Artificial immune systems for classification of petroleum well drilling operations

This paper presents two approaches of Artificial Immune System for Pattern Recognition (CLONALG and Parallel AIRS2) to classify automatically the well drilling operation stages. The classification is carried out through the analysis of some mud-logging parameters. In order to validate the performance of AIS techniques, the results were compared with others classification methods: neural network, support vector machine and lazy learning.

Artificial immune systems applied to optimal capacitor placement in radial distribution networks

The capacitor placement problem for radial distribution networks aims to determine capacitor types, sizes, locations and control scheme. This is a combinatorial problem that can be formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear program. The paper presents an algorithm inspired in artificial immune systems and developed for this specific problem. A good performance was obtained through experimental tests applied to known systems. © 2006 IEEE.

Disturbance detection for optimal database storage in electrical distribution systems using artificial immune systems with negative selection

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

Artificial Immune Systems Applied to the Analysis of Structural Integrity of a Building

This paper presents the application of artificial immune systems for analysis of the structural integrity of a building. Inspired by a biological process, it uses the negative selection algorithm to perform the identification and characterization of structural failure. This paper presents the application of artificial immune systems for analysis of the structural integrity of a building. Inspired by a biological process, it uses the negative selection algorithm to perform the identification and characterization of structural failure. This methodology can assist professionals in the inspection of mechanical and civil structures, to identify and characterize flaws, in order to perform preventative maintenance to ensure the integrity of the structure and decision-making. In order to evaluate the methodology was made modeling a two-story building and several situations were simulated (base-line condition and improper conditions), yielding a database of signs, which were used as input data for the negative selection algorithm. The results obtained by the present method efficiency, robustness and accuracy.

Artificial Immune Systems with Negative Selection Applied to Health Monitoring of Aeronautical Structures

In this paper we present a system for aircraft structural health monitoring based on artificial immune systems with negative selection. Inspired by a biological process, the principle of discrimination proper/non-proper, identifies and characterizes the signs of structural failure. The main application of this method is to assist in the inspection of aircraft structures, to detect and characterize flaws and decision making in order to avoid disasters. We proposed a model of an aluminum beam to perform the tests of the method. The results obtained by this method are excellent, showing robustness and accuracy.

A malware detection system inspired on the human immune system

Malicious programs (malware) can cause severe damage on computer systems and data. The mechanism that the human immune system uses to detect and protect from organisms that threaten the human body is efficient and can be adapted to detect malware attacks. In this paper we propose a system to perform malware distributed collection, analysis and detection, this last inspired by the human immune system. After collecting malware samples from Internet, they are dynamically analyzed so as to provide execution traces at the operating system level and network flows that are used to create a behavioral model and to generate a detection signature. Those signatures serve as input to a malware detector, acting as the antibodies in the antigen detection process. This allows us to understand the malware attack and aids in the infection removal procedures. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE and HUMAN CONSEQUENCES of AFRICANIZED BEE STINGS IN THE AMERICAS

In 1956, Africanized bees began to spread in the American continent from southern Brazil, where original African bees mated with European bees. A few years later, in 1990, these Africanized bees reached the United States and were found in Texas. Currently, these hybrid bees are found in several North American states and will probably reach the Canadian border in the future. Although the presence of Africanized bees had produced positive effects on Brazilian economy, including improvement in crop pollination and in honey production, turning Brazil into a major exporter, the negative impacts-such as swarming, aggressive behavior, and the ability to mass attack-resulted in serious and fatal envenomation with humans and animals. Victims of bee attacks usually develop a severe envenomation syndrome characterized by the release of a large amount of cytokines [interleukins (IL) IL-1, IL-6, IL-8], and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Subsequently, such cytokines produce an acute inflammatory response that triggers adverse effects on skeletal muscles; bone marrow; hepatic and renal functions; and cardiovascular, central nervous, and immune systems. Finally, the aim of the present review is to study historical characteristics and current status of Africanized bees' spread, the composition of their venom, the impact of the bees on the Brazilian economy and ecology, and clinical aspects of their stings including immune response, and to suggest a protocol for bee sting management since there is no safe and effective antivenom available.

Autoinflammatory diseases: Mimics of Autoimmunity or part of its spectrum? Case presentation

Introduction: Autoinflammatory diseases are very rare diseases presenting within a wide clinical spectrum. Recognition of the main clinical features are challenging due to overlapping or mimicking with autoimmune diseases. Discussion: A case series is reviewed to illustrate typical and atypical features and the difficulties of these diagnoses in the low prevalence areas-a typical unrecognized case of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) in a youngster, an atypical adult case with overlapping of IMF with Behcet disease, and an early presentation of FMF in infant presenting with inflammatory colitis, as well as the overlapping features within the cryopirin diseases spectrum in an 8-year-old boy who presented with systemic onset arthritis. Conclusion: These cases may represent examples of a very puzzling relationship among disorders of innate and adaptive immune systems and inflammation.

The Potential of p38 MAPK Inhibitors to Modulate Periodontal Infections

Periodontal disease initiation and progression occurs as a consequence of the host immune inflammatory response to oral pathogens. The innate and acquired immune systems are critical for the proper immune response. LPS, an outer membrane constituent of periodontal pathogenic bacteria, stimulates the production of inflammatory cytokines IL-1 beta TNF alpha IL-6 and RANKL either directly or indirectly. In LPS-stimulated cells, the induction of cytokine expression requires activation of several signaling pathways including the p38 MAPK pathway. This review will discuss the significance of the p38 MAPK pathway in periodontal disease progression and the potential therapeutic consequences of pharmacological antagonism of this pathway in the treatment of periodontal diseases.

Combinatorial synthesis and directed evolution applied to the production of alpha-helix forming antimicrobial peptides analogues

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effector molecules of innate immune systems found in different groups of organisms, including microorganisms, plants, insects, amphibians and humans. These peptides exhibit several structural motifs but the most abundant AMPs assume an amphipathic alpha-helical structure. The alpha-helix forming antimicrobial peptides are excellent candidates for protein engineering leading to an optimization of their biological activity and target specificity. Nowadays several approaches are available and this review deals with the use of combinatorial synthesis and directed evolution in order to provide a high-throughput source of antimicrobial peptides analogues with enhanced lytic activity and specificity.

Effect of physical training on metabolic and bone profile in weaning rats

Introduction: The practice of moderate-intensity exercise can reduce the risk of infections and improve metabolic aspects of the person. Objective: To investigate the effects of aerobic physical training on endocrine and metabolic aspects, bone and immune systems. Methods: Twenty Wistar rats were divided in two groups: sedentary (SG) and trained group (TG). Training program consisted in swimming, 6 weeks, supporting a workload corresponding to 5% of body weight. At the end of the experiment, were performed counting total and differential leukocyte count and hematocrit. After training period, were analyzed glucose, total protein, triglycerides, cholesterol, liver and muscle samples for the determination of the levels of glycogen, and determination of the tibia length and bone area. All dependent variables were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a significance level of P < 0.05 was used for all comparisons. Results: Hematocrit (%) analyzed showed a significant difference, with higher values ffor TG (54.63 ± 1.41) than for the SG (49.5 ± 1.65). The total leukocyte count was not significantly different, as there was no difference in the differential count. Total cholesterol showed significant decrease in TG (TG = 68.27 ± 13.71 mg/dL; SG = 94.44 ± 28.09), the total protein levels also showed significant reduction (TG = 7.3 ± 0.40 g/dL; SG = 7.74 ± 0.36 g/dL) glucose levels and triglyceride showed no significant differences. The bone length showed significant difference (TG = 40±0.14 mm; SG = 42.10 ± 0.12mm). Tibial area showed a lower value for TG (1.53 ± 0.12cm2) than for SG (1.67 ± 0.18cm2); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: It can be concluded that aerobic exercise training is able to produce some unique physiological changes in young rats. There is also the need to prescribe exercises that meet the particular maturational stage of development.

Comportamentos que aliviam estresse nos animais: uma revisão e alguns dados novos na tilápia-do-Nilo

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Utilização so ácido graxo ômega-3 na hipertrigliceridemia de indivíduos com HIV/Aids: relação com níveis de citocinas

Pós-graduação em Doenças Tropicais - FMB

Suplementação alimentar de pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus Holmberg, 1887) com β 1,3 glicano: atividade respiratória de leucócitos, lisozima e estresse por captura

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Monitoramento e identificação de falhas em estruturas aeronáuticas e mecânicas utilizando técnicas de computação inteligente

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Mecânica - FEIS