Desalination in nuclear plants: a bibliometric study of research activity in scientific literature indexed by SCOPUS base

With the scarcity of fresh water, desalination is an important instrument to be considered for the production of non-salinized water through waste heat in the dual use of nuclear reactors. The gap that this study seeks to fill is related to the use of bibliometric method, based on information structure, about the scientific studies indexed on the evolution of the topic desalination in nuclear power plants. The objective of this work is to map the themes in the scientific literature between 1966 and the first semester of 2017. Data were collected from the research activities indexed by the SCOPUS database and analyzed with the support of bibliometric software VOSviewer. Among others, the results of the research led to the following conclusions: (1) the articles published in indexed journals represent the largest percentage of the type of instrument used for scientific dissemination, representing 64% of the documents; (2) it is estimated that between the years 2016 and 2025 the indexed research activities involving nuclear desalination continued to grow sharply

Quantum metrology at the Heisenberg limit with ion traps

Sub-Planck phase-space structures in the Wigner function of the motional degree of freedom of a trapped ion can be used to perform weak force measurements with Heisenberg-limited sensitivity. We propose methods to engineer the Hamiltonian of the trapped ion to generate states with such small scale structures, and we show how to use them in quantum metrology applications.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Green Purchases and Sustainability in Amazon’s Coffee Management

This study was conceived in the cradle of the Brazilian Amazon region, on managerial and cognitive knowledge of the perspectives of sustainable management in coffee cultivation. The objective is to study the green purchasing process and sustainability in coffee management; (1), to map the factors that interfere in the green purchasing processes and sustainability in the researched scenario (2), propose the innovation required with participative management in the face of sustainability with green purchasing (3). With a base on Contingency theories of adaptive nature and emerging demands, Ecodevelopment interprets and performs compatible actions for sustainable local development, the U Theory confronts the problems and transforms them with innovative solutions. The Method of Study adopted is the Case study, of a qualitative nature, such as bibliographic survey procedures, data collection by semi-structured interviews with social actors of the coffee system, data analysis through triangulation and criticism with the theoretical framework and construction of the innovation sustainable development proposal. The result shows the lack of knowledge about green purchasing and the sustainability aspect of the practices used in the Global Coffee Platform. The quality work of the coffee farmers was evidenced in an individual form, but in order to meet the quantitative demands of the market, it is required the structural and leadership development for the construction of APL or agricultural cooperative. The mental design configured at the base of the productive chain needs to break paradigms that interfere in the sustainable posture, to understand the needs of the consumers and to emphasize their participation on the responsibility with the Amazon and the beneficiary society as a whole. We presented suggestions of innovation discussed from the gaps detected by the mapping of factors

Surface tension implementation for Gensmac 2D

In the present work we describe a method which allows the incorporation of surface tension into the GENSMAC2D code. This is achieved on two scales. First on the scale of a cell, the surface tension effects are incorporated into the free surface boundary conditions through the computation of the capillary pressure. The required curvature is estimated by fitting a least square circle to the free surface using the tracking particles in the cell and in its close neighbors. On a sub-cell scale, short wavelength perturbations are filtered out using a local 4-point stencil which is mass conservative. An efficient implementation is obtained through a dual representation of the cell data, using both a matrix representation, for ease at identifying neighbouring cells, and also a tree data structure, which permits the representation of specific groups of cells with additional information pertaining to that group. The resulting code is shown to be robust, and to produce accurate results when compared with exact solutions of selected fluid dynamic problems involving surface tension

Dispersão de machos estéreis de Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) em pomar comercial de manga (Mangifera indica L.) na região Sudoeste da Bahia.

O cultivo de manga é a principal opção econômica do pólo de fruticultura de Anagé, Região Sudoeste da BA. As moscas-das-frutas são pragas quarentenárias e se constituem nos principais problemas fitossanitários da região. Em conformidade com os princípios da Produção Integrada de Frutas, a Técnica do Inseto Estéril (TIE) apresenta-se como uma estratégia de manejo vantajosa e de baixo impacto ambiental. Estudos sobre dispersão de moscamed (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) estéril são necessários para gerar subsídios à implantação da TIE no Brasil. Esse trabalho teve por objetivos estimar a capacidade de dispersão de machos moscamed estéril em pomar comercial de manga e a sua sobrevivência em campo. Cerca de 18.000 machos estéreis de moscamed, linhagem TSL Viena 8, procedentes de Mendonza, Argentina, foram liberados no centro do pomar de 20 ha, às 06h00. Para a recaptura, foram utilizadas armadilhas Jackson, dispostas a cada 25m nas direções N, S, L, O, NO, NE. SO e SE, totalizando 80 armadilhas, num raio máximo de 250 m. No 1º, 3º, 5º, 7º, 9º e 11º dia da liberação, as armadilhas foram expostas às 8h00 e retiradas após uma hora, sendo levadas a uma sala escura, sob lâmpada negra, para contagem de machos estéreis e selvagens. Foram recapturados apenas 22 machos estéreis (0,12%) em 16 armadilhas (20,0%) no primeiro dia após a liberação, sendo que nos demais dias a recaptura foi nula. As recapturas ocorreram principalmente nas armadilhas a sudoeste do ponto de liberação, à distância mínima de 25 metros (SO, NE, NO, SE) e máxima de 250 metros (S). Boa parte dos adultos (40%) foi recapturada num raio de 50m do ponto de liberação. A distância média de dispersão foi de 157,0 m/dia e a área abrangida foi de 29.008,33 m²/dia. A sobrevivência dos machos em campo foi insatisfatóri

Engineering arbitrary motional ionic state through realistic intensity-fluctuating laser pulses

We present a reliable scheme for engineering arbitrary motional ionic states through an adaptation of the projection synthesis technique for trapped-ion phenomena. Starting from a prepared coherent motional state, the Wigner function of the desired state is thus sculpted from a Gaussian distribution. The engineering process has also been developed to take into account the errors arising from intensity fluctuations in the exciting-laser pulses required for manipulating the electronic and vibrational states of the trapped ion. To this end, a recently developed phenomenological-operator approach that allows for the influence of noise will be applied. This approach furnishes a straightforward technique to estimate the fidelity of the prepared state in the presence of errors, precluding the usual extensive ab initio calculations. The results obtained here by the phenomenological approach, to account for the effects of noise in our engineering scheme, can be directly applied to any other process involving trapped-ion phenomena.Comment: more information at http://www.df.ufscar.br/~quantum

Planting time for maximization of yield of vinegar plant calyx (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.)

Objetivou-se avaliar a produtividade de cálices de Hibiscus sabdariffa L., planta medicinal, em quatro épocas de plantio em Lavras M.G. Os tratamentos foram quatro épocas de plantio (18 de outubro; 15 de novembro; 18 de dezembro de 2001 e 15 de janeiro de 2002) e realizada uma colheita quando praticamente não existiam cálices em desenvolvimento, quase no final do ciclo da planta. Foram considerados os números de cálices por planta, as fitomassas frescas e secas dos cálices e a qualidade. Concluiu-se que a época de plantio influenciou o rendimento por planta e as fitomassas frescas e secas dos cálices, diferindo entre si pelo teste de Tukey a 5%. No plantio de outubro, houve maior rendimento (2.522 kg/ha), com produção de 5,24 vezes a mais em relação ao plantio do mês de janeiro (481 kg/ha). Os plantios nos meses de novembro e dezembro tiveram produções de 1.695 e 1.093 kg.ha-1 de cálices secos, respectivamente, e em relação ao mês de janeiro, a produção foi 3,52 e 2,27 vezes a mais.Deve-se realizar a colheita assim que os cálices estiverem maduros, a fim de preservar a qualidade

A review of techniques for spatial modeling in geographical, conservation and landscape genetics

Most evolutionary processes occur in a spatial context and several spatial analysis techniques have been employed in an exploratory context. However, the existence of autocorrelation can also perturb significance tests when data is analyzed using standard correlation and regression techniques on modeling genetic data as a function of explanatory variables. In this case, more complex models incorporating the effects of autocorrelation must be used. Here we review those models and compared their relative performances in a simple simulation, in which spatial patterns in allele frequencies were generated by a balance between random variation within populations and spatially-structured gene flow. Notwithstanding the somewhat idiosyncratic behavior of the techniques evaluated, it is clear that spatial autocorrelation affects Type I errors and that standard linear regression does not provide minimum variance estimators. Due to its flexibility, we stress that principal coordinate of neighbor matrices (PCNM) and related eigenvector mapping techniques seem to be the best approaches to spatial regression. In general, we hope that our review of commonly used spatial regression techniques in biology and ecology may aid population geneticists towards providing better explanations for population structures dealing with more complex regression problems throughout geographic space

Lagochilascariasis leading to severe involvement of ocular globes, ears and meninges

A case report of a 31 year-old woman from Paraíba State (North-Eastern Brazil) that presented severe involvement of ocular globes, ears and meninges. Diagnosis was established after enucleation of her left eye, when adult worms were seen in the midst of a granulomatous inflammatory process. Her response to the initial treatment with levamisole and cambendazole was good, but there was a relapse after the fifth month of treatment even with maintenance doses of both medications. She later received ivermectin and albendazol and responded well.Paciente do sexo feminino, com 31 anos, procedente da Paraíba, apresentava envolvimento severo de ambos os globos oculares, com perda da visão à esquerda, comprometimento da audição e das meninges. Após enucleação do olho esquerdo fragmento de helminto identificado como Lagochilascaris minor foi observado em processo inflamatório granulomatoso. Inicialmente a paciente foi tratada com levamisol e cambendazol, com bom resultado. Verificou-se, todavia, piora do quadro após cinco meses, com eliminação de larvas do ascarídeo em lesão presente na órbita esquerda, embora a medicação fosse mantida com administração periódica. Houve boa resposta terapêutica, com regressão do quadro, após substituição dos anti-helmínticos anteriores pela associação ivermectina e albendazol

Bioassay-Guided Evaluation of Antinociceptive Effect of N-Salicyloyltryptamine: A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Approach

We investigated the antinociceptive and nerve excitability effects of the N-salicyloyltryptamine (NST) NST-treated mice exhibited a significant decrease in the number of writhes when 100 and 200 mg/kg (i.p.) were administered (i.p.). This effect was not antagonized by naloxone (1.5 mg/kg, i.p.). NST inhibited the licking response of the injected paw when 100 and 200 mg/kg were administered (i.p.) to mice in the first and second phases of the formalin test. Because the antinociceptive effects could be associated with neuronal excitability inhibition, we performed the single sucrose gap technique and showed that NST (3.57 mM) significantly reduced (29.2%) amplitude of the compound action potential (CAP) suggesting a sodium channel effect induced by NST. Our results demonstrated an antinociceptive activity of the NST that could be, at least in part, associated to the reduction of the action potential amplitude. NST might represent an important tool for pain management