Overview of the scientific production in the Pharmacy area in Brazil: profile and productivity of researchers granted with fellowships by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development

In Brazil, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) distributes productivity fellowships in research (RS) as a recognition to individuals with outstanding productivity levels in their areas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the scientific production of the Brazilian Pharmacy area, one division of the Health Sciences Great Area of CNPq, considering the profile and productivity levels of RS fellows. The results showed that most of the 156 active RS fellows in 2015 were female, with doctorate completed in the Southeast region (mainly in University of São Paulo) and with research activities developed in the South and Southeast regions. Most of their work was published in journals classified as B1 and B2 Qualis in Pharmacy by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), with high prevalence of publications in local journals and/or specialized on medicinal plants. Besides, they featured much dependence on advising and productivity indexes related to the category and level of RS fellowship. The evolution of such data must be continually evaluated to determine the influence of CNPq productivity fellowships on performance and stratification of researchers in the Pharmacy area in Brazil.     

Automatic multiple sclerosis lesion detection in brain MRI by FLAIR thresholding

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used to detect and segment multiple sclerosis lesions due to the detailed and rich information provided. We present a modified expectation-maximisation algorithm to segment brain tissues (white matter, grey matter, and cerebro-spinal fluid) as well as a partial volume class containing fluid and grey matter. This algorithm provides an initial segmentation in which lesions are not separated from tissue, thus a second step is needed to find them. This second step involves the thresholding of the FLAIR image, followed by a regionwise refinement to discard false detections. To evaluate the proposal, we used a database with 45 cases comprising 1.5T imaging data from three different hospitals with different scanner machines and with a variable lesion load per case. The results for our database point out to a higher accuracy when compared to two of the best state-of-the-art approaches.     

Sustained release of potassium diclofenac from a pH‐responsive hydrogel based on gum arabic conjugates into simulated intestinal fluid

This work describes the preparation, the swelling properties and the potassium diclofenac (KDF) release profile of hydrogels of gum arabic (GA), N′,N′‐dimethylacrylamide, and methacrylic acid. In order to convert GA into a hydrogel, the polysaccharide was vinyl‐modified with glycidyl methacrylate. The hydrogels showed pH‐responsive swelling changes, which were more expressive in the basic environment. Release data of KDF were adjusted to a diffusion‐based kinetic model that provides an important insight on affinity of the drug for hydrogel and solvent, which may be the leading parameter for release of guest molecules from polymers. The KDF release from the hydrogels into simulated intestinal fluid decreases when the amount of modified GA increases. This was demonstrated to be due to the higher affinity of KDF for GA‐richer hydrogel, which makes the anti‐inflammatory release less favorable. The analysis of released drug half‐time (t_1/2 = 16.10 and 21.51 h) indicated sustained release characteristics. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43319.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of ternary mortars with brick powder,glass powder,slag, fly ash,and limestone

The objective of this research is to study the effects produced by ternary binders which combine the addition of waste brick powder with fly ash, limestone, ground granulated blast furnace slag or waste glass powder in the microstructure and mechanical properties of mortars. In these ternary binders, the ordinary Portland cement was partially replaced by 10% of waste brick powder and 10% of another of the abovementioned additions. Mortars prepared with ordinary Portland cement without additions were also prepared. The microstructure was characterized with mercury intrusion porosimetry, electrical resistivity, and thermogravimetric analyses. Ultrasonic pulse velocity, compressive and flexural strengths were also determined. Mortars made using ternary binders with two active additions showed higher pore refinement and higher electrical resistivity at 250 days. Furthermore, their compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity were relatively similar or even higher than that noted for reference specimens.     

Modelling photovoltaic modules with neural networks using angle of incidence and clearness index

A neural network for modelling photovoltaic modules using angle of incidence and clearness index is proposed. Engineers require methods to estimate the output of a photovoltaic plant depending on meteorological conditions. Therefore, models for the grid inverter and the generator must be provided, and their outputs must be combined. The connection between both models is related to the maximum power point of the generator and how it is tracked by the inverter. That maximum power point under specific conditions of irradiance and module temperature is determined by the I–V curve of the module, which must be simulated under those conditions. Algebraic procedures were used to simulate the I–V curve. Recently, neural networks have been used for the same purpose. Previous methods only take into account the irradiance and the module temperature. The model proposed is based on neural networks, and it uses not only the irradiance and the module temperature but also the angle of incidence and the instantaneous clearness index as additional inputs. The normalised clearness replaces the standard clearness index because it allows the removal of the hourly trend found in this last index. This new model improves the results obtained with previous ones as it can distinguish amongst samples with the same solar irradiance and temperature values but with different angle of incidence and instantaneous clearness index. Results show that this model could be used to improve the accuracy of the tools used to forecast the output of photovoltaic plants. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solar irradiation and PV module temperature dispersion at a large‐scale PV plant

When evaluating the performance of a photovoltaic (PV) system, it is extremely important to correctly measure the plant operating conditions: incident irradiation and cell temperature. At large‐size PV plants, the possible dispersion of the plant operating conditions may affect the representativeness of the values measured at one single point. The available literature contains many observations on irradiance dispersion (typically associated to high temporal resolution experiments) and its effects on the PV power output (unexpected power transients, power fluctuations, etc.). However no studies have been made on the long‐term energy‐related effects of geographic dispersion of solar irradiation, which could affect, for example, to the uncertainty in determining energy performance indexes like PR. This paper analyses the geographical dispersion in the PV operating conditions observed at low temporal resolutions (day, month and year) at two PV plants located, respectively, in the south of Portugal and the north of Spain. It shows that daily irradiation deviations are significantly higher than is commonly supposed. Furthermore, once the measurement points are a certain distance apart (a few hundred metres), the deviations in irradiation appear to be independent of distance. This could help to determine how many irradiance sensors to install in order to reduce uncertainty. Daily mean temperature differences between different points at a large‐scale PV plant range from 1 to 7 K and are not related to the distance between measurement points. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(lactic acid)/synthetic mica nanocomposites

The isothermal crystallization kinetics of PLA/fluoromica nanocomposites was studied. Three types of synthetic mica at three concentrations (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 wt % mica) were used and the effect of these micas on the crystallization and thermal properties of PLA was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The Avrami and Hoffman‐Weeks equations were used to describe the isothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behavior. Addition of these micas to the PLA matrix increased the crystallization rate, and this effect depended on the mica type and concentration. While the nonmodified Somasif ME‐100 exerted the smallest effect, the effect observed for the organically modified Somasif MPE was the most pronounced. The lower half‐time of crystallization t_1/2 was around 3 min for the PLA/Somasif MPE nanocomposites containing 7.5 wt % of filler at 90°C, which is about 16 min below that found for neat PLA. The equilibrium melting temperature ( ) of PLA were estimated for these systems, showing an increase in the composites and an increase with increasing loading, except for PLA/Somasif MPE, in which the increase of the mica content decreased about 5°C. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40322.