Multilayer perceptron functional adaptive control for trajectory tracking of wheeled mobile robots

Sigmoidal multilayer perceptron neural networks are proposed to effect functional adaptive control for handling the trajectory tracking problem in a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot. The scheme is developed in discrete time and the multilayer perceptron neural networks are used for the estimation of the robot’s nonlinear kinematic functions, which are assumed to be unknown. On-line weight tuning is achieved by employing the extended Kalman filter algorithm based on a specifically formulated multiple-input, multiple-output, stochastic model for the trajectory error dynamics of the mobile base. The estimated functions are then used on a certainty equivalence basis in the control law proposed in (Corradini et al., 2003) for trajectory tracking. The performance of the system is analyzed and compared by simulation.peer-reviewe

Estabelecimento de uma coleção dinâmica de Manihot (Euphorbiaceae).

No Neotrópico, mais especificamente o Brasil, localiza-se o maior centro de diversidade do gênero Manihot. Cerca de 70% das espécies de Manihot ocorrem no Brasil, exibindo amplo polimorfismo vegetativo e reunindo potencial para utilização em programas de melhoramento genético da mandioca. Quando as áreas de ocorrência de cada uma das seções do gênero são sobrepostas em um mesmo mapa do país, observamos que a concentração maior de espécies corresponde aos biomas Caatinga e Cerrado. A maior diversidade biológica no Cerrado, com o epicentro localizado no Distrito Federal e partes próximas de Goiás. O Cerrado e o segundo maior tipo de vegetação do país (22% do território nacional). Grande parte das espécies silvestres de mandioca ocorrem naturalmente nesse bioma. A vegetação do Cerrado tem sido rapidamente substituída pela agricultura, pastagens e urbanização. Como resultado, várias espécies encontram-se ameaçadas. Atualmente, muitas populações de espécies silvestres estão restritas as faixas de domínio das rodovias. No interior de propriedades rurais, a agricultura e a pastagem substituiram a vegetação de Cerrado. Esta realidade recomenda a urgente coleta e conservação de amostras de populações de espécies de Manihot.bitstream/item/90532/1/1716.pd

Molecular marker (AFLP)-based Manihot and cassava numerical taxonomy and genetic structure analysis in progress: Implications for their dynamic conservation and genetic mapping.

Producao Cientifica/CENARGEN/199

The primary genepool of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

The cultivated genepool comprises all comercial stocks of the crop besides all ingenous landraces and folk varieties of the domesticate.Suplemento. Edição dos Resumos do IV International Scientific Meeting of the Cassava Biotechnology Network, Salvador,1998

The primary gene pool of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

A crop gene pool comprises three distinct categories of gene suppliers, primary, secondary, and tertiary gene pools. The primary gene pool (GP-1) is composed of gene reservoirs that cross easily with the domesticate and the crosses produce fertile offspring regularly. The secondary (GP-2) and tertiary (GP-3) gene pools comprise gene sources that cross with variable degrees of diffilculty with the crop species, this implies less close genetic distances. The GP-1 is further subdivided in cultivated and wild gene pools. The cultivated gene pool englobes commercial stocks of the crop besides indigenous landraces and folk varieties of the domesticate. The wild GP-1 of a crop comprises putative ancestors and closely related species that show a fair degree of fertile relationships with the domesticate. Two Douth American wild subspecies of cassava (M. flabellifolia and M. peruviana) are natural members of the wild GP-1 of the species. Another Brazilian species (M. pruinosa) is so close morphologically to the two wild subspecies of cassava that it may turn out another member of the wild GP-1 of the indigen. The GP-2 of cassava is more difficult to delimit as few species have been tested for genetic compatibility. Biosystematic crosses carried out between the crop and a number of wild species suggest a dozen of them as components of the GP-2, the majority are Brazilian species

Human-Mediated Emergence as a Weed and Invasive Radiation in the Wild of the CD Genome Allotetraploid Rice Species (Oryza, Poaceae) in the Neotropics

BACKGROUND: The genus Oryza is being used as a model in plant genomic studies although there are several issues still to be resolved regarding the spatio-temporal evolution of this ancient genus. Particularly contentious is whether undated transoceanic natural dispersal or recent human interference has been the principal agent determining its present distribution and differentiation. In this context, we studied the origin and distribution history of the allotetraploid CD rice genome. It is endemic to the Neotropics but the genus is thought to have originated in the Paleotropics, and there is relatively little genetic divergence between some orthologous sequences of the C genome component and their Old World counterparts. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Because of its allotetraploidy, there are several potential pitfalls in trying to date the formation of the CD genome using molecular data and this could lead to erroneous estimates. Therefore, we rather chose to rely on historical evidence to determine whether or not the CD genome was present in the Neotropics before the arrival of Columbus. We searched early collections of herbarium specimens and studied the reports of explorers of the tropical Americas for references to rice. In spite of numerous collectors traveling inland and collecting Oryza, plants determined as CD genome species were not observed away from cultivated rice fields until 1869. Various arguments suggest that they only consisted of weedy forms until that time. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The spatio-temporal distribution of herbarium collections fits a simple biogeographical scenario for the emergence in cultivated rice fields followed by radiation in the wild of the CD genome in the Neotropics during the last four centuries. This probably occurred from species introduced to the Americas by humans and we found no evidence that the CD genome pre-existed in the Old World. We therefore propose a new evolutionary hypothesis for such a recent origin of the CD genome. Moreover, we exemplify how an historical approach can provide potentially important information and help to disentangle the timing of evolutionary events in the history of the Oryza genomes

Fractional Cauchy problems on bounded domains: survey of recent results

In a fractional Cauchy problem, the usual first order time derivative is replaced by a fractional derivative. This problem was first considered by \citet{nigmatullin}, and \citet{zaslavsky} in $\mathbb R^d$ for modeling some physical phenomena. The fractional derivative models time delays in a diffusion process. We will give a survey of the recent results on the fractional Cauchy problem and its generalizations on bounded domains D\subset \rd obtained in \citet{m-n-v-aop, mnv-2}. We also study the solutions of fractional Cauchy problem where the first time derivative is replaced with an infinite sum of fractional derivatives. We point out a connection to eigenvalue problems for the fractional time operators considered. The solutions to the eigenvalue problems are expressed by Mittag-Leffler functions and its generalized versions. The stochastic solution of the eigenvalue problems for the fractional derivatives are given by inverse subordinators

Gluon mass generation in the PT-BFM scheme

In this article we study the general structure and special properties of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the gluon propagator constructed with the pinch technique, together with the question of how to obtain infrared finite solutions, associated with the generation of an effective gluon mass. Exploiting the known all-order correspondence between the pinch technique and the background field method, we demonstrate that, contrary to the standard formulation, the non-perturbative gluon self-energy is transverse order-by-order in the dressed loop expansion, and separately for gluonic and ghost contributions. We next present a comprehensive review of several subtle issues relevant to the search of infrared finite solutions, paying particular attention to the role of the seagull graph in enforcing transversality, the necessity of introducing massless poles in the three-gluon vertex, and the incorporation of the correct renormalization group properties. In addition, we present a method for regulating the seagull-type contributions based on dimensional regularization; its applicability depends crucially on the asymptotic behavior of the solutions in the deep ultraviolet, and in particular on the anomalous dimension of the dynamically generated gluon mass. A linearized version of the truncated Schwinger-Dyson equation is derived, using a vertex that satisfies the required Ward identity and contains massless poles belonging to different Lorentz structures. The resulting integral equation is then solved numerically, the infrared and ultraviolet properties of the obtained solutions are examined in detail, and the allowed range for the effective gluon mass is determined. Various open questions and possible connections with different approaches in the literature are discussed.Comment: 54 pages, 24 figure

Diabetic patients detected by population-based stepwise screening already have a diabetic cardiovascular risk profile

OBJECTIVE - To describe a population-based two-step screening procedure for type 2 diabetes and to study the cardiovascular risk profile of the patients identified by the screening. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - The first step of the screening procedure consisted of the Symptom Risk Questionnaire (SRQ), and the second step was a fasting capillary glucose measurement. In subjects with an SRQ score of >6 and a capillary glucose level of >5.5 mmol/l, an oral glucose tolerance test was performed. RESULTS - A total of 11,679 inhabitants of the West-Friesland region of the Netherlands, aged 50-75 years, were invited. Of the inhabitants, 9,169 (78%) responded, and, of those, 417 had previously diagnosed diabetes. The SRQ score was calculated for 7,736 participants, and 3,301 of those had a score of >6. A total of 2,885 subjects (87.3%) attended for capillary glucose measurement. Diagnostic testing was carried out in 509 participants, and we identified 217 diabetic patients. In these patients detected by screening, mean Hb