Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as vicissitudes do Centro Industrial de Aratu (CIA),
utilizando como base de comparação o Complexo Petroquímico de Camaçari (COPEC). Para
atingir esse objetivo, serão descritas as características do CIA, tais como a infraestrutura e
localização, para distinguir suas vantagens e desvantagens comparativas. Além disso, o
trabalho também busca situar a política industrial do Estado da Bahia no contexto do CIA e
do COPEC. O problema de pesquisa a ser investigado se refere aos motivos pelas quais o CIA
não vem tendo um papel preponderante na política industrial do Estado da Bahia. Deste
modo, parte de um referencial teórico baseado na teoria dos polos de crescimento, que é
utilizado para compreender o arranjo industrial do CIA. A metodologia de pesquisa se baseia
em uma pesquisa documentar onde são comparadas as vantagens e as desvantagens
comparativas entre o CIA e o COPEC. Os resultados mostraram que o CIA necessita de uma
atenção especial, no tocante à estrutura, para recuperar o papel preponderante na política
industrial do Estado da Bahia.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) produces three-dimensional objects directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) solid model, without part-specific tooling, by repeatedly depositing thin layers of fusible powder and selectively sintering each layer to the next with a ...

A study of 25 paper mill slime deposits and one additive revealed nine pink-pigmented bacterial isolates, eight of which were different from pink-pigmented bacteria identified in the paper industry in the middle 1900s. The pinkpigmented bacteria described previously in pulp and paper included Micrococcus agilis, Bacillus subtilis, Serratia sp. and Alcaligenes viscosus. With the exception of one isolate, Micrococcus sp., these isolates possessed many cultural, biochemical and chemical properties which were different from the ones previously reported for paper mills. Eight of these bacteria were Gram-negative rods or filamentous, aerobic and positive for catalase production. Two isolates were methylotrophic, oxidizing methanol and identified as Methylobacterium zatmanii. Cellular fatty acid analysis and other characteristics showed one isolate to be Roseomonas sp. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, one isolate which was a Gram-negative rod was identified as Deionococcus grandis. Four bacteria had cells that were long or filamentous and these were isolated from mills with pink slime problems. The identity of one of the filamentous bacteria was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing to be close to Flectobacillus sp. strain MWH38. Most of the isolates were susceptible to 11 industrial biocides.

The multicell converters introduced more than ten years ago make it possible to distribute the voltage constraints among series-connected switches and to improve the output waveforms (increased number of levels and apparent frequency). The balance of the constraints requires an appropriate distribution of the flying voltages. This paper presents some solutions for the active control of the voltages across the flying capacitors in the presence of rapid variation of the input voltage. The latter part of this paper is dedicated to the observation of these voltages using an original modeling of the converter.

In this paper a two-dimensional non-oriented guillotine bin packing problem is studied when items have different priorities. Our objective is to maximize the total profit which is total revenues minus costs of used bins and wasted area. A genetic algorithm is developed to solve this problem where a new coding scheme is introduced. To evaluate the performance of the proposed GA, first an upper bound is presented. Then, a series of computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the quality of GA solutions comparing with upper bound values. From the computational analysis, it appears that the GA algorithm is able to give good solutions.

This paper analyzes a high-power (50 kW) high-frequency (150 kHz) voltage-fed inverter with a series-resonant load circuit for industrial induction heating applications, which is characterized by a full bridge inverter made of insulated-gate bipolar transistor and a power control based on pulse density modulation (PDM). This power control strategy allows the inverter to work close to the resonance frequency for all output-power levels. In this situation, zero-voltage switching and zero-current switching conditions are performed, and the switching losses are minimized. An additional improvement of inverter efficiency is achieved by choosing appropriate values of the modulation index. Results are verified experimentally using a prototype for induction hardening applications. A comparative study between the PDM and the classical power control by frequency variation will be made.

We report a systematic investigation of the effects of five carbohydrates (fructose, sucrose, trehalose, maltotriose, and dextran), freeze-drying, and subsequent heat treatment (up to 8 days at 80°C) on the structure and enzymatic activity of R-chymotrypsin and catalase. Importantly, we investigate high carbohydrate-to-protein mass ratio conditions (20:1 by mass) so as to minimize protein-protein interactions (e.g., protein aggregation). The activity of R-chymotrypsin is almost quantitatively recovered (greater than 80% of the initial activity) after lyophilization with or without added carbohydrates, and its conformation in the dried solid state as well as in an aqueous solution (after rehydration of lyophilized samples) is unchanged by the presence of carbohydrates. In contrast, catalase lyophilized without carbohydrates loses almost half of its activity upon reconstitution and shows significant structural changes in the dried state. The loss of activity and the lyophilization-induced structural alteration for catalase are appreciably reduced by addition of the lower molecular weight carbohydrates (fructose, sucrose, and trehalose). For protein preservation at elevated temperatures, the addition of carbohydrates at high carbohydrate-to-protein ratios (20:1 by mass) creates a glassy matrix dilute with respect to the protein, effectively minimizing intermolecular protein-protein interactions that could lead to protein aggregation in the solid state. It is also shown that the Maillard reaction between carbohydrates and proteins, which causes a significant loss of enzymatic activity, is successfully suppressed in glassy systems with less than 1% (w/w) water content. More significantly, a quantitative comparison is established for the first time between activity loss and the extent to which the Maillard reaction proceeds for dry glassy systems (as measured spectroscopically). Trehalose was found to be the most effective protector against prolonged heating: approximately 90% of R-chymotrypsin activity and 30% catalase activity are recovered upon reconstitution following 8 days at 80°C in a trehalose matrix.

This paper introduces and tests Bid Function Equilibria (BFE) in the British spot market for electricity. BFE extend von der Fehr and Harbord's (1993) multi-unit auction model of wholesale electricity markets by allowing firms to have heterogeneous costs for different generating units. Pure-strategy equilibria in BFE predict asymmetric bidding by producers: a single firm (the "price-setter") bids strategically while other firms ("non-price-setters") bid their costs. We test for asymmetries in firms' bid functions in the British spot market between 1993 and 1995 and find strong empirical support for the theory. We conclude that BFE have important implications for the design and governance of electricity markets.

We have shown previously that in the presence of inducer Bacillus cereus 183, significant increases in bacteriocin production and bactericidal activity of B. thuringiensis occur when the latter is cultivated at pH 7.2, 28°C, and 180 rpm. Here we show that this activity can be further improved when B. thuringiensis is induced with B. cereus 183 and then cultivated with modification of pH, temperature, and agitation. Five native strains of B. thuringiensis, LBIT 269, LBIT 287, LBIT 404, LBIT 420, and LBIT 524 which synthesize, respectively, morricin 269, kurstacin 287, kenyacin 404, entomocin 420, and tolworthcin 524, were cultivated in four different fermentation media. Of these, fermentation in tryptic soy broth (TSB) yielded the highest level of bacteriocin activity (~100–133 FU). Bacteria grown in TSB were induced with B. cereus 183 and cultivated at different pH (6.0, 7.2, 8.0), temperature (26, 28, 30°C), and agitation (150, 180, 210 rpm). Full factorial design was performed and results were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparison tests at significant level of α ≤ 0.05 to study the influence of the three variables on bacterial growth and bacteriocin production. Our data show that the highest bacteriocin activity was found with LBIT 269 and LBIT 404 with an increase of ~95–100% compared with induced B. thuringiensis strains cultivated under fixed conditions (pH 7.2, 28°C, 180 rpm), for which the data were set at 0%. The optimal conditions for morricin 269 and kenyacin 404 production were, respectively, pH 8, 30°C, 210 rpm and pH 7.2, 26°C, 210 rpm.

Xylanase is an enzyme in high demand for various industrial applications, such as those in the biofuel and pulp and paper Welds. In this study, xylanase-producing microbes were isolated from the gut of the wood-feeding termite at 50°C. The isolated microbe produced thermostable xylanase that was active over a broad range of temperatures (40-90°C) and pH (3.5-9.5), with optimum activity (4,170 § 23.5 U mg ¡1 ) at 60°C and pH 4.5. The enzyme was puriWed using a strong cation exchanger and gel Wltration chromatography, revealing that the protein has a molecular mass of 205 kDa and calculated pI of 5.38. The half-life of xylanase was 6 h at 60°C and 2 h at 90°C. The isolated thermostable xylanase diVered from other xylanases reported to date in terms of size, structure, and mode of action. The novelty of this enzyme lies in its high speciWc activity and stability at broad ranges of temperature and pH. These properties suggest that this enzyme could be utilized in bioethanol production as well as in the paper and pulp industry.

This paper analyzes a high-power (50 kW) high-frequency (150 kHz) voltage-fed inverter with a series-resonant load circuit for industrial induction heating applications, which is characterized by a full bridge inverter made of insulated-gate bipolar transistor and a power control based on pulse density modulation (PDM). This power control strategy allows the inverter to work close to the resonance frequency for all output-power levels. In this situation, zero-voltage switching and zero-current switching conditions are performed, and the switching losses are minimized. An additional improvement of inverter efficiency is achieved by choosing appropriate values of the modulation index. Results are verified experimentally using a prototype for induction hardening applications. A comparative study between the PDM and the classical power control by frequency variation will be made.

This paper presents a novel power-balance control method for a wind-diesel generation feeding an isolated grid. The system is based on a variable-speed wind energy conversion system (WECS) connected to an ac load using a power converter. An energy storage system (ESS), connected to the ac load using an additional converter, is used to balance the power generated by the WECS with the load. In this paper, the vector control systems for both interfacing power converters are discussed; the control uses the WECS converter to regulate the ac load voltage and the ESS converter to regulate the power flow to achieve a power balance. A small signal model is used to design the control systems. Finally, the proposed control is implemented in a 2-kW experimental prototype and the experimental results are fully analyzed and discussed in the paper.

This article presents the results of an experimental activity aimed at investigating the technical feasibility and the environmental performance of using municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash to produce glass frit for ceramic glaze (glaze frit). The process includes an industrial pretreatment of bottom ash that renders the material suitable for use in glaze frit production and allows recovery of aluminum and iron. The environmental performance of this treatment option is assessed with the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The goal of the LCA study is to assess and compare the environmental impacts of two scenarios of end of life of bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI): landfill disposal (conventional scenario) and bottom ash recovery for glaze frit production (innovative scenario). The main results of the laboratory tests, industrial simulations, and LCA study are presented and discussed, and the environmental advantages of recycling versus landfill disposal are highlighted.

This paper proposes and evaluates an alternative search procedure to be used within the framework of the Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS). An adaptive One-Factor-At-a-Time (aOFAT) search is employed wherein features are individually removed or added to a classification system. Features are retained only if they contribute positively to the signal to noise ratio. This alternative search procedure is compared with orthogonal arrays and forward selection by means of two case studies. aOFAT experimentation provided greater improvements on the median with the same or fewer design alternatives being explored and also exhibited good ability to generalise to new instances after training. Two mechanisms related to interaction size and synergy help to explain the large benefits of aOFAT search observed in these case studies.

Carbon footprints for several shopping bag alternatives (polyethylene, paper, cotton, biodegradable modified starch, and recycled polyethylene) were compared with life cycle assessment. Stochastic uncertainty analysis was used to study the sensitivity of the comparison to scenario and parameter uncertainty. On the basis of the results, we could give only a few robust conclusions without choosing a waste treatment scenario or limiting the parameter space. Given the scenario of current waste infrastructure in Finland, recycled polyethylene bags seem to be the most preferable (−7 to 24 g CO 2 eq./bag) and biodegradable bags the least preferable (38 to 60 g CO 2 eq./bag) option. In each analyzed waste treatment scenario, a few parameters dominated the uncertainty of results. Most of these parameters were downstream of the shopping bag manufacturing (consumer behavior, landfill conditions, method of waste combustion, etc.). The choice of waste treatment scenario had a greater effect on the ranking of bags than parameter uncertainty within scenarios. This result highlights the importance of including several scenarios in comparative life cycle assessments.

Expression of the bacterial luciferase (lux) system in mammalian cells would culminate in a new generation of bioreporters for in vivo monitoring and diagnostics technology. Past efforts to express bacterial luciferase in mammalian cells have resulted in only modest gains due in part to low overall expression of the bacterial genes. To optimize expression, we have designed and synthesized codon-optimized versions of the luxA and luxB genes from Photorhabdus luminsecens. To evaluate these genes in vivo, stable HEK293 cell lines were created harboring wild type luxA and luxB (WTA/ WTB), codon-optimized luxA and wild type luxB (COA/ WTB), and codon-optimized versions of both luxA and luxB genes (COA/COB). Although mRNA levels within these clones remained approximately equal, LuxA protein levels increased significantly after codon optimization. On average, bioluminescence levels were increased by more than six-fold [5·10 5 vs 2.9·10 6 relative light units (RLU)/mg total protein] with the codon-optimized luxA and wild type luxB. Bioluminescence was further enhanced upon expression of both optimized genes (2.7·10 7 RLU/mg total protein). These results show promise toward the potential development of an autonomous light generating lux reporter system in mammalian cells

Silanization of the silica gel surface in the synthesis of silica gel polyamine composites uses (chloropropyl) trichlorosilane (CPTCS). It is possible to substitute a molar fraction of reagent CPTCS with methyltrichlorosilane (MTCS), creating a mixed silane surface layer. Two ...

Fungi producing high xylanase levels have attracted considerable attention because of their potential industrial applications. Batch cultivations of Aspergillus terricola fungus were evaluated in stirred tank and airlift bioreactors, by using wheat bran particles suspended in the cultivation medium as substrate for xylanase and -xylosidase production. In the stirred tank bioreactor, in physical conditions of 30°C, 300 rpm, and aeration of 1 vvm (1 l min ¡1 ), with direct inoculation of fungal spores, 7,475 U l ¡1 xylanase was obtained after 36 h of operation, remaining constant after 24 h. In the absence of air injection in the stirred tank reactor, limited xylanase production was observed (Wnal concentration 740 U l ¡1 ). When the fermentation process was realized in the airlift bioreactor, xylanase production was higher than that observed in the stirred tank bioreactor, being 9,265 U l ¡1 at 0.07 vvm (0.4 l min ¡1 ) and 12,845 U l ¡1 at 0.17 vvm (1 l min ¡1 ) aeration rate.

Eucalyptus globulus-based paper sheets were coated with chitosan and a water-soluble chitosan derivative on a pilot-size press machine. Different coating weights were attained by the deposition of 1-5 coating layers. The morphological, mechanical, barrier, and optical properties as well as the paper aging and inkjet print quality of the ensuing coated papers were investigated and assessed. In general, both chitosan and watersoluble chitosan coatings had a positive impact on the final properties of the coated papers, which was quite dependent on the number of deposited chitosan layers. The results obtained also showed that the watersoluble chitosan-coated papers presented superior optical properties and printability and better results on aging measurements than chitosan-coated papers. Therefore, the use of water-soluble chitosan derivatives on paper coating processes represents an interesting and sustainable strategy for the development of new functional paper materials or for the improvement of the end-user properties of paper products.

This paper presents a novel modulation strategy for a neutral-point-clamped converter. This strategy overcomes one of the main problems of this converter, which is the low-frequency voltage oscillation that appears in the neutral point under some operating conditions. The proposed modulation strategy can completely remove this oscillation for all the operating points and for any kind of loads, even unbalanced and nonlinear loads. The algorithm is based on a carrier-based pulsewidth modulation. Nevertheless, it can generate the maximum output-voltage amplitudes that are attainable under linear modulation, such as space-vector modulation. Furthermore, this technique can be implemented with a very simple algorithm and, hence, can be processed very quickly. The only drawback of this strategy is that the switching frequencies of the devices are one third higher than those of standard sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation. A control loop for balancing the voltages on the dc-link capacitors is also proposed. This balancing strategy is designed, so that it does not further increase the switching frequencies of the devices when it is applied to the converter. The proposed modulation technique is verified by simulation and experiment.

While developing touch-screen displays for the food-service industry, the need for adjustability was investigated. Although there are many guidelines for the design and placement of monitors and keyboards in the office environment, there are few such guidelines for touch-screen ...

Natural Disasters causing damage to human life, property, infrastructure and economy has emerged as a global challenge. Requisite safety measures have to be provided for natural hazards. Prevention is better than cure. Once disaster occurred, it is very difficult to handle and control it. Hence proper planning shall always handle and mitigate the various kinds of disasters effectively, for which open, transparent and efficient systems have to be followed. There is a need for systematic identification, preparation, prediction, assessment, evaluation of disaster events and incorporation of mitigate measures. Disaster management is a sequential and continuous process planning. The important elements which are to be considered at all stages during the disaster management are disaster management system and standards (DMS)/ Indian Standard (IS) codes, disaster diagnosis, disaster resource planning (DRP), disaster impact assessment (DIA), investigation of disaster and hazardous risk assessment (IDHRA), onsite and offsite emergency planning, disaster management plans (DMPs), corporate disaster preparedness programmes , emergency response plans, identification of proactive measures (IPM), systematic measurement, resource evaluation and quantification, cost analysis, environmental impact assessment (EIA), feedback towards achieving the disaster control abatement and mitigation strategies, research and development, management innovations, loss assessment & prevention (LAP) measures , recovery, relief , reconstruction and rehabilitation (RRRR) activities, computer aided methods, state-of-art software on disaster management and enforcement of disaster compensation laws. The disaster management must also involve coordination activities about disaster events with all participatory sectors namely, all levels of central and state government, districts administration, municipalities, corporations, medical and health administration including industrial disaster and safety administration, occupational health hazard and safety administration, non-occupational health hazard and safety administration, communication services, geographical information system services, environmental remote sensing services, print and electronic media networks,, insurance services, social and community mobilization services, fire and explosion services, civil defense and home guards, police and paramilitary forces, armed forces, industrial security forces, border security forces , public and private sector industries, research and development organizations, non-government and voluntary organizations, environmental and ecological protection services, information and broadcasting services, construction sector, education and training sectors. The officials of the above sectors must be imparted specialized on-campus and off-campus training in the emerging areas of disaster management modules such as emergency preparedness plans, DMS, DRP, DIA, IDHRA, IPM, DMP, EIA, LAP training modules, RRRR modules, occupational, non-occupational health hazard, disaster investigation, risk assessment and EIA training modules including training in various computer aided and stateof-art software packages. In this research paper important elements of the disaster management for practitioners have been discussed.

A vision-based vehicle guidance system for road vehicles can have three main roles: 1) road detection; 2) obstacle detection; and 3) sign recognition. The first two have been studied for many years and with many good results, but traffic sign recognition is a less-studied field. Traffic signs provide drivers with very valuable information about the road, in order to make driving safer and easier. We think that traffic signs must play the same role for autonomous vehicles. They are designed to be easily recognized by human drivers mainly because their color and shapes are very different from natural environments. The algorithm described in this paper takes advantage of these features. It has two main parts. The first one, for the detection, uses color thresholding to segment the image and shape analysis to detect the signs. The second one, for the classification, uses a neural network. Some results from natural scenes are shown. On the other hand, the algorithm is valid to detect other kinds of marks that would tell the mobile robot to perform some task at that place.

Meta-heuristic approaches are general algorithmic framework, often nature-inspired and designed to solve NP-complete optimization problems in cellular manufacturing systems and has been a growing research area for the past two decades. This paper discusses various metaheuristic techniques such as evolutionary approach, Ant colony optimization, simulated annealing, Tabu search and other recent approaches, and their applications to the vicinity of group technology/cell formation (GT/CF) problem in cellular manufacturing. The nobility of this paper is to incorporate various prevailing issues, open problems of meta-heuristic approaches, its usage, comparison, hybridization and its scope of future research in the aforesaid area.

Systems Integration (SI) is an important element of systems engineering which involves the integration of hardware, software, products, services, business processes, and human. The existing standards, models, and guidelines of Systems Engineering and Software Engineering address SI issues partially and usually view SI from a perspective of integrating physical components. They lack a holistic end-to-end approach to SI. Due to the emerging Systems Engineering challenges and the increasing importance of SI, the need for a holistic approach to SI has become critical. A Systems Integration Framework (SIF) was developed that incorporates the relevant aspects of integration from a lifecycle perspective and sets a foundation to an end-to-end approach to SI.

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the necessary steps to model the equilibrium based operations in styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBRs) processing. First of all, we include a brief introduction to polymer-solvent thermodynamics, so later on, we can discuss about the experimental techniques reported in literature for this kind of system, emphasizing those we have used in our work (intrinsic viscosity and inverse gas chromatography). General comments about the thermodynamic models used and experimental data treatment are also included. But, the development of an accurate simulation model which can predict the final purity of the polymer involves other thermodynamic studies, in order to determine the relative affinities of several additives with both polymer and solvent. Thus, the behavior of several polar modifiers, which are commonly employed in the synthesis process, is also reported. Experimental equilibrium data, evaluation of predictive methods, and simulation results are also reported for these additives, showing that the selection of a suitable thermodynamic model is essential for the reliability of the simulations performed.

Experimental data for the overall efficiency in a sieve tray extraction column of 0.246-m diameter were obtained for the systems toluene/acetone/water and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK)/acetic acid/water. The results were compared with data generated for the same systems in a 0.10-mdiameter column. It was found that the overall efficiency decreased when the column diameter increased. By use of the experimental data mentioned above, plus the data from other sources, a correlation for predicting the overall efficiency of sieve tray extractors was obtained by linear regression. The correlation takes into account the column diameter, interfacial tension, plate spacing, and ratio of superficial velocities (or volumetric flow rates) (eq 4). The correlation provides better estimates for the overall efficiency of industrial size contractors when compared with other correlations proposed before. It may be used to estimate the total height of a sieve tray extraction column.

When a "classical" current control scheme is applied, the line current of a boost power-factor-correction (PFC) converter leads the line voltage, resulting in a nonunity fundamental displacement power factor and in important zero-crossing distortion in applications with a high line frequency (e.g., 400-Hz power systems on commercial aircraft). To resolve this problem, a currentcontrol scheme is proposed using duty-ratio feedforward. In this paper, the input impedance of the boost PFC converter for both the classical current-loop controller and the controller using duty-ratio feedforward are derived theoretically. A comparison reveals the advantages of the proposed control scheme: a low total harmonic distortion of the line current, a resistive input impedance, virtually no zero-crossing distortion, and a fundamental displacement power factor close to unity. The theoretical results obtained are verified using an experimental setup of a digitally controlled boost PFC converter.

Planning for "water-sensitive" cities has become a priority for sustainable urban development in Australia. There has been little quantification of the term, however. Furthermore, the water balance of most cities is not well known. Following prolonged drought, there has also been a growing need to make Australian cities more water self-reliant: to source water from within. This article formalizes a systematic mass-balance framework to quantify all anthropogenic and natural flows into and out of the urban environment. Quantitative performance indicators are derived, including (1) degree of system centralization;