BakSIM : an application for control, monitoring and simulation of baker's yeast fermentation process

This paper describes an experience based on the final project work for the Industrial Electronics Engineering undergraduate course. The main goal was the development of an application for the simulation and monitorization of the baker’s yeast fermentation. The BakSIM application simulates a Mini-Bioreactor for the control, monitorization and simulation of the process running in open and closed loop modes. It permits to make the acquisition of the most important system variables: biomass, ethanol, oxygen, glucose and dioxide of carbon, and the writing in files for future analysis and for future contrast with previous experiences. Different modules were considered: simulation, monitorization and simulation and monitorization. The BakSIM application also allows not only the comparison of the experimental data with the simulated data as the study of the effectiveness of several numerical methods. One more advantage of this project was its multidisciplinary work, enclosing several areas covered during the undergraduate course, namely Programming, Process Control and Numerical Methods.Centre ALGORITMI

Dynamic management of distributed machine learning projects

Given the new requirements of Machine Learning problems in the last years, especially in what concerns the volume, diversity and speed of data, new approaches are needed to deal with the associated challenges. In this paper we describe CEDEs - a distributed learning system that runs on top of an Hadoop cluster and takes advantage of blocks, replication and balancing. CEDEs trains models in a distributed manner following the principle of data locality, and is able to change parts of the model through an optimization module, thus allowing a model to evolve over time as the data changes. This paper describes its generic architecture, details the implementation of the first modules, and provides a first validation.This work was supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within projects UIDB/04728/2020 and EXPL/CCI-COM/0706/2021

Oscillatory and alternate flows in a microfluidic device

The mixing properties of systems with oscillatory or alternate flows are studied by numerical methods. Preliminary results show that, for alternate flows, the contact area between high and low concentration regions increases and mixing is achieved from the combination of transversal diffusion and axial advection. The improvement in the mixing process shows that this method is very useful for designing mixers in lab-on-a-chip devices.R&D Centre Algoritmi - University of Minho Engineering School (program IN2TEC) - University of Minho

Numerical study of micromixing combining alternate flow and obstacles

Mixing in microsystems, combining alternate flow with obstacles, is studied by numerical methods. Simulations show that the layers of high and low solute concentrations, created by the alternate flow, are split into smaller chunks of fluid by obstacles inserted in the mixing channel, decreasing the critical mixing length. Reverse flow is necessary to guarantee symmetry and good mixing. Mixing increases with the increase of the number of obstacles. Increase of frequency improves mixing but requires an increase of reverse flow. The improvement in the mixing process shows that this method is very useful for designing mixers for lab-on-a-chip devices.Support for this research was provided by the Engineering School of University of Minho (program IN2TEC) and the Portuguese Science Foundation (grant FTDC/B10/70017/2006 and grant SFRH/BPD/17689/2004)

Tissue Spectroscopy and Optical Clearing of Colorectal Mucosa in the Pursuit of New Cancer Diagnostic Approaches

In this paper we present three studies that demonstrate the applicability of spectroscopy methods and optical clearing treatments in pathology identification and monitoring. In the first study, by obtaining the absorption spectra of human healthy and pathological (adenocarcinoma) colorectal mucosa tissues, it was possible to identify a higher content of a pigment in the diseased tissues. This study also shows that machine learning methods can be used to reach the same differentiated results in vivo through diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. In the second study, the combination of collimated transmittance spectroscopy with optical clearing treatments allowed to obtain the diffusion coefficients of glucose in healthy and pathological colorectal mucosa as: Dglucose=5.8x10–7 cm2/s and Dglucose=4.4x10–7 cm2/s, respectively. This study also demonstrated that the diseased tissues contains about 5% more mobile water than the healthy tissues. The third study was performed to evaluate the protein dissociation mechanism of optical clearing. By treating both healthy and pathological colorectal mucosa tissues with 93%-glycerol, a protein dissociation rate of about 3 times higher was obtained for the pathological mucosa. All the discriminating parameters that result from these studies can be obtained in the in vivo situation through diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and further studies to evaluate their values in different stages of cancer progression are of great importance to develop disease monitoring protocols.The authors of the article knew well and communicated with Ekaterina Borisova for many years, especially Valery Tuchin and in recent years Luís Oliveira. We had many joint plans to organize conferences and joint research projects, but COVID-19 mercilessly interrupted our communication. We have lost a great scientist and a person with a huge soul, sociable, but at the same time modest and kind. We will always remember our warm meetings and fruitful work with Ekaterina. This research was supported by the Portuguese grant FCT-UIDB/04730/2020. VVT was supported by grant under the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 220 of 09 April 2010 (Agreement No. 075-15-2021-615 of 04 June 2021).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A IDENTIFICAÇÃO DE ÁREAS DE ASSOREAMENTO NO CÓRREGO VACA BRAVA EM GOIÂNIA (GO) VIA TRABALHO DE CAMPO

Este trabalho foi elaborado na cidade de Goiânia / GO, onde grande parte dos cursos fluviais urbanos e também rurais vêm sofrendo com as ações antrópicas e com o descaso dos gestores públicos municipais. Isso tem ocorrido em muitos municípios brasileiros, em Goiânia / GO não é diferente, pois o Córrego Vaca Brava (foco do estudo) tem apresentado o mesmo cenário. Assim, foi realizado um estudo de caso, onde o trabalho de campo contemplou duas etapas ao longo do susodito córrego, sendo a primeira etapa em outubro de 2016 (período chuvoso) e a outra em junho de 2017 (período seco). Em seguida, foram feitas anotações em caderneta de campo, registros fotográficos e finalmente a interpretação/análise das informações e diálogo com a bibliografia selecionada. De forma concisa, constatou-se uma série de problemas ambientais (processos erosivos, desmatamento, descarte de lixo, expansão urbana irregular, entulhos e outros), além de zonas assoreadas de destaque ao longo do Córrego Vaca Brava. Também nota-se um descaso dos gestores municipais para com o referido córrego e outros. Sugere-se então, medidas estruturais e não-estruturais, ações de revitalização, recuperação e políticas que valorizem e reconheçam o corpo hídrico como integrante da paisagem urbana

Novel Virtual Environment for Alternative Treatment of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a severe condition usually caused by decreased brain oxygenation during pregnancy, at birth or soon after birth. Conventional treatments for cerebral palsy are often tiresome and expensive, leading patients to quit treatment. In this paper, we describe a virtual environment for patients to engage in a playful therapeutic game for neuropsychomotor rehabilitation, based on the experience of the occupational therapy program of the Nucleus for Integrated Medical Assistance (NAMI) at the University of Fortaleza, Brazil. Integration between patient and virtual environment occurs through the hand motion sensor “Leap Motion,” plus the electroencephalographic sensor “MindWave,” responsible for measuring attention levels during task execution. To evaluate the virtual environment, eight clinical experts on cerebral palsy were subjected to a questionnaire regarding the potential of the experimental virtual environment to promote cognitive and motor rehabilitation, as well as the potential of the treatment to enhance risks and/or negatively influence the patient’s development. Based on the very positive appraisal of the experts, we propose that the experimental virtual environment is a promising alternative tool for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.Cerebral palsy is a severe condition usually caused by decreased brain oxygenation during pregnancy, at birth or soon after birth. Conventional treatments for cerebral palsy are often tiresome and expensive, leading patients to quit treatment. In this paper, we describe a virtual environment for patients to engage in a playful therapeutic game for neuropsychomotor rehabilitation, based on the experience of the occupational therapy program of the Nucleus for Integrated Medical Assistance (NAMI) at the University of Fortaleza, Brazil. Integration between patient and virtual environment occurs through the hand motion sensor “Leap Motion,” plus the electroencephalographic sensor “MindWave,” responsible for measuring attention levels during task execution. To evaluate the virtual environment, eight clinical experts on cerebral palsy were subjected to a questionnaire regarding the potential of the experimental virtual environment to promote cognitive and motor rehabilitation, as well as the potential of the treatment to enhance risks and/or negatively influence the patient’s development. Based on the very positive appraisal of the experts, we propose that the experimental virtual environment is a promising alternative tool for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy

Utilização de nanopartículas de TIO2 para o desenvolvimento de pavimentos rodoviários com capacidade fotocatalítica

A utilização de nanomateriais na indústria de construção rodoviária representa uma opção estrategicamente inovadora que visa a modificação dos materiais convencionais. Neste âmbito, dotar a superfície dos pavimentos rodoviários de capacidade fotocatalítica contribuirá para efetuar a despoluição do ar e a redução da sujidade adsorvida nestas superfícies, aumentando a segurança rodoviária uma vez que minimiza a presença de óleos e gorduras adsorvidos pelas mesmas. Neste trabalho, misturas asfálticas convencionais foram modificadas pela adição de nanopartículas de TiO2 através de dois processos diferentes: inclusão em volume e por aspersão superficial de uma solução aquosa de nanopartículas de TiO2. As misturas asfálticas foram caracterizadas quimicamente e a sua morfologia e capacidade fotocatalítica foram avaliadas. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que a utilização de nanopartículas de TiO2 (aplicadas na superfície pela técnica de aspersão) permitiu obter misturas asfálticas com elevada capacidade fotocatalítica, já que o rendimento de fotodegradação foi superior a 50%.FEDE