Liquid aspersion efficiency quantification experiment: application in ladder-type distributors

O presente texto descreve um equipamento na escala-piloto e um método simples para comparar a eficiência de distribuidores de líquido. A técnica consiste basicamente em analisar a massa do líquido coletado em 21 tubos verticais de 52mm de diâmetro interno e 800 mm de comprimento dispostos em arranjo quadrático colocados abaixo do distribuidor. Uma manta acrílica que não dispersa o líquido com 50 mm de espessura foi fixada entre o distribuidor e o banco de tubos para evitar respingos. Como exemplo de aplicação foram realizados ensaios com nove distribuidores do tipo espinha de peixe de 4 tubos paralelos cada, para uma coluna com 400 mm de diâmetro. Variaram-se o número (n) de furos (95, 127 e 159 furos/m²), o diâmetro (d) dos furos (2, 3 e 4 mm) e as vazões (q) de (1,2; 1,4 e 1,6m³/h). A melhor eficiência de espalhamento pelo menor desvio-padrão foi obtida com n de 159, d de 2 e q de 1,4 indicando as limitações de regras práticas de projeto. A pressão (p), na entrada do distribuidor, para essa condição, foi de apenas 51000 Pa (0,51 kgf/cm²) e a velocidade média (v) em cada orifício foi de 6,3 m/s.This paper describes a device developed on the pilot scale and a simple approach to compare liquid distributor efficiencies. The technique consists basically of analyzing the mass of the liquid collected in 21 vertical pipes measuring 52 mm in internal diameter and 800 mm in length placed in a quadratic arrangement and positioned below the distributor. A 50 mm thick acrylic blanket that does not disperse liquids was placed between the distributor and the pipe bank to avoid splashes. Assays were carried out with ladder-type distributors equipped with 4 parallel pipes each for a column measuring 400 mm in diameter as an example of the application. The number (n) of orifices (95, 127, and 159 orifices/m²), orifice diameter (d) (2, 3, and 4 mm) and the flowrate (q) (1.2; 1.4; and 1.6 m3/h) were varied. The best spread efficiency, which presented the lowest standard deviation, was achieved with 159 orifices, 2 mm and 1.4 m³/h. The pressure (p) at the distributor's inlet for this condition was only 51000 Pa (0.51 kgf/cm²), while the average velocity (v) was 6.3 m/s in each orifice. These results show some limitations of the practical rules used in distributor designs

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Integrated environmental assesment of Santos estuarine system's disposal site and adjancent zones

Orientador: Edson TomazTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia QuimicaResumo: A Costa da Mata Atlântica é uma região do Estado de São Paulo com uma grande importância econômica, principalmente devido ao porto de Santos, o maior da América Latina e ao complexo industrial de Cubatão. O estuário da região foi impactado ao longo de anos pelas atividades antrópicas das indústrias, porto e da população residente nas vizinhanças do estuário. O objetivo deste trabalho consistiu no desenvolvimento e aplicação de uma metodologia integrada para um diagnóstico ambiental da área de influência do descarte do material dragado no sistema estuarino de Santos. Nas campanhas de monitoramento foram avaliadas a qualidade das águas e sedimentos através de análises físico-químicas e ecotoxicológicas. As amostras foram coletadas em nove estações de amostragem, sendo uma delas na região de disposição do material dragado e as demais na zona costeira dos municípios de Praia Grande, Santos, Guarujá e Bertioga. No intervalo de tempo entre as duas campanhas avaliadas, foi dado início às atividades de dragagem do canal de Piaçaguera. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados aos padrões da legislação brasileira para águas salinas (Resolução CONAMA nº 357/05) e sedimentos (Resolução CONAMA nº 344/04). Em uma das campanhas também foi avaliada a comunidade de fundo inconsolidado (bentos). A integração dos resultados foi realizada através de diferentes métodos incluindo técnicas de análise multivariada. A aplicação do método de Análise de Fatores elucidou a relação dos contaminantes ambientais com os efeitos biológicos observados. Confirmou-se que uma abordagem integrada utilizando diversas técnicas é necessária para caracterizar regiões impactadas. As duas campanhas avaliadas apresentaram padrões e estruturas diferentes que foram evidenciadas pela Análise de Fatores e correlações. Foi possível propor uma metodologia sistematizada para o diagnóstico da região estudada e espera-se que, de alguma forma, este trabalho possa fornecer subsídios de gestão e controle ambiental das atividades de dragagem, para as empresas envolvidas e órgãos ambientaisAbstract: The Atlantic Forest coastal plain which surrounds the city of Santos in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, has a great economic importance, principally due to the port of Santos, the largest in Latin America, and the Cubatão industrial complex. The region¿s estuary has been polluted by multiple contaminant sources for decades, due to industrial, portuary and human activities. The aim of this work is to develop and apply an integrated method of environmental assessment of the dredging disposal site in Santos estuarine system (SES). Samples of water and sediment were collected at nine monitoring stations in order to perform physical, chemical and ecotoxicological analyses. One of the stations is at the actual disposal site, while the others are situated along the shorelines of the cities of Praia Grande, Santos, Guarujá and Bertioga. The dredging activities in the Piaçaguera channel, part of SES, started between the two sampling campaigns. The results are compared with Brazilian and foreign guidelines for sediment and water quality. In one of the campaigns, the benthic community was also analysed. The results were integrated by different methods including multivariated statistical analysis. The application of Factor Analysis explained the relationship between the chemical contaminants and the observed biological responses. It was confirmed that an integrated approach with different tools is necessary to the characterization of polluted sites. It was possible to propose a diagnosis method for the region studied and contribute to the pollution control and environment assessment performed by the companies involved as well as state and federal environmental organizationsDoutoradoDesenvolvimento de Processos QuímicosDoutor em Engenharia Químic

Alirocumab and cardiovascular outcomes after acute coronary syndrome

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