N-methyl-D-aspartate channel and consciousness: From signal coincidence detection to quantum computing

Research on Blindsight, Neglect/Extinction and Phantom limb syndromes, as well as electrical measurements of mammalian brain activity, have suggested the dependence of vivid perception on both incoming sensory information at primary sensory cortex and reentrant information from associative cortex. Coherence between incoming and reentrant signals seems to be a necessary condition for (conscious) perception. General reticular activating system and local electrical synchronization are some of the tools used by the brain to establish coarse coherence at the sensory cortex, upon which biochemical processes are coordinated. Besides electrical synchrony and chemical modulation at the synapse, a central mechanism supporting such a coherence is the N-methyl-D-aspartate channel, working as a 'coincidence detector' for an incoming signal causing the depolarization necessary to remove Mg 2+, and reentrant information releasing the glutamate that finally prompts Ca 2+ entry. We propose that a signal transduction pathway activated by Ca 2+ entry into cortical neurons is in charge of triggering a quantum computational process that accelerates inter-neuronal communication, thus solving systemic conflict and supporting the unity of consciousness. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Energy method to calculate the density of liquids using ultrasonic reflection techniques

In this work it is introduced a new approach to calculate the density of liquids in terms of the energies of the acoustic signals. This method is compared to other methods in the time domain (peak-to-peak amplitudes) and frequency domain magnitudes at a single frequency. It is used a measurement cell based on a multiple reflection technique, and it is developed an acoustic model for the cell. Simulations and experiments using several liquids are presented, showing that the energy method a less sensitive to noise than the other techniques. The relative errors in the density are smaller than 0.2% when compared to the values measured with a pycnometer.

Control of thermal damage in grinding by digital signal processing of raw acoustic emission

Grinding process is usually the last finishing process of a precision component in the manufacturing industries. This process is utilized for manufacturing parts of different materials, so it demands results such as low roughness, dimensional and shape error control, optimum tool-life, with minimum cost and time. Damages on the parts are very expensive since the previous processes and the grinding itself are useless when the part is damaged in this stage. This work aims to investigate the efficiency of digital signal processing tools of acoustic emission signals in order to detect thermal damages in grinding process. To accomplish such a goal, an experimental work was carried out for 15 runs in a surface grinding machine operating with an aluminum oxide grinding wheel and ABNT 1045 e VC131 steels. The acoustic emission signals were acquired from a fixed sensor placed on the workpiece holder. A high sampling rate acquisition system at 2.5 MHz was used to collect the raw acoustic emission instead of root mean square value usually employed. In each test AE data was analyzed off-line, with results compared to inspection of each workpiece for burn and other metallurgical anomaly. A number of statistical signal processing tools have been evaluated.

The use of pulsed electric acoustic technique for measuring electric field profiles in ferroelectric ceramic

The pulsed electric acoustic technique, PEA, have been usually applied to probe space charge profiles in polymers. In this work we show preliminary results obtained with lead zirconate-titanate and niobium, PZTN, ferroelectric ceramic samples. Experiments showed that induced charge densities on sample electrodes are mainly due to the ferroelectric polarization of the sample. We present results of the typical PEA response and the procedure to deconvolute the signal in order to obtain the charge densities and the electric field profiles. The PEA setup allows us to show a non-uniform polarization during ferroelectric switching.

Soliton propagation in a medium with Kerr nonlinearity and resonant impurities: A variational approach

The soliton propagation in a medium with Kerr nonlinearity and resonant impurities was studied by a variational approach. The existence of a solitary wave was shown within the framework of a combined nonintegrable system composed of one nonlinear Schrödinger and a pair of Bloch equations. The analytical solution which was obtained, was tested through numerical simulations confirming its solitary wave nature.

Effect of benzylaminopurine (BAP) on clonal propagation rate of Curcuma longa L.

Curcuma longa L. is used in many countries for its flavor, and medicinal and cosmetic attributes, as well as for its peculiar starch characteristics. These factors have driven an interest in the in vitro propagation of this species, looking for germplasm bank maintenance, production of disease free plants, genetic variability induction from callus, and as a tool for starch research. However, there are few reports concerning the micropropagation of Curcuma longa. The in vitro propagation rate of this species, cultured under two benzylaminopurine (BAP) concentrations, was the aim of this research.

The effect of glycerol on signal supression during electrospray ionization analysis of proteins

The effect of salts, detergents and chaotropic agents on mass spectrometric analysis are relatively well understood, mainly due to their actions decreasing the performance of ESI interface in mass spectrometric analysis. However, there are few studies in the literature characterizing the effect of protein stabilization by glycerol, followed in some circumstances by the suppression of protein signal when ESI interface is used. The aim of the present research was to investigate in details the mass spectrometric behavior of some proteins in presence of high levels of glycerol during ESI-MS analysis. Thus, horse heart myoglobin and chicken ovalbumin were used as standard proteins. It was demonstrated that the presence of 1% (v/v) glycerol suppressed the signal of these proteins during the ESI-MS analysis, even when the sample nozzle potential was scanned from 28 to 80 V. However, when the glycerol concentration was decreased to 0.5% (v/v) and the sample cone voltage adjusted to 50 V, a perfect envelope of peaks was observed, allowing the spectrum deconvolution and the molecular mass determination with mass accuracy lower than 0.01% in each situation. A molecular explanation for this suppressive effect and for the analytical overcoming of this difficult is proposed.

In vitro propagation of Maytenus ilicifolia (Celastraceae) as potential source for antitumoral and antioxidant quinomethide triterpenes production. A rapid quantitative method for their analysis by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Cell culture of Maytenus ilicifolia were established in order to produce and to quantify the antitumoral and antioxidant quinonemethide triterpenes. In vitro calli were induced from leaf explants of native plants and cultured in semi-solid medium under controlled conditions of humidity, temperature and photoperiod. The quinonemethide triterpenes showed maximum accumulation in the logarithmic phase growth of the cell culture. A rapid, sensitive and reliable reverse-phase HPLC method was used for quantitative determination of the antitumoral and antioxidant quinonemethide triterpenes, 22β-hydroxymaytenin and maytenin in callus of Maytenus ilicifolia. Well resolved peaks with good detection response and linearity in the range 1.0 - 100 μg/mL were obtained. This quantitative work was performed by an external standard method.

Multipath reduction from GPS double differences using wavelets: How far can we go?

Wavelets are being extensively used in Geodetic applications. In this paper, the Multi-Resolution Analysis (MRA) using wavelets is applied to pseudorange and carrier phase GPS double differences (DDs) in order to reduce multipath effects. The wavelets were already applied to GPS carrier phase DDs, but some questions remain: How good can be the results, and are all multipath effects reduced? The answers to these questions are discussed in this paper. Thus, the wavelet transform is used to decompose the DD signals, splitting them in lower resolution components. After the decomposition process, the wavelet shrinkage is performed by thresholding to eliminate the components relative to multipath effects. Then, the DD observation can be reconstructed. This new DD signal is used to perform the baseline processing. The daily multipath repeatability was verified. With the application of the proposed approach, the results showed that the reliability of the ambiguity resolution and accuracy of the results improved when compared with the standard procedure. Furthermore, the method showed to be very efficient computationally, because, it is not noticed, at practical level, difference in the time span between the processing with and without application of the proposed method. However, only the high frequency multipath was eliminated.

Study of thresholds to burning in surface grinding process

This work aims at finding out the threshold to burning in surface grinding process. Acoustic emission and electric power signals are acquired from an analog-digital converter and processed through algorithms in order to generate a control signal to inform the operator or interrupt the process in the case of burning occurrence. The thresholds that dictate the situation of burn and non-burn were studied as well as a comparison between the two parameters was carried out. In the experimental work one type of steel (ABNT-1045 annealed) and one type of grinding wheel referred to as TARGA model 3TG80.3-NV were employed. Copyright © 2005 by ABCM.

Dynamic and isometric protocols of knee extension: Effect of fatigue on the EMG signal

The objective of this study was to analyze the electromyographic (EMG) signal behavior of rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL) and biceps femoris (caput longum) (BFCL) from nine women during fatiguing dynamic and isometric knee extensions tests and to determine their EMGFT (Electromyographic Fatigue Threshold). Surface electrodes, biological signal acquisition module, analogical-digital converter board and specific software were used. The RMS (Root Mean Square) values obtained from concentric phase (80 to 30 degrees) of the dynamic knee extension andfrom isometric contraction were correlated with time on each load by linear regression analysis. The respective slopes were correlated with the correspondent load to determine the EMGFT. Force (Kgf) and median frequency - MF (Hz) obtained during MIVC (Maximal Isometric Voluntary Contraction) performed before and after the fatiguing tests were calculated in Matlab environment. The results demonstrated that the endurance time decreases with higher loads the EMG amplitude increase with time and was greater at higher loads, between muscles in dynamic exercise the RF and VL showed higher slopes, and in isometric exercise the VL showed the same behavior The EMGFT values were similar in both exercises; the force values predominantly decreased after fatiguing tests; however the MF only decreased after some loads. The protocols proposed allowed standardizing protocols at least to induce the fatigue process and to determine the EMGFT as an endurance indicative, which may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitative or training interventions indicated to reduce muscle weakness and fatigue.

Mitigating systematic errors for single frequency GPS receivers employing a penalized least squares methodology

Among the positioning systems that compose GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), GPS has the capability of providing low, medium and high precision positioning data. However, GPS observables may be subject to many different types of errors. These systematic errors can degrade the accuracy of the positioning provided by GPS. These errors are mainly related to GPS satellite orbits, multipath, and atmospheric effects. In order to mitigate these errors, a semiparametric model and the penalized least squares technique were employed in this study. This is similar to changing the stochastical model, in which error functions are incorporated and the results are similar to those in which the functional model is changed instead. Using this method, it was shown that ambiguities and the estimation of station coordinates were more reliable and accurate than when employing a conventional least squares methodology.

Dovyalis hebecarpa propagation by the use of cuttings

The vegetative propagation of Dovyalis hebecarpawas studied using herbaceous cuttings of a hybrid introduced in Brazil by the College of Agriculture, Campus of Jaboticabal-UNESP. The treatments consisted of (1) evaluating the effect of five 3-Indolebutyric acid (IBA) doses (0 (control), 1,000, 3,000, 5,000 and 7,000 mg.L -1); (2) the influence of two kinds of herbaceous cuttings (apical and sub-apical) and (3) the collection position on the plant (upper and lower part of the canopy) at two different times of the year (autumn and spring). The experimental design was completely randomized with four replicates of 10 cuttings each; the analysis was on a 5 × 2 × 2 factorial layout. The growth regulator (IBA) did not influence the rooting of cuttings in either sampling season. The best season for the rooting was spring. Apical cuttings were desirable for rooting in both seasons. In autumn cuttings taken from the lower portion of the plant showed significantly higher rooting values than the ones from the upper portion; and in spring cuttings taken from the upper portion had higher rooting percentages. © 2007 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.

Discrete wavelet transform signal analyzer

This paper addresses the problem of processing biological data, such as cardiac beats in the audio and ultrasonic range, and on calculating wavelet coefficients in real time, with the processor clock running at a frequency of present application-specified integrated circuits and field programmable gate array. The parallel filter architecture for discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been improved, calculating the wavelet coefficients in real time with hardware reduced up to 60%. The new architecture, which also processes inverse DWT, is implemented with the Radix-2 or the Booth-Wallace constant multipliers. One integrated circuit signal analyzer in the ultrasonic range, including series memory register banks, is presented. © 2007 IEEE.

A methodology and a tool to design of mixed-signal technology

This paper presents a tool box developed to read files describing a SIMULINK® model and translates it into a structural VHDL-AMS description. In translation process, all files and directory structures to simulate the translated model on SystemVision™ environment is generate. The tool box named MS2SV was tested by three models of commercially available digital-to-analogue converters. All models use the R2R ladder network to conversion, but the functionality of these three components is different. The methodology of conversion of the model is presents together with sort theory about R-2R ladder network. In the evaluation of the translated models, we used a sine waveform input signal and the waveform generated by D/A conversion process was compared by FFT analysis. The results show the viability of this type of approach. This work considers some of challenges set by the electronic industry for the further development of simulation methodologies and tools in the field of mixed-signal technology. © 2007 IEEE.