Comparison of polymers and ceramics in new and discarded electrical insulators: reuse and recycling possibilities

The expansion and maintenance of electricity distribution networks generates large amounts of waste, much of it in the form of discarded insulators that are not reused or recycled. This paper describes the results of tests on used and new ceramic and polymeric insulators to verify if their exposure to weathering justifies their replacement. In new and used ceramic insulators, properties such as contact angle, relative density, porosimetry, dilatometry and X-ray diffraction patterns showed no differences or the differences that were found could not be related to their use. The discarded ceramic material showed high thermal stability, an interesting characteristic for application as chamotte. It can also be reused to replace gravel used in substations. In polymeric insulators, thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and relative density test results suggest degradation of used material compared to new. This would justify their replacement and discard as waste, but they show little recycling potential.

Differential environmental impacts on small and medium size rivers from center of São Paulo State, Brazil, and regional management perspectives

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Análise das centrais de triagem do programa de coleta seletiva da cidade de São Paulo - SP

Among numerous studies about the selective collection of solid waste and cooperatives of recyclable materials, this research aims to contribute with the study of these problems from the geographic space. As the world population increases, the issue of solid waste becomes increasingly worrying, due to new consumption patterns that create larger amounts of waste, especially in the urban centers. The recycling appears to be the best solution for this problem since most materials that are currently sent to landfills would become raw material for new products. The Triage Centers performs an important role in this process because they are responsible for sorting, packing and selling the materials arising from the selective collect, so it is necessary to analyze the places where these steps are performed. This study intend to examine the location and distribution of these enterprises in the city of São Paulo in order to provide support for the mitigation of impacts, both environmental and social, from their location, as well as provide support for the expansion of selective collection program in the city. The choice for studying this area was due to the curiosity of investigating the inefficiency of the recycling program in the city of São Paulo, which currently recycles about 1% of all household solid waste collected. Therefore, from a historical survey of the city's recycling programs, technical visits, interviews with responsible agencies and also analysis of the Triage Center's frameworks based on the guidelines from the municipal legislation, it will be evaluated the problems faced by the program for its expansion

Subsídios para elaboração de plano municipal de gestão de resíduos sólidos orgânicos para o município de Rio Claro-SP

The research aims to propose grants for development of Municipal Plan for the Management of Organic Solid Waste generated in the municipality of Rio Claro. The research universe was composed of organic waste generators establishments (markets and grocers). From the registry of commercial establishments provided by the municipal government were identified who presented this typology, which totaled 38 establishments. In this universe the interview was conducted in 15 establishments obtained by directed sampling based on the characteristics of size, type and location. The data collected were the amount generated, disposal of waste, waste separation, collection frequency, reasons for the disposal of waste, frequency of purchase of products. From the data obtained in the field, we estimated the total generation of organic waste in this segment for the municipality. Then, the estimated costs for implementation and operation of a composting center, a way to subsidize the implementation of the management plan was carried out. We opted for the aerobic composting process by the simplicity of operation and because it is a technique already known. The average waste generation was established by tracks (size) with: stores up to 4 boxes (classified as small) generate on average 1511 kg / month, 40% of organic waste, the 5-9 boxes (small/midsize) generate on average 4338 kg / month, 35% organic and the 10 to 19 boxes (midsize) generate on average 7647 kg / month with 32% organic. In total establishments generate 105 t/ month of waste, with 35t / month of organics. 94% of establishments are in font segregation of waste into recyclable, organic and waste, indicating that the proposed management of organic waste is amenable to application without many changes in existing routine in stores. Recyclables are sent for recycling through selective collection held by the cooperative, while the organics are destined for the landfill and feed. The results indicate...

Immobilization of papain on chitin and chitosan and recycling of soluble enzyme for deflocculation of saccharomyces cerevisiae from bioethanol distilleries

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

Changing presentation of complete hydatidiform mole at the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center over the past three decades: does early diagnosis alter risk for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia?

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Natural rubber/leather waste composite foam: A new eco-friendly material and recycling approach

This article describes a new approach of recycling the leather waste (shavings) using it as filler in natural rubber foams composites. The foams were prepared using different amounts of leather waste (0-60 parts per hundred of rubber) and submitted to morphological (SEM microscopy) and mechanical analyses (cyclic stress-strain compression). The increase of leather shavings on the composite causes an increase of viscosity in the mixture, which reflects in the foaming process. This results in smaller and fairly uniform cells. Furthermore, expanded rubber has the biggest cell size, with more than 70% of cell with 1000 mu m, while the composite with the higher concentration of leather has around 80% of total number of cells with 100-400 mu m. The mechanical parameters were found to depend on the leather dust concentration. Moreover, the stiffness rises with the increase of leather shavings; consequently, the compression force for expanded rubber was 0.126 MPa as well as the composite with higher concentration of leather was 7.55 MPa. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41636.

Compostagem de resíduo sólido de abatedouro avícola

The great demand for animal protein was responsible for the increase on the broilers production and hence, the generation of waste from the poultry slaughter was increased as well, which in turn, propelled the development of techniques that allow the reuse and recycling of these wastes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of composting on the treatment and recycling of solid waste from poultry slaughterhouse. The solid waste was from a commercial poultry slaughterhouse and was composed of viscera, muscle, fat, bone, blood and feathers that was mixed with a source of carbon, rice husk. Initially, a windrow with a volume of 1.5m(3) was built, and then some parameters were monitored: temperature, total solids (TS), volatile (VS), N, P, K, organic carbon (C), composting organic matter (COC), organic matter resistant to composting (MORC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), mass and volume of the windrow, most probable number (MPN) of total and fecal coliforms, as well as their reductions during the process. The maximum temperature reached in the center of the windrow was 53.3 degrees C (weekly average) since reductions of weight of TS and VS and volume during the pre-composting were 36.1, 44.3 and 23.3%, respectively and during the composting process was 21.8, 23.8 and 4.4%. The low volume reduction can be associated with high concentrations of MORC (40.1%) which can be mainly related to the quality of the carbon source. The process produced satisfactory total reductions of TS, VS and volume that were respectively, 50.1, 57.5 and 26.7%. However reductions were observed in 43% of amount of nitrogen in the final compound. Despite reductions in nitrogen content, composting proved to be an effective method in the treatment of solid waste from poultry slaughterhouse.

Recycling scrap automotive heat shield insulation material

Automotive heat shields are usually composed of two metal sheets enclosing an insulating material with a paper-like texture that contains refractory ceramic particles. This article discusses the results achieved by recycling the scrap automotive insulation that is discarded in landfills, using the same concept as paper recycling. For comparison with the original product, tests of thickness, bulk density, weight loss on ignition, tensile strength, compressibility, and recovery were performed on recycled materials produced in a so-called "manual" process (involving little automation and performed in adapted facilities) without pressing, and pressed once, twice, and four times. Materials recycled in a so-called "industrial" process (in a paper recycling plant) without pressing, and pressed once were also tested. The recycled materials can be considered approved with respect to the main requirement, thermal insulation, since they dissipated the under-hood temperature by more than 300 A degrees C (like the original product). Like the heat insulation tests, the thermogravimetric analysis suggested that the recycled materials showed higher stability than the original product. Thermogravimetric, microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses indicated that the structural and compositional characteristics of the original product were preserved after recycling.

Endoparasites of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

With the aim of studying the endoparasite fauna of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, 25 animals that were naturally infected with helminths were evaluated. By means of parasitological necropsies, different endoparasites were found. The subfamily Cyathostominae presented the highest incidence, followed by Trichostrongylus axei, Oxyuris equi, Triodontophorus serratus, Strongyloides westeri, Strongylus edentatus, Habronema muscae, Parascaris equorum, Probstmayria vivipara, Strongylus vulgaris, Gasterophilus nasalis, Anoplocephala magna and Anoplocephala perfoliata. In the present study, if the species Probstmayria vivipara was not considered in the prevalence, the frequency of Cyathostominae was equivalent to 94.85%. The results obtained in this study allowed us to detect and identify different species of helminths in horses, and confirmed the high incidence of nematodes belonging to the subfamily Cyathostominae in the center-west region of Minas Gerais.

Patients from the Oral Oncology Center, UNESP, Araçatuba with an indication for prosthesis

Head and neck tumors are a major health concern worldwide, due to their high incidence and mortality rates, particularly in developing countries. In Brazil, this type of cancer is commonly diagnosed and studies suggested that it may be the leading cause of mortality in the country. The increase in life expectancy worldwide, as well as environmental and behavioral factors, are related to carcinogenesis. Therefore, an understanding of basic epidemiology and statistical methods is critical, in order to promote early diagnosis and cancer prevention. Cancer patients with an indication for prosthesis were selected from the medical records of the Oral Oncology Center, School of Dentistry, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araçatuba, between 1991 and 2010. The following variables were recorded: gender, age, type and location of the lesion, radiation dose and dental prosthesis. The majority of the patients were male (74.15%) and >60 years of age (53.37%). Tumors were most commonly located in the floor of the mouth (11.1%) and squamous cell carcinoma was the most prevalent type (72.8%). This study provides the profiles of patients who attended the Oral Oncology Center and the results may aid in the creation of cancer prevention programs.

Adalimumab for maintenance therapy for one year in Crohn's disease: results of a Latin American single-center observational study

Adalimumab is a fully-human antibody that inhibits TNF alpha, with a significant efficacy for long-term maintenance of remission. Studies with this agent in Latin American Crohn's disease patients are scarce. The objective of this study was to outline clinical remission rates after 12 months of adalimumab therapy for Crohn's disease patients. Retrospective, single-center, observational study of a Brazilian case series of Crohn's disease patients under adalimumab therapy. Variables analyzed: demographic data, Montreal classification, concomitant medication, remission rates after 1, 4, 6 and 12 months. Remission was defined as Harvey-Bradshaw Index ≤ 4, and non-responder-imputation and last-observation-carried-forward analysis were used. The influence of infliximab on remission rates was analyzed by Fischer and Chi-square tests (P<0.05). Fifty patients, with median age of 35 years at therapy initiation, were included. Remission rates after 12 months of therapy were 54% under non-responder-imputation and 88% under last-observation-carried-forward analysis. After 12 months, remission on patients with previous infliximab occurred in 69.23% as compared to 94.59% in infliximab-naïve patients (P = 0.033). Adalimumab was effective in maintaining clinical remission after 12 months of therapy, with an adequate safety profile, and was also more effective in infliximab naïve patients.

Mutagenicity profile of atmospheric particulate matter in a small urban center subjected to airborne emission from vehicle traffic and sugar cane burning

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is genotoxic and recently was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. PM chemical composition varies depending on source and atmospheric conditions. The Salmonella/microsome assay is the most used mutagenicity test and can identify the major chemical classes responsible for observed mutagenicity. The objective of this work was to characterize the mutagenicity of PM samples from a countryside city, Limeira, Brazil, which is influenced by heavy traffic and sugar cane biomass burning. Six samples of total PM were collected. Air mass backward trajectories were calculated. Organic extracts were assayed using the Salmonella/microsome microsuspension mutagenicity assay using TA98, YG1041, and TA1538, with and without metabolic activation (S9). YG1041 was the most sensitive strain and mutagenicity reached 9,700 revertants per m(3) without metabolic activation. Potency for TA1538 was higher than TA98, indicating that this strain should be considered in air mutagenicity studies. The increased response to YG1041 relative to TA98, and the decreased response with S9, suggests that nitroaromatics are the major contributors. Limeira is among the most mutagenic cities in the world. High mutagenicity in Limeira seems to occur when the air mass from the area of sugarcane production is mixed with air from the region impacted by anthropogenic activities such as traffic. An increase in the formation of nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons may result from longer contact time between the aromatic compounds and the atmosphere with high NOx and ozone concentration, although more studies are required to confirm this hypothesis. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Microstructural and Nonohmic Properties of ZnO center dot Pr6O11 CoO Polycrystalline System

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

Shopping center: consumo do espaço, cotidianidade e fetichismo

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