Performance of polymeric reinforcements in vehicle structures submitted to frontal impact

Preformed structural reinforcements have shown good performance in crash tests, where the great advantage is their weight. These reinforcements are designed with the aim of increasing the rigidity of regions with large deformations, thus stabilising sections of the vehicle that work as load path during impact. The objective of this work is to show the application of structural reinforcements made of polymeric material PA66 in the field of vehicle safety, through finite element simulations. Simulations of frontal impact at 50 km/h and in ODB (offset deformable barrier) at 57 km/h configurations (standards such as ECE R-94 and ECE R-12) were performed in the software LS-DYNA R (R) and MADYMO (R). The simulations showed that the use of polymeric reinforcements leads to a 70% reduction in A-pillar intrusion, a 65% reduction in the displacement of the steering column and a 59% reduction in the deformation in the region of the occupant legs and feet. The level of occupant injuries was analysed by MADYMO (R) software, and a reduction of 23.5% in the chest compression and 80% in the tibia compression were verified. According to the standard, such conditions lead to an improvement in the occupant safety in a vehicle collision event.

Evidence for premature aging due to oxidative stress in iPSCs from Cockayne syndrome

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a human premature aging disorder associated with neurological and developmental abnormalities, caused by mutations mainly in the CS group B gene (ERCC6). At the molecular level, CS is characterized by a deficiency in the transcription-couple DNA repair pathway. To understand the role of this molecular pathway in a pluripotent cell and the impact of CSB mutation during human cellular development, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from CSB skin fibroblasts (CSB-iPSC). Here, we showed that the lack of functional CSB does not represent a barrier to genetic reprogramming. However, iPSCs derived from CSB patients fibroblasts exhibited elevated cell death rate and higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Moreover, these cellular phenotypes were accompanied by an up-regulation of TXNIP and TP53 transcriptional expression. Our findings suggest that CSB modulates cell viability in pluripotent stem cells, regulating the expression of TP53 and TXNIP and ROS production.

Petroleum contamination impact on macrobenthic communities under the influence of an oil refinery: Integrating chemical and biological multivariate data

Petroleum contamination impact on macrobenthic communities in the northeast portion of Todos os Santos Bay was assessed combining in multivariate analyses, chemical parameters such as aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon indices and concentration ratios with benthic ecological parameters. Sediment samples were taken in August 2000 with a 0.05 m(2) van Veen grab at 28 sampling locations. The predominance of n-alkanes with more than 24 carbons, together with CPI values close to one, and the fact that most of the stations showed UCM/resolved aliphatic hydrocarbons ratios (UCM:R) higher than two, indicated a high degree of anthropogenic contribution, the presence of terrestrial plant detritus, petroleum products and evidence of chronic oil pollution. The indices used to determine the origin of PAH indicated the occurrence of a petrogenic contribution. A pyrolytic contribution constituted mainly by fossil fuel combustion derived PAH was also observed. The results of the stepwise multiple regression analysis performed with chemical data and benthic ecological descriptors demonstrated that not only total PAH concentrations but also specific concentration ratios or indices such as >= C24:< C24, An/178 and Fl/Fl + Py, are determining the structure of benthic communities within the study area. According to the BIO-ENV results petroleum related variables seemed to have a main influence on macrofauna community structure. The PCA ordination performed with the chemical data resulted in the formation of three groups of stations. The decrease in macrofauna density, number of species and diversity from groups III to I seemed to be related to the occurrence of high aliphatic hydrocarbon and PAH concentrations associated with fine sediments. Our results showed that macrobenthic communities in the northeast portion of Todos os Santos Bay are subjected to the impact of chronic oil pollution as was reflected by the reduction in the number of species and diversity. These results emphasise the importance to combine in multivariate approaches not only total hydrocarbon concentrations but also indices, isomer pair ratios and specific compound concentrations with biological data to improve the assessment of anthropogenic impact on marine ecosystems. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil: Integration of Conventional Psychiatric Treatment and Spiritual Complementary Therapy

In Brazil, during the XX century, dozens of Spiritist psychiatric hospitals emerged seeking to integrate conventional medical treatment with complementary spiritual therapy. This combined inpatient treatment is largely found in Brazil, where many psychiatric hospitals stem from the Spiritist movement. The present report describes the use of these spiritual practices, their operating structure, health professionals involved, modalities of care, and institutional difficulties in integrating spiritual practices with conventional treatment in six leading Brazilian Spiritist psychiatric hospitals. These hospitals combine conventional psychiatric treatment with voluntary-based spiritual approaches such as laying on of hands ("fluidotherapy"), lectures regarding spiritual and ethical issues, intercessory prayer, spirit release therapy ("disobsession") and "fraternal dialogue". The non-indoctrination and optional nature of these spiritual complementary therapies seem to increase acceptance among patients and their family members. In conclusion, the Spiritist psychiatric hospitals in Brazil have, for more than half a century, provided an integrative approach in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, associating conventional and spiritual treatments, more specifically Spiritist therapy. The lack of standardized treatment protocols and scientific studies remain a barrier to assessing the impact of this integrative approach on patients' mental health, quality of life, adherence, and perceived quality of treatment.

Abrasividade pendular e a resistência mecânica das rochas

Esse trabalho emprega o método para avaliar a abrasividade proposto por Golovanevskiy e Bearman (2008). Esse método, ensaio de abrasão por impacto deslizante (Gouging Abrasion Test), é realizado em condições de alta tensão/alto impacto de desgaste. O método consiste de uma ponteira cilíndrica com uma ponta cônica de 90º, que, em trajetória pendular, atinge uma amostra de rocha com energia de impacto de 300 J e velocidade da ordem de 5,2 m/s. O Gouging Abrasion Index (Gi) é calculado como sendo a média do diâmetro da ponta cônica, após desgaste, em milímetros e o resultado é multiplicado por 10. Esse trabalho verificou a adequabilidade do Gouging Abrasion Test, para um pequeno número de amostras de rocha, que representam, qualitativamente, os principais tipos de rocha encontrados em trabalhos de corte, perfuração e britagem no Brasil, e a sua correlação com outros ensaios consagrados como a resistência à compressão, o desgaste Amsler e a dureza Knoop. Essa análise mostrou alta correlação entre Gi e a dureza Knoop (R² = 0,94), baixa correlação com o desgaste