Método para quantificação do consumo energético no ciclo de vida de equipamentos hidrossanitários

A escolha entre diferentes materiais, produtos ou sistemas empregados na construção civil pode levar em consideração diferentes critérios, sejam estes econômicos, sociais, culturais e ambientais. No caso de equipamentos hidrossanitários, a avaliação econômica e do consumo de recursos, tais como a água, são os critérios mais comumente empregados. O presente artigo objetiva a proposição de um método para quantificação do consumo energético de equipamentos hidrossanitários com base no conceito de Análise do Ciclo de Vida. Essa quantificação permite a comparação entre o desempenho de diferentes equipamentos hidrossanitários com base no dispêndio energético total. No presente artigo o método proposto é aplicado em um estudo de caso analisando dois modelos de torneira (convencional e com fechamento hidromecânico). O consumo energético total no ciclo de vida das torneiras convencional e economizadora de água utilizadas no estudo foi de respectivamente, 151,66 MJ e 127,58 MJ. A etapa de uso das torneiras apresentou peso preponderante nos resultados, com participação de 64,6% para a torneira convencional e 56,5% para a torneira com fechamento hidromecânico. O método proposto se mostrou adequado para quantificação do consumo energético no ciclo de vida e posterior escolha entre diferentes equipamentos hidrossanitários que exerçam a mesma função

Development of a value added rice milk by utilizing selected traditional and improved rice varieties in Sri Lanka

The main objective of this study is to develop a ready-to-serve, value-added rice milk product using two rice varieties (Oryza sativa) namely, Suwandel and Samba by incorporating locally available spices; clove (Syzygium aromaticum), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and garlic (Allium sativum). Sensory analysis data revealed that unpolished Suwandel rice milk formula containing 25 ppm clove, 100 ppm ginger, and 400 ppm garlic extracts has the highest overall acceptability. Proximate composition of the selected formula included moisture% (87.12 ± 0.47), carbohydrate% (34.82 ± 0.15), ash% (0.36 ± 0.00), total fat% (2.93 ± 0.04), crude protein% (1.83 ± 0.16), and crude fiber% (32.28 ± 0.99). Moreover, the developed rice milk product showed significantly higher antioxidant activity with reference to Total Phenolic Content (5.335 ± 0.389 mg GAE/100 g), and percentage inhibition of DPPH (62.00 ± 0.85) and ABTS (63.83 ± 3.40) assays compared to the control sample (p value < 0.05). GC–MS analysis of the selected sample confirmed that the developed rice milk product contains important antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds derived from the incorporated spices. The Calcium, Lead, and Arsenic contents of the developed product were per Codex Standards (CXS 193–1995)

An adaptive swarm-based algorithm for resource allocation in dynamic environments

Dynamic allocation of agents to a set of tasks is a hard problem. Furthermore, having too few or too many agents can result in poor task completion owing to conflicting agent decisions thus creating the problem of the Tragedy of the Commons. This paper proposes a swarm-based algorithm inspired by the social behavior of ants that causes agent specialization to a particular task - resource allocation in a spatial region - and determines the near optimal number of agents required to complete the tasks presented. The utility of the algorithm is demonstrated by application to the dynamic allocation of frequencies in a cellular network

A Forgotten Cause of Allergy at ER That Is Still Difficult to Diagnose and Treat at Poor Resource Setting: Angioedema after Using Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors for 4 Years

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) are the most commonly used antihypertensives. Therefore, ACEI induced angioedema (ACEi-AE) is not uncommon. Physicians tend to miss the diagnosis whenever a patient is taking the drug for years due to misbelief of “a drug that was taken for years may not be the cause for an allergic reaction or an angioedema”. But ACEi can induce angioedema after many years of usage as well as sometimes after stopping the drug even. Most of the emergency physicians and centers are not aware of clinical diagnosis and diagnostic criteria including available diagnostic tests and more importantly the treatment options of ACEi-AE. Therefore not only the diagnosis is delayed or missing but also proper treatment options are not practiced at many emergency rooms and at wards

Effect of Different Processing Conditions on Bioactive Compounds of Selected Grape Varieties

Bioactive compounds in grapes vary in terms of cultivar and processing conditions. Raw juice and treated grape juices from locally grown Israel blue and locally available, imported, Red Globe and Michele Palieri varieties in Sri Lanka were used for the analysis. Grape juices were subjected to different processing conditions such as pasteurization and pectinase enzyme treatment. Total Monomeric Anthocyanin content (TAC), Total Phenolic Content (TPC), and antioxidant activity were analyzed. Compared to the imported grape varieties, the locally grown, pectinase enzyme-treated Israel blue grape juice with 2% pectinase enzyme concentration, 40 0C incubation temperature, and 2 hours incubation time, under dark condition had the significantly highest values (p &lt; 0.05) for TAC at 177.03±4.15 mg/L of malvidin-3-O-glucoside (M3G), TPC at 527.07 ± 3.55 mg/L of Gallic acid equivalents and antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH radical scavenging assay with IC50 value at 7.05±0.35 mg/mL Gallic acid equivalents and ABTS radical scavenging assay with IC50 value at 0.31±0.01 mg/mL of Trolox equivalents. TAC, TPC, and antioxidant activity of three grape varieties showed the highest values in pectinase enzyme-treated grape juice which was followed by raw juice and the pasteurized juice respectively. This research has taken an approach to enhance the bioactivity of grape juices via pectinase enzyme treatment and evaluate the suitability of locally grown Israel blue grape variety in Sri Lanka to form as a functional beverage to meet nutritional and health requirements

Pilot Study of Renal Urinary Biomarkers for Diagnosis of CKD of Uncertain Etiology

10.1016/j.ekir.2019.07.009Kidney International Reports4101401-141