Lean diesel technology and human health: a case study in six Brazilian metropolitan regions

OBJECTIVE: Due to their toxicity, diesel emissions have been submitted to progressively more restrictive regulations in developed countries. However, in Brazil, the implementation of the Cleaner Diesel Technologies policy (Euro IV standards for vehicles produced in 2009 and low-sulfur diesel with 50 ppm of sulfur) was postponed until 2012 without a comprehensive analysis of the effect of this delay on public health parameters. We aimed to evaluate the impact of the delay in implementing the Cleaner Diesel Technologies policy on health indicators and monetary health costs in Brazil. METHODS: The primary estimator of exposure to air pollution was the concentration of ambient fine particulate matter (particles with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 &#956;m, [PM2.5]). This parameter was measured daily in six Brazilian metropolitan areas during 2007-2008. We calculated 1) the projected reduction in the PM2.5 that would have been achieved if the Euro IV standards had been implemented in 2009 and 2) the expected reduction after implementation in 2012. The difference between these two time curves was transformed into health outcomes using previous dose-response curves. The economic valuation was performed based on the DALY (disability-adjusted life years) method. RESULTS: The delay in implementing the Cleaner Diesel Technologies policy will result in an estimated excess of 13,984 deaths up to 2040. Health expenditures are projected to be increased by nearly US$ 11.5 billion for the same period. CONCLUSIONS: The present results indicate that a significant health burden will occur because of the postponement in implementing the Cleaner Diesel Technologies policy. These results also reinforce the concept that health effects must be considered when revising fuel and emission policies

A processualidade ampla aplicada aos processos de contas / The wild processuality applied to account process

A situação de urgência provocada pela Covid-19 desnudou as deficiências do Estado como agente capaz de reagir a tempo e modo necessários para proteger a coletividade. o Brasil, tal situação foi agravada pela insegurança jurídica que ronda a atuação dos agentes responsáveis pela implementação de políticas públicas, e que motivou a reação do Congresso Nacional vislumbrada nas alterações promovidas na Lei de Introdução às Normas de Direito Brasileiro. A insegurança jurídica é situação que pode decorrer da impermeabilidade das alterações propostas pelo Parlamento, a exemplo do ocorrido no plano das mentalidades dos órgãos de controle, que tomou a processualidade ampla incorporada ao ordenamento nacional pela nova ordem constitucional mais pelo valor de face do que pela sua essência, que reconhece o indivíduo como substrato da ordem normativa e alça o processo à condição de instrumento por meio do qual o exercício do poder se legitima pela concretização dos direito fundamentais.

O desequilíbrio do setor público brasileiro: cenários alternativos

RESUMO O desequilíbrio do setor público brasileiro, medido pelo crescimento da dívida líquida global do setor público em relação ao PIB, é examinado com e sem o “Plano Cruzado”. Dois modelos são usados, um baseado em um quadro de tempo discreto e outro baseado em um quadro de tempo contínuo, para traçar trajetórias da relação dívida-PIB para o restante da década, concentrando-se no período 1985-1990. Chegam-se a duas conclusões principais. A primeira, de natureza teórica, é que os modelos de tempo discreto são inadequados em um contexto inflacionário, pois subestimam severamente o imposto inflacionário. A segunda é que o Plano Cruzado pode exercer forte pressão sobre as finanças do governo devido à queda drástica do imposto inflacionário

Surgical-site infection risk in oncologic digestive surgery

Surgical-site infection (SSI) is the most prevalent type of hospital infection in surgical patients and is associated with an increase in hospital stay, costs and morbidity/lethality. The knowledge of the main risk factors for this type of infection is important for the establishment of prevention measures regarding modifiable risks factors. The objective of the preset study was to assess the occurrence of SSI and study the risk factors in oncologic surgeries of the digestive system at Hospital de Câncer in Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil. Individuals undergoing oncologic surgeries of the digestive system in the period of 08/01/2007 to 08/10/2008 were prospectively followed for 30 days after surgery. Possible risk factors related to the patient and to the surgical procedure were also studied. A total of 210 surgeries were analyzed, with a global SSI incidence of 23.8%. The following variables were independently associated with SSI: time and type of surgery, radiotherapy before surgery and surgeon's years of experience. The risk factors found in this study have been described by other authors and are not amenable to intervention for SSI prevention. Further studies are recommended with the objective of investigating interventions that could reduce the risk for SSI in this type of surgery

Crenças e concepções dos licenciandos em Matemática sobre a profissão docente

The aim of this paper was to listen to a math teacher education group of seven students about their motives to choose the teaching profession, their beliefs and conceptions about teaching and how they appraised knowledge and practices they have experienced in their teacher education course. The data gathering procedure was the interview with the students-teachers. The material was analyzed by a research group who after reading the transcriptions several times first developed a chart containing pre-indicators or the meaningful topics of the interviews content. Secondly the data were organized in three categories: relation with knowledge: the choice of teaching profession; professional knowledge; and beliefs and conceptions about the profession. The prospective teachers discourse disclosed how relevant was both the role of the teacher educator as well as the teaching practices experienced during the teacher education course. The data pointed out that propositions should be developed to improve the teacher education curriculum.O objetivo deste artigo é discutir a opinião de um grupo de sete licenciandos em matemática sobre os motivos de escolha da profissão docente, sobre suas crenças e concepções sobre a docência e sobre como avaliam os conhecimentos e as práticas vivenciadas no curso de licenciatura. O instrumento utilizado para coleta de dados é a entrevista. Os dados foram analisados pelo grupo de pesquisa, que, após várias leituras e discussões coletivas, organizou quadros com os pré-indicadores ou os aspectos mais significativos do conteúdo das entrevistas. Em uma fase posterior, os dados foram reorganizados em três grandes categorias: Relação com o saber: escolha profissional; Saberes da formação profissional; e Crenças e concepções sobre a profissão. As falas dos licenciandos em Matemática deixam evidente o relevante papel do professor formador e das práticas vividas no curso de formação inicial, bem como sinalizam a necessidade de proposições para o redimensionamento dos currículos de licenciatura

An Approach Based on Maintainability Criteria for Building Aspect-Oriented Software Design Model

Software modeling is an important activity for maintenance since it can facilitate the software comprehension as well as the understanding of its activities towards evolution, correction and adaptation. In this sense, maintainability and its subcharacteristics as presented in the ISO/IEC 9126 standard should be incorporated 0to the artifacts produced in the modeling activity aiming at designing software with characteristics that render its maintenance less costly. Especially in non-trivial software, such as those that are aspect-oriented, the research on maintenance process considering it during the software development is remarkable. These categories of software aim at maintainability and reusability since they provide the separation of concerns. Thus, seeking to reduce the transition effort to the artifacts generated during the Aspect-Oriented Software Development among the different abstraction levels, this paper presents a proposal of maintainability criteria for building aspect-oriented software design models based on the Maintainability Criteria for Implementation Models, on the aSideML language modeling conventions and on the ISO/IEC 9126 standard

Effect of tapping frequency and stimulation on yield and economic performance of rubber tree clones

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o desempenho produtivo e os aspectos econômicos de dez clones de seringueira [Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex Adr. de Juss.) Muell. Arg.] em diferentes frequências de sangria e com estimulação à base de ethefon. O experimento foi instalado na Fazenda Indiana, no município de Indiana, SP, sob o delineamento de blocos ao acaso com parcelas subdivididas. Os tratamentos principais foram os clones GT 1, RRIM 701, RRIM 600, PB 235, PR 261, PB 252, Fx 4098, Fx 2261, Fx 3864 e IAN 873, submetidos a três sistemas de sangria: 1/2S d/2 6d/7 (testemunha), 1/2S d/4 6d/7.10m/y. ET 5,0% Ba 10y e 1/2S d/6 6d/7.10m/y. ET 5,0% Ba 10/y. As variáveis estudadas foram: perímetro do caule, produção, secamento do painel e os aspectos econômicos. Os resultados mostraram superioridade no sistema 1/2S d/2 6d/7 na maioria dos clones, exceto o GT 1 e o PB 235, que no sistema 1/2S d/4 ET 5,0% apresentaram ganhos líquidos de 12,0% e 54,0%, respectivamente, acima do obtido no sistema testemunha. Somente os clones Fx 3864 e PB 235 apresentaram ganhos líquidos de 18,0% e 28,0% no sistema 1/2S d/6 ET 5% superiores em relação ao obtido no sistema testemunha. A maior porcentagem de secamento do painel foi observada no clone PB 235 no sistema 1/2S d/4 ET 5,0%.The objective of this paper was to evaluate yield of performance and economic aspects of ten clones of rubber tree [Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex. Adr. de Juss.) Muell. Arg.] in different frequencies of tapping and with stimulation with ethefon. The trial was placed at the Indiana farm, in the county of Indiana, SP, Brazil, under a split-plot design. The main treatments were the GT 1, RRIM 701, RRIM 600, PB 235, PR 261, PB 252, Fx 4098, Fx 2261, Fx 3864 and IAN 873 clones submitted to three systems of tapping 1/2S d/2 6d/7 (check), 1/2S d/4 6d/7.10m/y. ET 5.0% Ba 10y and 1/2S d/6 6d/7.10m/y. ET 5.0% Ba 10y. The variables were: girth increment, yield, panel desiccation and economic aspects. Results indicated superiority in the 1/2S d/2 6d/7 system in most of the clones, except for GT 1 and PB 235 clones, that in the 1/2S d/4 ET 5.0% system showed superiority of net gain of 12.0% and 54.0%, respectively, compared with the check tapping system. Only the Fx 3864 and PB 235 clones showed liquid gain of 18.0% and 28.0%, respectively, in the 1/2S d/6 ET 5.0% system, compared with the check. The highest incidence of panel desiccation was observed in the PB 235 clone in the 1/2S d/4 ET 5.0% system

Acute Exposure to Two Biocides Causes Morphological and Molecular Changes in the Gill Ciliary Epithelium of the Invasive Golden Mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857)

Limnoperna fortunei, the golden mussel, is a bivalve mollusk considered an invader in South America. This species is responsible for ecological and economic damages due to its voluminous fouling capability. Chemical biocides such as MXD-100™ and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) are often used to control L. fortunei infestations in hydraulic systems. Thus, we proposed to investigate the effects of different periods (24, 48 and 72 h) of exposure to MXD-100™ (0.56 mg L−1) and NaDCC (1.5 mg L−1) on the gills of L. fortunei through morphological and molecular analyses. NaDCC promoted progressive morphological changes during the analyzed periods and only an upregulation of SOD and HSP70 expression during the first 24 h of exposure. MXD-100™ led to severe morphological changes from the first period of exposure, in addition to an upregulation of SOD, CAT, HSP70 and CYP expression during the first 24 h. In contrast, MXD-100™ led to a downregulation of CAT transcription between 24 and 48 h. In static conditions, NaDCC causes lethal damage after 72 h of exposure, and that exposure needs to be continuous to achieve the control of the species. Meanwhile, the MXD-100™ treatment presented several effects during the first 24 h, showing acute toxicity in a shorter period of time

Cashew nut roasting: chemical characterization of particulate matter\ud and genotocixity analysis

Background: Particulate matter (PM) potentially harmful to health and related to genotoxic events, an increase in the number of hospitalizations and mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.\ud The present study conducted the first characterization of elemental composition and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) analysis of PM, as well as the biomonitoring of genotoxic activity associated to artesanal cashew nut roasting, an importante economic and social activity worldwide.\ud Methods: The levels of PM2.5 and black carbon were also measured by gravimetric analysis and light reflectance. The elementa lcomposition was determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and PAH analysis was carried out by gás chromatography–mass spectrometry. Genotoxic activity was measured by the Tradescantia pallida micronucleus bioassay (Trad-MCN).Other biomarkers of DNA damage, such as núcleoplasmic bridges and nuclear fragments, were also quantified. Results: The mean amount of PM2.5 accumulated in the filters (January 2124.2 mg/m3; May 1022.2 mg/m3;\ud September 1291.9 mg/m3), black carbon(January 363.6 mg/m3; May70 mg/m3; September 69.4 mg/m3) and concentrations of Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca ,Ti,Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br and Pb were significantly higher than the non-exposed area. Biomass burning tracers K,Cl, and S were the major inorganic compounds found. Benzo[k]fluoranthene, indene[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, phenanthrene and benzo[b]fluor-\ud anthene were the most abundant PAHs. Mean benzo[a]pyrene-equivalent carcinogenic power values showed a significant câncer risk. The Trad-MCN bioassay revealed an increase in micronucleus frequency, 2–7 times higher than the negative control and significantly higher in all the months analyzed, possibly related to the mutagenic PAHs found.\ud Conclusions: This study demonstrated that artesanal cashew nut roasting is a serious occupational problem, with harmful effects on workers' health. Those involved in this activity are exposed to higher PM2.5 concentrations and to 12 PAHs considered potentially mutagenic and/or carcinogenic. The Trad-MCN with T. pallida was sensitive and efficient in evaluating the genotoxicity of the components and other nuclear alterations may be used as effective biomarkers of DNA damage.CNPq - 555223/2006-

Adsorption of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles within layer-by-layer films: a kinetic study carried out using quartz crystal microbalance

The paper reports on the successful use of the quartz crystal microbalance technique to assess accurate kinetics and equilibrium parameters regarding the investigation of in situ adsorption of nanosized cobalt ferrite particles (CoFe2O4-10.5 nm-diameter) onto two different surfaces. Firstly, a single layer of nanoparticles was deposited onto the surface provided by the gold-coated quartz resonator functionalized with sodium 3-mercapto propanesulfonate (3-MPS). Secondly, the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique was used to build multilayers in which the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle-based layer alternates with the sodium sulfonated polystyrene (PSS) layer. The adsorption experiments were conducted by modulating the number of adsorbed CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers (n) and/or by changing the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle concentration while suspended as a stable colloidal dispersion. Adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles onto the 3-MPS-functionalized surface follows perfectly a first order kinetic process in a wide range (two orders of magnitude) of nanoparticle concentrations. These data were used to assess the equilibrium constant and the adsorption free energy. Alternatively, the Langmuir adsorption constant was obtained while analyzing the isotherm data at the equilibrium. Adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles while growing multilayers of CoFe2O4/PSS was conducted using colloidal suspensions with CoFe2O4 concentration in the range of 10-8 to 10-6 (moles of cobalt ferrite per litre) and for different numbers of cycles n = 1, 3, 5, and 10. We found the adsorption of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles within the CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers perfectly following a first order kinetic process, with the characteristic rate constant growing with the increase of CoFe2O4 nanoparticle concentration and decreasing with the rise of the number of LbL cycles (n). Additionally, atomic force microscopy was employed for assessing the LbL film roughness and thickness. We found the film thickness increasing from about 20 to 120 nm while shifting from 3 to 10 CoFe2O4/PSS bilayers, using the 8.9 × 10-6 (moles of cobalt ferrite per litre) suspension.MCT/CNPqFINEPCAPESFUNAPEFINATE