A proposed through-flow inverse method for the design of mixed-flow pumps

A through-flow (hub-to-shroud) truly inverse method is proposed and described. It uses an imposition of mean swirl, i.e., radius times mean tangential velocity, given throughout the meridional section of the turbomachine as an initial design specification. In the present implementation, it is assumed that the fluid is inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational at inlet and that the blades are supposed to have zero thickness. Only blade rows that impart to the fluid a constant work along the space are considered. An application of this procedure to design the rotor of a mixed-flow pump is described in detail. The strategy used to find a suitable mean swirl distribution and the other design inputs is also described. The final blade shape and pressure distributions on the blade surface are presented, showing that it is possible to obtain feasible designs using this technique. Another advantage of this technique is the fact that it does not require large amounts of CPU time

Experimental Study of Down-the-Hole Percussive Drilling

In the literature of percussive drilling, several laboratory and field experimental studies have reported the existence of optimum drilling states. The rate of penetration increases with axial thrust (weight-on-bit) up to an optimal value, beyond which it decreases with further increase of thrust. In this research project, novel laboratory and field experiments were carried out to investigate whether the occurrence of optimum drilling states stems from an intrinsic property of the bit-rock interface

Foresight methodologies: application to the housing market

The housing market is complex, multidimensional and depends on the variability of external factors and the amount of information available to the agents involved in the process. Despite the challenges associated to this theme, its relevance in the socioeconomic and territorial context, sustains a greater effort to develop and apply knowledge for decision making; process that depends on the evolution of the factors influencing the housing market. The formal analytical models that have been applied limit the ability to introduce the uncertainty of the future, which enhances the contribution of foresight analysis, as a strategic tool that supports the construction of future visions in order to inform decision making. The project "Drivers of Housing Demand in Portuguese Urban System" (DONUT) studies the housing market dynamic and analyses the housing price explanatory factors, combining econometric models with foresight analysis (future scenarios and Delphi techniques). This paper discusses the importance of using foresight techniques as a decision support tool, being presented an exploratory exercise of future scenario analysis. For this purpose, the paper is structured in three parts: i) brief description of the predicting models, ii) summarized approach to the housing market in the context of future scenarios and introduction of the dimensions chosen for the exercise, iii) short description of the scenarios

Optimized in-vehicle multi person human body pose detection

The number of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAV) will increase in the coming years. The absence of human driver will create a new paradigm for in-car safety. This paper addresses this problem by presenting an approach to estimate the human body pose inside a vehicle. We propose to use a customized version of the OpenPose framework, to perform the task of human body pose detection for the front passengers inside a vehicle. The OpenPose method was been evaluated with three different backbones: VGG19, MobileNetV1 and MobileNetV2, using different hyperparameters and ablation scenarios. Moreover, synthetic images were used, which simulate a depth sensor perspective from the center of the front seats. The dataset is comprised by images with 1 and 2 passengers, from 18 different subjects inside of 7 different vehicles, thus making a total of 45360 different images. The OpenPose method with the MobileNetV2 backbone showed the most efficient results between precision and performance, achieving a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 90%, Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of 73%, and 0.0189 seconds per image (s/img).- (undefined

Rodlet cells changes in Oreochromis niloticus in response to organophosphate pesticide and their relevance as stress biomarker in teleost fishes

Rodlet cells are frequently found in teleost fishes and although their role in organisms is not completely understood. The occurrence of these cells are related to stress and may undergo changes in contaminated environments, thereby allowing their use as biomarkers. This hypothesis is tested in the present study. Thirty specimens of Oreochromis niloticus were divided into three groups, two groups were exposed to organophosphate pesticide methyl parathion at nominal concentrations of 4 mgl-1 and 8 mgl-1 and one group was kept as control. After ten days, the gills were removed for microscopic study and the number and area of the rodlet cells were analyzed and compared with a well-established method of assessing histological damages in fishes. No significant differences were found in the area of the cells, but there were significant differences in the number of rodlet cells among examined concentrations. The present study provides evidence for the use of this new biomarker in teleost fishes and discusses some of the potential confounding factors of this approach

Stunpede : um sistema P2P para conectividade fim-a-fim transparente na internet usando túneis IPV6-sobre-UDP /

Orientador: Elias P.Duarte Jr.Dissertaçăo (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Cięncias Exatas, Programa de Pós-Graduaçăo em Informática. Defesa: Curitiba, 2008Inclui bibliografi

Intrachromosomal mapping of the human alpha-globin gene cluster

The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly, to confirm and, if possible, to narrow the regional localization of the human alpha-globin gene cluster on the short arm of chromosome 16. Secondly, to test the value of an experimental approach combining somatic cell genetics and recombinant DNA procedures for human gene mapping. Fourteen informative clones from somatic cell hybrids (derived from human fibroblasts fused with mouse LA9 cells) were produced and phenotypically characterized in terms of their human chromosome content by cytogenetic and isozyme analysis. The four human parental cell types used in this study carried a balanced translocation involving chromosome 16 and chromosomes 2, 5, 9 and 17. These had been cytogenetically interpreted as follows: t(2:16)(2q37:15q11), t ( 5 : 16)(5p11:16p11), t(9:16)(9q22: 16q22) , and t(16:17) (16q12:17p11) . The expression of the selectable marker APRT enabled the clones from somatic cell hybrids to be selected for and against the long arm of HC 16 (AA selection and DAP selection). Combining the cytogenetic and biochemical data on this panel of hybrid clones made it possible to assign APRT and DIA4 to 16q12q22 and PGP to 16p11pter. The DNAs from the hybrid clones, as well as those from both parental origins, were screened for the presence of the human alpha-globin gene cluster. Molecular hybridization on solid phase (Southern blotting) with a 32P-labelled human genomic DNA probe (the recombinant plasmid alphaP7(alpha1)) was used in the screening. A positive association (at a level of significance of 5%) between the presence/absence of the short arm of HC 16 and the presence/absence of the human alpha-globin gene cluster was found. It is therefore concluded that the experimental approach combining somatic cell hybridization and DNA hybridization on solid phase can be successfully applied to the intrachromosomal mapping of cloned single copy genes. The value of different methods such as molecular hybridization in solution, in situ molecular hybridization and trisomy mapping, in assigning single copy genes to chromosome regions is discussed taking the human alpha-globin gene cluster as the model system. The setting up of a bank of somatic cell hybrids and the molecular characterization and prenatal diagnosis of haemoglobinopathies are suggested as prospects for further work

ESTRUTURA DE MERCADO DE PRODUTOS LÃCTEOS NO MUNICÃPIO DE LAVRAS, MG

This study was carried out with the objective of characterizing the market structure and the commercialization of dairy products in the district of Lavras, MG, Brazil. For such study, agents were identified, their market conduct, and the prices paid and received were analyzed, as well as the volume of sales in the different market segments. It was verified that the products demanding greater technological resources, such as milk “longa vida†( “long-life†or UHT milk ) and milk sweets are the ones that feature the largest commercialization margins. In the retail segment, supermarkets feature, in average, the lowest margins in relation to their competitors, especially “longa vida†milk. In the consumer market of milk, the sterilized product is the most demanded kind with 36% of the total consumption, informal milk (without inspection) with 31% and milk “longa vida†with 28%. The consumers prefer the informal type because they believe it features better quality, price, distribution and payment services. By the Gini Index methodology, it was verified that there is a concentration in the distribution of milk in the wholesale and retail markets, especially in retail stores.Market structure, commercialization, dairy products.,