ALTERNATIVE DESIGN AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF AN EXPERIMENTAL WHR FOR INTAKE AIR CONDITIONING OF A LARGE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

This work presents an alternative design for an experimental waste heat recovery thermal system to be coupled to a large turbocharged internal combustion engine for combustion air conditioning. The goal is to carry out a design of a new thermal system under restricted economic requirements for one of the generators set of Luiz Oscar Rodrigues de Melo Thermoelectric Power Plant. Thereby, a comparison with the original proposal from previous works is also developed in order to demonstrate the differences in terms of thermo-economic design parameters. The waste recovery thermal system produces sufficient chilled water through a single-effect absorption chiller, powered by hot water which is produced by recovering the exhaust gases residual heat to supply cooling applications on the combustion air. The results showed a significant reduction for the chiller capacity demand, from 550 to 185 RT, that would be enough to provide chilled water for 98.72% of the analyzed operation historical period. The economic feasibility indicators reveal the proposal for the alternative waste heat recovery system as the best financial option, presenting a lower investment cost (US$316,793.27 of savings) and a time for capital recovery of 2.14 years, 1.61 years shorter when compared with the initial WHR system

Molecular diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Mozambique

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mozambique is one of the countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and information on the predominant genotypes of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>circulating in the country are important to better understand the epidemic. This study determined the predominant strain lineages that cause TB in Mozambique.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 445 <it>M. tuberculosis </it>isolates from seven different provinces of Mozambique were characterized by spoligotyping and resulting profiles were compared with the international spoligotyping database SITVIT2.</p> <p>The four most predominant lineages observed were: the Latin-American Mediterranean (LAM, n = 165 or 37%); the East African-Indian (EAI, n = 132 or 29.7%); an evolutionary recent but yet ill-defined T clade, (n = 52 or 11.6%); and the globally-emerging Beijing clone, (n = 31 or 7%). A high spoligotype diversity was found for the EAI, LAM and T lineages.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The TB epidemic in Mozambique is caused by a wide diversity of spoligotypes with predominance of LAM, EAI, T and Beijing lineages.</p

Efficacy of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in patients with nonspecific low back pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud Previous studies have shown that acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA) are effective in the treatment of patients with low back pain. However, there is little evidence to support the use of one intervention over the other. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in the treatment of pain and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.\ud \ud \ud Methods/design\ud The study design is a randomized controlled trial. Patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain of more than three months duration are recruited at Rehabilitation Center of Taboao da Serra - SP (Brazil). After examination, sixty-six patients will be randomized into one of two groups: acupuncture group (AG) (n = 33) and electroacupuncture group (EG) (n = 33). Interventions will last one hour, and will happen twice a week for 6 weeks. The primary clinical outcomes will be pain intensity as measured and functional disability. Secondary outcomes: quality of pain, quality of life. perception of the overall effect, depressive state, flexibility and kinesiophobia. All the outcomes will be assessed will be assessed at baseline, at treatment end, and three months after treatment end. Significance level will be determined at the 5 % level. Results of this trial will help clarify the value of acupuncture and electroacupuncture as a treatment for chronic low back pain and if they are different.\ud \ud \ud Discussion\ud Results of this trial will help clarify the value of acupuncture needling and electroacupuncture stimulation of specific points on the body as a treatment for chronic low back pain.\ud \ud \ud Trial Registration\ud Clinicaltrials.gov: \ud NCT02039037\ud \ud . Register October 30, 2013.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-(CAPES

Dementia in Latin America : paving the way towards a regional action plan

Regional challenges faced by Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) to fight dementia, such as heterogeneity, diversity, political instabilities, and socioeconomic disparities, can be addressed more effectively grounded in a collaborative setting based on the open exchange of knowledge. In this work, the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD) proposes an agenda for integration to deliver a Knowledge to Action Framework (KtAF). First, we summarize evidence-based strategies (epidemiology, genetics, biomarkers, clinical trials, nonpharmacological interventions, networking and translational research) and align them to current global strategies to translate regional knowledge into actions with transformative power. Then, by characterizing genetic isolates, admixture in populations, environmental factors, and barriers to effective interventions and mapping these to the above challenges, we provide the basic mosaics of knowledge that will pave the way towards a KtAF. We describe strategies supporting the knowledge creation stage that underpins the translational impact of KtAF