Smart management of waste from construction sites: mobile application technology in the city Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) can be defined as a mixture of surplus materials generated from construction, renovation and demolition activities, including site cleaning, road works and demolition (Shen et al., 2004). Inadequate management of CDW, affects the environment, the economy and society (Jin et al. 2019). Besides increasing construction costs and real estate prices, CDW can have major negative impacts on the environment (Borja et al., 2019), namely the contamination of soil and watercourses with heavy metals that can cause diseases in the population and wild animals. These negative impacts are of major importance in sensitive natural environments, justifying the relevance of this research in the city of Manaus, in the central Amazon, Brazil. A previous study involved the quantification of CDW produced at 4 construction sites in the city of Manaus, and the costs involved in its management and disposal (Oliveira et al., 2019). The results showed that high quantities of wood and paper waste are produced, with considerable disposal costs, in spite of the high potential to recycle and re-use these types of waste. Metal waste was found to be the only CDW that was being adequately recycled in the construction sites under study, showing the importance of the implementation of an organized system to collect and recycle CDW in the city of Manaus (Oliveira et al., 2019). A similar case study conducted in the city of Santiago, capital of Chile, led to a quantification of the CDW volume for further management improvement proposals (Bravo et al., 2019). According to this study, in Santiago the generated volume of CDW per building area is 0.186 m3/m2, with a management cost of 75.47 US$/m3 (Bravo et al., 2019). These values are of the same magnitude as the ones found in the research study conducted in Manaus (Oliveira et al., 2019). Ogunmakinde et al. (2019) describe CDW management in Nigeria, highlighting the existing corruption and unethical practices of large companies who prefer to dig and bury the CDW in clandestine landfills, refusing to comply with environmental laws to avoid loss of profits. This lack of social and environmental responsibility in construction companies is unfortunately also a reality in Brazil. However, surveillance and monitoring of CDW production and disposal may not be the solution to combat clandestine landfill, as demonstrated in the study of Tsiliyannis et al. (2019), conducted in Athens, Greece. Environmental education and good practice are the best weapons we have in environmental management, and adequate CDW management requires a change in the behavior and attitude of each citizen (Mak et al., 2019). The studies conducted in the present investigation sought to define the current model of CDW management in the construction sites of the city of Manaus, its advantages and disadvantages, in order to verify the possibility of implementing a Circular Economy system (Farooque et al., 2019). This system could result in cost savings in civil construction and in the reduction of negative environmental impacts caused by the illegal disposal in clandestine landfills, which harms the lives of the citizens of the city of Manaus and the surrounding environment, the Amazon rainforest itself. Circular Economy CDW management systems have already been implemented in European cities (Fratini et al., 2019; Kravchenko et al., 2019), so why not extend this practice to cities in Latin America, which are also affected by the environmental and financial impacts of inadequate waste management on urban construction sites. In order to implement a Circular Economy model, construction companies must be adequately involved in this system, for example through the promotion of sharing and renting equipment, customers access and involvement, or the redesign of a product in order to make it more durable and easier to reassemble if repair is needed (Kravchenko et al., 2019). Scientific initiatives to develop new materials using CDW raw materials are very important for the sustainability of CDW management, such as ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) which uses a fraction of waste together with natural sand (Wang et al., 2019). Technological developments are of the utmost importance in the process of improving environmental management in a Circular Economy model: digital networks and robotics are increasingly inserted in the context of environmental management, accompanying the development of the new “Industry 4.0” in the manufacturing sector (Sarc et al., 2019). Although the Circular Economy model is not yet implemented in Brazil, good practice initiatives are encouraged, as the one described in this paper regarding CDW waste management in constructions sites in the city of Manaus through the use of start-up technologies like mobile applications. These have an exponentially growing market worldwide, demonstrated by the increasing use of mobile applications running on smartphones, tablets, laptops and other mobile devices (Kaur & Kaur, 2019). The main objective of this research is to enhance adequate environmental management in construction sites through the development of a mobile application for CDW management. This tool can be used by construction companies, waste disposal companies, and even urban citizens who need to dispose construction waste.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Flat histogram simulation of lattice polymer systems

We demonstrate the use of a new algorithm called the Flat Histogram sampling algorithm for the simulation of lattice polymer systems. Thermodynamics properties, such as average energy or entropy and other physical quantities such as end-to-end distance or radius of gyration can be easily calculated using this method. Ground-state energy can also be determined. We also explore the accuracy and limitations of this method. Key words: Monte Carlo algorithms, flat histogram sampling, HP model, lattice polymer systemsComment: 7 RevTeX two-column page

Brief report: High frequency of biochemical markers for mitochondrial dysfunction in autism: no association with the mitochondrial aspartate/glutamate carrier SLC25A12 gene

In the present study we confirm the previously reported high frequency of biochemical markers of mitochondrial dysfunction, namely hyperlactacidemia and increased lactate/pyruvate ratio, in a significant fraction of 210 autistic patients. We further examine the involvement of the mitochondrial aspartate/glutamate carrier gene (SLC25A12) in mitochondrial dysfunction associated with autism. We found no evidence of association of the SLC25A12 gene with lactate and lactate/pyruvate distributions or with autism in 241 nuclear families with one affected individual. We conclude that while mitochondrial dysfunction may be one of the most common medical conditions associated with autism, variation at the SLC25A12 gene does not explain the high frequency of mitochondrial dysfunction markers and is not associated with autism in this sample of autistic patients

Evaluation of Cardiac Autonomic Modulation Using Symbolic Dynamics after Cardiac Transplantation

Objective: To characterize the behavior of cardiac autonomic modulation in individuals with different times after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx) using symbolic dynamics analysis. Methods: Sixty patients were evaluated after HTx. We recorded their instantaneous R-R intervals (RRi) by cardiac monitor Polar (R) RS800CX (TM) (Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland) for 10 minutes. The same sequence of RRi with 256 consecutive beats was used to perform spectral analysis and symbolic dynamics analysis. We used hierarchical clustering to form groups. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (with Holm-Sidak method) or one-way Kruskal-Wallis test (with Dunn's post-hoc test) was used to analyze the difference between groups. Linear correlation analysis between variables was performed using Pearson's or Spearman's tests. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The 0V% index increased, the 2UV% index and the normalized complexity index decreased with an increase of HTx postoperative time. There were a negative correlation between complexity indexes and 0V% and a positive correlation between complexity indexes and 2UV%. Conclusion: Symbolic dynamics indexes were able to show a specific cardiac autonomic modulation pattern for HTx recipients with different postoperative times

Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in Portugal: prevalence, clinical characterization, and medical conditions

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and identify its clinical characterization, and medical conditions in a paediatric population in Portugal. A school survey was conducted in elementary schools, targeting 332,808 school-aged children in the mainland and 10,910 in the Azores islands. Referred children were directly assessed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Clinical history and a laboratory investigation was performed. In parallel, a systematic multi-source search of children known to have autism was carried out in a restricted region. The global prevalence of ASD per 10,000 was 9.2 in mainland, and 15.6 in the Azores, with intriguing regional differences. A diversity of associated medical conditions was documented in 20%, with an unexpectedly high rate of mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders

Variants in the inflammatory IL6 and MPO genes modulate stroke susceptibility through main effects and gene-gene interactions

A complex interplay between genetic background, clinical and life-style factors and the environment is expected to ultimately regulate the onset, acute phase and outcome of stroke. There is substantial evidence that inflammation within the Central Nervous System contributes to stroke risk, and known clinical risk factors for stroke, like atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and peripheral infection, are associated with an elevated systemic inflammatory profile. The inflammatory response is equally of major importance in recovery and healing processes after stroke. In this study we tested the genetic association of major inflammatory players IL1B (2q14), IL6 (7p21), TNF (6p21.3) and MPO (17q23.1) with stroke susceptibility and with stroke outcome at three months, in a population sample of 672 patients and 530 controls, adjusting for demographic, clinical and life-style risk factors and/or stroke severity parameters. The apparent complexity of the inflammatory mechanisms in stroke, and the multiplicity of players involved suggest a concerted process, in which implicated molecules interact to tightly regulate each other. We therefore examined both independent gene effects and the occurrence of gene-gene interactions among the tested inflammatory genes in stroke risk and stroke recovery. Two IL6 and one MPO SNP were significantly associated with stroke risk after multiple testing correction (0.022 correctedP 0.042), highlighting gene variants of low to moderate effect in stroke risk. An epistatic interaction between the IL6 and MPO genes was also identified in association with stroke susceptibility (P=0.031 after 1000 permutations). In the subset of 546 patients assessed for stroke outcome at three months using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), we found one IL6 haplotype associated with stroke outcome (correctedP=0.024). In the present study we present supporting evidence for a role of the IL6 and MPO inflammatory genes in stroke susceptibility, and show that stroke risk is modulated by main gene effects together with clinical and life-style factors as well as by gene-gene interactions. Our findings are compatible and strengthen previous genetic and biological observations, highlighting the need of further functional studies, particularly in view of the possible utility of IL-6 as a diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker for stroke

Repeated exposure to Lutzomyia intermedia sand fly saliva induces local expression of interferon-inducible genes both at the site of injection in mice and in human blood.

During a blood meal, Lutzomyia intermedia sand flies transmit Leishmania braziliensis, a parasite causing tegumentary leishmaniasis. In experimental leishmaniasis, pre-exposure to saliva of most blood-feeding sand flies results in parasite establishment in absence of any skin damages in mice challenged with dermotropic Leishmania species together with saliva. In contrast, pre-immunization with Lu. intermedia salivary gland sonicate (SGS) results in enhanced skin inflammatory exacerbation upon co-inoculation of Lu. intermedia SGS and L. braziliensis. These data highlight potential unique features of both L. braziliensis and Lu. intermedia. In this study, we investigated the genes modulated by Lu. intermedia SGS immunization to understand their potential impact on the subsequent cutaneous immune response following inoculation of both SGS and L. braziliensis. The cellular recruitment and global gene expression profile was analyzed in mice repeatedly inoculated or not with Lu. intermedia. Microarray gene analysis revealed the upregulation of a distinct set of IFN-inducible genes, an immune signature not seen to the same extent in control animals. Of note this INF-inducible gene set was not induced in SGS pre-immunized mice subsequently co-inoculated with SGS and L. braziliensis. These data suggest the parasite prevented the upregulation of this Lu. intermedia saliva-related immune signature. The presence of these IFN-inducible genes was further analyzed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) sampled from uninfected human individuals living in a L. braziliensis-endemic region of Brazil thus regularly exposed to Lu. intermedia bites. PBMCs were cultured in presence or absence of Lu. intermedia SGS. Using qRT-PCR we established that the IFN-inducible genes induced in the skin of SGS pre-immunized mice, were also upregulated by SGS in PBMCs from human individuals regularly exposed to Lu. intermedia bites, but not in PBMCs of control subjects. These data demonstrate that repeated exposure to Lu. intermedia SGS induces the expression of potentially host-protective IFN-inducible genes

Alpha-decay branching ratios of near-threshold states in 19Ne and the astrophysical rate of 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne

The 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne reaction is one of two routes for breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the rp process in accreting neutron stars. Its astrophysical rate depends critically on the decay properties of excited states in 19Ne lying just above the 15O + alpha threshold. We have measured the alpha-decay branching ratios for these states using the p(21Ne,t)19Ne reaction at 43 MeV/u. Combining our measurements with previous determinations of the radiative widths of these states, we conclude that no significant breakout from the hot CNO cycle into the rp process in novae is possible via 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne, assuming current models accurately represent their temperature and density conditions

Study of comparative bioavailability among two formulations containing hydroxyzine hydrochloride in healthy volunteers after a single dose administration

The study was performed to compare the bioavailability of two hydroxyzine hydrochloride 25 mg tablet formulation in 16 volunteers of both sexes. The study was conducted open with randomized two period crossover design and a two weeks wash out period. Plasma samples were obtained over a 96 h interval. Hydroxyzine concentrations were analyzed by Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Bioequivalence between the products was determined by calculating 90 % confidence intervals (90 % I.C) for the ratio of AUC0-t , AUC0-inf and Cmax values for the test and reference products, using logarithmic transformed data. The 90 % confidence intervals were 81.89-105.85 %, 84.61-105.30 %, and 84.04-108.66 %, respectively. Since the 90 % confidence intervals for Cmax , AUC0-t and AUC0-inf were within the 80-125 % interval proposed by the Food and Drug Administration, it was concluded that the two hydroxyzine hydrochloride formulations are bioequivalent in their rate and extent of absorption.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire