2,835 research outputs found
The 12 prophets dataset
The "Ajeijadinho 3D" project is an initiative supported by the University of
S\~ao Paulo (Museum of Science and Dean of Culture and Extension), which
involves the 3D digitization of art works of Brazilian sculptor Antonio
Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho. The project made use of advanced
acquisition and processing of 3D meshes for preservation and dissemination of
the cultural heritage. The dissemination occurs through a Web portal, so that
the population has the opportunity to meet the art works in detail using 3D
visualization and interaction. The portal address is
http://www.aleijadinho3d.icmc.usp.br. The 3D acquisitions were conducted over a
week at the end of July 2013 in the cities of Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil and
Congonhas do Campo, MG, Brazil. The scanning was done with a special equipment
supplied by company Leica Geosystems, which allowed the work to take place at
distances between 10 and 30 meters, defining a non-invasive procedure,
simplified logistics, and without the need for preparation or isolation of the
sites. In Ouro Preto, we digitized the churches of Francisco of Assis, Our Lady
of Carmo, and Our Lady of Mercy; in Congonhas do Campo we scanned the entire
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos and his 12 prophets. Once scanned, the art
works went through a long process of preparation, which required careful
handling of meshes done by experts from the University of S\~ao Paulo in
partnership with company Imprimate.Comment: Full dataset online at http://aleijadinho3d.icmc.usp.br/data.htm
Associations between sedentary time, physical activity and bone health among older people using compositional data analysis
Introduction : Aging is associated with a progressive decrease in bone mass (BM), and being physical active is one of the main strategies to combat this continuous loss. Nonetheless, because daily time is limited, time spent on each movement behavior is co-dependent. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between BM and movement behaviors in elderly people using compositional data analysis.
Methods : We analyzed 871 older people [395 men (76.9 +/- 5.3y) and 476 women (76.7 +/- 4.7y)]. Time spent in sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), was assessed using accelerometry. BM was determined by bone densitometry (DXA). The sample was divided according to sex and bone health indicators.
Results : The combined effect of all movement behaviors (PA and SB) was significantly associated with whole body, leg and femoral region BM in the whole sample (p<0.05), with leg and pelvic BM (p<0.05) in men and, with whole body, arm and leg BM (p<0.05) in women. In men, arm and pelvic BM were negatively associated with SB and whole body, pelvic and leg BM were positively associated with MVPA (p<0.05). In women, whole body and leg BM were positively associated with SB. Arm and whole body BM were positively associated and leg BM was negatively associated with LPA and arm BM was negatively associated with MVPA (p<0.05). Women without bone fractures spent less time in SB and more in LPA and MVPA than the subgroup with bone fractures.
Conclusion : We identified that the positive effect of MVPA relative to the other behaviors on bone mass is the strongest overall effect in men. Furthermore, women might decrease bone fracture risk through PA increase and SB reduction, despite the fact that no clear benefits of PA for bone mass were found
Critical boron-doping levels for generation of dislocations in synthetic diamond
Defects induced by boron doping in diamond layers were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The existence of a critical boron doping level above which defects are generated is reported. This level is found to be dependent on the CH4
/H2 molar ratios and on growth directions. The critical boron concentration lied in the 6.5–17.0 X 10 20 at/cm3 range in the direction and at 3.2 X 1021 at/cm
3 for the one. Strain related effects induced by the doping are shown not to
be responsible. From the location of dislocations and their Burger vectors, a model is proposed, together with their generation mechanism.6 page
Bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts based on non-critical raw materials: carbon nanostructures and iron-doped manganese oxide nanowires
Alkaline metal-air batteries are unique systems for energy storage. These devices require a bifunctional catalyst in the positive electrode that must perform both the oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER and ORR, respectively). Generally, cobalt-based oxides are employed as air electrodes; however, cobalt is a critical raw material. Future battery devices will mandatorily need non-critical raw materials based on highly abundant metals. Here we investigate the feasibility of iron-doped manganese oxide in the form of nanowires (Fe-MONW) combined with carbon nanofibers. MnO2 is known for being active for the ORR, however its activity towards the OER is not yet fully understood. Carbon nanofibers (CNF) on the other hand, provide the necessary electrical conductivity to the catalytic system. Simple methods and economic materials are employed to synthesize the Fe-MONW/CNF composites. Our results show that there is a synergistic effect between CNF and MONW, especially for the ORR, which manifests in an increase in the number of exchanged electrons– from 2.9 to 3.5 – and a shift in the onset potential of 70 mV. Doping MONW with iron further enhances the catalytic activity, for both the ORR and OER. Fe ions generate defects in the manganese oxide structure, favoring the adsorption of oxygen and eventually enhancing the catalytic activity. Fe-doped-MONW shows onset potentials for OER comparable to the benchmark catalyst, IrO2. The improvement on the catalytic activity is particularly evident in terms of the reversibility gap, ΔE. ΔE is the difference between the potential when the current density is 10 mA cm−2 in OER and the half-wave potential for the ORR, being a fundamental parameter to assess the performance of metal-air batteries. The reversibility gap for the best catalyst, 5Fe-MONW/CNF, is ΔE = 922 mV (140 mV lower than non-doped MONW/CNF and between 160 and 320 mV lower than the individual components, MONW and CNF). Endurance tests show remarkable stability of the iron-doped MONW/CNF, with a stable potential and an even lower ΔE of 800 mV for ca. 20 h of operation (charge-discharge cycles at ± 10 mA cm−2)
Topography of Cortical Activation Differs for Fundamental and Harmonic Frequencies of the Steady-State Visual-Evoked Responses. An EEG and PET H15 2 O Study
In humans, visual flicker stimuli of graded frequency (2--90 Hz) elicit
an electroencephalographic (EEG) steady-state visual-evoked response
(SSVER) with the same fundamental frequency as the stimulus
and, in addition, a series of harmonic responses. The fundamental
component of the SSVER is generated by increased synaptic activity
in primary visual cortex (V1). We set out to determine the cortical
origin of the harmonic responses in humans. For this purpose, we
recorded the SSVERs at 5 different frequencies (5, 10, 15, 25, and 40
Hz) and measured regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with positron
emission tomography-H15
2 O at rest and during visual stimulation at
the same frequencies. The rCBF contrast weighted by the amplitude
of the SSVERs first harmonics showed activation of a swath of cortex
perpendicular to V1, including mostly the inferior half of the parietooccipital
sulcus. This area overlapped minimally with the primary
visual cortex activated by the fundamental frequency. A different
method, estimating EEG cortical source current density with lowresolution
brain electromagnetic tomography, gave the same results.
Our finding suggests that the inferior portion of the banks of the
parieto-occipital sulci contains association visual cortex involved in
the procparieto-occipital sulcus
HPLC-Q-TOF-MS identification of antioxidant and antihypertensive peptides recovered from cherry (Prunus Cerasus L.) subproducts
The processing of fruits, such as cherries, is characterized by generating a lot of waste material such as fruit stones, skins, etc. To contribute to environmental sustainability, it is necessary to recover these residues. Cherry stones contain seeds with a significant amount of proteins that are underused and undervalued. The aim of this work was to extract cherry seed proteins, to evaluate the presence of bioactive peptides, and to identify them by mass spectrometry. The digestion of cherry seed proteins was optimized, and three different enzymes were employed: Alcalase, Thermolysin, and Flavourzyme. Peptide extracts obtained by the digestion of the cherry seed protein isolate with Alcalase and Thermolysin yielded the highest antioxidant and antihypertensive capacities. Ultrafiltration of hydrolysates allowed obtaining fractions with high antioxidant and antihypertensive capabilities. HPLC-Q-TOF-MS together with bioinformatics tools enabled one to identify peptides in these fractions
Notch Fracture predictions using the Phase Field method for Ti-6Al-4V produced by Selective Laser Melting after different post-processing conditions
Ti-6Al-4V is a titanium alloy with excellent properties for lightweight
applications and its production through Additive Manufacturing processes is
attractive for different industrial sectors. In this work, the influence of
mechanical properties on the notch fracture resistance of Ti-6Al-4V produced by
Selective Laser Melting is numerically investigated. Literature data is used to
inform material behaviour. The as-built brittle behaviour is compared to the
enhanced ductile response after heat treatment (HT) and hot isostatic pressing
(HIP) post-processes. A Phase Field framework is adopted to capture damage
nucleation and propagation from two different notch geometries and a discussion
on the influence of fracture energy and the characteristic length is carried
out. In addition, the influence of oxygen uptake is analysed by reproducing
non-inert atmospheres during HT and HIP, showing that oxygen shifts fracture to
brittle failures due to the formation of an alpha case layer, especially for
the V-notch geometry. Results show that a pure elastic behaviour can be assumed
for the as-built SLM condition, whereas elastic-plastic phenomena must be
modelled for specimens subjected to heat treatment or hot isostatic pressing.
The present brittle Phase Field framework coupled with an elastic-plastic
constitutive analysis is demonstrated to be a robust prediction tool for notch
fracture after different post-processing routes
Recommended from our members
Epidemiology of influenza-like illness in the Amazon Basin of Peru, 2008-2009.
BackgroundData addressing the incidence and epidemiology of influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in tropical regions of the world is scarce, particularly for the neotropics of South America.MethodsWe conducted active, population-based surveillance for ILI across 45 city blocks within the Amazon Basin city of Iquitos, Peru. Demographic data and household characteristics were collected for all participants, and participating households were visited three times weekly to inquire about ILI (fever plus cough or sore throat) among household residents. Nasal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from participants with ILI and tested for influenza virus infection.ResultsBetween May 1, 2008 and July 8, 2009, we monitored 10,341 participants for ILI for a total of 11,569.5 person-years. We detected 459 ILI episodes, with 252 (54.9%) of the participants providing specimens. Age-adjusted incidence of ILI was estimated to be 46.7 episodes/1000 person-years. Influenza A and B viruses were detected in 25 (9.9%) and 62 (24.6%) specimens of ILI patients, respectively, for an estimated age-adjusted incidence rate of 16.5 symptomatic influenza virus infections/1000 person-years. Risk factors for ILI included age, household crowding, and use of wood as cooking fuel. For influenza virus infection specifically, age and use of wood as a cooking fuel were also identified as risk factors, but no effect of household crowding was observed.ConclusionsOur results represent the initial population-based description of the epidemiology of ILI in the Amazon region of Peru, which will be useful for developing region-specific strategies for reducing the burden of respiratory disease
- …