An Evolutionary Mono-Objective Approach for Solving the Menu Planning Problem

This work proposes an evolutionary approach to solve the Menu Planning Problem. Our work uses the Brazilian school context and our principal goal is to create menus that minimize the total cost of these menus. However, those menus must also satisfy requirements of the Brazilian government, such as: (i) student age group, (ii) school category, (iii) school duration time, (iv) school location, (v) variety of preparations, (vi) harmony of preparations, (vii) maximum amount to be paid for each meal and, (viii) lower and upper limits of macronutrients. The results demonstrate that the evolutionary approach is not only able to generate a set of inexpensive and healthy menus but also respect the required set of constraints. A constrained deterministic approach is performed to generate 5-day menu through a greedy-based function taking into account the normalized sum of all macronutrients and the monetary cost of the menu. A comparison between the 5-day menu obtained by the proposed approach and the constrained greedy-based approach menu is carried out. Despite the fact the obtained menu outperforms the greed-based menu taking into account the total cost, this difference is not so expressive. However, all macronutrients were outside the pre-defined range at least in one day of the week. The 5-day menu obtained by the proposed approach is evaluated by a nutritionist. The overall quality of the menu is outstanding and the time spent to generate it is 60 seconds

SU(1,1) Coherent States For Position-Dependent Mass Singular Oscillators

The Schroedinger equation for position-dependent mass singular oscillators is solved by means of the factorization method and point transformations. These systems share their spectrum with the conventional singular oscillator. Ladder operators are constructed to close the su(1,1) Lie algebra and the involved point transformations are shown to preserve the structure of the Barut-Girardello and Perelomov coherent states.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. This shortened version (includes new references) has been adapted for its publication in International Journal of Theoretical Physic

Allometric growth patterns in hatchery-reared larvae of the catfish Lophiosilurus alexandri (Pisces: Pseudopimelodidae)

The aim of the present study was to characterize the relationships that occur between morphometric variables of larvae of Lophiosilurus alexandri Steindachner, 1876 through their allometric growth analysis. Total length, head length and body height were correlated with standard length, head height and body height, as well as eye diameter and head height with head length. The results revealed allometric positive relation during the initial development, where the b coefficient varied between 1.10 and 2.81. The variable pre-anal distance in relation to the standard length and the snout length in relation to the head length revealed an allometric negative relation, where the b coefficient was 0.85 and 0.94, respectively

Catalogue of introduced and local banana cultivars in the Philippines: Results of a demonstration trial by the Institute of Plant Breeding, University of the Philippines, Los Baños

This catalogue provides information on the morphological and yield characteristics of 19 introduced and 8 local banana cultivars grown at the IPB-UPLB demonstration plot. It is intended to serve as a guide to help in identifying and selecting cultivars for further evaluation by researchers and planting by interested growers

A Performance Analysis Framework for WiFi/WiMAX Heterogeneous Metropolitan Networks Based on Cross-Layer Design

The communication between network nodes within different protocol domains is often regarded simply as a black box with unknown configuration conditions in the path. We address network heterogeneity using a white box approach and focus on its interconnection processes. To achieve this purpose, a Performance Analysis Framework (PAF) is proposed which is composed of the formalization of the latter using process algebra (PA) and the corresponding teletraffic performance models. In this contribution, we target the IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.11 protocols. For the teletraffic models, we extend previous models for such scenario with the inclusion of the following protocol operational parameters (metrics): bit error rate (BER), packet error ratio (PER), and packet length (pl). From the framework teletraffic models, the optimal packet length (OPL), end to end throughput, delay, and packet loss are obtained. The PAF outperforms previous modeling solutions in terms of delay and throughput relative to NS3 simulation results. </jats:p

Farmer's handbook on introduced and local banana cultivars in the Philippines

This manual provides information on the morphological and agronomic traits, fruit characteristics, reactions to common diseases, and uses of 21 introduced and 8 local cultivars based on field trials carried out through the Bioversity-DA-BAR-NRMDC programme. It is intended to serve as a useful guide in the identification and selection of cultivars for further evaluation by researchers and planting by interested banana growers

Psychosocial, socio-cultural, and environmental influences on mental health help-seeking among African-American men

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jomh.2012.03.00