The role of evolutive elastic properties in the performance of a sheet formed spring applied in multimedia car industry

The manufacturing process and the behavior of a sheet formed spring manufactured from an aluminum sheet is described and investigated in this work considering the specifications for the in-service conditions. The sheet formed spring is intended to be applied in car multimedia industry to replace bolted connections. Among others, are investigated the roles of the constitutive parameters and the hypothesis of evolutive elastic properties with the plastic work in the multi-step forming process and in working conditions.This research was sponsored by:a) Portugal Incentive System for Research and Technological Development. Project in co-promotion no 36265/2013 (Project HMIExcel - 2013-2015), andb) FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biomimetic Mineralizing Agents Recover the Micro Tensile Bond Strength of Demineralized Dentin

Biomimetic remineralization is an approach that mimics natural biomineralization, and improves adhesive procedures. The aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of Dentin Caries-like Lesions (DCLL)-Producing Model on microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of etch and rinse adhesive systems and investigate the effect of remineralizing agents such as Sodium Fluoride (NaF), MI Paste™ (MP) and Curodont™ Repair (CR) on caries-affected dentin (n = 6). Nine groups were established: (1) Sound dentin; (2) Demineralized dentin/Chemical DCLL: (3) Demineralized dentin/Biological DCLL; (4) Chemical/DCLL + NaF; (5) Chemical/DCLL + MP; (6) Chemical/DCLL + CR; (7) Biological/DCLL + NaF; (8) Biological/DCLL + MP; (9) Biological/DCLL + CR. Then all dentin blocks were subjected to a bonding procedure with Adper™ Single Bond 2 adhesive system/Filtek Z350XT 4 mm high block, following this they were immersed in deionized water/24 h and then sectioned with ≅1 mm2 beams. The μTBS test was conducted at 1 mm/min/500 N loading. Failure sites were evaluated by SEM (scanning electron microscopy (150×). μTBS data were submitted to factorial ANOVA and Tukey’s test (p < 0.05). The highest values were found when demineralized dentin was treated with MP and CR, regardless caries lesion depth (p < 0.05). There was a predominance of adhesive/mixed in the present study. It was concluded that the use of the artificial dentin caries production models produces differences in the μTBS. Additionally MP and CR remineralizing agents could enhance adhesive procedures even at different models of caries lesion

Ecosystem heterogeneity and diversity mitigate Amazon forest resilience to frequent extreme droughts

© 2018 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust The impact of increases in drought frequency on the Amazon forest's composition, structure and functioning remain uncertain. We used a process- and individual-based ecosystem model (ED2) to quantify the forest's vulnerability to increased drought recurrence. We generated meteorologically realistic, drier-than-observed rainfall scenarios for two Amazon forest sites, Paracou (wetter) and Tapajós (drier), to evaluate the impacts of more frequent droughts on forest biomass, structure and composition. The wet site was insensitive to the tested scenarios, whereas at the dry site biomass declined when average rainfall reduction exceeded 15%, due to high mortality of large-sized evergreen trees. Biomass losses persisted when year-long drought recurrence was shorter than 2–7 yr, depending upon soil texture and leaf phenology. From the site-level scenario results, we developed regionally applicable metrics to quantify the Amazon forest's climatological proximity to rainfall regimes likely to cause biomass loss > 20% in 50 yr according to ED2 predictions. Nearly 25% (1.8 million km2) of the Amazon forests could experience frequent droughts and biomass loss if mean annual rainfall or interannual variability changed by 2σ. At least 10% of the high-emission climate projections (CMIP5/RCP8.5 models) predict critically dry regimes over 25% of the Amazon forest area by 2100

Comparing faceted and smoothed tool surface descriptions in sheet metal forming simulation

This study deals with different tool surface description methods used in the finite element analysis of sheet metal forming processes. The description of arbitrarily-shaped tool surfaces using the traditional linear finite elements is compared with two distinct smooth surface description approaches: (i) Bézier patches obtained from the ComputerAided Design model and (ii) smoothing the finite element mesh using Nagata patches. The contact search algorithm is presented for each approach, exploiting its special features in order to ensure an accurate and efficient contact detection. The influence of the tool modelling accuracy on the numerical results is analysed using two sheet forming examples, the unconstrained cylindrical bending and the reverse deep drawing of a cylindrical cup. Smoothing the contact surfaces with Nagata patches allows creating more accurate tool models, both in terms of shape and normal vectors, when compared with the conventional linear finite element mesh. The computational efficiency is evaluated in this study through the total number of increments and the required CPU time. The mesh refinement in the faceted description approach is not effective in terms of computational efficiency due to large discontinuities in the normal vector field across facets, even when adopting fine meshes.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) via the projects PTDC/EME-TME/118420/2010 and PEst-C/EME/ UI0285/2013 and by FEDER funds through the program COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade, under the project CENTRO-07-0224-FEDER-002001 (MT4MOBI). The first author is also grateful to the FCT for the PhD grant SFRH/BD/69140/2010.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Soil-atmosphere exchange of nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide in a gradient of elevation in the coastal Brazilian Atlantic forest

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Soils of tropical forests are important to the global budgets of greenhouse gases. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is the second largest tropical moist forest area of South America, after the vast Amazonian domain. This study aimed to investigate the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes along an altitudinal transect and the relation between these fluxes and other climatic, edaphic and biological variables (temperature, fine roots, litterfall, and soil moisture). Annual means of N2O flux were 3.9 (+/- 0.4), 1.0 (+/- 0.1), and 0.9 (+/- 0.2) ng N cm(-2) h(-1) at altitudes 100, 400, and 1000 m, respectively. On an annual basis, soils consumed CH4 at all altitudes with annual means of -1.0 (+/- 0.2), -1.8 (+/- 0.3), and -1.6 (+/- 0.1) mg m(-2) d(-1) at 100 m, 400 m and 1000 m, respectively. Estimated mean annual fluxes of CO2 were 3.5, 3.6, and 3.4 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) at altitudes 100, 400 and 1000 m, respectively. N2O fluxes were significantly influenced by soil moisture and temperature. Soil-atmosphere exchange of CH4 responded to changes in soil moisture. Carbon dioxide emissions were strongly influenced by soil temperature. While the temperature gradient observed at our sites is only an imperfect proxy for climatic warming, our results suggest that an increase in air and soil temperatures may result in increases in decomposition rates and gross inorganic nitrogen fluxes that could support consequent increases in soil N2O and CO2 emissions and soil CH4 consumption.83733742Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPESP [2005/57549-8]FAPESP [FAPESP 03/12595-7

Porencephaly and psychosis: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malformations of the cerebral cortex are often associated with developmental delay and psychoses. Porencephaly is a rare congenital disorder of central nervous system involving a cyst or a cavity filled with cerebrospinal fluid, in brain's parenchyma.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a 25 years old woman with her first psychotic episode. She also suffers from porencephaly in the frontotemporal lobes region. It is emphasized that the two consistently abnormal brain regions in schizophrenia research had significant damage in this patient since birth. There is a total of only five cases of schizencephaly or porencephaly associated with psychosis in the scientific literature. Their clinical characteristics as well as the imaging results are described.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is unclear if porencephaly and psychosis concur by chance or are causally related. The area where the porencephalic cysts appear seems to be of relevance. This case highlights the need for further research.</p

Validation of control of allergic rhinitis and asthma test for children (CARATKids)--a prospective multicenter study

BACKGROUND: Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test for Children (CARATKids) is the first questionnaire that assesses simultaneously allergic rhinitis and asthma control in children. It was recently developed, but redundancy of questions and its psychometric properties were not assessed. This study aimed to (i) establish the final version of the CARATKids questionnaire and (ii) evaluate its reliability, responsiveness, cross-sectional validity, and longitudinal validity. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted in 11 Portuguese centers. During two visits separated by 6 wk, CARATKids, visual analog scale scales and childhood asthma control test were completed, and participant's asthma and rhinitis were evaluated by his/her physician without knowing the questionnaires' results. Data-driven item reduction was conducted, and internal consistency, responsiveness analysis, and associations with external measures of disease status were assessed. RESULTS: Of the 113 children included, 101 completed both visits. After item reduction, the final version of the questionnaire has 13 items, eight to be answered by the child and five by the caregiver. Its Cronbach's alpha was 0.80, the Guyatt's responsiveness index was -1.51, and a significant (p < 0.001) within-patient change of CARATKids score in clinical unstable patients was observed. Regarding cross-sectional validity, correlation coefficients of CARATKids with the external measures of control were between 0.45 and -0.69 and met the a priori predictions. In the longitudinal validity assessment, the correlation coefficients between the score changes of CARATKids and those of external measures of control ranged from 0.34 to 0.46

Comprehensiveness and programmatic vulnerability to stds/hiv/aids in primary care

This study aimed to identify programmatic vulnerability to STDs/HIV/AIDS in primary health centers (PHCs). This is a descrip - tive and quantitative study carried out in the city of São Paulo. An online survey was applied (FormSUS platform), involving administrators from 442 PHCs in the city, with responses received from 328 of them (74.2%), of which 53.6% were nurses. At - tention was raised in relation to program - matic vulnerability in the PHCs regarding certain items of infrastructure, prevention, treatment, prenatal care and integration among services on STDs/HIV/AIDS care. It was concluded that in order to reach comprehensiveness of actions for HIV/ AIDS in primary health care, it is necessary to consider programmatic vulnerability, in addition to more investment and reor - ganization of services in a dialogue with the stakeholders (users, multidisciplinary teams, and managers, among others)