AIR VELOCITY PROFILES IN AIR BLAST FREEZERS FILLED WITH BOXES OF FRUIT PULP MODELS

The changes in the air velocities caused by the resistance for the air flow due to fruit pulp model packaged (100 grams) and conditioned in multi layers boxes during freezing process were evaluated and air flow rate were estimated using a method of treatment of the experimental data. The air velocities were measured before the air pass through the pillage of multi layer boxes in the air stream. For the measurements processing was used a non linear regression routine. Air flow rate measured by the present method resulted of the numerical integration of air velocities adjusted profile. Results presented a relative difference 10 % higher than the standard average procedure, which consists in averaging the air velocity measurements performed at each point of the section. In the same fan operation conditions, the results shown for the 7 layers arrays of product in the boxes which the air velocity was 62% lower than the 3 layers arrays and 50.9 % lower than the 5 layers arrays of product. These results were proportional to the bulk area for the air flow

Lean development evaluation in small Brazilian company

Purpose – The small Brazilian companies are responsible for a large part of national GDP and formal jobs in the country. This expressiveness is contrasted with the specificities of companies of this size possess, including the need to innovate to survive. Research shows that 83 percent of Brazilian SMEs have launched new products and services, obtaining positive results through this innovative process. This competitive advantage is weighted by a great feature of the small organization: resource constraint. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – Research was carried out in three stages: one qualitative research (by using focal groups) and another two quantitative research works (descriptive and cross-sectional). Findings – The author identified three factors that are important for teenagers when influencing the purchase of the family car: safety, sportiness and comfort. The identification of these factors shows that the millennial generation tends to emphasize aspects of individual interest, such as status and performance, and family context, such as safety and comfort, rather than social aspects, such as the type of fuel and environmental impact. Social implications – The authors recommend the development of automobiles that prioritize the three factors mentioned herein in order to reverse the trend of declining car purchase. Originality/value – The authors presented the relevant attributes in buying decisions of family cars according to teenagers. The authors also indicated which automobile attributes are relevant for a more informed, connected, and with an increasing purchase power generation in contrast with previous generations, whose social context was prior to the emergence of social media

CHARACTERIZATION OF EQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS OF ADSORBED SILICAGEL/WATER BED ACCORDING TO DUBININASTAKHOV AND FREUNDLICH

Systems of adsorption have been studied as an alternative for the cooling systems for saving electrical energy. The main advantage is the heat as the driving sources, for example, hot water or waste heat, widely used in the industries, and solar energy. The pair adsorbent/ adsorbate determines the behavior of these systems. Therefore, the knowledge of the equilibrium conditions between the adsorbent and the adsorbate is very important. The pair silica gel/water has the advantage of exploiting low-temperature heat sources. In this paper, the equilibrium conditions of the pair silica gel/water were investigated and the data were used to identify the coefficients of Dubinin-Astakhov equation and Freundlich equation. The experiments consisted of measuring temperature and pressure for different adsorbed mass of water in the adsorbent (silica gel). The amount of adsorbed mass (kg) per adsorbent mass (kg) used were: 0.007, 0.013, 0.024, 0.047, 0.092, 0.162 and 0.209. Both equations showed good agreement with experimental data, the coefficients of regression (R2) were 0.991 on the Dubinin-Astakhov equation and 0.993 for the Freundlich equation

Identification of Barriers Towards Change and Proposal to Institutionalize Continuous Improvement Programs in Manufacturing Operations

A multi case research unfolded into a study in a sample of Brazilian manufacturing companies concerning their Continuous Improvement (CI) program in manufacturing operations. Stakeholders interviews and performance analyses were conducted. The study aims to analyze the existence or absence of the institutionalization of a CI culture in manufacturing operations, identify barriers and difficulties within the process and propose a model for change. As a result of the research, it was observed that despite the considerable motivation of staff, rapid gains of the company and superior results during the early phases of the CI program, time and again such results were either not upheld or faded out over time, delivering no significant mid-term or long term results, due to poor management of changes. This happened mainly as a result of lack of strategic alignment at all levels of the organization, translated in measureable activities and projects, coached and mentored by the middle and upper management throughout the implementation and maintenance of the program. The selected cases showed a declining in performance after two years of CI program start up. Learning, union and process ownership among participants by means of interactions, are necessary to absorb and incorporate changes, instead of merely "smart words"

A repeat-primed PCR assay for pentanucleotide repeat alleles in spinocerebellar ataxia type 37

Spinocerebellar ataxia 37 (SCA37) is caused by an (ATTTC)n insertion in a polymorphic ATTTT repeat in the non-coding region of DAB1. The non-pathogenic alleles have a configuration [(ATTTT)7-400], whereas pathogenic alleles have a complex structure of [(ATTTT)60-79(ATTTC)31-75(ATTTT)58-90]. Molecular diagnosis of SCA37 is laborious because about 7% of the pentanucleotide repeat alleles in DAB1 are larger than 30 units and, thus, fail to amplify with standard PCR conditions, resulting in apparently homoallelism or in complete lack of PCR amplification in several cases. The molecular test currently available requires long-range PCR and sequencing analysis for the detection and characterization of these large alleles. We developed a simple assay capable of rapidly detecting the presence or absence of large pentanucleotide repeat sizes. This assay is based on repeat-primed PCR followed by high-throughput capillary electrophoresis. Combining the standard PCR with RP-PCR allows completion of the diagnosis in more than 80% of individuals, minimizing the number of samples that require long-range PCR followed by Sanger sequencing analysis. This assay meets many of the requirements for pre-screening of large cohorts of affected individuals.This work was funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional-FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Inter- nationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by funding from FCT— Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tec- nologia e Inovação, Portugal, in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007274); by Grant PTDC/SAU-GMG/098305/2008, from FCT, to I.S. J.R.L. was supported by scholarships from Grant PTDC/ GMG-SAU/098305/2008, FCT, PEst- C/SAU/LA0002/2013 and EMBO (ASTF494-2015). C.L.O. was supported by a scholarship from PEst-C/SAU/LA0002/2013. This work was also funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), Portugal, that supports the Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000008—Porto Neurosciences and Neurologic Disease Research Initiative at I3S

Os olhos e a rede

Globo.comUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de MedicinaUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Lean start-up, entrepreneurship and remote orientation: The experience of action research in Manaus, Brazil

Purpose – Creating a new product or service promotes the status quo changes, seeking economic value andsolving customer’s urgent problems. Entrepreneurs play an important role in this changing process throughstart-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), considered one of the leading forces driving an economy’sinnovative and competitive power. However, despite the importance of entrepreneurs, public policies to fosterentrepreneurship ecosystems could be ineffective in emerging countries. Therefore, action research proposesthe qualification of entrepreneurs for the structuring of new businesses through remote orientation, connectingthe country’s main economic centers to emerging areas.Design/methodology/approach – The study is qualitative research comprising two phases. The first phaseconsisted of four-month action research, connecting two researchers and three groups of specialists (from SaoPaulo), with three groups of entrepreneurs (located in Manaus in the Amazon region), through a remoteorientation in entrepreneurship, lean start-up, lean product and process development (LPPD). The secondphase, conducted by a third researcher, regards a case study grounded on interviews and data collection withthe entrepreneurs to capture the outcomes of the remote orientation process.Findings – The remote orientation helped shorten the geographical distance of Amazonas to approach theintegration of business, research and knowledge exchange of such distinct areas in the same country. If aremote orientation program was established as public policy, it could enact subsequent cycles of the lean startup model. Furthermore, the remote orientation could be an alternative to compose the training subsystem in theentrepreneurship ecosystem proposed by Isenberg (2011). On the other hand, a remote orientation could fail toshorten the distance of human values and beliefs, which cannot be neglected when facing a rich territory likethe Amazon.Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, a qualitative andexploratory study based on a combination of action research, interviews and case studies, the results may lackgeneralizability. However, further studies can replicate the remote orientation process conducted in the regionof Manaus – Amazon, to obtain distinct results regarding the advantages, disadvantages and effectiveness ofremote orientation as entrepreneurship ecosystem’s human capital dimension development.Practical implications – The outcomes of this research have the potential to start discussions regarding theadoption of remote orientation as a public policy to develop entrepreneurship skills in emerging regions, notonly in Brazil but worldwide. The Brazilian case could be a relevant benchmark due to the large territory andeconomic and social disparities impacting education and entrepreneurship.Social implications – Through start-ups and SMEs, entrepreneurship has innovation potential and is themost solid way to bring economic development. For emerging countries, it can be real game-changer in the economic order. The development of entrepreneurship skills through this remote orientation experience canhelp reduce the economic and social gaps in countries with relevant disparities like Brazil and other emergingcountries.Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified need to “move the needle of entrepreneurship in the rightdirection” (Isenberg, 2010) by creating local solutions for global challenges. Policymakers and leaders need tocontinue the experiment and learn how to improve the entrepreneurship ecosystem. In this sense, the actionresearch approach, combined with the remote orientation, proposes an alternative to promote changes in howhuman capital dimension can be developed in this challenging ecosystem

THEORETIC-EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF A CASCADE REFRIGERATION SYSTEM FOR LOW TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS USING THE PAIR R22/R404A

This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of a cascade refrigeration system using the refrigerant R22 as the working fluid in the high temperature circuit (HT) and the refrigerant R404a as the working fluid in the low temperature circuit (LT). The present analysis aimed to obtain the condensing temperature of the LT that provides an optimal value for the coefficient of performance (COP) of the cycle. Parameters involved in the analysis included the evaporation temperature, the condensing temperature and the difference between the condensing temperature of the LT (TC_LT) and evaporation temperature of the HT (TE_HT) – ΔTCAS. Simulations were performed using the software EES (Engineering Equation Solver). In addition to the analysis, experimental data obtained from a prototype was compared with the simulated results which showed good agreement. The COP varies with the increase in the intermediate temperature; however this variation does not exceed 1%

A PENDULUM-BASED MODEL FOR FLUID STRUCTURE INTERACTION ANALYSES

In the present contribution a pendulum-based model is used to represent fluid-structure interactions. For this purpose, a theoretical and experimentalanalysis of the dynamic behavior of a viscously damped spherical non rotational single-degree-of-freedom pendulum was performed. The dampingprocess is characterized according to two different regimes: in the first, it can be seen as a viscous low Reynolds’ number flow and, in the second, it can be considered as a viscously damped system. The pendulum was tested experimentally in a large reservoir containing a Newtonian fluid for validation purposes and good agreement was found between numerical and experimental results