Avaliação da flotação por ar dissolvido no polimento de efluentes de lagoa de estabilização

Experience in the use of stabilization ponds shows that this is a system with low cost, easy operation and maintenance and suitable for tropical countries. One of its disadvantages is due to high concentrations of suspended solids, mainly due to algal biomass in the effluents. Accordingly, the dissolved air flotation has been shown to be an efficient post-treatment technology. However, the efficiency of this process is related to coagulation and flocculation steps, as well as the adjustment of the involved variables in the process. The objective of this work was to evaluate the algae removal efficiency from wastewater stabilization ponds and the influence of the factors involved in the process using dissolved air flotation. For this, we used primary facultative and maturation effluents of ETE Ponta Negra in Natal. We did tests of coagulation, flocculation and flotation with the samples, using the equipment flotatest. In this process were tested coagulants aluminum sulfate and ferric chloride, and varied the factors pH, coagulant concentration, polymer concentration and rate of recirculation. At the end of the experiments were analyzed turbidity, suspended solids, color, COD and chlorophyll "a". These results were submitted to descriptive statistics to verify the efficiency of the process in general, and regression analysis to identify models that describe the process and demonstrate the factors that have greater influence on flotation. After step methodology, high values were found removal efficiency of suspended solids, reaching values greater than 90% in the best cases. It was concluded that flotation is more efficient in the facultative pond effluent using ferric chloride, and the variability of algae may negatively influence the process. Regression analyzes showed that pH is the most influential variable in the coagulation-flocculation-flotation, and its optimal value among the tested is 5.5 for both coagulants

Distribuição diária das atividades comportamentais dos camarões marinhos Farfantepenaeus subtilis (Pérez Farfante, 1967) e Litopenaeus schmitti (Burkenroad, 1938) em condições laboratoriais

Marine aquaculture has developed in the last decades all over the world, especially related to shrimp management. In Brazil, the introduction of the species Litopenaeus vannamei has contributed to the success of the activity, even if there are problems associated with the management of a exotic species, such as new diseases and ecological pressure on native species. It has been emphasized the need of research for developing new methodology that will allow native species management, being the most important Farfantepenaeus subtilis and Litopenaeus schmitti. Most knowledge obtained from research with those species has generally used a technical approach and mainly focused feeding process. There are no specific behavioral data on their activity pattern which should be of great importance for the use of native species on commercial culture farms. So, it was our objective to study and compare the daily distribution of behavioral activities of the marine shrimp species Litopenaeus schmitti and Farfantepenaeus subtilis. Forty animals of each species, 5 individuals per aquarium, were maintained in aquaria containing 200L of sea water under continuous aeration and filtration. They were marked individually and were observed by the instantaneous focal time sampling, along 10 continuous days, in 6 daily 15 min observation windows, every two hour. In each window, behaviors and location position of the animals in the aquarium were registered at 1 min intervals. Food was offered 3 times a day, representing 10% of each aquarium biomass. Aquaria were maintained in artificial photoperiod, 12hour light/l2 hour dark, 4 aquaria in light cycle equivalent to the environmental one (light from 06:00 to 17:59 h and dark from 18:00 to 05:59 h) and the other 4 in the reverse light cycle (light from 18:00 to 05:59 h and dark from 06:00 to 17:59 h) to allow sequential behavioral observation in both phases of the 24 hour cycle. There was a clear distinction between the distribution of behavioral activities of F. subtilis and L. schmitti in the two phases. The activity pattern of Farfantepenaeus subtilis demonstrates that species has prominently night habits and a burying pattern during the light cycle. Exploration, inactivity and swimming were the most common activities. The behavioral pattern of Litopenaeus schmitti indicates that species is active along both phases of the light cycle, and the most evident behaviors were exploration, inactivity and swimming

Validade e confiabilidade da versão informatizada do inventário Million de estilos de personalidade

Currently, several psychological and non-psychological tests can be found in publishes without standardization on procedures set in different psychological areas, like intelligence, emotional states, attitudes, social skills, vocation, preferences and others. The computerized psychological testing is a extension of traditional testing psychological practices. However, it has own psychometrics qualities, either by its matching in a computerized environment or by the extension that can be developed in it. The current research, developed from a necessity to study process of validity and reliability on a computerized test, drew a methodological structure to provide parallel applications in numerous kinds of operational groups, evaluating the influences of the time and approach in the computerization process. This validity refers to normative values groups, reproducibility in computerized applications process and data processing. Not every psychological test can be computerized. Therefore, our need to find a good test, with quality and plausible properties to transform in computerized application, leaded us to use The Millon Personality Inventory, created by Theodore Millon. This Inventory assesses personality according to 12 bipolarities distributed in 24 factors, distributed in categories motivational styles, cognitive targets and interpersonal relations. This instrument doesn t diagnose pathological features, but test normal and non adaptive aspects in human personality, comparing with Theodore Millon theory of personality. In oder to support this research in a Brazilian context in psychological testing, we discuss the theme, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of such practices. Also we discuss the current forms in computerization of psychological testing and the main specific criteria in this psychometric specialized area of knowledge. The test was on-line, hosted in the site http://www.planetapsi.com, during the years of 2007 and 2008, which was available a questionnaire to describe social characteristics before test. A report was generated from the data entry of each user. An application of this test was conducted in a linear way through a national coverage in all Brazil regions, getting 1508 applications. Were organized nine groups, reaching 180 applications in test and retest subject, where three periods of time and three forms of retests for studies of on-line tests were separated. Parallel to this, we organized multi-application session offline group, 20 subjects who received tests by email. The subjects of this study were generally distributed by the five Brazilian regions, and were noticed about the test via the Internet. The performance application in traditional and on-line tested groups subsidies us to conclude that on-line application provides significantly consistency in all criteria for validity studied and justifies its use. The on-line test results were related not only among themselves but were similar to those data of tests done on pencil and paper (0,82). The retests results demonstrated correlation, between 0,92 and, 1 while multisessions had a good correlation in these comparisons. Moreover, were assessed the adequacy of operational criteria used, such as security, the performance of users, the environmental characteristics, the organization of the database, operational costs and limitations in this on-line inventory. In all these five items, there were excellent performances, concluding, also, that it s possible a self-applied psychometric test. The results of this work are a guide to question and establish of methodologies studies for computerization psychological testing software in the country

Uma análise da aplicação do modelo de Rede Neural RePART em Comitês de classificadores

RePART (Reward/Punishment ART) is a neural model that constitutes a variation of the Fuzzy Artmap model. This network was proposed in order to minimize the inherent problems in the Artmap-based model, such as the proliferation of categories and misclassification. RePART makes use of additional mechanisms, such as an instance counting parameter, a reward/punishment process and a variable vigilance parameter. The instance counting parameter, for instance, aims to minimize the misclassification problem, which is a consequence of the sensitivity to the noises, frequently presents in Artmap-based models. On the other hand, the use of the variable vigilance parameter tries to smoouth out the category proliferation problem, which is inherent of Artmap-based models, decreasing the complexity of the net. RePART was originally proposed in order to minimize the aforementioned problems and it was shown to have better performance (higer accuracy and lower complexity) than Artmap-based models. This work proposes an investigation of the performance of the RePART model in classifier ensembles. Different sizes, learning strategies and structures will be used in this investigation. As a result of this investigation, it is aimed to define the main advantages and drawbacks of this model, when used as a component in classifier ensembles. This can provide a broader foundation for the use of RePART in other pattern recognition applications

Sistema de conversão de energia eólica baseado no gerador de indução duplamente alimentado: análise e contribuição ao controle da máquina

The humanity reached a time of unprecedented technological development. Science has achieved and continues to achieve technologies that allowed increasingly to understand the universe and the laws which govern it, and also try to coexist without destroying the planet we live on. One of the main challenges of the XXI century is to seek and increase new sources of clean energy, renewable and able to sustain our growth and lifestyle. It is the duty of every researcher engage and contribute in this race of energy. In this context, wind power presents itself as one of the great promises for the future of electricity generation . Despite being a bit older than other sources of renewable energy, wind power still presents a wide field for improvement. The development of new techniques for control of the generator along with the development of research laboratories specializing in wind generation are one of the key points to improve the performance, efficiency and reliability of the system. Appropriate control of back-to-back converter scheme allows wind turbines based on the doubly-fed induction generator to operate in the variable-speed mode, whose benefits include maximum power extraction, reactive power injection and mechanical stress reduction. The generator-side converter provides control of active and reactive power injected into the grid, whereas the grid-side converter provides control of the DC link voltage and bi-directional power flow. The conventional control structure uses PI controllers with feed-forward compensation of cross-coupling dq terms. This control technique is sensitive to model uncertainties and the compensation of dynamic dq terms results on a competing control strategy. Therefore, to overcome these problems, it is proposed in this thesis a robust internal model based state-feedback control structure in order to eliminate the cross-coupling terms and thereby improve the generator drive as well as its dynamic behavior during sudden changes in wind speed. It is compared the conventional control approach with the proposed control technique for DFIG wind turbine control under both steady and gust wind conditions. Moreover, it is also proposed in this thesis an wind turbine emulator, which was developed to recreate in laboratory a realistic condition and to submit the generator to several wind speed conditions.

Implementação de uma arquitetura fuzzy neural em hardware com treinamento online

Computational Intelligence Methods have been expanding to industrial applications motivated by their ability to solve problems in engineering. Therefore, the embedded systems follow the same idea of using computational intelligence tools embedded on machines. There are several works in the area of embedded systems and intelligent systems. However, there are a few papers that have joined both areas. The aim of this study was to implement an adaptive fuzzy neural hardware with online training embedded on Field Programmable Gate Array – FPGA. The system adaptation can occur during the execution of a given application, aiming online performance improvement. The proposed system architecture is modular, allowing different configurations of fuzzy neural network topologies with online training. The proposed system was applied to: mathematical function interpolation, pattern classification and selfcompensation of industrial sensors. The proposed system achieves satisfactory performance in both tasks. The experiments results shows the advantages and disadvantages of online training in hardware when performed in parallel and sequentially ways. The sequentially training method provides economy in FPGA area, however, increases the complexity of architecture actions. The parallel training method achieves high performance and reduced processing time, the pipeline technique is used to increase the proposed architecture performance. The study development was based on available tools for FPGA circuits.

Atividade antiofídica do decocto das folhas de jatropha gossypiifolia l. frente o veneno de bothrops jararaca

Antiophidic activity from decoct of Jatropha gossypiifolia L. leaves against Bothrops jararaca venom. Snakebites are a serious worldwide public health problem. In Latin America, about 90 % of accidents are attributed to snakes from Bothrops genus. Currently, the main available treatment is the antivenom serum therapy, which has some disadvantages such as inability to neutralize local effects, risk of immunological reactions, high cost and difficult access in some regions. In this context, the search for alternative therapies to treat snakebites is relevant. Jatropha gossypiifolia L., a medicinal plant popularly known in Brazil as “pinhão-roxo”, is very used in folk medicine as antiophidic. So, the aim of this study is to evaluate the antiophidic properties of this species against enzymatic and biological activities from Bothrops jararaca snake venom. The aqueous leaf extract of J. gossypiifolia was prepared by decoction. The inhibition studies were performed in vitro, by pre-incubation of a fixed amount of venom with different amounts of extract from J. gossypiifolia for 60 min at 37 °C, and in vivo, through oral or intraperitoneal treatment of animals, in different doses, 60 min before venom injection. The proteolytic activity upon azocasein was efficiently inhibited, indicating inhibitory action upon metalloproteinases (SVMPs) and/or serine proteases (SVSPs). The extract inhibited the fibrinogenolytic activity, which was also confirmed by zymography, where it was possible to observe that the extract preferentially inhibits fibrinogenolytic enzymes of 26 and 28 kDa. The coagulant activity upon fibrinogen and plasma were significantly inhibited, suggesting an inhibitory action upon thrombin-like enzymes (SVTLEs), as well as upon clotting factor activators toxins. The extract prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), suggesting an inhibitory action toward not only to SVTLEs, but also against endogenous thrombin. The defibrinogenating activity in vivo was efficiently inhibited by the extract on oral route, confirming the previous results. The local hemorrhagic activity was also significantly inhibited by oral route, indicating an inhibitory action upon SVMPs. The phospholipase activity in vitro was not inhibited. Nevertheless, the edematogenic and myotoxic activities were efficiently inhibited, by oral and intraperitoneal route, which may indicate an inhibitory effect of the extract upon Lys49 phospholipase (PLA2) and/ or SVMPs, or also an anti-inflammatory action against endogenous chemical mediators. Regarding the possible action mechanism, was observed that the extract did not presented proteolytic activity, however, presented protein precipitating action. In addition, the extract showed significant antioxidant activity in different models, which could justify, at least partially, the antiophidic activity presented. The metal chelating action presented by extract could be correlated with SVMPs inhibition, once these enzymes are metal-dependent. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of sugars, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenes and/or steroids and proteins, from which the flavonoids could be pointed as major compounds, based on chromatographic profile obtained by thin layer chromatography (TLC). In conclusion, the results demonstrate that the J. gossypiifolia leaves decoct present potential antiophidic activity, including action upon snakebite local effects, suggesting that this species may be used as a new source of bioactive molecules against bothropic venom.

Desenvolvimento regional: um debate sobre as políticas industriais no Rio Grande do Norte

The discussion of economic development emphasizes the emergence of a gradual change of economic structure, which would rise from an agrarian to the industrial stage, and later with a predominant tertiary sector. However, the high Brazilian regional inequality resulted in the coexistence of modern spaces and other arrears. Such disparities are visible not only in economics, but spatial, social and environmental. Although Brazil has gone through changes in the production structure and the location of these activities, space - territorial disparities manifest themselves in a high level of regional heterogeneity. In this context, the Northeast emerged as a region that has historically been characterized by socioeconomic backwardness and the presence of the worst indicators of inequality. The presence of these indicators showing the socioeconomic backwardness of the other fronts region contributes to the priority of action aimed at reverting this regional disparity public policy. The historical account of the development policies of regional studies shows that the state played a pivotal role in ensuring regional planning. Besides the creation of development agencies such as the Northeast Sudene, tax and financial incentives have been widely used strategies in the region to foster greater national integration. However, the use of incentives is much discussed in view of the possible advantages and disadvantages brought by its use. Thus, this study aims to build a theoretical framework tool for building effective public policies for industrialization in the Northeast, specifically in Rio Grande do Norte.

The use of a magnetic attachment in a removable partial denture of a patient with periodontal tissue loss

O uso dos magnetos em prótese parcial removível é uma alternativa viável para eliminar a estrutura metálica que pode interferir na estética sem perder retenção e estabilidade. Os magnetos podem ser recomendados para pacientes com perda de tecido periodontal, desde que eles diminuam a transmissão de forças ao dente remanescente. O objetivo deste relato de caso clínico foi apresentar uma alternativa de tratamento protético para dentes pilares comprometidos periodontalmente e descrever as vantagens e desvantagens do uso dos magnetos em prótese parcial removível sobre os pontos de vista funcionais, biológicos e estéticos.

Utilização do titâneo na confecção de estruturas metálicas em prótese parcial removível

Due to properties such as excellent biocompatibility, high resistance to corrosion and low specific weight, titanium has been considered a material of great interest for Dentistry. It has been widely used in implants and orthognathic surgeries. Recently, titanium has been seen as a feasible alternative for the fabrication of removable partial denture frameworks, either in pure titanium (99.75%) or in titanium alloy forms (Ti-6Al-4V; Ti-6A1-7Nb). Based on a review of the literature, this work studied the use of titanium for the fabrication of removable partial denture frameworks, focusing on its advantages and disadvantages as well as its characteristics. It was concluded that the use of titanium is a convenient option for partially edentulous arches rehabilitation with quite satisfactory and promising clinical results. However, the need for highly-equipped laboratories increases the cost, preventing its large scale use.

Utilização do titâneo na confecção de estruturas metálicas em prótese parcial removível

Due to properties such as excellent biocompatibility, high resistance to corrosion and low specific weight, titanium has been considered a material of great interest for Dentistry. It has been widely used in implants and orthognathic surgeries. Recently, titanium has been seen as a feasible alternative for the fabrication of removable partial denture frameworks, either in pure titanium (99.75%) or in titanium alloy forms (Ti-6Al-4V; Ti-6A1-7Nb). Based on a review of the literature, this work studied the use of titanium for the fabrication of removable partial denture frameworks, focusing on its advantages and disadvantages as well as its characteristics. It was concluded that the use of titanium is a convenient option for partially edentulous arches rehabilitation with quite satisfactory and promising clinical results. However, the need for highly-equipped laboratories increases the cost, preventing its large scale use.

Preservação digital: o estado da arte

CUNHA, Jacqueline; GALINDO, Marcos. Preservação digital: o estado da arte. In:ENCONTRO NACIONAL DE PESQUISA EM CIÊNCIA DA INFORMAÇÃO, 8., Savador, 2007. Anais... Salvador: ANCIB, 2007. Disponível em:

A contribuição de técnicas modernas de reabilitação estrutural para autenticidade e integridade de edificações patrimoniais

This work discusses the study of the application of structural reinforcement and rehabilitation using modern techniques for interventions in repair works of historical buildings as well as the verification of the behavior of works that have already undergone different structural intervention techniques, with the objective of obtaining data to allow a comparative analysis of the advantages/disadvantages of techniques adapted in each case, regarding the interferences related the authenticity and integrity of the buildings belong to the constructed patrimony so as to obtain a basis for the theoretical foundation for choosing the best solution to be adopted in the case study which consists in an intervention of structural rehabilitation of the old historic building in the primary school "Augusto Severo"

Síntese, aplicação e avaliação do efeito do teor de fósforo da celulose fosfatada em argamassa de alvenaria com aditivo comercial a base de hidroxi-etil-metil celulose (HEMC)

Generally, cellulose ethers improves mortar properties such as water retention, workability and setting time, along with adherence to the substrate. However, a major disadvantage of the addition of cellulose ethers in mortars is the delay in hydration of the cement. In this paper a cellulose phosphate (Cp) was synthesized water soluble and has been evaluated the effect of their incorporation into mortar based on Portland cement. Cellulose phosphate obtained was characterized by spectrophotometry Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mortar compositions were formulated with varying phosphorus content in cellulose and cellulose phosphate concentrations, when used in partial or total replacement of the commercial additive based hydroxyethyl methyl cellulose (HEMC). The mortars formulated with additives were prepared and characterized by: testing in the fresh state (consistency index, water retention, bulk density and air content incorporated) and in the hardened state (absorption by capillarity, density, flexural and compression strength). In mixtures the proportion of sand:cement of 1:5 (v / v) and factor a / c = 1.31 and water were held constant. Overall, the results showed that the celluloses phosphates employed in mortars added acted significantly when partially substituting the commercial additive. With regard to consistency index, water retention and bulk density in the fresh state and absorption by capillarity and bulk density apparent in the hardened state, showed no appreciable differences as compared to the commercial additive. The incorporated air content in the fresh state reduced markedly, but did not affect other properties. The mortars with cellulose phosphate, partially replacing the commercial additive showed an improvement of the properties of flexural strength and compressive strength

Novos monômeros obtidos a partir do metacrilato de glicidila, bisfenol A e 4, 4 isopropilidenodicicloexanol : síntese, caracterização estrutural e propriedades de compósitos para utilização em resinas de restauração dental

Nowadays, composite resins are the direct restorative materials more important in dental clinical performance, due to their versatility and aesthetic excellence. Bis-GMA (2,2-bis[4(2-hydroxy-3-metacryloxypropoxy)phenil]propane) is the base monomer more frequently used in restorative composite resins. However, this monomer presents some disadvantages, such as high viscosity and two aromatic rings in its structure that can promote allergic reactions to the humans. In this work, the main purpose was to synthesize new monomers from glycidyl methacrylate to use in dental restorative materials. Structural characterization of the monomers was carried out through FTIR and NMR 1H, and eight composites were produced from the new monomers, by addition of silane-treated alumino silicate particles (inorganic filler) and a photocuring system (camphorquinone and ethyl 4-dimethylaminebenzoate). The composites were analyzed by environmental scanning electronic microscopy and the water sorption and solubility, compressive strength and elastic modulus were determined. A commercial composite resin [Z100 (3M)] was used to comparison effect. The new composites presented general characteristics similar to the commercial ones; however, they didn t present the properties expected. This behavior was attributed to the lower degree of monomer reaction and to the granulometry and size distribution of the mineral filler in the polymeric matrix