Concepção e estudo de um biofiltro para tratamento de compostos orgânicos voláteis COVs

In the last decade, biological purification of gaseous waste has become an important alternative to many conventional methods of exhaust air treatment. More recently, biofiltration has proved to be an effective and inexpensive method for the treatment of air contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A biofilter consists in a reactor packed with a porous solid bed material, where the microorganisms are fixed. During the biofiltration process, polluted air is transported through the biofilter medium where the contaminant is degraded. Within the biofilm, the pollutants in the waste gases are energy and carbon sources for microbial metabolism and are transformed into CO2, water and biomass. The bed material should be characterized by satisfactory mechanical and physical properties as structure, void fraction, specific area and flow resistance. The aim of this research was the biofilter construction and study of the biological degradation of ethanol and toluene, as well as the modeling of the process. Luffa cylindrica is a brazilian fiber that was used as the filtering material of the present work. The parameters and conditions studied were: composition of nutrients solution; effect of microflorae strains, namely Pseudomanas putida and Rhodococcus rhodochrous; waste gas composition; air flow rate; and inlet load of VOCs. The biofilter operated in diffusion regime and the best results for remotion capacity were obtained when a microorganisms consortion of Pseudomanas putida and Rhodococcus rhodochrous,were used, with a gas flow rate of 1 m3.h-1 and molar ratio nitrogene/phosphore N/P=2 in the nutrients solution. The maximum remotion capacity for ethanol was around 90 g.m-3.h-1 and 50 g.m-3.h-1 to toluene. It was proved that toluene has inhibitory effect on the ethanol remotion When the two VOCs were present in the same waste gas, there was a decrease of 40% in ethanol remotion capacity. Luffa cylindrica does not present considerable pressure drop. Ottengraf and van Lith models were used to represent the results obtained for ethanol and toluene, respectively. The application of the transient model indicated a satisfactory approximation between the experimental results obtained for ethanol and toluene vapors biofiltration and the ones predicted it

Uso de dados fotogramétricos no refinamento geométrico de contornos de telhados de edifícios extraídos de dados laser

In this paper, a methodology is proposed for the geometric refinement of laser scanning building roof contours using high-resolution aerial images and Markov Random Field (MRF) models. The proposed methodology takes for granted that the 3D description of each building roof reconstructed from the laser scanning data (i.e., a polyhedron) is topologically correct and that it is only necessary to improve its accuracy. Since roof ridges are accurately extracted from laser scanning data, our main objective is to use high-resolution aerial images to improve the accuracy of roof outlines. In order to meet this goal, the available roof contours are first projected onto the image-space. After that, the projected polygons and the straight lines extracted from the image are used to establish an MRF description, which is based on relations ( relative length, proximity, and orientation) between the two sets of straight lines. The energy function associated with the MRF is minimized by using a modified version of the brute force algorithm, resulting in the grouping of straight lines for each roof object. Finally, each grouping of straight lines is topologically reconstructed based on the topology of the corresponding laser scanning polygon projected onto the image-space. The preliminary results showed that the proposed methodology is promising, since most sides of the refined polygons are geometrically better than corresponding projected laser scanning straight lines.

Topliss method in the optimization of salicylic acid derivatives as potential antimycobacterial agents

The Topliss method was used to guide a synthetic path in support of drug discovery efforts toward the identification of potent antimycobacterial agents. Salicylic acid and its derivatives, p-chloro, p-methoxy, and m-chlorosalicylic acid, exemplify a series of synthetic compounds whose minimum inhibitory concentrations for a strain of Mycobacterium were determined and compared to those of the reference drug, p-aminosalicylic acid. Several physicochemical descriptors (including Hammett's sigma constant, ionization constant, dipole moment, Hansch constant, calculated partition coefficient, Sterimol-L and -B-4 and molecular volume) were considered to elucidate structure-activity relationships. Molecular electrostatic potential and molecular dipole moment maps were also calculated using the AM1 semi-empirical method. Among the new derivatives, m-chlorosalicylic acid showed the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration. The overall results suggest that both physicochemical properties and electronic features may influence the biological activity of this series of antimycobacterial agents and thus should be considered in designing new p-aminosalicylic acid analogs.

Dispersion capacity of Triatoma sherlocki, Triatoma juazeirensis and laboratory-bred hybrids

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cuidado de si e hermenêutica do sujeito em Michael Foucault

The work, here present, has as its objective to present in a clear and distinct manner the object of study of Michel Foucault in his last years of teaching at the College de France, namely, the care of the self. We present the care of the self in its birth, in its origin, from the character Socrates and its development until the beginning of the Christian age. With a keen eye, we present Foucault with a work of return and rescue of the care of the self to the personal and academic discussions; we propose, from the self care, to the contemporary subject a problematization of their life so that from this questioning he creates for herself ways of life that are coherence, knowledge and care with which he has of must particular, his himself. Passing by the sources that served as the source of study for Foucault to sketch the birth of care of the self, we design the form with which Foucault has dealt with the documents that speak of the care of self. We present Socrates as one who by excellence ensures that the other will give birth to the forms of knowledge and care of the self or, in other words, we present the care of the self socratic-foucauldian as a constant worry of the other to pay attention to ways in which he conducts her life, it creates for themselves ways of being and, therefore, creates ethics of existence. We present, finally, the care of the self as the cause of continuous immanence of modes of subjectivation of the subject that configure themselves in a non-accepting a determined essence, but a continually updated form . The care of the self leads to a single relationship and educator of modes of subjectivation of the subject; he creates, on the dynamics of temporality, ethical ways of living, which are sustained by an internal coherence of the subject with herself; he admits no stationary nature in the training of the subject, always wants a more beautiful work of himself; he is not isolation, he needs and is made with the other. The care of the self is the principle and the telos of battles and conquests of the subject within his temporality and existence

Implementação da técnica de difração de elétrons de baixa energia

The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation of the Low Energy Electron Diffaction (LEED) technique in the Laboratory of Magnetic Nanostructures and Semiconductors of the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil. During this work experimental apparatus were implemented for a complete LEED set-up. A new vacuum system was also set up. This was composed of a mechanical pump, turbomolecular pump and ionic pump for ultra-high vacuum and their respective pressure measurement sensors (Pirani gauge for low vacuum measures and the wide range gauge -WRG); ion cannon maintenance, which is basically mini-sputtering, whose function is sample cleaning; and set-up, maintenance and handling of the quadrupole mass spectrometer, whose main purpose is to investigate gas contamination inside the ultra-high vacuum chamber. It should be pointed out that the main contribution of this Master's thesis was the set-up of the sample heating system; that is, a new sample holder. In addition to the function of sample holder and heater, it was necessary to implement the function of sustaining the ultra-high vacuum environment. This set of actions is essential for the complete functioning of the LEED technique

Estudos de sinterização da mistura de pós cerâmicos diatomita-titânia

This work is part of an effort of consolidation of a daily search for powder technology at the Department of Physics of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. This work objective the study and development of new ceramic materials from raw materials abundant at the region. For this, were studied ceramic mixtures of powders from diatomite-titania to aiming at a new ceramic material from powder technology. The experimental work involved a characterization of ceramic powders from a diatomite-titania mixture. The powders obtained were pressed and then parameters like variation of mass, linear shrinkage, activation energy and the mechanism of sintering are studied in function of the time and temperature of sintering, beyond microstructural analysis. The obtained results allow us estimate the optimizing of sintering conditions of this material

Natal, outra cidade : o papel da Intendência Municipal no desenvolvimento de uma nova ordem urbana(1904-1929)

The present work regards, as its subject, the management of the urban space. It aims to survey the role assumed by the Conselho de Intendência Municipal de Natal (Municipal Stewardship Council of Natal) in the formation of a new urban order between the years of 1904 and 1929. For a better comprehension of the object of research, the milestone of the time span analyzed in this work was receded to the year of 1890, specifically at the first chapter of this dissertation. In this chapter, we will turn our attention towards an analysis of the referred council, on the regulation of its operation, the relations of this institution with the state government and its mechanisms of action in the city, among other topics. In the next chapter, we will delve into an elite who administrated the city of Natal during the first republic, understanding that the analysis of the formation of a modern city project by the Municipal Stewardship undergoes the comprehension of those who leaded this institution. In the third chapter, we will examine the limits of the municipal management to put into practice its projects to the upraise of a new Natal, between the years of 1904 and 1921. The last chapter, on its turn, presents a new Stewardship, reformulated after a process of administrative streamlining, and a city that transforms itself, especially during the O Grady tenure by receiving major constructions, which alter its main features. We will regard, as the main resources of this study, articles from the daily newspapers A República (The Republic) and Diário de Natal (Daily Natal), dictums, announcements, laws, state decrees and the messages disclosed by the state government. To build a way of analysis, we make use of authors such as Anthony Giddens, Peter Burke and Laurent Vidal, among many others who discuss concepts related to the proposed theme

Pecolação em uma rede multifractal

In this work we present the principal fractals, their caracteristics, properties abd their classification, comparing them to Euclidean Geometry Elements. We show the importance of the Fractal Geometry in the analysis of several elements of our society. We emphasize the importance of an appropriate definition of dimension to these objects, because the definition we presently know doesn t see a satisfactory one. As an instrument to obtain these dimentions we present the Method to count boxes, of Hausdorff- Besicovich and the Scale Method. We also study the Percolation Process in the square lattice, comparing it to percolation in the multifractal subject Qmf, where we observe som differences between these two process. We analize the histogram grafic of the percolating lattices versus the site occupation probability p, and other numerical simulations. And finaly, we show that we can estimate the fractal dimension of the percolation cluster and that the percolatin in a multifractal suport is in the same universality class as standard percolation. We observe that the area of the blocks of Qmf is variable, pc is a function of p which is related to the anisotropy of Qmf

Avaliação clínica da relação entre o índice de placa, índice gengival, alinhamento dental, mucosa ceratinizada, tipo de periodonto e distúrbios oclusais com a ocorrência de recessão gengival

This study clinically evaluated the relationship of gingival recessions with the periodontal index of gingival and plaque, dental alignment, keratinized mocous, type of periodontal, and occlusal disorders. Study participants were individuals aged between 19 and 33 years. The evaluations were performed by using questionnaires and clinical examinations. In subjects examined, the teeth were assessed and divided into groups (Molars, premolars, canines and incisors). The gingival recession were measured in the central region of the teeth and individuals were subject to disclosure to the plate and observing the poll of plaque and gingival index, respectively. 558 teeth were examined, with 24.1%, 135 had gingival recession greater than or equal to 1mm. Through the combination of tests used to evaluate the average of the recession and its relationship with the variables studied, we observed that the degree of recession of the elements assessed dental showed, almost for the most part, when higher values associated with the index plaque (p = 0.101), Gingival Index (p = 0.053), dental alignment (p = 0.962), width of keratinized mocous (p = 0.004) and type of periodontium (p = 0.033), however statistically significant difference could only be considered when related the recessions in the keratinized mocous and the type of the periodontium. Although we identify, when we evaluate the whole set of teeth that occlusal disturbances (p = 0.002) were more strongly associated with cases of gum recession that the gingival index (p = 0.006), however, these two conditions were correlated with the cases of recession, contributing to its occurrence

Avaliação da saúde bucal na atenção básica: a perspectiva do usuário

Nowadays, the basic attention in health works according to the Health Family Program (HFP), which is responsible for the organization of the health services with view to provide an appropriate attendance to the needs of the population. Its expansion is expressive in whole country and, the oral health, included in this process, has been seen as a possibility of change the health practices centered in the disease. In face of this perspective, the proposal of study is to discover possible changes in the health care model of oral health in a district, made possible through the perception, evaluation and degree of satisfaction of the user s health service. To reach such objectives, the district of Macaíba in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, was chosen for operational subjects, such as time of implantation of HFP and great covering of this program. The current research used interviews structured with objectives and subjectives questions and questionnaires of socioeconomic characterization addressed to two hundred and seventy (270) individuals (ninety users of an Urban PSF, ninety of a Rural PSF and ninety of an unit non PSF). The analysis of the data was accomplished through the software SPSS/99, that made possible a statistical and analytic appreciation. The HFP units and non HFP units has shown to sort the common odontology problems of the community, and this didn't establish a direct relationship with the general satisfaction. On the other hands, the programmed consultation is related with lager satisfaction of the users. The access form to the odontology treatment of the Units, the satisfaction with the attendance rendered by the dentist and the equip, enough dentists for the community and the social class of the user were decisive for the general satisfaction with the service of oral health. On the other hand, variables as age and education, resolution of the problem and physical conditions of the unit didn't influence the general satisfaction. In spite of the progresses in the implantation of the oral health in ESF, preventive activities, visits at home, access and social participation still reproduce the traditional model of attendance, showing a primary change process

Expressão Imuno-histoquímica das proteínas GLUT-1 e HIF-1α em lesões vasculares de mucosa oral

The correct histological diagnosis of vascular lesions in the oral mucosa is critical, especially in defining the treatment and prognosis, as some vascular lesions show spontaneous involution and others do not show such behavior. This study analyzed the expression immunohistochemistry of human glucose transporter protein (GLUT-1), in oral benign vascular tumors and to reclassify such lesions according to with his immunoexpression. In addition, we evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α), the main transcription factor involved in cellular adaptation to hypoxia. We analyzed 60 cases of benign oral vascular tumors: 30 cases with histological diagnosis of HEM and 30 cases of oral pyogenic granuloma (PG). The results of this research showed that of the 30 lesions initially classified as HEM, only 7 showed immuno-positivity for GLUT-1, remaining with the initial diagnosis. The remaining 23 were reclassified as vascular malformation (VM) (13 cases) and PG (10 cases). All cases in the sample with an initial diagnosis of PG were negative for GLUT-1, demonstrating the accuracy of histological diagnosis of these lesions. Concerning to the immunoexpression of HIF-1α, the Mann-Whitney test revealed a statistically significant difference between the cases of GP and MV (p = 0.002), where the median of GP (m=78) was higher than the MV (m=53). Based on these results, this study showed that a histological diagnosis alone is not always sufficient for the correct diagnosis of oral HEM and that HIF-1α participates in the pathogenesis of vascular lesions

Estudo imuno-histoquímico da expressão da glut-1 e mensuração do índice angiogênico (CD34) em adenomas pleomórficos, carcinomas adenóides císticos e carcinomas mucoepidermóides de glândulas salivares

The expression of glucose transporter protein 1 (GLUT-1), as well the angiogenesis has been associated to clinical behavior and aggressiveness in tumors of various origin. It is believed that the expression of this protein denotes metabolic demand of the tumor cells and, thus its influence upon the formation of new blood vessels. Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) and the adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) represent, respectively, the most commom benign and malignant tumors of salivary glands. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the immunohistochemical expression of GLUT-1 and its correlation with angiogenesis in cases of PAs, ACCs and MECs considering their histological grades. The sample consisted of 20 PAs, 20 ACCs and 10 MECs. The cases were analyzed and classified according to their histological grades. The expression of GLUT-1 was evaluated in the parenchyma lesions, establishing the percentage of immunopositive cells, according to the following scores: 0 (no cell immunomarked), 1 (up to 25% of tumor cells immunostained), 2 (25 - 50% of tumor cells immunostained) and 3 (more than 50% of tumor cells immunostained). The angiogenic index was analyzed by counting the microvessels immunostained by anti-CD34 antibody, in 5 fields (200X). The analysis of the expression of GLUT-1 in tumor parenchyma showed statistically significant differences between benign and malignant groups (p = 0.022). The average number of microvessels in PAs was 40.4, 21.2 in ACCs and 66.5 in MECs, with significant differences between groups (p <0.001). When compared to the expression of GLUT-1 and angiogenic index as a whole, there was no significant correlation between the number of microvessels and the expression of GLUT-1 (r = 0.211, p = 0.141). In conclusion, the results of this study suggest not only that differences in biological behavior between PAs, ACCs and MECs may be associated to the expression of GLUT-1, but also that benign and malignant salivary gland present differences in the average number of microvessels, with higher levels considered more aggressive tumors. Furthermore, the number of newly formed microvessels can be independent of the metabolic demand of the tumor cells