Creating a standard library for the HasCASL language

Orientador: Arnaldo Vieira MouraDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: Métodos formais são ferramentas da Engenharia de Software que empregam formalismos matemáticos na construção de programas. Em geral, são compostos por uma ou mais linguagens de especificação e algumas ferramentas auxiliares. A linguagem de especificação algébrica Common Algebraic Specification Language (Casl) foi concebida para ser a linguagem padrão na área de especificação algébrica. A linguagem HasCasl é a extensão da linguagem Casl responsável por suportar lógica de segunda ordem e possui um subconjunto de sua sintaxe que se assemelha à linguagem de programação Haskell e que pode ser executado. O uso prático de uma linguagem de especificação depende da disponibilidade de uma biblioteca padrão de especificações pré-definidas. Embora Casl possua tal biblioteca, esta não disponibiliza propriedades e tipos de dados de segunda ordem. Esta dissertação descreve a especificação de uma biblioteca para a linguagem HasCasl com funções e tipos de dados de segunda ordem, tendo como referência a biblioteca Prelude da linguagem Haskell. Os tipos de dados especificados incluem o tipo booleano, listas, caracteres e cadeias de caracteres, além de classes e funções presentes na biblioteca Prelude. Uma primeira versão da biblioteca faz uso de tipos de dados com avaliação estrita, devido à complexidade de iniciar o processo de especificação com o uso de tipos com avaliação preguiçosa. Um refinamento posterior da biblioteca incluiu o suporte a tipos de dados com avaliação preguiçosa. A verificação de ambas as versões da biblioteca foi realizada com o uso da ferramenta Hets, responsável por traduzir as especificações escritas na linguagem HasCasl para a linguagem HOL e gerar necessidades de prova verificadas com o auxílio do provador de teoremas Isabelle. Para ilustrar o uso dos tipos de dados especificados foram incluídas algumas especificações de exemplo envolvendo listas e tipos booleanos. Algumas sugestões de extensão à biblioteca são propostas, tais como o suporte à recursão e às estruturas infinitas, além do aperfeiçoamento do suporte a provas relacionadas a especificações importadas da biblioteca da linguagem CaslAbstract: Formal methods can be used as software engineering tools that employ mathematical formalisms for building and verifying programs. They are usually composed of one or more specification languages and some auxiliary tools. The Common Algebraic Specification Language (Casl) is designed to be the standard language in the area of algebraic specification, taking tecnical elements from other specification languages. The HasCasl language is the extention of the Casl language that is responsible for supporting secondorder logic, which has a subset of its syntax resembling the Haskell programming language. The practical use of a specification language depends on the availability of a standard library of pre-defined specifications. CASL has such a library and its specifications can be imported by specifications developed in HasCasl. However, the library of the Casl language does not provide higer order properties and data types. This dissertation describes the specification of a library for the language HasCasl based on the Prelude library from the Haskell programming language. The library created her provides second-order functions and data types. It does so by specifying data types and functions existing in Haskell language, such as boolean, list, character and string types. The first version of our library uses types with strict evaluation. The second version of the library has been refined to support types with lazy evaluation. Verification of both libraries was performed using the Hets tool, which translates specifications to the HOL language, producing proof needs that were discharged with the help of the Isabelle theorem prover. To illustrate the use of our library, some example specifications using lists and boolean types are included. Some suggestions for extension of the library are proposed, dealing with support for infinite structures and numeric data typesMestradoLinguagens de ProgramaçãoMestre em Ciência da Computaçã

An Unsupervised Autoencoder Developed from Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE)-MRI Datasets for Classification of Acute Tumor Response in an Animal Model

Purpose/Objective(s): Recent studies have shown that vascular parameters of brain tumors derived from DCE-MRI may act as potential biomarkers for radiation-induced acute effects. However, accurate characterization of the spatial regions affected by radiation therapy (RT) remains challenging. Here, we introduce an unsupervised adaptive model for classification and ranking of the RT-affected regions in an animal model of cerebral U-251n tumors. Materials/Methods: Twenty-three immune-compromised-RNU rats were implanted with human U251n cancer cells to form an orthotopic glioma (IACUC #1509). For each rat, 28 days after implantation, two DCE-MRI studies (Dual Gradient Echo, DGE, FOV: 32 × 32 mm2, TR/(TE1-TE2) = 24 ms/(2 ms-4 ms), flip angle = 18°, 400 acquisitions, 1.55 sec interval with Magnevist contrast agent, CA injection at ∼ 24 sec) were performed 24h apart using a 7T MRI scanner. A single 20 Gy stereotactic radiation exposure was performed before the second MRI, which was acquired 1-6.5 hrs after RT. DCE-MRI analysis was done using a model selection technique to distinguish three different brain regions as follows: Normal vasculature (Model 1: No leakage, only plasma volume, vp, is estimated), leaky tumor tissues with no back-flux to the vasculature (Model 2: vp and forward volumetric transfer constant, Ktrans, are estimated), and leaky tumor tissues with back-flux (Model 3: vp, Ktrans, and interstitial volume fraction, ve, are estimated). Normalized time traces of DCE-MRI information (24 pre, and 24 post-RT for each rat, total of 64108 training datasets) of tumors and their soft surrounding normal tissues were extracted from the 3 different model regions. To eliminate high-dimensional data similarity, an unsupervised autoencoder (AE) was trained to map out the model-derived data into a feature space (latent variables, N=10). For each model, the pre and post RT latent variables were compared (by appropriate tests of significance: ANOVA/Welch, CI=95%) to reveal RT-discriminant features. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare the decoded data to rank the effect of RT on different models. Results: The time trace of DCE-MRI information of rat brain in normal (Model 1, non-leaky) and highly permeable (Model 3) regions are less impacted by RT (Higher correlation between pre and post RT: r= 0.8518, p\u3c0.0001 and r= 0.9040, p\u3c0.0001 for Model 1 and Model 3, respectively) compared to the peritumoral regions pertaining to Model 2 (r= 0.8077, p\u3c0.0001). Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that among different brain regions, peritumoral zones (infiltrative tumor borders with enhanced rim) are highly affected by RT. Spatial assessment of RT-affected brain regions can play a key role in optimization of treatment planning in cancer patients, but presents a challenging task in conventional DCE-MRI. This study represents an important step toward classification and ranking the RT-affected brain spatial regions according to their vascular response following hypofractionated RT

DISCLOSURE VOLUNTÁRIO DAS INFORMAÇÕES AMBIENTAIS: ESTUDO DA RELAÇÃO ENTRE O NÍVEL DE EVIDENCIAÇÃO E O INVESTIMENTO AMBIENTAL NOS PAÍSES DO BRICS / VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEVEL OF DISCLOSURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT IN THE BRICS COUNTRIES

Este estudo objetiva determinar a relação entre o nível de evidenciação de informações voluntárias ambientais e o investimento ambiental nas empresas de capital aberto do BRICS. A pesquisa é descritiva com abordagem quantitativa, utilizando-se teste de diferença de média e regressão linear múltipla. Foram analisados os dados de 82 empresas de capital aberto que publicaram seus relatórios de sustentabilidade de 2011 no modelo GRI (3.0). Os resultados indicam que: (i) o nível de evidenciação ambiental no BRICS é de 59% para divulgação total e de 66% para essencial e que o nível de evidenciação de investimentos ambientais no BRICS foi de 51%, sendo a Índia o país com melhores resultados; (ii) nas empresas com investimento ambiental, a divulgação ambiental (total e essencial) apresentou média superior àquelas que não possuíam investimento; (iii) o investimento ambiental mostrou-se impactante, positivamente, no nível de divulgação ambiental (total e essencial) do BRICS, assim como o tamanho, contudo o país (IDH) influencia negativamente o disclosure ambiental (total e essencial), já o impacto ambiental do setor apresentou relação positiva com o disclosure ambiental essencial. Portanto, o estudo não rejeita as hipóteses levantadas, demonstrando que o investimento ambiental é um fator decisivo na evidenciação ambiental no BRICS. Palavras-chave: Disclosure ambiental. Investimento Ambiental. BRICS. Abstract This study aims to determine the relationship between the level of voluntary disclosure of environmental information and environmental investment in public companies of the BRICS countries. The research is descriptive with a quantitative approach, using the test of mean difference and multiple linear regression. Data from 82 public companies that published their sustainability reports in 2011 in the GRI (3.0) model were analyzed. The results indicate that: (i) the level of environmental disclosure in BRICS is 59% for total disclosure and 66% for core disclosure, and the level of disclosure of environmental investment in BRICS was 51%, India being the country with the best results; (ii) in companies with environmental investment, environmental disclosure (total and core) had higher means than those with no investment; (iii) environmental investment proved to be having a positive impact on the level of environmental disclosure (total and core) of BRICS as well as the size. However, country (IDH) had a negative influence on environmental disclosure (total and core). Furthermore, the environmental impact of the sector showed a positive relationship with the core environmental disclosure. Therefore, the study does not reject the hypothesis suggested, demonstrating that environmental investment is a decisive factor of environmental disclosure within the BRICS. Keywords: Environmental disclosure. Environmental investment. BRICS

Maternal Exercise during Pregnancy Increases BDNF Levels and Cell Numbers in the Hippocampal Formation but Not in the Cerebral Cortex of Adult Rat Offspring

International audienceClinical evidence has shown that physical exercise during pregnancy may alter brain devel- opment and improve cognitive function of offspring. However, the mechanisms through which maternal exercise might promote such effects are not well understood. The present study examined levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and absolute cell num- bers in the hippocampal formation and cerebral cortex of rat pups born from mothers exer- cised during pregnancy. Additionally, we evaluated the cognitive abilities of adult offspring in different behavioral paradigms (exploratory activity and habituation in open field tests, spatial memory in a water maze test, and aversive memory in a step-down inhibitory avoid- ance task). Results showed that maternal exercise during pregnancy increased BDNF lev- els and absolute numbers of neuronal and non-neuronal cells in the hippocampal formation of offspring. No differences in BDNF levels or cell numbers were detected in the cerebral cortex. It was also observed that offspring from exercised mothers exhibited better cognitive performance in nonassociative (habituation) and associative (spatial learning) mnemonic tasks than did offspring from sedentary mothers. Our findings indicate that maternal exer- cise during pregnancy enhances offspring cognitive function (habituation behavior and spa- tial learning) and increases BDNF levels and cell numbers in the hippocampal formation of offspring

Analysis of the opportunities (affordances) for motor development in the home environment in Ceará - Brazil

Existe um consenso na literatura científica sobre a forte influência dos estímulos ambientais no desenvolvimento motor das crianças. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as oportunidades para o desenvolvimento motor em ambientes domésticos de diferentes níveis socioeconômicos no Estado do Ceará, Brasil. Os dados apresentados no estudo foram colhidos a partir das respostas ao questionário Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development - AHEMD - 18-42 meses quando se entrevistaram 128 tutores responsáveis por crianças com idade entre 18 e 42 meses. Os resultados do estudo são bastante preocupantes, pois mostram uma prevalência da inadequação das estruturas arquitetônicas das residências favorecedoras do desenvolvimento motor e a inexistência de materiais suficientes ao desenvolvimento da motricidade grossa e fina de crianças. Nota-se a necessidade, segundo os dados apresentados, de que seja avaliado o desenvolvimento motor das crianças para verificar se há uma associação entre as affordances e o desenvolvimento motor, e que haja uma aproximação das áreas de engenharia civil, arquitetura e educação física na busca de soluções para este problema. O estudo sugere, ainda, o surgimento de uma nova área de atuação para os profissionais que lidam com o movimento humano no sentido de prestarem consultorias para aquisição de brinquedos que auxiliem no desenvolvimento da motricidade grossa e fina.Current literature in early childhood emphasizes a strong influence of environmental stimuli on motor skill development. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the opportunities for motor development in different socioeconomic home environments in the state of Ceara, Brazil. The study used the AHEMD (Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development) questionnaire with 128 caregivers of children between ages 18 to 42 months. The results appeared to be concerning, showing a prevalence of architectural structures that are unfavorable for motor development, and also for showing an insufficient number of materials that can stimulate gross- and fine-motor development. This study suggests that children's motor development must be assessed in order to detect if there is an association between affordances in the home environment and motor development, and if it is, an approximation of civil engineering, architecture and physical education areas could possibly find solutions for that problem. In addition, it suggests a need of a new career, where professionals who work with human movement can best indicate the acquisition of materials for developing children's gross- and fine-motor coordination

Dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI estimation of vascular parameters using knowledge-based adaptive models

We introduce and validate four adaptive models (AMs) to perform a physiologically based Nested-Model-Selection (NMS) estimation of such microvascular parameters as forward volumetric transfer constant, K(trans), plasma volume fraction, v(p), and extravascular, extracellular space, v(e), directly from Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) MRI raw information without the need for an Arterial-Input Function (AIF). In sixty-six immune-compromised-RNU rats implanted with human U-251 cancer cells, DCE-MRI studies estimated pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters using a group-averaged radiological AIF and an extended Patlak-based NMS paradigm. One-hundred-ninety features extracted from raw DCE-MRI information were used to construct and validate (nested-cross-validation, NCV) four AMs for estimation of model-based regions and their three PK parameters. An NMS-based a priori knowledge was used to fine-tune the AMs to improve their performance. Compared to the conventional analysis, AMs produced stable maps of vascular parameters and nested-model regions less impacted by AIF-dispersion. The performance (Correlation coefficient and Adjusted R-squared for NCV test cohorts) of the AMs were: 0.914/0.834, 0.825/0.720, 0.938/0.880, and 0.890/0.792 for predictions of nested model regions, v(p), K(trans), and v(e), respectively. This study demonstrates an application of AMs that quickens and improves DCE-MRI based quantification of microvasculature properties of tumors and normal tissues relative to conventional approaches

Estudo inicial sobre a evolução do novo CORONAVÍRUS (SARS-COV-2) no estado do Pará (Brasil), no período entre 17/03/2020 e 06/04/2020.

O presente artigo apresenta o estudo inicial sobre a evolução do novo coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2) no estado do Pará, desde a confirmação do primeiro infectado no dia 18/03/2020 até o dia 06/04/2020.O estudo apresenta também um modelo matemático para estimar o número de infectados até o dia 06/05/2020. Os resultados mostram que o modelo é confiável para predições de curto prazo, cuja evolução pode ser de 1 infectado em 18/03/2020 a 761 infectados em 18/04/2020.This paper presents the initial study on the evolution of Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the state of Pará, from the confirmation of the first infected on 18/03/2020 until 06/04/2020. The study also presents a mathematical model for estimating the number of infected by 06/05/2020. The results show that the model is reliable for short-term predictions, whose evolution can be from 01 infected on 03/18/2020 to 761 infected on 18/04/2020

Estudo Nº2 sobre a evolução do novo Coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2) no estado do Pará (Brasil), Março – Junho, 2020/ Study Nº2 on the evolution of new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the state of Pará (Brazil), March – June 2020

O presente artigo apresenta o segundo estudo sobre a evolução do novo coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2) no estado do Pará, desde a confirmação do primeiro infectado no dia 18/03/2020 até o dia 28/05/2020, através de mapas. O estudo apresenta também um modelo matemático para estimar o número de infectados até o dia 28/05/2020 e a projeção de pico da epidemia no estado do Pará como um todo, com análises mais detalhadas em dez municípios incluindo a capital Belém. Os resultados mostram que o modelo possui confiabilidade acima de 90% para predições de curto prazo, cuja evolução pode ser de 1 infectado em 18/03/2020 a 33.304 infectados em 28/05/2020

The development a methodology and software to monitor participatory school improvement

This paper discusses the participatory development of a methodology and a software information system for school management. It was created as part of an ethnographic study realized over a two-year period. It involved a working group formed by parents, students, teachers and school administrators who met monthly in a public school as part of a project aimed at improving school climate. Through cycles of implementation and feedback from the working group and two school administrators, we built an open source system to support the monitoring of indicators, objectives and actions defined and monitored locally. These analyses led to the construction of school ‘rules’ and guidelines during annual planing, becoming an important element in the construction of a more open and democratic school

Noninvasive measurement of renal blood flow by magnetic resonance imaging in rats

Renal blood flow (RBF) provides important information regarding renal physiology and nephropathies. Arterial spin labeling-magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-MRI) is a noninvasive method of measuring blood flow without exogenous contrast media. However, low signal-to-noise ratio and respiratory motion artifacts are challenges for RBF measurements in small animals. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of RBF measurements by ASL-MRI using respiratory-gating and navigator correction methods to reduce motion artifacts. ASL-MRI images were obtained from the kidneys of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats on a 7-Tesla Varian MRI system with a spin-echo imaging sequence. After 4 days, the study was repeated to evaluate its reproducibility. RBF was also measured in animals under unilateral nephrectomy and in renal artery stenosis (RST) to evaluate the sensitivity in high and low RBF models, respectively. RBF was also evaluated in Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rats and spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR). In SD rats, the cortical RBFs (cRBF) were 305 ± 59 and 271.8 ± 39 ml·mi