Temporal variability of soil CO2 emission after conventional and reduced tillage described by an exponential decay in time model

A quantificação do impacto das práticas de preparo sobre as perdas de carbono do solo é dependente da habilidade de se descrever a variabilidade temporal da emissão de CO2 do solo após preparo. Tem sido sugerido que as grandes quantidades de CO2 emitido após o preparo do solo podem servir como um indicador das modificações nos estoques de carbono do solo em longo termo. Neste trabalho é apresentado um modelo de duas partes baseado na temperatura e na umidade do solo e que inclui um termo exponencial decrescente do tempo que é eficiente no ajuste das emissões intermediárias após preparo: arado de disco seguido de uma passagem com a grade niveladora (convencional) e escarificador de arrasto seguido da passagem com rolo destorroador (reduzido). As emissões após o preparo do solo são descritas utilizando-se estimativa não linear com um coeficiente de determinação (R²) tão alto quanto 0.98 após preparo reduzido. Os resultados indicam que nas previsões da emissão de CO2 após o preparo do solo é importante considerar um termo exponencial decrescente no tempo após preparo.

Numerical assessment of mass conservation on a MAC-type method for viscoelastic free surface flows

A numerical study of mass conservation of MAC-type methods is presented, for viscoelastic free-surface flows. We use an implicit formulation which allows for greater time steps, and therefore time marching schemes for advecting the free surface marker particles have to be accurate in order to preserve the good mass conservation properties of this methodology. We then present an improvement by using a Runge-Kutta scheme coupled with a local linear extrapolation on the free surface. A thorough study of the viscoelastic impacting drop problem, for both Oldroyd-B and XPP fluid models, is presented, investigating the influence of timestep, grid spacing and other model parameters to the overall mass conservation of the method. Furthermore, an unsteady fountain flow is also simulated to illustrate the low mass conservation error obtained.

Utilizações de informações genômicas para o melhoramento genético de características de crescimento em bovinos da raça Nelore

Pós-graduação em Genética e Melhoramento Animal - FCAV

On local analysis of oscillations of a non-ideal and non-linear mechanical model

It is of major importance to consider non-ideal energy sources in engineering problems. They act on an oscillating system and at the same time experience a reciprocal action from the system. Here, a non-ideal system is studied. In this system, the interaction between source energy and motion is accomplished through a special kind of friction. Results about the stability and instability of the equilibrium point of this system are obtained. Moreover, its bifurcation curves are determined. Hopf bifurcations are found in the set of parameters of the oscillating system.

Short Comments on an Energy Pumping Levels in a MEMS Gyroscope Vibrating Problem, by Using of an Global and Local Optimal Linear Control Design

This paper deals with an energy pumping that occurs in a (MEMS) Gyroscope nonlinear dynamical system, modeled with a proof mass constrained to move in a plane with two resonant modes, which are nominally orthogonal. The two modes are ideally coupled only by the rotation of the gyro about the plane's normal vector. We also developed a linear optimal control design for reducing the oscillatory movement of the nonlinear systems to a stable point.

A critical analysis of the ubiquity of linear local-regional richness relationships

Synthesis Despite theoretical criticisms, the ubiquity of linear relationships between local and regional species richness has long been used to justify it as a valid framework to conclude that local communities are not saturated with species. However, we reanalyzed published studies with a new unbiased method and found no prevalence of linear relationships and more than 40% of misclassifications, including textbook examples. We thus conclude that the prevailing argument in favor of associating a valid ecological interpretation to local-regional species richness plots, its ubiquity, is not sustained, and that ecologists could use for instance metacommunity theory to make inference on the strength of local and regional processes. Identifying the relative importance of regional and local processes to local species diversity is a central issue to many questions in basic and applied ecology. One widely-used method is to plot local species richness against its regional richness to infer whether regional or local processes determine local diversity. However, this method increases the tendency to find regional prevalence as suggested by a recent simulation. We reanalyzed studies in the literature with an unbiased method and found no prevalence of either regional or local processes. In addition, almost 40% of the studies and 50% of the ecology textbook examples using the traditional method were misclassified. Our findings reinforce the need of alternative, novel tools identified by for instance metacommunity theory to go beyond the studies of local-regional relationships in the ecological literature that focus on the interdependence of regional and local processes.© 2013 The Authors. Oikos © 2013 Nordic Society Oikos.

Linear codes over finite local rings in a chain

For a positive integer $t$, let \begin{equation*} \begin{array}{ccccccccc} (\mathcal{A}_{0},\mathcal{M}_{0}) & \subseteq & (\mathcal{A}_{1},\mathcal{M}_{1}) & \subseteq & & \subseteq & (\mathcal{A}_{t-1},\mathcal{M}_{t-1}) & \subseteq & (\mathcal{A},\mathcal{M}) \\ \cap & & \cap & & & & \cap & & \cap \\ (\mathcal{R}_{0},\mathcal{M}_{0}^{2}) & & (\mathcal{R}_{1},\mathcal{M}_{1}^{2}) & & & & (\mathcal{R}_{t-1},\mathcal{M}_{t-1}^{2}) & & (\mathcal{R},\mathcal{M}^{2}) \end{array} \end{equation*} be a chain of unitary local commutative rings $(\mathcal{A}_{i},\mathcal{M}_{i})$ with their corresponding Galois ring extensions $(\mathcal{R}_{i},\mathcal{M}_{i}^{2})$, for $i=0,1,\cdots,t$. In this paper, we have given a construction technique of the cyclic, BCH, alternant, Goppa and Srivastava codes over these rings. Though, initially in \cite{AP} it is for local ring $(\mathcal{A},\mathcal{M})$, in this paper, this new approach have given a choice in selection of most suitable code in error corrections and code rate perspectives.

Polymeric alginate nanoparticles containing the local anesthetic bupivacaine

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

Reactive power dispatch and planning using a non-linear branch-and-bound algorithm

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Femur bone repair in ovariectomized rats under the local action of alendronate, hydroxyapatite and the association of alendronate and hydroxyapatite

P>An evaluation was made of the local action of alendronate sodium (A), hydroxyapatite (HA) and the association of both substances (A + HA), in different molar concentrations, on the femur bone repair of ovariectomized rats. Ninety-eight animals were divided into seven groups: control (C), starch (S), alendronate 1 mol (A1), alendronate 2 mols (A2), hydroxyapatite 1 mol (HA1), hydroxyapatite 2 mols (HA2) and the association of alendronate + hydroxyapatite (A + HA). Rats weighing about 250 g were ovariectomized and 2.5-mm diameter bone defects were made on the left femur 30 days later. Each experimental group had defects filled with appropriate material, except for group C (control). The animals were killed 7 and 21 days after surgery. Histological, histomorphometric and statistical analyses of bone neoformation in the bone defect site were performed. From the histological standpoint, the major differences occurred after 21 days. All specimens in groups C, S, HA1 and HA2 presented linear closure of the bone defect, and most animals in groups A1, A2 and A + HA showed no bone neoformation in the central area of the defect. No statistically significant difference was found among the experimental groups after 7 days; after 21 days, group HA2 presented the highest amount of neoformed bone. There was no significant difference among groups A1, A2 and A + HA in the two study periods. It was concluded that alendronate, either isolated or in association with hydroxyapatite, had an adverse effect on bone repair in this experimental model. Moreover, the hydroxyapatite used here proved to be biocompatible and osteoconductive, with group HA2 showing the best results.

On the solution of the extended linear complementarity problem

The extended linear complementarity problem (XLCP) has been introduced in a recent paper by Mangasarian and Pang. In the present research, minimization problems with simple bounds associated to this problem are defined. When the XLCP is solvable, their solutions are global minimizers of the associated problems. Sufficient conditions that guarantee that stationary points of the associated problems are solutions of the XLCP will be proved. These theoretical results support the conjecture that local methods for box constrained optimization applied to the associated problems could be efficient tools for solving the XLCP. (C) 1998 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of rheological properties and local structure during gelation of siloxane-polymethylmethacrylate hybrid materials

Hybrid siloxane-polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) nanocomposites with covalent bonds between the inorganic (siloxane) and organic (polymer) phases were prepared by the sot gel process through hydrolysis and polycondensation of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylmethacrylate (TMSM) and polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as initiator. The effect of MMA, BPO and water contents on the viscoelastic behaviour of these materials was analysed during gelation by dynamic rheological measurements. The changes in storage (G') and loss moduli (G), complex viscosity (eta*) and phase angle (6) were measured as a function of the reaction time showing the viscous character of the sot in the initial step of gelation and its progressive transformation to an elastic gel. This study was complemented by Si-29 and C-13 solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR/MAS) measurements of dried gel. The analysis of the experimental results shows that linear chains are formed in the initial step of the gelation followed by a growth of branched structures and formation of a three-dimensional network. Near the gel point this hybrid material demonstrates the typical scaling behaviour expected from percolation theory.

Determinantes da evolução do peso e altura em crianças de 3 meses a 6 anos assistidas em creche: Análise por modelo linear não hierarquizado em ensaio quase-experimental

Objective. To assess factors determining growth in a group of children between 3 months and 6 years old enrolled in a public municipal (i.e., government-supported, not private) day-care center, in comparison to a group of children with similar characteristics but who were not enrolled in the center. Methods. A quasi-experimental study was designed to observe 444 children aged 3 to 72 months from a low-income neighborhood in the city of Sorocaba, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Two groups were studied: 164 children enrolled in a local municipal day-care center (intervention group) and 280 not receiving care at the center (nonintervention, comparison group) but instead being cared for at home. Both groups were seen four times over a period of 16 months. At each observation session, the children's weight and height were measured. Information was also collected on the mother's sociodemographic characteristics and the illnesses she had suffered as well as the child's weight and other health characteristics at birth, the child's illnesses in the 15 days before each observation, and any hospitalizations. Results. The children in both groups were from low-income families, with 65% of the families having an average monthly income below US$ 100; 80% of the mothers had received 8 years of schooling or less. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that at the first observation (just before enrollment in the day-care center), birth weight was the only factor that explained the nutritional differences between the two groups. Subsequent analyses showed that being in day care was the factor that best explained the differences between the groups, especially in terms of the adequacy of weight for age, after controlling for birthweight, sex, age at the beginning of the study, and illnesses in the 15 days before an observation session. The nutritional impact of the intervention was significant as early as 3 months after being enrolled in day care. Conclusions. The nutritional benefits of the care provided at the center outweighed the negative effects sometimes seen in such centers, such as the greater morbidity that children in day-care centers often experience in comparison to children receiving care at home.

Active flutter suppression in a 2-D airfoil using linear matrix inequalities techniques

Flutter is an in-flight vibration of flexible structures caused by energy in the airstream absorbed by the lifting surface. This aeroelastic phenomenon is a problem of considerable interest in the aeronautic industry, because flutter is a potentially destructive instability resulting from an interaction between aerodynamic, inertial, and elastic forces. To overcome this effect, it is possible to use passive or active methodologies, but passive control adds mass to the structure and it is, therefore, undesirable. Thus, in this paper, the goal is to use linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) techniques to design an active state-feedback control to suppress flutter. Due to unmeasurable aerodynamic-lag states, one needs to use a dynamic observer. So, LMIs also were applied to design a state-estimator. The simulated model, consists of a classical flat plate in a two-dimensional flow. Two regulators were designed, the first one is a non-robust design for parametric variation and the second one is a robust control design, both designed by using LMIs. The parametric uncertainties are modeled through polytopic uncertainties. The paper concludes with numerical simulations for each controller. The open-loop and closed-loop responses are also compared and the results show the flutter suppression. The perfomance for both controllers are compared and discussed. Copyright © 2006 by ABCM.

A mixed-integer linear programming approach for optimal type, size and allocation of distributed generation in radial distribution systems

This paper presents a mixed-integer linear programming approach to solving the problem of optimal type, size and allocation of distributed generators (DGs) in radial distribution systems. In the proposed formulation, (a) the steady-state operation of the radial distribution system, considering different load levels, is modeled through linear expressions; (b) different types of DGs are represented by their capability curves; (c) the short-circuit current capacity of the circuits is modeled through linear expressions; and (d) different topologies of the radial distribution system are considered. The objective function minimizes the annualized investment and operation costs. The use of a mixed-integer linear formulation guarantees convergence to optimality using existing optimization software. The results of one test system are presented in order to show the accuracy as well as the efficiency of the proposed solution technique.© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.