Determination of minimum fluidization velocity for gas-solid beds by experimental data and numerical simulations

The purpose of this work is to predict the minimum fluidization velocity Umf in a gas-solid fluidized bed. The study was carried out with an experimental apparatus for sand particles with diameters between 310μm and 590μm, and density of 2,590kg/m3. The experimental results were compared with numerical simulations developed in MFIX (Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchange) open source code [1], for three different sizes of particles: 310mum, 450μm and 590μm. A homogeneous mixture with the three kinds of particles was also studied. The influence of the particle diameter was presented and discussed. The Ergun equation was also used to describe the minimum fluidization velocity. The experimental data presented a good agreement with Ergun equation and numerical simulations. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.

Characteristics and associated factors with sports injuries among children and adolescents

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Detection of trace levels of atrazine using surface-enhanced Raman scattering and information visualization

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Structural properties of beds packed with agro-industrial solid by-products applicable for solid-state fermentation: Experimental data and effects on process performance

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Linkage disequilibrium levels in Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle using medium and high density SNP chip data and different minor allele frequency distributions

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Automatic Indexing and Information Visualization: A Study Based on Paraconsistent Logic

This paper reports a research to evaluate the potential and the effects of use of annotated Paraconsistent logic in automatic indexing. This logic attempts to deal with contradictions, concerned with studying and developing inconsistency-tolerant systems of logic. This logic, being flexible and containing logical states that go beyond the dichotomies yes and no, permits to advance the hypothesis that the results of indexing could be better than those obtained by traditional methods. Interactions between different disciplines, as information retrieval, automatic indexing, information visualization, and nonclassical logics were considered in this research. From the methodological point of view, an algorithm for treatment of uncertainty and imprecision, developed under the Paraconsistent logic, was used to modify the values of the weights assigned to indexing terms of the text collections. The tests were performed on an information visualization system named Projection Explorer (PEx), created at Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science (ICMC - USP Sao Carlos), with available source code. PEx uses traditional vector space model to represent documents of a collection. The results were evaluated by criteria built in the information visualization system itself, and demonstrated measurable gains in the quality of the displays, confirming the hypothesis that the use of the para-analyser under the conditions of the experiment has the ability to generate more effective clusters of similar documents. This is a point that draws attention, since the constitution of more significant clusters can be used to enhance information indexing and retrieval. It can be argued that the adoption of non-dichotomous (non-exclusive) parameters provides new possibilities to relate similar information.

Complexity and information technologies: an ethical inquiry into human autonomous action

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

New readers, new reading skills and meaning: challenges for media and information literacy

Recognizing the importance of developing the information and media literacy in contemporary society, this article discusses the scenario of hybrid languages born on cyberspace, hypertext and the new types of readers who interact with information, now disseminated by digital media. As theoretical references authors such as Lucia Santaella, we develop arguments that present the headquarters of language and thought within a semiotic support. Matrices help to understand the phenomenon of hybrid language in hypertext. Therefore, we emphasize that the development of skills associated with the new reading environments propitiated by the virtual environment requires the understanding of language, which is one of the concepts used within the media and information literacy (MIL) proposal of Unesco, which combines the two concepts and skills of information and media literacy. It is hoped that this article motivate scholars and practitioners of education and information to take responsibility to educate for information environments that arise with new media and technologies, emphasizing the issue of reading and language.