Modeling soil water dynamics and pasture growth in the montado ecosystem using MOHID land

The southern Iberian Peninsula is characterized by evergreen oak woodlands (locally known as montado), which constitute an important savanna-type agro-silvo-pastoral ecosystem. This ecosystem is facing a progressive decline for several reasons, with the foremost being overgrazing. Better management tools are necessary to accurately quantify the systems’ carrying capacity and the sustainable stocking rates that prevent land degradation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the MOHID-Land model could adequately simulate soil water dynamics and pasture growth in the montado ecosystem. The study area was located in the Alentejo region of southern Portugal. The model successfully simulated soil water contents and aboveground biomass during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 growing seasons, producing acceptable errors of the estimates (0.015 RMSE 0.026 cm3 cm3; 279 RMSE 1286.5 kg ha1), and relatively high modeling efficiencies (0.481 EF 0.882). The model was further used to simulate the same variables for a longer period (1979/2009 seasons), to account for the effect of climate variability on model estimates. Water balance and dry biomass estimates were found to be significantly different between rainfed and irrigated pastures, as well as between the ten driest and ten wettest seasons, with the model responding well to climate variability. The results showed the potential of using the MOHID-Land model for improving pasture management in the montado ecosysteminfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A dynamic default revision mechanism for speculative computation

In this work a default revision mechanism is introduced into Speculative Computation to manage incomplete information. The default revision is supported by a method for the generation of default constraints based on Bayesian Networks. The method enables the generation of an initial set of defaults which is used to produce the most likely scenarios during the computation, represented by active processes. As facts arrive, the Bayesian Network is used to derive new defaults. The objective with such a new dynamic mechanism is to keep the active processes coherent with arrived facts. This is achieved by changing the initial set of default constraints during the reasoning process in Speculative Computation. A practical example in clinical decision support is described.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Entre o oficial e o costumeiro: o exercício dos poderes e a espacialização da ruralidade no centro da América do Sul (primeira metade do século XVIII)

Analisamos aqui a relação entre o sistema administrativo português e a formação de ambientes rurais no centro da América do Sul, em territórios que, na primeira metade do século XVIII, integravam o extremo oeste do Estado do Brasil, no âmbito administrativo da capitania de São Paulo. A partir de um enfoque local, examinando correspondências entre autoridades metropolitanas e cartas de sesmarias, este artigo dialoga com a produção histórica sobre a administração portuguesa na América, buscando reconstruir aspectos generalizantes que possam revelar características estruturais da conquista da terra e da formação de ambientes rurais nos territórios portugueses na América.In this article we analyze the relationship between the Portuguese administrative system and formation of rural environments in the center of South America, in territories that in the first half of the eighteenth century comprised the extreme western part of the State of Brazil, under the administrative captaincy of Sao Paulo. From a local focus, analizing letters of metropolitan authorities and documentation of possession of land, this article dialogue with the historical production of the Portuguese administration in America, seeking rebuild generalizing aspects that may prove structural characteristics of the conquest of land and training of rural environments in Portuguese territories in America

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Synthesis of analog ICs in circuit and system level using modern optimization methods.

Circuitos integrados analógicos são essenciais em sistemas eletrônicos modernos, sendo responsáveis por tarefas como conversão analógica/digital e digital/analógica, comunicação por radiofrequência, filtragem, etc. O projeto deste tipo de circuito e sistema é de grande complexidade uma vez que deve atender a especificações de desempenho cada vez mais exigentes e ter um tempo de projeto reduzido a fim de não comprometer o tempo total dos projetos de sinal misto. Diversas ferramentas são propostas na literatura visando auxiliar o projetista a aumentar sua produtividade. Apesar disso, devido à forte interligação entre etapas, o fluxo de projeto de circuitos integrados analógicos ainda é, tradicionalmente, realizado utilizando-se apenas cálculos manuais e posterior ajuste fino através de softwares de simulação elétrica. Neste trabalho, são estudadas técnicas de síntese de circuitos analógicos utilizando métodos modernos de otimização em nível de circuito e sistema. Após este estudo, é proposto um novo algoritmo de Simulated Annealing/Simulated Quenching, incluindo um mecanismo para utilização do operador de crossover considerando informações de múltiplos objetivos. É realizada a hibridização entre o algoritmo desenvolvido e um algoritmo de Particle Swarm Optimization para criação de um segundo algoritmo capaz de realizar a busca pela fronteira de Pareto. As características dos algoritmos propostos foram elaboradas visando a síntese de circuitos integrados analógicos, no entanto, resultados indicam que eles também têm excelente desempenho em comparação com diversos algoritmos atuais do tipo sem derivada para determinados problemas matemáticos. A generalidade dos métodos modernos de otimização permite que variações da mesma técnica sejam utilizadas em nível de circuito (dimensionamento e polarização de componentes do circuito) e de sistema (tradução de especificações de sistema em especificações de blocos). Dessa forma, são propostas técnicas para a criação de uma ferramenta de síntese em nível de sistema e circuito utilizando métodos modernos de otimização. Uma interface através de arquivos texto de entrada foi desenvolvida para tornar a ferramenta versátil e poder ser utilizada para uma grande variedade de tipos de circuitos eletrônicos. Para validar o algoritmo e a ferramenta na síntese em nível de circuito, foram sintetizados circuitos em tecnologia 0,35 µm, 180 nm e 130 nm. Entre eles, foram sintetizados amplificadores do tipo Miller, amplificadores do tipo folded cascode complementar, amplificadores de baixo ruído operando em 2,45 GHz e fontes de referência. Comparações utilizando o teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon mostram que o algoritmo proposto tem melhor desempenho que os demais algoritmos comparados para os casos estudados. Comparações com projetos manuais e outras ferramentas confirmam a eficácia dos algoritmos e ferramenta. Para validação da ferramenta em nível de sistema, foram sintetizados filtros do tipo Gm-C.Analog integrated circuits are very important in modern electronic systems, performing tasks such as analog to digital conversion, digital to analog conversion, radio frequency communication, filtering and others. The design of this type of circuit requires attending to several performance specifications as well as a time specification in order to avoid compromising the overall design time of mixed signal projects. Several tools are proposed in the literature in order to aid the designer, however the traditional design flow for analog integrated circuits is usually accomplished using only hand calculations and adjusts through the use of electrical simulators. In this work, techniques for analog design synthesis for circuit and system level are studied. An optimization algorithm is proposed based on Simulated Annealing/Simulated Quenching with a mechanism for using the crossover operator considering multiobjective information. An hybrid algorithm combining the proposed algorithm with Particle Swarm Optimization was created to properly explore the Pareto front The characteristics of the algorithms are made to enable the synthesis of analog integrated circuits, however, tests indicate they have excellent performance in comparison with many other derivative-free algorithms when applied to certain mathematical problems. The generality of modern optimization methods allow that variations of the same techniques can be used in circuit level (sizing and biasing of circuit components) and in system level (translation of system specifications to block specifications). Therefore, techniques for the creation of a circuit-level and system-level tool are developed. An interface using spice-like text files as inputs is developed to allow the designer to use the tool for a wide range of electronic circuits. In order to validate the proposed algorithms and circuit level tool, circuits were synthesized in 0.35 m, 180 nm and 130 nm. The synthesized circuits included Miller amplifiers, complementary folded cascode amplifiers, low noise amplifiers operating at 2.45 GHz and voltage reference circuits. Comparisons using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test showed that the proposed algorithm has better performance than the compared algorithms for the studied cases. At the system level, syntheses of Gm-C filters were performed to validate the tool

Analog circuit synthesis performing fast Pareto frontier exploration and analysis through 3D graphs

This paper presents a technique for performing analog design synthesis at circuit level providing feedback to the designer through the exploration of the Pareto frontier. A modified simulated annealing which is able to perform crossover with past anchor points when a local minimum is found which is used as the optimization algorithm on the initial synthesis procedure. After all specifications are met, the algorithm searches for the extreme points of the Pareto frontier in order to obtain a non-exhaustive exploration of the Pareto front. Finally, multi-objective particle swarm optimization is used to spread the results and to find a more accurate frontier. Piecewise linear functions are used as single-objective cost functions to produce a smooth and equal convergence of all measurements to the desired specifications during the composition of the aggregate objective function. To verify the presented technique two circuits were designed, which are: a Miller amplifier with 96 dB Voltage gain, 15.48 MHz unity gain frequency, slew rate of 19.2 V/mu s with a current supply of 385.15 mu A, and a complementary folded cascode with 104.25 dB Voltage gain, 18.15 MHz of unity gain frequency and a slew rate of 13.370 MV/mu s. These circuits were synthesized using a 0.35 mu m technology. The results show that the method provides a fast approach for good solutions using the modified SA and further good Pareto front exploration through its connection to the particle swarm optimization algorithm