A Monte Carlo Approach to Measure the Robustness of Boolean Networks

Emergence of robustness in biological networks is a paramount feature of evolving organisms, but a study of this property in vivo, for any level of representation such as Genetic, Metabolic, or Neuronal Networks, is a very hard challenge. In the case of Genetic Networks, mathematical models have been used in this context to provide insights on their robustness, but even in relatively simple formulations, such as Boolean Networks (BN), it might not be feasible to compute some measures for large system sizes. We describe in this work a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the size of the largest basin of attraction of a BN, which is intrinsically associated with its robustness, that can be used regardless the network size. We show the stability of our method through finite-size analysis and validate it with a full search on small networks.Comment: on 1st International Workshop on Robustness and Stability of Biological Systems and Computational Solutions (WRSBS

DigitalPinDirector: A digital pinscreen editor for images and realtime animation in low cost personal computers

This paper presents the main characteristics of the traditional Pinscreen, the way it works, its problems and results achieved. The first Digital Pinscreen system is presented, along with its main characteristics and limitations. The rest of the paper describes and presents the DigitalPinDirector: a system that enables a full and true creative access to the unique visual and animation characteristics of the Pinscreen.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developing and assessing shape grammar design systems

The ongoing and future research focus on the developing and assessing shape grammars design systems for architecture. The work started by the join paper from Eloy (ISTAR-IUL), Vermaas (TU Delft) and Andrade (ISTAR-IUL) (Eloy, Vermaas, & Andrade, n.d.) where the quality of designs generated by shape grammar systems with designs created by professional architects was compared. In this work authors collaborated in defining and analysing an experiment in which evaluators rank the quality of preliminary designs for refurbishing Lisbon’s Rabo-de-Bacalhau apartments, and that makes plausible that the design quality of the grammar solutions for this task is similar to that of the designs of the professional architects. It was argued that shape grammars can therefore be used as stand - alone design systems in architecture. The practical value is that shape grammar systems become alternative means to take up design challenges (such as refurbishing all of Lisbon’s Rabo -de-Bacalhau apartments) that currently require too much effort of architects to be economically feasible. In the scope of the developed work the three authors joined a consortium composed by TU Ghent, ISCTE-IUL, TU Delft, SWAP, MVRDV, ARUP and Caramel for a call proposal to H202 0 ICT-20-2017. The proposal project aims at bringing out creative architectural design content as smart digital data, and making this data effectively re - usable across different use - cases, offices and purposes. The project shall create a design engine that can work with given datasets and shape grammar rule set s to generate diverse alternative design solutions. The designs generated by the engine are customized since they responds to specifically selected architectural design language, to building regulations and to a particular architectural design brief. In this H2020 proposal the team of ISCTE-IUL was composed by Eloy, Andrade and Lopes. Within the project workplan the task and collaboration between the ISTAR group was the following: Sara Eloy tasks were related to architectural design and shape grammar design rules definition, Pedro Faria Lopes collaborated on the interface design and tests, Marina Andrade was part of the team for developing the experimental settings and performing statistical analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A database for the taxonomic and phylogenetic identification of the genus Bradyrhizobium using multilocus sequence analysis.

Biological nitrogen fixation, with an emphasis on the legume-rhizobia symbiosis, is a key process for agriculture and the environment, allowing the replacement of nitrogen fertilizers, reducing water pollution by nitrate as well as emission of greenhouse gases. Soils contain numerous strains belonging to the bacterial genus Bradyrhizobium, which establish symbioses with a variety of legumes. However, due to the high conservation of Bradyrhizobium 16S rRNA genes - considered as the backbone of the taxonomy of prokaryotes - few species have been delineated. The multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) methodology, which includes analysis of housekeeping genes, has been shown to be promising and powerful for defining bacterial species, and, in this study, it was applied to Bradyrhizobium, species, increasing our understanding of the diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Description: Classification of bacteria of agronomic importance is relevant to biodiversity, as well as to biotechnological manipulation to improve agricultural productivity. We propose the construction of an online database that will provide information and tools using MLSA to improve phylogenetic and taxonomic characterization of Bradyrhizobium, allowing the comparison of genomic sequences with those of type and representative strains of each species. Conclusion: A database for the taxonomic and phylogenetic identification of the Bradyrhizobium, genus, using MLSA, will facilitate the use of biological data available through an intuitive web interface. Sequences stored in the on-line database can be compared with multiple sequences of other strains with simplicity and agility through multiple alignment algorithms and computational routines integrated into the database. The proposed database and software tools are available at http://mlsa.cnpso.embrapa.br, and can be used, free of charge, by researchers worldwide to classify Bradyrhizobium, strains; the database and software can be applied to replicate the experiments presented in this study as well as to generate new experiments. The next step will be expansion of the database to include other rhizobial species.Edição dos Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the Brazilian Association for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (X-Meeting 2014), Belo Horizonte, Oct. 2014

Application of nanotechnologies along the food supply chain

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are new fromtiers for this century. Nanotechnology translates into the ability to manipulate the material on a nanoscale. As in other sectors, recent developments in the fi eld of nanoscience and nanotechnology o ff er new opportunities for innovation for food. Nanofoods are considered foods grown, produced, processed or packaged using nanotechnological tools that incorporate nanomaterials to improve nutritional quality, taste or texture, and increase the shelf life of food. Nanotechnology ’ s applications are diverse, going from nanoencapsulated ingredients, such as bioactive compounds, nutrients and food additives that increase thebioavailability of the compounds, to ingredients that constitute nanostructures and nanotextures that provide barriers for physical - chemical protection, which allow modi fi cation of fl avour and odour. Also, has the potential to be used as biosensors to monitor food conditions during storage and transport, through packaging that includes indicators. This review covers the development and use of nanotechnology along the food supply chain, focusing the agricultural production, industrial processing and protection through packaging, as well as addressing the advantages and disadvantages of using this technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Irrigação de pastagem: análise da percepção do produtor de leite.

A agricultura é ponto forte no aspecto econômico da região Noroeste Paulista, onde é possível se encontrar plantações de seringueiras, cana-de-açúcar, frutíferas entre outras culturas, e uma forte produção pecuária. Há menos de 10 anos, não era prática comum na região a irrigação de pastagem, pois não havia o conhecimento dos benefícios que a irrigação poderia oferecer à pecuária. Os produtores de gado, principalmente de gado leiteiro, passavam por dificuldades na época de seca, sendo obrigados a vender grande parte das cabeças por não disporem de pasto para suportar tantas reses. Nesse trabalho, procuramos analisar a percepção do produtor de leite sobre o processo de irrigação de pastagem

Informações sobre a cultura da cebola.

Escolha da área; Preparo do solo; Escolha de variedades; Preparo da sementeira; Adubação; Tratos culturais; Sistema de plantio; Tratos fitossanitários; Irrigação; Colheita.bitstream/item/133286/1/35427-1.pd