Analyzing the fluidization of a mixture of gas-sand-biomass using cfd techniques

Fluidization taking into account the presence of the material to be gasified is a differential addressed in this study. Accordingly the solid phase was composed of a binary mixture of sand and biomass. This paper deals with the numerical simulation of a gasifier bubbling fluidized bed using CFD for the system composed of gas - biomass – sand. In order to determine the best fluidization conditions, a factorial design 23 was carried out varying the biomass particle density and diameter and the biomass percentage in the solid phase. To perform the simulations, ANSYS CFX 15.0 was used, adopting an Eulerian approach coupled to the Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow. The k- ε turbulence model was adopted. Seventeen simulations were performed setting the gas superficial velocity to 0.38 m s-1. Based on the results of the factorial design, it was possible to qualitatively identify the tests to which the system reached a bubbling fluidization (1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 14). The variable with the highest significance in the model equation was the diameter of the biomass particle. Volumetric fraction profiles of gas, sand and biomass were obtained to the 17 factorial design conditions as well as a model that predicts the bed expansion. The assay that reached greater bed height (0.50 m), staying on bubbling regime, was the one with 15% biomass particles with 375 m diameter and 85% sand, indicating those are good conditions for fluidization. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Sedentary behavior in adolescents in small city in the south of the country

Study design: Cross-sectional Study. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of sedentary behavior based on screen time and demographic and socioeconomic factors associated in adolescents. Method: The study was conducted in a small town of Santa Catarina by applying a self-reported questionnaire on television, video game and computer use and demographic and socioeconomic factors. Results: The prevalence of sedentary behavior was 90.5% (95% CI: 82.1-95.8). The prevalence of sedentary behavior for television use was 60.7% (95% CI: 49.4-71.1), followed by computer use, 38.1% (95% CI: 27.7- 49.3) and video game use, 11.9% (95% CI: 5.8-20.8). Boys used more video games. Students of the night shift and low economic status had longer computer use. Adolescents who did not work and whose parents studied eight years or less had higher exposure to television use. Conclusion: The prevalence of sedentary behavior based on screen time was high in adolescents from a small town in southern Brazil, and those who studied in the night shift and parents that studied eight years or more were less likely to be exposed to excessive television useModelo do Estudo: Estudo Transversal. Objetivo: Investigar a prevalência de comportamento sedentário baseado em tempo de tela e os fatores demográficos e socioeconômicos associados em adolescentes. Método: A pesquisa foi realizada em uma cidade de pequeno porte de Santa Catarina, onde foi aplicado questionário auto relatado de uso de televisão, videogame, computador, fatores demográficos e socioeconômicos. Resultados: A prevalência de comportamento sedentário foi de 90,5% (IC95%: 82,1-95,8). A prevalência de comportamento sedentário para uso de televisão foi de 60,7% (IC95%: 49,4-71,1), seguido do uso de computador, 38,1% (IC95%: 27,7-49,3) e, uso de vídeo game 11,9% (IC95%: 5,8-20,8). Os meninos utilizaram o videogame por mais tempo. Estudantes do turno noturno e de baixo nível econômico apresentaram maior tempo de uso de computador. Adolescentes que não trabalhavam e que os pais estudaram oito anos ou menos tiveram maior exposição ao uso de televisão. Conclusão: A prevalência de comportamento sedentário baseado em tempo de tela foi elevada em adolescentes de uma escola de uma cidade de pequeno porte do sul do Brasil, sendo que aqueles que estudavam à noite e que os pais estudaram oito anos ou mais tiveram menos chances de estarem expostos ao uso excessivo de televisã

Reducing scrap and improving an air conditioning pipe production line

30th International Conference on Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing (FAIM2021) -15-18 June 2021, Athens, GreeceThe automotive industry is considered one of the most demanding and competitive sectors in the global market. This increasingly implies having a stable and optimized production process, always with a view to continuous improvement. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of all the waste that is generated in all production and logistics operations and take action to reduce them. In this regard and considering the process of producing air conditioning pipes for the automotive industry, a high scrap value was detected mainly due to soldering process. Therefore, the entire production process is analyzed in order to identify the main causes behind the high scrap value. Several Lean and quality tools are used to reduce not only the amount of scrap but also to increase the line productivity. In order to face this challenge, after elaborating the action plan and corresponding implementation, the scrap value is reduced by 12% in general, and productivity increased by 29%, 55% and 22.5% in three different references produced by the same machine. Although this solution is a bit expensive, the corresponding payback is reduced, so it can easily be applied transversally to other similar machines allowing extremely interesting gains in the short term.Andresa Baptista acknowledges the financial support of CIDEM- Research Center of Mechanical Engineering, FCT –Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher ducation, under the Project UID/EMS/0615/2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estimating the time-dependent performance of nanocatalysts in fuel cells based on a cost-normalization approach

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESResearchers have developed new catalysts for fuel cells (FC), whose performances are compared after applying different normalization procedures. However, there is not a standard procedure. The current produced from CO electrooxidation was compared for Pt4271119801988CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPES454516/2014-2SEM INFORMAÇÃOThe authors acknowledge financial assistance from CNPq (grant No. 454516/2014-2), FUNDECT (grant No. 026/2015), CAPES and FINE

Object-oriented Programming Laws for Annotated Java Programs

Object-oriented programming laws have been proposed in the context of languages that are not combined with a behavioral interface specification language (BISL). The strong dependence between source-code and interface specifications may cause a number of difficulties when transforming programs. In this paper we introduce a set of programming laws for object-oriented languages like Java combined with the Java Modeling Language (JML). The set of laws deals with object-oriented features taking into account their specifications. Some laws deal only with features of the specification language. These laws constitute a set of small transformations for the development of more elaborate ones like refactorings

Dissecting EPPIN protease inhibitor domains in sperm motility and fertilizing ability: Repercussions for male contraceptive development

EPPIN (epididymal protease inhibitor) is a mammalian conserved sperm-binding protein displaying an N-terminal WFDC (whey-acidic protein four-disulfide core) and a C-terminal Kunitz protease inhibitor domains. EPPIN plays a key role in regulating sperm motility after ejaculation via interaction with the seminal plasma protein SEMG1 (semenogelin-1). EPPIN ligands targeting the SEMG1 binding site in the Kunitz domain are under development as male contraceptive drugs. Nevertheless, the relative contributions of EPPIN WFDC and Kunitz domains to sperm function remain obscure. Here, we evaluated the effects of antibodies targeting specific epitopes in EPPIN's WFDC (Q20E antibody, Gln20-Glu39 epitope) and Kunitz (S21C and F21C antibodies, Ser103-Cys123 and Phe90-C110 epitopes, respectively) domains on mouse sperm motility and fertilizing ability. Computer-assisted sperm analysis showed that sperm co-incubation with S21C antibody (but not F21C antibody) lowered progressive and hyperactivated motilities and impaired kinematic parameters describing progressive (straight-line velocity; VSL, average path velocity; VAP and straightness; STR) and vigorous sperm movements (curvilinear velocity; VCL, amplitude of lateral head movement; ALH, and linearity; LIN) compared with control. Conversely, Q20E antibody-induced milder inhibition of progressive motility and kinematic parameters (VAP, VCL and ALH). Sperm co-incubation with S21C or Q20E antibodies affected in vitro fertilization as revealed by reduced cleavage rates, albeit without changes in capacitation-induced tyrosine phosphorylation. In conclusion, we show that targeting specific epitopes in EPPIN Kunitz and WFDC domains inhibits sperm motility and capacitation-associated events, which decrease their fertilizing ability; nevertheless, similar observations in vivo remain to be demonstrated. Simultaneously targeting residues in S21C and Q20E epitopes is a promising approach for the rational design of EPPIN-based ligands with spermostatic activity.Fil: Silva, Alan A. S.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Raimundo, Tamiris R. F.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Mariani, Noemia A. P.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Kushima, Hélio. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Avellar, Maria Christina W.. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Paula Lopes, Fabíola F.. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Moura, Marcelo T.. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Silva, Erick J. R.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; Brasi

Desenvolvimento preliminar de um algoritmo de detecção em tempo real de estados emocionais através de redes neurais convolucionais

Este trabalho apresenta os resultados preliminares de um algoritmo em desenvolvimento para detecção em tempo real de estados emocionais através da análise de imagens do rosto. Para avaliar o estado emocional, o algoritmo de Viola-Jones é aplicado para segmentar o rosto e uma rede neural convolucional (CNN) é utilizada para classificar as imagens analisadas. Os resultados demonstram uma acurácia de 96,18% na classificação do grupo de teste. Ainda assim, o algoritmo será otimizado para uma melhor detecção e a base de dados utilizada deverá ser ampliada de forma a generalizar os resultados.This paper presents the preliminary results of an under development algorithm for emotional states real-time detection through an analysis of face images. In order to evaluate the emotional state, the Viola-Jones algorithm is applied to segment the face and a convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to classify the analyzed images. The results show an accuracy of 96.18% for the classification of the test group. The algorithm still need to be optimized for better face detection and the used database must be extended in order to generalize the results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Retaining eucalyptus harvest residues promotes different pathways for particulate and mineral-associated organic matter

Eucalyptus plantations have replaced other (agro)ecosystems over 5.6 Mha in Brazil. While these plantations rapidly accumulate carbon (C) in their biomass, the C storage in living forest biomass is transient, and thus, longer-term sustainability relies on sustaining soil organic matter (SOM) stocks. A significant amount of harvest residues (HR) is generated every rotation and can yield SOM if retained in the field. Yet, there is little information on how managing eucalyptus HR changes SOM dynamics. We used isotopic and molecular approaches in a 3-yr field decomposition experiment where a native grassland has been replaced by eucalyptus plantations to assess how HR management practices influence content and chemistry of two distinct SOM fractions [particulate (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM)] at two soil depths (0–1 and 1–5 cm). The management practices investigated were HR removal (−R), only bark removal (−B), and retention of all HR (including bark, +B), combined with two levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization [0 (−N) and 200 (+N) kg/ha]. N fertilization inhibited HR decomposition (P = 0.0409), while bark retention had little effect (P = 0.1164). Retaining HR, especially with bark, increased POM-C and MAOM-C content (2.1- and 1.2-fold, respectively), decreased POM-δ13C (1.2-fold), and increased inorganic N retention (1.7-fold) compared with plots where HR had been removed. Inorganic N applications, however, diminished the positive impacts of bark retention. Although the influence of HR management was most pronounced in POM, retaining HR reduced potential soil C mineralization by up to 20%. POM and MAOM chemistry shifted over time and revealed distinct influence of HR on the formation of these fractions. We demonstrate that HR management alters SOM dynamics and that retaining HR, particularly including bark, enhances SOM retention. With continuing conversion of native grassland ecosystems to eucalyptus, long-term sustainability will require careful HR and fertilizer management to balance total biomass harvest with sustaining belowground SOM concentrations

Incoherent electronic band states in Mn substituted BaFe2_{2}As2_{2}

Chemical substitution is commonly used to explore new ground states in materials, yet the role of disorder is often overlooked. In Mn-substituted BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ (MnBFA), superconductivity (SC) is absent, despite being observed for nominal hole-doped phases. Instead, a glassy magnetic phase emerges, associated with the $S=5/2$ Mn local spins. In this work, we present a comprehensive investigation of the electronic structure of MnBFA using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). We find that Mn causes electron pockets to shrink, disrupting the nesting condition in MnBFA. Notably, we propose that electronic disorder, along with magnetic scattering, primarily contributes to suppressing the itinerant magnetic order in MnBFA. This finding connects the MnBFA electronic band structure properties to the glassy magnetic behavior observed in these materials and suggests that SC is absent because of the collective magnetic impurity behavior that scatters the Fe-derived excitations. Moreover, we suggest that Mn tunes MnBFA to a phase in between the correlated metal in BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ and the Hund insulator phase in BaMn$_{2}$As$_{2}$.Comment: main 7 pages, 3 figures + supp 5 pages, 5 figure