Rationalizing the Use of Water in Industry—Part 1: Summary of the Instruments Developed by the Clean Technology Network in the State of Bahia and Main Results Obtained

Based on cleaner production concepts, a method for water use minimization has been developed by the Clean Technology Network of Bahia (TECLIM) at one of the largest industrial complexes in Latin America located in the State of Bahia, Brazil. This method is concerned with an area of secondary interest to the productive sector: the use of water. Based on the best cleaner production principles (CP), nine instruments have been developed during cooperative projects with chemical, petrochemical and copper metallurgical industries. These instruments are described in Part 2 of this paper [1]. The main benefits derived from partnership schemes include: a reduction in water consumption and effluent generation;the development of a techno-operational culture to increase eco-efficiency;and the introduction of conceptual projects to ensure the continuity of the activities in the company after the projects have been completed. The specific consumption of water was reduced by 20% as a consequence of the application of this method in Company A;a specific reduction in the generation of effluents of more than 40% was observed in Company B;a 42% fall in fresh water consumption in Company C;and a 20% decrease in the cost of effluent treatment in Company D. Among the difficulties encountered were the limited time availability of the operators and engineers for the project, the lack of measurement and calibration of available flow meters and the lack of detailed technical data.

Rationalizing the Use of Water in Industry—Part 2: Instruments Developed by the Clean Technology Network in the State of Bahia

The instruments developed by the Clean Technology Network of Bahia (TECLIM) at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) (cited in Part 1 of this paper) are presented. Factors regarding water management in industry were examined, on the basis of experience acquired over the period of a decade in cooperative research projects with large industrial process plants located mostly in the Camacari Petrochemical Complex, Bahia State, Brazil. The main results consist of training about 1700 industry professionals in CP, the identification of about 500 ideas for the rationalization of water use, the presentation and publication of 90 articles in journals, conferences and other academic events, identification of ideas with potential water savings estimated at around 1400 t·h–1 and the reduction of at least 500 t·h–1 in effluents. Other sectors that make use of water, for example public buildings, commercial buildings, homes, shopping centers and airports can adapt and use the TECLIM method as will be exemplified.

Etiology of Fungemia in Neonates: Four Decades of Case Reports

Objectives: To compare groups of etiologic agents for neonatal fungemia based on previously published case reports with regard to case outcomes. Methods: Secondary analysis of data from case reports published in scientific literature indexed in Medline, Scopus and LILACS databases, and starting from the year, full texts were registered until the year 2010. Results: Thirty-four species of fungi were isolated in 252 cases reported over a 40-year period. The distribution of fungal groups according to the development level of a case’s region of origin was very uneven (p Aspergillus sp.) in more developed countries. However, 73% of the chi-squared distribution corresponded to differences observed in the frequency of Candida sp. and non-albicans Candida. While the frequency of candidemia by C. albicans was progressively declining in the period from 1966 to 2010, reports of non-albicans candidemia and other non-Candida fungi became significantly (p albicans Candida or non-Candida fungi were isolated. Conclusion: fungi of the genera Candida and Aspergillus were the etiologic agents most frequently identified in published cases of neonatal fungemia;the outcome of death was more often related to cases where non-albicans Candida or non-Candida fungi were isolated.

Stability and Sensory Quality of Dried Papaya

Fruit dehydration is a way of supplying the population with healthy and nutritious foods. The shelf life of dried fruit can be defined by the evaluation of changes occurred in chemical characteristics during storage. This study aims to evaluate the sensory quality and the stability of papaya cv. Tainung n° 1 dehydrated by convective drying. Fresh and dried papaya were evaluated for color, moisture, pH, acidity, water activity, soluble solids, vitamin C, carotenoids, total extractable polyphenols (TEP) and antioxidant activity (ABTS). The sensorial acceptance of the dried papaya was evaluated using a structured nine-point hedonic scale. For the stability study, the analysis of moisture, pH, titratable acidity, water activity, total carotenoids and vitamin C were carried out every 30 days of storage until 120 days. During storage, the moisture content of dried papaya remained constant, but there were undesirable changes in color, increase of acidity and reduction of soluble solids. The degradation of total carotenoids and vitamin C followed the first order reaction, and the half-life time was 346 days for carotenoids, whereas for vitamin C it was only 29 days. In the sensory analysis, the dried papaya received grades between 5.0 and 6.0 for all evaluated attributes. Dried papaya is recommended to be consumed up to 30 days, since within this period a product with higher total carotenoids content, vitamin C and with satisfactory physicochemical and sensorial characteristics were obtained.

Dietary Patterns of Children during the First Year of Life: A Cohort Study <br/>—Dietary Patterns of Children

Objective: To identify the dietary patterns of children during the first year of life. Methods: This is a longitudinal study of children born between September 2004 and April 2005 residing in Diamantina, MG, Brazil. Data were collected from children who were six, nine and twelve months of age. Data were collected at their homes using a questionnaire that included a socioeconomic and demographic profile of the family. Information on diet was obtained using 24 hour food recall. Principal Component Analysis was used to identify the dietary patterns. Results: Three dietary patterns were identified and denominated “Porridge”, “Pap” and “Family Food”. The most common dietary pattern was composed of milk, sugar and fortified flour and was negatively correlated with breastfeeding. The second dietary pattern was composed of tubers, vegetables and fruits. The third dietary pattern consisted of cereal, meat, beans and tea;this pattern was repeated at different ages, with some variation at the sixth month when artificial drinks were included and meat and tea were excluded. Conclusion: There was some variation in the dietary patterns of children;however, porridge was used predominantly in all studied ages. Information on dietary patterns may be useful for evaluating and redirecting food and nutrition policies.

Development and Parallelization of an Improved 2D Moving Window Standard Deviation Python Routine for Image Segmentation Purposes

Two additional features are particularly useful in pixelwise satellite data segmentation using neural networks: one results from local window averaging around each pixel (MWA) and another uses a standard deviation estimator (MWSD) instead of the average. While the former’s complexity has already been solved to a satisfying minimum, the latter did not. This article proposes a new algorithm that can substitute a naive MWSD, by making the complexity of the computational process fall from O(N2n2) to O(N2n), where N is a square input array side, and n is the moving window’s side length. The Numba python compiler was used to make python a competitive high-performance computing language in our optimizations. Our results show efficiency benchmars

A Brazilian Case of Tongue Cysticercosis

Human cysticercosis is a neglected tropical parasitic disease due to the tapeworm Taenia solium, common in endemic developing countries. Cysticerci are most commonly found within the central nervous system, but they may also localize in a variety of tissues, including the tongue. Here, we described a case of a 21-year-old woman with a painless, firm, smooth, mucosa-colored nodule located in the lateral region of the tongue was seen by a dentist. An excisional biopsy was performed, and the surgical specimen was examined histomorphologically. The analysis revealed the presence of a cystic lesion containing a serrated larva (Cysticercus cellulosae) as well as a cystic capsule with predominantly mononuclear inflammation. The morphological findings were consistent with the diagnosis of cysticercosis of the tongue. The patient was followed for 22 months and showed no signs of recurrence.

The REMO Ocean Data Assimilation System into HYCOM(RODAS_H):General Description and Preliminary Results

The first version of the Brazilian Oceanographic Modeling and Observation Network(REMO)ocean data assimilation system into the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model(HYCOM)(RODAS_H) has recently been constructed for research and operational purposes.The system is based on a multivariate Ensemble Optimal Interpolation(EnOI) scheme and considers the high frequency variability of the model error co-variance matrix.The EnOI can assimilate sea surface temperature(SST),satellite along-track and gridded sea level anomalies(SLA), and vertical profiles of temperature(T) and salinity(S) from Argo. The first observing system experiment was carried out over the Atlantic Ocean(78°S–50°N,100°W–20°E) with HYCOM forced with atmospheric reanalysis from 1 January to 30 June 2010. Five integrations were performed, including the control run without assimilation. In the other four, different observations were assimilated: SST only(A_SST); Argo T-S profiles only(A_Argo); along-track SLA only(A_SLA); and all data employed in the previous runs(A_All). The A_SST,A_Argo, and A_SLA runs were very effective in improving the representation of the assimilated variables, but they had relatively little impact on the variables that were not assimilated. In particular, only the assimilation of S was able to reduce the deviation of S with respect to observations. Overall, the A_All run produced a good analysis by reducing the deviation of SST, T, and S with respect to the control run by 39%, 18%, and 30%, respectively,and by increasing the correlation of SLA by 81%.

Epidemiological shift and geographical heterogeneity in the burden of leptospirosis in China

Background:Leptospirosis morbidity and mortality rates in China have decreased since the 2000s.Further analyses of the spatiotemporal and demographic changes occurring in the last decade and its implication on estimates of disease burden are required to inform intervention strategies.In this study,we quantified the epidemiological shift and geographical heterogeneity in the burden of leptospirosis during 2005-2015 in China.Methods:We used reported leptospirosis case data from 1st January 2005 to 31st of December 2015 that routinely collected by the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention(CISDCP)to analyze the epidemiological trend and estimate the burden in terms of disability-adjusted life-years(DALYs)over space,time,and demographical groups.Results:A total of 7763 cases were reported during 2005-2015.Of which,2403(31%)cases were the laboratoryconfirmed case.Since 2005,the notified incidence rate was gradually decreased(P<0.05)and it was relatively stable during 2011-2015(P>0.05).During 2005-2015,we estimated a total of 10313 DALYs were lost due to leptospirosis comprising a total of 1804 years-lived with disability(YLDs)and 8509 years-life lost(YLLs).Males had the highest burden of disease(7149 DALYs)compared to females(3164 DALYs).The highest burden estimate was attributed to younger individuals aged 10-19 years who lived in southern provinces of China.During 2005-2015,this age group contributed to approximately 3078 DALYs corresponding to 30%of the total DALYs lost in China.Yet,our analysis indicated a declining trend in burden estimates(P<0.001)since 2005 and remained relatively low during 2011-2015.Low burden estimates have been identified in the endemic regions where infections principally distributed.Most of the changes in DALY estimates were driven by changes in YLLs.Conclusions:In the last 11-years,the burden estimates of leptospirosis have shown a declining trend across the country;however,leptospirosis should not be neglected as it remains an important zoonotic disease and potentially affecting the young and productive population in economically less-developed provinces in southern of China.In addition,while in the last five years the incidence has been reported at very low-level,this might not reflect the true incidence of leptospirosis.Strengthened surveillance in the endemic regions is,hence,substantially required to capture the actual prevalence to better control leptospirosis in China.