Regulações Ambientais de Resíduos no Setor de Equipamentos Eletromédicos: da Cadeia Produtiva ao Consumidor Final

The relevance of the electronics industry requires its transition to sustainable production patterns, as defined by the European directives WEEE, RoHS, and the National Policy on Solid Waste. In 2010, the group began a national project whose purpose is to support sustainability with a focus on the triple bottom line Brazilian electronics industry. The implementation of these proposals began with the implementation of a pilot project with nine companies of electromedical equipment, chosen because they are technology intensive, and require exporters suit environmental regulations. This paper aims to present the main results obtained in the studies with these nine companies in the period Apr/2011 Mar/2012 regarding the suitability of its products, processes, management systems and supply chains. The study was divided into three stages: an assessment to identify general aspects of each organization, a thorough assessment to understand the characteristics of each organization ahead of the general characteristics of the group analyzed and a detailed diagnosis, performed individually during visits in companies. The main findings were that the waste management and reverse logistics associated are still incipient, the products still have dangerous substances and supply chain is still very poorly prepared for the challenges. The level of employment of employees and costs associated with the adequacy of its products and processes, constitute the two biggest problems for companies fit the relevant environmental legislation.La relevancia de la industria de la electrónica requiere su transición hacia modelos de producción sostenible, definido por la Comisión Europea WEEE, RoHS, y la Política Nacional de Residuos Sólidos. En 2010 se inició un proyecto nacional cuyo propósito es apoyar la sostenibilidad con un enfoque en la industria de la electrónica de triple brasileño. La aplicación de estas propuestas se inició con la implementación de un proyecto piloto con nueve compañías de equipos electromédicos, elegidos porque son intensivas en tecnología, y exigir a los exportadores traje regulaciones ambientales. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo presentar los principales resultados obtenidos en los estudios con estas nueve empresas en el período ABR/2011 Mar/2012 respecto a la idoneidad de sus productos, procesos, sistemas de gestión y las cadenas de suministro. El estudio se dividió en tres etapas: una evaluación para identificar los aspectos generales de cada organización, una evaluación completa para entender las características de cada organización más allá de las características generales del grupo de análisis y un diagnóstico detallado, realizado de forma individual durante las visitas en las empresas. Las principales conclusiones fueron que la gestión de los residuos y la logística inversa asociada son aún incipientes, los productos todavía tienen sustancias peligrosas y de la cadena de suministro es todavía muy mal preparados para los desafíos. El nivel de empleo de los empleados y los costos relacionados con la adecuación de sus productos y procesos, constituyen los dos mayores problemas a las empresas adaptarse a la legislación medioambiental pertinente.A relevância da indústria de eletrônicos exige sua transição para modelos de produção sustentáveis, como os definidos por diretivas europeias WEEE, RoHS, e pela Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Em 2010 iniciou-se um projeto nacional cujo propósito é apoiar a sustentabilidade com enfoque triple bottom line na indústria eletrônica brasileira. A implantação dessas propostas começou com a execução de um projeto piloto com nove empresas do setor de equipamentos eletromédicos, escolhidas por serem intensivas em tecnologia, exportadoras e precisarem se adequar às regulações ambientais. Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar os principais resultados obtidos nos estudos realizados com essas nove empresas no período de abr/2011 a mar/2012 referentes à adequação de seus produtos, processos, sistemas de gestão e cadeias de fornecedores. O estudo foi dividido em três etapas: uma avaliação para identificar aspectos gerais de cada organização, uma avaliação profunda, para entender as características de cada organização frente às características gerais do grupo analisado e um diagnóstico detalhado, realizado individualmente durante as visitas nas empresas. Os principais resultados encontrados foram que a gestão de resíduos e a logística reversa associada ainda são incipientes, os produtos ainda possuem substâncias perigosas e a cadeia de fornecimento ainda está muito pouco preparada para os desafios relacionados. O nível de ocupação dos funcionários e os custos associados à adequação de seus produtos e processos, se constituem nos dois maiores problemas para as empresas se adequarem às legislações ambientais de interesse

TREATMENTS FOR OVERCOMING DORMANCY OF BARLEY SEEDS

O trabalho foi conduzido com o objetivo de estudar a eficiência de diferentes tratamentos para superar a dormência em sementes de cevada colhidas em diferentes épocas. Para tanto, utilizaram-se sementes da cultivar MN 721 e Scarlett, avaliadas separadamente. Os tratamentos utilizados foram os seguintes: pré-frio a temperatura de 5 a 10 °C; pré-secagem a temperatura de 30 a 35 ºC; pré-secagem a temperatura de 50 °C; embebição do substrato do teste de germinação em solução de ácido giberélico e sementes sem tratamento como testemunha. Também foi realizado o teste de tetrazólio, para avaliar a viabilidade das sementes. O delineamento usado foi o inteiramente casualizado e as análises de variância foram efetuadas no esquema fatorial 2 x 3 x 5 (cultivar x épocas de colheita x tratamentos para superação de dormência), com quatro repetições por tratamento. Conclui-se que, dentre os tratamentos testados, o mais eficiente foi o uso de temperatura de 5 a 10 °C. A intensidade da dormência e época de colheita das sementes de cevada interfere, diretamente, na eficiência dos tratamentos utilizados para sua superação.The work was done with the objective of studying the efficiency of different treatments to overcome dormancy in barley seeds harvested in different periods. For that, were used seeds of the cultivars MN 721 and Scarlett, evaluated separately. The treatments were as follows: pre-cold temperature from 5 to 10 °C; pre-drying temperature from 30 to 35 ºC; pre-drying temperature of 50 °C;  soaking of the germination test substratum in giberelic acid solution and seeds without treatment as a check.  It was also used the tetrazolium test for evaluating seed viability. The statistical arrangement was in a random design and the analysis of variance was in a factorial 2 x 3 x 5 (two cultivars x three harvesting periods x 5 treatments for overcoming dormancy), with four replications per treatment. It was concluded that, among the treatments, the most efficient was the temperature of 5 to 10 °C. The intensity of dormancy and the harvesting period of barley seeds interferes, directly, in the efficiency of the treatments used for overcoming dormancy

APLICAÇÃO DE SÍLICIO NO SOLO: EFEITO NA EXPRESSÃO ENZIMÁTICA DE SEMENTES ORIUNDAS DE PLANTAS DE ARROZ SOB ESTRESSE SALINO

A utilização de silício pode acarretar em aumento da capacidade biológica da planta em resistir às condições adversas do meio ambiente. Diante disso, o presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a expressão isoenzimática de sementes produzidas da aplicação de silício, via solo, em plantas de arroz sob estresse salino. O delineamento utilizado foi em blocos casualizados, em esquema fatorial A x B (Fator A- Cinco doses de cinza da casca de arroz aplicado via solo: 0 ;500; 1000; 1500 e 2000 kg ha-1; Fator B- Três concentrações salinas: 0, 4 e 8 mM), com quatro repetições. Foram realizados os testes de primeira contagem de germinação e germinação, e expressão dos sistemas isoenzimáticos glutamato oxaloacetato transaminase (GOT), álcool desidrogenase (ADH), glutamato desidrogenase (GTDH) e sorbitol (SBTDH). Variações nos quatro sistemas eletroforéticos analisados (GOT, ADH, GTDH e SBTDH) podem estar associados ao estresse salino causado durante o crescimento e desenvolvimento de plantas de arroz. O sistema isoenzimático glutamato oxaloacetato transaminase (GOT) é uma ferramenta complementar à avaliação do potencial fisiológico de sementes de arroz

Expresión diferencial de las isoenzimas en las semillas y plántulas F1 de cebada

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar los patrones de isoenzimas de la fosfatasa ácida (ACP), la alcohol deshidrogenasa (ADH) y el glutamato oxalacetato transaminasa (GOT) en la semillas y plántulas F1 de dos cultivares de cebada (MN 721 y Scarlett). Las semillas fueron recolectadas en tres temporadas con diferentes porcentajes de humedad y que corresponden a tres etapas diferentes de su maduración. El contenido de humedad de las semillas se redujo a 13% (las condiciones ideales para el almacenamiento), y fueran almacenadas en un cuarto frío hasta su análisis. Se analizaron las semillas y plántulas de tres muestras de cada una de las cultivares. Los tres sistemas isoenzimáticos analizados diferían en la expresión, como se esperaba en las comparaciones entre las semillas y plántulas. El contenido de agua en las semillas influye en el patrón enzimático de la enzima GOT. se han detectado Bandas de ACP en todos los tratamientos, pero en las semillas, la intensidad fue de menor.O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os padrões isoenzimáticos de fosfatase ácida (ACP), álcool deshidrogenase (ADH) e glutamato oxalacetato transaminase (GOT) em sementes e plântulas F1 de duas cultivares de cevada (MN 721 e Scarlett). As sementes foram coletadas em três épocas com diferentes percentuais de umidade e correspondentes a três diferentes etapas da sua maturação. A umidade das sementes foi reduzida a 13% (condições ideais para armazenamento), sendo então armazenadas em câmara fria até sua análise. Foram analisadas as sementes e plântulas de três amostras de cada uma das duas cultivares. Os três sistemas isoenzimáticos analisados apresentaram diferenças na expressão, como esperado nas comparações entre sementes e plântulas. O teor de água nas sementes influencia o padrão enzimático da enzima GOT. Foram detectadas bandas de ACP em todos os tratamentos avaliados, porém, nas sementes com uma intensidade mais baixa.The present work had as objective to evaluate the isoenzimatic patterns of Acid Phosphatase (ACP), Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) and Glutamate Oxalacetate Transaminase (GOT) of two barley cultivars (MN 721 and Scarlett). The seeds were picked in three times with different percentage corresponding to three different steps of their maturation. The seed humidity was reduced to 13% and stored in cold camera. The seeds and the plantlet were analyzed of all cultivars and times. The three isoenzimatic systems analyzed presented variations in the expression, as it was expected when compared between seeds and seedlings. The water content of seeds influences the enzyme pattern of the GOT enzyme. ACP bands were detected in all the treatments evaluated, however, in seeds with lower intensity

Envelhecimento acelerado modificado para sementes de coentro (Coriandrum sativum L.) e sua correlação com outros testes de vigor

Correlation among the results of the tradicional test of accelerated aging accomplished with the use of water, saline solution and saturated solution of NaCl with other tests of physiologic quality was estimated.  In cilantro seeds- of cultivating Verdão, coming of cultivation agroecologic, of the commercial mark Bionatura®, Candiota-RS, without any type of chemical treatment, roduced in the harvest 2006/07. The quality was evaluated by the tests of tenor of water, germination, first counting of the germination, emergency of seedling, index of emergency speed, test of cold and correlated with the tests of traditional aging, test of accelerated aging with saline solution and saturated solution of NaCl in the periods of 48, 72 and 96 hours. The periods of 48 hours of exhibition of the seeds in saline and saturated solution of NaCl and 72 hours in saline solution, were the best ones correlated with the germination tests, first counting of the germination and index of emergency speed.Este trabalho teve como objetivo estimar a correlação entre os resultados do teste de envelhecimento acelerado tradicional, realizado com o uso de água, solução salina e solução saturada de NaCl, com outros testes para avaliação da qualidade fisiológica de sementes de coentro. Foram utilizadas  sementes da cultivar Verdão, provenientes de cultivo agroecológico, da marca comercial Bionatur®, sem qualquer tipo de tratamento químico, produzidas na safra 2006/07. A qualidade fisiológica foi avaliada pelos testes de teor de água, germinação, primeira contagem da germinação, emergência, índice de velocidade de emergência, teste de frio e, correlacionada com os testes de envelhecimento acelerado tradicional, teste de envelhecimento acelerado com solução salina e solução saturada de NaCl nos períodos de 48, 72 e 96 horas após início dos tratamentos de envelhecimento. O período de 48 horas de exposição das sementes, em solução salina saturada de NaCl, e o período de 72 horas, em solução salina, são os tratamentos que melhor se correlacionam com os testes de germinação, primeira contagem da germinação e índice de velocidade de emergência

Accelerated aging of onion seeds (Allium cepa L.) submitted to saturated salt solution

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the methodology of the accelerated aging test to evaluate the physiological potential of onion seeds, as well as verify the possibility of using unsaturated and saturated solutions of sodium chloride (NaCl) as an option for water uptake control in seeds during the test without reducing sensitivity. Five lots of onion seeds were tested for germination, seedling emergence, emergence speed and accelerated aging (periods of 24, 48, 72, or 96 hours, with or without the use of a saturated saline solution of NaCl). The use of unsaturated and saturated solutions of NaCl reduced water absorption by onion seeds during the accelerated aging test, resulting in a less pronounced rate of deterioration, and less drastic and more uniform results. The 48 hour treatment with unsaturated and saturated NaCl solutions is an option for use because it promotes a better classification of the onion seed lots at different vigor levels

The AlfaCrux CubeSat mission description and early results

On 1 April 2022, the AlfaCrux CubeSat was launched by the Falcon 9 Transporter-4 mission, the fourth SpaceX dedicated smallsat rideshare program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida into a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. AlfaCrux is an amateur radio and educational mission to provide learning and scientific benefits in the context of small satellite missions. It is an opportunity for theoretical and practical learning about the technical management, systems design, communication, orbital mechanics, development, integration, and operation of small satellites. The AlfaCrux payload, a software-defined radio hardware, is responsible for two main services, which are a digital packet repeater and a store-and-forward system. In the ground segment, a cloud-computing-based command and control station has been developed, together with an open access online platform to access and visualize the main information of the AlfaCrux telemetry and user data and experiments. It also becomes an in-orbit database reference to be used for different studies concerned with, for instance, radio propagation, attitude reconstruction, data-driven calibration algorithms for satellite sensors, among others. In this context, this paper describes the AlfaCrux mission, its main subsystems, and the achievements obtained in the early orbit phase. Scientific and engineering assessments conducted with the spacecraft operations to tackle unexpected behaviors in the ground station and also to better understand the space environment are also presented and discussed.Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa del Distrito Federal (FAPDF), Brasil | Ref. N/

An international randomised controlled trial to compare TARGeted Intraoperative radioTherapy (TARGIT) with conventional postoperative radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for women with early-stage breast cancer (the TARGIT-A trial)

Background: Based on our laboratory work and clinical trials we hypothesised that radiotherapy after lumpectomy for breast cancer could be restricted to the tumour bed. In collaboration with the industry we developed a new radiotherapy device and a new surgical operation for delivering single-dose radiation to the tumour bed – the tissues at highest risk of local recurrence. We named it TARGeted Intraoperative radioTherapy (TARGIT). From 1998 we confirmed its feasibility and safety in pilot studies. Objective: To compare TARGIT within a risk-adapted approach with whole-breast external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) over several weeks. Design: The TARGeted Intraoperative radioTherapy Alone (TARGIT-A) trial was a pragmatic, prospective, international, multicentre, non-inferiority, non-blinded, randomised (1 : 1 ratio) clinical trial. Originally, randomisation occurred before initial lumpectomy (prepathology) and, if allocated TARGIT, the patient received it during the lumpectomy. Subsequently, the postpathology stratum was added in which randomisation occurred after initial lumpectomy, allowing potentially easier logistics and a more stringent case selection, but which needed a reoperation to reopen the wound to give TARGIT as a delayed procedure. The risk-adapted approach meant that, in the experimental arm, if pre-specified unsuspected adverse factors were found postoperatively after receiving TARGIT, EBRT was recommended. Pragmatically, this reflected how TARGIT would be practised in the real world. Setting: Thirty-three centres in 11 countries. Participants: Women who were aged ≥ 45 years with unifocal invasive ductal carcinoma preferably ≤ 3.5 cm in size. Interventions: TARGIT within a risk-adapted approach and whole-breast EBRT. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome measure was absolute difference in local recurrence, with a non-inferiority margin of 2.5%. Secondary outcome measures included toxicity and breast cancer-specific and non-breast-cancer mortality. Results: In total, 3451 patients were recruited between March 2000 and June 2012. The following values are 5-year Kaplan–Meier rates for TARGIT compared with EBRT. There was no statistically significant difference in local recurrence between TARGIT and EBRT. TARGIT was non-inferior to EBRT overall [TARGIT 3.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1% to 5.1% vs. EBRT 1.3%, 95% CI 0.7% to 2.5%; p = 0.04; Pnon-inferiority = 0.00000012] and in the prepathology stratum (n = 2298) when TARGIT was given concurrently with lumpectomy (TARGIT 2.1%, 95% CI 1.1% to 4.2% vs. EBRT 1.1%, 95% CI 0.5% to 2.5%; p = 0.31; Pnon-inferiority = 0.0000000013). With delayed TARGIT postpathology (n = 1153), the between-group difference was larger than 2.5% and non-inferiority was not established for this stratum (TARGIT 5.4%, 95% CI 3.0% to 9.7% vs. EBRT 1.7%, 95% CI 0.6% to 4.9%; p = 0.069; Pnon-inferiority = 0.06640]. The local recurrence-free survival was 93.9% (95% CI 90.9% to 95.9%) when TARGIT was given with lumpectomy compared with 92.5% (95% CI 89.7% to 94.6%) for EBRT (p = 0.35). In a planned subgroup analysis, progesterone receptor (PgR) status was found to be the only predictor of outcome: hormone-responsive patients (PgR positive) had similar 5-year local recurrence with TARGIT during lumpectomy (1.4%, 95% CI 0.5% to 3.9%) as with EBRT (1.2%, 95% CI 0.5% to 2.9%; p = 0.77). Grade 3 or 4 radiotherapy toxicity was significantly reduced with TARGIT. Overall, breast cancer mortality was much the same between groups (TARGIT 2.6%, 95% CI 1.5% to 4.3% vs. EBRT 1.9%, 95% CI 1.1% to 3.2%; p = 0.56) but there were significantly fewer non-breast-cancer deaths with TARGIT (1.4%, 95% CI 0.8% to 2.5% vs. 3.5%, 95% CI 2.3% to 5.2%; p = 0.0086), attributable to fewer deaths from cardiovascular causes and other cancers, leading to a trend in reduced overall mortality in the TARGIT arm (3.9%, 95% CI 2.7% to 5.8% vs. 5.3%, 95% CI 3.9% to 7.3%; p = 0.099]. Health economic analyses suggest that TARGIT was statistically significantly less costly than EBRT, produced similar quality-adjusted life-years, had a positive incremental net monetary benefit that was borderline statistically significantly different from zero and had a probability of \u3e 90% of being cost-effective. There appears to be little uncertainty in the point estimates, based on deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. If TARGIT were given instead of EBRT in suitable patients, it might potentially reduce costs to the health-care providers in the UK by £8–9.1 million each year. This does not include environmental, patient and societal costs. Limitations: The number of local recurrences is small but the number of events for local recurrence-free survival is not as small (TARGIT 57 vs. EBRT 59); occurrence of so few events (\u3c 3.5%) also implies that both treatments are effective and any difference is unlikely to be large. Not all 3451 patients were followed up for 5 years; however, more than the number of patients required to answer the main trial question (n = 585) were followed up for \u3e 5 years. Conclusions: For patients with breast cancer (women who are aged ≥ 45 years with hormone sensitive invasive ductal carcinoma that is up to 3.5 cm in size), TARGIT concurrent with lumpectomy within a risk-adapted approach is as effective as, safer than and less expensive than postoperative EBRT. Future work: The analyses will be repeated with longer follow-up. Although this may not change the primary result, the larger number of events may confirm the effect on overall mortality and allow more detailed subgroup analyses. The TARGeted Intraoperative radioTherapy Boost (TARGIT-B) trial is testing whether or not a tumour bed boost given intraoperatively (TARGIT) boost is superior to a tumour bed boost given as part of postoperative EBRT. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN34086741 and ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00983684. Funding: University College London Hospitals (UCLH)/University College London (UCL) Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, UCLH Charities, Ninewells Cancer Campaign, National Health and Medical Research Council and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). From September 2009 this project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 20, No. 73. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information