Abstract Sewage sludge (SS) has nutritional contents and has been implemented in the cultivation of seedlings. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Malpighia emarginata DC. seedlings produced in different substrates with SS. Treatments were implemented with the addition of SS, and after 180 days seedling the characteristics were measured: aerial part and root system length, stem base diameter, number of leaves, fresh and dry mass of aerial part and root, and total biomass. The Dickson Quality Index (DQI) was calculated and the macro and micronutrient content of the aerial part and root. The accumulation of macronutrients in the root system followed the order of N>K>P>Ca>Mg>S, and aerial part of N>Ca>K>P>Mg>S, in the two vegetative structures N and S were in lower concentration. For micronutrients, the accumulation in the root system occurred with Fe>Zn>Mn>Cu>B, and aerial part with Fe>Mn>Zn>B>Cu. It was noted that in the two vegetative structures the Fe content was more concentrated. The use of SS in the substrate formulation proved effective in obtaining viable seedlings for field planting, being recommended the treatment with 60% SS + 40% organic compost.

Resumo O lodo de esgoto (LE) possui teor nutricional e tem sido aplicado no cultivo de mudas. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a qualidade de mudas de Malpighia emarginata DC. produzidas em diferentes substratos com LE. Os tratamentos foram implantados com adição de LE, e após 180 dias de semeadura as seguintes características das mudas foram avaliadas: comprimento da parte aérea e do sistema radicular, diâmetro da base do caule, número de folhas, massa fresca e seca da parte aérea e da raiz, biomassa total. O Índice de Qualidade de Dickson (IQD) foi calculado junto aos teores de macro e micronutrientes da parte aérea e da raiz. O acúmulo de macronutrientes no sistema radicular seguiu a ordem de N>K>P>Ca>Mg>S, e parte aérea N>Ca>K>P>Mg>S, nas duas estruturas vegetativas N e S estiveram em menor concentração. Para os micronutrientes, o acúmulo no sistema radicular ocorreu Fe>Zn>Mn>Cu>B, e na parte aérea Fe>Mn>Zn>B>Cu. Observou-se que nas duas estruturas vegetativas o teor de Fe foi mais concentrado. A utilização de LE na formulação do substrato mostrou-se eficaz na obtenção de mudas viáveis para o plantio em campo, sendo recomendado o tratamento com 60% de LE + 40% de composto orgânico.

RESUMO As características dos agregados podem interferir intensamente no comportamento do concreto, especialmente quando sulfetos, como pirita e pirrotita, estão presentes nos agregados. A falta de consenso para o valor limite do teor desses compostos de enxofre em estruturas de concreto de barragens tem motivado várias investigações em todo o mundo. Dentro desse cenário, este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia para a avaliação da presença desses compostos de enxofre em concretos fabricados com agregados contendo sulfetos. Para o estudo, foram utilizadas amostras de rochas da área de usina hidrelétrica do Irapé, em Minas Gerais (Brasil). Esta usina foi construída em um sítio geológico onde a rocha apresentava níveis de sulfeto de pelo menos 3%. Essas amostras de rochas foram moídas e depois utilizadas como agregados em argamassas submetidas durante aproximadamente um ano a três diferentes condições de exposição: temperatura de 23° ± 2ºC e umidade relativa de 95 a 100%; solução de hidróxido de cálcio diluída em água mantida em duas temperaturas diferentes: temperatura ambiente e 50°C ± 2ºC. A presença e quantidade de pirrotita foram obtidas a partir de um processo de lixiviação do material (agregado ou argamassa) numa solução de ácido clorídrico para dissolução desta, o que permitiu a avaliação do teor de pirita, sulfeto esse não dissolvido pelo ácido clorídrico. A quantidade de pirrotita foi obtida pela diferença entre o valor inicial de enxofre total da amostra e o valor após essa lixiviação. Como resultado desse estudo, observou-se que a quantidade de pirita se manteve praticamente constante ao longo do tempo nas três situações de exposição. Este resultado indica que limites de enxofre em agregados devem ser estipulados de acordo com o tipo de sulfeto de ferro presente e não unicamente pela quantidade total de enxofre.

ABSTRACT It is well known that aggregate characteristics can intensively interfere in concrete behavior especially when sulfides are presented in the aggregates. The lack of consensus to content limit value of these deleterious sulfur compounds in concrete structures for dams has motivated several investigations worldwide. Within this scenario, this work presents a methodology to evaluate the presence of pyrite and pyrrhotite in concretes produced with aggregates containing sulfides. For the study, rock samples from the Irapé hydroelectric power plant area in Minas Gerais (Brazil) were used. This plant was built in a geological site where the rock presented sulfide levels of at least 3%. These rock samples were first ground and then used as aggregates in mortars, which were, during almost one year, subjected to three different exposed conditions: temperature of 23° ± 2°C and relative humidity of 95 to 100%; calcium hydroxide solution diluted in water kept at two different temperatures: room temperature and 50° C. The presence and amount of pyrrhotite were obtained from a leaching process of the material (aggregate or mortar) in a solution of hydrochloric acid. This procedure allowed also the evaluation of the pyrite content. The results showed that the amount of pyrite has remained virtually constant over time in the three exposure situations. This finding indicates that sulfur limits in aggregates should be set according to the type of iron sulfide presented and not solely by the total amount of sulfur.

Abstract Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) has been applied for decades as the main predictive maintenance technique for diagnosing incipient faults in power transformers since the decomposition of the mineral insulating oil (MIO) produces gases that remain dissolved in the liquid phase. Nevertheless, the most known diagnostic methods are based on findings of simplified thermodynamic and compositional models for the thermal decomposition of MIO, in addition to empirical data. The simulation results obtained from these models do not satisfactorily reproduce the empirical data. This paper proposes a flexible thermodynamic model enhanced with a kinetic approach and selects, among four compositional models, the one offering the best performance for the simulation of thermal decomposition of MIO. The simulation results obtained from the proposed model showed better adequacy to reported data than the results obtained from the classical models. The proposed models may be applied in the development of a phenomenologically-based diagnostic method.

We present experimental results concerning a new alloptical technique that multiplexes two binary signals into a quaternary one (4-ASK). The technique is based on parametric amplification. Values of the quaternary levels obtained experimentally, as a function of the extinction ratios of the binary input signals, show a rather good agreement with the simulated and the analytical results. The generated 4-ASK signals were propagated through 75 km of standard single-mode fiber and experienced eye penalties of only 0.5 dB. This indicates the robustness of the technique for practical applications in metropolitan area networks.

Admite-se que 25% dos pacientes com epilepsia sejam mulheres em idade fértil e que 0,3% a 0,6% de todas as crianças nascidas sejam filhas de mães epilépticas. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a qualidade de vida em gestantes com epilepsia e compará-la com a de mulheres com epilepsia não grávidas. Foram avaliados dois grupos (Grupo Experimental - 29 gestantes com epilepsia e Grupo Controle - 30 mulheres com epilepsia) atendidos no HC/UNICAMP. As pacientes foram submetidas a três encontros para a realização de anamnese e a aplicação do QQV-65. Não encontramos diferenças significativas na avaliação de qualidade de vida ao comparar ambos os grupos. No entanto quando avaliados individualmente no período pré e pós-natal, observamos diferenças significativas nos aspectos: saúde (p=0,0495), físico (p=0,02868) e emocional (p=0,0253) no QQV-65. Este estudo mostrou que a gravidez pode ser interpretada como um estressor. No final da gravidez, quando este estressor foi removido, mulheres com epilepsia mostraram melhora na qualidade de vida.

It is assumed that 25% of patients with epilepsy are women of fertile age and 0.3% to 0.6% of all children are born of mothers with epilepsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life on pregnant with epilepsy and compare with non-pregnant women with epilepsy. We evaluated two groups (Experimental Group - 29 pregnant women with epilepsy and Control Group - 30 women with epilepsy); they were attended at the HC/UNICAMP. The patients had three meetings to carry out and implement the anamnesis and the application of QQV-65. There were no significant differences in the measurement of quality of life when comparing both groups. However, when we analyzed individually in the pre- and post-partum periods, we observed significant differences in health aspects (p=0.0495), physical (p=0.02868) and emotional (p=0.0253) dimensions in QQV-65. This study shows that pregnancy could be interpreted as a stressor. In late pregnancy when this stressor was removed, women with epilepsy had improvement in their quality of life.

This paper presents the utilization of a stochastic global optimization method for the problem of parameter estimation in thermodynamic models. The method is based on an adaptation of the simulated annealing method to continuous variables. The proposed approach is applied to a vapor-solid equilibrium with supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent. Numerical results indicate that the simulated annealing method calculated a set of parameter values associated with considerably smaller errors as compared with a traditional method of local optimization.

Process simulation involves the evaluation of output variables by the specification of input variables and process parameters. However, in a real process, input data and parameters cannot be known without uncertainty. This fact may limit the utilization of simulation results to predict plant behavior. In order to achieve a more realistic analysis, the procedure of stochastic simulation can be conducted. This technique is based on a large set of simulation runs where input variables and parameters are randomly selected according to adequate probability density functions. The objective of this work is to illustrate the application of a stochastic simulation procedure to the process of fractionation of orange essential oil, using supercritical carbon dioxide in a multistage extraction column. Analysis of the proposed example demonstrates the importance of the stochastic simulation to develop more reliable designs and operating conditions for a supercritical fluid extraction process.