A Framework supporting collaboration on the distributed design of integrated systems

The work described in this thesis aims to support the distributed design of integrated systems and considers specifically the need for collaborative interaction among designers. Particular emphasis was given to issues which were only marginally considered in previous approaches, such as the abstraction of the distribution of design automation resources over the network, the possibility of both synchronous and asynchronous interaction among designers and the support for extensible design data models. Such issues demand a rather complex software infrastructure, as possible solutions must encompass a wide range of software modules: from user interfaces to middleware to databases. To build such structure, several engineering techniques were employed and some original solutions were devised. The core of the proposed solution is based in the joint application of two homonymic technologies: CAD Frameworks and object-oriented frameworks. The former concept was coined in the late 80's within the electronic design automation community and comprehends a layered software environment which aims to support CAD tool developers, CAD administrators/integrators and designers. The latter, developed during the last decade by the software engineering community, is a software architecture model to build extensible and reusable object-oriented software subsystems. In this work, we proposed to create an object-oriented framework which includes extensible sets of design data primitives and design tool building blocks. Such object-oriented framework is included within a CAD Framework, where it plays important roles on typical CAD Framework services such as design data representation and management, versioning, user interfaces, design management and tool integration. The implemented CAD Framework - named Cave2 - followed the classical layered architecture presented by Barnes, Harrison, Newton and Spickelmier, but the possibilities granted by the use of the object-oriented framework foundations allowed a series of improvements which were not available in previous approaches: - object-oriented frameworks are extensible by design, thus this should be also true regarding the implemented sets of design data primitives and design tool building blocks. This means that both the design representation model and the software modules dealing with it can be upgraded or adapted to a particular design methodology, and that such extensions and adaptations will still inherit the architectural and functional aspects implemented in the object-oriented framework foundation; - the design semantics and the design visualization are both part of the object-oriented framework, but in clearly separated models. This allows for different visualization strategies for a given design data set, which gives collaborating parties the flexibility to choose individual visualization settings; - the control of the consistency between semantics and visualization - a particularly important issue in a design environment with multiple views of a single design - is also included in the foundations of the object-oriented framework. Such mechanism is generic enough to be also used by further extensions of the design data model, as it is based on the inversion of control between view and semantics. The view receives the user input and propagates such event to the semantic model, which evaluates if a state change is possible. If positive, it triggers the change of state of both semantics and view. Our approach took advantage of such inversion of control and included an layer between semantics and view to take into account the possibility of multi-view consistency; - to optimize the consistency control mechanism between views and semantics, we propose an event-based approach that captures each discrete interaction of a designer with his/her respective design views. The information about each interaction is encapsulated inside an event object, which may be propagated to the design semantics - and thus to other possible views - according to the consistency policy which is being used. Furthermore, the use of event pools allows for a late synchronization between view and semantics in case of unavailability of a network connection between them; - the use of proxy objects raised significantly the abstraction of the integration of design automation resources, as either remote or local tools and services are accessed through method calls in a local object. The connection to remote tools and services using a look-up protocol also abstracted completely the network location of such resources, allowing for resource addition and removal during runtime; - the implemented CAD Framework is completely based on Java technology, so it relies on the Java Virtual Machine as the layer which grants the independence between the CAD Framework and the operating system. All such improvements contributed to a higher abstraction on the distribution of design automation resources and also introduced a new paradigm for the remote interaction between designers. The resulting CAD Framework is able to support fine-grained collaboration based on events, so every single design update performed by a designer can be propagated to the rest of the design team regardless of their location in the distributed environment. This can increase the group awareness and allow a richer transfer of experiences among them, improving significantly the collaboration potential when compared to previously proposed file-based or record-based approaches. Three different case studies were conducted to validate the proposed approach, each one focusing one a subset of the contributions of this thesis. The first one uses the proxy-based resource distribution architecture to implement a prototyping platform using reconfigurable hardware modules. The second one extends the foundations of the implemented object-oriented framework to support interface-based design. Such extensions - design representation primitives and tool blocks - are used to implement a design entry tool named IBlaDe, which allows the collaborative creation of functional and structural models of integrated systems. The third case study regards the possibility of integration of multimedia metadata to the design data model. Such possibility is explored in the frame of an online educational and training platform.

Supervisão escolar: expectativas e percepções do supervisor escolar, do coordenador de área e do professor, quanto ao desempenho das funções do supervisor escolar: estudo de caso

Este estudo pretendeu mostrar que o desempenho do Supervisor Escolar está aquem do desejado por profissiE. nais que atuam na area. e que. em torno de tal desempenh~ há expectativas e percepções significantemente diferencia das entre aqueles profissionais. Para tal efeito estabeleceu-se um referencial teó rico. fundamentado em pesquisa d6~umental. que apreciou o problema da Supervisão Escolar em sua evolução histórica. destacando elementos para caracterizar as funções do Supe~ visar Escolar. Promoveu-se um estudo de caso apoiado ba sicamente em dados primários. para verificar como se dese~ volve a atuação do Supervisor Escolar em um município br~ sileiro (no caso. o Município de Curitiba) e de que modo tal atuação é percebida por ele próprio e por outros pr~ f i s s i o n a i s (C o o r d e n a d o r e s d e A r e a e p r o f e s s o r e s) . Ve ri fi cp ~ -se. ainda. o que esses profissionais esperam da atuação do Supervisor Escolar (frente às atividades arroladas no instrumento de coleta de dados). Utilizaram-se como instrumentos de coleta de da dos escalas do tipo Likert. acrescentando-se questionário sobre dados pessoais. Submeteram-se os dados a dois tes tes não paramétricas (da Mediana e dos Sinais) e a um tes te paramétrica (t'). por razoes que se especificam no de correr deste trabalho. Representaram-se também. grafic~ mente. os resultados obtidos. Com base na fundamentação teórica e na pesquisa de campo. que estudam expectativas e percepções em torno do desempenho das funções do Supervisor Escolar. concluiu -se Rela necessidade da definição de uma política para o tratamento da matéria e formularam-se algumas recomendações.

Para uma análise critica da orientação educacional: subsídios para compreensão e definição de sua pratica no Brasil

O principal objetivo desse estudo foi o de verificar as situações que, na prática da orientação educacional no Brasil. Possam ser responsabilizadas pelas dificuldades que a atividade vem encontrando para se desenvolver e se efetivar nas escolas brasileiras. Foi organizado em cinco capítulos, onde estão analisadas informações, resultantes basicamente de consulta bibliográfica a livros, artigos em periódicos, documentos e pesquisas relacionadas ao assunto. No primeiro capítulo encontram-se resumidos alguns preceitos teóricos que têm fundamentado a atividade de orientação educacional. No segundo capítulo apresentamos uma síntese da orientação, tal como ela se desenvolve nos EEUU, porque tomamos sua forma de atuação no sistema escolar norte-americano como referência para as interpretações de sua aplicabilidade nas escolas brasileiras. No terceiro capítulo caracterizamos a prática da atividade no sistema de ensino brasileiro, assinalando fatos que evidenciam a defasagem entre os objetivos e princípios postulados pela orientação educacional no Brasil, suas condições de efetivação e o quadro de inconsistência pelo qual ê conhecida e criticada. No quarto capítulo, analisamos e interpretamos as causas que determinam, a nosso ver, as dificuldades para a orientação se firmar nas escolas do país. Nossos questionamentos foram discutidos em torno de três hipóteses básicas que poderiam explicar o quadro de insatisfação e incerteza de sua prática e dos profissionais que são responsabilizados por sua efetivação: influência da DE das escolas norte-americanas, posição da OE na política Educacional Brasileira e aspectos da formação dos Orientadores Educacionais. Finalmente, sob influência do quadro de incoerências denunciando, organizamos, em forma de sugestões, no capítulo cinco, algumas propostas de estudo que poderiam ser desenvolvidas para ajudar a definir a orientação educacional no sistema de ensino brasileiro e I transformá-la numa prática realmente útil ao processo educacional.

Controle Adaptativo Robusto para Filtros Ativos de Potência Paralelo

Conventional control strategies used in shunt active power filters (SAPF) employs real-time instantaneous harmonic detection schemes which is usually implements with digital filters. This increase the number of current sensors on the filter structure which results in high costs. Furthermore, these detection schemes introduce time delays which can deteriorate the harmonic compensation performance. Differently from the conventional control schemes, this paper proposes a non-standard control strategy which indirectly regulates the phase currents of the power mains. The reference currents of system are generated by the dc-link voltage controller and is based on the active power balance of SAPF system. The reference currents are aligned to the phase angle of the power mains voltage vector which is obtained by using a dq phase locked loop (PLL) system. The current control strategy is implemented by an adaptive pole placement control strategy integrated to a variable structure control scheme (VS-APPC). In the VS-APPC, the internal model principle (IMP) of reference currents is used for achieving the zero steady state tracking error of the power system currents. This forces the phase current of the system mains to be sinusoidal with low harmonics content. Moreover, the current controllers are implemented on the stationary reference frame to avoid transformations to the mains voltage vector reference coordinates. This proposed current control strategy enhance the performance of SAPF with fast transient response and robustness to parametric uncertainties. Experimental results are showing for determining the effectiveness of SAPF proposed control system

Estratégia de controle robusto para filtro ativo paralelo sem detecção de harmônicos de correntes

Conventional control strategies used in shunt active power filters (SAPF) employs real-time instantaneous harmonic detection schemes which is usually implements with digital filters. This increase the number of current sensors on the filter structure which results in high costs. Furthermore, these detection schemes introduce time delays which can deteriorate the harmonic compensation performance. Differently from the conventional control schemes, this paper proposes a non-standard control strategy which indirectly regulates the phase currents of the power mains. The reference currents of system are generated by the dc-link voltage controller and is based on the active power balance of SAPF system. The reference currents are aligned to the phase angle of the power mains voltage vector which is obtained by using a dq phase locked loop (PLL) system. The current control strategy is implemented by an adaptive pole placement control strategy integrated to a variable structure control scheme (VS¡APPC). In the VS¡APPC, the internal model principle (IMP) of reference currents is used for achieving the zero steady state tracking error of the power system currents. This forces the phase current of the system mains to be sinusoidal with low harmonics content. Moreover, the current controllers are implemented on the stationary reference frame to avoid transformations to the mains voltage vector reference coordinates. This proposed current control strategy enhance the performance of SAPF with fast transient response and robustness to parametric uncertainties. Experimental results are showing for determining the effectiveness of SAPF proposed control system

IFTrace: Video segmentation of deformable objects using the Image Foresting Transform

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

The HUman MicroNucleus project on eXfoLiated buccal cells (HUMNXL): The role of life-style, host factors, occupational exposures, health status, and assay protocol

The human buccal micronucleus cytome assay (BMCyt) is one of the most widely used techniques to measure genetic damage in human population studies. Reducing protocol variability, assessing the role of confounders, and estimating a range of reference values are research priorities that will be addressed by the HUMNXL, collaborative study. The HUMNXL, project evaluates the impact of host factors, occupation, life-style, disease status, and protocol features on the occurrence of MN in exfoliated buccal cells. In addition, the study will provide a range of reference values for all cytome endpoints. A database of 5424 subjects with buccal MN values obtained from 30 laboratories worldwide was compiled and analyzed to investigate the influence of several conditions affecting MN frequency. Random effects models were mostly used to investigate MN predictors. The estimated spontaneous MN frequency was 0.74 parts per thousand (95% CI 0.52-1.05). Only staining among technical features influenced MN frequency, with an abnormal increase for non-DNA-specific stains. No effect of gender was evident, while the trend for age was highly significant (p < 0.001). Most occupational exposures and a diagnosis of cancer significantly increased MN and other endpoints frequencies. MN frequency increased in heavy smoking (>= 40 cig/day. FR = 1.37:95% CI 1.03-.82) and decreased with daily fruit consumption (FR = 0.68; 95% CI 0.50-0.91). The results of the HUMNXL, project identified priorities for validation studies, increased the basic knowledge of the assay, and contributed to the creation of a laboratory network which in perspective may allow the evaluation of disease risk associated with MN frequency. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reversion to virulence evaluation of a 9R vaccine strain of Salmonella enterica serovar gallinarum in commercial brown layers

The live vaccine Cevac S. Gallinarum, made from a rough strain of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Gallinarum is used for preventing fowl typhoid, a disease that still causes considerable economic losses in countries with a developing poultry industry. The objective of this paper was to evaluate a possible reversion to virulence of the strain used in a vaccine in commercial brown layers. Only Salmonella-free chicks were utilized. One hundred twenty (120) 12-day-old Dekalb brown layers divided in two trials were used. The first trial had six groups of 15 birds each. Birds of group 1 were vaccinated with 10 doses of Cevac S. Gallinarum subcutaneously and 10 doses orally, in a total of 20 doses of vaccine. Then the birds of groups 2, 3, 4, and 5 received inocula that contained feces and a pool of organs with fragments of liver, heart, spleen, and cecal tonsils obtained from the immediately previous group. The second trial had three groups with 10 birds each. Birds in group 7 received inocula containing a pool of organs from birds of group 5 from trial 1, whilst the birds in group 8 were vaccinated subcutaneously with one dose of vaccine. Both trials included negative control groups (6 and 9). Throughout the experimental period, birds were monitored for reactions to the vaccination on the site of administration, clinical signs, and post-mortem lesions. In each passage, in addition to the birds euthanized to provide the inocula material, two birds from each group were euthanized for assessment of possible lesions, and their organs (liver, heart, spleen and cecal tonsils) were cultured in an attempt to isolate the vaccine strain. Except for one bird from group 1, that had a local reaction on the site of vaccination - a small vesicle with less that 0.5 mm that persisted until the third day post vaccination -, no other bird had any local reaction to the vaccine or any visible clinical alteration. Birds in group 8 did not present any reaction or clinical alteration because of the vaccine. We only managed to re-isolate the vaccine strain in the inocula made from organs of birds in group 1. We confirmed the isolation by means of biochemical tests, serology, and acriflavine agglutination test. All other cultures made from organs or feces, from all the other experimental groups did not show any growth of the vaccine strain or any other Salmonella serovar, suggesting that the vaccinated birds did not shed the SG9R vaccine strain. No bird presented any clinical symptoms or died during the trials, and no gross lesions were observed in the post-mortem examinations. Under the controlled conditions and time-frame of the present experiment, it was possible to conclude that the rough 9R strain of Salmonella Gallinarum present in the vaccine Cevac S. Gallinarum (Ceva Campinas Ltda. - Campinas, SP - Brazil) did not revert to virulence.

Amino acid availability and protein digestibility of several protein sources for Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

Apparent amino acid availability coefficients and protein digestibility of four animal products [fish meal (FM), meat and bone meal (MBM), poultry by-product and feather meal] and four plant protein-rich products [soybean meal (SBM), cottonseed meal-28, cottonseed meal-38 and corn gluten meal (CGM)] were determined for Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Ingredients were incorporated to a practical reference diet at a 7 : 3 ratio (70% of reference diet and 30% of test ingredient). Chromic oxide was used as external digestibility marker. Among animal products poultry by-product meal (PBM; 89.7%) and FM (88.6%) presented the highest apparent protein digestibility (APD) while MBM (78.4%) and feather meal (78.5%) presented the lowest APD. Among plant protein-rich products CGM (91.4%) and SBM (92.4%) presented the highest APD values while cottonseed meal-28 presented the lowest APD (78.6%). Average apparent amino acid availability of feed ingredients was similar to protein digestibility with 92.3%, 89.6%, 73.4%, 80.7%, 88.9%, 84.4%, 91.2% and 79.7% values for SBM, CGM, cottonseed meal-28 and 38, FM, MBM, PBM and feather meal respectively. These results indicate that O. niloticus is able to utilize efficiently different feedstuffs.

Evaluation of cytologic and biochemical variables in blood, plasma, and peritoneal fluid from calves before and after umbilical herniorrhaphy

Objective-To establish reference intervals for cytologic and biochemical variables in peritoneal fluid, whole blood, and plasma in calves with congenital umbilical hernias (CUHs) before and after herniorrhaphy and to assess whether those variables in calves with CUHs were altered, compared with findings in clinically normal calves.Animals-20 Holstein calves with or without a CUH.Procedures-10 calves with CUHs underwent herniorrhaphy. Blood and peritoneal fluid samples from all 20 calves were collected for cytologic and biochemical analyses on days 0 (before surgery), 1, 3, 5, 7, and 15. Data from the 2 groups were compared.Results-Reference intervals for the variables of interest were established for each group, Before surgery, calves with CUHs had significantly greater plasma total protein concentration and creatine kinase (CK) and aspartate aminotransferase activities and peritoneal fluid specific gravity values, compared with values for calves without CUHs. At various time points after surgery, peritoneal fluid total protein concentration; fibrinogen concentration; nucleated cell, polymorphonuclear cell, and lymphocyte counts; specific gravity; and lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, and CK activities in calves with CUHs were significantly different from values in calves without CUHs. Some plasma and blood variables leg, total protein concentration, neutrophil count, and CK activity were significantly different between the 2 groups.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Values of certain cytologic and biochemical variables in peritoneal fluid, blood, and plasma were different between calves with and without CUHs. Thus, determination of reference intervals for these variables is important for interpreting diagnostic test results in calves with CUHs. (Am J Vet Res 2009;70:423-432)

Prospective study of soft tissue contour changes following chin bone graft harvesting

This study sought to evaluate changes in the soft tissue contour after chin bone graft harvesting. Thirty selected patients underwent chin bone graft harvesting and evaluations were made using lateral cephalograms preoperatively and postoperatively at 30 and 180 days. Fixed points and lines were established on cephalometric tracings and used to measure the selected vertical and sagittal parameters. Results showed statistically significant alterations to the vertical position values of the vermilion (V-VPV) which increased from 9.70 to 11.01 and the exposure of lower incisors (V-ELI) which increased from 1.85 to 3.5, showing an increase in their distance from the plane of reference and a lowering of their position, the clinical equivalent of a labial ptosis condition. None of the sagittal parameters analysed showed any statistically significant variation in the final evaluation. The study concluded that the alterations to patients' soft tissue contours resulted mainly from failure to ensure precise reattachment of the mentalis muscles and identified the need for further investigation of that aspect.

The promoter of a gene encoding an isoflavone reductase-like protein in coffee (Coffea arabica) drives a stress-responsive expression in leaves

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Identification of suitable internal control genes for expression studies in Coffea arabica under different experimental conditions

Background: Quantitative data from gene expression experiments are often normalized by transcription levels of reference or housekeeping genes. An inherent assumption for their use is that the expression of these genes is highly uniform in living organisms during various phases of development, in different cell types and under diverse environmental conditions. To date, the validation of reference genes in plants has received very little attention and suitable reference genes have not been defined for a great number of crop species including Coffea arabica. The aim of the research reported herein was to compare the relative expression of a set of potential reference genes across different types of tissue/organ samples of coffee. We also validated the expression profiles of the selected reference genes at various stages of development and under a specific biotic stress.Results: The expression levels of five frequently used housekeeping genes (reference genes), namely alcohol dehydrogenase (adh), 14-3-3, polyubiquitin (poly), beta-actin (actin) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh) was assessed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR over a set of five tissue/organ samples (root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruits) of Coffea arabica plants. In addition to these commonly used internal controls, three other genes encoding a cysteine proteinase (cys), a caffeine synthase (ccs) and the 60S ribosomal protein L7 (rpl7) were also tested. Their stability and suitability as reference genes were validated by geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper programs. The obtained results revealed significantly variable expression levels of all reference genes analyzed, with the exception of gapdh, which showed no significant changes in expression among the investigated experimental conditions.Conclusion: Our data suggests that the expression of housekeeping genes is not completely stable in coffee. Based on our results, gapdh, followed by 14-3-3 and rpl7 were found to be homogeneously expressed and are therefore adequate for normalization purposes, showing equivalent transcript levels in different tissue/ organ samples. Gapdh is therefore the recommended reference gene for measuring gene expression in Coffea arabica. Its use will enable more accurate and reliable normalization of tissue/organ-specific gene expression studies in this important cherry crop plant.

Fish community structure along a conservation gradient in Bodoquena Plateau streams, central West of Brazil.

Aim: To investigate whether composition and structure of stream ichthyofauna vary along the conservation gradient in the Bodoquena Plateau; Methods: Standardized sampling was performed in nine stream stretches (three references, three in the pasture, and three in urban areas), each 80 m long, in April, May and June/08; Results: A quantity of 8,102 individuals representing 36 species was collected. There were no significant differences with respect to absolute species richness among stretches. Urban stretches were more similar to each other than the other two groups, both regarding species composition and abundance. A set of six species was considered an indicator of reference stretches, whereas two were of pasture stretches and four of urban stretches. Poecilia reticulata and Corydoras aeneus, occurring only in urban stretches, were unique in showing the maximum values in the indicator species analysis; Conclusions: Results indicate changes in the ichthyofauna with urbanized surrounding water courses. The presence and abundance of Poecilia reticulata and Corydoras aeneus may indicate the quality loss of these environments.

Superspace approach to the renormalization of the O'Raifeartaigh model up to the second order in the linear delta expansion parameter

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)