Biodiversity Can Help Prevent Malaria Outbreaks in Tropical Forests

Background: Plasmodium vivax is a widely distributed, neglected parasite that can cause malaria and death in tropical areas. It is associated with an estimated 80-300 million cases of malaria worldwide. Brazilian tropical rain forests encompass host- and vector-rich communities, in which two hypothetical mechanisms could play a role in the dynamics of malaria transmission. The first mechanism is the dilution effect caused by presence of wild warm-blooded animals, which can act as dead-end hosts to Plasmodium parasites. The second is diffuse mosquito vector competition, in which vector and non-vector mosquito species compete for blood feeding upon a defensive host. Considering that the World Health Organization Malaria Eradication Research Agenda calls for novel strategies to eliminate malaria transmission locally, we used mathematical modeling to assess those two mechanisms in a pristine tropical rain forest, where the primary vector is present but malaria is absent. Methodology/Principal Findings: The Ross-Macdonald model and a biodiversity-oriented model were parameterized using newly collected data and data from the literature. The basic reproduction number (R0) estimated employing Ross-Macdonald model indicated that malaria cases occur in the study location. However, no malaria cases have been reported since 1980. In contrast, the biodiversity-oriented model corroborated the absence of malaria transmission. In addition, the diffuse competition mechanism was negatively correlated with the risk of malaria transmission, which suggests a protective effect provided by the forest ecosystem. There is a non-linear, unimodal correlation between the mechanism of dead-end transmission of parasites and the risk of malaria transmission, suggesting a protective effect only under certain circumstances (e.g., a high abundance of wild warm-blooded animals). Conclusions/Significance: To achieve biological conservation and to eliminate Plasmodium parasites in human populations, the World Health Organization Malaria Eradication Research Agenda should take biodiversity issues into consideration. © 2013 Laporta et al.

Nonlinear control system applied to atomic force microscope including parametric errors

The performance of the optimal linear feedback control and of the state-dependent Riccati equation control techniques applied to control and to suppress the chaotic motion in the atomic force microscope are analyzed. In addition, the sensitivity of each control technique regarding to parametric uncertainties are considered. Simulation results show the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. © 2013 Brazilian Society for Automatics - SBA.

Damage detection in nonlinear structures using discrete-time volterra series

Structural damage identification is basically a nonlinear phenomenon; however, nonlinear procedures are not used currently in practical applications due to the complexity and difficulty for implementation of such techniques. Therefore, the development of techniques that consider the nonlinear behavior of structures for damage detection is a research of major importance since nonlinear dynamical effects can be erroneously treated as damage in the structure by classical metrics. This paper proposes the discrete-time Volterra series for modeling the nonlinear convolution between the input and output signals in a benchmark nonlinear system. The prediction error of the model in an unknown structural condition is compared with the values of the reference structure in healthy condition for evaluating the method of damage detection. Since the Volterra series separate the response of the system in linear and nonlinear contributions, these indexes are used to show the importance of considering the nonlinear behavior of the structure. The paper concludes pointing out the main advantages and drawbacks of this damage detection methodology. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications.

Otimização vetorial e técnicas de mistura de herbicidas aplicadas ao controle de plantas daninhas

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Fenômenos não-lineares, incluindo-se os não-ideias, em captura de energia utilizando-se dispositivos piezoelétricos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comportamento dinâmico não linear e controle de sistemas eletromecânicos em macro e micro escalas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo de caso: diagnóstico do consumo e da qualidade de energia numa indústria metalúrgica

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise de controladores eletrônicos em sistemas de distribuição de energia

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Análise não-linear física de vigas de concreto armado utilizando o elemento finito prismático regular linear associado ao de barra

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Propriedades de tranporte, caos e dissipação num sistema dinâmico não linear

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Um estudo da dependência do índice de refração linear com a composição dos vidros teluretos dos sistemas TeO2-Li2O-TiO2 e TeO2-Li2O-WO3

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ajuste de modelos não lineares e estimativas de parâmetros genéticos para produção de ovos de uma linhagem de poedeiras White Leghorn

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeito do raloxifeno no epitélio vaginal de mulheres na pós-menopausa

Pós-graduação em Ginecologia, Obstetrícia e Mastologia - FMB

Controle semi-ativo de vibrações usando lógica nebulosa e fluido magnetoreológico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Formulação não linear de ração para frangos de corte: modelagem e otimização

Pós-graduação em Ciência Animal - FMVA