A Perda Auditiva Induzida pelo Ruído (PAIR) na formação odontológica: conhecimentos e níveis de exposição

The rationalization of work in the Dentistry has been taking the professional to work for ways and systems based in the ergonomics, turning their work efficient and less tiring. Since their academic formation, the dentists surgeons are concerned with the high productivity in clinic and with the final result of the work, neglecting the way as it is executed, which reduce their work capacity and exhibits them to occupational diseases that could be minimized and/or forewarned. This research had as the main objective to investigate the knowledge of the Dentistry academics of Rio Grande do Norte Federal University concerning the Noise-induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), relating them at the noise levels that they are exposed, as well as to the preventive measures taken during the clinical activities. Was observed that 95% of the individuals know that the dentist surgeon is a professional in risk for NIHL. Among the causes of NIHL, the one that obtained the largest frequency citation was the high-speed handpieces, reminded by 92,4% of the academics. Among the students which enumerated protective measures for NIHL, 92% mentioned the use of the ear plugs, although 97% of the researched have told do not use any kind of preventive measure related to the noise. Was also observed that 96% of the academics notice the noise during the clinical attendance, what inconvenience 28,1% of them. Related the noise levels, the high-speed handpieces of the academics presented a medium value of 80,5 dB varying from 72,3 to 88,3 dB. The average of the ambient noise observed at the Integrated Clinic was about 74,8 dB. In spite of the noise levels in this research were observed below the established limits of tolerance by the legislation, they can provoke damages to the Dentistry professionals' health, or that suggests the need of an intervention and use of immediate preventive measures able to generate a healthy atmosphere of work and less risky

A neural system to robust Nonlinear optimization subject to disjoint and constrained sets

The ability of neural networks to realize some complex nonlinear function makes them attractive for system identification. This paper describes a novel method using artificial neural networks to solve robust parameter estimation problems for nonlinear models with unknown-but-bounded errors and uncertainties. More specifically, a modified Hopfield network is developed and its internal parameters are computed using the valid-subspace technique. These parameters guarantee the network convergence to the equilibrium points. A solution for the robust estimation problem with unknown-but-bounded error corresponds to an equilibrium point of the network. Simulation results are presented as an illustration of the proposed approach.

Mercury emissions from forest burning in southern Amazon

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

Relationship between visualization of meiotic spindle in human oocytes and ICSI outcomes: a meta-analysis

The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the influence of meiotic spindle visualization in human oocytes on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes. Search strategies included on-line Surveys of databases (MEDLINE, em BASE, Science Citation Index, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and Ovid). The fixed effect was used for odds ratio. Ten trials fulfilled the inclusion criteria comparing in-vitro and clinical ICSI outcomes with or without visualization of meiotic spindle in fresh and in-vivo matured oocytes. According to the meta-analysis, the results showed statistically significant higher fertilization rate (P < 0.0001) when the meiotic spindle was viewed than when it was not. Moreover, the percentage of pro-nuclear-stage embyros with good morphology (P = 0.003), cleavage rate (P < 0.0001), percentage of day-3 top-quality embryos (P = 0.003) and percentage of embryos that reached the blastocyst stage (P < 0.0001) were statistically significantly better among, embryos derived from oocytes in which meiotic spindle was viewed compared with those in which meiotic spindle was not observed. However, these differences were not observed in the clinical pregnancy or implantation rates. This observation has clinical relevance mainly in countries where there is a legal limit on the number of oocytes to be fertilized. However, additional controlled trials are needed to further confirm these results.

Identification and characterization of a potyvirus isolated from siratro plants

The present work describes the identification and characterization of a potyvirus isolated from siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum Urb.) in the north-west region of the State of Sdo Paulo, Brazil. The virus was transmitted by mechanical inoculation. Its host range was restricted mainly to members of the Fabaceae. A cDNA fragment of about 930 bp was amplified by RT/PCR, cloned and sequenced. The fragment, which included the coat protein gene, had amino acid identity percentages between 88 and 98% with isolates of Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). Phylogenetic analysis grouped the. siratro potyvirus and BCMV isolates in 99% of the replicates, including Azuki mosaic virus, Dendrobium mosaic virus, Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus and Peanut stripe virus, which have been classified as BCMV strains. This is the first citation on the presence of BCMV in siratro plants in Brazil.

Inflorescence and floral development of Dahlstedtia species (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Millettieae)

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

What are Scientific Leaders? The Introduction of a Normalized Impact Factor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Anatomia e ultra-estrutura foliar de Cyperus maritimus Poir. (Cyperaceae): estratégias adaptativas ao ambiente de dunas litorâneas

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

An intelligent system to real time rainfall prediction using radar data

This work presents a new approach for rainfall measurements making use of weather radar data for real time application to the radar systems operated by institute of Meteorological Research (IPMET) - UNESP - Bauru - SP-Brazil. Several real time adjustment techniques has been presented being most of them based on surface rain-gauge network. However, some of these methods do not regard the effect of the integration area, time integration and distance rainfall-radar. In this paper, artificial neural networks have been applied for generate a radar reflectivity-rain relationships which regard all effects described above. To evaluate prediction procedure, cross validation was performed using data from IPMET weather Doppler radar and rain-gauge network under the radar umbrella. The preliminary results were acceptable for rainfalls prediction. The small errors observed result from the spatial density and the time resolution of the rain-gauges networks used to calibrate the radar.

Size limiting in Tsallis statistics

Power law scaling is observed in many physical, biological and socio-economical complex systems and is now considered an important property of these systems. In general, power law exists in the central part of the distribution. It has deviations from power law for very small and very large variable sizes. Tsallis, through non-extensive thermodynamics, explained power law distribution in many cases including deviation from the power law. In case of very large steps, the used the heuristic crossover approach. In the present we present an alternative model in which we consider that the entropy factor 9 decreases with variable size due to the softening of long range interactions or memory. We apply this model for distribution of citation index of scientists and examination scores and are able to explain the distribution for entire variable range. In the present model, we can have very sharp cut-off without interfering with power law in its central part as observed in many cases. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Widespread Amazon forest tree mortality from a single cross-basin squall line event

Climate change is expected to increase the intensity of extreme precipitation events in Amazonia that in turn might produce more forest blowdowns associated with convective storms. Yet quantitative tree mortality associated with convective storms has never been reported across Amazonia, representing an important additional source of carbon to the atmosphere. Here we demonstrate that a single squall line (aligned cluster of convective storm cells) propagating across Amazonia in January, 2005, caused widespread forest tree mortality and may have contributed to the elevated mortality observed that year. Forest plot data demonstrated that the same year represented the second highest mortality rate over a 15-year annual monitoring interval. Over the Manaus region, disturbed forest patches generated by the squall followed a power-law distribution (scaling exponent alpha = 1.48) and produced a mortality of 0.3-0.5 million trees, equivalent to 30% of the observed annual deforestation reported in 2005 over the same area. Basin-wide, potential tree mortality from this one event was estimated at 542 +/- 121 million trees, equivalent to 23% of the mean annual biomass accumulation estimated for these forests. Our results highlight the vulnerability of Amazon trees to wind-driven mortality associated with convective storms. Storm intensity is expected to increase with a warming climate, which would result in additional tree mortality and carbon release to the atmosphere, with the potential to further warm the climate system. Citation: Negron-Juarez, R. I., J. Q. Chambers, G. Guimaraes, H. Zeng, C. F. M. Raupp, D. M. Marra, G. H. P. M. Ribeiro, S. S. Saatchi, B. W. Nelson, and N. Higuchi (2010), Widespread Amazon forest tree mortality from a single cross-basin squall line event, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16701, doi:10.1029/2010GL043733.