HOW TO EFFICIEN TLY INCORPORATE FACTS DEVICES IN OPTIMAL ACTIVE POWER FLOW MODEL

This paper presents for the first time how to easily incorporate facts devices in an optimal active power flow model such that an efficient interior-point method may be applied. The optimal active power flow model is based on a network flow approach instead of the traditional nodal formulation that allows the use of an efficiently predictor-corrector interior point method speed up by sparsity exploitation. The mathematical equivalence between the network flow and the nodal models is addressed, as well as the computational advantages of the former considering the solution by interior point methods. The adequacy of the network flow model for representing facts devices is presented and illustrated on a small 5-bus system. The model was implemented using Matlab and its performance was evaluated with the 3,397-bus and 4,075-branch Brazilian power system which show the robustness and efficiency of the formulation proposed. The numerical results also indicate an efficient tool for optimal active power flow that is suitable for incorporating facts devices.

Autoclaved, previously used intravaginal progesterone devices induces estrus and ovulation in anestrous Toggenburg goats

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The growing importance of materials that prevent microbial adhesion: antimicrobial effect of medical devices containing silver

Research has clarified the properties required for polymers that resist bacterial colonisation for use in medical devices. The increase in antibiotic-resistant microorganisms has prompted interest in the use of silver as an antimicrobial agent. Silver-based polymers can protect the inner and outer surfaces of devices against the attachment of microorganisms. Thus, this review focuses on the mechanisms of various silver forms as antimicrobial agents against different microorganisms and biofilms as well as the dissociation of silver ions and the resulting reduction in antimicrobial efficacy for medical devices. This work suggests that the characteristics of released silver ions depend on the nature of the silver antimicrobial used and the polymer matrix. In addition, the elementary silver, silver zeolite and silver nanoparticles, used in polymers or as coatings could be used as antimicrobial biomaterials for a variety of promising applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Slow-release fluoride devices: a literature review

Although the prevalence of caries has decreased dramatically over the past decades, it has become a polarised disease, with most of subjects presenting low caries levels and few individuals accounting for most of the caries affected surfaces. Thus it become evident for the need of clinical approaches directed at these high-risk patients, in order to overcome problems related to compliance and low attendance at dental care centres. Slow-release fluoride devices were developed based on the inverse relationship existing between intra-oral fluoride levels and dental caries experience. The two main types of slow-release devices - copolymer membrane type and glass bead - are addressed in the present review. A substantial number of studies have demonstrated that these devices are effective in raising intra-oral F concentrations at levels able to reduce enamel solubility, resulting in a caries-protective effect. Studies in animals and humans demonstrated that the use of these devices was able to also protect the occlusal surfaces, not normally protected by conventional fluoride regimens. However, retention rates have been shown to be the main problem related to these devices and still requires further improvements. Although the results of these studies are very promising, further randomised clinical trials are needed in order to validate the use of these devices in clinical practice. The concept of continuously providing low levels of intra-oral fluoride has great potential for caries prevention in high caries-risk groups.

Application of abrupt cut-off models in the analysis of the capacitance spectra of conjugated polymer devices

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

Proposal of Using Ozonated Water to Control Biofilm Formation on Mouth-Related Devices

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effectiveness and dental applications of ozonated water generated by portable equipment (0.667 mg/L). Total elimination of C. albicans, E. coli and S. mutans planktonic cells was observed after 5 min. Reduction in the number of viable cells of biofilms formed on acrylic resin was observed for C. albicans, S. mutans and E. coli. The same effect was observed on biofilms of E. coli, S. aureus, S. mutans and C. albicans formed on stainless steel. Ozonated water was effective for the disinfection of experimentally contaminated toothbrushes.

Remote sensing analysis of depositional landforms in alluvial settings: Method development and application to the Taquari megafan, Pantanal (Brazil)

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

Ion-sensing properties of 1D vanadium pentoxide nanostructures

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Voltammetric sensing of the fuel dye marker Solvent Blue 14 by screen-printed electrodes

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

An improved tabu-based vector optimal algorithm for design optimizations of electromagnetic devices

This paper introduces an improved tabu-based vector optimal algorithm for multiobjective optimal designs of electromagnetic devices. The improvements include a division of the entire search process, a new method for fitness assignment, a novel scheme for the generation and selection of neighborhood solutions, and so forth. Numerical results on a mathematical function and an engineering multiobjective design problem demonstrate that the proposed method can produce virtually the exact Pareto front, in both parameter and objective spaces, even though the iteration number used by it is only about 70% of that required by its ancestor.

High Verdet constant Ga : S : La : O chalcogenide glasses for magneto-optical devices

The magneto-optical rotation at room temperature was measured for three Ga:S:La:O chalcogenide glasses at several laser lines in the visible. The first sample was a binary system constituted by 70 mol % Ga2S3 and 30 mol % La2O3, whereas in the second and third ones the lanthanum oxide was partially substituted by lanthanum sulfide, keeping the amount of gallium sulfide fixed. A pulsed magnetic field between 50 and 80 kG was used for the Faraday rotation measurements. The Verdet constant for one of the ternary samples was found to be as high as 0.205 min G(-1) cm(-1) at 543 nm, indicating that these chalcogenide glasses are very promising for magneto-optical applications. The data for each sample were fitted using the expected analytical expression for the magneto-optical dispersion. Measurements of the refractive index of the glasses at 632.8 nm are also reported. Data on the magneto-optical properties of two high Verdet constant, heavy-metal oxide diamagnetic glasses are also included for comparison. (C) 1999 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(99)00102-6].

Electroactive LbL films of metallic phthalocyanines and poly(O-methoxyaniline) for sensing

Multilayered nanostructured films have been widely investigated for electrochemical applications as modified electrodes, including the layer-by-layer (LbL) films where properties such as thickness and film architecture can be controlled at the molecular level. In this study, we investigate the electrochemical features of LbL films of poly (o-methoxyaniline; POMA) and tetrasulfonated phthalocyanines containing nickel (NiTsPc) or copper (CuTsPc). The films displayed well-defined electroactivity, with redox pairs at 156 and 347 mV vs SCE, characteristic of POMA, which allowed their use as modified electrodes for detecting dopamine and ascorbic acid at concentrations as low as 10(-5) M.

Preparation, characterization and taste sensing properties of Langmuir-Blodgett Films from mixtures of polyaniline and a ruthenium complex

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films from a ruthenium complex, mer-[RuCl3(dppb)(py)] (dppb = PPh2(CH2)(4)PPh2; py = pyridine) (Rupy), and from mixtures with varied amounts of polyaniline (PANi) were fabricated. Molecular-level interactions between the two components are investigated by surface potential, dc conductivity and Raman spectroscopy measurements, particularly for the mixed film with 10% of Rupy. For the latter, the better miscibility led to an interaction with Rupy inducing a decrease in the conducting state of PANi, as observed in the Raman spectra and conductivity measurement. The interaction causes the final film properties to depend on the concentration of Rupy, and this was exploited to produce a sensor array made up of sensing units consisting of 11-layer LB films from pure PANi, pure Rupy and mixtures with 10 and 30% of Rupy. It is shown that the combination of only four non-specific sensing units allows one to distinguish the basic tastes detected by biological systems, viz. saltiness, sweetness, sourness and bitterness, at the muM level. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanostructured films employed as sensing units in an electronic tongue system

Nanostructured films of lignin (macromolecule extracted from sugar cane bagasse), polypyrrole (conducting polymer) and bis butylimido perylene (organic dye) were used in the detection of trace levels of fluorine (from H2SiF6), chlorine (from NaCIO), Pb+2, Cu+2, and Cd+2 in aqueous solutions. Langmuir monolayers on ultrapure water were characterised by surface pressure-mean molecular area (II-A) isotherms. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films were transferred onto gold interdigitated electrodes and used as individual sensing units of an electronic tongue system. Impedance spectroscopy measurements were taken with the sensor immersed into aqueous solutions containing the ions described above in different molar concentrations. Fourier transform infrared absorption (FTIR) was employed to identify possible interactions between the LB films and the analytes in solution, and no significant changes could be observed in the FTIR spectra of BuPTCD and Ppy. Therefore, the results for lignin point to an interaction involving the electronic cloud of the phenyl groups with the metallic ions.