Avaliação dos efeitos ambientais nas propriedades do compósito de poliamida 6,6/fibras de carbono

This graduation work done study of polyamide 6.6/composite carbon fibres, since its processing, characterization of the main properties. Besides the influence of temperature, UV radiation, salt spray and moisture on the mechanical and viscoelastic behavior. To achieve this goal, the first composite was processed from the heat compression molding using known variables of the process and using the empirical method to find the best value for other parameters. The method processing molding was chosen because it common in composites processing in order to evaluate the influence of crystallinity of the properties that influence the mechanical and viscoelastic behavior laminates. From the obtained laminate specimens were evaluated in weathering, such as: in hygrothermal chamber, UV, salt spray and thermal shock. In another step, the effect produced by these constraints were evaluated by optical microscopy, ultrasound, dynamic mechanical analysis and vibration tests. This project was conducted at the Department of Technology and Materials of UNESP in Guaratingueta, where all the equipment and techniques for the implementation of this project met available. After the tests proved the applicability of the composite polyamide 6.6/carbon fibers in aeronautical applications with resistance the main climatic influences

Available nitrogen and responses to nitrogen fertilizer in brazilian eucalypt plantations on soils of contrasting texture

Eucalyptus plantations have seldom responded to N fertilization in tropical and subtropical regions of Brazil. This implies that rates of N mineralization have been adequate to supply tree needs. However, subsequent crop rotations with low N fertilization may result in declining concentrations of organic and potentially mineralizable N (N-0), and consequent loss of wood productivity. This study investigated (a) in situ N mineralization and N-0 in soils of eucalypt plantations in Sao Paulo state, Brazil; (b) tree growth responses to N fertilizer applied 6-18 months after planting; and (c) the relationships between N-0,N- other soil attributes and tree growth. We established eleven N fertilizer trials (maximum 240 kg ha(-1) of N) in E. grandis and E. grandis x urophylla plantations. The soil types at most sites were Oxisols and Quartzipsamments, with a range of organic matter (18 to 55 g kg(-1)) and clay contents (8% to 67%) in the 0-20 cm layer. Concentrations of N-0 were measured using anaerobic incubation on soil samples collected every three months (different seasons). The samples collected in spring and summer had N-0 140-400 kg ha(-1) (10%-19% total soil N), which were best correlated with soil texture and organic matter content. Rates of in situ net N mineralization (0-20 cm) ranged from 100 to 200 kg ha(-1) year(-1) and were not correlated with clay, total N, or N-0. These high N mineralization rates resulted in a low response to N fertilizer application during the early ages of stand growth, which were highest on sandy soils. At the end of the crop rotation, the response to N fertilizer was negligible and non-significant at all sites.

Surgical interventions for treating pectus excavatum

Background: Pectus excavatum is characterized by a depression of the anterior chest wall (sternum and lower costal cartilages) and is the most frequently occurring chest wall deformity. The prevalence ranges from 6.28 to 12 cases per 1000 around the world. Generally pectus excavatum is present at birth or is identified after a few weeks or months; however, sometimes it becomes evident only at puberty. The consequence of the condition on a individual's life is variable, some live a normal life and others have physical and psychological symptoms such as: precordial pain after exercises; impairments of pulmonary and cardiac function; shyness and social isolation. For many years, sub-perichondrial resection of the costal cartilages, with or without transverse cuneiform osteotomy of the sternum and placement of a substernal support, called conventional surgery, was the most accepted option for surgical repair of these patients. From 1997 a new surgical repair called, minimally invasive surgery, became available. This less invasive surgical option consists of the retrosternal placement of a curved metal bar, without resections of the costal cartilages or sternum osteotomy, and is performed by videothoracoscopy. However, many aspects that relate to the benefits and harms of both techniques have not been defined. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the conventional surgery compared with minimally invasive surgery for treating people with pectus excavatum. Search methods: With the aim of increasing the sensitivity of the search strategy we used only terms related to the individual's condition (pectus excavatum); terms related to the interventions, outcomes and types of studies were not included. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and ICTPR. Additionally we searched yet reference lists of articles and conference proceedings. All searches were done without language restriction. Date of the most recent searches: 14 January 2014. Selection criteria: We considered randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials that compared traditional surgery with minimally invasive surgery for treating pectus excavatum. Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently assessed the eligibility of the trials identified and agreed trial eligibility after a consensus meeting. The authors also assessed the risk of bias of the eligible trials. Main results: Initially we located 4111 trials from the electronic searches and two further trials from other resources. All trials were added into reference management software and the duplicates were excluded, leaving 2517 studies. The titles and abstracts of these 2517 studies were independently analyzed by two authors and finally eight trials were selected for full text analysis, after which they were all excluded, as they did not fulfil the inclusion criteria. Authors' conclusions: There is no evidence from randomized controlled trials to conclude what is the best surgical option to treat people with pectus excavatum.

Techniques to improve the maintenance of a laboratory colony of Nyssomyia neivai (Diptera: Psychodidae)

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

Estudo da dinâmica de populações utilizando a técnica de polinômios de colocação

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEB

Metodologia para otimização em subcontratação de serviço de usinagem

Operational Research (OR) is an eminent science to business competitiveness and the capacity of algorithms and spreadsheets that exist today allows people to apply them for a lower cost and with less complexity. However, spreadsheets linked to OR techniques, when directed to real problems, are still little explored in their full potential. In order to use them better, this article utilizes the Microsoft Office Excel to solve an optimization practical problem and decision-making of machining subcontracting. In general, although considered a frequent problem, is not of easy solution, optimize the mix of production versus outsourcing, because of the restrictions and resources available, it requests investments in specific software. In this way, this research aims to develop software to be called SOSU (Optimization Software for Machining Subcontracting). SOSU should introduce the best mix of internal and subcontracted machining for n types of parts that, over a certain period of time t, maximize capacity and meet all the demand at the lowest cost possible. The methodology adopted follows the bibliographic reference and it is assumed that the necessary data to prove from mathematical modeling of production areas and from a system of costs already structured. The nature of the problem justifies the application of Linear Programming (LP), Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is used for computational implementation and interface with the user and the supplement Solver to find the solution. The analysis of the experiments show that the SOSU optimizes resources and improves the decision-making process, besides an easy operation, it can be implemented or quickly adapted and without the need of large investments.

Aedes aegypti proliferation in stormwater retained in Best Management Practices

The present study aimed to evaluate the risk of Aedes aegypti proliferation in structures used in compensatory techniques for urban drainage (Best Management PracticesBMPs). These drainage structures are utilised to reduce flood peaks due to surface runoff, and they have been used in many countries. However, many of these structures have been designed to keep water surfaces exposed for a certain period of time, depending on the type of project. Exposed water surfaces may become an ideal environment for A. aegypti proliferation in tropical and subtropical areas where the rainy season occurs during the summer. Thus, data regarding the mosquito life cycle, consecutive rainfall pattern and emptying time of these structures were collected. A comparison of these data led to the evaluation of the associated risk of A. aegypti proliferation in BMP structures. The risk of mosquito proliferation ranged from 1.1% to 3.3%, depending on the rainfall pattern, A. aegypti life cycle phase and BMP activity.

Pré-tratamento e hidrólise da casca de uva para liberação de açúcares fermentescíveis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comparação de métodos de estimativa da evapotranspiração de referência para região de Jaboticabal-SP

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV

Infrastructure Support for Controlled Experimentation with Software Testing and Regression Testing Techniques

Where the creation, understanding, and assessment of software testing and regression testing techniques are concerned, controlled experimentation is an indispensable research methodology. Obtaining the infrastructure necessary to support such experimentation, however, is difficult and expensive. As a result, progress in experimentation with testing techniques has been slow, and empirical data on the costs and effectiveness of techniques remains relatively scarce. To help address this problem, we have been designing and constructing infrastructure to support controlled experimentation with testing and regression testing techniques. This paper reports on the challenges faced by researchers experimenting with testing techniques, including those that inform the design of our infrastructure. The paper then describes the infrastructure that we are creating in response to these challenges, and that we are now making available to other researchers, and discusses the impact that this infrastructure has and can be expected to have.

JVM-based Techniques for Improving Java Observability

Observability measures the support of computer systems to accurately capture, analyze, and present (collectively observe) the internal information about the systems. Observability frameworks play important roles for program understanding, troubleshooting, performance diagnosis, and optimizations. However, traditional solutions are either expensive or coarse-grained, consequently compromising their utility in accommodating today’s increasingly complex software systems. New solutions are emerging for VM-based languages due to the full control language VMs have over program executions. Existing such solutions, nonetheless, still lack flexibility, have high overhead, or provide limited context information for developing powerful dynamic analyses. In this thesis, we present a VM-based infrastructure, called marker tracing framework (MTF), to address the deficiencies in the existing solutions for providing better observability for VM-based languages. MTF serves as a solid foundation for implementing fine-grained low-overhead program instrumentation. Specifically, MTF allows analysis clients to: 1) define custom events with rich semantics ; 2) specify precisely the program locations where the events should trigger; and 3) adaptively enable/disable the instrumentation at runtime. In addition, MTF-based analysis clients are more powerful by having access to all information available to the VM. To demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of MTF, we present two analysis clients: 1) dynamic typestate analysis with adaptive online program analysis (AOPA); and 2) selective probabilistic calling context analysis (SPCC). In addition, we evaluate the runtime performance of MTF and the typestate client with the DaCapo benchmarks. The results show that: 1) MTF has acceptable runtime overhead when tracing moderate numbers of marker events; and 2) AOPA is highly effective in reducing the event frequency for the dynamic typestate analysis; and 3) language VMs can be exploited to offer greater observability.

Determination of carrier mobility in MEH-PPV thin-films by stationary and transient current techniques

Charge transport and shelf-degradation of MEH-PPV thin-films were investigated through stationary (e.g. current versus voltage - JxV) and transient (e.g. Time-of-Flight - ToF, Dark-Injection Space-Charge-Limited Current - DI-SCLC, Charge Extraction by Linearly Increasing Voltage - CELN) current techniques. Charge carrier mobility in nanometric films was best characterized through JxV and DI-SCLC. It approaches 10(-6) cm(2)Ns under a SCLC regime with deep traps for light-emitting diode applications. ToF measurements performed on micrometric layers (i.e. - 3 mu m) confirmed studies in 100 nm-thick films as deposited in OLEDs. All results were comparable to a similar poly(para-phenylene vinylene) derivative, MDMO-PPV. Electrical properties extracted from thin-film transistors demonstrated mobility dependence on carrier concentration in the channel (similar to 10(-7)-10(-4) cm(2)/Vs). At low accumulated charge levels and reduced free carrier concentration, a perfect agreement to the previously cited techniques was observed. Degradation was verified through mobility reduction and changes in trap distribution of states. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selection of Top 10 Quality Indicators for Nutrition Therapy

Background: The identification of useful quality indicators for nutrition therapy (QINTs) is of great interest and a challenge. This study attempted to identify the 10 QINTs that best suit the practice of quality control in nutrition therapy (NT) by evaluating the opinion of experts in NT with the use of psychometric techniques and statistical tools. Methods: Thirty-six QINTs available for clinical application in Brazil were assessed in 2 distinct phases. In phase 1, 26 nutrition experts ranked QINTs by scoring 4 attributes (utility, simplicity, objectivity, low cost) to assess each QINT on a 5-point Likert scale. The top 10 QINTs were identified from the 10 best scores obtained, and the reliability of expert opinion for each indicator was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. In phase 2, experts provided feedback regarding the selected top 10 QINTs by answering 2 closed questions. Results: The top 10 QINTs, in descending order, are the frequency of nutrition screening of hospitalized patients, diarrhea, involuntary withdrawal of enteral feeding tubes, feeding tube obstruction, fasting longer than 24 hours, glycemic dysfunction, estimated energy expenditure and protein needs, central venous catheter infection, compliance of NT indication, and frequency of application of subjective global assessment. Opinions were consistent among the interviewed experts. During feedback, 96% of experts were satisfied with the top 10 QINTs, and 100% had considered them in accordance with their previous opinion. Conclusion: The top 10 QINTs were identified according to their usefulness in clinical practice by obtaining adequate agreement and representativeness of opinion of nutrition experts. (Nutr Clin Pract. 2012;27:261-267)

Effects of bovine sperm cryopreservation using different freezing techniques and cryoprotective agents on plasma, acrosomal and mitochondrial membranes

The success of semen cryopreservation is influenced by several factors, such as freezing curves and cryoprotectants. These two factors are of special interest once they may lead to many important physical-chemical changes resulting in different degrees of damage in spermatozoa structure. This experiment was designed to compare the effect of bull semen cryopreservation using two freezing techniques: conventional (CT cooling rate of -0.55 degrees C min-1 and freezing rate of -19.1 degrees C min-1) and automated (AT cooling rate of -0.23 degrees C min-1 and freezing rate of -15 degrees C min-1), performed with different curves, and with three cryoprotectants (glycerol, ethylene glycol and dimethyl formamide) on bovine sperm motility and integrity of plasma, acrosomal and mitochondrial membranes. These variables were simultaneously evaluated using the fluorescence probes propidium iodide, fluorescein-conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin and MitoTracker Green FM. The effects of freezing techniques, as well as of different cryoprotectants were analysed by the analysis of variance. The means were compared by Fishers test. There were no significant differences between freezing techniques (P > 0.05). Glycerol showed higher percentages of motility, vigour and integrity of plasma, acrosomal and mitochondrial membranes than other two cryoprotectants (P < 0.05). Ethylene glycol preserved higher motility and integrity of plasma and mitochondrial membranes than dimethyl formamide (P < 0.05). Sperm motility with glycerol was 30.67 +/- 1.41% and 30.50 +/- 1.06%, with ethylene glycol was 21.17 +/- 1.66% and 21.67 +/- 1.13% and with dimethyl formamide was 8.33 +/- 0.65% and 9.17 +/- 0.72% to CT and AT curves, respectively. The percentage of spermatozoa with simultaneously intact plasma membrane, intact acrosome and mitochondrial function (IPIAH) was 14.82 +/- 1.49% (CT) and 15.83 +/- 1.26% (AT) to glycerol, 9.20 +/- 1.31% (CT) and 9.92 +/- 1.29% (AT) to ethylene glycol 4.65 +/- 0.93% (CT) and 5.17 +/- 0.87% (AT) to dimethyl formamide. Glycerol provided the best results, although nearly 85% of spermatozoa showed some degree of injury in their membranes, suggesting that further studies are required to improve the results of cryopreservation of bovine semen.

Comparison between two surgical techniques for prenatal correction of meningomyelocele in sheep

OBJECTIVE: To compare the classical neurosurgical technique with a new simplified technique for prenatal repair of a myelomeningocelelike defect in sheep. METHODS: A myelomeningocele-like defect (laminectomy and dural excision) was created in the lumbar region on day 90 of gestation in 9 pregnant sheep. Correction technique was randomized. In Group 1 the defect was corrected using the classic neurosurgical technique of three-layer suture (dura mater, muscle and skin closure) performed by a neurosurgeon. In Group 2, a fetal medicine specialist used a biosynthetic cellulose patch to protect the spinal cord and only the skin was sutured above it. Near term (day 132 of gestation) fetuses were sacrificed for pathological analysis. RESULTS: There were two miscarriages and one maternal death. In total, six cases were available for pathological analysis, three in each group. In Group 1, there were adherence of the spinal cord to the scar (meningo-neural adhesion) and spinal cord architecture loss with posterior funiculus destruction and no visualization of grey matter. In Group 2, we observed in all cases formation of a neo-dura mater, separating the nervous tissue from adjacent muscles, and preserving the posterior funiculus and grey matter. CONCLUSION: The new simplified technique was better than the classic neurosurgical technique. It preserved the nervous tissue and prevented the adherence of the spinal cord to the scar. This suggests the current technique used for the correction of spina bifida in humans may need to be reassessed.