ABSTRACT The curve of cumulative cases of individuals infected by COVID-19 shows similar growth to the logistic curve in the period referring to each epidemic “wave”, as each peak of active cases is called. Considering that in pandemic scenarios it is common to seek control measures based on previous experiences, in this paper we model the curve of cumulative cases through a logistic model with infected removal to include the control measures in the dynamics. This model is based on fractional differential equations to also include the memory effect. We study the scenario of the first two “waves” in the analyzed countries: Brazil, China, Italy, and Switzerland. Scenarios with and without control measures are compared, proving the importance of control measures such as isolation. Moreover, this model makes it possible to determine the portion of the population that did not participate in the dynamics of the spread of the disease, as well as to analyze how the number of infected people reduced in each country.

ABSTRACT Treatment with antiviral drugs for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection causes a rapid reduction in plasma viral load. Viral decline occurs in several stages and provides information on important kinetic constants of virus replication in vivo and pharmacodynamic properties. We present a mathematical model that not only considers the intracellular phase of the viral life cycle, defined as the time between the infection of a cell and the production of new viral particles, but we also consider that this parameter together with the virus decay are interactive fuzzy numbers.

Abstract This work proposed to incorporate the sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) with a high content of organic matter (loss on ignition of 35.87%) in alkali-activated mixtures with blast furnace slag. After grinding SBA, replacement ratios of 10%, 20%, and 30% of the ground ash were used for the flowability evaluation. The mixtures containing 20% and 30% showed a dry consistency, then only the mixture with 10% of slag was used for the other tests. The use of an air-entraining admixture led to an improvement in the flowability of the alkali-activated mixtures. X-ray diffraction results showed that both SBA and the air-entraining admixture did not interfere in the mineralogical composition of the hydrated products. However, the use of SBA led to a decrease in the compressive strength of about 20% to 28%. In conclusion, SBA proved to be viable for use in alkali-activated mixtures considering its effect on mechanical performance.