Public-private partnerships in renewable energy in Latin America and the Caribbean

Incluye Bibliografía

Effect of airborne particle abrasion protocols on surface topography of Y-TZP ceramic

This study aimed to evaluate Y-TZP surface after different airborne particle abrasion protocols. Seventy-six Y-TZP ceramic blocks (5×4×4) mm3 were sintered and polished. Specimens were randomly divided into 19 groups (n=4) according to control group and 3 factors: a) protocol duration (2 and 4 s); b) particle size (30 μm, alumina coated silica particle; 45 μm, alumina particle; and 145 μm, alumina particle) and; c) pressure (1.5, 2.5 and 4.5 bar). Airborne particle abrasion was performed following a strict protocol. For qualitative and quantitative results, topography surfaces were analyzed in a digital optical profilometer (Interference Microscopic), using different roughness parameters (Ra, Rq, Rz, X-crossing, Mr1, Mr2 and Sdr) and 3D images. Surface roughness also was analyzed following the primer and silane applications on Y-TZP surfaces. One-way ANOVA revealed that treatments (application period, particle size and pressure of particle blasting) provided significant difference for all roughness parameters. The Tukey test determined that the significant differences between groups were different among roughness parameters. In qualitative analysis, the bonding agent application reduced roughness, filing the valleys in the surface. The protocols performed in this study verified that application period, particle size and pressure influenced the topographic pattern and amplitude of roughness.

Morphological modifications and surface amorphization in ZnO sonochemically treated nanoparticles

Application of nanoscale materials in photovoltaic and photocatalysis devices and photosensors are dramatically affected by surface morphology of nanoparticles, which plays a fundamental role in the understanding of the physical and chemical properties of nanoscale materials. Zinc oxide nanoparticles with an average size of 20 nm were obtained by the use of a sonochemical technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) associated to Rietveld refinements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study structural and morphological characteristics of the samples. An amorphous shell approximately 10 nm thick was observed in the ultrasonically treated sample, and a large reduction in particle size and changes in the lattice parameters were also observed. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and characterization of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) obtained by two chemical methods

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) was synthesized at the ratio of Zr/Ti=52/48 using two synthesis methods: the polymeric precursor method (PPM) and the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method (MAHM). The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size distribution by sedimentation, hysteresis measurements and photoluminescence (PL). The results showed that PZT powders are composed of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases. Different particle sizes and morphologies were obtained depending upon the synthesis method. From the hysteresis loop verified that PZT powders synthesized by the PPM have a typical loop of ferroelectric material and are more influenced by spatial charges while particles synthesized by the MAHM have a hysteresis loop similar to paraelectric material and are less influenced by spatial charges. Both samples showed PL behavior in the green region (525 nm) whereas the sample synthesized by the PPM showed higher intensity in spectra. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Disturbances, elevation, topography and spatial proximity drive vegetation patterns along an altitudinal gradient of a top biodiversity hotspot

The correlation between vegetation patterns (species distribution and richness) and altitudinal variation has been widely reported for tropical forests, thereby providing theoretical basis for biodiversity conservation. However, this relationship may have been oversimplified, as many other factors may influence vegetation patterns, such as disturbances, topography and geographic distance. Considering these other factors, our primary question was: is there a vegetation pattern associated with substantial altitudinal variation (10-1,093 m a.s.l.) in the Atlantic Rainforest-a top hotspot for biodiversity conservation-and, if so, what are the main factors driving this pattern? We addressed this question by sampling 11 1-ha plots, applying multivariate methods, correlations and variance partitioning. The Restinga (forest on sandbanks along the coastal plains of Brazil) and a lowland area that was selectively logged 40 years ago were floristically isolated from the other plots. The maximum species richness (>200 spp. per hectare) occurred at approximately 350 m a.s.l. (submontane forest). Gaps, multiple stemmed trees, average elevation and the standard deviation of the slope significantly affected the vegetation pattern. Spatial proximity also influenced the vegetation pattern as a structuring environmental variable or via dispersal constraints. Our results clarify, for the first time, the key variables that drive species distribution and richness across a large altitudinal range within the Atlantic Rainforest. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Measurement of neutral strange particle production in the underlying event in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV

Measurements are presented of the production of primary KS0 and Λ particles in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV in the region transverse to the leading charged-particle jet in each event. The average multiplicity and average scalar transverse momentum sum of KS0 and Λ particles measured at pseudorapidities |η|<2 rise with increasing charged-particle jet pT in the range 1-10 GeV/c and saturate in the region 10-50 GeV/c. The rise and saturation of the strange-particle yields and transverse momentum sums in the underlying event are similar to those observed for inclusive charged particles, which confirms the impact-parameter picture of multiple parton interactions. The results are compared to recent tunes of the pythia Monte Carlo event generator. The pythia simulations underestimate the data by 15%-30% for KS0 mesons and by about 50% for Λ baryons, a deficit similar to that observed for the inclusive strange-particle production in non-single-diffractive proton-proton collisions. The constant strange- to charged-particle activity ratios with respect to the leading jet pT and similar trends for mesons and baryons indicate that the multiparton-interaction dynamics is decoupled from parton hadronization, which occurs at a later stage. © 2013 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Ethanol electro-oxidation in an alkaline medium using Pd/C, Au/C and PdAu/C electrocatalysts prepared by electron beam irradiation

Carbon-supported Pd, Au and bimetallic PdAu (Pd:Au 90:10, 50:50 and 30:70 atomic ratios) electrocatalysts were prepared using electron beam irradiation. The obtained materials were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and their catalytic activities toward ethanol electro-oxidation were evaluated in an alkaline medium using electrochemical techniques, in situ attenuated total reflectance Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis and a single alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell (ADEFC). EDX analyses showed that the actual Pd: Au atomic ratios were very similar to the nominal ones. X-ray diffractograms of PdAu/C electrocatalysts evidenced the presence of Pd-rich (fcc) and Au-rich (fcc) phases. TEM analysis showed a homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles on the carbon support, with an average size in the range of 3-5 nm and broad size distributions. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) experiments revealed the superior ambient activity toward ethanol electro-oxidation of PdAu/C electrocatalysts with Pd: Au ratios of 90:10 and 50:50. In situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopy measurements have shown that the mechanism for ethanol electro-oxidation is dependent on catalyst composition, leading to different reaction products, such as acetaldehyde and acetate, depending on the number of electrons transferred. Experiments on a single ADEFC were conducted between 50 and 900 C, and the best performance of 44 mW cm-2 in 2.0molL-1 ethanol was obtained at 850C for the Pd:Au 90:10 catalysts. This superior performance is most likely associated with enhancement of ethanol adsorption on Pd, oxidation of the intermediates, the presence of gold oxide-hydroxyl species, low mean particle diameters and better distribution of particles on the support. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

As chuvas no Paraná: Variabilidade, teleconexões, e impactos de eventos extremos

Pós-graduação em Geografia - FCT

Correlação linear e espacial da produtividade de forragem de milho com atributos físicos de um latossolo vermelho distrófico

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Influência da granulometria e de aditivos no comportamento reológico do rejeito de lavagem da bauxita

Na mineração da bauxita no município de Paragominas-PA, são descartados no processo de beneficiamento rejeitos com teor de sólido de 33,5 % e granulometria muito fina com D₅₀ abaixo de 5 μm. Esses fatores contribuem para que esta suspensão formada basicamente por silico aluminatos, com elevada concentração de argila caulinita, apresente alta viscosidade e alta tensão inicial de escoamento. Foi realizada análise granulométrica e determinadas as composições químicas e mineralógicas do material. A análise granulométrica foi feita por peneiramento a úmido e as frações finas foram determinadas pela técnica da difração a laser. A determinação da composição química foi feita por Espectrometria de Fluorescência de Raios-X, obtendo-se considerável teor de alumina aproveitável, 21, 28%. A composição mineralógica foi determinada por Difração de Raios-X (DRX), obtendo-se gibsita, hematita, quartzo e caulinita. Realizou-se a determinação dos fatores de atrito da polpa, utilizando equação para fluidos que seguem o modelo de Herschel-Bulkley e utilizando as correlações de Dodge e Metzner. Utilizou-se o viscosímetro VT550, com sensor tipo cilindros coaxiais SV1, para realizar testes de defloculação e floculação utilizando diferentes aditivos reológicos. Os aditivos utilizados foram: hexametafosfato de sódio, hidroxamato, sulfato de alumínio, poliacrilato de sódio e poliacrilamida 25% aniônica. A programação foi taxa de cisalhamento de 100 s^-1, tempo de 20s e temperatura de 32ºC. Os defloculantes podem ser utilizados para melhorar o processo de bombeamento e os floculantes podem ser utilizados como auxiliadores no processo de sedimentação nos espessadores, auxiliando no processo de separação sólido-líquido. Foram realizadas ainda, análises de viscosidade em polpas com diferentes pH e em amostras passante a 400# Tyler, com o objetivo de avaliar se a granulometria e o pH influenciavam no comportamento dos aditivos. Pelo estudo observou-se que a granulometria e o pH influenciam no comportamento dos aditivos, pois quanto menor a granulometria mais eficiente é a atuação do aditivo e o seu comportamento como floculante ou defloculante está condicionado ao ajuste do pH.

Study of the production of charged pions, kaons, and protons in pPb collisions at root SNN=5.02 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Comparative study for hardwood and softwood forest biomass: Chemical characterization, combustion phases and gas and particulate matter emissions

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

An investigation into the influence of zinc precursor on the microstructural, photoluminescence, and gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Extracting Information from Qubit-Environment Correlations

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Semi-supervised learning with concept drift using particle dynamics applied to network intrusion detection data

Concept drift, which refers to non stationary learning problems over time, has increasing importance in machine learning and data mining. Many concept drift applications require fast response, which means an algorithm must always be (re)trained with the latest available data. But the process of data labeling is usually expensive and/or time consuming when compared to acquisition of unlabeled data, thus usually only a small fraction of the incoming data may be effectively labeled. Semi-supervised learning methods may help in this scenario, as they use both labeled and unlabeled data in the training process. However, most of them are based on assumptions that the data is static. Therefore, semi-supervised learning with concept drifts is still an open challenging task in machine learning. Recently, a particle competition and cooperation approach has been developed to realize graph-based semi-supervised learning from static data. We have extend that approach to handle data streams and concept drift. The result is a passive algorithm which uses a single classifier approach, naturally adapted to concept changes without any explicit drift detection mechanism. It has built-in mechanisms that provide a natural way of learning from new data, gradually "forgetting" older knowledge as older data items are no longer useful for the classification of newer data items. The proposed algorithm is applied to the KDD Cup 1999 Data of network intrusion, showing its effectiveness.