Performance Evaluation of Wavelet-Coded OFDM on a 4.9 Gbps W-Band Radio-over-Fiber Link

Future generation mobile communications running on mm-wave frequencies will require great robustness against frequency selective channels. In this paper, we evaluate the transmission performance of 4.9 Gb/s wavelet-coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals on a 10 km fiber plus 58 m wireless radio-over-fiber link using a mm-wave radio frequency carrier. The results show that a 2 × 128 wavelet-coded OFDM system achieves a bit-error rate of 1e-4 with nearly 2.5 dB less signal-to-noise ratio than a convolutional coded OFDM system with equivalent spectral efficiency for 8 GHz-wide signals with 512 subcarriers on a carrier frequency of 86 GHz. Our findings confirm the Tzannes’ theory that wavelet coding enables high diversity gains with a low complexity receiver and, most notably, without compromising the system’s spectral efficiency

Multicomponent Activity Cycles using Hilbert-Huang Analysis

The temporal analysis of stellar activity evolution is usually dominated by a complex trade-off between model complexity and interpretability, often by neglecting the non-stationary nature of the process. Recent studies appear to indicate that the presence of multiple coexisting cycles in a single star is more common than previously thought. The correct identification of physically meaningful cyclic components in spectroscopic time series is therefore a crucial task, which cannot overlook local behaviors. Here we propose a decomposition technique which adaptively recovers amplitude- and frequency-varying components. We present our results for the solar activity as measured both by the sunspot number and the $K$-line emission index, and we consistently recover the Schwabe and Gleissberg cycles as well as the Gnevyshev-Ohl pattern probably related to the Hale cycle. We also recover the known 8-year cycle for 61 Cygni A, in addition to evidence of a three-cycles long pattern reminiscent of the Gnevyshev-Ohl rule. This is particularly interesting as we cannot discard the possibility of a relationship between the measured field polarity reversals and this Hale-like periodicity.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Desenvolvimento de híbridos interespecífico de espécies silvestre de Manihot e variedades elites de mandioca.

O melhoramento da mandioca no Brasil e em alguns centros internacionais tem-se concentrado na seleção clonal, mostrando lento progresso na superação de problemas como rodutividade, resistência a doenças e valor nutritivo das raízes. A mandioca constitui um importante cultivo nos trópicos e os agricultores sempre estiveram envolvidos em seu processo de seleção e na conservação de variedades, desde seus ancestrais remotos. Destaca-se assim como uma planta de muita utilidade, desde a alimentação humana e animal ao uso industrial. Os principais métodos de melhoramento genético utilizados na cultura da mandioca são a introdução e a seleção de variedades, a hibridação intraespecífica, hibridação interespecífica e a indução de polipoídes. A hibridação interespecífica é um dos métodos utilizados na cultura da mandioca para criar variabilidade ou transferir características de interesse econômico. Considerando seu grande potencial, deve ser utilizada em maior escala após completo conhecimento e exploração da diversidade genética da espécie e/ou para modificar características de interesse. Este trabalho teve como finalidade desenvolver híbridos (F1) interespecífico de M. esculenta com espécies silvestres de Manihot.PDF. 054

Effects of isoflavone-supplemented soy yogurt on lipid parameters and atherosclerosis development in hypercholesterolemic rabbits: a randomized double-blind study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is increasing interest in natural treatments to control dyslipidemia and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Previous studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of soy yogurt fermented with <it>Enterococcus faecium </it>CRL 183 and of dietary isoflavones on the lipid profile. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of isoflavone-supplemented soy yogurt, fermented with <it>E. faecium </it>CRL183, on lipid parameters and atherosclerosis development in rabbits with induced hypercholesterolemia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Forty-eight rabbits were randomly assigned to eight groups fed on the following diets for 60 days: C - control; IY - isoflavone-supplemented soy yogurt; H - hypercholesterolemic (1.0% cholesterol wt/wt diet); HY - hypercholesterolemic plus soy yogurt; HIY - hypercholesterolemic plus isoflavone-supplemented soy yogurt; HP - hypercholesterolemic plus placebo; HI - hypercholesterolemic plus isoflavone and HE - hypercholesterolemic plus pure culture of <it>E. faecium </it>CRL 183. Serum lipids and autoantibodies against oxLDL (oxLDL Ab) were analyzed on days 0, 30 and 60 of the treatment and the atherosclerotic lesions were quantified at the end of the experiment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Soy yogurt, soy yogurt supplemented with isoflavones and placebo promoted significant reductions in total cholesterol level (38.1%, 27.0% and 26.6%, respectively). Significant increases in serum HDL-C concentration relative to group H were detected in animals that ingested soy yogurt, with or without the isoflavone supplement (55.2%), <it>E. faecium </it>culture (43.3%) or placebo (35.8%). Intake of soy yogurt and soy yogurt supplemented with isoflavones prevented the rise of oxLDL Ab during the study period. The extent of atherosclerosis in the thoracic and abdominal aortas was reduced in the HIY, HY and HP groups. However, when the whole aorta was analyzed, animals treated with soy yogurt supplemented with isoflavones exhibited the greatest reduction (51.4%, P < 0.05) in atherosclerotic lesion area, compared to group H.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Soy yogurt could be consumed as an alternative means of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease by improving the lipid profile and inhibiting oxLDL Ab formation. Our findings also suggest that isoflavone supplementation may enhance the antiatherosclerotic effect of soy yogurt.</p

Caracterização da coleção de espécies silvestres de Manihot da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura utilizando descritores quantitativos e qualitativos.

Nos trópicos, principalmente em países em desenvolvimento a mandioca exerce um papel importante na alimentação humana, representando uma das principais fontes de calorias para as classes menos favorecidas. O Brasil é considerado centro de origem e diversidade da mandioca possuindo seu germoplasma distribuído por todo território nacional. A caracterização de uma coleção de germoplasma visa basicamente inferir a variabilidade genética entre os acessos, estabelecer coleções nucleares e identificar a existência de acessos duplicados e modos de reprodução predominante nos acessos. A utilização de descritores morfológicos na caracterização de germoplasma tem crescido em função de este permitir a distinção facilmente entre fenótipos. Geralmente são caracteres de alta herdabilidade que podem ser detectados visualmente sendo pouco influenciados pelo ambiente.O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar por meio de descritores quantitativos e qualitativos a coleção de espécies silvestres de Manihot da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura.PDF. 064

Fuzzy Wavelet Neural Network Using a Correntropy Criterion for Nonlinear System Identification

Recent researches have demonstrated that the Fuzzy Wavelet Neural Networks (FWNNs) are an efficient tool to identify nonlinear systems. In these structures, features related to fuzzy logic, wavelet functions, and neural networks are combined in an architecture similar to the Adaptive Neurofuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS). In practical applications, the experimental data set used in the identification task often contains unknown noise and outliers, which decrease the FWNN model reliability. In order to reduce the negative effects of these erroneous measurements, this work proposes the direct use of a similarity measure based on information theory in the FWNN learning procedure. The Mean Squared Error (MSE) cost function is replaced by the Maximum Correntropy Criterion (MCC) in the traditional error backpropagation (BP) algorithm. The input-output maps of a real nonlinear system studied in this work are identified from an experimental data set corrupted by different outliers rates and additive white Gaussian noise. The results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed cost function using the MCC as compared to the MSE. This work also investigates the influence of the kernel size on the performance of the MCC in the BP algorithm, since it is the only free parameter of correntropy

A Model of DENV-3 Infection That Recapitulates Severe Disease and Highlights the Importance of IFN-γ in Host Resistance to Infection

There are few animal models of dengue infection, especially in immunocompetent mice. Here, we describe alterations found in adult immunocompetent mice inoculated with an adapted Dengue virus (DENV-3) strain. Infection of mice with the adapted DENV-3 caused inoculum-dependent lethality that was preceded by several hematological and biochemical changes and increased virus dissemination, features consistent with severe disease manifestation in humans. IFN-γ expression increased after DENV-3 infection of WT mice and this was preceded by increase in expression of IL-12 and IL-18. In DENV-3-inoculated IFN-γ−/− mice, there was enhanced lethality, which was preceded by severe disease manifestation and virus replication. Lack of IFN-γ production was associated with diminished NO-synthase 2 (NOS2) expression and higher susceptibility of NOS2−/− mice to DENV-3 infection. Therefore, mechanisms of protection to DENV-3 infection rely on IFN-γ-NOS2-NO-dependent control of viral replication and of disease severity, a pathway showed to be relevant for resistance to DENV infection in other experimental and clinical settings. Thus, the model of DENV-3 infection in immunocompetent mice described here represents a significant advance in animal models of severe dengue disease and may provide an important tool to the elucidation of immunopathogenesis of disease and of protective mechanisms associated with infection

Classificação da aptidão pedológica para culturas a partir do sistema especialista SolosNe.

Os dados coletados nos levantamentos de solos, sobretudo nos detalhados, servem para interpretações quanto ao uso mais adequado em diversos campos tais como agricultura, proteção ambiental, construção civil. A demanda por informações sobre áreas aptas para plantios diversos é crescente. O presente trabalho demonstra de forma prática, utilizando o estudo de caso do Zoneamento Agroecológico de Alagoas (escala 1:100.000), a possibilidade de se desenvolver aplicações ?satélites? especialistas, para extração de informações a partir de banco de dados de solos, devidamente alimentados com dados validados e normatizados. O sistema especialista, integra a aplicação solos do Nordeste (SolosNE) como um módulo, permitindo a classificação automatizada da aptidão pedológica para culturas nos diversos tipos de manejos. Integrado ao ArcGIS gera como resultado mapas temáticos automaticamente