Analysis and improvement of the packaging sector of an industrial company

Manual operations in manufacturing companies are still a common practice. This often results in high costs, high cycle times and therefore in lower productivity, particularly for companies operating in western countries. This is why many manufacturing companies relocated their production facilities in low age countries. This study was developed at a leading Portuguese material construction manufacturing company. The objective was to improve the packaging and labeling processes, that were identified as main bottlenecks in the factory. Lean was used to streamline these processes before being automated. This allowed for annual savings of 12432 €, with human operators being reallocated to other departments where they are more useful. Furthermore, cycle times were reduced by 42,9%, non-value-added activities were minimized, and operations with potentially high ergonomic risks were eliminated. In addition, a reduction of 84,3% in lithographed packaging was achieved, with a cost reduction of around 36 000 €/year, which is expected to continue in the forthcoming years.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lean manufacturing applied to a wiring production process

This project was carried out at a company in the electric mobility sector, which manufactures chargers for electric vehicles, specifically in the wiring section. The main objective of the developed work was to improve the production processes in order to enhance responsiveness to the growing demand. After analyzing the processes in the section, the objectives were outlined to enable the improvement of some practices in the production department, such as the ones related to the organization of the raw material supermarket, as well as the calculation of the wiring consumption by chargers, and the implementation of a production control system. After the improvement actions were implemented, it was possible to observe a 14,9% reduction in the changeover process of the cable cutting process; weekly wiring consumptions were estimated, and procedures were defined to generate orders of raw material and supply to the workstation, which led to the elimination of stock shortages. In addition, worker autonomy increased and production downtime was reduced.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gene silencing based on RNA-guided catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9): a new tool for genetic engineering in Leptospira

International audienceLeptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira, which also includes free-living saprophyte strains. Many aspects of leptospiral basic biology and virulence mechanisms remain unexplored mainly due to the lack of effective genetic tools available for these bacteria. Recently, the type II CRISPR/Cas system from Streptococcus pyogenes has been widely used as an efficient genome engineering tool in bacteria by inducing double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the desired genomic targets caused by an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease called Cas9, and the DSB repair associated machinery. In the present work, plasmids expressing heterologous S. pyogenes Cas9 in L. biflexa cells were generated, and the enzyme could be expressed with no apparent toxicity to leptospiral cells. However, L. biflexa cells were unable to repair RNA-guided Cas9-induced DSBs. Thus, we used a catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) to obtain gene silencing rather than disruption, in a strategy called CRISPR interference (CRISPRi). We demonstrated complete gene silencing in L. biflexa cells when both dCas9 and single-guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting the coding strand of the β-galactosidase gene were expressed simultaneously. Furthermore, when the system was applied for silencing the dnaK gene, no colonies were recovered, indicating that DnaK protein is essential in Leptospira. In addition, flagellar motor switch FliG gene silencing resulted in reduced bacterial motility. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work applying the CRISPRi system in Leptospira and spirochetes in general, expanding the tools available for understanding leptospiral biology

RECORRÊNCIA DE ALAGAMENTOS NA CIDADE DE TEÓFILO OTONI, MINAS GERAIS: UM ESTUDO INICIAL NO BAIRRO NOVO HORIZONTE

A desarmonia entre ocupação, uso do solo e planejamentos estrutural e ambiental geralmente levam a ocorrência de sérios problemas à população. Nesse sentido, este estudo busca relatar o histórico do local, pesquisar motivos dos casos ocorridos e apresentar providências iniciais. Os alagamentos decorrem da habitação descontrolada, falta de fiscalização por parte das autoridades e inexistência de ações para diminuir os riscos e prevenir desastres futuros

Pesticide Use in South Africa: One of the Largest Importers of Pesticides in Africa

South Africa is a diverse country, with a diverse environment that is home to more than 49 000 000 people. Pesticide usage is very often necessary to maintain both agricultural productivity as well as human health. The climatic conditions range from semi-tropic to semi-arid regions. Although the majority of the country has summer rainfall, the south western coastal region is predominantly a winter rainfall area. These variations in climate allows for a wide variety of crops, from tropical fruit to maize and tree plantations. Each individual crop is susceptible to a unique host of pests that in-turn require a unique mixture of pesticides to ensure the best resulting turnover. Currently, South Africa has more than 500 registered pesticides (Pesticide Action Network (PAN), 2010) and is one of the four largest importers of pesticides in sub-Saharan Africa (Osbanjo et al., 2002). In 2006 the import of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides that were packaged for retail totalled $ 170 056 000 the main import partners being Australia, China, Germany and the United States of America (USA) (International Trade Centre, 2011). These pesticides are used in almost every facet of our everyday lives; ensuring the quantity and quality of food we eat to managing the number of rodents and insects in our homes. Although it is evident that there is a vast amount of pesticides present in the South African environment, there is very limited data on the production of pesticides. The last published data indicates that in 2002 around 10 000 kℓ of liquid insecticides was produced exclusively for crop protection of which 43% consisted of organophosphates. During the same year 2 800-tonnes of solid insecticides were produced (Statistics South Africa, 2003). Although the usefulness of pesticides cannot be denied, the negative environmental and human health effects cannot be ignored. In South Africa, a number of environmental and anthropogenic factors have to be considered before the impact of large-scale pesticide use can be assessed. South Africa is a water poor country, with water resources being utilised to their maximum capacity. As discussed by Dabrowski et al. (2009), the trade-off between the economic benefits of exporting agricultural products has to be measured against the loss of water, not only through crop irrigation but also through water quality degradation. The article highlighted this aspect through the calculation of virtual water volumes. These calculated volumes indicated that to ensure sufficient dilution of all agrochemicals, to an acceptable water quality level (used in a typical farming situation applying current-use pesticides), was greater than the amount of water needed for irrigation. The seriousness of these scenarios is highlighted in literature where a diverse array of agricultural chemicals has been measured during run-off events, by once-off sampling and by water monitoring during the growing seasons. Detectable levels of atrazine, terbuthylazine, simazine, acetochlor (Du Preez et al., 2005), DDT and its metabolites, endosulfan, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane (Fatoki et al., 2003), azinophos-methyl, chloropyriphos (Schultz et al., 2001; Dabrowski et al., 2002) prothiofos (Schultz, 2001), malathion, zendoxsulfan (Thiere &  Schultz, 2004), cypermethrin and fenvalerate (Bollmohr et al., 2007), to name a few, have all been measured in South African waters. Pesticides in the aquatic environment have the potential to affect all end-users, including both humans and wildlife. South Africa has the distinction of being one of the countries with the most species richness in the world. To date more than 900 bird species as well as over 200 mammals, call South Africa home. Of these mammals, seven species are endangered and 30 are vulnerable according to the 2004 IUCN red data list (IUCN, 2010). These endangered species include bats, moles, shrews and mice that are often insectivorous, thus increasing their risk of unintentional exposure to pesticides. Within avian populations, 11 species are listed as critically endangered and 43 species as vulnerable. The sensitivity of avian species to pollutants has been widely reported. With this unique diversity of species, South Africans have a responsibility towards maintaining the viability of ecosystems and natural habitats to ensure the continued existence of these creatures. This objective is not only morally relevant but also economically relevant especially in a country where tourism creates over 400 000 jobs and contributes approximately 8% to the GDP. Few studies have reported the levels of insecticides in wildlife species. However, pesticides have been detected in wild bird species (Van Wyk et al., 2001; Bouwman et al., 2008), as well as in indigenous fish species (Barnhoorn et al., 2009), indicating pesticide contamination within various habitats. This is of particular concern due to the health risks associated with many pesticides

Brane-world Quantum Gravity

The Arnowitt-Deser-Misner canonical formulation of general relativity is extended to the covariant brane-world theory in arbitrary dimensions. The exclusive probing of the extra dimensions makes a substantial difference, allowing for the construction of a non-constrained canonical theory. The quantum states of the brane-world geometry are defined by the Tomonaga-Schwinger equation, whose integrability conditions are determined by the classical perturbations of submanifolds contained in the Nash's differentiable embedding theorem. In principle, quantum brane-world theory can be tested by current experiments in astrophysics and by near future laboratory experiments at Tev energy. The implications to the black-hole information loss problem, to the accelerating cosmology, and to a quantum mathematical theory of four-sub manifolds are briefly commented.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, JHEP format, to appear in JHEP April 200

Transboundary Impact Assessment in the north-western Iberian Peninsula

En el marco del proyecto SIMAtlantic, se ha llevado a cabo un caso de estudio entre España y Portugal. Este documento describe una metodología propuesta para la Evaluación de Efectos Acumulativos con el fin de evaluar los impactos/efectos acumulativos a escala transfronteriza. El trabajo se llevó a cabo en un caso de estudio específico en la región noroeste de la Península Ibérica, en una zona transfronteriza entre Portugal y España

Benefícios Da Adequação Postural Em Cadeira De Rodas E Fatores Que Interferem Em Sua Utilização: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Seating and positioning are an assistive technology resource that aims to improve functional performance in the wheelchair. The aim of this paper was to find in the literature studies that addressed the benefits of seating and positioning in a wheelchair and factors that interfere with the prescription and use of this technology. Articles found that discuss the benefits addressed: the functionality and respiratory function; the pressure ulcer prevention; and user satisfaction and the family with assistive technology. Articles discussing the factors linked to prescription and use of adapting wheelchairs are those that address the environmental factors, components and wheelchair accessories. There are factors involved in the prescription process to achieve its benefits through its use, the prescribed process must have an interdisciplinary and biopsychosocial approach applied individually to each patient.5218119

Fitomassa de adubos verdes e controle de plantas daninhas em diferentes densidades populacionias de leguminosas.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a fitomassa de calopogônio, mucuna-preta, mucunarajada,feijão-de-porco, guandu de porte alto, Crotalaria spectabilis e C. breviflora sob diferentes densidades de semeadura (10, 20, 40, 80 e 160 sementes viáveis m-2), e o crescimento de plantas daninhas nessas densidades, em área de tabuleiros costeiros. O experimento foi desenvolvido de maio a agosto de 1996, no Campo Experimental “Antônio Martins”(EMDAGRO/Embrapa-CPATC), em Lagarto, SE. O número de plantas vivas na floração (NPVF) e a matéria seca da parte aérea das leguminosas (MSPA) foram determinados quando, em cada espécie, cerca de 50% das plantas floresceram. Maiores incrementos de MSPA, em resposta ao adensamento populacional, foram observados em C. spectabilis e C. breviflora, seguidas pelo calopogônio, mucuna-preta e mucuna-rajada. Em relação ao feijão-de-porco, a resposta foi negativa, enquanto com o guandu não houve influência. Quanto ao NPVF, as respostas ao adensamento foram lineares e positivas em C. spectabilis, C. breviflora e calopogônio, e quadráticas com ponto de máxima em feijão-de-porco,guandu e mucuna-rajada. Embora nenhum modelo tenha sido ajustado para expressar a relação entre NPVF e adensamento na semeadura de mucuna-preta, a sobrevivência dessa espécie foi reduzida em todas as densidades. Maiores inibições de plantas daninhas ocorreram nas parcelas de mucuna-preta e feijão-de-porco