This article summarizes the results of the project on indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED) in Brazil. The project's aim was to present energy related economic, social and ...environmental data to policy makers in a coherent and consistent form, showing interlinkages, time‐series and cross‐sectoral analyses and assess energy policy. Two priority areas assessed by these indicators, regarding the country's energy supply and demand, helped in the identification of a number of energy policy options that focused on specific aspects of the country's energy sector. On the supply side, these options include the development and stimulation of renewable energy, such as small‐scale hydroelectric, wind, solar photovoltaic power and bagasse cogeneration; stimulation of programmes for ethanol use as automotive fuel and sugarcane bagasse cogeneration; and implementation of natural gas‐fired, combined heat and power (CHP) plants. On the demand side, policy options include: the full implementation of the law on efficiency standards for appliances; expansion of utility investment in end‐use energy efficiency; adoption of targets and protocols to reduce energy intensity in the industrial sector; improvement of passenger transport efficiency; and the creation of a fund to improve energy affordability for the poor.
A study on tick-borne rickettsiosis was developed in the county of
Santa Cruz do Escalvado, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where a
clinical case of the disease, confirmed by necropsy, had been ...reported.
Of the 1,254 ticks collected, 1,061 belonged to the Amblyomma genus, 57
to the Rhipicephalus sanguineus species, 81 to Boophilus microplus, and
46 to Anocentor nitens. The hemolymph test associated with Gimenez
staining showed that 18 of the 221 A. cajennense specimens, 1 of the 16
R. sanguineus, 1 of the 22 B. microplus, 3 of the A. nitens, and 1 of
the A. ovale contained rickettsia-like microorganisms. Only 3 A.
cajennense ticks were positive under direct immunofluorescence. A.
cajennense was the only species found on humans.
Objectives: To investigate the occurrence and the diversity of Ambler class A ESBLs among Enterobacteriaceae from different Portuguese clinical settings over a 2 year period (2002-04). Methods: One ...hundred and nine extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates from five geographically distant health institutions in Portugal were studied. ESBLs were characterized by isoelectric focussing, PCR and further sequencing. Antibiotic susceptibility testing, transfer of resistance genes and clonal diversity were determined by standard procedures. Plasmid relatedness was established by comparison of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns. Results: ESBLs were identified as TEM (46%), SHV (30%), CTX-M (22%) and GES (2%) types; TEM-24, TEM-52, SHV-12 and CTX-M-15 enzymes being the most frequently found. Inter-hospital dissemination of epidemic strains harbouring the most prevalent ESBLs was detected, including the TEM-24-producing Enterobacter aerogenes European epidemic clone. Conjugative transfer of ESBLs was achieved for 67% of isolates and epidemic plasmids containing specific bla genes were detected (blaCTX-M-15 and blaTEM-24). We describe two new ESBLs, SHV-90 (A187T, G238S and E240K) and SHV-91 (P20S and E240K), and a new TEM-type enzyme conferring a phenotype resembling that of a complex mutant TEM beta-lactamase, designated as TEM-154 (M69L and R164S). The broad-spectrum beta-lactamases SHV-26, SHV-36 and TEM-110 were first observed in our country. Conclusions: We describe a complex ESBL epidemiology in Portugal, including widespread dissemination of known strains and plasmids coding for TEM-24 and CTX-M-15 enzymes as observed in other European countries. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Beta slope is a nonlinear index derived from the power-law analysis of 24-hour heart rate variability (HRV); in healthy subjects, the β index is typically near −1, suggesting a fractal behavior of ...HRV. There is scarce data on HRV in Chagas’ disease. This transversal study intends to describe power-law and linear HRV patterns in different forms of Chagas’ disease. Patients and healthy controls (n = 26) without other diseases were submitted to a standardized protocol, including electrocardiography, echocardiography, and 24-hour Holter monitoring. Patients with Chagas’ disease were divided into groups according to their left ventricular (LV) systolic function: normal (group 1, n = 85), segmental abnormalities (group 2, n = 49), and reduced ejection fraction (group 3, n = 26). The temporal series were carefully processed to obtain the HRV indexes and β slope. Despite the differences in the LV systolic function, the 3 groups were comparable in terms of long-term HRV index values. After adjustment for covariates, short-term HRV index values were consistently reduced in the Chagas’ disease groups. The β-index values were also diminished in Chagas’ disease groups (group 1: −1.09 ± 0.03, group 2: −1.11 ± 0.06; group 3: −1.14 ± 0.03; and controls: 0.95 ± 0.03, p <0.001). This breakdown of fractal long-range correlation of RR interval dynamics, a strong predictor of mortality in other cardiomyopathies, may reflect cardiac dysautonomia that may have gone undetected in long-term time-domain analysis. This abnormality may explain the increased risk for arrhythmic sudden death found in Chagas’ disease even in the absence of signs of LV dysfunction.
Predicting Failures in Hard Drives with LSTM Networks Dos Santos Lima, Fernando Dione; Rocha Amaral, Gabriel Maia; De Moura Leite, Lucas Goncalves ...
2017 Brazilian Conference on Intelligent Systems (BRACIS),
2017-Oct.
Conference Proceeding
Several research has been done to propose early failure detection techniques for hard disk drives in order to improve storage systems availability and avoid data loss. Failure prediction in such ...circumstances would allow for the reduction of downtime costs through anticipated disk replacements. Many of the techniques proposed so far mainly perform incipient failure detection thus not allowing for proper planning of such maintenance tasks. Others perform well only under a limited prediction horizon. In this work, we present a remaining useful life estimation approach for hard disk drives based on SMART parameters that is capable of predicting failures in both long and short term intervals by leveraging the capabilities of LSTM networks.
Reaction between Cu(II) cation the pseudo-halide SCN
− in the presence of the flexible nitrogen ligand 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane (BPP) has afforded a 2-D coordination polymer namely {Cu
2(BPP)
4(NCS)
...4}
n
. The compound was characterized by means of elemental analysis, thermal analysis and vibrational and EPR spectroscopies. Single crystal diffraction analysis shows that the 2-D coordination polymer consists on a twofold parallel interpenetrating network.
The synthesis and structural characterization of the 2-D Cu(II) coordination polymer namely {Cu
2(BPP)
4(NCS)
4}
n
, where BPP is the nitrogen ligand 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane, are described. Single crystal diffraction analysis shows that the asymmetric unit consists on two crystallographically independent Cu(II) ions that adopt a distorted octahedral geometry. Each Cu(II) center is coordinated by four nitrogen atoms from different BPP ligands and by other two nitrogen atoms from isothiocyanate groups. The BPP ligands link the metal centers generating an undulated two-dimensional net of (4,
4) topology. Two sets of two-dimensional sheets interlock each other in the same plane, giving rise to a twofold parallel interpenetrating network. EPR spectra indicate no magnetic coupling of the two individual Cu
2+ centers.
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