Monitoring historical masonry structures with operational modal analysis : two case studies

Two monuments in Portugal are being monitoring by the University of Minho: the Clock Tower of Mogadouro and the Church of Jerónimos Monastery, in Lisbon. Vibration sensors and temperature and relative air humidity sensors are installed in the two monuments. Operational modal analysis is being used to estimate the modal parameters, followed by statistical analysis to evaluate the environmental effects on the dynamic response. The aim is to explore damage assessment in masonry structures at an early stage by vibration signatures as a part of a heath monitoring process to preserve the historical constructions. The paper presents all the preceding dynamic analysis steps before the monitoring task, which includes the installation of the monitoring system, the system identification and subsequent FE model updating analysis, the automatic modal identification and the investigation of the influence of the environment on the identified modal parameters

Towards a generic power estimator

International audienceData centers play an important role on worldwide electrical energy consumption. Understanding their power dissipation is a key aspect to achieve energy efficiency. Some application specific models were proposed, while other generic ones lack accuracy. The contributions of this paper are threefold. First we expose the importance of modelling alternating to direct current conversion losses. Second, a weakness of CPU proportional models is evidenced. Finally, a methodology to estimate the power consumed by applications with machine learning techniques is proposed. Since the results of such techniques are deeply data dependent, a study on devices’ power profiles was executed to generate a small set of synthetic benchmarks able to emulate generic applications’ behaviour. Our approach is then compared with two other models, showing that the percentage error of energy estimation of an application can be less than 1 %

UNA NUEVA ESPECIE DE THELASTOMATIDAE HAMMERSCHMIDTIELLA LAPLATAE SP. N. (NEMATODA) PARÁSITA DE LA CUCARACHA PERIPLANETA AMERICANA (L.) (BLATTODEA, BLATTIDAE) DE ARGENTINA

Hammerschmidtiella laplatae n. sp. (Nematoda, Thelastomatidae), a parasite of Periplaneta americana (L.) (Blattodea, Blattidae) from La Plata, Argentina, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by a striated cuticle with lateral alae, mouth with three triangular inner papillae, and eight labial papillae; small, pore-shaped amphids; short and wide buccal capsule with dental plates; an esophagus with a valvate metacorpus; a thin, cylindrical isthmus surrounded by the nerve ring; and a rounded basal bulb heavily muscled and valvate. The vulva is slightly protuberant and lies in the anterior third of the body. The female is didelphic and prodelphic. Small eggs, elongate, and triangular in cross-section. The male has one spicule, without gubernaculum; the genital papillae consist in one preanal and three postanal pairs, with the last pair being fingershaped. In the female the tail appendage is very long and thin; while in the male the posterior end of the body is abruptly truncated posterior to the anus with a long, spine-like tail appendage.Se describe e ilustra a Hammerschmidtiella laplatae n. sp. (Nematoda, Thelastomatidae), un parásito de la cucaracha Periplaneta americana (L.) (Blattodea, Blattidae) en La Plata, Argentina. Esta especie se caracteriza por presentar una cutícula anillada en su extremo anterior y la presencia del ala lateral, boca con tres papilas triangulares internas, y ocho papilas labiales; anfidios pequeños piriformes; cápsula bucal corta y ancha con placas dentales; un esófago con un delgado metacorpus valvado, un istmo cilíndrico rodeado por el anillo nervioso, y un bulbo basal musculoso valvado. La vulva es ligeramente protuberante y se encuentra en el tercio anterior del cuerpo. Hembra didélfica y prodélfica. Huevos pequeños, alargados y triangulares en sección transversal. El macho tiene una espícula, carece de gubernáculo; las papilas genitales consisten en una papila impar preanal y tres pares de papilas postanales, de las cuales el último par es digitiforme. Hembra con el apéndice caudal muy largo y delgado, mientras que en el macho el extremo posterior del cuerpo es abruptamente truncado presentando un apéndice caudal espiniforme

Câncer de colo de útero: barreiras preventivas no século 21 / Cervical cancer: preventive barriers in the 21st century

Introdução: No Brasil, o câncer de colo de útero é o segundo tipo de câncer ginecológico mais comum, ficando atrás apenas do câncer de mama. Apesar da alta incidência e mortalidade, se configura como um câncer com possibilidade de prevenção, e com estratégias de prevenção consolidadas nas políticas de atenção a saúde. Objetivos: Especificar as barreiras na prevenção ao câncer de colo de útero, especialmente no Brasil. Métodos: Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática de literatura. Para a pesquisa as bases de dados consultadas foram: Lilacs e PubMed, usando os descritores: “Cervical Cancer”,”HPV”, “Prevention”. Resultados: O câncer de colo irá surgir quando houver a infecção persistente pelo vírus HPV oncogênico, associado a fatores de risco. Devido ao contágio pelo HPV ser uma infecção sexualmente transmissível, o carcinoma passa a ter caráter preventivo, ou seja, medidas podem ser tomadas para que se diagnostique a infecção e suas alterações primárias antes que ocorra a evolução para lesão carcinomatosa. A prevenção primária envolve o uso de condoms e a vacinação para HPV, associada a ações de promoção em saúde. Enquanto a prevenção secundária envolve a detecção precoce, ou seja, o diagnóstico precoce a partir do exame citopatológico, conhecido como Papanicolau. Conclusões: De forma geral, a educação sexual é um passo fundamental nas barreiras preventivas atualmente enfrentadas pelo Brasil no combate ao câncer de colo de útero

Monitoring of historical masonry structures with operational modal analysis: Two case studies

Two monuments in Portugal are being monitoring by the University of Minho: the Clock Tower of Mogadouro and the Church of Jerónimos Monastery, in Lisbon. Vibration sensors and temperature and relative air humidity sensors are installed in the two monuments. Operational modal analysis is being used to estimate the modal parameters, followed by statistical analysis to evaluate the environmental effects on the dynamic response. The aim is to explore damage assessment in masonry structures at an early stage by vibration signatures as a part of a heath monitoring process to preserve the historical constructions. The paper presents all the preceding dynamic analysis steps before the monitoring task, which includes the installation of the monitoring system, the system identification and subsequent FE model updating analysis, the automatic modal identification and the investigation of the influence of the environment on the identified modal parameters.(undefined

White dwarf mass distribution in the SDSS

We determined masses for the 7167 DA and 507 DB white dwarf stars classified as single and non-magnetic in Data Release 4 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We obtained revised Teff and log g determinations for the most massive stars by fitting the SDSS optical spectra with a synthetic spectra grid derived from model atmospheres extending to log g = 10.0. We also calculate radii from evolutionary models and create volume-corrected mass distributions for our DA and DB samples. The mean mass for the DA stars brighter than g = 19 and hotter than Teff = 12 000 K is (M)DA ≃ 0.593 ± 0.016 M⊙. For the 150 DBs brighter than g = 19 and hotter than reff = 16000 K, we find (M)DB = 0.711 ±0.009M⊙. It appears the mean mass for DB white dwarf stars may be significantly larger than that for DAs. We also report the highest mass white dwarf stars ever found, up to 1.33 M⊙.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Species pool structure determines the level of generalism of island parasitoid faunas

Copyright © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.AIM To examine whether island parasitoid faunas are biased towards generalists when compared with the mainland and their species pool, and to evaluate the effects of climate, island characteristics and regional factors on the relative proportions of idiobionts (i.e. generalists) and koinobionts (i.e. specialists) of two parasitic wasp families, Braconidae and Ichneumonidae. LOCATION Seventy-three archipelagos distributed world-wide. METHODS We used data on the distribution and biology obtained from a digital catalogue and several literature sources. We related level of generalism, measured as the ratio between the number of idiobiont and koinobiont species, to climatic, physiographic and regional factors using generalized linear models. We compared models by means of Akaike weighting, and evaluated the spatial structure of their residuals. We used partial regressions to determine whether the final models account for all latitudinal structure in the level of generalism. RESULTS Islands host comparatively more idiobionts than continental areas. Although there is a latitudinal gradient in the level of generalism of island faunas correlating with both environmental factors and island characteristics, the most important determinant of island community structure is their source pool. This effect is stronger for ichneumonids, where generalism is higher in the Indomalayan region, arguably due to the higher diversity of endophytic hosts in its large rain forests. MAIN CONCLUSIONS The level of generalism of island parasitoid faunas is largely constrained by regional factors, namely by the structure of the species pool, which emphasizes the importance of including regional processes in our understanding of the functioning of ecological communities. The fact that generalist species are more predominant in islands with a large cover of rain forests pinpoints the importance of the indirect effects of ecological requirements on community structure, highlighting the complex nature of geographical gradients of diversity

Photoinduced antibacterial activity of the essential oils from Eugenia brasiliensis lam and Piper mosenii C. DC. by blue led light

The objective of this work was to evaluate the phytochemical composition and the antibacterial and antibiotic-modulating activities of the essential oils of Eugenia brasiliensis Lam (OEEb) and Piper mosenii C. DC (OEPm) singly or in association with blue LED (Light-emitting diode) light. The antibacterial and antibiotic-modulatory activities of the essential oils on the activity of aminoglycosides were evaluated to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, \u3bcg/mL) in the presence or absence of exposure to blue LED light. The chemical analysis showed \u3b1-pinene and bicyclogermacrene as major constituents of OEPm, whereas \u3b1-muurolol was the main compound of OEEb. Both OEEb and OEPm showed MIC 65 512 \u3bcg/mL against the strains under study. However, the association of these oils with the blue LED light enhanced the action of the aminoglycosides amikacin and gentamicin. In conclusion, the association of aminoglycosides with the blue LED light and essential oils was effective against resistant bacteria

Functional and structural impact of 10 ACADM missense mutations on human medium chain acyl-Coa dehydrogenase

Funding Information: This work was supported by FEDER and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia , I. P. through iMed.ULisboa (Projects UIDB/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020 ), iNOVA4Health ( UIDB/04462/2020 , UIDP/04462/2020 ) and LS4FUTURE Associated Laboratory ( LA/P/0087/2020 ) and research project PTDC/BIA-BQM/29570/2017 . Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)Medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency (MCADD) is associated with ACADM gene mutations, leading to an impaired function and/or structure of MCAD. Importantly, after import into the mitochondria, MCAD must incorporate a molecule of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) per subunit and assemble into tetramers. However, the effect of MCAD amino acid substitutions on FAD incorporation has not been investigated. Herein, the commonest MCAD variant (p.K304E) and 11 additional rare variants (p.Y48C, p.R55G, p.A88P, p.Y133C, p.A140T, p.D143V, p.G224R, p.L238F, p.V264I, p.Y372N, and p.G377V) were functionally and structurally characterized. Half of the studied variants presented a FAD content <65 % compared to the wild-type. Most of them were recovered as tetramers, except the p.Y372N (mainly as dimers). No correlation was found between the levels of tetramers and FAD content. However, a correlation between FAD content and the cofactor's affinity, proteolytic stability, thermostability, and thermal inactivation was established. We showed that the studied amino acid changes in MCAD may alter the substrate chain-length dependence and the interaction with electron-transferring-flavoprotein (ETF) necessary for a proper functioning electron transfer thus adding additional layers of complexity to the pathological effect of ACADM missense mutations. Although the majority of the variant MCADs presented an impaired capacity to retain FAD during their synthesis, some of them were structurally rescued by cofactor supplementation, suggesting that in the mitochondrial environment the levels and activity of those variants may be dependent of FAD's availability thus contributing for the heterogeneity of the MCADD phenotype found in patients presenting the same genotype.publishersversionpublishe