Process of ontology construction for the development of an intelligent system for the organization and retrieval of knowledge in biodiversity – SISBIO

This work describes the ontology construction process for the development of an Intelligent System for the Organization and Retrieval of Knowledge in Biodiversity – SISBIO. The system aims at the production of strategic information for the biofuel chain Two main methodologies are used for the construction of the ontologies: knowledge engineering and ontology engineering. The first one consists of extracting and organizing the biofuel specialists´ knowledge, and ontology engineering is used to represent the knowledge through indicative expressions and its relations, developing a semantic network of relationships.Applications in Artificial Intelligence - Ontologies and Intelligent WebRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

MCMC Exploration of Supermassive Black Hole Binary Inspirals

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will be able to detect the inspiral and merger of Super Massive Black Hole Binaries (SMBHBs) anywhere in the Universe. Standard matched filtering techniques can be used to detect and characterize these systems. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are ideally suited to this and other LISA data analysis problems as they are able to efficiently handle models with large dimensions. Here we compare the posterior parameter distributions derived by an MCMC algorithm with the distributions predicted by the Fisher information matrix. We find excellent agreement for the extrinsic parameters, while the Fisher matrix slightly overestimates errors in the intrinsic parameters.Comment: Submitted to CQG as a GWDAW-10 Conference Proceedings, 9 pages, 5 figures, Published Versio

Needle-free pharmacological sedation techniques in paediatric patients for imaging procedures:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Sedation techniques and drugs are increasingly used in children undergoing imaging procedures. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we present an overview of literature concerning sedation of children aged 0–8 yr for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures using needle-free pharmacological techniques. Methods: Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were systematically searched for studies on the use of needle-free pharmacological sedation techniques for MRI procedures in children aged 0–8 yr. Studies using i.v. or i.m. medication or advanced airway devices were excluded. We performed a meta-analysis on sedation success rate. Secondary outcomes were onset time, duration, recovery, and adverse events. Results: Sixty-seven studies were included, with 22 380 participants. The pooled success rate for oral chloral hydrate was 94% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.91–0.96); for oral chloral hydrate and intranasal dexmedetomidine 95% (95% CI: 0.92–0.97); for rectal, oral, or intranasal midazolam 36% (95% CI: 0.14–0.65); for oral pentobarbital 99% (95% CI: 0.90–1.00); for rectal thiopental 92% (95% CI: 0.85–0.96); for oral melatonin 75% (95% CI: 0.54–0.89); for intranasal dexmedetomidine 62% (95% CI: 0.38–0.82); for intranasal dexmedetomidine and midazolam 94% (95% CI: 0.78–0.99); and for inhaled sevoflurane 98% (95% CI: 0.97–0.99). Conclusions: We found a large variation in medication, dosage, and route of administration for needle-free sedation. Success rates for sedation techniques varied between 36% and 98%.</p

Um olhar sobre a ação re-territorializadora do manejo de castanhais nativos no Acre.

O sistema de produção da castanha-da-amazônia (Bertholletia excelsa) apresenta importante valor para a manutenção dos meios de vida de comunidades extrativistas no Acre. Este sistema produtivo tem sua herança nos povos originários, mas sua exploração econômica está associada às mudanças de uso do espaço-floresta amazônica a partir de um novo ciclo de extrativismo o qual ocorreu após a decadência do ciclo da borracha. Sob a perspectiva de análise de ?territórios construídos? o presente artigo buscou analisar o processo de territorialização a partir de fatores e componentes associados ao setor produtivo da castanha-da-amazônia no contexto acreano. O trabalho fornece informações sobre conceitos de território e territorialidade e aborda um histórico da dinâmica da atividade produtiva vinculada a castanha-da-amazônia, incluindo o papel dos agentes sociais no processo estudado. Por seu grande valor de uso, este setor produtivo passou por muitas mudanças na última década, motivadas por uma sequência de políticas públicas empreendidas pelo estado e pela estruturação de uma cooperativa central de produtores. O estudo demonstra a existência de uma ação territorializadora resultante do sistema produtivo da castanha-da-amazônia no Acre, principalmente pelas características particulares encontradas em: i) espaço-lugar considerado aqui como a base natural ou florestas com ocorrência de castanhais nativos especificamente em uma determinada parte do estado e ii) pelo espaço-território construído a partir das relações socias estabelecidas ao longo do tempo para que a atividade extrativista se consolidasse em um setor econômico-produtivo. The production system of Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) presents important value for the maintenance of the livelihoods of extractive communities in Acre. This productive system has its inheritance in the original peoples, but its economic exploitation is associated with the changes of use of the Amazonian forest space in a new cycle of extractivism which occurred after the decay of the rubber cycle. From the perspective of "constructed territories", the present article sought to analyze the territorialization process based on factors and components associated with the productive sector of the Brazil nuts in the Acrean context. The paper provides information on the concepts of territory and territoriality and discusses the history of the productive activity dynamics linked to Brazil nuts, including the role of social agents in the process studied. Due to its great value in use, this productive sector underwent many changes in the last decade, motivated by a sequence of public policies undertaken by the state and by the structuring of a central cooperative of producers. The study demonstrates the existence of a territorializing action resulting from the Brazil nut production system in Acre, mainly due to the particular characteristics found in: i) space-place considered here as the natural base or forests with native Brazil nut tree that occur specifically in a certain part of the state and ii) by the space-territory constructed from the social relations established over time so that the extractive activity was consolidated in an economic-productive sector

Hydrocarbon Liquid Production via Catalytic Hydroprocessing of Phenolic Oils Fractionated from Fast Pyrolysis of Red Oak and Corn Stover

Phenolic oils were produced from fast pyrolysis of two different biomass feedstocks, red oak and corn stover, and evaluated in hydroprocessing tests for production of liquid hydrocarbon products. The phenolic oils were produced with a bio-oil fractionating process in combination with a simple water wash of the heavy ends from the fractionating process. Phenolic oils derived from the pyrolysis of red oak and corn stover were recovered with yields (wet biomass basis) of 28.7 and 14.9 wt %, respectively, and 54.3% and 60.0% on a carbon basis. Both precious metal catalysts and sulfided base metal catalyst were evaluated for hydrotreating the phenolic oils, as an extrapolation from whole bio-oil hydrotreatment. They were effective in removing heteroatoms with carbon yields as high as 81% (unadjusted for the 90% carbon balance). There was substantial heteroatom removal with residual O of only 0.4% to 5%, while N and S were reduced to less than 0.05%. Use of the precious metal catalysts resulted in more saturated products less completely hydrotreated compared to the sulfided base metal catalyst, which was operated at higher temperature. The liquid product was 42–52% gasoline range molecules and about 43% diesel range molecules. Particulate matter in the phenolic oils complicated operation of the reactors, causing plugging in the fixed-beds especially for the corn stover phenolic oil. This difficulty contrasts with the catalyst bed fouling and plugging, which is typically seen with hydrotreatment of whole bio-oil. This problem was substantially alleviated by filtering the phenolic oils before hydrotreating. More thorough washing of the phenolic oils during their preparation from the heavy ends of bio-oil or online filtration of pyrolysis vapors to remove particulate matter before condensation of the bio-oil fractions is recommended.Reprinted with permission from ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2015, 3 (5), pp 892–902. Copyright 2015 American Chemical Society.</p

PLANO DE NEGÓCIO: CENTRO ESTÉTICO NA CIDADE DE TANGARÁ –SC

O Plano de Negócio objetivou identificar a viabilidade econômica e financeira para a implantação de um centro estético na cidade de Tangará-SC. O setor de estética está inserido em um mercado em expansão, com crescimento de 10% ao ano nos últimos 20 anos, com consumo de mais de 59 bilhões em 2013. Diante desse cenário, com a elaboração do Plano de Negócios, estima-se um investimento de R$71.389, sendo totalmente integralizado pelos sócios. A projeção de receita, custos e despesas foi realizada para um período de três anos, derivando assim, a projeção dos fluxos de caixa e indicadores de desempenho. As receitas perfazem um montante de R$ 567.305 e um lucro de R$180.353, representando um percentual de 31,8$ 54.194 e a taxa interna de retorno (TIR) ficou em 56%, com taxa mínima de atratividade (TMA) de 15%. Considerando as análises de mercado e projeções financeiras, conclui-se que este negócio é viável econômica e financeiramente, principalmente pelo crescimento do setor nos últimos anos e a perspectiva positiva de crescimento para o futuro

Process of ontology construction for the development of an intelligent system for the organization and retrieval of knowledge in biodiversity – SISBIO

This work describes the ontology construction process for the development of an Intelligent System for the Organization and Retrieval of Knowledge in Biodiversity – SISBIO. The system aims at the production of strategic information for the biofuel chain Two main methodologies are used for the construction of the ontologies: knowledge engineering and ontology engineering. The first one consists of extracting and organizing the biofuel specialists´ knowledge, and ontology engineering is used to represent the knowledge through indicative expressions and its relations, developing a semantic network of relationships.Applications in Artificial Intelligence - Ontologies and Intelligent WebRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Sustainability indicators of the Brazil nut tree management.

Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl) management, is a traditional activity that plays a key role in the economy of forestbased Amazon communities and in the conservation of forests. Nevertheless, some threats and critical points related to sustainability indicate to the need for establishment of monitoring procedures that can assist in the management of this natural resource. The overall aim of the research was to evaluate the MESMIS method as a tool to support the participatory definition of sustainability indicators to monitor Brazil nut management, and the viability of Brazil nut harvest over time. For that, we carried out a case study in the Porvir Community, RESEX Chico Mendes, Acre State (Brazil), aiming to integrate the perceptions of Brazil nut harvesters, researchers, managers, and technicians to define the indicators. The result was the generation of 18 strategic indicators to assess sustainability in the environmental, technical-economic and social dimensions. Assessment parameters, representing conditions that must be achieved for system sustainability, were collectively defined for each indicator. The main critical values attributed in the evaluation of the indicators are related to Brazil nut commercialization to intermediaries and oscillation in the annual fruit production. The use of the MESMIS method was considered appropriate to the studied context and can be recommended to similar non-timber forest product management systems. O manejo da castanheira-da-amazônia (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) é uma atividade tradicional, chave para a economia de milhares de famílias extrativistas da Amazônia e para a conservação das florestas. Algumas ameaças e pontos críticos relacionados à sustentabilidade da atividade apontam para a necessidade de se estabelecerem procedimentos de monitoramento que possam auxiliar na gestão desse recurso natural. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o método Marco para a Avaliação de sistemas de Manejo de Recursos Naturais Incorporando Indicadores de Sustentabilidade (MESMIS) como ferramenta de apoio à definição participativa de indicadores para a avaliação da sustentabilidade do manejo de castanhais nativos e da viabilidade do extrativismo da castanha ao longo do tempo. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo de caso na Comunidade Porvir, Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes, Acre, onde se buscou integrar as percepções de extrativistas, pesquisadores, gestores e técnicos sobre o assunto. O resultado foi a geração de 18 indicadores estratégicos para a avaliação da sustentabilidade nas dimensões ambiental, técnico-econômica e social, definindo-se coletivamente parâmetros de avaliação para cada indicador. Os principais valores críticos atribuídos na avaliação do estudo de caso foram relacionados à questão da comercialização da castanha para atravessadores e à oscilação na produção anual de frutos. O emprego do método MESMIS foi considerado adequado ao contexto estudado, de modo que pode ser recomendado e adaptado ao manejo de outros produtos florestais não madeireiros.Published Sept 10, 2021

Evolution of Broader Impacts

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number OIA-1810732 and MCB-1940655, the Kavli Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the Kavli Foundation or Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Resting-state functional MRI shows altered default-mode network functional connectivity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive neuromuscular disorder caused by absence of dystrophin protein. Dystrophin is expressed in muscle, but also in the brain. Difficulties with attention/inhibition, working memory and information processing are well described in DMD patients but their origin is poorly understood. The default mode network (DMN) is one of the networks involved in these processes. Therefore we aimed to assess DMN connectivity in DMD patients compared to matched controls, to better understand the cognitive profile in DMD. T1-weighted and resting state functional MRI scans were acquired from 33 DMD and 24 male age-matched controls at two clinical sites. Scans were analysed using FMRIB Software Library (FSL). Differences in the DMN were assessed using FSL RANDOMISE, with age as covariate and threshold-free cluster enhancement including multiple comparison correction. Post-hoc analyses were performed on the visual network, executive control network and fronto-parietal network with the same methods. In DMD patients, the level of connectivity was higher in areas within the control DMN (hyperconnectivity) and significant connectivity was found in areas outside the control DMN. No hypoconnectivity was found and no differences in the visual network, executive control network and fronto-parietal network. We showed differences both within and in areas outside the DMN in DMD. The specificity of our findings to the DMN can help provide a better understanding of the attention/inhibition, working memory and information processing difficulties in DMD.Neuro Imaging Researc