Application of ontologies in peer-to-peer database with routing queries based on ant colony algorithm

A significant set of information stored in different databases around the world, can be shared through peer-topeer databases. With that, is obtained a large base of knowledge, without the need for large investments because they are used existing databases, as well as the infrastructure in place. However, the structural characteristics of peer-topeer, makes complex the process of finding such information. On the other side, these databases are often heterogeneous in their schemas, but semantically similar in their content. A good peer-to-peer databases systems should allow the user access information from databases scattered across the network and receive only the information really relate to your topic of interest. This paper proposes to use ontologies in peer-to-peer database queries to represent the semantics inherent to the data. The main contribution of this work is enable integration between heterogeneous databases, improve the performance of such queries and use the algorithm of optimization Ant Colony to solve the problem of locating information on peer-to-peer networks, which presents an improve of 18% in results. © 2011 IEEE.

Adult mortality estimate based on information on age structure of deaths, and application to data for San Felipe around 1787

Includes bibliography

Effect of seed addition on SnO2-based varistors for low voltage application

The effect of seed addition on the microstructure and non-ohmic properties of the SnO2 + 1%CoO + 0.05%Nb2O5 ceramic-based system was analyzed. Two classes of seeds were prepared: 99% SnO2 + 1%CuO and 99% SnO2 + 1%CoO (mol%); both classes were added to the ceramic-based system in the amount of 1%, 5%, and 10%. The two systems containing 1% of seeds resulted in a larger grain size and a lower breakdown voltage. The addition of 1% copper seeds produces a breakdown voltage (V b) of ∼ 37 V and a leakage current (fic) of 29 μA. On the other hand, the addition of 1% cobalt seeds produced a breakdown voltage of 57 V and a leakage current of 70 μA. Both systems are of great technological interest for low voltage varistor applications, by means of appropriate strategies to reduce the leakage current. Using larger amounts of seeds was not effective since the values of breakdown voltage in both cases are close to a system without seeds. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature regarding the use of seeds in the SnO2 system for low voltage applications. A potential barrier model which illustrates the formation of oxygen species (O′2(ads), O′ads, and O″ads) at the expense of clusters near the interface between grains is proposed. © 2012 The American Ceramic Society.

Monitoramento de dados via internet baseado em telefonia celular

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

New strategies for planning and performance evaluation of wireless networks: case studies based on the cross-layer approach

The use of wireless local area networks, called WLANs, as well as the proliferation of the use of multimedia applications have grown rapidly in recent years. Some factors affect the quality of service (QoS) received by the user and interference is one of them. This work presents strategies for planning and performance evaluation through an empirical study of the QoS parameters of a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application in an interference network, as well as the relevance in the design of wireless networks to determine the coverage area of an access point, taking into account several parameters such as power, jitter, packet loss, delay, and PMOS. Another strategy is based on a hybrid approach that considers measuring and Bayesian inference applied to wireless networks, taking into consideration QoS parameters. The models take into account a cross layer vision of networks, correlating aspects of the physical environment, on the signal propagation (power or distance) with aspects of VoIP applications (e.g., jitter and packet loss). Case studies were carried out for two indoor environments and two outdoor environments, one of them displaying main characteristics of the Amazon region (e.g., densely arboreous environments). This last test bed was carried out in a real system because the Government of the State of Pará has a digital inclusion program called NAVEGAPARÁ.

Topical Application of Retinyl Palmitate-Loaded Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Skin Aging

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

Transdentinal cytotoxicity of resin-based luting cements to pulp cells

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

A Internet na comunicação em saúde: construindo um site baseado na interatividade.

The paper presents three steps of a study about the Internet use in health communication. The first refers to the potentials and limitations of the web for health initiatives in general. The second provides an assessment of health sites in Brazil dedicated to people who want to quit smoking, performed using a standardized form, indicating strengths and weaknesses of existing sites. The last part of the text, based on these data, concerns the application of a model in stages on the internet, to support smokers who want to quit smoking.

PROFIX: método de avaliação on-line da proficiência digital

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Swarm-based descriptor combination and its application for image classification

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

Application of Volterra series in nonlinear mechanical system identification and in structural health monitoring problems

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

Optical Communication Networks for the Next-Generation Internet

Computer and telecommunication networks are changing the world dramatically and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. The Internet, primarily based on packet switches, provides very flexible data services such as e-mail and access to the World Wide Web. The Internet is a variable-delay, variable- bandwidth network that provides no guarantee on quality of service (QoS) in its initial phase. New services are being added to the pure data delivery framework of yesterday. Such high demands on capacity could lead to a “bandwidth crunch” at the core wide-area network, resulting in degradation of service quality. Fortunately, technological innovations have emerged which can provide relief to the end user to overcome the Internet’s well-known delay and bandwidth limitations. At the physical layer, a major overhaul of existing networks has been envisaged from electronic media (e.g., twisted pair and cable) to optical fibers - in wide-area, metropolitan-area, and even local-area settings. In order to exploit the immense bandwidth potential of optical fiber, interesting multiplexing techniques have been developed over the years.

Development and application of DNA techniques for validating and improving pinniped diet estimates

Polymerase chain reaction techniques were developed and applied to identify DNA from .40 species of prey contained in fecal (scat) soft-part matrix collected at terrestrial sites used by Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in British Columbia and the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Sixty percent more fish and cephalopod prey were identified by morphological analyses of hard parts compared with DNA analysis of soft parts (hard parts identified higher relative proportions of Ammodytes sp., Cottidae, and certain Gadidae). DNA identified 213 prey occurrences, of which 75 (35%) were undetected by hard parts (mainly Salmonidae, Pleuronectidae, Elasmobranchii, and Cephalopoda), and thereby increased species occurrences by 22% overall and species richness in 44% of cases (when comparing 110 scats that amplified prey DNA). Prey composition was identical within only 20% of scats. Overall, diet composition derived from both identification techniques combined did not differ significantly from hard-part identification alone, suggesting that past scat-based diet studies have not missed major dietary components. However, significant differences in relative diet contributions across scats (as identified using the two techniques separately) reflect passage rate differences between hard and soft digesta material and highlight certain hypothesized limitations in conventional morphological-based methods (e.g., differences in resistance to digestion, hard part regurgitation, partial and secondary prey consumption), as well as potential technical issues (e.g., resolution of primer efficiency and sensitivity and scat subsampling protocols). DNA analysis of salmon occurrence (from scat soft-part matrix and 238 archived salmon hard parts) provided species-level taxonomic resolution that could not be obtained by morphological identification and showed that Steller sea lions were primarily consuming pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon. Notably, DNA from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) that likely originated from a distant fish farm was also detected in two scats from one site in the eastern Aleutian Islands. Overall, molecular techniques are valuable for identifying prey in the fecal remains of marine predators. Combining DNA and hard-part identification will effectively alleviate certain predicted biases and will ultimately enhance measures of diet richness, fisheries interactions (especially salmon-related ones), and the ecological role of pinnipeds and other marine predators, to the benefit of marine wildlife conservationists and fisheries managers.

Application of discriminant analysis-based model for prediction of risk of low back disorders due to workplace design in industrial jobs

The occupational exposure limits of different risk factors for development of low back disorders (LBDs) have not yet been established. One of the main problems in setting such guidelines is the limited understanding of how different risk factors for LBDs interact in causing injury, since the nature and mechanism of these disorders are relatively unknown phenomena. Industrial ergonomists' role becomes further complicated because the potential risk factors that may contribute towards the onset of LBDs interact in a complex manner, which makes it difficult to discriminate in detail among the jobs that place workers at high or low risk of LBDs. The purpose of this paper was to develop a comparative study between predictions based on the neural network-based model proposed by Zurada, Karwowski & Marras (1997) and a linear discriminant analysis model, for making predictions about industrial jobs according to their potential risk of low back disorders due to workplace design. The results obtained through applying the discriminant analysis-based model proved that it is as effective as the neural network-based model. Moreover, the discriminant analysis-based model proved to be more advantageous regarding cost and time savings for future data gathering.

Systematic Evaluation of Extraction Methods for Multiplatform-Based Metabotyping: Application to the Fasciola hepatica Metabolome

Combining data from multiple analytical platforms is essential for comprehensive study of the molecular phenotype (metabotype) of a given biological sample. The metabolite profiles generated are intrinsically dependent on the analytical platforms, each requiring optimization of instrumental parameters, separation conditions, and sample extraction to deliver maximal biological information. An in-depth evaluation of extraction protocols for characterizing the metabolome of the hepatobiliary fluke Fasciola hepatica, using ultra performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectroscopy is presented. The spectrometric methods were characterized by performance, and metrics of merit were established, including precision, mass accuracy, selectivity, sensitivity, and platform stability. Although a core group of molecules was common to all methods, each platform contributed a unique set, whereby 142 metabolites out of 14,724 features were identified. A mixture design revealed that the chloroform:methanol:water proportion of 15:59:26 was globally the best composition for metabolite extraction across UPLC-MS and CE-MS platforms accommodating different columns and ionization modes. Despite the general assumption of the necessity of platform-adapted protocols for achieving effective metabotype characterization, we show that an appropriately designed single extraction procedure is able to fit the requirements of all technologies. This may constitute a paradigm shift in developing efficient protocols for high-throughput metabolite profiling with more-general analytical applicability.