Logic Programming approaches for routing fault-free and maximally-parallel Wavelength Routed Optical Networks on Chip (Application paper)

One promising trend in digital system integration consists of boosting on-chip communication performance by means of silicon photonics, thus materializing the so-called Optical Networks-on-Chip (ONoCs). Among them, wavelength routing can be used to route a signal to destination by univocally associating a routing path to the wavelength of the optical carrier. Such wavelengths should be chosen so to minimize interferences among optical channels and to avoid routing faults. As a result, physical parameter selection of such networks requires the solution of complex constrained optimization problems. In previous work, published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, we proposed and solved the problem of computing the maximum parallelism obtainable in the communication between any two endpoints while avoiding misrouting of optical signals. The underlying technology, only quickly mentioned in that paper, is Answer Set Programming (ASP). In this work, we detail the ASP approach we used to solve such problem. Another important design issue is to select the wavelengths of optical carriers such that they are spread across the available spectrum, in order to reduce the likelihood that, due to imperfections in the manufacturing process, unintended routing faults arise. We show how to address such problem in Constraint Logic Programming on Finite Domains (CLP(FD)). This paper is under consideration for possible publication on Theory and Practice of Logic Programming.Comment: Paper presented at the 33nd International Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP 2017), Melbourne, Australia, August 28 to September 1, 2017. 16 pages, LaTeX, 5 figure

Optimal Placement of Valves in a Water Distribution Network with CLP(FD)

This paper presents a new application of logic programming to a real-life problem in hydraulic engineering. The work is developed as a collaboration of computer scientists and hydraulic engineers, and applies Constraint Logic Programming to solve a hard combinatorial problem. This application deals with one aspect of the design of a water distribution network, i.e., the valve isolation system design. We take the formulation of the problem by Giustolisi and Savic (2008) and show how, thanks to constraint propagation, we can get better solutions than the best solution known in the literature for the Apulian distribution network. We believe that the area of the so-called hydroinformatics can benefit from the techniques developed in Constraint Logic Programming and possibly from other areas of logic programming, such as Answer Set Programming.Comment: Best paper award at the 27th International Conference on Logic Programming - ICLP 2011; Theory and Practice of Logic Programming, (ICLP'11) Special Issue, volume 11, issue 4-5, 201

Data acquisition system for fine surface process monitoring

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáThin surface manufacturing processes are known worldwide and used in a variety of applications. Among the various manufacturing processes, metal stamping and plastic injection are indispensable techniques for the success of companies in this field, where innovation is essential to remain competitive. In this sense, several thin surface optimization procedures are explored in the On-Surf project. This work focuses on a sensory data acquisition system on these surfaces, meeting the requirements of modularity and scalability, meaning that they can be easily expanded or contracted, depending on the number of sensors required. The designed system consists of several modules, one dedicated to signal conditioning to temperature and pressure sensors, the other has as purpose acquiring data and sending this data to a hub via Ethernet UDP communication, using the Olimex ESP32-PoE-ISO as an embedded system. Finally, Raspberry Pi was chosen as a data hub module to aggregate the information received by ESP32 modules. Forvalidation, several tests were performed to verify the structure robustness. As result, each conditioning module can support up to eight sensors simultaneously, the signal of the sensors was acquired by the embedded system at 1 kHz sampling rate, and UDP transmission reached a communication throughput of 2000 packets per second.Os processos de manufatura em superfícies finas são conhecidos mundialmente e utilizados em uma variedade de aplicações. Entre os vários processos de manufatura, a estampagem metálica e a injeção plástica são técnicas indispensáveis para o sucesso das empresas nesse campo, onde a inovação é essencial para se manter competitivo. Nesse sentido, vários procedimentos de otimização em superfícies finas são explorados no projeto On-Surf. Este trabalho enfoca um sistema de aquisição de dados sensoriais nessas superfícies, atendendo aos requisitos de modularidade e escalabilidade, conforme o número de sensores necessários. O sistema projetado consiste em vários módulos, um dedicado ao condicionamento de sinal; o outro tem como objetivo a aquisição de dados e enviá-los para um concentrador via comunicação Ethernet, usando o Olimex ESP32-PoE-ISO como sistema embarcado. Finalmente, o Raspberry Pi foi escolhido como um módulo de concentrador de dados para agregar as informações recebidas pelos módulos ESP32. Para validação, vários testes foram realizados para verificar a robustez da estrutura. Como resultado, cada módulo de condicionamento suporta oito sensores simultaneamente, o sinal dos sensores foi adquirido pelo sistema incorporado a uma taxa de amostragem de 1 kHz e a transmissão UDP alcançou uma taxa de transferência de dados de 2000 pacotes por segundo

ANÁLISE DO GRAU DE SATISFAÇÃO DE UM GRUPO DE ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOS ACERCA DO CURSO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO

Esse texto apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa de natureza quantitativa realizada com alunos do curso de administração de um Centro Universitário localizado na zona sul da Cidade de São Paulo. Os dados, obtidos por meio de um instrumento tipo escala de likert, foram tratados estatisticamente pela técnica multivariada conhecida como análise de cluster cujo objetivo foi agrupar os participantes segundo suas características, formando grupos ou conglomerados homogêneos. Existem vários métodos para tratar os dados pela análise de cluster, mas nessa pesquisa, o que mostrou boa separação entre os clusters foi o método Ward, portanto foi o escolhido. A partir do dendrograma, pudemos visualizar três clusters distintos sendo que o primeiro é formado por 22 sujeitos, o segundo por 59 e o terceiro por 28 participantes. Os resultados mostram que o cluster 1 que é formado por alunos tanto do primeiro quanto do sétimo semestre discordam de quase todas as assertivas enquanto que 2, com predominância de alunos primeiro semestre, tende a concordar e o 3 formado por alunos mais calouros e mais jovens demonstraram um maior grau de concordância em relação ao ambiente físico da instituição, aos serviços oferecidos, às técnicas de ensino e às habilidades desenvolvidas pelo curso

Strategies and economics of farming systems with coffee in the Atlantic Rainforest Biome

In the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, family farmers are adjusting to agroecological principles to reconcile sustainable agriculture, livelihood improvements and biodiversity conservation. Starting in 1993, experimentation with coffee agroforestry was gradually initiated on an increasing number of farms (37 in total), resulting in the simultaneous management of sun coffee (SC) and agroforestry coffee (AF) plots. We aimed (1) to identify factors that determine the farmers’ selection of trees used in AF; (2) to describe the agroecological farms in transition; and (3) to perform an economic comparison between AF and SC. These objectives were addressed by combining data from botanical surveys in 1993/1994 and 2007, by interviews with farmers and by detailed data on the production value and costs of labour and material inputs. The results showed considerable diversity in farming strategies and management among the farmers. Early adopters of AF had diversified towards production of different marketable products. The use of native trees in AF for this purpose, and for restoration of soil fertility (e.g., leguminous trees), had increased since the start of the experiments, while exotic tree species were eliminated. Over a period of 12 years AF was more profitable than SC due to the production of a diversity of agricultural goods, despite somewhat higher establishment costs. Other ecosystem services delivered by AF, such as biodiversity and cultural services are currently not valorized. Payment schemes for environmental services could further improve the economic benefits of AF for family farmers and alleviate establishment and learning cost

Structure elucidation of alkaloids from Philippine flowering plants

This work forms part of growing studies on Natural Product Chemistry in the Philippines. Alkaloid field screening conducted by the University of Santo Tomas Research Centre provided the opportunity to carry out this study on five endemic Philippine plants. Structural elucidation of the alkaloids present in three of these plants was obtained largely by physical methods, most importantly by the use of sophisticated NMR techniques which are described in detail in the text

Finding Manilatown: The Search for Seattle’s Filipino American Community, 1898 – 2016

Filipino presence in the United States has a long history from the time of the Spanish Empire. Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American War (1898) resulted in American acquisition of the Philippine islands. By granting Filipinos ‘national’ status, a new wave of post-Spanish Colonial immigration began to the United States. As Filipinos immigrated for education and work to the U.S., they began settling within urban areas and created Manilatowns. These Manilatowns were almost always settled in conjunction with other ethnic enclaves, most of these being Chinatowns. In this paper, I examine the rise and fall of Seattle’s Manilatown and its role for the Filipino community. I explore oral histories and newspapers in order to discuss the physical areas of Manilatown. Additionally, I analyze the literature regarding Filipino immigration, unionization, and socialization to address the histories of the Filipino community. Because of external pressures and internal changes within the neighborhood, Manilatown ceases to exist. However, the society and culture the Filipinos created within Manilatown was more important than Manilatown itself. Therefore, although I argue that Manilatown did not physically exist, Seattle’s Manilatown is nevertheless present in the discourse of a community

Writing in the practices of teaching

A produção escolar da escrita é objeto de investigação de grande prestígio em vários dos domínios do campo da linguagem e da educação. Considerada sob perspectivas teóricas e tradições disciplinares diversas, grande parte da reflexão acadêmica sobre a escrita, no Brasil, ocupou-se dos processos de aprendizagem da escrita por alunos de faixas etárias, graus de letramento e níveis de escolarização diversos, em contextos socioculturais e institucionais particulares. Em direção distinta, embora complementar a essa reflexão, este estudo tem seu foco voltado para os modos com que a escrita se constitui no trabalho docente, por meio do qual se transforma em objeto ensinado (Dolz; Ronveaux; Schneuwly, 2007). Para tanto, toma como corpus episódios de ensino da escrita, gravados em áudio e vídeo, gerados em contextos institucionais e socioculturais diferentes, avaliando o modo com que se configura a relação entre os objetos de ensino, os gestos profissionais e os instrumentos didáticos no ensino da escrita (Aeby Daghé; Dolz, 2007; Gomes-Santos; Almeida, 2009; Schneuwly, 2000; 2001). Do ponto de vista teórico e metodológico, as questões do estudo são iluminadas pela contribuição tanto de pesquisas que se voltam para a descrição dos modos de organização e funcionamento da linguagem nas interações escolares como daquelas que tomam a dimensão especificamente didática dessas interações como foco de interesse. A investigação da escrita nas formas do trabalho docente tem permitido incrementar a reflexão sobre os dispositivos didáticos necessários à construção de modos protagonistas de acesso a bens simbólicos no seio das práticas de ensino/aprendizagem.The production of writing at school is a highly respected object of study for several of the domains in the field of language and education. Pursued under different theoretical perspectives and disciplinary traditions, most of the academic reflection on the subject writing, in Brazil, has been concerned with the learning processes of writing by pupils of various age groups, levels of literacy, and schooling within specific sociocultural and institutional contexts. Along a different, but complementary, direction, the present study focuses on the ways in which writing is constituted in the teaching practice, and through which is becomes a taught object (Dolz; Ronveaux; Schneuwly, 2007). To such end, the article is based on a corpus comprised of audio and video recordings of episodes of the teaching of writing produced in different institutional and sociocultural contexts. The way in which the relation is established between the objects of teaching, the professional gestures, and the didactic devices is analyzed (Aeby Daghé; Dolz, 2007; Gomes-Santos; Almeida, 2009; Schneuwly, 2000; 2001). From a theoretical and methodological viewpoint, the questions of the study are illuminated by the contribution of researches on the description of the modes of organization and functioning of language in school interactions, and by studies that center on the specifically didactic dimension of those interactions. The investigation of writing in the practices of teaching has enriched the reflection about the didactic devices needed at the heart of the teaching/learning practices in order to develop active ways to facilitate the access to symbolic goods