Numerical predictions of the time-dependent temperature field for the 7th Cardington compartment fire test

António M. G. Lopes,Gilberto C. Vaz,Aldina Santiago 국제구조공학회 2005 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.5 No.6

The present work reports on a numerical simulation of a compartment fire. The fire was modeled using a simplified approach, where combustion is simulated as a volumetric heat release. Computations were performed with the commercial code CFX 5.6. Radiation was modeled with a differential approximation (P1 model), while turbulence effects upon the mean gas flow were dealt with a SST turbulence model. Simulations were carried out using a transient approach, starting at the onset of ignition. Results are provided for the temperature field time evolution, thus allowing a direct comparison with the analytical and experimental data. The high spatial resolution available for the results proved to be of great utility for a more detailed analysis of the thermal impact on the steel structure.

Tackling with Redundant Design Solutions Through Axiomatic Design

António M. Gonçalves-Coelho,Gabriela Neştian,Miguel Cavique,António Mourão 한국정밀공학회 2012 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

Redundancy is a multifaceted issue that might be addressed according to the context, and Axiomatic Design (AD) is an appropriate approach to deal with it in engineering applications. According to the AD’s Independence Axiom, design solutions can be uncoupled, decoupled or coupled. Uncoupled and decoupled solutions are seen as “good design”, the uncoupled ones being the best, while coupled designs are regarded as “poor design”. Redundant designs belong to a special kind of designs, in which the number of design parameters is larger than the number of functional requirements. Such designs can also be uncoupled, decoupled or coupled and this paper provides a systematic way for identifying the good and the poor redundant design solutions, as well as some clues to help generating good redundant designs. The paper also delivers simple examples to illustrate diverse issues of redundant designs, and presents seven new theorems two new corollaries that help identifying and generating good redundant designs.

Sentiment Classification of Portuguese News Headlines

António Paulo Santos,Carlos Ramos,Nuno C. Marques 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Software Engineering and Vol.9 No.9

This paper addresses the problem of classifying news headlines into sentiment categories. Using a supervised approach, we train a classifier for classifying each news headline as positive, negative, or neutral. A news headline is considered positive if it is associated with good things, negative if it is associated with bad things, and neutral in the remaining cases. The experiments show an accuracy that ranges from 59.00% to 63.50% when syntactic features (argument1-verb-argument2 relations) are combined with other features. The accuracy ranges from 57.50% to 62.5% when these relations are not used.

The Price Relevance of Fiscal Developments

António Afonso,João Tovar Jalles 한국국제경제학회 2017 International Economic Journal Vol.31 No.1

We use Seemingly Unrelated Regressions Estimation methods to assess the link between prices, bond yields and the fiscal behavior. A first equation determines the country-specific cost of government financing via the long-term government bond yield, as a function of budget balance positions. A second equation links the price level to the cost of government financing. Our results for 15 EU countries in the period 1980Q1–2013Q4 show that improvements in the fiscal stance lead to persistent falls in sovereign yields; higher sovereign yields are reflected in upward price movements; improvements in the fiscal stance in recession times lead to short-term decreases in yields and better fiscal stance in expansions induce downward movement in bond yields only after 8 quarters.

Metabolically healthy overweight adolescents: definition and components

António Videira-Silva,Silvia Freira,Helena Fonseca 대한소아내분비학회 2020 Annals of Pediatirc Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol.25 No.4

Purpose: In adolescents, the definition and clinical implications of metabolically healthy overweight (MHO) status have not been established. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of MHO according to its most widespread definition, which is based on metabolic syndrome (MS), and to explore further metabolic indicators such as Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, and C-reactive protein levels, together with metabolic health predictors in a sample of adolescents attending a pediatric obesity clinic. Methods: Data from 487 adolescents categorized as overweight (52.6% females, 88.1% white), with a mean body mass index (BMI) z-score of 2.74 (±1.07 standard deviation [SD]), and a mean age of 14.4 years (±2.2 SD) were cross-sectionally analyzed. From this original sample, a subsample of 176 adolescents underwent a second assessment at 12 (±6 SD) months for longitudinal analysis. Results: From the 487 adolescents originally analyzed, 200 (41.1%) were categorized as MHO, but only 93 (19.1%) had none of the metabolic indicators considered in this study. According to longitudinal analysis, 30 of the 68 adolescents (44%) categorized as MHO at baseline became non-MHO over time. BMI z-score was the best predictor of metabolic health both in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Increased BMI z-score reduced the odds of being categorized as MHO (odds ratio [OR], 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4–0.9; P=.008) and increased the odds of having hypertension (OR 2.1, 95% CI: 1.4–3.3, P=0.001), insulin resistance (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.4–4.1, P=0.001), or a proinflammatory state (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1–1.3, P=0.002). Conclusion: Diagnosis of MHO should not be exclusively based on MS parameters, and other metabolic indicators should be considered. Adolescents categorized as overweight should participate in weight-management lifestyle interventions regardless of their metabolic health phenotype.

Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the Health Sector: A Qualitative Study

João António Gomes de Melo e Castro e Melo,Nuno Miguel Faria Araújo 대한의료정보학회 2020 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.26 No.4

Objectives: The Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the way health is understood, transforming the methods of treatmentand diagnosis as well as the relationship between health professionals and patients and altering the management andorganization of health systems. The main objective of this study was to explore the impact that the Fourth Industrial Revolutionis having on the health sector. Methods: Conducting interviews consisting of four questions with 10 professionals whohad experience working in the health sector to gain their insights and to obtain information to meet the general objective ofthe study as well as its specific objectives. Results: From the analysis of the respondents’ responses, it was possible to createfive dimensions developed by the topics most addressed by respondents, namely, impact on healthcare efficiency and effectiveness,impact on government action, impact on human resources, impact on health system organization, and financialimpact on the health sector. Conclusions: Although the Fourth Industrial Revolution is still at an early stage, it has been concludedthat it is having a major positive impact on the health sector. For the effective and efficient implementation of thesedisruptive technologies, a global interaction between governments, health professionals, stakeholders, and society is essentialto make this change possible.

Effects of Oxygen Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient and pH on Lipase Production by Staphylococcus warneri EX17

Marco Antônio Záchia Ayub,Giandra Volpato,Rafael C. Rodrigues,Júlio Xandro Heck 한국생물공학회 2009 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.14 No.1

The principal objectives of this study were to evaluate the kinetics of lipase production by Staphylococcus warneri EX17 under different oxygen volumetric mass transfer coefficients (kLa) and pH conditions in submerged bioreactors, using glycerol (a biodiesel by-product) as a carbon source. Cultivations were conducted at different kLa (26, 38, 50, and 83 h-1) and pH values (6.0, 7.0, and 8.0). The optimal kLa and pH were 38 h-1 and 7.0, respectively. Under these conditions, the maximal cell production obtained was 8.0 g/L, and the volumetric and specific lipase production reached high levels of activity, approximately 800 U/L and 150 U/g cell, respectively, after 12 h of cultivation. This result was approximately five times higher than that obtained in the shake flask cultures. The relationship between cell growth and lipase production was found to be associated with growth by the Luedeking-Piret model.

Nitrogen supply associated with rhizobacteria in the first productive cycle of Marandu grass

Fernando Antônio Rebouças Sampaio,Marcelo Carvalho Minhoto Teixeira Filho,Carlos Eduardo da Silva Oliveira,Arshad Jalal,Eduardo Henrique Marcandalli Boleta,Bruno Horschut de Lima,Poliana Aparecida Leo 한국작물학회 2021 Journal of crop science and biotechnology Vol.24 No.4

The rhizobacteria of genus Azospirillum and Bacillus are efective at fxing atmospheric nitrogen, promote plant growth and can largely contribute to benefcial recovery from degraded pastures. This study aimed to evaluate the development and nutritional status of Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu in response to nitrogen doses along with inoculation of Azospirillum brasilense and Bacillus subtilis. The experiment was carried in a completely randomized design in a greenhouse with four replications and in factorial scheme 4×5. The treatments were consisted of seeds inoculation (without inoculation, A. brasilense (strains Ab-V5, Ab-V6), B. subtilis (strain CCTB04) and co-inoculation with strains of A. brasilense+strain of B. subtilis, and nitrogen doses (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg ha−1, equivalent to 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg dm−3 N) from urea. The sole inoculation of A. brasilense and B. subitilis promoted plant height of Marandu grass along with nitrogen fertilization. The co-inoculation of these bacteria increased potassium accumulation in Marandu grass along with nitrogen doses. Regardless of bacterial inoculation, number of tillers, leaves, dry matter accumulation, crude protein and accumulations of N, P, Ca, S and Mg were increased with increasing nitrogen doses in the frst forage cycle.

Evaluation of periodontal parameters and gingival crevicular fluid cytokines in children with anterior open bite receiving passive orthodontic treatment with a spur

Tou Gabriel Antônio dos Anjos,Diniz Ivana Márcia Alves,Ferreira Marcus Vinicius Lucas,Mesquita Ricardo Alves de,Yamauti Mônica,Silva Tarcília Aparecida,Macari Soraia 대한치과교정학회 2022 대한치과교정학회지 Vol.52 No.2

Objective: To evaluate clinical parameters and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) cytokines in children with anterior open bite receiving passive orthodontic treatment with spurs. Methods: Twenty children with indications for interceptive orthodontic treatment, an anterior open bite, and good oral hygiene and periodontal health were included in this study. GCF samples were collected from the mandibular and maxillary central incisors before (baseline) and 24 hours and 7 days after spur bonding. Clinical and periodontal examinations and cytokine analyses were performed. Results: At 7 days after spur attachment, gingival bleeding in the mandibular group was increased relative to that in the maxillary group. Visible plaque was correlated with gingival bleeding at 7 days and the GCF volume at 24 hours after spur attachment. Compared with those at baseline, interleukin (IL)-8 levels in the maxillary group and IL-1β levels in both tooth groups increased at both 24 hours and 7 days and at 7 days, respectively. At 24 hours, IL-8, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels were higher in the maxillary group than in the mandibular group. Cytokine production was positively correlated with increased GCF volume, but not with gingival bleeding, visible plaque, or probing depth. Conclusions: Although orthodontic treatment with spurs in children resulted in increased gingival bleeding around the mandibular incisors, IL levels were higher around the maxillary incisors and not correlated with periodontal parameters. Increased cytokine levels in GCF may be associated with the initial tooth movement during open bite correction with a passive orthodontic appliance in children.

Accuracy Control of Complex Surfaces in Reverse Engineering

Carlos Relvas,University of Aveiro,António Completo,José António Simões 한국정밀공학회 2011 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

CAD systems have greatly affected the way which engineers perform their function. Computers have simplified and eliminated many of repetitious tasks and the gap between computer models and physical products has significantly shortened. These tools have stimulated the impetus for product development but the manufacturing processes still depends on human skills which ultimately reduce errors and produce better products. Complex shapes representing the patient’s anatomy are widely applied,namely in computer-assisted surgery and manufacturing of customized implants. These type of models represent a challenge for the reverse engineering processes and are not comparable with the demands of regular geometric models. In order to create a replica, data is processed in a series of steps that transforms the initial data obtained from the physical model into a three dimensional digital model. Most commonly it is necessary to include filtering, segmentation, mesh smoothing and surface generation. These steps can strongly affect the accuracy of the model. It is therefore necessary to find a compromise between the finest accuracy and maximum deviation acceptable to reduce computer processing time and achieve the best model. This study shows an iterative and alternating process to produce more accurate complex geometry models.