Validation of an instrument to evaluate quality of life in the aging population: WHOQOL-AGE.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for short, specific instruments that assess quality of life (QOL) adequately in the older adult population. The aims of the present study were to obtain evidence on the validity of the inferences that could be drawn from an instrument to measure QOL in the aging population (people 50+ years old), and to test its psychometric properties. METHODS: The instrument, WHOQOL-AGE, comprised 13 positive items, assessed on a five-point rating scale, and was administered to nationally representative samples (n = 9987) from Finland, Poland, and Spain. Cronbach's alpha was employed to assess internal consistency reliability, whereas the validity of the questionnaire was assessed by means of factor analysis, graded response model, Pearson's correlation coefficient and unpaired t-test. Normative values were calculated across countries and for different age groups. RESULTS: The satisfactory goodness-of-fit indices confirmed that the factorial structure of WHOQOL-AGE comprises two first-order factors. Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 for factor 1, and 0.84 for factor 2. Evidence supporting a global score was found with a second-order factor model, according to the goodness-of-fit indices: CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.91, RMSEA = 0.073. Convergent validity was estimated at r = 0.75 and adequate discriminant validity was also found. Significant differences were found between healthy individuals (74.19 ± 13.21) and individuals with at least one chronic condition (64.29 ± 16.29), supporting adequate known-groups validity. CONCLUSIONS: WHOQOL-AGE has shown good psychometric properties in Finland, Poland, and Spain. Therefore, considerable support is provided to using the WHOQOL-AGE to measure QOL in older adults in these countries, and to compare the QOL of older and younger adults.

Efeitos dos parâmetros operacionais na fotodegradação do azo corante direct red 23 na interface dióxido de titânio/água

The decolorization and degradation of direct red 23 azo dye have been investigated in aqueous suspension of titanium dioxide under artificial irradiation. The effects of some operational parameters such as azo dye concentration, catalyst loading, and solution pH were investigated at 30.0 ºC and optimized values were obtained. The first-order kinetic model was used to discuss the results. The UV-Vis spectra changes showed that the azo dye sample, collected after 6 h irradiation, was 98% decolorized while the residual total carbon was 97.9% degraded, indicating simultaneous photodecolorization and degradation.

Tempo de vida útil de propelentes base-simples

The purpose of this work was to determine the safe shelf life of single-base propellants. The kinetic parameters relative to the consumption of the stabilizer diphenylamine (DPA) added to the propellant were determined as a function of the storage and ageing time. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with spectrophotometric detection was used to determine the DPA percentage before and after the artificial ageing at 60, 70 and 80 ºC. The experimental data were very well adjusted to a pseudo-first order kinetic model and the respective kinetic constants are 8.0-10-3 day-1 (60 ºC); 1.9-10-2 day-1 (70 ºC); 1.2-10-1 day-1 (80 ºC). The activation energy was calculated as 130 kJ mol-1 and the half-time for depletion of the DPA at the hypothetical temperature of 40 ºC of storage was estimated as being 6 years.

Microencapsulação do agente quelante sulfoxina em microesferas de quitosana preparadas por spray drying como novo adsorvente para íons metálicos

In this work, a new adsorbent was prepared by microencapsulation of sulfoxine into chitosan microspheres by the spray drying technique. The new adsorbent was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis of energy dispersive X-rays. The Cu(II) adsorption was studied as a function of pH, time and concentration. The optimum pH was found to be 6.0. The kinetic and equilibrium data showed that the adsorption process followed the pseudo second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm model over the entire concentration range. An increase of 8.0% in the maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent (53.8 mg g-1) was observed as compared to chitosan glutaraldehyde cross-linked microspheres.

Adsorção de íons fosfato em óxido de nióbio hidratado

The adsorption kinetics of phosphate on Nb2O5.nH2O was investigated at initial phosphate concentrations 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 mg.L-1. The kinetic process was described by a pseudo-second-order rate model very well. The adsorption thermodynamics was carried out at 298, 308, 318, 328 and 338 K. The positive values of both ΔH and ΔS suggest an endothermic reaction and increase in randomness at the solid-liquid interface during the adsorption. ΔG values obtained were negative indicating a spontaneous adsorption process. The Langmuir model described the data better than the Freundlich isotherm model. The effective desorption could be achieved using water at pH 12.

Adsorção de arsênio(V) pelo compósito magnético hidrotalcita: óxido de ferro

In this work, hydrotalcite, a layered double hydroxide, had its adsorption and ion exchange properties combined with the magnetic properties of iron oxide to produce a magnetic adsorbent, HT-Fe. The removal of As(V) by a HT-Fe adsorbent was evaluated under various conditions. The Kinetic process was well described by a pseudo-second order rate model. The maximum adsorption capacity, calculated with the Langmuir model showed to be dependent on pH, reaching values of 24.09, 10.19 and 7.44 mg g-1, respectively, for pH values of 4.0, 7.0 and 9.0. The inhibition by competition of anions is dependent on the type of ionic species.

Removal of Pb(II) ions and malachite green dye from wastewater by activated carbon produced from lemon peel

In the present study, a high-surface area activated carbon was prepared by chemical activation of lemon peel with H3PO4 as the active agent. Then, the adsorption behavior of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions on the produced activated carbon was studied. Batch process was employed for sorption kinetics and equilibrium studies. Experimental data were fitted to various isotherm models. According to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacities of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions were found to be 66.67 and 90.91 mg g-1, respectively, at room temperature. Kinetic studies showed the adsorption process followed a pseudo second-order rate model. The sorption kinetics were controlled by intra-particle diffusion. The results indicated that the produced activated carbon can be economically and effectively used as an adsorbent for the removal of Malachite green dye and Pb(II) ions from wastewaters.

Use of multivariate experimental designs for optimizing the reductive degradation of an azo dye in the presence of redox mediators

The optimization of the anaerobic degradation of the azo dye Remazol golden yellow RNL was performed according to multivariate experimental designs: a 2² full-factorial design and a central composite design (CCD). The CCD revealed that the best incubation conditions (90% color removal) for the degradation of the azo dye (50 mg L- 1) were achieved with 350 mg L- 1 of yeast extract and 45 mL of anaerobic supernatant (free cell extract) produced from the incubation of 650 mg L- 1 of anaerobic microorganisms and 250 mg L- 1 of glucose. A first-order kinetics model best fit the experimental data (k = 0.0837 h- 1, R² = 0.9263).

Simulating the performance of paper machine control

The topic of this thesis is the simulation of a combination of several control and data assimilation methods, meant to be used for controlling the quality of paper in a paper machine. Paper making is a very complex process and the information obtained from the web is sparse. A paper web scanner can only measure a zig zag path on the web. An assimilation method is needed to process estimates for Machine Direction (MD) and Cross Direction (CD) profiles of the web. Quality control is based on these measurements. There is an increasing need for intelligent methods to assist in data assimilation. The target of this thesis is to study how such intelligent assimilation methods are affecting paper web quality. This work is based on a paper web simulator, which has been developed in the TEKES funded MASI NoTes project. The simulator is a valuable tool in comparing different assimilation methods. The thesis contains the comparison of four different assimilation methods. These data assimilation methods are a first order Bayesian model estimator, an ARMA model based on a higher order Bayesian estimator, a Fourier transform based Kalman filter estimator and a simple block estimator. The last one can be considered to be close to current operational methods. From these methods Bayesian, ARMA and Kalman all seem to have advantages over the commercial one. The Kalman and ARMA estimators seems to be best in overall performance.

Liiketoiminnasta luopumisen verokustannukset osakeyhtiölle ja sen osakkaalle

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten osakeyhtiöstä voidaan luopua niin, että osakas saisi siitä mahdollisimman suuren taloudellisen hyödyn. Osakkaan saaman taloudelliseen hyötyyn liittyvät kiinteästi luopumisesta aiheutuvat verokustannukset. Tässä tutkimuksessa keskityttiin osakeyhtiön purkamiseen, osakekauppaan ja substanssikauppaan. Mallin avulla selvitetään, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat verokustannuksiin ja kuinka paljon niitä voidaan verosuunnittelukeinoilla alentaa. Liiketoiminnasta luopumisen verotus kohdistuu yhtiöön ja/tai osakkaaseen luopumistavasta riippuen. Veron määrään vaikuttavat yrityksen taserakenne, osakkeiden omistusaika, myyjän tavoitteet, ostajan asema, luopumiseen käytettävissä oleva aika ja verosuunnittelukeinot. Verokustannuksiin erityisesti vaikutti se, millä tavoin varat voidaan siirtää osakkaalle. Verosuunnittelukeinoilla esimerkiksi osingonjaolla voidaan alentaa verokustannuksia merkittävästi. Verotuksenkehittämistyöryhmä jätti loppuraporttinsa 21.12.2010. Tutkimuksen mukaan ehdotetut muutokset kasvattaisivat yritystoiminnasta luopumisen verokustannuksia. Osingonjako verosuunnittelukeinona ei välttämättä olisi enää kaikissa tilanteissa kannattavaa, jos ehdotukset toteutuisivat loppuraportissa esitetyllä tavalla.

Methods and Models for Accelerating Dynamic Simulation of Fluid Power Circuits

The objective of this dissertation is to improve the dynamic simulation of fluid power circuits. A fluid power circuit is a typical way to implement power transmission in mobile working machines, e.g. cranes, excavators etc. Dynamic simulation is an essential tool in developing controllability and energy-efficient solutions for mobile machines. Efficient dynamic simulation is the basic requirement for the real-time simulation. In the real-time simulation of fluid power circuits there exist numerical problems due to the software and methods used for modelling and integration. A simulation model of a fluid power circuit is typically created using differential and algebraic equations. Efficient numerical methods are required since differential equations must be solved in real time. Unfortunately, simulation software packages offer only a limited selection of numerical solvers. Numerical problems cause noise to the results, which in many cases leads the simulation run to fail. Mathematically the fluid power circuit models are stiff systems of ordinary differential equations. Numerical solution of the stiff systems can be improved by two alternative approaches. The first is to develop numerical solvers suitable for solving stiff systems. The second is to decrease the model stiffness itself by introducing models and algorithms that either decrease the highest eigenvalues or neglect them by introducing steady-state solutions of the stiff parts of the models. The thesis proposes novel methods using the latter approach. The study aims to develop practical methods usable in dynamic simulation of fluid power circuits using explicit fixed-step integration algorithms. In this thesis, twomechanisms whichmake the systemstiff are studied. These are the pressure drop approaching zero in the turbulent orifice model and the volume approaching zero in the equation of pressure build-up. These are the critical areas to which alternative methods for modelling and numerical simulation are proposed. Generally, in hydraulic power transmission systems the orifice flow is clearly in the turbulent area. The flow becomes laminar as the pressure drop over the orifice approaches zero only in rare situations. These are e.g. when a valve is closed, or an actuator is driven against an end stopper, or external force makes actuator to switch its direction during operation. This means that in terms of accuracy, the description of laminar flow is not necessary. But, unfortunately, when a purely turbulent description of the orifice is used, numerical problems occur when the pressure drop comes close to zero since the first derivative of flow with respect to the pressure drop approaches infinity when the pressure drop approaches zero. Furthermore, the second derivative becomes discontinuous, which causes numerical noise and an infinitely small integration step when a variable step integrator is used. A numerically efficient model for the orifice flow is proposed using a cubic spline function to describe the flow in the laminar and transition areas. Parameters for the cubic spline function are selected such that its first derivative is equal to the first derivative of the pure turbulent orifice flow model in the boundary condition. In the dynamic simulation of fluid power circuits, a tradeoff exists between accuracy and calculation speed. This investigation is made for the two-regime flow orifice model. Especially inside of many types of valves, as well as between them, there exist very small volumes. The integration of pressures in small fluid volumes causes numerical problems in fluid power circuit simulation. Particularly in realtime simulation, these numerical problems are a great weakness. The system stiffness approaches infinity as the fluid volume approaches zero. If fixed step explicit algorithms for solving ordinary differential equations (ODE) are used, the system stability would easily be lost when integrating pressures in small volumes. To solve the problem caused by small fluid volumes, a pseudo-dynamic solver is proposed. Instead of integration of the pressure in a small volume, the pressure is solved as a steady-state pressure created in a separate cascade loop by numerical integration. The hydraulic capacitance V/Be of the parts of the circuit whose pressures are solved by the pseudo-dynamic method should be orders of magnitude smaller than that of those partswhose pressures are integrated. The key advantage of this novel method is that the numerical problems caused by the small volumes are completely avoided. Also, the method is freely applicable regardless of the integration routine applied. The superiority of both above-mentioned methods is that they are suited for use together with the semi-empirical modelling method which necessarily does not require any geometrical data of the valves and actuators to be modelled. In this modelling method, most of the needed component information can be taken from the manufacturer’s nominal graphs. This thesis introduces the methods and shows several numerical examples to demonstrate how the proposed methods improve the dynamic simulation of various hydraulic circuits.

Effectiveness of Pilotage

The objective of the pilotage effectiveness study was to come up with a process descrip-tion of the pilotage procedure, to design performance indicators based on this process description, to be used by Finnpilot, and to work out a preliminary plan for the imple-mentation of the indicators within the Finnpilot organisation. The theoretical aspects of pilotage as well as the guidelines and standards used were determined through a literature review. Based on the literature review, a process flow model with the following phases was created: the planning of pilotage, the start of pilo-tage, the act of pilotage, the end of pilotage and the closing of pilotage. The model based on the literature review was tested through interviews and observation of pilotage. At the same time an e-mail survey directed at foreign pilotage organisations, which included a questionnaire concerning their standards and management systems, operations procedures, measurement tools and their attitude to the passage planning, was conducted. The main issues in the observations and interviews were the passage plan and the bridge team co-operation. The phases of the pilotage process model emerged in both the pilotage activities and the interviews whereas bridge team co-operation was relatively marginal. Most of the pilotage organisations, who responded to the query, also use some standard-based management system. All organisations who answered the survey use some sort of a pilotage process model. According to the query, the main measuring tools for pilotage are statistical information concerning pilotage and the organisations, the customer feedback surveys, and financial results. Attitudes to-wards passage planning were mostly positive among the organisations. A workshop with pilotage experts was arranged where the process model constructed on the basis of the literature review was tuned to match practical pilotage. In the workshop it was determined that certain phases and the corresponding tasks, through which pilo-tage can be described as a process, were identifiable in all pilotage. The result of the workshop was a complemented process model, which separates incoming and outgoing traffic, as well as the fairway pilotage and harbour pilotage from each other. Addition-ally indicators divided according to the data gathering method were defined. Data con-cerning safety and traffic flow is gathered in the form of customer feedback. The pilot's own perceptions of the pilotage process are gathered through self-assessment. The measurement data which is connected to the phases of the pilotage process is generated e.g. by gathering statistics of the success of the pilot dispatches, the accuracy of the pi-lotage and the incidents that occurred during the pilotage, near misses, deviations and accidents. The measurement data is collected via the PilotWeb at the closing of the pilo-tage. A separate project and a project group with pilots also participating will be established for the deployment of the performance indicators. The phases of the project are: the definition phase, the implementation phase and the deployment phase. The purpose of the definition phase is to prepare questions for ship commanders concerning the cus-tomer feedback questionnaire and also to work out the self-assessment queries and the queries concerning the process indicators.

Computational methods for tactical simulations

Tämä taktiikan tutkimus keskittyy tietokoneavusteisen simuloinnin laskennallisiin menetelmiin, joita voidaan käyttää taktisen tason sotapeleissä. Työn tärkeimmät tuotokset ovat laskennalliset mallit todennäköisyyspohjaisen analyysin mahdollistaviin taktisen tason taistelusimulaattoreihin, joita voidaan käyttää vertailevaan analyysiin joukkue-prikaatitason tarkastelutilanteissa. Laskentamallit keskittyvät vaikuttamiseen. Mallit liittyvät vahingoittavan osuman todennäköisyyteen, jonka perusteella vaikutus joukossa on mallinnettu tilakoneina ja Markovin ketjuina. Edelleen näiden tulokset siirretään tapahtumapuuanalyysiin operaation onnistumisen todennäköisyyden osalta. Pienimmän laskentayksikön mallinnustaso on joukkue- tai ryhmätasolla, jotta laskenta-aika prikaatitason sotapelitarkasteluissa pysyisi riittävän lyhyenä samalla, kun tulokset ovat riittävän tarkkoja suomalaiseen maastoon. Joukkueiden mies- ja asejärjestelmävahvuudet ovat jakaumamuodossa, eivätkä yksittäisiä lukuja. Simuloinnin integroinnissa voidaan käyttää asejärjestelmäkohtaisia predictor corrector –parametreja, mikä mahdollistaa aika-askelta lyhytaikaisempien taistelukentän ilmiöiden mallintamisen. Asemallien pohjana ovat aiemmat tutkimukset ja kenttäkokeet, joista osa kuuluu tähän väitöstutkimukseen. Laskentamallien ohjelmoitavuus ja käytettävyys osana simulointityökalua on osoitettu tekijän johtaman tutkijaryhmän ohjelmoiman ”Sandis”- taistelusimulointiohjelmiston avulla, jota on kehitetty ja käytetty Puolustusvoimien Teknillisessä Tutkimuslaitoksessa. Sandikseen on ohjelmoitu karttakäyttöliittymä ja taistelun kulkua simuloivia laskennallisia malleja. Käyttäjä tai käyttäjäryhmä tekee taktiset päätökset ja syöttää nämä karttakäyttöliittymän avulla simulointiin, jonka tuloksena saadaan kunkin joukkuetason peliyksikön tappioiden jakauma, keskimääräisten tappioiden osalta kunkin asejärjestelmän aiheuttamat tappiot kuhunkin maaliin, ammuskulutus ja radioyhteydet ja niiden tila sekä haavoittuneiden evakuointi-tilanne joukkuetasolta evakuointisairaalaan asti. Tutkimuksen keskeisiä tuloksia (kontribuutio) ovat 1) uusi prikaatitason sotapelitilanteiden laskentamalli, jonka pienin yksikkö on joukkue tai ryhmä; 2) joukon murtumispisteen määritys tappioiden ja haavoittuneiden evakuointiin sitoutuvien taistelijoiden avulla; 3) todennäköisyyspohjaisen riskianalyysin käyttömahdollisuus vertailevassa tutkimuksessa sekä 4) kokeellisesti testatut tulen vaikutusmallit ja 5) toimivat integrointiratkaisut. Työ rajataan maavoimien taistelun joukkuetason todennäköisyysjakaumat luovaan laskentamalliin, kenttälääkinnän malliin ja epäsuoran tulen malliin integrointimenetelmineen sekä niiden antamien tulosten sovellettavuuteen. Ilmasta ja mereltä maahan -asevaikutusta voidaan tarkastella, mutta ei ilma- ja meritaistelua. Menetelmiä soveltavan Sandis -ohjelmiston malleja, käyttötapaa ja ohjelmistotekniikkaa kehitetään edelleen. Merkittäviä jatkotutkimuskohteita mallinnukseen osalta ovat muun muassa kaupunkitaistelu, vaunujen kaksintaistelu ja maaston vaikutus tykistön tuleen sekä materiaalikulutuksen arviointi.

Development of capacitive sensor for measuring soil water content

The irrigation management based on the monitoring of the soil water content allows for the minimization of the amount of water applied, making its use more efficient. Taking into account these aspects, in this work, a sensor for measuring the soil water content was developed to allow real time automation of irrigation systems. This way, problems affecting crop yielding such as irregularities in the time to turn on or turn off the pump, and excess or deficit of water can be solved. To develop the sensors were used stainless steel rods, resin, and insulating varnish. The sensors measuring circuit was based on a microcontroller, which gives its output signal in the digital format. The sensors were calibrated using soil of the type “Quartzarenic Neosoil”. A third order polynomial model was fitted to the experimental data between the values of water content corresponding to the field capacity and the wilting point to correlate the soil water content obtained by the oven standard method with those measured by the electronic circuit, with a coefficient of determination of 93.17%, and an accuracy in the measures of ±0.010 kg kg-1. Based on the results, it was concluded that the sensor and its implemented measuring circuit can be used in the automation process of irrigation systems.

Performance of an anaerobic-aerobic reactor and kinetic study of organic matter removal of cattle slaughterhouse effluent

This paper sought to evaluate the behavior of an upflow Anaerobic-Aerobic Fixed Bed Reactor (AAFBR) in the treatment of cattle slaughterhouse effluent and determine apparent kinetic constants of the organic matter removal. The AAFBR was operated with no recirculation (Phase I) and with 50% of effluent recirculation (Phase II), with θ of 11h and 8h. In terms of pH, bicarbonate alkalinity and volatile acids, the results indicated the reactor ability to maintain favorable conditions for the biological processes involved in the organic matter removal in both operational phases. The average removal efficiencies of organic matter along the reactor height, expressed in terms of raw COD, were 49% and 68% in Phase I and 54% and 86% in Phase II for θ of 11h and 8h, respectively. The results of the filtered COD indicated removal efficiency of 52% and k = 0.0857h-1 to θ of 11h and 42% and k = 0.0880h-1 to θ of 8h in the Phase I. In Phase II, the removal efficiencies were 59% and 51% to θ of 11h and 8h, with k = 0.1238h-1 and k = 0.1075 h-1, respectively. The first order kinetic model showed good adjustment and described adequately the kinetics of organic matter removal for θ of 11h, with r² equal to 0.9734 and 0.9591 to the Phases I and II, respectively.