Digital Implementation of SISC Fuzzy Controllers

A classification of inference systems based on approximate reasoning techniques is proposed. An alternative realization method is described for the particular SISC case, which enables reducing the silicon area and increasing the operation speed, making it especially appropriate for real time control applications

Disempowering defensive silence: The role of empowering leadership, sense of power, and dyadic tenure

Employees’ silence is a problem for organizations, but research has not sufficiently addressed this behavior, especially the hard-to-change emotion-based defensive silence. Leadership plays an important role in explaining silence, but, although it is essentially a power-related construct, this relationship has not deserved enough attention from scholars from a power standpoint, i.e., empowering leadership. From an approach-inhibition theory perspective, sense of power is a suitable variable that depicts the psychological process that may mediate the relationship between empowering leadership and defensive silence. Likewise, as a process, it may require time to take place. In line with this, the present study tests whether empowering leadership plays a relevant role in decreasing defensive silence, through the subordinate's sense of power, as a mediator. This study contemplates dyadic tenure as a moderator in the mediation because, in leadership studies, it is important to assume a temporal approach. With a sample of 227 employees, findings show the hypothesized indirect effect as well as a moderation of dyadic tenure in the direct effect where empowering leadership is counterproductive in low tenured dyadic relations. Findings are discussed at the light of theory, suggesting a novel mediational path that accounts for considerable variance in defensive silence. Implications for research and practice are considered.O silêncio dos colaboradores é um problema para as organizações, mas não foi um comportamento suficientemente investigado, especialmente o silêncio defensivo, baseado em emoções e de difícil mudança. A liderança desempenha um papel importante na explicação do silêncio, mas, embora seja essencialmente uma construção relacionada com o poder, esse relacionamento não mereceu atenção suficiente por parte da academia desse ponto de vista, ou seja, da liderança empoderadora. Do ponto de vista da teoria da aproximação-inibição, o sentido de poder pessoal é uma variável adequada que descrever o processo psicológico que pode mediar a relação entre liderança empoderadora e o silêncio defensivo. Da mesma forma, como processo, pode levar tempo para ocorrer. Neste sentido, o presente estudo testa em que medida a liderança empoderadora desempenha um papel relevante na diminuição do silêncio defensivo, por meio do sentido de poder pessoal do colaborador, enquanto variável mediadora. Este estudo contempla o tempo da díade como moderador da mediação, porque em estudos de liderança é importante assumir uma abordagem temporal. Com uma amostra de 227 colaboradores, os resultados evidenciam o efeito indireto hipotetizado, bem como uma moderação do tempo da díade no efeito direto, onde a liderança empoderadora é contraproducente nas relações diádicas com pouco tempo. Os resultados são discutidos à luz da teoria, sugerindo um novo caminho de mediação que explica uma variação considerável no silêncio defensivo. As implicações para pesquisa e prática são consideradas

The Impact of Globalization and Economic Freedom on Economic Growth: The Case of Latin American and Caribbean Countries

In this study, we examined the impacts of globalization and economic freedom on the economic growth of a group of 21 developing countries from Latin America and the Caribbean over a time span that ranges from 1996 to 2013. Since heteroscedasticity, contemporaneous correlation, first order autocorrelation and cross-sectional dependence were present in the panel, the dynamic Driscoll-Kraay was used. We have constructed two models, one with the globalization overall and another with the political, social, and economic dimensions of globalization. In a second stage, we also corrected the most worrying shocks that we noticed in these economies. In general, our results point that globalization has a positive impact on growth as also economic globalization, but not all of its dimensions have the same positive effects. Social globalization showed to have a negative impact on growth, and political globalization did not show any statistically significant effect. On the other hand, considering the results from our estimations we can also conclude that economic freedom has a negative impact on the economic growth of our sample. The effects of globalization and economic freedom seem only to be noticed in the long-run, only economic globalization, when we do not correct for shocks, and electric power consumption, in all estimations, shows to have short and long-run effects on growth. Finally, the negative and significant coefficient of the error correction mechanism in all estimations point to the presence of cointegration/long-memory relationships between the variables.Neste estudo, examinámos os impactos da globalização e da liberdade económica no crescimento económico de um grupo de 21 países em desenvolvimento da América Latina e das Caraíbas num intervalo de tempo que vai de 1996 até 2013. Devido à presença de heterocedasticidade, correlação contemporânea, autocorrelação de primeira ordem e dependência seccional no painel, foi usado o estimador dinâmico Driscoll-Kraay. Construímos dois modelos, um com o valor total da globalização e outro com as suas dimensões politicas, sociais e económicas. Numa segunda fase, também corrigimos os choques de maior magnitude que se verificaram nestas economias. No geral, os nossos resultados apontam que a globalização tem um impacto positivo no crescimento assim como a globalização económica, mas nem todas as suas dimensões mostram ter os mesmos efeitos positivos. A globalização social mostrou ter um impacto negativo no crescimento, já a globalização politica não mostrou qualquer efeito significante. Por outro lado, considerando os resultados das nossas estimações, também podemos concluir que a liberdade económica demonstra um impacto negativo no crescimento económico da nossa amostra. Os efeitos da globalização e da liberdade económica parecem ser apenas notados no longo prazo, só a globalização económica, quando os choques não são corrigidos, e o consumo de energia elétrica, em todas as estimações, demonstram efeitos de curto e longo prazo no crescimento. Finalmente, o valor negativo e significante do coeficiente do mecanismo de correção de erros em todas as estimações aponta para a presença de uma relação de cointegração/memória longa entre as variáveis

Hardware/software codesign methodology for fuzzy controller implementation

This paper describes a HW/SW codesign methodology for the implementation of fuzzy controllers on a platform composed by a general-purpose microcontroller and specific processing elements implemented on FPGAs or ASICs. The different phases of the methodology, as well as the CAD tools used in each design stage, are presented, with emphasis on the fuzzy system development environment Xfuzzy. Also included is a practical application of the described methodology for the development of a fuzzy controller for a dosage system

NEW RECORDS OF CINEREOUS HARRIER Circus cinereus (ACCIPITRIDAE) IN THE HIGH ANDES OF SOUTHERN ECUADOR

Cinereous Harrier Circus cinereus is a local species in Ecuador, occurring in agricultural grasslands and páramofrom north to central-south Andes. Little is known about its distribution in southern Ecuador. In this region, records are scarce and have not been adequately documented. We present the first video record of an adult female and a sighting of an adult male in the páramoof Quimsacocha National Recreation Area, Azuay province, southwest Ecuador. Our findings suggest that C. cinereus may be locally distributed further south of the currently known distribution and that it prefers open habitats, particularly cushion páramo, wetlands, and marshes in the high Andes and humid inter-Andean valleys.El Aguilucho Cinéreo Circus cinereus es una especie localista en Ecuador, que habita en herbazales agrícolas y páramo desde el norte hasta el centro-sur de los Andes. Se conoce poco acerca de su distribución en el sur del país. En esta región, los registros son escasos y no han sido debidamente documentados. Presentamos el primer registro en video de una hembra adulta y un avistamiento de un macho adulto en los páramos del Área Nacional de Recreación Quimsacocha, provincia de Azuay, suroeste del Ecuador. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que C. cinereus puede estar localmente distribuido más al sur de la distribución actualmente conocida y que prefiere hábitats abiertos, particularmente el páramo de almohadilla, humedales y marismas en los altos Andes y los valles húmedos interandinos

Quality enhancement of chilled fish by including alga Bifurcaria bifurcata extract in the icing medium

9 páginas, 4 tablasBifurcaria bifurcata is a widely extended brown macroalga, whose antimicrobial and antioxidant properties have previously been described. In this study, ethanolic extracts of B. bifurcata were included in the icing medium employed for the chilled storage of megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis). For it, two different concentrations of this brown macroalga extract (0.67 and 2.50 g lyophilized alga L−1 aqueous solution; B-1 and B-2 batches, respectively) were tested for a 14-day storage. The effect of the alga extract was compared with a counterpart batch stored in traditional ice prepared only from water (B-0 batch). Significant (p < 0.05) inhibitions of microbial activity (aerobes, psychrotrophs, lipolytic bacteria, proteolytic bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae) as well as of pH and trimethylamine formation were observed as a result of the incorporation of the alga extract in the icing medium, being this effect especially relevant in the B-2 batch. Concerning lipid damage development, a significantly (p < 0.05) lower formation of free fatty acids (lipid hydrolysis development) and of fluorescent compounds (tertiary lipid oxidation development) in samples corresponding to both alga-including batches could also be observed; this inhibitory effect was more intense in fish belonging to the B-2 batch. The icing medium proposed in this work constitutes a promising strategy in order to apply algae extracts to enhance fish quality retention during the different steps of storage and commercialization of marine speciesThis work was supported by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC; Spain) through the project PIE 201370E001Peer reviewe

Effect of advanced chilling methods on lipid damage during sardine (Sardina pilchardus) storage

7 páginas, 2 figuras, 4 tablasSlurry ice is a biphasic system consisting of small spherical ice crystals surrounded by seawater at subzero temperature. Its effect on lipid damage (hydrolysis and oxidation) was evaluated during the chilled storage of a fatty fish species, sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Slurry ice treatment was checked alone and in combination with ozone and compared to traditional flake icing during a 22-day storage. Different lipid damage indices (free fatty acids, FFA; peroxide value, PV; thiobarbituric acid index, TBA-i; fluorescent compounds, FR) were checked and compared to sensory assessment and nucleotide degradation (K value). According to lipid hydrolysis (FFA) and oxidation (PV and FR) developments, slurry ice showed an inhibitory effect (p 0.05) from slurry ice alone when considering lipid hydrolysis, nucleotide degradation and some lipid oxidation indices (PV and FR), although a higher (p <0.05) TBA-i was observed at day 22 of storage when compared to flake ice and slurry ice treatments. However, a lower (p <0.05) fluorescence development was observed for fish treated under ozonised slurry ice when compared to traditionally iced fish. Sensory assessment showed a higher shelf life for fish samples treated under ozonised slurry ice than for their counterparts under slurry ice (15 d versus 12 d), while flake icing led to a far shorter shelf life (5 d). According to sensory and biochemical (lipid matter and nucleotide) analysis, slurry ice has proved to be a promising technology for damage inhibition and quality retention in a fatty fish species such as sardine. Ozonised slurry ice was also shown to be useful, since a longer shelf life was obtained in the present experiment and a pro-oxidant effect of ozone on sardine lipids was not provedThis work was supported by the Secretaría Xeral de I1D fromthe Xunta de Galicia (Galicia, Spain) (Project PGIDIT02RMA18E).Peer reviewe

Control difuso de la tasa de transferencia de extremo a extremo en protocolos de transporte de Internet

La dinámica del tráfico de extremo a extremo en Internet es un problema complejo para el cual los modelos disponibles son, en el mejor de los casos incompletos. Esta comunicación describe nuevos mecanismos para regulación de la tasa de transferencia de extremo a extremo en la capa de transporte por medio de sistemas difusos. Se describen una generalización basada en lógica difusa de los mecanismos de control de flujo y congestión de TCP (Transport Control Protocol), el diseño de un regulador difuso basado en mecanismo de ventana para TCP, así como la metodología de diseño empleada para simular e implementar de manera experimental el sistema. Se resume un estudio comparativo del regulador difuso presentado frente a los mecanismos tradicionales. El regulador difuso resulta útil como enfoque de modelado y proporciona significativas mejoras de prestaciones respecto a un conjunto de criterios.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TEC2005-04359/MICJunta de Amdalucía TIC2006-63

Open FPGA-based development platform for fuzzy systems with applications to communications

Soft computing techniques are gaining momentum as tools for network traffic modeling, analysis and control. Efficient hardware implementations of these techniques that can achieve real-time operation in high-speed communications equipment is however an open problem. This paper describes a platform for the development of fuzzy systems with applications to communications systems, namely network traffic analysis and control. An FPGA development board with PCI interface is employed to support an open platform that comprises open CAD tools as well as IP cores. For the development process, we set up a methodology and a CAD tools chain that cover from initial specification in a high-level language to implementation on FPGA devices. PCI compatible fuzzy inference modules are implemented as SoPC based on the open WISHBONE interconnection architecture. We outline results from the design and implementation of fuzzy analyzers and regulators for network traffic. These systems are shown to satisfy operational and architectural requirements of current and future high-performance routing equipment.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TEC2005-04359/MICJunta de Andalucía TIC2006-63