The objective of this study was to analyse the dynamics of spatial dispersion of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil by correlating them to socioeconomic indicators. This is an ...ecological study of COVID-19 cases and deaths between 26 February and 31 July 2020. All Brazilian counties were used as units of analysis. The incidence, mortality, Bayesian incidence and mortality rates, global and local Moran indices were calculated. A geographic weighted regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between incidence and mortality due to COVID-19 and socioeconomic indicators (independent variables). There were confirmed 2 662 485 cases of COVID-19 reported in Brazil from February to July 2020 with higher rates of incidence in the north and northeast. The Moran global index of incidence rate (0.50, P = 0.01) and mortality (0.45 with P = 0.01) indicate a positive spatial autocorrelation with high standards in the north, northeast and in the largest urban centres between cities in the southeast region. In the same period, there were 92 475 deaths from COVID-19, with higher mortality rates in the northern states of Brazil, mainly Amazonas, Pará and Amapá. The results show that there is a geospatial correlation of COVID-19 in large urban centres and regions with the lowest human development index in the country. In the geographic weighted regression, it was possible to identify that the percentage of people living in residences with density higher than 2 per dormitory, the municipality human development index (MHDI) and the social vulnerability index were the indicators that most contributed to explaining incidence, social development index and the municipality human development index contributed the most to the mortality model. We hope that the findings will contribute to reorienting public health responses to combat COVID-19 in Brazil, the new epicentre of the disease in South America, as well as in other countries that have similar epidemiological and health characteristics to those in Brazil.
Transparent electronics is today one of the most advanced topics for a wide range of device applications. The key components are wide bandgap semiconductors, where oxides of different origins play an ...important role, not only as passive component but also as active component, similar to what is observed in conventional semiconductors like silicon. Transparent electronics has gained special attention during the last few years and is today established as one of the most promising technologies for leading the next generation of flat panel display due to its excellent electronic performance. In this paper the recent progress in n‐ and p‐type oxide based thin‐film transistors (TFT) is reviewed, with special emphasis on solution‐processed and p‐type, and the major milestones already achieved with this emerging and very promising technology are summarizeed. After a short introduction where the main advantages of these semiconductors are presented, as well as the industry expectations, the beautiful history of TFTs is revisited, including the main landmarks in the last 80 years, finishing by referring to some papers that have played an important role in shaping transparent electronics. Then, an overview is presented of state of the art n‐type TFTs processed by physical vapour deposition methods, and finally one of the most exciting, promising, and low cost but powerful technologies is discussed: solution‐processed oxide TFTs. Moreover, a more detailed focus analysis will be given concerning p‐type oxide TFTs, mainly centred on two of the most promising semiconductor candidates: copper oxide and tin oxide. The most recent data related to the production of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices based on n‐ and p‐type oxide TFT is also be presented. The last topic of this review is devoted to some emerging applications, finalizing with the main conclusions. Related work that originated at CENIMAT|I3N during the last six years is included in more detail, which has led to the fabrication of high performance n‐ and p‐type oxide transistors as well as the fabrication of CMOS devices with and on paper.
Transparent electronics is one of the most advanced science topics for a broad range of device applications. In this article an overview is presented of state‐of‐the‐art n‐ and p‐type oxides for TFTs and their integration, processed by physical vapor deposition and by solution processing techniques. Some of the most relevant emerging applications are also presented, including CMOS devices based on oxide TFTs fabricated on glass and even on paper.
The cerebellar floccular and parafloccular lobes are housed in fossae of the periotic region of the skull of different vertebrates. Experimental evidence indicates that the lobes integrate visual and ...vestibular information and control the vestibulo-ocular reflex, vestibulo-collic reflex, smooth pursuit and gaze holding. Multiple paleoneuroanatomy studies have deduced the behaviour of fossil vertebrates by measuring the floccular fossae (FF). These studies assumed that there are correlations between FF volume and behaviour. However, these assumptions have not been fully tested. Here, we used micro-CT scans of extant mammals (47 species) and birds (59 species) to test six possible morphological-functional associations between FF volume and ecological/behavioural traits of extant animals. Behaviour and ecology do not explain FF volume variability in four out of six variables tested. Two variables with significant results require further empirical testing. Cerebellum plasticity may explain the lack of statistical evidence for the hypotheses tested. Therefore, variation in FF volume seems to be better explained by a combination of factors such as anatomical and phylogenetic evolutionary constraints, and further empirical testing is required.
While numerous architectures exist for solving multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) problems, there is currently no standard way of describing these architectures. In particular, a standard ...visual representation of the solution process would be particularly useful as a communication medium among practitioners and those new to the field. This paper presents the extended design structure matrix (XDSM), a new diagram for visualizing MDO processes. The diagram is based on extending the standard design structure matrix (DSM) to simultaneously show data dependency and process flow on a single diagram. Modifications include adding special components to define iterative processes, defining different line styles to show data and process connections independently, and adding a numbering scheme to define the order in which the components are executed. This paper describes the rules for constructing XDSMs along with many examples, including diagrams of several MDO architectures. Finally, this paper discusses potential applications of the XDSM in other areas of MDO and the future development of the diagrams.
Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) is concerned with solving design problems involving coupled numerical models of complex engineering systems. While various MDO software frameworks exist, ...none of them take full advantage of state-of-the-art algorithms to solve coupled models efficiently. Furthermore, there is a need to facilitate the computation of the derivatives of these coupled models for use with gradient-based optimization algorithms to enable design with respect to large numbers of variables. In this paper, we present the theory and architecture of OpenMDAO, an open-source MDO framework that uses Newton-type algorithms to solve coupled systems and exploits problem structure through new hierarchical strategies to achieve high computational efficiency. OpenMDAO also provides a framework for computing coupled derivatives efficiently and in a way that exploits problem sparsity. We demonstrate the framework’s efficiency by benchmarking scalable test problems. We also summarize a number of OpenMDAO applications previously reported in the literature, which include trajectory optimization, wing design, and structural topology optimization, demonstrating that the framework is effective in both coupling existing models and developing new multidisciplinary models from the ground up. Given the potential of the OpenMDAO framework, we expect the number of users and developers to continue growing, enabling even more diverse applications in engineering analysis and design.
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