Digital electric field induced switching of plasmonic nanorods using an electro-optic fluid fiber

We demonstrate the digital electric field induced switching of plasmonic nanorods between 1 and 0 orthogonal aligned states using an electro-optic fluid fiber component. We show by digitally switching the nanorods, that thermal rotational diffusion of the nanorods can be circumvented, demonstrating an approach to achieve submicrosecond switching times. We also show, from an initial unaligned state, that the nanorods can be aligned into the applied electric field direction in 110 nanoseconds. The high-speed digital switching of plasmonic nanorods integrated into an all-fiber optical component may provide novel opportunities for remote sensing and signaling applications

Mutation and SARS-CoV-2 strain competition under vaccination in a modified SIR model

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak around the globe raised an increasing concern about the ongoing emergence of variants of SARS-CoV-2 that may evade the immune response provided by vaccines. New variants appear due to mutation, and as the cases accumulate, the probability of the emergence of a variant of concern increases. In this article, we propose a modified SIR model with waning immunity that captures the competition of two strain classes of an infectious disease under the effect of vaccination with a highly contagious and deadly strain class emerging from a prior strain due to mutation. When these strains compete for a limited supply of susceptible individuals, changes in the efficiency of vaccines may affect the behaviour of the disease in a non-trivial way, resulting in complex outcomes. We characterise the parameter space including intrinsic parameters of the disease, and using the vaccine efficiencies as control variables. We find different types of transcritical bifurcations between endemic fixed points and a disease-free equilibrium and identify a region of strain competition where the two strain classes coexist during a transient period. We show that a strain can be extinguished either due to strain competition or vaccination, and we obtain the critical values of the efficiency of vaccines to eradicate the disease. Numerical studies using parameters estimated from publicly reported data agree with our theoretical results. Our mathematical model could be a tool to assess quantitatively the vaccination policies of competing and emerging strains using the dynamics in epidemics of infectious diseases.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Roles of the Taql and Bsml vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in hospital mortality of burn patients

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of the Taql and Bsml vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in hospital mortality of burn patients. METHODS: In total, 105 consecutive burn injury patients over 18 years in age who were admitted to the Burn Unit of Bauru State Hospital from January to December 2013 were prospectively evaluated. Upon admission, patient demographic information was recorded and a blood sample was taken for biochemical analysis to identify the presence of the Taql(rs731236) and Bsml(rs1544410) polymorphisms. All of the patients were followed over their hospital stay and mortality was recorded. RESULTS: Eighteen of the patients did not sign the informed consent form, and there were technical problems with genotype analysis for 7 of the patients. Thus, 80 patients (mean age, 42.5±16.1 years) were included in the final analysis. In total, 60% of the patients were male, and 16.3% died during the hospital stay. The genotype frequencies for the Taql polymorphism were 51.25% TT, 41.25% TC and 7.50% CC; for the Bsml polymorphism, they were 51.25% GG, 42.50% GA and 6.25% AA. In logistic regression analysis, after adjustments for age, gender and total body surface burn area, there were no associations between the Taql (OR: 1.575; CI95%: 0.148-16.745; p=0.706) or Bsml (OR: 1.309; CI95%: 0.128-13.430; p=0.821) polymorphisms and mortality for the burn patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the Taql and Bsml vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms are not associated with hospital mortality of burn patients

Resumen de la Tarea de Análisis de Sentimientos Basado en Aspectos en Portugués (ABSAPT) en IberLEF 2022

Este artículo presenta la Tarea sobre Análisis de Sentimientos basado en Aspectos en Portugués (ABSAPT), realizada en el IberLEF 2022. Les pedimos a los participantes que desarrollaran sistemas capaces de identificar aspectos (AE) y extraer la polaridad (ASC) en textos escritos en portugués. Doce equipos se inscribieron en la tarea, entre los cuales cinco presentaron predicciones e informes técnicos. El sistema con mejor rendimiento logró un valor de precisión (Acc) de 0,67 para la subtarea de AE (Equipo Deep Learning Brasil) y un valor de precisión equilibrada (Bacc) de 0,82 para la subtarea de ASC (Equipo Deep Learning Brasil).This paper presents the task on Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis in Portuguese (ABSAPT), held within Iberian Languages Evaluation Forum (IberLEF 2022). We asked the participants to develop systems capable of extracting aspects (AE) and classifying sentiment of aspects (ASC) in texts. We created one corpora containing reviews about hotels. Twelve teams registered to the task, among which five submitted predictions and technical reports. The best performing system achieved an Accuracy (Acc) value of 0.67 in AE sub-task (Team Deep Learning Brasil) and a Balanced Accuracy (Bacc) value of 0.82 in ASC sub-task (Team Deep Learning Brasil).This work was financed in part by the following Brazilian research agencies: CAPES and CNPq

Desenvolvimento de um modelo para avaliar o nível de manutenção Lean de uma organização : caso de estudo

Trabalho final de mestrado para obtenção do grau de mestre em Engenharia MecânicaA criação de um modelo de avaliação Lean é importante para criar boas práticas a aplicar na área da manutenção, como principio de uma atividade que utiliza ferramentas Lean e consciente de todas as suas vantagens. A implementação de filosofia Lean na manutenção visa melhorar o planeamento e a programação das atividades, aumentar a produtividade, motivar os trabalhadores, ajudar na introdução de novos hábitos e de novas atitudes no trabalho e ainda identificar os desperdícios que devem ser eliminados. A competitividade e o preço excessivo dos produtos (bens ou serviços) que o cliente final não quer pagar, faz com que as empresas públicas e privadas tomem medidas para evitar todo o tipo de desperdícios, rentabilizando ao máximo a sua cadeia de valor. A filosofia Lean foi uma das formas encontradas para identificar e eliminar alguns desses desperdícios, melhorando o processo produtivo e, desta forma, tornando as organizações mais competitivas. O Lean tem várias ferramentas podendo ser aplicadas em diversas áreas. Uma dessas áreas é a manutenção, onde se pretende que os equipamentos operem sem interrupções e com uma produção de qualidade. Algumas das ferramentas do Lean encaixam-se perfeitamente na área da manutenção para identificação de desperdícios, criação de valor, realização de planeamento, melhoria do sistema de trabalho na organização e até no próprio desenvolvimento dos trabalhadores. A presente dissertação visa mostrar algumas das ferramentas mais comuns da filosofia Lean com aplicabilidade na manutenção de equipamentos de apoio à atividade de um serviço publico e ao desenvolvimento de um modelo de avaliação com apresentação através de estudo de caso. No trabalho infra são apresentadas diversas ferramentas Lean, nomeadamente 5s, trabalho padronizado, (standardwork uniformização), gestão visual (andon), melhoria continua (kaisen), mapeamento fluxo de valor na manutenção (MVSM), SIPOC, gestão visual, 5w, ciclo PDCA. O modelo de avaliação está estruturado em 3 grandes áreas “Clientes”, “Organização” e “Fornecedores”, vai subdividir-se em 7 critérios e 60 atributos. Dos 60 atributos, foram desenvolvidos 6 e que compõem mais de 70 atributos, perfazendo mais de 130 no final o modelo proposto neste trabalho.The creation of a lean evaluation model is important to create good practice in the field of maintenance as the principle of an activity that uses lean tools aware of all its advantages. Implementing Lean's philosophy of maintenance aims to improve planning and scheduling of activities, increase productivity, motivate employees, assist in introducing new habits and new attitudes at work, and identify the wastes that need to be eliminated. Competitiveness and the excessive price of products (goods or services) that the final customer does not want to pay, makes public and private companies take measures to avoid all types of waste, making the most of its value chain. The Lean philosophy was one of the ways found to identify and eliminate some of these wastes, improving the production process and thus making companies more competitive. Lean has several tools that can be applied in several areas. One of these areas is maintenance, where the equipment is intended to operate without interruption and with a quality production. Some of Lean's tools fit perfectly into the maintenance area for waste identification, value creation. The present dissertation aims to show some of the most common tools of the Lean philosophy with applicability in the maintenance of equipment to support the activity of a public service and the development of an evaluation model with presentation through case study. In the work below are presented several Lean tools, namely 5s, standardized work, (standardwork standardization), visual management (andon), continuous improvement (kaisen), maintenance value flow mapping (MVSM), SIPOC, visual management, 5w, cycle PDCA. The avaliation model is structured in 3 large areas "Customers", "Organization" and "Suppliers", will be subdivided into 7 criteria and 60 attributes. Of the 60 attributes were developed 6 and that make up more than 70 attribute attributes, preferring more than 130 at the end the model proposeN/

Avian influenza virus (H11N9) in migratory shorebirds wintering in the Amazon region, Brazil

Aquatic birds are the natural reservoir for avian influenza viruses (AIV). Habitats in Brazil provide stopover and wintering sites for water birds that migrate between North and South America. The current study was conducted to elucidate the possibility of the transport of influenza A viruses by birds that migrate annually between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In total, 556 orotracheal/cloacal swab samples were collected for influenza A virus screening using real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR). The influenza A virus-positive samples were subjected to viral isolation. Four samples were positive for the influenza A matrix gene by rRT-PCR. From these samples, three viruses were isolated, sequenced and characterized. All positive samples originated from a single bird species, the ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres), that was caught in the Amazon region at Caeté Bay, Northeast Pará, at Ilha de Canelas. To our knowledge, this is the first isolation of H11N9 in the ruddy turnstone in South America. (Résumé d'auteur

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors