Postactivation Potentiation Biases Maximal Isometric Strength Assessment

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Transmission Expansion Planning Via a Constructive Heuristic Algorithm in Restructured Electricity Industry

The transmission expansion planning problem in modern power systems is a large-scale, mixed-integer, nonlinear and non-convex problem. this paper presents a new mathematical model and a constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) for solving transmission expansion planning problem under new environment of electricity restructuring. CHA finds an acceptable solution in an iterative process, where in each step a circuit is chosen using a sensitivity index and added to the system. The proposed model consider multiple generation scenarios therefore the methodology finds high quality solution in which it allows the power system operate adequacy in an environment with multiple generators scenarios. Case studies and simulation results using test systems show possibility of using Constructive heuristic algorithm in an open access system.

Periodontal pathogens directly promote autoimmune experimental arthritis by inducing a TLR2- and IL-1-Driven Th17 response

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Monocyte migration driven by galectin-3 occurs through distinct mechanisms involving selective interactions with the extracellular matrix

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

Non-hematopoietic PAR-2 is essential for matriptase-driven pre-malignant progression and potentiation of ras-mediated squamous cell carcinogenesis

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

Capacitive DNA detection driven by electronic charge fluctuations in a graphene nanopore

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

Compressible modes in a square lid-driven cavity

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cleaning capacity promoted by motor-driven or manual instrumentation using ProTaper Universal system: Histological analysis

The aim of this study was to assess the cleaning capacity of the Protaper system using motor-driven or manual instrumentation. Materials and Methods: Ten mandibular molars were randomly separated into 2 groups (n = 5) according to the type of instrumentation performed, as follows: Group 1 - instrumentation with rotary nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) files using ProTaper Universal System (Dentsply/Maillefer); and, Group 2 - instrumentation with Ni-Ti hand files using ProTaper Universal (Dentsply-Maillefer). Afterwards, the teeth were sectioned transversely and submitted to histotechnical processing to obtain histological sections for microscopic evaluation. The images were analyzed by the Corel Photo-Paint X5 program (Corel Corporation) using an integration grid superimposed on the image. Results: Statistical analysis (U-Mann-Whitney - P < 0.05) demonstrated that G1 presented higher cleaning capacity when compared to G2. Conclusions: The rotary technique presented better cleaning results in the apical third of the root canal system when compared to the manual technique.

Model selection for discriminative restricted boltzmann machines through meta-heuristic techniques

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A Heuristic with Bounded Guarantee to Compute Diverse Paths under Shared Protection in WDM Mesh Networks

Establishing a fault-tolerant connection in a network involves computation of diverse working and protection paths. The Shared Risk Link Group (SRLG) [1] concept is used to model several types of failure conditions such as link, node, fiber conduit, etc. In this work we focus on the problem of computing optimal SRLG/link diverse paths under shared protection. Shared protection technique improves network resource utilization by allowing protection paths of multiple connections to share resources. In this work we propose an iterative heuristic for computing SRLG/link diverse paths. We present a method to calculate a quantitative measure that provides a bounded guarantee on the optimality of the diverse paths computed by the heuristic. The experimental results on computing link diverse paths show that our proposed heuristic is efficient in terms of number of iterations required (time taken) to compute diverse paths when compared to other previously proposed heuristics.

Feasibility Study of Solar Driven Underground Cooling System

In the United States the peak electrical use occurs during the summer. In addition, the building sector consumes a major portion of the annual electrical energy consumption. One of the main energy consuming components in the building sector is the Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems. This research studies the feasibility of implementing a solar driven underground cooling system that could contribute to reducing building cooling loads. The developed system consists of an Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) coupled with a solar chimney that provides a natural cool draft to the test facility building at the Solar Energy Research Test Facility in Omaha, Nebraska. Two sets of tests have been conducted: a natural passively driven airflow test and a forced fan assisted airflow test. The resulting data of the tests has been analyzed to study the thermal performance of the implemented system. Results show that: The underground soil proved to be a good heat sink at a depth of 9.5ft, where its temperature fluctuates yearly in the range of (46.5°F-58.2°F). Furthermore, the coupled system during the natural airflow modes can provide good thermal comfort conditions that comply with ASHRAE standard 55-2004. It provided 0.63 tons of cooling, which almost covered the building design cooling load (0.8 tons, extreme condition). On the other hand, although the coupled system during the forced airflow mode could not comply with ASHRAE standard 55-2004, it provided 1.27 tons of cooling which is even more than the building load requirements. Moreover, the underground soil experienced thermal saturation during the forced airflow mode due to the oversized fan, which extracted much more airflow than the EAHE ability for heat dissipation and the underground soil for heat absorption. In conclusion, the coupled system proved to be a feasible cooling system, which could be further improved with a few design recommendations.

Unifying Representations and Responses: Perseverative Biases Arise From a Single Behavioral System

A dominant account of perseverative errors in early development contends that such errors reflect a failure to inhibit a prepotent response. This study investigated whether perseveration might also arise from a failure to inhibit a prepotent representation. Children watched as a toy was hidden at an A location, waited during a delay, and then watched the experimenter find the toy. After six observation-only A trials, the toy was hidden at a B location, and children were allowed to search for the toy. Two- and 4-year-olds’ responses on the B trials were significantly biased toward A even though they had never overtly responded to this location. Thus, perseverative biases in early development can arise as a result of prepotent representations, demonstrating that the prepotent-response account is incomplete. We discuss three alternative interpretations of these results, including the possibility that representational and response-based biases reflect the operation of a single, integrated behavioral system.

GUS expression in sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) driven by three different phloem-specific promoters

Huanglongbing (HLB) is associated with Candidatus Liberibacter spp., endogenous, sieve tube-restricted bacteria that are transmitted by citrus psyllid insect vectors. Transgenic expression in the phloem of specific genes that might affect Ca. Liberibacter spp. growth and development may be an adequate strategy to improve citrus resistance to HLB. To study specific phloem gene expression in citrus, we developed three different binary vector constructs with expression cassettes bearing the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene (uidA) under the control of one of the three different promoters: Citrus phloem protein 2 (CsPP2), Arabidopsis thaliana phloem protein 2 (AtPP2), and Arabidopsis thaliana sucrose transporter 2 (AtSUC2). Transgenic lines of 'Hamlin', 'Pera', and 'Valencia' sweet oranges [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] were produced via Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. The epicotyl segments collected from in vitro germinated seedlings were used as explants. The gene nptII, which confers resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin, was used for selection. The transformation efficiency was expressed as the number of GUS-positive shoots over the total number of explants and varied from 1.54 to 6.08 % among the three cultivars and three constructs studied. Several lines of the three sweet orange cultivars analyzed using PCR and Southern blot analysis were genetically transformed with the three constructs evaluated. The histological GUS activity in the leaves indicates that the uidA gene was preferentially expressed in the phloem, which suggests that the use of the three promoters might be adequate for producing HLB-resistant transgenic sweet oranges. The results reported here conclusively demonstrate the preferential expression of GUS in the phloem driven by two heterologous and one homologous gene promoters. Key message The results reported here conclusively demonstrate the preferential expression of GUS in the phloem driven by two heterologous and one homologous gene promoters.