Dielectric loss and phase transition of sodium potassium niobate ceramic investigated by impedance spectroscopy

The dielectric permittivity of Na_0.80K_0.20NbO₃ ceramic was investigated by impedance spectroscopy. The dielectric characterization was performed from room temperature to 800 °C, in the frequency range 5 Hz–13 MHz. The bulk permittivity was derived by the variation of the imaginary part of the impedance as a function of reciprocal angular frequency. The permittivity values as a function of temperature showed two maxima. The first maximum is very similar at 200 °C and the second one positioned at around 400 °C, which was associated to Curie’s temperature. The evolution of the complex permittivity as a function of frequency and temperature was investigated. At low frequency dispersion was investigated in terms of dielectric loss. The Na_0.80K_0.20NbO₃ showed a dissipation factor between 5 and 40 over a frequency range from 1 to 10² kHz.     

Copper/copper oxide nanoparticles synthesis using Stachys lavandulifolia and its antibacterial activity

Nanoparticles of copper/cuprous oxide (Cu/Cu₂ O) were successfully synthesised by a green chemistry route. The synthesis process was carried out using an extract of Stachys lavandulifolia as both reducing and capping agents with a facile procedure. The nanoparticles were characterised by different techniques including X‐ray diffraction, indicating that the synthesised sample comprised both copper and cuprous oxide entity. The nanoparticles had a mean size of 80 nm and represented an impressive bactericidal effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Inspec keywords: copper, copper compounds, nanoparticles, nanofabrication, nanomedicine, antibacterial activity, X‐ray diffractionOther keywords: nanoparticles synthesis, Stachys lavandulifolia, antibacterial activity, green chemistry route, reducing agents, capping agents, X‐ray diffraction, bactericidal effect, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Cu‐Cu₂ O     

Anticoagulant, Antioxidant and Antitumor Activities of Heterofucans from the Seaweed Dictyopteris delicatula

In the present study, six families of sulfated polysaccharides were obtained from seaweed Dictyopteris delicatula by proteolytic digestion, followed by acetone fractionation and molecular sieving on Sephadex G-100. Chemical analyses demonstrated that all polysaccharides contain heterofucans composed mainly of fucose, xylose, glucose, galactose, uronic acid, and sulfate. The fucans F0.5v and F0.7v at 1.0 mg/mL showed high ferric chelating activity (～45%), whereas fucans F1.3v (0.5 mg/mL) showed considerable reducing power, about 53.2% of the activity of vitamin C. The fucan F1.5v presented the most prominent anticoagulant activity. The best antiproliferative activity was found with fucans F1.3v and F0.7v. However, F1.3v activity was much higher than F0.7v inhibiting almost 100% of HeLa cell proliferation. These fucans have been selected for further studies on structural characterization as well as in vivo experiments, which are already in progress.     

The effect of temperature on the electric conductivity property of Bi3Zn2Sb3O14 pyrochlore type phase

The electric conductivity characteristic of ceramics was investigated by impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range from 5 Hz to 13 MHz. Electric measurements were performed at temperatures in the range from 25 to 700 °C. The phase type pyrochlore was synthesized by the polimeric precursors method. Ceramic presenting a relative density of 98% of the theoretical density was prepared. The data were presented in Nyquist diagrams form, from which the electric resistivity was determined. The electric conductivity followed the Arrhenius law with an apparent activation energy of the conduction process equal to 1.37 eV. The electric conductivity at room temperature was determined by extrapolation being equal to . Between 400 and 700 °C, the conductivity values were and , respectively.     

Natural attenuation of chlorinated organics in a shallow sand aquifer

This work presents the second phase of a groundwater remediation program for the migration control of a 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) contaminated plume which includes natural attenuation at a distance downgradient from the source area. The conceived system for the plume migration control, implemented just after a major accidental release of 1,2-DCA in the soil, included a 300 m long physical barrier (cement-bentonite diaphragm wall) and 12 extraction wells. Results of field investigations have provided evidence that 1,2-DCA was naturally biodegrading into vinyl chloride as well as ethene under the natural anaerobic-reducing conditions at the site. In that case, source control measures were implemented to accelerate the overall remediation process. Although the results are favorable, the natural degradation of the 1,2-DCA does not guarantee acceptable levels of concentrations. Therefore, a pilot test to evaluate the enhancement of these processes is being carried out through the use of a biosparging system. This test is being implemented near the source to achieve sequential aerobic–anaerobic treatment zones.     

Dietetic determinants on food intake and effects in body weight regulation

Obesity is a multifactorial pathology currently considered one of the main public health problems. Its prevalence is increasing dramatically in the last decades, reaching huge rates in Brazil and many other countries. Regardless of the factors associated with genetic predisposition, this pathology is often associated with abnormal food intake, and also with high consumption of caloric foods and sedentary habits. Thus, obesity is the result of an imbalance between food intake and energy expenditure. One of the greatest research interests in nutrition has currently been the dietetic determinants that may exert an influence on the process of food intake, as well as the role of foods on physiological, physical and chemical factors most related to the processes of satiation and satiety. Based on these aspects, this paper analyzes several research works to gain a better insight of the dietetic factors affecting food intake and body weight regulation.     

Applying Artificial Neural Networks to prediction of stock price and improvement of the directional prediction index – Case study of PETR4, Petrobras,Brazil

Predicting the direction of stock price changes is an important factor, as it contributes to the development of effective strategies for stock exchange transactions and attracts much interest in incorporating variables historical series into the mathematical models or computer algorithms in order to produce estimations of expected price fluctuations. The purpose of this study is to build a neural model for the financial market, allowing predictions of stocks closing prices future behavior negotiated in BM&FBOVESPA in the short term, using the economic and financial theory, combining technical analysis, fundamental analysis and analysis of time series, to predict price behavior, addressing the percentage of correct predictions of price series direction (POCID or Prediction of Change in Direction). The aim of this work is to understand the information available in the financial market and identify the variables that drive stock prices. The methodology presented may be adapted to other companies and their stock. Petrobras stock PETR4, traded in BM&FBOVESPA, was used as a case study. As part of this effort, configurations with different window sizes were designed, and the best performance was achieved with a window size of 3, which the POCID index of correct direction predictions was 93.62% for the test set and 87.50% for a validation set.     

Processing and electromechanical properties of lanthanum-doped Pb(Zr,Ti)O<Subscript>3</Subscript> extruded piezoelectric fibres

This article describes the processing and characterisation of lanthanum-doped lead zirconate titanate (PLZT)-based ferroelectric fibres for composite transducer applications. X-ray diffraction of the extruded and sintered fibres indicated some lead loss during sintering; however, the fibres exhibited low porosity (1.54%), high maximum piezoelectric strain (4041 ppm) and relatively low coercive field (0.77 kV/mm). The low coercive field of the lanthanum-doped fibres may be advantageous in terms of facilitating polarization of the fibres in composite architectures.     

Governing industrial organizations through cognitive machines

Recently, researchers on organization theory and behavior were challenged by the introduction of cognitive machines in the list of the organization’s participants. Researchers in this field advocated that cognitive machines contribute to improve cognitive abilities in the organization by extending people’s rationality and decision-making capacity and by reducing intra-individual and group dysfunctional conflicts. This paper supports these findings and extends their results to upper layers at managerial and organizational levels of application by proposing the concept of new industrial organizations with structure and processes of Computational Organization Management Networks. In such a new organization type, cognitive machines and cognitive information systems are prominent actors of governance, automation, and control of the whole enterprise.     

Residual stresses analysis of ND-YAG laser welded joints

Laser deposit welding based on modern ND-YAG lasers is a new mould repair process with advantages relatively to the traditional methods (micro-plasma and TIG methods), namely deposition of small volumes of the filler material without distortion. Residual stresses play a major role on the fatigue and thermal–mechanical fatigue behaviour of welds. This paper presents the experimental results and numerical predictions of the residual stresses in joints manufactured with two hot-working tool steels: X.40.CrMoV.5.1 and 40.CrMnNiMo.8.6.4, in the laser-deposited layer and in the heat-affected zone. Welded specimens were prepared with U notches and filled with ND-YAG laser welding deposits. Trough-depth residual stresses evaluation after laser deposit welding were performed in order to analyse the influence of the residual stress state on fatigue behaviour of mould steels. Both X-ray diffraction sin²γ method (XRD) and incremental hole-drilling technique (IHD) were used in residual stress measurement. Numerical predictions of the residual stress distributions were obtained for several values of the technologic parameters, compared with experimental results and discussed based on the assumptions stated.