Seguran?a do trabalho como uma dimens?o do projeto de andaimes em obras civis.

Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Constru??o Met?lica. Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Escola de Minas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.Este estudo teve como objetivo geral identificar estrat?gias a serem aplicadas nos projetos de constru??o de andaimes utilizados em constru??o civil, de modo a assegurar a efic?cia dessas estruturas met?licas considerando a seguran?a do trabalhador como uma das dimens?es deste projeto inter-relacionando e contribuindo no planejamento de todo o empreendimento. Optou-se por um estudo de caso complexo, com cronograma restrito, grande intera??o entre equipes e muitas atividades simult?neas, para se produzir um completo levantamento das falhas mais comuns nesse tipo de projeto e, pela mesma raz?o, um equacionamento do fluxo de informa??es seguras proposto por diversos autores de forma a qualificar como bem sucedido os aspectos projetuais adotados e seus impactos em todo o empreendimento. Confrontando a documenta??o da obra, os relatos dos envolvidos e os dados apresentados na literatura sobre o uso de andaimes, foi poss?vel verificar estrat?gias de seguran?a que devem compor os projetos de montagem, utiliza??o e desmontagem de andaimes; analisar os riscos e as barreiras importantes a serem inseridas nos projetos para minimizar e/ou prevenir os acidentes; mapear as poss?veis falhas no processo de elabora??o de projeto; e elaborar um fluxograma de informa??es seguras para serem seguidas nos projetos e utiliza??o de andaimes. Considerar a seguran?a do trabalho como aspecto fundamental em todo o projeto do andaime, seguir adequadamente e cuidadosamente as a??es projetadas e corrigir poss?veis falhas rapidamente, foi de extrema relev?ncia para o sucesso da obra sem acidentes. Contudo a cultura de seguran?a j? estabelecida nas empresas e equipes envolvidas na obra tamb?m foi importante para o sucesso desta. Sendo assim considerou-se que boas pr?ticas de an?lise de riscos contempladas nos projetos apresentam processos para melhoria cont?nua na seguran?a dos trabalhadores e antecipa??o de incertezas.The objective of this study was to identify strategies to be applied in scaffold construction projects used in civil construction, in order to ensure the effectiveness of these metallic structures, considering worker safety as one of the dimensions of this project, interrelating and contributing to the planning of whole enterprise. We chose a complex case study, with a restricted schedule, great interaction between teams and many simultaneous activities to produce a complete survey of the most common failures in this type of project and, for the same reason, a safe information flow equation proposed by several authors in order to qualify as successful the design aspects adopted and their impacts throughout the enterprise. Confronting the documentation of the work, the reports of the workers involved and the data presented in the literature on the use of scaffolding, it was possible to verify security strategies that should compose the projects of assembly, use and disassembly of scaffolding; analyze the risks and important barriers to be included in the projects to minimize and / or prevent accidents; mapping possible failures in the project design process; and develop a flow chart of safe information to be followed in the design and use of scaffolding. Considering work safety as a fundamental aspect of the entire scaffolding project, following carefully and carefully the actions designed and correcting possible faults quickly, Is extremely relevant to the success of the work without accidents. However, the safety culture already established in the companies and teams involved in the work was also important for its success. Thus, it was considered that good practices of risk analysis contemplated in the projects present processes for continuous improvement in the safety of workers and anticipation of uncertainties

Development and validation of a method to estimate COPD severity in multiple datasets: a retrospective study

Introduction Outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as symptoms, hospitalisations and mortality rise with increasing disease severity. However, the heterogeneity of electronic medical records presents a significant challenge in measuring severity across geographies. We aimed to develop and validate a method to approximate COPD severity using the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2011 classification scheme, which categorises patients based on forced expiratory volume in 1 s, hospitalisations and the modified Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale or COPD Assessment Test. Methods This analysis was part of a comprehensive retrospective study, including patients sourced from the IQVIA Medical Research Data [IMRD; incorporating data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN), a Cegedim database] and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) in the UK, the Disease Analyzer in Germany and the Longitudinal Patient Data in Italy, France and Australia. Patients in the CPRD with the complete set of information required to calculate GOLD 2011 groups were used to develop the method. Ordinal logistic models at COPD diagnosis and at index (first episode of triple therapy) were then used to validate the method to estimate COPD severity, and this was applied to the full study population to estimate GOLD 2011 categories. Results Overall, 4579 and 12,539 patients were included in the model at COPD diagnosis and at index, respectively. Models correctly classified 74.4% and 75.9% of patients into severe and non-severe categories at COPD diagnosis and at index, respectively. Age, gender, time between diagnosis and start of triple therapy, healthcare resource use, comorbid conditions and prescriptions were included as covariates. Conclusion This study developed and validated a method to approximate disease severity based on GOLD 2011 categories that can potentially be used in patients without all the key parameters needed for this calculation

Proposal for the determination of nuclear masses by high-precision spectroscopy of Rydberg states

The theoretical treatment of Rydberg states in one-electron ions is facilitated by the virtual absence of the nuclear-size correction, and fundamental constants like the Rydberg constant may be in the reach of planned high-precision spectroscopic experiments. The dominant nuclear effect that shifts transition energies among Rydberg states therefore is due to the nuclear mass. As a consequence, spectroscopic measurements of Rydberg transitions can be used in order to precisely deduce nuclear masses. A possible application of this approach to the hydrogen and deuterium, and hydrogen-like lithium and carbon is explored in detail. In order to complete the analysis, numerical and analytic calculations of the quantum electrodynamic (QED) self-energy remainder function for states with principal quantum number n=5,...,8 and with angular momentum L=n-1 and L=n-2 are described (j = L +/- 1/2).Comment: 21 pages; LaTe

Prescribing pathways to triple therapy: a multi-country, retrospective observational study of adult patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Introduction Maintenance treatment strategies in COPD recommend inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) + long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) + long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) triple therapy after initial dual therapy. Little is known about how treatment pathways to triple therapy vary across countries in clinical practice. Methods This multi-country, retrospective cohort study (conducted 1 January 2005–1 May 2016) included patients with a COPD diagnosis, and (UK only) evidence of smoking history, or (France, Italy, Germany, and Australia) an indicator confirming COPD diagnosis, a first instance of triple therapy recorded during the study period and ≥ 12 months of data prior to this date. Treatment pathways to triple therapy were analyzed in patients whose first instance of triple therapy was on or after the initial COPD diagnosis. The proportion of patients who initiated triple therapy prior to initial COPD diagnosis was also estimated. Meta-analyses of the main results were performed. Results In 130,729 patients across all countries, mean age (standard deviation) ranged from 63.4 (10.4) years (Germany) to 69.8 (9.9) years (Italy), and median time (interquartile range) from initial COPD diagnosis to first prescription of triple therapy ranged from 16.9 (5.7–36.2) months (Australia) to 42.5 (13.9–87.4) months (UK). ICS + LABA was the most common treatment pathway prior to triple therapy in the UK, Germany, and Italy (27.3%–31.6%); no previous maintenance therapy prior to triple therapy was the most common pathway in France and Australia (32.5% and 37.9%, respectively). Meta-analyses provided a pooled estimate of 20.4% (95% confidence interval: 13.8%–29.1%) for the proportion of patients initiating triple therapy at or before initial COPD diagnosis. Conclusions In this retrospective cohort study, treatment pathways to triple therapy were diverse within and between countries. The differing impact of treatments may affect quality of life and disease control in patients with COPD. Further analyses should investigate factors influencing pathways to triple therapy

HITRAP: A facility at GSI for highly charged ions

An overview and status report of the new trapping facility for highly charged ions at the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung is presented. The construction of this facility started in 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2008. Once operational, highly charged ions will be loaded from the experimental storage ring ESR into the HITRAP facility, where they are decelerated and cooled. The kinetic energy of the initially fast ions is reduced by more than fourteen orders of magnitude and their thermal energy is cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The cold ions are then delivered to a broad range of atomic physics experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure

Pirfenidone ameliorates pulmonary arterial pressure and neointimal remodeling in experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease characterized by increased pulmonary arterial pressure, inflammation, and neointimal remodeling of pulmonary arterioles. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1 beta and IL-18 are elevated in PAH patients and may enhance proinflammatory neointimal remodeling. NLRP3 inflammasome activation induces cleavage of the cytokines IL-1 beta and IL-18, required for their secretion. Pirfenidone (PFD), an antiflbrotic and anti-inflammatory drug, has been suggested to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We hypothesized that PFD delays the progression of PAH by suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We assessed the effects of PFD treatment in a rat model for neointimal PAH induced by monocrotaline and aortocaval shunt using echocardiographic, hemodynamic, and vascular remodeling parameters. We measured inflammasome activation by NLRP3 immunostaining, Western blots for caspase-1, IL-1 beta and IL-18 cleavage, and macrophage IL-1 beta secretion. PFD treatment ameliorated pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, and pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH rats. In PAH rats, immunostaining of NLRP3 in pulmonary arterioles and caspase-1, IL-1 beta, and IL-18 cleavage in lung homogenates were increased compared to controls, reflecting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in vivo. PFD decreased IL-1 beta and IL-18 cleavage, as well as macrophage IL-1 beta secretion in vitro. Our studies show that PFD ameliorates pulmonary hemodynamics and vascular remodeling in experimental PAH. Although PFD did not affect all NLRP3 inflammasome parameters, it decreased IL-1 beta and IL-18 cleavage, the products of NLRP3 inflammasome activation that are key to its downstream effects. Our findings thus suggest a therapeutic benefit of PFD in PAH via suppression of NLRP3 inflammasome activation

Rituximab in early systemic sclerosis

Objectives (1) Hypothesis testing of the potency of rituximab (RTX) in preventing fibrotic complications and (2) assessing acceptability and feasibility of RTX in early systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods A small, 24-month, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-centre trial in patients with SSc diagnosed <2 years was conducted. Patients received RTX or placebo infusions at t=0, t=15 days and t=6 months. Patients were clinically evaluated every 3 months, with lung function tests and high-resolution CT every other visit. Skin biopsies were taken at baseline and month 3. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed at every visit, except at months 9 and 18. Adverse events, course of skin and pulmonary involvement and B cell populations in skin and peripheral blood were evaluated. Results In total 16, patients (rituximab n=8, placebo n=8) were included. Twelve patients had diffuse cutaneous SS

Consistent phenological shifts in the making of a biodiversity hotspot: the Cape flora

Background The best documented survival responses of organisms to past climate change on short (glacial-interglacial) timescales are distributional shifts. Despite ample evidence on such timescales for local adaptations of populations at specific sites, the long-term impacts of such changes on evolutionary significant units in response to past climatic change have been little documented. Here we use phylogenies to reconstruct changes in distribution and flowering ecology of the Cape flora - South Africa's biodiversity hotspot - through a period of past (Neogene and Quaternary) changes in the seasonality of rainfall over a timescale of several million years. Results Forty-three distributional and phenological shifts consistent with past climatic change occur across the flora, and a comparable number of clades underwent adaptive changes in their flowering phenology (9 clades; half of the clades investigated) as underwent distributional shifts (12 clades; two thirds of the clades investigated). Of extant Cape angiosperm species, 14-41% have been contributed by lineages that show distributional shifts consistent with past climate change, yet a similar proportion (14-55%) arose from lineages that shifted flowering phenology. Conclusions Adaptive changes in ecology at the scale we uncover in the Cape and consistent with past climatic change have not been documented for other floras. Shifts in climate tolerance appear to have been more important in this flora than is currently appreciated, and lineages that underwent such shifts went on to contribute a high proportion of the flora's extant species diversity. That shifts in phenology, on an evolutionary timescale and on such a scale, have not yet been detected for other floras is likely a result of the method used; shifts in flowering phenology cannot be detected in the fossil record

Episodic diamond growth beneath the Kaapvaal Craton at Jwaneng Mine, Botswana

Important implications for the interior workings of the Earth can be drawn by studying diamonds and their inclusions. To better understand the timing and number of diamond forming events beneath the NW margin of the Kaapvaal Craton, a comprehensive reassessment of Jwaneng’s diamond populations has been undertaken. We report new inclusion abundance data from the visual examination of ~130,000 diamonds that validate the predominance of an eclogitic diamond suite (up to 88%) with on average 5% inclusion-bearing diamonds (with inclusions >10 μm in size). From this population, polished plates from 79 diamonds of eclogitic and peridotitic paragenesis have been studied with cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) traverses. The majority (80%) record major changes in N concentration and aggregation states, as well as sharp boundaries in the CL images of individual plates that are interpreted to demarcate discrete diamond growth events. In addition, bulk FTIR data have been acquired for 373 unpolished diamonds. Silicate inclusions sampled from distinct growth zones define 2 compositional groups of omphacites and pyrope-almandines associated with different N contents in their diamond hosts. These findings reinforce previous observations that at Jwaneng at least seven individual diamond forming events can be identified – 3 peridotitic and 4 eclogitic. The results demonstrate that detailed examination of diamond plates by CL imaging and FTIR traverses is necessary to unveil the complex history recorded in diamonds