Systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia in relation to body mass index: evaluation of a Brazilian population

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia in a Brazilian population in relation to body mass index. METHOD: Retrospective evaluation of 1213 adults (mean age: 45.2 ± 12.8; 80.6% females) divided into groups according to body mass index [normal (18.5 - 24.4 kg/m²); overweight (25 - 29.9 kg/m²); grade 1 obesity (30 - 34.9 kg/m²); grade 2 obesity (35 - 39.9 kg/m²), and grade 3 obesity (> 40 kg/m²)]. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia were analyzed in each group. The severity of cardiovascular risk was determined. High-risk patients were considered those reporting 2 or more of the following factors: systemic hypertension, HDL < 35 mg/dL, total cholesterol > 240 mg/dL, triglycerides > 200 mg/dL when HDL < 35 mg/dL, and glycemia > 126 mg/dL. Moderate-risk patients were those reporting 2 or more of the following factors: systemic hypertension, HDL < 45, triglycerides > 200 mg/dL, and total cholesterol > 200 mg/dL. RESULTS: The prevalence of systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-cholesterol levels increased along with weight, but the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia did not. The odds ratio adjusted for gender and age, according to grade of obesity compared with patients with normal weight were respectively 5.9, 8.6, and 14.8 for systemic hypertension, 3.8, 5.8, and 9.2 for diabetes mellitus and 1.2, 1.3, and 2.6 for hypertriglyceridemia. We also verified that body mass index was positively related to cardiovascular high risk (P < .001) CONCLUSION: In our population, cardiovascular risk increased along with body mass index.

Occurrence, body mass and biomass of Syntermes spp. (Isoptera: Termitidae) in Reserva Ducke, Central Amazonia

The leaf-feeding species Syntermes molestus and S. spinosus are two dominant termite species in Reserva Ducke in Central Amazonia; two other species (S. aculeosus, S. longiceps) exist in the area. All species except S. aculeosus were also found in urban areas. The workers of S. molestus and S. spinosus have average body dry weights of 4.5±0.2 and 13.1±1.4 mg, and the weight of their soldiers is 8.2±0.2 and 51.0±1.7 mg, respectively. Therefore, S. spinosus is among the largest termites of the world. In both species, fresh weight is about 4.7 higher than dry weight (a wider relation than in other termite species). The biomass of the populations of both species amounted to about 1 g m-2 (dry weight; indirect estimate), which rises previous assessments of the total termite biomass by about 36-45%, to a value of 3.0-3.5 g m-2.

Dynamic range prediction for an electric vehicle

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have limited energy storage capacity and the maximum autonomy range is strongly dependent of the driver's behaviour. Due to the fact of that batteries cannot be recharged quickly during a journey, it is essential that a precise range prediction is available to the driver of the EV. With this information, it is possible to check if the desirable destination is achievable without a stop to charge the batteries, or even, if to reach the destination it is necessary to perform an optimized driving (e.g., cutting the air-conditioning, among others EV parameters). The outcome of this research work is the development of an Electric Vehicle Assistant (EVA). This is an application for mobile devices that will help users to take efficient decisions about route planning, charging management and energy efficiency. Therefore, it will contribute to foster EVs adoption as a new paradigm in the transportation sector.

On-board electric vehicle battery charger with enhanced V2H operation mode

This paper proposes an on-board Electric Vehicle (EV) battery charger with enhanced Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) operation mode. For such purpose was adapted an on-board bidirectional battery charger prototype to allow the Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and V2H operation modes. Along the paper are presented the hardware topology and the control algorithms of this battery charger. The idea underlying to this paper is the operation of the on-board bidirectional battery charger as an energy backup system when occurs a power outages. For detecting the power outage were compared two strategies, one based on the half-cycle rms calculation of the power grid voltage, and another in the determination of the rms value based in a Kalman filter. The experimental results were obtained considering the on-board EV battery charger under the G2V, V2G, and V2H operation modes. The results show that the power outage detection is faster using a Kalman filter, up to 90% than the other strategy. This also enables a faster transition between operation modes when a power outage occurs.

Electric vehicle assistant based in driver profile

This paper presents the outcomes of a research work consisting in the development of an Electric Vehicle Assistant (EVA), which creates and stores a driver profile where are contained the driving behaviours related with the EV energy consumption, the EV battery charging information, and the performed routes. This is an application for mobile devices that is able to passively track the driver behaviour and to access several information related with the EV in real time. It is also proposed a range prediction approach based on probability to take into account unpredictable effects of personal driving style, traffic or weather.

Vehicle-to-anything application (v2anything app) for electric vehicles

This paper presents a mobile information system denominated as Vehicle-to-Anything Application (V2Anything App), and explains its conceptual aspects. This application is aimed at giving relevant information to Full Electric Vehicle (FEV) drivers, by supporting the integration of several sources of data in a mobile application, thus contributing to the deployment of the electric mobility process. The V2Anything App provides recommendations to the drivers about the FEV range autonomy, location of battery charging stations, information of the electricity market, and also a route planner taking into account public transportations and car or bike sharing systems. The main contributions of this application are related with the creation of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform, recommender systems, data integration systems, driver profile, and personalized range prediction. Thus, it is possible to deliver relevant information to the FEV drivers related with the electric mobility process, electricity market, public transportation, and the FEV performance.

Smart charging management for electric vehicle battery chargers

This paper proposes a smart battery charging strategy for Electric Vehicles (EVs) targeting the future smart homes. The proposed strategy consists in regulate the EV battery charging current in function of the total home current, aiming to prevent overcurrent trips in the main switch breaker. Computational and experimental results were obtained under real-time conditions to validate the proposed strategy. For such purpose was adapted a bidirectional EV battery charger prototype to operate in accordance with the aforementioned strategy. The proposed strategy was validated through experimental results obtained both in steady and transient states. The results show the correct operation of the EV battery charger even under heavy load variations.

A case study on the conversion of an internal combustion engine vehicle into an electric vehicle

This paper presents the conversion process of a traditional Internal Combustion Engine vehicle into an Electric Vehicle. The main constitutive elements of the Electric Vehicle are presented. The developed powertrain uses a three-phase inverter with Field Oriented Control and space vector modulation. The developed on-board batteries charging system can operate in Grid-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Grid modes. The implemented prototypes were tested, and experimental results are presented. The assembly of these prototypes in the vehicle was made in accordance with the Portuguese legislation about vehicles conversion, and the main adopted solutions are presented.

A decision support system for a waste collection vehicle routing problem

The selective collection of municipal solid waste for recycling is a very complex and expensive process, where a major issue is to perform cost-efficient waste collection routes. Despite the abundance of commercially available software for fleet management, they often lack the capability to deal properly with sequencing problems and dynamic revision of plans and schedules during process execution. Our approach to achieve better solutions for the waste collection process is to model it as a vehicle routing problem, more specifically as a team orienteering problem where capacity constraints on the vehicles are considered, as well as time windows for the waste collection points and for the vehicles. The final model is called capacitated team orienteering problem with double time windows (CTOPdTW).We developed a genetic algorithm to solve routing problems in waste collection modelled as a CTOPdTW. The results achieved suggest possible reductions of logistic costs in selective waste collection.

Compêndio do clarinete: um contributo para a sistematização dos recursos técnicos e expressivos no nível secundário do ensino vocacional

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino da Música

Evaluation of the bond performance in FRP-brick components re-bonded after initial delamination

The bond behavior between Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) and masonry substrates has been the subject of many studies during the last years. Recent accelerated aging tests have shown that bond degradation and FRP delamination are likely to occur in FRP-strengthened masonry components under hygrothermal conditions. While an investigation on the possible methods to improve the durability of these systems is necessary, the applicability of different bond repair methods should also be studied. This paper aims at investigating the debonding mechanisms after repairing delaminated FRP-strengthened masonry components. FRP-strengthened brick specimens, after being delaminated, are repaired with two different adhesives: a conventional epoxy resin and a highly flexible polymer. The latter is used as an innovative adhesive in structural applications. The bond behavior in the repaired specimens is investigated by performing single-lap shear bond tests. Digital image correlation (DIC) is used for deeper investigation of the surface deformation and strains development. The effectiveness of the repair methods is discussed and compared with the strengthened specimens.

Masonry components

Masonry is a non-homogeneous material, composed of units and mortar, which can be of different types, with distinct mechanical properties. The design of both masonry units and mortar is based on the role of the walls in the building. Load-bearing walls relate to structural elements that bear mainly vertical loads, but can serve also to resist to horizontal loads. When a structural masonry building is submitted to in-plane and out-of-plane loadings induced by an earthquake for example, the masonry walls are the structural elements that ensure the global stability of the building. This means that the walls should have adequate mechanical properties that enable them to resist to different combinations of compressive, shear and tensile stresses.The boundary conditions influence the resisting mechanisms of the structural walls under in-plane loading and in a buildings the connection at the intersection walls are of paramount importance for the out-of-plane resisting mechanism. However, it is well established that the masonry mechanical properties are also relevant for the global mechanical performance of the structural masonry walls. Masonry units for load-bearing walls are usually laid so that their perforations are vertically oriented, whereas for partition walls, brick units with horizontal perforation are mostly adopted.

Nutritional status and food intake at workplace as health indicators for industrial workers

This study aimed to verify the correlation among the nutritional composition of the food consumed in the work environment, the energy expenditure and the nutritional status of workers from different sectors (administration and production) in different industries. The anthropometric data, in addition to the energy expenditure and food intake at lunch were evaluated for 292 workers, all of them included in the Brazilian Worker Food Program (also called PAT). The food consumption was assessed from the direct observation of the meal, for five consecutive days. The obtained data were analyzed by Pearson correlation test and by a Principal Components Analysis. Prevalence of overweight was detected in the studied population, according to the Body Mass Index (BMI). A statistically significant difference was found in terms of the energy expenditure of physical activity and daily energy expenditure in relation to gender and the working sector. The obtained results indicate that there is significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between the following variables: body weight and BMI (r = 0.84), weight and daily energy expenditure (DEE) (r = 0.52), BMI and DEE (r = 0.27), DEE and energy (r = 0.38), and energy and lipid intake (r = 0.50). These findings seems to indicate the importance of ensuring an adequate balance of nutrients at meals, due to the heterogeneity of workers, in particular in the case of those workers who perform tasks or functions requiring less energy expenditure.

Bidirectional battery charger with grid-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home technologies

This paper presents the development of na on-board bidirectional battery charger for Electric Vehicles (EVs) targeting Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V), Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) technologies. During the G2V operation mode the batteries are charged from the power grid with sinusoidal current and unitary power factor. During the V2G operation mode the energy stored in the batteries can be delivered back to the power grid contributing to the power system stability. In the V2H operation mode the energy stored in the batteries can be used to supply home loads during power outages, or to supply loads in places without connection to the power grid. Along the paper the hardware topology of the bidirectional battery charger is presented and the control algorithms are explained. Some considerations about the sizing of the AC side passive filter are taken into account in order to improve the performance in the three operation modes. The adopted topology and control algorithms are accessed through computer simulations and validated by experimental results achieved with a developed laboratory prototype operating in the different scenarios.