The influence of the region between residues 220 and 344 and beyond in Phrixotrix railroad worm luciferases green and red bioluminescence

To find the regions having a major influence on the bioluminescence spectra of railroad worm luciferases, we constructed new chimeric luciferases switching the fragments from residues 1-219 and from 220-545 between Phrixotrix viviani (PxvGR; λmax = 548 nm) green light-emitting luciferase and Phrixothrix hirtus (PxhRE; λmax = 623 nm) red light-emitting luciferases. The emission spectrum (λmax = 571 nm) and KM for luciferin in the chimera PxRE220GR (1-219, PxhRE; 220-545, PxvGR) suggested that the region above residue 220 of PxvGR had a major effect on the active site. However, switching the sequence between the residues 226-344 from PxvGR luciferase into PxhRE (PxREGRRE) luciferase resulted in red light emission (λmax = 603 nm), indicating that the region 220-344 by itself does not determine the emission spectrum. Furthermore, the sequence before residue 220 of the green-emitting luciferase is incompatible for light emission with the sequence above residue 220 of PxhRE. These results suggest that the fragments before and after residue 220, which correspond to distinct subdomains, may fold differently in the green- and red-emitting luciferases, affecting the active site conformation.

Method for estimating railroad track settlements due to dynamic traffic loads

This paper is the result of real-scale physical modeling study designed to simulate the load-deformation characteristics of railroad foundation systems that include the railroad ties, the ballast, and the sub-base layers of a railroad embankment. The study presents comparisons of the application of dynamic loads of 100kN on the rails, and the resulting deformations during a 500,000 cycle testing period for three rail support systems; wood, concrete and steel. The results show that the deformation curve has an exponential shape, with the larger portion of the deformation occurring during the first 50,000 load cycles followed by a tendency to stabilize between 100,000 to 500,000 cycles. These results indicate that the critical phase of deformations of a new railroad is within the first 50,000 cycles of loading, and after that, it slowly attenuates as it approaches a stable value. The paper also presents empirically derived formulations for the estimation of the deformations of the rail supports as a result of rail traffic.

Análise geoambiental da região de marília, SP: Suscetibilidade a processos erosivos frente ao histórico de ocupação da área

The study area comprises the western portion of the Marília Plateau, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The geological substrate encompasses Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Bauru Group and local Neocenozoic units like colluvium aprons, fluvial terrace deposits, in situ regoliths, and modern alluvial deposits. In a geomorphologic sense, the study area might be characterized as showing two main pediplanes, viz. P1 Surface (upper) and P2 Surface (lower), both surfaces are presently under dissecation processes. After the 1920's the expansion of the railroad system fostered the removal of the natural vegetation, which in turn was followed by the introduction of coffee, peanut, corn and cotton crops. This intense exploitation was conducted without respect to the soil carrying capacity and its natural susceptibility to erosional processes, including an aggressive form known as voçoroca. As a result, the study shows that the most susceptible material includes colluvium aprons, in situ regoliths, and colluvium-alluvium or alluvium deposits. The most critical situation is in the P2 Surface context, near the bottom of the Marília Plateau scarpment, where surface runoff can be very strong. Another point of active erosion is represented by the exposed walls of gullies and voçorocas, mainly in fluvial reaches subjected to talweg lowering. In a general sense, this study shows current evidence of erosional stability due to the ìntroduction of pastures as a predominant type of land occupation and to a series of erosion control procedures. Among these actions are terrace implantation, construction of small pits for runoff control, natural or induced reforestation by land owners. Despite these efforts, some erosion points remain chiefly in steeper country roads and trail stretches, in areas of concentration of cattle tracks (e.g., near cattle ponds), gullies or voçorocas exposed walls, and badly planned urbanization. The permanence of these erosion points demonstrates the necessity of a continuous monitoring of surface dynamics as well as a rapid and effective intervining measures of erosion and/or silting control.

A study on automatic methods based on mathematical morphology for Martian dust devil tracks detection

This paper presents three methods for automatic detection of dust devils tracks in images of Mars. The methods are mainly based on Mathematical Morphology and results of their performance are analyzed and compared. A dataset of 21 images from the surface of Mars representative of the diversity of those track features were considered for developing, testing and evaluating our methods, confronting their outputs with ground truth images made manually. Methods 1 and 3, based on closing top-hat and path closing top-hat, respectively, showed similar mean accuracies around 90% but the time of processing was much greater for method 1 than for method 3. Method 2, based on radial closing, was the fastest but showed worse mean accuracy. Thus, this was the tiebreak factor. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

Automated determination of the orientation of dust devil tracks in mars orbiter images

The paper presents and evaluates three methods for automatically estimating the main orientation of Martian dust devil tracks in MOC and HiRISE images. Inferring such information about dust devils from their tracks is important to better understand the near surface wind. The methods considered were based on gradient direction, directional openings and morphological granulometry. The accuracy of the methods was asserted by comparing the results to a set of directions estimated visually and assumed to be the ground truth. The higher accuracy was reached using directional openings. Besides, the directions inferred by this method were compared to those predicted by the GCM and the results agreed. © 2013 COSPAR.

Qualificação mecânica de madeiras para uso como dormente ferroviário

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

An automatic method for segmentation of fission tracks in epidote crystal photomicrographs

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

A ocupação da terra na formação do municipio de Ourinhos-SP

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

Search for disappearing tracks in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Extensive computation of albedo contrast between martian dust devil tracks and their neighboring regions

We have developed a method to compute the albedo contrast between dust devil tracks and their surrounding regions on Mars. It is mainly based on Mathematical Morphology operators and uses all the points of the edges of the tracks to compute the values of the albedo contrast. It permits the extraction of more accurate and complete information, when compared to traditional point sampling, not only providing better statistics but also permitting the analysis of local variations along the entirety of the tracks. This measure of contrast, based on relative quantities, is much more adequate to establish comparisons at regional scales and in multi-temporal basis using imagery acquired in rather different environmental and operational conditions. Also, the substantial increase in the details extracted may permit quantifying differential depositions of dust by computing local temporal fading of the tracks with consequences on a better estimation of the thickness of the top most layer of dust and the minimum value needed to create dust devils tracks. The developed tool is tested on 110 HiRISE images depicting regions in the Aeolis, Argyre, Eridania, Noachis and Hellas quadrangles. As a complementary evaluation, we also performed a temporal analysis of the albedo in a region of Russell crater, where high seasonal dust devil activity was already observed before, comprising the years 2007-2012. The mean albedo of the Russell crater is in this case indicative of dust devil tracks presence and, therefore, can be used to quantify dust devil activity. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Early correction of malocclusion using planas direct tracks

The correction of functional posterior crossbite through Planas Direct Tracks has many characteristics that can become advantages. The aim of this study was to present a clinical case showing how to use this procedure for early correction with resources available through public health services. The patient, a 4-year-old girl, arrived to receive treatment due to a functional unilateral crossbite. When the mandible was moved to the centric position, it was observed that the teeth had occlusal trauma. An occlusal adjustment was performed. The adjustment was not sufficient to promote functional equilibrium; thus, Planas Direct Tracks were made, resulting in functional equilibrium and correction of the malocclusion. As shown in the case report, the Planas Direct Tracks were effective for the correction of the posterior crossbite. If malocclusion is considered a public health problem, implementation of low-cost and easy-to-execute techniques is needed.

Measurement, Simulation, and Analysis of the Mechanical Response of Railroad Track

Increased railroad traffic volumes, speeds, and axle loads have created a need to better measure track quality. Previous research has indicated that the vertical track deflection provides a meaningful indicator of track integrity. The measured deflection can be related to the bending stresses in the rail as well as characterize the mechanical response of the track. This investigation summarizes the simulation, analysis and development of a measurement system at the University of Nebraska (UNL) to measure vertical track deflection in real-time from a car moving at revenue speeds. The UNL system operates continuously over long distances and in revenue service. Using a camera and two line lasers, the system establishes three points of the rail shape beneath the loaded wheels and over a distance of 10 ft. The resulting rail shape can then be related to the actual bending stress in the rail and estimate the track support through beam theory. Finite element simulations are used to characterize the track response as related to the UNL measurement system. The results of field tests using bondable resistance strain gages illustrate the system’s capability of approximating the actual rail bending stresses under load.

Emergency response to railroad accidents involving hazardous materials

The chemical industry has to face safety problems linked to the hazards of chemicals and the risks posed by the plants where they are handled. However, their transport may cause significant risk values too: it’s not totally possible to avoid the occurrence of accidents. This work is focused on the emergency response to railway accidents involving hazardous materials, that is what has to be done once they happen to limit their consequences. A first effort has been devoted to understand the role given to this theme within legislations: it has been found out that often it’s not even taken into account. Exceptionally a few countries adopt guidelines suggesting how to plan the response, who is appointed to intervene and which actions should be taken first. An investigation has been made to define the tools available for the responders, with attention on the availability of chemical-specific safety distances. It has emerged that the ERG book adopted by some American countries has suggestions and the Belgian legislation too establishes criteria to evaluate these distances. An analysis has been conducted then on the most recent accidents occurred worldwide, to understand how the response was performed and which safety distances were adopted. These values were compared with the numbers reported by the ERG book and the results of two devoted software tools for consequence analysis of accidental spills scenarios. This comparison has shown that there are differences between them and that a more standardized approach is necessary. This is why further developments of the topic should focus on promoting uniform procedures for emergency response planning and on a worldwide adoption of a guidebook with suggestions about actions to reduce consequences and about safety distances, determined following finer researches. For this aim, the development of a detailed database of hazardous materials transportation accidents could be useful.