In situ and in vitro comparison of laser fluorescence with visual inspection in detecting occlusal caries lesions

The aim of this study was to compare the in situ and in vitro performances of a laser fluorescence (LF) device (DIAGNOdent 2095) with visual inspection for the detection of occlusal caries in permanent teeth. Sixty-four sites were selected, and visual inspection and LF assessments were carried out, in vitro, three times by two independent examiners, with a 1-week interval between evaluations. Afterwards, the occlusal surfaces were mounted on the palatal portion of removable acrylic orthodontic appliances and placed in six volunteers. Assessments were repeated and validated by histological analysis of the tooth sections under a stereomicroscope. For both examiners, the highest intra-examiner values were observed for the visual inspection when in vitro and in situ evaluations were compared. The inter-examiner reproducibility varied from 0.61 to 0.64, except for the in vitro assessment using LF, which presented a lower value (0.43). The methods showed high specificity at the D(1) threshold (considering enamel and dentin caries as disease). In vitro evaluations showed the highest values of sensitivity for both methods when compared to the in situ evaluations at D(1) and D(2) (considering only dentinal caries as the disease) thresholds. For both methods, the results of sensitivity (at D(1) and D(2)) and accuracy (at D(1)) showed significant differences between in vitro and in situ conditions. However, the sensitivity (at D(1) and D(2)), specificity and accuracy (both at D(1)) of the methods were not significantly different when the same condition was considered. It can be concluded that visual inspection and LF showed better performance in vitro than in situ.

Bicomplexes and conservation laws in non-Abelian Toda models

A bicomplex structure is associated with the Leznov-Saveliev equation of integrable models. The linear problem associated with the zero-curvature condition is derived in terms of the bicomplex linear equation. The explicit example of a non-Abelian conformal affine Toda model is discussed in detail and its conservation laws are derived from the zero-curvature representation of its equation of motion.

A Non-Destructive Testing Based on Electromagnetic Measurements and Neural Networks for the Inspection of Concrete Structures

This paper presents a new non-destructive testing (NDT) for reinforced concrete structures, in order to identify the components of their reinforcement. A time varying electromagnetic field is generated close to the structure by electromagnetic devices specially designed for this purpose. The presence of ferromagnetic materials (the steel bars of the reinforcement) immersed in the concrete disturbs the magnetic field at the surface of the structure. These field alterations are detected by sensors coils placed on the concrete surface. Variations in position and cross section (the size) of steel bars immersed in concrete originate slightly different values for the induced voltages at the coils.. The values for the induced voltages were obtained in laboratory tests, and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural networks with Levemberg-Marquardt training algorithm were used to identify the location and size of the bar. Preliminary results can be considered very good.

DIAGNOSIS of REGIONAL CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW ABNORMALITIES USING SPECT: AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIVIDUALIZED STATISTICAL PARAMETRIC MAPS and VISUAL INSPECTION BY NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICIANS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS of EXPERTISE IN NUCLEAR NEUROLOGY

INTRODUCTION: Visual analysis is widely used to interpret regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) SPECT images in clinical practice despite its limitations. Automated methods are employed to investigate between-group rCBF differences in research Studies but have rarely been explored in individual analyses.OBJECTIVES: To compare visual inspection by nuclear physicians with the automated statistical parametric mapping program using a SPECT dataset of patients with neurological disorders and normal control images.METHODS: Using statistical parametric mapping, 14 SPECT images from patients with various neurological disorders were compared individually with a databank of 32 normal images using a statistical threshold of p<0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons at the level of individual voxels or clusters). Statistical parametric mapping results were compared with Visual analyses by a nuclear physician highly experienced in neurology (A) as well as a nuclear physician with a general background of experience (B) who independently classified images as normal or altered, and determined the location of changes and the severity.RESULTS: of the 32 images of the normal databank, 4 generated maps showing rCBF abnormalities (p<0.05, corrected). Among the 14 images from patients with neurological disorders, 13 showed rCBF alterations. Statistical parametric mapping and physician A completely agreed on 84.37% and 64.28% of cases from the normal databank and neurological disorders, respectively. The agreement between statistical parametric mapping and ratings of physician B were lower (71.18% and 35.71%, respectively).CONCLUSION: Statistical parametric mapping replicated the findings described by the more experienced nuclear physician. This finding suggests that automated methods for individually analyzing rCBF SPECT images may be a valuable resource to complement visual inspection in clinical practice.

Conservation laws for non-potential operators

A study was developed in order to build a function M invariant in time, by means of Hamiltonian's formulation, taking into account the equation associated to the problem, showing that starting from this function the equation of motion of the system with the contour conditions for non-conservative considered problems can be obtained. The Hamiltonian method is extended for these kind of systems in order to validate for non-potential operators through variational approach.

Digital radiography for the inspection of weld seams of pipelines - better sensitivity

Conventional radiography, using industrial radiographic films, has its days numbered. Digital radiography, recently, has taken its place in various segments of products and services, such as medicine, aerospace, security, automotive, etc. As well as the technological trend, the digital technique has brought proven benefits in terms of productivity, sensitivity, the environment, tools for image treatment, cost reductions, etc. If the weld to be inspected is on a serried product, such as, for example, a pipe, the best option for the use of digital radiography is the plane detector, since its use can reduce the length of the inspection cycle due to its high degree of automation. This work tested welded joints produced with the submerged arc process, which were specially prepared in such a way that it shows small artificial cracks, which served as the basis forcomparing the sensitivity levels of the techniques involved. After carrying out the various experiments, the digital meth odshowed the highest sensitivity for the image quality indicator (IQI) of the wire and also in terms of detecting small discontinuities, indicating that the use of digital radiography using the plane detector had advantages over the conventional technique (Moreira et al. Digital radiography, the use of plane detectors for the inspection of welds in oil pipes and gas pipes.9th COTEQ and XXV National Testing Congress for Non Destructive Testing and Inspection; Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and Bavendiek et al. New digital radiography procedure exceeds film sensitivity considerably in aerospace applications. ECNDT; 2006; Berlin). The works were carried out on the basis of the specifications for oil and gas pipelines, API 5L 2004 edition (American Petroleum Institute. API 5L: specification for line pipe. 4th ed. p. 155; 2004) and ISO 3183 2007 edition (International Organization for Standardization, ISO 3183. Petroleum and gas industries - steel pipes for pi pelines transportation systems. p. 143; 2007). © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

A comparison of performance indexes in DC-DC converters under different stabilizing state-dependent switching laws

This paper deals with the problem of establishing stabilizing state-dependent switching laws in DC-DC converters operating at continuous conduction mode (CCM) and comparing their performance indexes. Firstly, the nature of the problem is defined, that is, the study of switched affine systems, which may not share a common equilibrium point. The concept of stability is, therefore, broadened. Then, the central theorem is proposed, from which a family of switching laws can be derived, namely the minimum law and the hold state law. Some of these are proved to stabilize the basic DC-DC converters and then, their performances are compared to another law, from a previous work, by simulation, where a great reduction in overshoot is obtained. © 2011 IEEE.

DE SITTER TRANSITIVITY, CONFORMAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND CONSERVATION LAWS

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

Characterization of natural rubber membranes using scaling laws analysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Processo de renovação do auto de vistoria do corpo de bombeiros

This work deals with the stages of the process of renewal of a Notice of Inspection of Fire Department (AVCB) set of structural measures, technical and organizational integrated to ensure the building an optimum level of protection in the security segment fire and panic according to the laws of fire safety standards. The work presented all the literature about the process, their justifications to force deploy in a company to fire safety, the benefits that this standard offers, the facilities in a company that has a AVCB and the great importance in society, presents some examples where there contained the fire safety regulations and their unhappy outcomes, difficulties encountered, examples of how to proceed, step by step and the lesson that this process requires great care, dedication, professionals with the required knowledge and severity to completion

A instalação do serviço de inspeção escolar na Província de São Paulo (1835-1887)

This article discusses the establishment of the school inspection service in the Province of Sao Paulo between the implementation of the Provincial Legislature in 1835 and the last years of the monarchy. In this work, were taken as sources - the Collection of Laws and Decrees of the Province of São Paulo (1835-1889); Speeches of the Presidents of the Province given annually at the opening of the Assembly of S„o Paulo (1835-1889), and the reports of the General Inspectors presented to the President of the Province (1851-1889). To give theoretical support to this analysis, we used the categories of Weberian bureaucratic organization.