Development of image processing tools for measurementof beam straightness

The objective was to measure the straightness of steel beams as a non-contact mean and using image processing techniques. This work deals with the development of an image processing methodology to be employed in an inspection machine for measurement of straightness of moving steel beams. The method was embodied in a software that reads the position of the beams, correlates all the positions monitored by the cameras, and reports the quality of straightness of the beam. The inspection machine uses computer vision technology as a non contact measuring device. Video cameras are used to log information about the lateral position and height of steel beams while rolling on a conveyor from the production process. The number of cameras and the distance between them are user defined parameters. The technique developed is prepared to guarantee the measuring system operation if one camera is switched off or fails. This implies the ability of this system on using more than 3 cameras. The system output is the non linearity deviation of the beam, compensating factors for lateral or angular movements in the horizontal measuring plane of the beam and the beam profile. The output is displayed in a computer screen, according to the line method and the least squares method

What can the millions of random treatments in nonexperimental data reveal about causes?

We propose a new method to estimate causal effects from nonexperimental data. Each pair of sample units is first associated with a stochastic 'treatment' - differences in factors between units - and an effect - a resultant outcome difference. It is then proposed that all such pairs can be combined to provide more accurate estimates of causal effects in observational data, provided a statistical model connecting combinatorial properties of treatments to the accuracy and unbiasedness of their effects. The article introduces one such model and a Bayesian approach to combine the $O(n^2)$ pairwise observations typically available in nonexperimnetal data. This also leads to an interpretation of nonexperimental datasets as incomplete, or noisy, versions of ideal factorial experimental designs. This approach to causal effect estimation has several advantages: (1) it expands the number of observations, converting thousands of individuals into millions of observational treatments; (2) starting with treatments closest to the experimental ideal, it identifies noncausal variables that can be ignored in the future, making estimation easier in each subsequent iteration while departing minimally from experiment-like conditions; (3) it recovers individual causal effects in heterogeneous populations. We evaluate the method in simulations and the National Supported Work (NSW) program, an intensively studied program whose effects are known from randomized field experiments. We demonstrate that the proposed approach recovers causal effects in common NSW samples, as well as in arbitrary subpopulations and an order-of-magnitude larger supersample with the entire national program data, outperforming Statistical, Econometrics and Machine Learning estimators in all cases..

Reptilia, Squamata, Polychrotidae, Anolis nitens tandai: distribution extension, new state record, and geographic distribution map

Non

Correlation from undiluted vitreous cytokines of untreated central retinal vein occlusion with spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Purpose: To correlate inflammatory and proangiogenic key cytokines from undiluted vitreous of treatment-naïve central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) patients with SD-OCT parameters. Methods: Thirty-five patients (age 71.1 years, 24 phakic, 30 nonischemic) underwent intravitreal combination therapy, including a single-site 23-gauge core vitrectomy. Twenty-eight samples from patients with idiopathic, non-uveitis floaterectomy served as controls. Interleukin 6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) levels were correlated with the visual acuity (logMar), category of CRVO (ischemic or nonischemic) and morphologic parameters, such as central macular thickness-CMT, thickness of neurosensory retina-TNeuro, extent of serous retinal detachment-SRT and disintegrity of the IS/OS and others. Results: The mean IL-6 was 64.7pg/ml (SD ± 115.8), MCP-1 1015.7 ( ± 970.1), and VEGF-A 278.4 ( ± 512.8), which was significantly higher than the control IL-6 6.2 ± 3.4pg/ml (P=0.06), MCP-1 253.2 ± 73.5 (P<0.0000001) and VEGF-A 7.0 ± 4.9 (P<0.0006). All cytokines correlated highly with one another (correlation coefficient r=0.82 for IL-6 and MCP-1; r=0.68 for Il-6 and VEGF-A; r=0.64 for MCP-1 and VEGF-A). IL-6 correlated significantly with CMT, TRT, SRT, dIS/OS, and dELM. MCP-1 correlated significantly with SRT, dIS/OS, and dELM. VEGF-A correlated not with changes in SD-OCT, while it had a trend to be higher in the ischemic versus the nonischemic CRVO group (P=0.09). Conclusions: The inflammatory cytokines were more often correlated with morphologic changes assessed by SD-OCT, whereas VEGF-A did not correlate with CRVO-associated changes in SD-OCT. VEGF inhibition alone may not be sufficient in decreasing the inflammatory response in CRVO therapy

Fire-induced changes of high and low intensity prescribed fires in a Canadian boreal forest

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 21, EGU2019-7859, 2019EGU General Assembly 2019The degree of fire-induced effects on boreal forest soils substantially depends on the intensityof fire. Especially high-intensity fires may drastically alter the quality and quantity of the soilorganic matter pool. In this study, we investigated the effects of low and high intensityprescribed fires on soil carbon and nitrogen contents, soil pH, soil temperature, and soilmoisture in a Canadian boreal forest. The study was based on intensive field sampling duringAugust 2018 in Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forest stands located 50 km north of FortProvidence, Northwest Territories (61.582˚ ; -117.165˚). We measured the soil parametersfrom two short-term fire chronosequences — one with high-intensity prescribed fireshappening in years 2000, 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2017; and the other with low-intensityprescribed fires happening in years 2015, 2017, and 2018. Additionally, we measured soiltemperature and moisture before and after a low-intensity prescribed fire. In thehigh-intensity fire chronosequence, the study site burned in year 2012 had the lowest soiltemperature. Even though temperatures seemed slightly higher in the most recent years ofthe fire chronosequence (2015, 2016, and 2017), we did not identify a clear trend.Soil moisture was the lowest in the study site burned in year 2000, with mostly nosignificant differences between the following years. We did not find significantdifferences in soil moisture and soil temperature before and after a low-intensityprescribed fire. However, both time-after-fire and fire intensity were important forsoil moisture prediction, whereas only fire intensity was important for predictingsoil temperature. Soil pH in the humus layer of the study site burned in 2012 wassignificantly lower compared to the other age classes (no pH data for year 2000) of thehigh-intensity fire chronosequence. Neither C nor N content were significantly differentbetween the fire age classes at the humus layer or at the mineral layers. We believethat the small sample size did not allow the identification of further differencesbetween the age classes, and it prevented direct comparisons between high and lowintensity fires. Despite its exploratory nature, this study offers some insight intoshort-term effects of fire on some soil parameters, for example, the observed changeson soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil pH. Therefore, we will progress thiswork by increasing the sample size and analysing autotrophic and heterotrophic soilrespiration to directly infer on fire-induced changes on the soil organic matter pool.Non peer reviewe

Democracia, expertise e burocracia: relações entre política, técnica e participação

This article provides a theoretical discussion concerning new models of democratic governance, focusing on the relationship between democracy, expertise and bureaucracy, especially with respect to connections between public administration, technical knowledge and participation. The concepts of expertise and expert, originating in Social Studies of Science and Technology (SSST), are applied to the analysis of the political control of bureaucracy in public administration, using as a reference model the public communication of science. Subsequently, a critique is made of the “public knowledge deficit” approach, a model that considers the public as composed of uninformed laypeople and whose fundamental task is to improve communication of knowledge from experts to the public in general. The article also considers the problematic model of “public participation” in the communication of science and technology, which recommends an equal relationship between experts and public participants and is adapted to interpret interactions of Deliberative Public Administration. Finally, it presents as an alternative the perspective of the “third wave” of SSST, proposing a compromise between the world of technical and scientific experts and the world of experience of the representatives of civil society in democratic decision-making arenas. This perspective is associated with participatory democracy, since it aims to recognize contributive expertise and expertise through interaction of both experts and representatives of society in interactions between public bureaucracy and civil society.Key words: expertise, democracy, bureaucracy, participation, technical knowledge.O artigo realiza uma discussão teórica sobre os novos modelos de governança democrática, focalizando as relações entre democracia, expertise e burocracia, especialmente sobre as conexões entre política, técnica e participação. Aplicam-se os conceitos de expertise e expert originários dos Estudos Sociais da Ciência e da Tecnologia (ESCT) às análises sobre controle político da burocracia na administração pública, utilizando-se como referência os modelos de comunicação pública da ciência. A partir daí, realiza-se uma crítica à abordagem do “déficit público de conhecimento”, modelo que considera o público composto por leigos e desinformados e cuja tarefa fundamental é dispor de uma maior e melhor comunicação dos conhecimentos por parte dos especialistas para o público em geral. Pondera-se também sobre o problemático modelo de “participação pública” na comunicação da ciência e tecnologia, que preconiza uma relação de igualdade entre os experts e o público participante e que é adaptado às interações da Administração Pública Deliberativa. Por fim, apresenta-se como alternativa a perspectiva da “terceira onda” dos ESCT que propõe uma conciliação entre o universo técnico-científico dos experts e o mundo da experiência dos representantes da sociedade civil nas arenas democráticas de decisão. Essa perspectiva é associada à democracia participativa, posto que se propõe a reconhecer a expertise contributiva e a expertise por interação por parte de experts e representantes da sociedade nas interações entre burocracia pública e sociedade civil.Palavras-chave: expertise, democracia, burocracia, participação, conhecimento técnico

A new species of Pimelodus La Cépède, 1803 (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) from rio Ribeira de Iguape basin, Brazil

Pimelodus multicratifer, a new species, is described from the rio Ribeira de Iguape basin. The new species differs from the other Pimelodus species by the following features: 26 to 30 gill rakers on the first branchial arch; a combination of three to six rows of dark spots regularly or irregularly scattered on the flanks and several small dark spots irregularly scattered on the dorsal surface of head, supraoccipital process, and sometimes on the dorsal and caudal fins; striated lips; maxillary barbels reaching between posterior tip of the pelvic-fin rays and posterior tip of the middle caudal-fin rays.Pimelodus multicratifer, espécie nova, é descrita da bacia do rio Ribeira de Iguape. A espécie nova difere das demais espécies de Pimelodus pelas seguintes características: 26 a 30 rastros branquiais sobre o primeiro arco branquial; a combinação de três a seis fileiras de máculas regular ou irregularmente distribuídas sobre os flancos e várias máculas menores irregularmente distribuídas sobre a superfície dorsal da cabeça e processo supraoccipital, e algumas vezes, nas nadadeiras dorsal e caudal; lábios estriados; barbilhões maxilares alcançando a extremidade posterior dos raios da nadadeira pélvica e a extremidade posterior dos raios médios da nadadeira caudal.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) - BIOT