Bayesian Analysis of Simple Random Densities

A tractable nonparametric prior over densities is introduced which is closed under sampling and exhibits proper posterior asymptotics.Comment: 19 pages; 6 figure

Predictive analysis of microarray data

Microarray gene expression data are analyzed by means of a Bayesian nonparametric model, with emphasis on prediction of future observables, yielding a method for selection of differentially expressed genes and a classifier

Benefits of multivariate statistical process control based on principal component analysis in solder paste printing process where 100% automatic inspection is already installed

The process of printing and inspecting solder paste deposits in Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) involves a very large number of variables (more than 30000 can be found in 3D inspection of high density PCBs). State of the art Surface Mount Technology (SMT) production lines rely on 100% inspection of all paste deposits for each PCB produced. Specification limits for Area, Height, Volume, Offset X and Offset Y have been defined based on detailed and consolidated studies. PCBs with paste deposits failing the defined criteria, are proposed to be rejected. The study of the variation of the rejected fraction over time, has shown that the process is not always stable and it would benefit from a statistical process control approach. Statistical process control for 30000 variables is not feasible with a univariate approach. On one side, it is not possible to pay attention to such a high number of Shewhart control charts. On the other side, the very rich information contained in the evolution of the correlation structure would be lost in the case of a univariate approach. The use of Multivariate Statistical Process Control based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA-MSPC) provides an efficient solution for this problem. The examples discussed in this paper show that PCA-MSPC in solder paste printing is able to detect and diagnose disturbances in the underlying factors which govern the variation of the process. The early identification of these disturbances can be used to trigger corrective actions before disturbances start to cause defects. The immediate confirmation of effectiveness of the corrective action is a characteristic offered by this method and can be observed in all the examples presented.INCT-EN - Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e Neuroproteção(UID/CEC/00319/2013). European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) Project nº 002814; Funding Reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-00281

Methodology for integration of wind resource forecasts based on artificial neural networks

An adaptation of the portfolio theory (PT) is proposed in this article, denoted as PrevPT, "Previsao" (in Portuguese) by PT, to integrate the three artificial neural networks, namely multilayer perceptron (MLP) backpropagation, radial basis function (RBF), and self-organizing map (SOM), based forecasting techniques, aiming to analyze the impact of wind speed forecasting errors and achieve more accurate results. In its first use, the PT goal was to maximize a financial return, at any risk, through the diversification of securities or investments that are not positively correlated. Based on the development of PrevPT, which was used until this work only for solar forecasting, the proposed technique is applied in this paper to integrate and improve the results of individual wind forecasts. Four-year wind speed data (January 2007 to December 2010) from two different locations (Algeciras, Spain and Petrolina, Brazil) were used. Our methodology develops a topology that integrates the forecasts obtained by MLP, RBF, and SOM aiming to obtain smaller forecast errors. By diversifying the forecasted asset, when one of the assets has negative prediction errors, another compensates for them and, thus, the total or partial cancellation of the errors occurs. PrevPT obtains a mean absolute percentage error of 1.13% for Spain and 2.35% for Brazil. PrevPT surpassed the results obtained by the three techniques applied individually in the two locations. The main innovations of the methodology are the significant reduction of errors and optimization of resource planning, and the beneficial features compared to other predictor integration techniques

CAN INTRA-CYCLIC FORCE VARIATION BE A VALUABLE PARAMETER TO EVALUATE THE FORCES EXERTED BY SWIMMERS?

The purpose of this study was to examine the force pattern produced during the front crawl swimming cycle, plus to analyze possible relationships of intra-cyclic force variation (dF) with swimming performance. Thirty four competitive swimmers, representing various levels of competitive performance (17.2 ± 2.72 yrs; 1.76 ± 0.09 m; 67.4 ± 9.94 kg; personal best 100 m long course freestyle swimming: 58.39 ± 2.19 s), randomly performed the tethered and free swimming tests. The free swimming velocity was found to be negatively correlated with dF (r = -0.85; p < 0.001). Adding dF with maximum impulse per cycle into a multiple regression model, it was possible to explain 87.6% of the 50 m performance variation. This novel parameter (dF) showed to be a valuable variable to evaluate the swimmers ability to effectively apply force in the water

AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR: INFLUENCE TO GEAR SELECTION ON ENERGY DEMAND AND COSTS IN SUGARCANE TRANSSHIPMENT

ABSTRACT Sugarcane is one of Brazil's leading crops, and the transshipment harvesting operation represents a significant portion of operating costs. Among the primary machines used in harvesting is the tractor-transshipment set, with considerable energy demands. This study focused on evaluating the gear selection effect in an agricultural tractor on operational performance and costs during the sugarcane transshipment operation. The treatments consisted of four operational work gears at different engine speeds: r1 – 1150 rpm, r2 – 1230 rpm, r3 – 1360 rpm, and r4 – 1500 rpm on the engine. The analyzed variables were volumetric and specific fuel consumption, operational efficiency, and operational cost. The variables were adapted from ASABE (2011) methodology, and the data were submitted to parametric statistics and regression analysis. The rotation engine selection in tractors directly affected fuel consumption with positive angular coefficients and r2 between 0.92-0.96. Fuel consumption reduces by 37.5%, adopting 1150 rpm compared to 1500 rpm rotation. The highest rotation (1500 rpm - r4) increased the volumetric and productive fuel consumption, enabling savings up to reduced fuel cost by 1.08 US$ ha -1 . Thus, training sugarcane transshipment operators is essential to optimize the production process efficiency and reduce costs

Integrated water management in the Seven Cities basin

Copyright © 2008 Springer.The Sete Cidades lake in the Azores, is located in a volcanic crater. Increased frequency of logging (380 hectares of production forests) and the use of fertilizers on pastures and forages (450 hectares) that sustain 750 cows, provide direct employment to 67 farmers and induce employment to more 50 actives, but also increases the eutrophycation and sedimentation of the lake. To address the issue an integrated model generates efficient land use scenarios for different degrees of phosphorus emissions with related effects in the water quality. The model is used to obtain various indicators for each scenario that feed a multi-objective program able to find the dominant solutions. The final solution is chosen by the politicians: 600 cows that produce 3.0 millions of milk, provide direct employment to 55 farmers and induce employment to more 41 actives. This, jointly with a partial stream deviation, allows a reduction of 63% of the phosphorus load to the lake. Compensatory measures pay the farmers their losses and compensate the community for the lost employment

Nonatobase: A Database For Polychaeta (annelida) From The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/.2014bau00

Stability and enzymatic studies with omeprazole: hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. A publicação original está disponível em www.springerlink.comOmeprazole (OME) exhibits low stability to light, heat and humidity. In stress conditions OME stability should improve under inclusion complex form with hydroxypropyl-b-cyclodextrin (HPbCD). Stability of OME, its physical mixture (PM) with HPbCD and OME:HPbCD inclusion complex was assessed during 60 days. The inclusion complexes were prepared by kneading and freezedrying techniques and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A molecular modelling was also held to predict the most probable tridimensional conformation of inclusion complex OME:HPbCD. The inhibitory activity of free and complexed OME on selected enzymes, namely, papain (protease model of the proton pump) and acetylcholinesterase (enzyme present in cholinergic neurons and also involved in Alzheimer’s disease) was compared. The results obtained show that HPbCD do not protect against OME degradation, in any prepared powder, in the presence of light, heat and humidity. This may indicate that the reactive group of OME is not included in the HPbCD cavity. This fact is supported by molecular modelling data, which demonstrated that 2-pyridylmethyl group of OME is not included into the cyclodextrin cavity. In relation to enzymatic assays it was observed that free OME and OME in the binary systems showed identical inhibitory activity on papain and acethylcolinesterase, concluding that HPbCD do not affect OME activity on these two enzymes

A vulnerabilidade e a mente : conflitos simbólicos entre o diagnóstico institucional e a perspectiva de jovens em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa

Nas últimas duas décadas a utilização do termo vulnerabilidade foi expandida para diferentes campos de conhecimento e de intervenção. Neste artigo analisamos o uso da noção de vulnerabilidade no âmbito do sistema socioeducativo como um componente das relações de poder entre instituições de execução de medidas socioeducativas e jovens atendidos. Baseado em pesquisa etnográfica realizada na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo em 2009, 2010 e 2011, com a participação de 14 adolescentes em cumprimento de medidas socioeducativas, o texto analisa o conflito entre o relatório psicológico de um jovem e sua própria interpretação ao falar sobre os mesmos aspectos de sua vida. Discute também como o jovem, intrincado diferentemente por códigos distintos, enseja em sua própria existência conflitos simbólicos que têm escapado às práticas do sistema socioeducativo. O encontro da ideia de vulnerabilidade no relatório psicológico com a perspectiva da mente como atributo de um jovem configura-se um campo de disputas simbólicas entre visões da capacidade de autorregulação do indivíduo