Projeto de experimentos em rodas ferroviárias fundidas em aço, com o uso da técnica de Taguchi

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Genes candidatos a marcadores tumorais na progressão do adenocarcinoma de próstata indentificados por análise de HR-CGH e CGH-ARRAY

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

Estudo da contaminação do lençol freático através da integração de técnicas geofísicas e geoquímicas em Ji-Paraná-RO

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Investigação por eletroresistividade de ambientes cársticos no município de São João de Pirabas - PA

A presente tese procura investigar ambientes cársticos, usando os métodos eletroresistivos de sondagem elétrica vertical e caminhamento dipolo-dipolo. A área piloto para essa investigação está localizada na porção nordeste do Estado do Pará, no Município de São João de Pirabas. Nessa localidade, durante a perfuração de um poço para abastecimento de água para a cidade, a equipe de prospecção da Fundação Nacional de Saúde encontrou problemas devido a presença de cavidades nos calcários da Formação Pirabas. Para analisar esse problema foram realizadas 15 sondagens elétricas verticais, usando o arranjo Schlumberger, em diversos pontos da cidade. A abertura máxima dos eletrodos de corrente, para a realização das sondagens, foi em torno de 600 metros. As curvas de resistividade aparente das sondagens foram, inicialmente, interpretadas usando programas computacionais que calculam as resistividade do meio investigado com modelos unidimensionais, sem variações laterais de resistividade. Porém, as sondagens realizadas próximas ao poço, onde ocorrem cavernas, foram interpretadas usando modelos bidimensionais para representar as variações laterais de resistividade devido às cavernas. O algoritmo usado para essa interpretação se baseia na técnica dos elementos finitos. Os resultados das interpretações das sondagens elétricas, para os vários modelos de cavernas estudados, mostraram que as anomalias de resistividade devido a presença de cavernas são muito pequenas. Devido a este fato, o método de sondagem elétrica vertical não apresentou boa resolução para identificar com precisão a presença deste tipo de caverna em subsuperfície. Por outro lado, os resultados numéricos obtidos pelo caminhamento dipolo-dipolo mostraram que esse método é mais eficiente e menos ambíguo, para estudar cavernas, que o método de sondagem elétrica vertical. Contudo o método de caminhamento dipolo-dipolo é muito mais dispendioso do que o de sondagem elétrica verticais, tanto do ponto de vista de trabalho de campo como no processamento e interpretação de dados.

Um estudo sobre a certificação ISO 9001 no Brasil: mapeamento de motivações, benefícios e dificuldades

This work aims to identify the main motivations and difficulties faced by Brazilian companies to obtain ISO 9001 certification. The key quality management practices that provide support to this certification and the relationship with other types of systems, such as ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System), were also investigated. A survey research was conducted with 191 companies. The main motivations for implementing ISO 9001 are the following: internal organization improvement, production efficiency increase, and brand reliability improvement. Employee resistance was the greatest challenge found during the implementation process. On the other hand, the main benefits identified were: quality processes improvement and increased employee awareness of quality. The results reveal that the most common quality programs and tools used are: 5S, brainstorming, and Ishikawa diagram, while the least common are SERVQUAL and QFD.

Ultrasonic non-destructive testing of plate-like structures using piezoelectric array transducers

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

Visuomotor processing and hand force coordination in dyslexic children during a visually guided manipulation task

Developmental Dyslexia negatively affects children's reading and writing ability and, in most cases, performance in sensorimotor tasks. These deficits have been associated with structural and functional alterations in the cerebellum and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). Both neural structures are active during visually guided force control and in the coordination of load force (LF) and grip force (GF) during manipulation tasks. Surprisingly, both phenomena have not been investigated in dyslexic children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare dyslexic and non-dyslexic children regarding their visuomotor processing ability and GF-LF coordination during a static manipulation task. Thirteen dyslexic (8-14YO) and 13 age- and sex-matched non-dyslexic (control) children participated in the study. They were asked to grasp a fixed instrumented handle using the tip of all digits and pull the handle upward exerting isometric force to match a ramp-and-hold force profile displayed in a computer monitor. Task performance (i.e., visuomotor coordination) was assessed by RMSE calculated in both ramp and hold phases. GF-LF coordination was assessed by the ratio between GF and LF (GF/LF) calculated at both phases and the maximum value of a cross-correlation function (r(max)) and its respective time lag calculated at ramp phase. The results revealed that the RMSE at both phases was larger in dyslexic than in control children. However, we found that GF/LF, rmax, and time lags were similar between groups. Those findings indicate that dyslexic children have a mild deficit in visuomotor processing but preserved GF-LF coordination. Altogether, these findings suggested that dyslexic children could present mild structural and functional alterations in specific PPC or cerebellum areas that are directly related to visuomotor processing. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oil-in-water biocompatible microemulsion as a carrier for the antitumor drug compound methyl dihydrojasmonate

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Profile and crowding of currents in mesoscopic superconductors with an array of antidots

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

A Monte Carlo study of the anisotropic N=3 Ashkin-Teller model

The phase diagram of an asymmetric N = 3 Ashkin-Teller model is obtained by a numerical analysis which combines Monte Carlo renormalization group and reweighting techniques. Present results reveal several differences with those obtained by mean-field calculations and a Hamiltonian approach. In particular, we found Ising critical exponents along a line where Goldschmidt has located the Kosterlitz-Thouless multicritical point. On the other hand, we did find nonuniversal exponents along another transition line. Symmetry breaking in this case is very similar to the N = 2 case, since the symmetries associated to only two of the Ising variables are broken. However, for large values of the coupling constant ratio XW = W/K, when the only broken symmetry is of a hidden variable, we detected first-order phase transitions giving evidence supporting the existence of a multicritical point, as suggested by Goldschmidt, but in a different region of the phase diagram. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Quality and dose optimization in hand computed radiography

The objective of the present study was to optimize a radiographic technique for hand examinations using a computed radiography (CR) system and demonstrate the potential for dose reductions compared with clinically established technique. An exposure index was generated from the optimized technique to guide operators when imaging hands. Homogeneous and anthropomorphic phantoms that simulated a patient's hand were imaged using a CR system at various tube voltages and current settings (40-55 kVp, 1.25-2.8 mAs), including those used in clinical routines (50 kVp, 2.0 mAs) to obtain an optimized chart. The homogeneous phantom was used to assess objective parameters that are associated with image quality, including the signal difference-to-noise ratio (SdNR), which is used to define a figure of merit (FOM) in the optimization process. The anthropomorphic phantom was used to subjectively evaluate image quality using Visual Grading Analysis (VGA) that was performed by three experienced radiologists. The technique that had the best VGA score and highest FOM was considered the gold standard (GS) in the present study. Image quality, dose and the exposure index that are currently used in the clinical routine for hand examinations in our institution were compared with the GS technique. The effective dose reduction was 67.0%. Good image quality was obtained for both techniques, although the exposure indices were 1.60 and 2.39 for the GS and clinical routine, respectively.

Tradução para o português brasileiro, adaptação transcultural e validação do 3D Assessment of Hand Function

Pós-graduação em Bases Gerais da Cirurgia - FMB

Validation of a stability-indicating HPLC method with diode array detection for the determination of beclomethasone dipropionate in aqueous suspension for nebulizer

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evaluation of discomfort in manual activities using hand mapping: the influence of age

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

Efeitos da ingestão de simbiótico e indol-3-carbinol sobre o processo de carcinogênese química de cólon em ratos Wistar alimentados com dieta contendo heme

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