratic potentials in the radial coordinate, as well as a tensor potential U linear in r. Setting either or both combinations Σ=5+V and δ=V-S to zero, analytical solutions for bound states of the corresponding Dirac equations are found. The eigenenergies and wave functions are presented and particular cases are discussed, devoting a special attention to the nonrelativistic limit and the case Σ=0, for which pseudospin symmetry is exact. We also show that the case U=δ=0 is the most natural generalization of the nonrelativistic harmonic oscillator. The radial node structure of the Dirac spinor is studied for several combinations of harmonic-oscillator potentials, and that study allows us to explain why nuclear intruder levels cannot be described in the framework of the relativistic harmonic oscillator in the pseudospin limit.

Robust and fast vowel recognition using optimum-path forest

The applications of Automatic Vowel Recognition (AVR), which is a sub-part of fundamental importance in most of the speech processing systems, vary from automatic interpretation of spoken language to biometrics. State-of-the-art systems for AVR are based on traditional machine learning models such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs), however, such classifiers can not deal with efficiency and effectiveness at the same time, existing a gap to be explored when real-time processing is required. In this work, we present an algorithm for AVR based on the Optimum-Path Forest (OPF), which is an emergent pattern recognition technique recently introduced in literature. Adopting a supervised training procedure and using speech tags from two public datasets, we observed that OPF has outperformed ANNs, SVMs, plus other classifiers, in terms of training time and accuracy. ©2010 IEEE.

Simulation of dynamic pinion course using Runge-Kutta's method and impact modeling

Once defined the relationship between the Starter Motor components and their functions, it is possible to develop a mathematical model capable to predict the Starter behavior during operation. One important aspect is the engagement system behavior. The development of a mathematical tool capable of predicting it is a valuable step in order to reduce the design time, cost and engineering efforts. A mathematical model, represented by differential equations, can be developed using physics laws, evaluating force balance and energy flow through the systems degrees of freedom. Another important physical aspect to be considered in this modeling is the impact conditions (particularly on the pinion and ring-gear contact). This work is a report of those equations application on available mathematical software and the resolution of those equations by Runge-Kutta's numerical integration method, in order to build an accessible engineering tool. Copyright © 2011 SAE International.