Early impairment of cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease

Background: Impairment in non-motor functions such as disturbances of some executive functions are also common events in Parkinson's disease patients. Objective: To verify the performance of Parkinson's disease patients in activities requiring visuoconstructive and visuospatial skills. Method: Thirty elderly patients with mild or moderate stages of Parkinson's disease were studied. The assessment of the clinical condition was based on the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (56.28; SD=33.48), Hoehn and Yahr (2.2; SD=0.83), Schwab and England (78.93%), clock drawing test (7.36; SD=2.51), and mini-mental state examination (26.48; SD=10.11). Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple regression were used for statistical analyses. Results: The patients presented deterioration in visuospatial and visuoconstructive skills. Conclusion: The clock drawing test proved to be a useful predictive tool for identifying early cognitive impairment in these individuals.

An analysis of Generalized Symmetrical Components in non sinusoidal three phase systems

This paper presents the study of the so called Generalized Symmetrical Components, proposed by Tenti et. al. to the analysis of unbalanced periodic non sinusoidal three phase systems. As a result, it was possible to establish a proper relationship between such of generalized symmetrical components and Fortescue symmetrical components to the harmonic frequencies that compose a generic periodic non sinusoidal three phase system. © 2011 IEEE.

Divergences of generalized quantum electrodynamics on the Lorenz gauge

In this paper we study the Generalized Quantum Electrodynamics (GQED4) on the Lorenz gauge condition and show that divergences are still present in the theory. © 2013 American Institute of Physics.

The fat body of termites: Functions and stored materials

The functions of the fat body in the different castes of termites, and accumulation of energy reserves, proteins and urates within this organ, are reviewed. The termite fat body is involved in multiple metabolic activities, including recycling of nitrogen. Termite fat body showed three different types of cells: adipocytes, urocytes and mycetocytes, the latter restricted to the species Mastotermes darwiniensis. Adipocytes synthesize and store lipids, glycogen and several proteins. These cells also elaborate important peptides, including some that act in immune processes. Urocytes are responsible for the storage of spherocrystals of urates, which vary quantitatively among the termite castes. The different metabolic functions of the fat body in the several castes and stages of termites are associated with specific adipocyte morphologies. The synthesis and storage of different compounds modify the structure of the fat body; this differentiation is coordinated by hormones involved with molting and reproductive cycles. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Thermal effective Lagrangian of generalized electrodynamics in static gravitational fields

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

Schur-Szegö composition of entire functions

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

On the zeros of a class of generalized hypergeometric polynomials

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of generalized interictal discharges using quantitative EEG

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

Comparative study between powers of sigmoid functions, MLP-backpropagation and polynomials in function approximation problems

Function approximation is a very important task in environments where the computation has to be based on extracting information from data samples in real world processes. So, the development of new mathematical model is a very important activity to guarantee the evolution of the function approximation area. In this sense, we will present the Polynomials Powers of Sigmoid (PPS) as a linear neural network. In this paper, we will introduce one series of practical results for the Polynomials Powers of Sigmoid, where we will show some advantages of the use of the powers of sigmiod functions in relationship the traditional MLP-Backpropagation and Polynomials in functions approximation problems.

Estimates of covariance functions for growth from birth to 630 days of age in Nelore cattle

Weight records of Brazilian Nelore cattle, from birth to 630 d of age, recorded every 3 mo, were analyzed using random regression models. Independent variables were Legendre polynomials of age at recording. The model of analysis included contemporary groups as fixed effects and age of dam as a linear and quadratic covariable. Mean trends were modeled through a cubic regression on orthogonal polynomials of age. Up to four sets of random regression coefficients were fitted for animals' direct and maternal, additive genetic, and permanent environmental effects. Changes in measurement error variances with age were modeled through a variance function. Orders of polynomial fit from three to six were considered, resulting in up to 77 parameters to be estimated. Models fitting random regressions modeled the pattern of variances in the data adequately, with estimates similar to those from corresponding univariate analysis. Direct heritability estimates decreased after birth and tended to be lowest at ages at which maternal effect estimates tended to be highest. Maternal heritability estimates increased after birth to a peak around 110 to 120 d of age and decreased thereafter. Additive genetic direct correlation estimates between weights at standard ages (birth, weaning, yearling, and final weight) were moderate to high and maternal genetic and environmental correlations were consistently high.

Assignment of Putative Functions to Membrane "Hypothetical Proteins" from the Trypanosoma cruzi Genome

Protozoan parasites cause thousands of deaths each year in developing countries. The genome projects of these parasites opened a new era in the identification of therapeutic targets. However, the putative function could be predicted for fewer than half of the protein-coding genes. In this work, all Trypanosoma cruzi proteins containing predicted transmembrane spans were processed through an automated computational routine and further analyzed in order to assign the most probable function. The analysis consisted of dissecting the whole predicted protein in different regions. More than 5,000 sequences were processed, and the predicted biological functions were grouped into 19 categories according to the hits obtained after analysis. One focus of interest, due to the scarce information available on trypanosomatids, is the proteins involved in signal-transduction processes. In the present work, we identified 54 proteins belonging to this group, which were individually analyzed. The results show that by means of a simple pipeline it was possible to attribute probable functions to sequences annotated as coding for "hypothetical proteins.'' Also, we successfully identified the majority of candidates participating in the signal-transduction pathways in T. cruzi.

On universal Banach spaces of density continuum

We consider the question whether there exists a Banach space X of density continuum such that every Banach space of density at most continuum isomorphically embeds into X (called a universal Banach space of density c). It is well known that a""(a)/c (0) is such a space if we assume the continuum hypothesis. Some additional set-theoretic assumption is indeed needed, as we prove in the main result of this paper that it is consistent with the usual axioms of set-theory that there is no universal Banach space of density c. Thus, the problem of the existence of a universal Banach space of density c is undecidable using the usual axioms of set-theory. We also prove that it is consistent that there are universal Banach spaces of density c, but a""(a)/c (0) is not among them. This relies on the proof of the consistency of the nonexistence of an isomorphic embedding of C([0, c]) into a""(a)/c (0).

Weighted Fourier–Laplace transforms in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces on the sphere

We study the action of a weighted Fourier–Laplace transform on the functions in the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) associated with a positive definite kernel on the sphere. After defining a notion of smoothness implied by the transform, we show that smoothness of the kernel implies the same smoothness for the generating elements (spherical harmonics) in the Mercer expansion of the kernel. We prove a reproducing property for the weighted Fourier–Laplace transform of the functions in the RKHS and embed the RKHS into spaces of smooth functions. Some relevant properties of the embedding are considered, including compactness and boundedness. The approach taken in the paper includes two important notions of differentiability characterized by weighted Fourier–Laplace transforms: fractional derivatives and Laplace–Beltrami derivatives.

Intersections on moduli spaces of curves

We present a new approach to perform calculations with the certain standard classes in cohomology of the moduli spaces of curves. It is based on an important lemma of Ionel relating the intersection theoriy of the moduli space of curves and that of the space of admissible coverings. As particular results, we obtain expressions of Hurwitz numbers in terms of the intersections in the tautological ring, expressions of the simplest intersection numbers in terms of Hurwitz numbers, an algorithm of calculation of certain correlators which are the subject of the Witten conjecture, an improved algorithm for intersections related to the Boussinesq hierarchy, expressions for the Hodge integrals over two-pointed ramification cycles, cut-and-join type equations for a large class of intersection numbers, etc.

Reconstruction of spatiotemporal capture data by means of orthogonal functions: the case of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) in the central-east Atlantic

[EN] The information provided by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on captures of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) in the central-east Atlantic has a number of limitations, such as gaps in the statistics for certain fleets and the level of spatiotemporal detail at which catches are reported. As a result, the quality of these data and their effectiveness for providing management advice is limited. In order to reconstruct missing spatiotemporal data of catches, the present study uses Data INterpolating Empirical Orthogonal Functions (DINEOF), a technique for missing data reconstruction, applied here for the first time to fisheries data. DINEOF is based on an Empirical Orthogonal Functions decomposition performed with a Lanczos method. DINEOF was tested with different amounts of missing data, intentionally removing values from 3.4% to 95.2% of data loss, and then compared with the same data set with no missing data. These validation analyses show that DINEOF is a reliable methodological approach of data reconstruction for the purposes of fishery management advice, even when the amount of missing data is very high.