The Black Box Society: the Secret Algorithms that Control Money and Information, by Frank Pasquale

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Avaliação de revestimentos de filmes finos de TiOx sobre aço API 5L X65 para aplicação anti-incrustante em estruturas e componentes offshore

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Joinville. Engenharia Naval.Os processos de bioincrustação marinha são frequentemente observados em diversos materiais utilizados pela indústria offshore. Atualmente, há um grande esforço no desenvolvimento de pesquisas científicas que conduzam a soluções para este problema, buscando a mínima agressão ambiental. O dióxido de titânio (TiO2) pode ser uma alternativa, devido ao desempenho antimicrobiano e atóxico. Considerando a relevância do problema a nível global e ausência de uma solução ecologicamente correta, será realizada uma avaliação do potencial anti-incrustante de filmes finos de TiOx depositados em três condições diferentes (Condição 1: TiO2| Ti |Aço [200°C]; Condição 2: TiO2 | Ti |Aço [289°C]; Condição 3: TiO2|Aço [289°C]) pelo processo de Grid-Assisted Magnetron Sputtering Reativo em substrato de aço API 5L X65 PSL2. O filme foi caracterizado morfologicamente por perfilometria, microscopia ótica confocal e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV). A caracterização físico-química ocorreu através de análises de Espectroscopia de Energia Dispersiva (EDS) e ângulo de contato. Através destas técnicas de caracterização, pode-se avaliar a eficiência fotocatalítica, homogeneidade e a molhabilidade do filme obtido. Após as caracterizações as amostras foram alocadas em ambiente marinho, as margens da Baía da Babitonga e monitoradas semanalmente para o estudo do processo anti-incrustante. As diferentes condições de deposição não induziram a grandes diferenças de comportamento, sendo que todas as amostras apresentaram propriedades hidrofílicas e fotocatalíticas, indicando independência destes parâmetros nas propriedades biocidas. Entretanto as condições 1 e 2 apresentaram baixo ancoramento do filme, em maior evidência na condição 1, depositada em temperatura mais baixa [200°C] e na condição 3, revestida sem a subcamada de titânio puro. É possível concluir que os filmes de TiOx se mostraram promissores na proteção anti-incrustante para aplicação em estruturas e componentes marítimos

A scoping umbrella review to identify anti-racist interventions to reduce ethnic disparities in health and care

Objectives: To identify anti-racist interventions which aim to reduce ethnic disparities in health and care. / Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Only studies reporting systematic reviews of anti-racist interventions were included. Studies were excluded if no interventions were reported, no comparators reported, or the paper was primarily descriptive. / The following databases were searched: Embase, Medline, Social Policy and Practice, Social care online and Web of Science. Quality appraisal (including risk of bias) was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 tool. Due to the nature of the selected reviews, the lack of meta-analyses and heterogeneity of included studies, a narrative synthesis using an inductive thematic analysis approach was conducted to integrate and categorise the evidence on anti-racist interventions for health and care. / Results: A total of 18 systematic reviews are included in the final review. 15 are from the healthcare sector and three are from education and criminal justice. 17 reviews are focused on interventions and one focused on implementation. All 18 reviews described interventions which targeted individuals and their communities, and 11 reviews described interventions targeting both individuals and communities, and healthcare organisations. On an individual level, the most promising interventions reviewed include group-based health education led by professional staff and providing culturally tailored or adapted interventions. On a community level, participation in all aspects of care pathway development that empowers ethnic minority groups may provide an effective approach to reducing ethnic health disparities. Targeted interventions to improve clinician patient interactions and quality of care for conditions with disproportionately worse outcomes in ethnic minority groups show promise. / Discussion: Many of the included studies were low or critically low quality due to methodological or reporting limitations. The heterogeneity of intervention approaches, study designs, and limited reporting of cultural adaptation, implementation and lack of comparison with White ethnic groups limited our understanding of the impact on ethnic health inequalities. In summary, for programme delivery, different types of pathway integration and providing a more person-centred approach with fewer steps for patients to navigate can contribute to reducing disparities. For organisations, there is an overemphasis on patient education and individual behaviour change rather than organisational change, and recommendations should include a shift in focus and resources to policies and practices that seek to dismantle institutional and systemic racism through a multi-level approach

Tutomath: desenvolvimento de um aplicativo para auxiliarno estudo de matemática

Este trabalho apresenta um aplicativo matemático desenvolvido durante umprojeto de pesquisa realizado no Instituto Federal de Alagoas-CampusArapiraca. Esse aplicativo, que pode ser utilizado em várias plataformas,pretende auxiliar os estudantes, dando um suporte ao ensino e à aprendizagem,disponibilizando resumos de conteúdos matemáticos do Ensino Médio e dealguns tópicos do Ensino Fundamental, incluindo diversos exercícios. Comisso, o aluno pode ter, a qualquer momento e onde quiser, toda a gama deassuntos que ele irá estudar no Ensino Médio

Searching for Stability as we Age: The PCA-Biplot Approach

Principal component analysis (PCA) has been successfully applied to gait data; however, interpretation of the components is challenging. An alternative is to use a graphical display called biplot that gives insights into relationships and trends of data sets. Our goal was to demonstrate the sensitivity of gait variables to aging in elderly women with PCA-biplot. One hundred fifty-one elderly females (71.6±5.0 yrs), 152 adults (44.7±5.4 yrs) and 150 young (21.7±4.1 yrs) participated in the study. Gait spatial and temporal parameters were collected using a computerized carpet. PCA-biplot, discriminant analysis and MANOVA were used in the analysis. PCA-biplot revealed that elderly females walked with lower velocity, shorter step length, reduced swing time, higher cadence, and increased double support time compared to the other two groups. The greatest distances between the groups were along the variable step length with the elderly group showing a decrease of 8.4 cm in relation to the younger group. The discriminant function confirmed the importance of principal component 2 for group separation. Because principal component 2 was heavily weighted by step length and swing time, it represents a measure of stability. As women age they seek a more stable gait by decreasing step length, swing time, and velocity. PCA-biplot highlighted the importance of the variable step length in distinguishing between women of different age groups. It is well-known that as we age we seek a more stable gait. The PCA-biplot emphasized that premise and gave further important insights into relationships and trends of this complex data set

Numerical study of osteophyte effects on preoperative knee functionality in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty

Osteophytes are routinely removed during total knee arthroplasty, yet thepreoperative planning currently relies on preoperative computed tomography (CT)scans of the patient's osteoarthritic knee, typically including osteophytic features.This complicates the surgeon's ability to anticipate the exact biomechanical effectsof osteophytes and the consequences of their removal before the operation. The aimof this study was to investigate the effect of osteophytes on ligament strains andkinematics, and ascertain whether the osteophyte volume and location determinethe extent of this effect. We segmented preoperative CT scans of 21 patients,featuring different osteophyte severity, using image‐based active appearancemodels trained to identify the osteophytic and preosteophytic bone geometriesand estimate the cartilage thickness in the segmented surfaces. The patients'morphologies were used to scale a template musculoskeletal knee model.Osteophytes induced clinically relevant changes to the knee's functional behavior,but these were variable and patient‐specific. Generally, severe osteophytic kneessignificantly strained the oblique popliteal ligament (OPL) and posterior capsule (PC)relative to the preosteophytic state. Furthermore, there was a marked effect on thelateral collateral ligament and anterolateral ligament (ALL) strains compared to mildand moderate osteophytic knees, and concurrent alterations in the tibial lateral‐medial translation and external–internal rotation. We found a strong correlationbetween the OPL, PC, and ALL strains and posterolateral condylar and tibialosteophytes, respectively. Our findings may have implications for the preoperativeplanning in total knee arthroplasty, toward reproducing the physiological kneebiomechanics as close as feasibly possible

High voltage atmospheric cold plasma decontamination of Salmonella enteritidis on chicken eggs

Salmonella enteritidis (SE) accounts for more than 70% of Salmonella spp. infections in humans with a primary source being chicken eggs, that can result from post-lay SE cross-contamination of the shell from contaminated equipment or the environment. The objective of this study was to apply a HVACP treatment that can achieve a minimum 5-log reduction in SE on the surface of artificially inoculated shell eggs with an initial bacterial load of 108 CFU/egg, after a previous disinfection. Optimized HVACP treatment conditions were an indirect treatment with air at 60% humidity at 100 kV for one minute treatment and six hours post-treatment or alternatively, five minutes of treatment and four hours post-treatment. Egg quality parameters of Haugh unit (HU), pH, color, and vitelline membrane and shell strength were tested under the optimized conditions and showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) between treated and untreated eggs. Industrial relevance: Missing information for a possible scale up of a cold plasma system for egg surface decontamination has been addressed by an optimization of HVACP treatment focused on treatment and posttreatment time, essential parameters to have into account in the food industry. These results demonstrate that HVACP is an effective decontamination method for SE on chicken shell eggs and provides a baseline for a future scale up of the process, showing that different combinations of treatment variables can achieve the desired decontamination without affecting to key quality parameters of the egg such as Haugh Unit or vitelline membrane strength.This work was supported by Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and the Barrett Family Foundation Chair in Sustainable Food Engineering

The frequency and performance trends of European countries in the U18 and U20 rankings for 1500 m and 3000 m between 2009-2020

We purpose to determine the nationality of the European middle-distance athletes under 18 years (U18) and under 20 years (U20) during the last decade, to verify the participation trend for each country, and to assess whether the place of competition can be associated with the athletes ranking position. The sample comprised 902 European male runners, ranked among the best finishers from 2009 to 2020. The athletes were divided into two categories (n$_{U18}$ ​= ​266; and n$_{U20}$ ​= ​636) of two distances (n$_{1 500 ​m}$ ​= ​397; n$_{3 000 ​m}$ ​= ​505). The Mantel test was used for participation trend and the Chi-square test (χ$^{2}$) was used to verify differences between the ranking position and the place of competition. For both distances, the highest number of athletes were from Spain (n = 127), followed by Turkey (n = 62) and Great Britain (n = 50). No significant trends were shown for most of the countries, in both distances. A positive trend was shown for Slovenia (i.e., 3000 ​m) over the years. A non-significant association was verified between the countries and the ranking position, as non-significant differences were proved for the place of competition. This information may be useful to guide athlete development programs in each country

IFN-γ-producing CD4+ T cells promote experimental cerebral malaria by modulating CD8+ T cell accumulation within the brain.

It is well established that IFN-γ is required for the development of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) during Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection of C57BL/6 mice. However, the temporal and tissue-specific cellular sources of IFN-γ during P. berghei ANKA infection have not been investigated, and it is not known whether IFN-γ production by a single cell type in isolation can induce cerebral pathology. In this study, using IFN-γ reporter mice, we show that NK cells dominate the IFN-γ response during the early stages of infection in the brain, but not in the spleen, before being replaced by CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that IFN-γ-producing CD4(+) T cells, but not innate or CD8(+) T cells, can promote the development of ECM in normally resistant IFN-γ(-/-) mice infected with P. berghei ANKA. Adoptively transferred wild-type CD4(+) T cells accumulate within the spleen, lung, and brain of IFN-γ(-/-) mice and induce ECM through active IFN-γ secretion, which increases the accumulation of endogenous IFN-γ(-/-) CD8(+) T cells within the brain. Depletion of endogenous IFN-γ(-/-) CD8(+) T cells abrogates the ability of wild-type CD4(+) T cells to promote ECM. Finally, we show that IFN-γ production, specifically by CD4(+) T cells, is sufficient to induce expression of CXCL9 and CXCL10 within the brain, providing a mechanistic basis for the enhanced CD8(+) T cell accumulation. To our knowledge, these observations demonstrate, for the first time, the importance of and pathways by which IFN-γ-producing CD4(+) T cells promote the development of ECM during P. berghei ANKA infection