Hartman-Grobman decomposition when in presence of jumps in the relative degree of the dynamics in an energy harvesting device

This work deals with the nonlinear piezoelectric coupling in vibration-based energy harvesting, done by A. Triplett and D.D. Quinn in J. of Intelligent Material Syst. and Structures (2009). In that paper the first order nonlinear fundamental equation has a three dimensional state variable. Introducing both observable and control variables in such a way the controlled system became a SISO system, we can obtain as a corollary that for a particular choice of the observable variable it is possible to present an explicit functional relation between this variable one, and the variable representing the charge harvested. After-by observing that the structure in the Input-Output decomposition essentially changes depending on the relative degree changes, presenting bifurcation branches in its zero dynamics-we are able in to identify this type of bifurcation indicating its close relation with the Hartman - Grobman theorem telling about decomposition into stable and the unstable manifolds for hyperbolic points.

An alternative technique to the harvesting of a connective tissue graft from a thin palate: Enhanced wound healing

This article describes an alternative surgical approach to the harvesting of subepithelial connective tissue grafts from thin palates. A partial-thickness flap is raised, and a graft composed of epithelium and connective tissue is removed from the palate. The superficial layer ( epithelium and a thin zone of connective tissue) is then dissected from the graft and replaced at the donor site to facilitate faster healing. The subjacent layer of connective tissue is placed as needed to obtain root coverage. The clinical application of this technique is described in two patients with multiple gingival recessions.

Evaluation of Patients' Perceptions of Alterations After Chin Bone Graft Harvesting

Objective: To evaluate patients' perceptions of alterations occurring after chin bone harvesting.Materials and Methods: Thirty patients were evaluated subjectively by visual analog scale-related sensitivity, facial aesthetics, eating, speaking, and lower lip movement, during 12 months. Objective analysis used the static light touch neurosensorial test. The statistical analysis was executed with Friedman test with P < 0.05 for both samples.Results: Subjective analysis revealed no alterations (1) to facial aesthetics, eating, speaking or lower lip movement but sensitivity of the mental region went from a lot of alteration initially (5) to little at the end of the study (3). Objective analysis results showed normal sensitivity (1) in the region after 12 months.Conclusion: The discrepancy between subjective and objective analyses may be indicative of the limited precision of clinical testing for subjective impressions assessment. (Implant Dent 2012;21:411-414)

Prospective study of soft tissue contour changes following chin bone graft harvesting

This study sought to evaluate changes in the soft tissue contour after chin bone graft harvesting. Thirty selected patients underwent chin bone graft harvesting and evaluations were made using lateral cephalograms preoperatively and postoperatively at 30 and 180 days. Fixed points and lines were established on cephalometric tracings and used to measure the selected vertical and sagittal parameters. Results showed statistically significant alterations to the vertical position values of the vermilion (V-VPV) which increased from 9.70 to 11.01 and the exposure of lower incisors (V-ELI) which increased from 1.85 to 3.5, showing an increase in their distance from the plane of reference and a lowering of their position, the clinical equivalent of a labial ptosis condition. None of the sagittal parameters analysed showed any statistically significant variation in the final evaluation. The study concluded that the alterations to patients' soft tissue contours resulted mainly from failure to ensure precise reattachment of the mentalis muscles and identified the need for further investigation of that aspect.

Effective diffusion coefficients behavior in osmotic dehydration of apple slices considering shrinking and local concentration dependence

The mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of apple slices immersed in 40, 50 and 60% (w/w) aqueous sucrose solutions was investigated to evaluate the influence of solution concentration on diffusivities. In the mathematical model, the diffusion coefficients were functions of the local water and sucrose concentration. The mass transfer equations were, simultaneously, solved for water and sucrose using an implicit numerical method. Material coordinates following the shrinkage of the solid were used. The predicted concentration profiles were integrated and compared to experimental data, showing a reasonable agreement with the measured data. on average, the effective diffusion coefficients for water and sucrose decreased as the osmotic solution concentration increased; that is the behavior of the binary coefficients in water-sucrose solutions. However, the diffusivities expressed as a function of the local concentration in the slices varied between the treatments. Water diffusion coefficients showed a remarkable variation throughout the slice and unusual behavior, which was associated to the cellular structure changes observed in tissue immersed in osmotic solutions. Cell structure changes occurred in different ways: moderate plasmolysis at 40%, accentuated plasmolysis at 50% and generalized damage of the cells at 60%. Intact vacuoles were observed after a long time of exposure (30 h) to 40 and 50% solutions. Effects of the concentration on tissue changes make it difficult to generalize the behavior of diffusion coefficients.

Contribution of sugar-cane harvesting season to atmospheric contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Araraquara city, Southeast Brazil

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

Burnt sugarcane harvesting: Particulate matter exposure and the effects on lung function, oxidative stress, and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Palm harvesting affects seed predation of Euterpe edulis, a threatened palm of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

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

Carbon isotope analysis in apple nectar beverages

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

Quality of mechanized coffee harvesting in circular planting system

A colheita mecanizada de café se destaca como um dos principais avanços tecnológicos em benefício dos produtores, porém, problemas com planejamento no plantio e desenvolvimento da cultura, bem como falhas na regulagem da colhedora, podem acarretar em redução na eficiência da operação, tornando-a mais estressante para a cultura que a colheita manual. Diante disso, o presente trabalho foi realizado no município de Patos de Minas, MG, com o objetivo de avaliar os danos na parte vegetativa e a qualidade da colheita mecanizada do café cultivado em plantio circular sob pivô central, com duas frequências de vibração das hastes, sob o controle estatístico do processo. Observou-se que a bienalidade negativa sobre a cultura reduziram a carga inicial de café, eliminando o efeito das condições de insolação. Os índices de qualidade da colheita apresentaram distribuição assimétrica, com grande variabilidade nas amostras, sendo apenas a eficiência de derriça influenciada pelos eixos avaliados, e se mostrando estável pelo controle estatístico. Os danos causados às plantas pela colheita apresentaram valores desejáveis, não variando em função dos fatores analisados, mas sendo considerado sob controle estatístico.

FLIGHT RANGE of AFRICANIZED HONEYBEES, Apis mellifera L. 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) IN AN APPLE GROVE

O estudo do raio de ação das abelhas na coleta de néctar e pólen é de extrema importância para se saber até que distância a polinização por este inseto é promovida com eficiência. Para tanto, cinco colônias de abelhas africanizadas marcadas com 32P foram levadas a um pomar de maçã, sendo agrupadas no centro de uma área de 0,8 ha, a partir do qual foram colocadas estacas a cada 10m, formando quatro alas correspondentes às direções Norte, Sul, Leste e Oeste. As abelhas foram capturadas duas vezes por dia e por dez dias consecutivos, quando visitavam as flores das macieiras, até 50m do centro. Verificou-se que o número de abelhas marcadas coletadas, diminuiu linearmente à medida em que as mesmas se afastavam das colméias. Não houve interferência das orientações geográficas no comportamento de vôo das abelhas.

Palm heart harvesting in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: changes in industry structure and the illegal trade

1. Until the late 1960s, Euterpe edulis was the most important edible palm species in the Brazilian markets. Since then, overharvesting of natural stands and the limited scope of plantations have caused the industry to shift to the multistemmed E, oleracea from the Amazon river estuary.2, As a result of the relocation of the industry, the structure of the palm harvesting industry has changed and illegal trade has continued to exploit the remaining natural stands of E, edulis.3, it is suggested that, to avoid the total harvesting of E. edulis and to achieve sustainable management of the palm heart, it will be necessary to diversify the local economy, create incentives for small land owners to improve their management practices, while keeping their competitiveness against the illegal trade, create the incentive of new sources of palm hearts and create a 'green stamping' For management palms.4, Transformation of the illegal structure of the palm heart industry is probably the only solution to avoid the total depletion of the wild stands of E. edulis.

Gas chromatographic-olfactometric characterization of aroma compounds in two types of cashew apple nectar

Cashew apple nectar is a secondary product from the production of cashew nuts and possesses an exotic tropical aroma. Aroma volatiles in pasteurized and reconstituted (from concentrate) Brazilian cashew apple nectars were determined using GC-MS and split, time-intensity GC-olfactometry (GC-O/GC-FID. Methional, (2)-1,5-octadien-3-one, (2)-2-nonenal, (E,Z)-2,4-decadienal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, beta-damascenone, and delta-decalactone were identified for the first time in cashew apple products. These compounds plus butyric acid, ethyl 3-methylbutyrate, 2-methylbutyric acid, acetic acid, benzaldehyde, homofuraneol, (E)-2-nonenal, gamma-dodecalactone, and an unknown were the most intense aroma volatiles. Thirty-six aroma volatiles were detected in the reconstituted sample and 41 in the pasteurized sample. Thirty-four aroma active components were common to both samples. Ethyl 3-methylbutyrate and 2-methylbutyric acid were character impact compounds of cashew apple (warm, fruity, tropical, sweaty). Using GC-pFPD, 2-methyl-3-furanthiol and bis(2-methyl-3-furyl) disulfide were identified for the first time in cashew apple. Both were aroma active (meaty).

Host specificity of Metriona elatior, a potential biological control agent of tropical soda apple, Solanum viarum, in the USA

The leaf beetle Metriona elatior from Brazil-Argentina was screened in the Florida (USA) State quarantine facility as a potential biological control agent of tropical soda apple, Solanum viarum, a recently arrived weed species. Multiple-choice host-specificity tests were conducted in small cages (60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm) using 95 plant species in 29 families. Adults fed heavily on the main target weed (S. viarum), and on turkeyberry, Solanum torvum (noxious weed of Asiatic origin); fed moderately on red soda apple, Solanum capsicoides (weed of South American origin), and eggplant, Solanum melongena (economic crop); and fed lightly on aquatic soda apple, Solanum tampicense (weed of Mexican-Caribbean-Central American origin), and on silverleaf nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium (native weed widely distributed). M. elatior adults laid 84 to 97% of their egg masses on S. viarum, and 3 to 16% on S. melongena. Non-choice host-specificity tests were also conducted in quarantine in which M. elatior adults and neonate larvae were exposed to 17 and 19 plant species, respectively. Tests with the neonates indicate that this insect was able to complete its development on S. viarum, S. torvum, S. melongena, and S. capsicoides. Although some adult feeding and oviposition occurred on S. melongena in quarantine on potted plants in small cages, no feeding or oviposition by M. elatior was observed in field experiments conducted in Brazil. Surveys in unsprayed S. melongena fields in Argentina and Brazil indicated that M. elatior is not a pest of S. melongena in South America. The evidence obtained from the South-American field surveys, Brazil open-field experiments, and Florida quarantine host specificity tests indicate that M. elatior causes significant feeding damage to S. viarum, and does not represent a threat to S. melongena crops in the USA. Therefore an application for permission to release M. elatior against S. viarum in the USA was submitted in October 1998.