CRUDi framework proposal: financial industry application

The alignment of information systems with the business goals of an organisation, although a topic of great importance, is not always properly valued or taken into consideration. In general, managers have different opinions to chief information officers (CIOs) in relation to IS, especially with regard to their importance and value to the business and also in terms of investment needs. Here, we discuss and study new approaches to methods and tools for assessing the relative importance of each information system to business, focusing on the financial sector including banks and insurance companies. We suggest the introduction of new key indicators for better decision support and to identify investment priorities, and present results regarding the relative importance of each process to support the business strategy. The primary goal for the inherent research project is to analyse the main problems and difficulties encountered by IS and IT managers, featuring different players and how they relate. The main contributions of this work are the CRUDi framework as a tool to improve alignment between business and IS strategies and the CRUDi survey and its results qualifying the financial sector's opinion regarding the relative importance of processes and investments.     

Nickel Activation for Hydrogenolysis Reaction on USY Zeolite

The effects of the SAR (14 and 38) and of the methodology of introduction of nickel (wetness impregnation and ion exchange) on catalyst activation were investigated in Ni/USY model catalysts submitted to two activation treatments: reduction (A) and reduction/calcination/reduction, successively (B). the catalysts prepared by wetness impregnation, a marked increase in the catalytic activity after treatment B was observed. On the basis of the catalyst efficiency toward ethane hydrogenolysis, the lower SAR catalyst presents a threefold higher activity. On the contrary, the catalysts prepared by ion exchange, as well as a model catalyst prepared by wetness impregnation over a USY exhaustively exchanged with nickel ions, do not present measurable increasing of the catalytic activity under the same activation conditions. Monitoring the catalyst activation by EXAFS indicates the formation of nickel clusters in the impregnated catalysts after activation treatment B, which should be responsible for the high catalytic activity. However, TEM images reveal a bimodal particle size distribution, with large (ca. 20 nm) and small nickel particles. Temperature-programmed reduction performed under the same conditions of catalyst activation suggests that only the small nickel particles are activated under the experimental conditions adopted in this work.     

Dielectric behavior of PVDF/POMA blends that have a low doped POMA content

The real (ε′) and imaginary (ε″) components of the complex permittivity of blends of PVDF [poly(vinylidene fluoride)] with POMA [poly(o‐methoxyaniline)] doped with toluenosulfonic acid (TSA) containing 1, 2.5, and 5 wt % POMA–TSA were determined in the frequency interval between 10² and 3 × 10⁶ Hz and in the temperature range from ?120 up to 120°C. It was observed that the values of ε′ and ε″ had a greater increase with the POMA–TSA content and with a temperature in the region of frequencies below 10 kHz. This effect decreased with frequency and it was attributed to interfacial polarization. This polarization was caused by the blend heterogeneity, formed by conductive POMA–TSA agglomerates dispersed in an insulating matrix of PVDF. The equation of Maxwell–Garnett, modified by Cohen, was used to evaluate the permittivity and conductivity behavior of POMA–TSA in the blends. A strong decrease was observed in POMA–TSA conductivity in the blend, which was bigger the lower the POMA–TSA content in the blend. This decrease could have been caused either by the POMA dedoping during the blend preparation process or by its dispersion into the insulating matrix. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 752–758, 2003     

Catalytic partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas in a ceramic membrane reactor

Methane has been selectively converted to synthesis gas using a two-zone fixed bed of a Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst inside a modified ceramic membrane. The first zone of the reactor was surrounded by an impervious wall, and therefore behaved as a conventional fixed bed reactor. In the second zone, some of the reaction products could preferentially diffuse out of the reactor, which yielded higher than equilibrium methane conversions. The influence of the different operating conditions has been studied, and the performance of the membrane reactor has been compared to that of a fixed bed reactor. The membrane reactor has also been used at pressures above atmospheric (2 bar), with good conversions and selectivities.     

Removal of fulvic acid from aqueous media by adsorption onto modified vermiculite

Clay minerals are low cost materials that can be structurally modified and exploited for removal of natural organic matter from freshwaters. The present study shows that vermiculites modified by ion exchange with hexadecyltrimethylammonium or intercalation with poly(hydroxy iron) cations are potential adsorbents for removal of fulvic acid, whereas the adsorption on the raw clay mineral is negligible. The efficiency of the modified vermiculite was evaluated by measuring adsorption isotherms by the batch technique using initial fulvic acid concentrations between 2.5 and 50.0 mg L^− 1, with one hour of contact time. At least 94% of the fulvic acid initially present in a 20 mg L^− 1 solution was sorbed onto either the intercalated poly(hydroxy iron) cations or the organically modified vermiculite. Up to an initial concentration of 5.0 mg L^− 1 the adsorption is irreversible, and no quantifiable fulvic acid was measured in the desorption experiments. For initial fulvic acid concentrations between 10.0 and 50.0 mg L^− 1, desorption was between 2.3% and 4.9% for Fe(III) intercalated vermiculite, and between 1.4% and 9.2% for the organoclay. The adsorption percentages on intercalated poly(hydroxy iron) cations increased upon lowering pH and increasing the ionic strength, indicating the occurrence of strong binding mechanisms such as ligand exchange. Adsorption percentage of fulvic acid onto the organoclay also increased with lowering of pH, but in this case the adsorption percentages showed a small decrease at high ionic strength, suggesting that electrostatic attraction plays an important role in the adsorption process.     

Structure and Properties of Long-Wavelength-Transmitting Halide Glasses

The lower halides of zinc, namely, ZnCl₂, ZnBr₂, and ZnI₂, may act as network formers in glasses that also contain modifying alkali halides such as KCI, KBr, KI, NaI, or CsI. Compositions which contain only Br⁻ or I⁻ anions are of particular interest because of their extended infrared transmission, which includes the ∼10-μm region, in addition to full visible transparency. A series of modified zinc halide glasses were prepared and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, middle and far Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and polarized Raman spectroscopy. T _g values were characteristically low, around 40°C. Bulk glass infrared transmission up to 15 to 20 μm was recorded. The most probable glass structures are discussed and compared to oxide glass models. An attenuation of  0.001 dB/km has been projected as a possible intrinsic minimum for optical fibers operating near ∼6 μm.     

Anticorrosive painting for a wide spectrum of marine atmospheres: Environmental-friendly versus traditional paint systems

This work presents some of the main results obtained in different marine atmospheres by Working Groups 1 and 2 (dedicated to anticorrosive protection of steel by paint coatings) of the Ibero-American PATINA network, developed in the context of the CYTED Programme. As marine atmospheres it includes natural atmospheres with a salinity level above S1 classification of ISO standard 9223 (>3 mg Cl⁻ m⁻² day⁻¹), and sulphur dioxide contamination only up to classification P1 of the same standard (maximum of 35 mg SO₂ m⁻² day⁻¹). Consideration is also made of accelerated tests traditionally used to assess the anticorrosive behaviour of the substrate/paint coatings contemplated in the study, namely salt spray, artificial weathering and different cycles involving ultraviolet radiation, humidity, temperature and different contamination conditions. The substrates were steel, hot-dip galvanised steel and electrogalvanised steel (Zincorr^® sheet). The paint systems applied on these substrates, with or without pretreatments, were solventborne, waterborne, high solid and powder paint systems. As a result it has been possible to conclude which of the studied anticorrosive coating types were the most suitable for each of the different types of marine atmospheres considered in the study.     

Miscibility and morphology of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly[(vinylidene fluoride)‐ran‐trifluorethylene] blends

This study presents an investigation of the effect of the different crystalline phases of each blend component on miscibility when blending poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymer poly[(vinylidene fluoride)‐ran‐trifluorethylene] [P(VDF–TrFE)] containing 72 mol % of VDF. It was found that, when both components crystallized in their ferroelectric phase, the PVDF showed a strong effect on the crystallinity and phase‐transition temperature of the copolymer, indicating partial miscibility in the crystalline state. On the other hand, immiscibility was observed when both components, after melting, were crystallized in their paraelectric phase. In this case, however, a decrease in crystallization temperatures suggested a strong interaction between monomers in the liquid state. Blend morphologies indicated that, in spite of the lack of miscibility in the crystalline state, there is at least miscibility between PVDF and P(VDF–TrFE) in the liquid state, and that a very intimate mixture of the two phases on the lamellar level can be maintained upon crystallization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 1362–1369, 2002     

Off-line optimization and control for real time integration of a three-phase hydrogenation catalytic reactor

In order to develop and test the integration procedure, in this paper a real time process integration involving the optimization and control of the process is presented, in this case, with the two-layer approach. The used optimization algorithms were Levenberg–Marquardt and SQP that solve a non-linear least square problem subject to bounds on the variables. The two-layer approach is a hierarchical control structure where an optimization layer calculates the set points and manipulated variables to the advanced controller, which is based on the dynamic matrix control with constraints (QDMC). The non-isothermal dynamic model of the three-phase slurry catalytic reactor with appropriate solution procedure was utilized in this work (Vasco de Toledo, E. C., Santana, P. L., Maciel, M. R. W., & Maciel Filho, R. (2001). Dynamic modeling of a three-phase catalytic slurry reactor. Chemical Engineering Science, 56, 6055–6061). The model consists on mass and heat balance equations for the catalyst particles as well as for the bulk phases of gas and liquid. The model was used to describe the dynamic behavior of hydrogenation reaction of o-cresol to obtain 2-methil-cyclohexanol, in the presence of a catalyst Ni/SiO₂.     

Update on the pharmacology of Spirulina (Arthrospira), an unconventional food

Spirulina (Arthrospira), a filamentous, unicellular alga, is a cyanobacterium grown in certain countries as food for human and animal consumption. It is also used to derive additives in pharmaceuticals and foods. This alga is a rich source of proteins, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients. Its main use, therefore, is as a food supplement. Over the last few years, however, it has been found to have many additional pharmacological properties. Thus, it has been experimentally proven, in vivo and in vitro that it is effective to treat certain allergies, anemia, cancer, hepatotoxicity, viral and cardiovascular diseases, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, immunodeficiency, and inflammatory processes, among others. Several of these activities are attributed to Spirulina itself or to some of its components including fatty acids omega-3 or omega-6, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, phycocyanin, phenol compounds, and a recently isolated complex, Ca-Spirulan (Ca-SP). This paper aims to update and critically review the results published over the last few years with regards to these properties. The conclusion is that even if this cyanobacterium has been one of the most extensively studied from the chemical, pharmacological and toxicological points of view, it is still necessary to expand the research in order to have more consistent data for its possible use in human beings.