Detection and neutralization of venom by ovine antiserum in experimental envenoming by Bothrops jararaca

In this study we optimized an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to evaluate bothropic venom levels in biological samples. These samples were obtained by two distinct protocols. In the first one, Swiss mice were injected with 1 LD 50 of Bothrops jararaca (B. jararaca) venom and 15 minutes later, animals were treated with ovine antibothropic serum. Blood and spleen homogenate samples were obtained 6 hours after antiserum therapy. Ovine antibothropic serum significantly neutralized venom levels in serum and spleen. In the second protocol, BALB/c mice were injected with 1 LD 50 of bothropic venom by either intraperitoneal (IP) or intradermal (ID) route and venom levels were evaluated 1, 3 and 6 hours after, in blood, spleen homogenates and urine. Serum and splenic venom levels were significantly higher in animals envenomed by IP route comparing with animals envenomed by ID route. Higher venom levels were also detected in urine samples from animals envenomed by IP route. However, these differences were not statistically significant. These results demonstrated that the optimized ELISA was adequate to quantify venom levels in different biological samples. This assay could, therefore, substitute the in vivo neutralizing assay and also be useful to evaluate the severity of human and experimental envenomations.

Delay time detection and accommodation for a networked DC motor control

This paper presents a control method that is effective to reduce the degenerative effects of delay time caused by a treacherous network. In present application a controlled DC motor is part of an inverted pendulum and provides the equilibrium of this system. The control of DC motor is accomplished at the distance through a treacherous network, which causes delay time in the control signal. A predictive technique is used so that it turns the system free of delay. A robust digital sliding mode controller is proposed to control the free-delay system. Due to the random conditions of the network operation, a delay time detection and accommodation strategy is also proposed. A computer simulation is shown to illustrate the design procedures and the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2011 IEEE.

QK-Means: A clustering technique based on community detection and K-Means for deployment of cluster head nodes

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are a special kind of ad-hoc networks that is usually deployed in a monitoring field in order to detect some physical phenomenon. Due to the low dependability of individual nodes, small radio coverage and large areas to be monitored, the organization of nodes in small clusters is generally used. Moreover, a large number of WSN nodes is usually deployed in the monitoring area to increase WSN dependability. Therefore, the best cluster head positioning is a desirable characteristic in a WSN. In this paper, we propose a hybrid clustering algorithm based on community detection in complex networks and traditional K-means clustering technique: the QK-Means algorithm. Simulation results show that QK-Means detect communities and sub-communities thus lost message rate is decreased and WSN coverage is increased. © 2012 IEEE.

Development and application of an electronic tongue for detection and monitoring of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium levels in waters

This work presents the first study and development of an electronic tongue analysis system for the monitoring of nitrogen stable species: nitrate, nitrite and ammonium in water. The electronic tongue was composed of an array of 15 potentiometric poly(vinyl chloride) membrane sensors sensitive to cations and anions plus an artificial neural network (ANN) response model. The building of the ANN model was performed in a medium containing sodium, potassium, and chloride as interfering ions, thus simulating real environmental samples. The correlation coefficient in the cross-validation of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium was satisfactory in the three cases with values higher than 0.92. Finally, the utility of the proposed system is shown in the monitoring of the photoelectrocatalytic treatment of nitrate. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Informe del Seminario-ZOPP sobre Políticas para el control y la fiscalización de la contaminación urbana e industrial" = Report on the Participatory Planning by Objectives Seminar on "Policies for the detection and control of urban and industrial contamination""

Incluye Bibliografía

A trade off between separation, detection and sustainability in liquid chromatographic fingerprinting

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

Production of the Quinone-Methide Triterpene Maytenin by In Vitro Adventitious Roots of Peritassa campestris (Cambess.) ACSm. (Celastraceae) and Rapid Detection and Identification by APCI-IT-MS/MS

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Comparative analysis of two techniques for detection and segmentation of moving bodies

This paper makes a comparative analysis of results produced by the application of two techniques for the detection and segmentation of bodies in motion captured in images sequence, namely: 1) technique based on the temporal average of the values of each pixel recorded in N consecutive image frames and, 2) technique based on historical values associated with pixels recorded in different frames of an image sequence.

Influence of professional experience on detection and treatment decision of occlusal caries lesions in primary teeth

To evaluate the influence of examiner's clinical experience on detection and treatment decision of caries lesions in primary molars. Design Three experienced dentists (Group A) and three undergraduate students (Group B) used the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria and bitewing radiographs (BW) to perform examinations twice in 77 primary molars that presented a sound or carious occlusal surface. For the treatment decision (TD), the examiners attributed scores, analyzing the teeth in conjunction with the radiographs. The presence and the depth of lesion were validated histologically, and reproducibility was evaluated. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and area under the ROC curve values were calculated for ICDAS and BW. The associations between ICDAS, BW, and TD were analyzed by means of contingency tables. Results Interexaminer agreement for ICDAS, BW, and TD were excellent for Group B and moderate for Group A. The two groups presented similar and satisfactory performance for caries lesion detection using ICDAS and BW. In the treatment decision, Group A was shown to have a less invasive approach than Group B. Conclusion The examiner's experience was not determinant for the clinical and radiographic detection of occlusal lesions in primary teeth but influenced the treatment decision of initial lesions.

Metacommunity organisation, spatial extent and dispersal in aquatic systems: patterns, processes and prospects

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

Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of bovine astrovirus in Brazil

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

Bovine Tuberculosis in Swedish Farmed Deer: Detection and Control of the Disease

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) was introduced into Swedish farmed deer herds in 1987. Epidemiological investigations showed that 10 deer herds had become infected (July 1994) and a common source of infection, a consignment of 168 imported farmed fallow deer, was identified (I). As trace-back of all imported and in-contact deer was not possible, a control program, based on tuberculin testing, was implemented in July 1994. As Sweden has been free from BTB since 1958, few practicing veterinarians had experience in tuberculin testing. In this test, result relies on the skill, experience and conscientiousness of the testing veterinarian. Deficiencies in performing the test may adversely affect the test results and thereby compromise a control program. Quality indicators may identify possible deficiencies in testing procedures. For that purpose, reference values for measured skin fold thickness (prior to injection of the tuberculin) were established (II) suggested to be used mainly by less experienced veterinarians to identify unexpected measurements. Furthermore, the within-veterinarian variation of the measured skin fold thickness was estimated by fitting general linear models to data (skin fold measurements) (III). The mean square error was used as an estimator of the within-veterinarian variation. Using this method, four (6%) veterinarians were considered to have unexpectedly large variation in measurements. In certain large extensive deer farms, where mustering of all animals was difficult, meat inspection was suggested as an alternative to tuberculin testing. The efficiency of such a control was estimated in paper IV and V. A Reed Frost model was fitted to data from seven BTB-infected deer herds and the spread of infection was estimated (< 0.6 effective contacts per deer and year) (IV). These results were used to model the efficiency of meat inspection in an average extensive Swedish deer herd. Given a 20% annual slaughter and meat inspection, the model predicted that BTB would be either detected or eliminated in most herds (90%) 15 years after introduction of one infected deer. In 2003, an alternative control for BTB in extensive Swedish deer herds, based on the results of paper V, was implemented.

Agent Based Intrusion Detection and Response System for Wireless LANs

Wireless LAN technology, despite the numerous advantages it has over competing technologies, has not seen widespread deployment. A primary reason for markets not adopting this technology is its failure to provide adequate security. Data that is sent over wireless links can be compromised with utmost ease. In this project, we propose a distributed agent based intrusion detection and response system for wireless LANs that can detect unauthorized wireless elements like access points, wireless clients that are in promiscuous mode etc. The system reacts to intrusions by either notifying the concerned personnel, in case of rogue access points and promiscuous nodes, or by blocking unauthorized users from accessing the network resources.

Distributed Hybrid Agent Based Intrusion Detection and Real Time Response System

Wireless LANs are growing rapidly and security has always been a concern. We have implemented a hybrid system, which will not only detect active attacks like identity theft causing denial of service attacks, but will also detect the usage of access point discovery tools. The system responds in real time by sending out an alert to the network administrator.