Search results for: Murilo Andrade Valle

Authors: Danilsa Lorduy, Liliana Valle

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Assessment and evaluation are inextricable parts of the teaching learning process. Evaluation practices concerns are gaining popularity among curriculum developers an educational researchers, particularly in Colombian regions where English language is taught as a foreign language EFL. This study addressed one of those issues, which are the unbalanced in –services’ evaluation practices perceived in school classes. They present predominance on the written test among the procedures they use to evaluate; therefore, the purpose of this case study was to explore in-service teachers’ evaluation practices, their beliefs about evaluation and to establish an eventual connection between practices and beliefs. To this end, classroom observations, questionnaires, and a semi structured interview were applied to three in-service English teachers from different schools in a city in Colombia. The findings suggested that teachers’ beliefs indicate a formative inclination and they actually are using a variety of procedures different from test but they seem to have some issues regarding their appropriateness for application Moreover, it was found that teachers’ practices are being influenced by external factors such as school requirements and national policies. It could be concluded that the predominance in using tests is not only elicited by teachers’ beliefs but also by national test results 'Pruebas Saber' and law 115 demanding. It was also suggested that further quantitative research is needed to demonstrate connections between overuse of testing procedures and 'Pruebas Saber' national test.

Keywords: beliefs, evaluation, external factors, national test

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Authors: A. Jerves, H. Ling, J. Gabaldon, M. Usoltceva, C. Couste, A. Agarwal, R. Hurley, J. Andrade

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This work introduces a simple device designed to perform in-situ direct shear and sinkage tests on granular materials as sand, clays, or regolith. It consists of a box nested within a larger box. Both have open bottoms, allowing them to be lowered into the material. Afterwards, two rotating plates on opposite sides of the outer box will rotate outwards in order to clear regolith on either side, providing room for the inner box to move relative to the plates and perform a shear test without the resistance of the surrounding soil. From this test, Coulomb parameters, including cohesion and internal friction angle, as well as, Bekker parameters can be inerred. This device has been designed for a laboratory setting, but with few modications, could be put on the underside of a rover for use in a remote location. The goal behind this work is to ultimately create a compact, but accurate measuring tool to put onto a rover or any kind of exploratory vehicle to test for regolith properties of celestial bodies.

Keywords: simple shear, friction angle, Bekker parameters, device, regolith

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Authors: Gloria Inés Martínez Domínguez, Lina María Martínez Sánchez, María de los Ángeles Rodríguez Gázquez, Juan Guillermo Jiménez Jiménez, Johan Sebastián Lopera Valle, Natalia Vargas Grisales, Sara Rojas Jiménez, Alejandra Uribe Ocampo, Sara Correa Pérez, Natalia Perilla Hernández, Juan Sebastián Marín Cárdenas

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The relationship between diet and chronic or degenerative diseases has led to the development of functional foods such as nutraceuticals. Objective: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of consumption of nutraceuticals in undergraduate students. Methodology: Cross-sectional study. It was a simple random sampling with the Statcalc EpiInfo software vr 6.04. It was designed an instrument for collection of demographic data and consumption of nutraceuticals. Statistical analysis used the SPSS program. Results: 427 students, average age 20.8 years (SD 3.1), 56.1% were women. The life prevalence of nutraceuticals consumption was 66.3% and the annual 51.8%. The main reasons for consumption were as food complement 32.8% and prevent diseases 20.1%. Conclusion: The high prevalence of nutraceuticals observed is comparable to that reported in the literature, which suggests an increasing trend in the habit of consumption of dietary supplement which have a preventive or protective effect on health.

Keywords: dietary supplements, food, health, functional food, Colombia

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Authors: S. S. L. Andrade, E. A. Souza, L. C. L. Santos, C. Moraes, A. K. C. L. Lobato

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Biodiesel production using membrane reactor has become increasingly studied, because this process minimizes some of the main problems encountered in the biodiesel purification. The membrane reactor tries to minimize post-treatment steps, resulting in cost savings and enabling the competitiveness of biodiesel produced by homogeneous alkaline catalysis. This is due to the reaction and product separation may occur simultaneously. In order to evaluate the production of biodiesel from soybean oils using a tubular membrane reactor, a factorial experimental design was conducted (2³) to evaluate the influence of following variables: temperature (45 to 60 °C), catalyst concentration (0.5 to 1% by weight) and molar ratio of oil/methanol (1/6 to 1/9). In addition, the parametric sensitivity was evaluated by the analysis of variance and model through the response surface. The results showed a tendency of influence of the variables in the reaction conversion. The significance effect was higher for the catalyst concentration followed by the molar ratio of oil/methanol and finally the temperature. The best result was obtained under the conditions of 1% catalyst (KOH), molar ratio oil/methanol of 1/9 and temperature of 60 °C, resulting in an ester content of 99.07%.

Keywords: biodiesel production, factorial design, membrane reactor, soybean oil

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Authors: Ana Paula P. dos Santos, Claudia R. Andrade, Edson L. Zaparoli

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Pressure loss in ductworks is an important factor to be considered in design of engineering systems such as power-plants, refineries, HVAC systems to reduce energy costs. Ductwork can be composed by straight ducts and different types of fittings (elbows, transitions, converging and diverging tees and wyes). Duct fittings are significant sources of pressure loss in fluid distribution systems. Fitting losses can be even more significant than equipment components such as coils, filters, and dampers. At the present work, a conventional 90o round elbow under turbulent incompressible airflow is studied. Mass, momentum, and k-e turbulence model equations are solved employing the finite volume method. The SIMPLE algorithm is used for the pressure-velocity coupling. In order to validate the numerical tool, the elbow pressure loss coefficient is determined using the same conditions to compare with ASHRAE database. Furthermore, the effect of Reynolds number variation on the elbow pressure loss coefficient is investigated. These results can be useful to perform better preliminary design of air distribution ductworks in air conditioning systems.

Keywords: duct fitting, pressure loss, elbow, thermodynamics

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Authors: Camila da Silva, Simone Belorte de Andrade, Vitor Augusto dos Santos Garcia, Vladimir Ferreira Cabral, J. Vladimir Oliveira Lúcio Cardozo-Filho

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In the present study, the non-catalytic transesterification of soybean oil in continuous mode using supercritical ethanol were investigated. Experiments were performed in a packed-bed tubular reactor (PBTR) and variable studied were reaction temperature (523 K to 598 K), pressure (10 MPa to 20 MPa), oil to ethanol molar ratio (1:10 to 1:40) and water concentration (0 wt% to 10 wt% in ethanol). Results showed that ethyl esters yields obtained in the PBTR were higher (> 20 wt%) than those verified in a tubular reactor (TR), due to improved mass transfer conditions attained in the PBTR. Results demonstrated that temperature, pressure, oil to ethanol molar ratio and water concentration had a positive effect on fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) production in the experimental range investigated, with appreciable reaction yields (90 wt%) achieved at 598 K, 20 MPa, oil to ethanol molar ratio of 1:40 and 10 wt% of water concentration.

Keywords: packed bed reactor, ethyl esters, continuous process, catalyst-free process

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Authors: Jonathan Hinton Westover, Maureen S. Andrade, Doug Miller

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Research has been inconclusive in determining if men or women experience more job satisfaction. A global comparison examining extrinsic and intrinsic factors, work relations, and work-life balance determinants found few differences; however, work relations and work-life balance factors were more significant for male than female workers across occupations. The current study uses International Social Survey Program data representing 37 countries to explore gender differences in job satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Findings demonstrate that mean job satisfaction scores for females are lower across hospitality occupations except for hotel receptionists, housekeeping supervisors, and hotel cleaners. Regression results revealed additional differences such as the significance of co-worker relations, the negative impact of being discriminated against and harassed at work, working weekends, marital status, and supervisory status for women with autonomy, work stress, education, and employment relationship being more salient for men. Interesting work, work being useful to society, job security, pay, relations with management, and work interfering with family were significant for both males and females.

Keywords: job satisfaction, gender, hospitality, global comparisons

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Authors: Gabriel Wosiak, Jeyse da Silva, Sthefany S. Sena, Renato N. de Andrade, Ernesto Pereira

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The bubble formation during hydrogen production by electrolysis and several electrochemical processes is an inherent phenomenon and can impact the energy consumption of the processes. In this work, it was reported both experimental and computational results describe the effect of bubble displacement, which, under the cases investigated, leads to the formation of a convective flow in the solution. The process is self-sustained, and a solution vortex is formed, which modifies the bubble growth and covering at the electrode surface. Using the experimental data, we have built a model to simulate it, which, with high accuracy, describes the phenomena. Then, it simulated many different experimental conditions and evaluated the effects of the boundary conditions on the bubble surface covering the surface. We have observed a position-dependent bubble covering the surface, which has an effect on the water-splitting efficiency. It was shown that the bubble covering is not uniform at the electrode surface, and using statistical analysis; it was possible to evaluate the influence of the gas type (H2 and O2), current density, and the bubble size (and cross-effects) on the covering fraction and the asymmetric behavior over the electrode surface.

Keywords: water splitting, bubble, electrolysis, hydrogen production

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Authors: Ana Maria G. Sperandio, Murilo U. Malek-Zadeh, João Luiz de S. Areas, Jussara C. Guarnieri

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Intersectoral governance is a requirement for developing healthy cities. However, this achievement is difficult to be succeeded, especially in regions at low resources condition. Therefore, it was developed a cheap investigative procedure to diagnose sectoral wishes related to urban planning and health promotion. This procedure is composed of two phases, which can be applied to different groups in order to compare the results. The first phase is a conversation guided by a list of questions. Some of those questions aim to gather information about how individuals understand concepts such as healthy city or a health promotion and what they believe that constitutes the relation between urban planning and urban health. Other questions investigate local issues, and how citizens would like to promote dialogue between sectors. At second phase individuals stand around the investigated city (or city region) map and are asked to represent their wishes on it. They can represent it by writing text notations or inserting icons on it, with the latter representing a city element, for example, some trees, a square, a playground, a hospital, a cycle track. After groups had represented their wishes, the map can be photographed, and then the results from distinct groups can be compared. This procedure was conducted at a small city in Brazil (Holambra), in 2017 which is the first out of four years of the mayor’s term. The prefecture asked for this tool in order to make Holambra become a city of Potential Healthy Municipalities Network in Brazil. Two sectors were investigated: the government and the urban population. By the end of our investigation, the intersection from the group (i.e., population and government) maps was accounted for creating a map of common wishes. Therefore, the material produced can be used as a guide for promoting dialogue between sectors and as a tool of monitoring politics progress. The report of this procedure was directed to public managers, so they could see the common wishes between themselves and local populations, and use this tool as a guide for creating urban politics which intends to enhance health promotion and to develop a healthy city, even at low resources condition.

Keywords: governance, health promotion, intersectorality, urban planning

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Authors: José de Jesús Rivero Oliva, Jesús Salomón Llanes, Manuel Perdomo Ojeda, Antonio Torres Valle

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Combinatorial explosion is a common problem to both predominant methods for solving fault trees: Minimal Cut Set (MCS) approach and Binary Decision Diagram (BDD). High memory consumption impedes the complete solution of very complex fault trees. Only approximated non-conservative solutions are possible in these cases using truncation or other simplification techniques. The paper proposes a method (CSolv+) for solving complex fault trees, without any possibility of combinatorial explosion. Each individual MCS is immediately discarded after its contribution to the basic events importance measures and the Top gate Upper Bound Probability (TUBP) has been accounted. An estimation of the Top gate Exact Probability (TEP) is also provided. Therefore, running in a computer cluster, CSolv+ will guarantee the complete solution of complex fault trees. It was successfully applied to 40 fault trees from the Aralia fault trees database, performing the evaluation of the top gate probability, the 1000 Significant MCSs (SMCS), and the Fussell-Vesely, RRW and RAW importance measures for all basic events. The high complexity fault tree nus9601 was solved with truncation probabilities from 10-²¹ to 10-²⁷ just to limit the execution time. The solution corresponding to 10-²⁷ evaluated 3.530.592.796 MCSs in 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Keywords: system reliability analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, fault tree analysis, basic events importance measures

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Authors: Murilo G. Mendes

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This text presents part of the results presented in the Ph.D. thesis that has used John Baily's theory and method as well as its ethnographic application in the context of the fife flutes of the Banda Cabaçal dos Irmãos Aniceto in the state of Ceará, northeast of Brazil. John Baily is a British ethnomusicologist dedicated to studying the relationships between music, musical gesture, and embodied cognition. His methodology became a useful tool to highlight historical-social aspects present in the group's instrumental music. Remaining indigenous and illiterate, these musicians played and transmitted their music from generation to generation, for almost two hundred years, without any nomenclature or systematization of the fingering performed on the flute. In other words, his music, free from any theorization, is learned, felt, perceived, and processed directly through hearing and through the relationship between the instrument's motor skills and its sound result. For this reason, Baily's assumptions became fundamental in the analysis processes. As the author's methodology recommends, classes were held with the natives and provided technical musical learning and some important concepts. Then, transcriptions and analyses of musical aspects were made from patterns of movement on the instrument incorporated by repetitions and/or by the intrinsic facility of the instrument. As a result, it was discovered how the group reconciled its indigenous origins with the demand requested by the public power and the interests of the local financial elite from the mid-twentieth century. The article is structured from the cultural context of the group, where local historical and social aspects influence the social and musical practices of the group. Then, will be present the methodological conceptions of John Baily and, finally, their application in the music of the Irmãos Aniceto. The conclusion points to the good results of identifying, through this methodology and analysis, approximations between discourse, historical-social factors, and musical text. Still, questions are raised about its application in other contexts.

Keywords: Banda Cabaçal dos Irmãos Aniceto, John Baily, pífano, spatial-motor thinking

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Authors: J. Andrade-Garda, A. Anguera, J. Ares-Casal, M. Hidalgo-Lorenzo, J.-A. Lara, D. Lizcano, S. Suárez-Garaboa

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In the current constantly changing economic context, collaborative networks allow partners to undertake projects that would not be possible if attempted by them individually. These projects usually involve the performance of a group of tasks (named roles) that have to be distributed among the partners. Thus, an allocation/matching problem arises that will be referred to as Role-Partner Allocation problem. In real life this situation is addressed by negotiation between partners in order to reach ad hoc agreements. Besides taking a long time and being hard work, both historical evidence and economic analysis show that such approach is not recommended. Instead, the allocation process should be automated by means of a centralized matching scheme. However, as a preliminary step to start the search for such a matching mechanism (or even the development of a new one), the problem and its core components must be specified. To this end, this paper establishes (i) the definition of the problem and its constraints, (ii) the key features of the involved elements (i.e., roles and partners); and (iii) how to create preference lists both for roles and partners. Only this way it will be possible to conduct subsequent methodological research on the solution method.     

Keywords: collaborative network, matching, partner, preference list, role

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Authors: F. Murilo T. Luna, Vanessa F. Oliveira, Alysson Rocha, Expedito J. S. Parente, Andre V. Bueno, Matheus C. M. Farias, Celio L. Cavalcante Jr.

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Aviation jetfuel used in aircraft gas-turbine engines is customarily obtained from the kerosene distillation fraction of petroleum (150-275°C). Mineral jetfuel consists of a hydrocarbon mixture containing paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics, with low olefins content. In order to ensure their safety, several stringent requirements must be met by jetfuels, such as: high energy density, low risk of explosion, physicochemical stability and low pour point. In this context, aviation fuels eventually obtained from biofeedstocks (which have been coined as ‘biojetfuel’), must be used as ‘drop in’, since adaptations in aircraft engines are not desirable, to avoid problems with their operation reliability. Thus, potential aviation biofuels must present the same composition and physicochemical properties of conventional jetfuel. Among the potential feedtstocks for aviation biofuel, the babaçu oil, extracted from a palm tree extensively found in some regions of Brazil, contains expressive quantities of short chain saturated fatty acids and may be an interesting choice for biojetfuel production. In this study, biojetfuel was synthesized through homogeneous transesterification of babaçu oil using methanol and its properties were compared with petroleum-based jetfuel through measurements of oxidative stability, physicochemical properties and low temperature properties. The transesterification reactions were carried out using methanol and after decantation/wash procedures, the methyl esters were purified by molecular distillation under high vacuum at different temperatures. The results indicate significant improvement in oxidative stability and pour point of the products when compared to the fresh oil. After optimization of operational conditions, potential biojetfuel samples were obtained, consisting mainly of C8 esters, showing low pour point and high oxidative stability. Jet engine tests are being conducted in an automated test bed equipped with pollutant emissions analysers to study the operational performance of the biojetfuel that was obtained and compare with a mineral commercial jetfuel.

Keywords: biojetfuel, babaçu oil, oxidative stability, engine tests

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Authors: Samantha Borja, Vladimir Valle, Pamela Molina

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The development of adhesives from renewable raw materials attracts the attention of the scientific community, due to it promises the reduction of the dependence with materials derived from oil. This work proposes the use of modified 'oca (Oxalis tuberosa)' starch and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in the elaboration of adhesives for lignocellulosic substrates. The investigation focused on the formulation of adhesives with 3 different PVA:starch (modified and native) ratios (of 1,0:0,33; 1,0:1,0; 1,0:1,67). The first step to perform it was the chemical modification of starch through acid hydrolysis and a subsequent urea treatment to get carbamate starch. Then, the adhesive obtained was characterized in terms of instantaneous viscosity, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and shear strength. The results showed that viscosity and mechanical tests exhibit data with the same tendency in relation to the native and modified starch concentration. It was observed that the data started to reduce its values to a certain concentration, where the values began to grow. On the other hand, two relevant bands were found in the FTIR spectrogram. The first in 3300 cm⁻¹ of OH group with the same intensity for all the essays and the other one in 2900 cm⁻¹, belonging to the group of alkanes with a different intensity for each adhesive. On the whole, the ratio PVA:starch (1:1) will not favor crosslinking in the adhesive structure and causes the viscosity reduction, whereas, in the others ones, the viscosity is higher. It was also observed that adhesives made with modified starch had better characteristics, but the adhesives with high concentrations of native starch could equal the properties of the adhesives made with low concentrations of modified starch.

Keywords: polyvinyl alcohol, PVA, chemical modification, starch, FTIR, viscosity, shear strength

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Authors: Rafael Marinho de Andrade, Elcio Hideti Shiguemori, Rafael Duarte Coelho dos Santos

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Relying on computer vision, many clever things are possible in order to make the world safer and optimized on resource management, especially considering time and attention as manageable resources, once the modern world is very abundant in cameras from inside our pockets to above our heads while crossing the streets. Thus, automated solutions based on computer vision techniques to detect, react, or even prevent relevant events such as robbery, car crashes and traffic jams can be accomplished and implemented for the sake of both logistical and surveillance improvements. In this paper, we present an approach for vehicles’ abnormal behaviors detection from highway footages, in which the vectorial data of the vehicles’ displacement are extracted directly from surveillance cameras footage through object detection and tracking with a deep convolutional neural network and inserted into a long-short term memory neural network for behavior classification. The results show that the classifications of behaviors are consistent and the same principles may be applied to other trackable objects and scenarios as well.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, behavior detection, computer vision, convolutional neural networks, LSTM, highway footage

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Authors: Lydia Andrade, Kumar M. R. Bhat

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Heavy metals, especially lead, is considered to be a multi-organ toxicant. However, such heavy metals, are used in the preparation of traditional medicines. Nagabhasma is one of the traditional medicines. Lead is the metal used in its preparation. Lead is converted into a health beneficial, organometallic compound, when subjected to various traditional methods of purification. Therefore, this study is designed to evaluate the effect of such processed lead in various stages of traditionally prepared Nagabhasma on the histological structure of kidneys. Using the human equivalent doses of Nagabhasma, various stages of its preparation were fed orally for 30 days and 60 days (short term and long term). The treated and untreated rats were then sacrificed for the collection of kidneys. The kidneys were processed for histopathological study. The results show severe changes in the histological structure of kidneys. The animals treated with lead acetate showed changes in the epithelial cells lining the bowman’s capsule. The proximal and distal convoluted tubules were dilated leading to atrophy of their epithelial cells. The amount of inflammatory infiltrates was more in this group. A few groups also showed pockets of inter-tubular hemorrhage. These changes, however, were minimized as the stages progressed form stages 1 to 4 of Nagabhasma preparation. Therefore, it is necessary to stringently monitor the processing of lead acetate during the preparation of Nagabhasma.

Keywords: heavy metals, kidneys, lead acetate, Nagabhasma

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Authors: Grace Baptie, Jackie Andrade, Alison Bacon, Alyson Norman

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Background: Many women experience their childbirth as traumatic, and 4-6% of mothers present with postnatal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their birth. Aims: To measure the relationship between obstetric and subjective experience of childbirth on mothers’ experience of postnatal trauma and identify salient aspects of the birth experience considered traumatic. Methods: Women who had given birth within the last year completed an online mixed-methods survey reporting on their subjective and obstetric birth experience as well as symptoms of postnatal trauma, depression and anxiety. Findings: 29% of mothers experienced their labour as traumatic and 15% met full or partial criteria for PTSD. Feeling supported and in control mediated the relationship between obstetric intervention and postnatal trauma symptoms. Five key themes were identified from the qualitative data regarding aspects of the birth considered traumatic including: obstetric complications; lack of control; concern for baby; psychological trauma and lack of support. Conclusion: Subjective birth experience is a significantly stronger predictor of postnatal trauma than level of medical intervention, the psychological consequences of which can be buffered by an increased level of support and control.

Keywords: birth trauma, perinatal mental health, postnatal PTSD, subjective experience

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Authors: Bernat-Carles Serdà Ferrer, Arantza Del Valle Gómez

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The Quality of Life (QoL) paradigm is multidimensional, dynamic and modular and its definition differs across the cancer continuum. The challenge in the interpretation of QoL data in clinical research is that QoL is influenced by psychological phenomena such as adaptation to illness. This research aims to obtain a valid and sensitive assessment of QoL change over the continuum disease, and to evaluate a rehabilitation programme aimed at inverting the observed decrease in QoL when patients return to daily living activities. The sample comprised 66 men. Patients were first assessed to establish a baseline (P1-diagnosis). This was followed by a post-test (P2-discharge) and a then-test measurement (P3-retrospective evaluation) and after returning home patients were randomized in experimental and control groups. The experimental group attended a rehabilitation programme over 24 weeks (P4). Results show that from baseline to post-test, QoL decreased significantly. The recalibration then-test confirmed a low QoL in all periods evaluated. Significant differences between the experimental and control groups prove the positive effect of the Exercise Rehabilitation Programme (ERP) on QoL. Understanding the real dynamic of QoL over time would help to adapt rehabilitation programmes by improving sensitivity and efficacy and provide professionals with a more accurate perception of the impact of treatment and side effects on patients’ QoL. Our results underline the importance of changing the approach adopted by health professionals towards one of watchful waiting on patients’ QoL until their complete recovery in daily life.

Keywords: exercise, prostate cancer, quality of life, rehabilitation programme, response shift

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Authors: Juliana Janet R. Martin-Puzon, Demetrio L. Valle, Windell L. Rivera

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This study aimed to determine the presence of bioactive phytochemical constituents and evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activities of Glinus oppositifolius or carpet weed, a plant valued for its use in traditional medicine and as a vegetable. The leaves, stems, and roots were extracted using chloroform, ethanol, and methanol. Phytochemical screening revealed that the entire G. oppositifolius plant, i.e. roots, stems, and leaves, is a rich source of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, sterols, tannins, and triterpenes. The antibacterial activity of the leaf and stem extracts were evaluated through disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration, and bactericidal concentration assays against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESβL+), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and metallo-β-lactamase-producing (MβL+) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. The leaf extracts revealed antibacterial activities, inhibiting the growth of non-resistant and multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of the Gram-negative bacteria E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and A. baumanii. In conclusion, the various biological activities of G. oppositifolius, including its antibacterial activity, are due to the presence of diverse bioactive secondary metabolites. The presence of phytochemical compounds in G. oppositifolius is scientific evidence on its use for treatment of many ailments. Thus, the results demonstrate the great potential of the plant as a new, alternative source of antimicrobials and other components with therapeutic value.

Keywords: antibacterial, Glinus oppositifolius, multidrug-resistant, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Muhammad Farhan Ul Moazzam, Tamkeen Urooj Paracha, Ghani Rahman, Byung Gul Lee, Nasir Farid, Adnan Arshad

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The novel coronavirus pandemic disease (COVID-19) affected the whole globe, though there is a lack of clinical studies and its epidemiological features. But as per the observation, it has been seen that most of the COVID-19 infected patients show mild to moderate symptoms, and they get better without any medical assistance due to a better immune system to generate antibodies against the novel coronavirus. In this study, the active cases, serious cases, recovered cases, deaths and total confirmed cases had been analyzed using the geospatial inverse distance weightage technique (IDW) within the time span of 2nd March to 3rd June 2020. As of 3rd June, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Italy were 231,238, total deaths 33,310, serious cases 350, recovered cases 158,951, and active cases were 39,177, which has been reported by the Ministry of Health, Italy. March 2nd-June 3rd, 2020 a sum of 231,238 cases has been reported in Italy out of which 38.68% cases reported in the Lombardia region with a death rate of 18%, which is high from its national mortality rate followed by Emilia-Romagna (14.89% deaths), Piemonte (12.68% deaths), and Vento (10% deaths). As per the total cases in the region, the highest number of recoveries has been observed in Umbria (92.52%), followed by Basilicata (87%), Valle d'Aosta (86.85%), and Trento (84.54%). The COVID-19 evolution in Italy has been particularly found in the major urban area, i.e., Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Florence. Geospatial technology played a vital role in this pandemic by tracking infected patient, active cases, and recovered cases. Geospatial techniques are very important in terms of monitoring and planning to control the pandemic spread in the country.

Keywords: COVID-19, public health, geospatial analysis, IDW, Italy

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Authors: Juliana da Silva Cardoso, Cláudia Correia, Rita Gomes, Carolina Fraga, Inês Cascais, Sara Monteiro, Beatriz Teixeira, Sandra Ribeiro, Carolina Andrade, Cláudia Oliveira, Diana Gonzaga, Catarina Prior, Inês Vaz Matos

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The average daily screen time (ST) has been increasing in children, even at young ages. This seems to be associated with a higher incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, and as the time of exposure increases, the greater is the functional impact. This study aims to compare the daily ST of toddlers and preschoolers previously and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was applied by telephone to parents/caregivers of children between 1 and 5 years old, followed up at 4 primary care units belonging to the Group of Primary Health Care Centers of Western Porto, Portugal. 520 children were included: 52.9% male, mean age 39.4 ± 13.9 months. The mean age of first exposure to screens was 13.9 ± 8.0 months, and most of the children were exposed to more than one screen daily. Considering the WHO recommendations, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 385 (74.0%) and 408 (78.5%) children had excessive ST during the week and the weekend, respectively; during the lockdown, these values increased to 495 (95.2%) and 482 (92.7%). Maternal education and both the child's median age and the median age of first exposure to screens had a statistically significant association with excessive ST, with OR 0.2 (p = 0.03, CI 95% 0.07-0.86), OR 1.1 (p = 0.01, 95% CI 1.05-1.14) and OR 0.9 (p = 0.05, 95% CI 0. 87-0.98), respectively. Most children in this sample had a higher than recommended ST, which increased with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results are worrisome and point to the need for urgent intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, preschoolers, screen time, toddlers

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Authors: Luiz Ernani Meira Jr., Antônio Prates Caldeira, Gilson Gabriel Viana Veloso, Jackson Andrade

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Background: In Brazil, primary health care (PHC) system has developed with multidisciplinary teams in facilities located in peripheral areas, as the entrance doors for all patients. So, professionals must be prepared to deal with patients with simple and complex problems. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and the skills of physicians and nurses of PHC on cardiorespiratory arrest (CRA) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before and after training in Basic Life Support. Methods: This is a before-and-after study developed in a Simulation Laboratory in Montes Claros, Brazil. We included physicians and nurses randomly chosen from PHC services. Written tests on CRA and CPR were carried out and performances in a CPR simulation were evaluated, based on the American Heart Association recommendations. Training practices were performed using special manikins. Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon’s test to compare before and after scores. Results: Thirty-two professionals were included. Only 38% had previous courses and updates on emergency care. Most of professionals showed poor skills to attend to CRA in a simulated situation. Subjects showed an increased in knowledge and skills about CPR after training (p-value=0.003). Conclusion: Primary health care professionals must be continuously trained to assist urgencies and emergencies, like CRA.

Keywords: primary health care, professional training, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiorespiratory, emergency

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Authors: Eric Wilson Santos Cabral, Marta Monteiro Da Costa Cruz, Fabio Luis Maciel Machado, Henrique Andrade, Rodrigo Pirola Pestana, Vivian Andrea Parreira

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The large variation in the price of diesel in Brazil directly affects the variable cost of companies operating in the transportation sector. In rail transport, the great challenge is to overcome the annual budget, cargo and ore transported with cost reduction in relation to previous years, becoming more efficient every year. Some effective measures are necessary to achieve the reduction of the liter ratio consumed by KTKB (Gross Ton per Kilometer multiplied by thousand). This acronym represents the indicator of energy efficiency of some railroads in the world. This study is divided into two parts: the first, to identify using statistical tools, part of the controlled variables in the railways, which have a correlation with the energy efficiency indicator, seeking to aid decision-making. The second, with the use of the train dynamics simulator, within scenarios defined in the operational reality of a railroad, seeks to optimize the train formations and the train stop model for the change of train drivers. With the completion of the study, companies in the rail sector are expected to be able to reduce some of their transportation costs.

Keywords: railway transport, railway simulation, energy efficiency, fuel consumption

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Antonin Ponsich, Eric Alfredo Rincon Garcia, Roman Anselmo Mora Gutierrez, Miguel Angel Gutierrez Andrade, Sergio Gerardo De Los Cobos Silva, Pedro Lara Velzquez

Abstract:

The electoral zone design problem consists in redrawing the boundaries of legislative districts for electoral purposes in such a way that federal or state requirements are fulfilled. In Mexico, this process has been historically carried out by the National Electoral Institute (INE), by optimizing an integer nonlinear programming model, in which population equality and compactness of the designed districts are considered as two conflicting objective functions, while contiguity is included as a hard constraint. The solution technique used by the INE is a Simulated Annealing (SA) based algorithm, which handles the multi-objective nature of the problem through an aggregation function. The present work represents the first intent to apply a classical Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA), the second version of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II), to this hard combinatorial problem. First results show that, when compared with the SA algorithm, the NSGA-II obtains promising results. The MOEA manages to produce well-distributed solutions over a wide-spread front, even though some convergence troubles for some instances constitute an issue, which should be corrected in future adaptations of MOEAs to the redistricting problem.

Keywords: multi-objective optimization, NSGA-II, redistricting, zone design problem

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Stephanie Fabris Russo, Daiane Costa Guimarães, Jonas Pedro Fabris, Maria Emilia Camargo, Suzana Leitão Russo, José Augusto Andrade Filho

Abstract:

Among renewable energy sources, solar energy is the one that has stood out. Solar radiation can be used as a thermal energy source and can also be converted into electricity by means of effects on certain materials, such as thermoelectric and photovoltaic panels. These panels are often used to generate energy in homes, buildings, arenas, etc., and have low pollution emissions. Thus, a technological prospecting was performed to find patents related to the use of photovoltaic plates in urban residences. The patent search was based on ESPACENET, associating the keywords photovoltaic and home, where we found 136 patent documents in the period of 1994-2015 in the fields title and abstract. Note that the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 had the highest number of applicants, with respectively, 11, 13, 23, 29, 15 and 21. Regarding the country that deposited about this technology, it is clear that China leads with 67 patent deposits, followed by Japan with 38 patents applications. It is important to note that most depositors, 50% are companies, 44% are individual inventors and only 6% are universities. On the International Patent classification (IPC) codes, we noted that the most present classification in results was H02J3/38, which represents provisions in parallel to feed a single network by two or more generators, converters or transformers. Among all categories, there is the H session, which means Electricity, with 70% of the patents.

Keywords: photovoltaic, urban residences, technology forecasting, prospecting

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Authors: S. S. L. Andrade, E. A. Souza, L. C. L. Santos, C. Moraes, A. K. C. L. Lobato

Abstract:

Biodiesel may be produced through transesterification reaction (or alcoholysis), that is the transformation of a long chain fatty acid in an alkyl ester. This reaction can occur in the presence of acid catalysts, alkali, or enzyme. Currently, for industrial processes, biodiesel is produced by alkaline route. The alkali most commonly used in these processes is hydroxides and methoxides of sodium and potassium. In this work, biodiesel production was conducted in two different systems. The first consisted of a batch reactor operating with a traditional washing system and the second consisted of a semi-continuous flow reactor operating with a membrane separation system. Potassium hydroxides was used as catalyst at a concentration of 1% by weight, the molar ratio oil/alcohol was 1/9 and temperature of 55 °C. Tests were performed using soybeans and palm oil and the ester conversion results were compared for both systems. It can be seen that the results for both oils are similar when using the batch reator or the semi-continuous flow reactor. The use of the semi-continuous flow reactor allows the removal of the formed products. Thus, in the case of a reversible reaction, with the removal of reaction products, the concentration of the reagents becomes higher and the equilibrium reaction is shifted towards the formation of more products. The higher conversion to ester with soybean and palm oil using the batch reactor was approximately 98%. In contrast, it was observed a conversion of 99% when using the same operating condition on a semi-continuous flow reactor.

Keywords: biodiesel, batch reactor, semi-continuous flow reactor, transesterification

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Mario Sergio de Andrade Zago, Javier Mazariegos Pablos, Eduvaldo Paulo Sichieri

Abstract:

This research project accomplished a study on the technical feasibility of recycling industrial solid waste generated by the discharge of casting sand agglomeration with clay, blast furnace slag and sugar cane bagasse ash. For this, the plan proposed a methodology that initially establishes a process of solid waste encapsulation, by using solidification/stabilization technique on Portland cement matrices, in which the residuals act as small and large aggregates on the composition of concrete, and later it presents the possibility of using this concrete in the manufacture of concrete pieces (concrete blocks) for paving. The results obtained in this research achieved the objective set with great success, regarding the manufacturing of concrete pieces (blocks) for paving urban roads, whenever there is special vehicle traffic or demands capable of producing accentuated abrasion effects (surpassing the 50 MPa required by the regulation), which probes the technical practicability of using waste from sand casting agglomeration with clay and blast furnace slag used in this study, unlocking usage possibilities for construction.

Keywords: industrial solid waste, solidification/stabilization, Portland cement, reuse, bagasse ash in the sugar cane, concrete

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: G. Traini, G. Battistoni, F. Collamati, E. De Lucia, R. Faccini, C. Mancini-Terracciano, M. Marafini, I. Mattei, S. Muraro, A. Sarti, A. Sciubba, E. Solfaroli Camillocci, M. Toppi, S. M. Valle, C. Voena, V. Patera

Abstract:

In Particle Therapy (PT) treatments a large amount of secondary particles, whose emission point is correlated to the dose released in the crossed tissues, is produced. The measurement of the secondary charged fragments component could represent a valid technique to monitor the beam range during the PT treatments, that is a still missing item in the clinical practice. A sub-millimetrical precision on the beam range measurement is required to significantly optimise the technique and to improve the treatment quality. In this contribution, a detector, named Dose Profiler (DP), is presented. It is specifically planned to monitor on-line the beam range exploiting the secondary charged particles produced in PT Carbon ions treatment. In particular, the DP is designed to track the secondary fragments emitted at large angles with respect to the beam direction (mainly protons), with the aim to reconstruct the spatial coordinates of the fragment emission point extrapolating the measured track toward the beam axis. The DP is currently under development within of the INSIDE collaboration (Innovative Solutions for In-beam Dosimetry in hadrontherapy). The tracker is made by six layers (20 × 20 cm²) of BCF-12 square scintillating fibres (500 μm) coupled to Silicon Photo-Multipliers, followed by two plastic scintillator layers of 6 mm thickness. A system of front-end boards based on FPGAs arranged around the detector provides the data acquisition. The detector characterization with cosmic rays is currently undergoing, and a data taking campaign with protons will take place in May 2017. The DP design and the performances measured with using MIPs and protons beam will be reviewed.

Keywords: fragmentation, monitoring, particle therapy, tracking

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Alejandra Betancur Sánchez, Carmen Elena Zapata Sánchez, Juan Bautista López Ortiz

Abstract:

Adverse effects and increased air pollution has raised concerns about regulatory policies and has fostered the development of new air quality standards; this is due to the complexity of the composition and the poorly understood reactions in the atmospheric environment. Toxic compounds act as environmental agents having various effects, from irritation to death of cells and tissues. A toxic agent is defined an adverse response in a biological system. There is a particular class that produces some kind of alteration in the genetic material or associated components, so they are recognized as genotoxic agents. Within cells, they interact directly or indirectly with DNA, causing mutations or interfere with some enzymatic repair processes or in the genesis or polymerization of proteinaceous material involved in chromosome segregation. An air pollutant may cause or contribute to increased mortality or serious illness and even pose a potential danger to human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect on the viability and the genotoxic potential on the cell lines CHO-K1 and Jurkat and peripheral blood of particulate matter PM T lymphocytes 2.5 obtained from filters collected three monitoring stations network air quality Aburrá Valley. Tests, reduction of MTT, trypan blue, NRU, comet assay, sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and chromosomal aberrations allowed evidence reduction in cell viability in cell lines CHO-K1 and Jurkat and damage to the DNA from cell line CHOK1, however, no significant effects were observed in the number of SCEs and chromosomal aberrations. The results suggest that PM2.5 material has genotoxic potential and can induce cancer development, as has been suggested in other studies.

Keywords: PM2.5, cell line Jurkat, cell line CHO-K1, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Jéssica F. Rodrigues, Amanda C. Andrade, Sabrina C. Bastos, Sandra B. Coelho, Ana Carla M. Pinheiro

Abstract:

Currently, there is a great demand for the use of natural sweeteners due to the harmful effects of the high sugar and artificial sweeteners consumption on the health. Miracle fruit, which is known for its unique ability to modify the sour taste in sweet taste, has been shown to be a good alternative sweetener. However, it has a high production cost, being important to optimize lower contents to be used. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of different miracle fruit contents on the temporal (Time-intensity - TI and Temporal Dominance of Sensations - TDS) sensory profile and overall linking of lemonade, to determine the better content to be used as a natural sweetener in sour beverages. TI and TDS results showed that the concentrations of 150 mg, 300 mg and 600 mg miracle fruit were effective in reducing the acidity and promoting the sweet perception in lemonade. Furthermore, the concentrations of 300 mg and 600 mg obtained similar profiles. Through the acceptance test, the concentration of 300 mg miracle fruit was shown to be an efficient substitute for sucrose and sucralose in lemonade, once they had similar hedonic values between ‘I liked it slightly’ and ‘I liked it moderately’. Therefore, 300mg miracle fruit consists in an adequate content to be used as a natural sweetener of lemonade. The results of this work will help the food industry on the efficient application of a new natural sweetener- the Miracle fruit extract in sour beverages, reducing costs and providing a product that meets the consumer desires.

Keywords: acceptance, natural sweetener, temporal dominance of sensations, time-intensity

Procedia PDF Downloads 249