Performance Comparisons of EWMA Control Chart Schemes

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Mitigation of symmetry condition in positive realness for adaptive control

Feasibility of nonlinear and adaptive control methodologies in multivariable linear time-invariant systems with state-space realization (A, B, C) is apparently limited by the standard strictly positive realness conditions that imply that the product CB must be positive definite symmetric. This paper expands the applicability of the strictly positive realness conditions used for the proofs of stability of adaptive control or control with uncertainty by showing that the not necessarily symmetric CB is only required to have a diagonal Jordan form and positive eigenvalues. The paper also shows that under the new condition any minimum-phase systems can be made strictly positive real via constant output feedback. The paper illustrates the usefulness of these extended properties with an adaptive control example. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactive Control for Transmission Overload Relief Based on Sensitivity Analysis and Cooperative Game Theory

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Evolving Future Internet clean-slate Entity Title Architecture with quality-oriented control-plane extensions

A Internet atual vem sofrendo vários problemas em termos de escalabilidade, desempenho, mobilidade, etc., devido ao vertiginoso incremento no número de usuários e o surgimento de novos serviços com novas demandas, propiciando assim o nascimento da Internet do Futuro. Novas propostas sobre redes orientadas a conteúdo, como a arquitetura Entidade Titulo (ETArch), proveem novos serviços para este tipo de cenários, implementados sobre o paradigma de redes definidas por software. Contudo, o modelo de transporte do ETArch é equivalente ao modelo best-effort da Internet atual, e vem limitando a confiabilidade das suas comunicações. Neste trabalho, ETArch é redesenhado seguindo o paradigma do sobreaprovisionamento de recursos para conseguir uma alocação de recursos avançada integrada com OpenFlow. Como resultado, o framework SMART (Suporte de Sessões Móveis com Alta Demanda de Recursos de Transporte), permite que a rede defina semanticamente os requisitos qualitativos das sessões para assim gerenciar o controle de Qualidade de Serviço visando manter a melhor Qualidade de Experiência possível. A avaliação do planos de dados e de controle teve lugar na plataforma de testes na ilha do projeto OFELIA, mostrando o suporte de aplicações móveis multimídia com alta demanda de recursos de transporte com QoS e QoE garantidos através de um esquema de sinalização restrito em comparação com o ETArch legado

Effects of recombinant LH supplementation to recombinant FSH during induced ovarian stimulation in the GnRH-agonist protocol: a matched case-control study

Background: Some studies have suggested that the suppression of endogenous LH secretion does not seem to affect the majority of patients who are undergoing assisted reproduction and stimulation with recombinant FSH (r-FSH). Other studies have indicated that a group of normogonadotrophic women down-regulated and stimulated with pure FSH preparations may experience low LH concentrations that compromise the IVF parameters. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of recombinant LH (r-LH) supplementation for controlled ovarian stimulation in r-FSH and GnRH-agonist (GnRH-a) protocol in ICSI cycles.Methods: A total of 244 patients without ovulatory dysfunction, aged < 40 years and at the first ICSI cycle were divided into two groups matched by age according to an ovarian stimulation scheme: Group I (n = 122): Down-regulation with GnRH-a + r-FSH and Group II (n = 122): Downregulation with GnRH-a + r-FSH and r-LH (beginning simultaneously).Result(s): The number of oocytes collected, the number of oocytes in metaphase II and fertilization rate were significantly lower in the Group I than in Group II (P = 0.036, P = 0.0014 and P = 0.017, respectively). In addition, the mean number of embryos produced per cycle and the mean number of frozen embryos per cycle were statistically lower (P = 0.0092 and P = 0.0008, respectively) in Group I than in Group II. Finally the cumulative implantation rate (fresh+thaw ed embryos) was significantly lower (P = 0.04) in Group I than in Group II. The other clinical and laboratory results analyzed did not show difference between groups.Conclusion: These data support r-LH supplementation in ovarian stimulation protocols with r-FSH and GnRH-a for assisted reproduction treatment.

Switching control of sympathetic activity from forebrain to hindbrain in chronic dehydration

We investigated the mechanisms responsible for increased blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) caused by 2-3 days dehydration (DH) both in vivo and in situ preparations. In euhydrated (EH) rats, systemic application of the AT(1) receptor antagonist Losartan and subsequent pre-collicular transection (to remove the hypothalamus) significantly reduced thoracic (t) SNA. In contrast, in DH rats, Losartan, followed by pre-collicular and pontine transections, failed to reduce tSNA, whereas transection at the medulla-spinal cord junction massively reduced tSNA. In DH but not EH rats, selective inhibition of the commissural nucleus tractus solitarii (cNTS) significantly reduced tSNA. Comparable data were obtained in both in situ and in vivo (anaesthetized/conscious) rats and suggest that following chronic dehydration, the control of tSNA transfers from supra-brainstem structures (e. g. hypothalamus) to the medulla oblongata, particularly the cNTS. As microarray analysis revealed up-regulation of AP1 transcription factor JunD in the dehydrated cNTS, we tested the hypothesis that AP1 transcription factor activity is responsible for dehydration-induced functional plasticity. When AP1 activity was blocked in the cNTS using a viral vector expressing a dominant negative FosB, cNTS inactivation was ineffective. However, tSNA was decreased after pre-collicular transection, a response similar to that seen in EHrats. Thus, the dehydration-induced switch in control of tSNA from hypothalamus to cNTS seems to be mediated via activation of AP1 transcription factors in the cNTS. If AP1 activity is blocked in the cNTS during dehydration, sympathetic activity control reverts back to forebrain regions. This unique reciprocating neural structure-switching plasticity between brain centres emphasizes the multiple mechanisms available for the adaptive response to dehydration.

Differential nutritional, endocrine, and cardiovascular effects in obesity-prone and obesity-resistant rats fed standard and hypercaloric diets

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

Seasonal population dynamics and the genetic structure of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti in São Paulo, Brazil

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

Optimality conditions for infinite horizon control problems with state constraints

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

Effects of the medicinal plants Curcuma zedoaria and Camellia sinensis on halitosis control

Volatile sulphur compounds (VSC) are the gases mainly responsible for halitosis (bad breath). The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of medicinal plants on halitosis control. Two commonly used plants were tested: Curcuma zedoaria and Camellia sinensis (green tea). These plants were prepared as an aqueous solution and used as mouthwashes, compared with a standard mouthwash of 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate and a placebo (water). The experiment was conducted with 30 volunteers from the School of Dentistry of Sao Jose dos Campos, Univ. Estadual Paulista - UNESP, SP, Brazil. Each volunteer tested the four mouthwashes. The Cysteine Challenge Method, modified for this study, was used for initial breath standardization. Four breath assessments were conducted after volunteers rinsed orally with acetylcysteine: one before the test mouthwash was used; the second, one minute after its use; a third 90 minutes later; and the last 180 minutes later. The results showed that chlorhexidine gluconate lowered VSC production immediately, and that this effect lasted up to 3 hours, while the tested plants had immediate inhibitory effects but no residual inhibitory effects on VSC. We concluded that Curcuma zedoaria and Camellia sinensis, prepared as infusions and used as mouthwashes, did not have a residual neutralizing effect on VSC.

Custodial symmetry and extensions of the standard model

We show that the extension of the approximate custodial SU(2)(L+R) global symmetry to all the Yukawa interactions of the standard model Lagrangian implies the introduction of sterile right-handed neutrinos and the seesaw mechanism in this sector. In this framework, the observed quark and lepton masses may be interpreted as an effect of physics beyond the standard model. The mechanism used for breaking this symmetry in the Yukawa sector could be different from the one at work in the vector boson sector. We give three model independent examples of these mechanisms.

Search for a scalar or vector particle decaying into Z gamma in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to bottom quarks in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for physics beyond the standard model using multilepton signatures in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for physics beyond the standard model in events with a Z boson, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)