Solar Images Processing in Parallel Environment

This paper presents the PVA-BDA project (Processing, Visualization and Analysis in ParallelEnvironment of the BDA Data) that has been developed for processing of solar images that will be captured bythe BDA (Brazilian Decimetric Array), a radio telescope under development at the National Institute for SpaceResearch (INPE). In a joint effort between the Department of Computer Science at Federal University of SãoCarlos (DC/UFSCar), the Astrophysics Division (DAS) and Associated Laboratory for Computing and AppliedMathematics (LAC) at INPE, a high performance parallel system is being developed with capacity to supportrealistic applications, involving a reasonable amount of parallel processing, in order to carry out the processing,visualization and analysis of solar images captured by BDA, in real time. The aim is to create the conditions forstarting a study of the solar weather forecast. The forecast of solar explosions are important as they may causeserious perturbations in terrestrial communication systems. An application for 3D reconstruction of X-raytomographic images of the solar atmosphere was developed at DC/UFSCar. Due to the need for the 3Dreconstruction of solar magnetic structures, in real-time, this application was implemented to execute in a parallelmachine using DSPs

Inquérito sorológico sôbre leptospiroses realizado no Vale do Cariri, Estado do Ceará, pela III Bandeira Científica do Centro Acadêmico Oswaldo Cruz da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo

Agglutination-tests for leptospirosis were performed in 376 sera. The following sero-types of Leptospira were used: L. icterohemorrhagiae, L. canicola, L. grippo-typhosa, L. pomona, L. bataviae, L. australis B, L. sejroe, L. pyrogenes and L. suis. Six sera (1.59%) were positive for L. icterohemorrhagiae. From the whole group two people were born in this region, what makes possible the conclusion that the disease exists in the region.Com o propósito de estudar o problema das leptospiroses no Vale do Cariri, Ceará, foram examinados 376 soros colhidos entre moradores da região. Foram feitas provas de sôro-aglutinação usando-se os seguintes sôro-tipos de Leptospira: L. icterohemorrhagiae, L. canícola, L. grippo-typhosa, L. pomona, L. bataviae, L. australis B, L. sejroe, L. pyrogenes e L. suis. Seis soros reagiram positivamente frente à L. icterohemorrhagiae, o que dá percentual de 1,59%. Dois dos indivíduos haviam nascido e vivido no Vale, donde foi possível concluir que a leptospirose existe, autóctone, na região

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Efficiency of occlusal splints on police officers with TMD

Aim: To evaluate of the effect of two different occlusal splints on police officers with TMD. Methods: Thirty police officers were selected based on Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD and on clinical exams. Volunteers (ten per group) were distributed according to occlusal splints: group A - Control, group B - Michigan Occlusal Splint (MOS), and group C - Planas Appliance (PA). Experimental groups were analyzed using a visual analog pain scale (VAPS), subject to a clinical evaluation of temporomandibular joint. Bilateral surface electromyographic activities of anterior and posterior temporal, masseter and suprahyoid muscles were analyzed at rest and during clenching, before and after four weeks using the occlusal splints. Results: The left and right temporal and masseter muscles sensitivity decreased after using both splints. Pain symptoms increased for group A (Control) and decreased for group C. Conclusions: Planas Appliance was more efficient on pain reduction than the Michigan Occlusal Splint.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Efficiency of occlusal splints on police officers with TMD

evaluate of the effect of two different occlusal splints on police officers with TMD. Methods: Thirty police officers were selected based on Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD and on clinical exams. Volunteers (ten per group) were distributed according to occlusal splints: group A Control, group B - Michigan Occlusal Splint (MOS), and group C Planas Appliance (PA). Experimental groups were analyzed using a visual analog pain scale (VAPS), subject to a clinical evaluation of temporomandibular joint. Bilateral surface electromyographic activities of anterior and posterior temporal, masseter and suprahyoid muscles were analyzed at rest and during clenching, before and after four weeks using the occlusal splints. Results: The left and right temporal and masseter muscles sensitivity decreased after using both splints. Pain symptoms increased for group A (Control) and decreased for group C. Conclusions: Planas Appliance was more efficient on pain reduction than the Michigan Occlusal Splin

Visual Environment for High Performance Real-Time 3D Reconstruction

We are carrying out a development of a whole system for processing solar images in a high performance parallel system. The main objective is to create the initial conditions for studying and forecasting the solar explosions in real time. Due to the high computational costs involved in the processing, visualization and analysis of a great amount of solar images, a high performance computer system becomes necessary to carry out the forecast of solar explosions. As a joint effort between the Department of Computer Science at Federal University of So Carlos (UFSCar), the Astrophysics Division (DAS) and Associated Laboratory for Computing and Applied Mathematics (LAC) at National Institute for Space Research -- INPE, a high performance parallel system was developed with capacity to support realistic applications, involving a reasonable amount of parallel processing. The forecast of solar explosions is important as they may cause serious perturbations in terrestrial communication systems. A significant limitation for the development of parallel real-time systems is the lack of adequate programming tools, mainly for supporting the final stages of the development life cycle. This work presents a development environment, called Visual Environment for the Development of Parallel Real-Time Programs, that supports the design and implementation of parallel real-time applications executed with the support of a parallel kernel. This paper shows how this Environment was used to carry out the 3D Reconstruction of Solar Images