646 research outputs found
Close Future: Co-Design Assistant - How Proactive design paradigm can help
No full textThe present paper is focused on exploring a new paradigm in architectural design process that should raise the bar for a mutual collaboration between humans and digital assistants, able to face challenging problems of XXI century. Such a collaboration will aid design process freeing designer from middle level reasoning tasks, so they could focus on exploring - on the fly - design alternatives at a higher abstraction layer of knowledge. Such an assistant should explore and instantiate as much as possible knowledge structures and their inferences thanks to an extensive use of defaults, demons and agents, combined with its power and ubiquity so that they will be able to mimic behaviour of architectural design human experts. It aims other than to deal with data (1st layer) and simple reasoning tools (2nd layer) to automate design exploring consequences and side effects of design decisions and comparing goals (3rd layer). This assistant will speed up the evaluation of fresh design solutions, will suggest solutions by means of generative systems and will be able of a digital creativity
Foam Making Sense - behavioral additive deposition and stigmergic agency for integrated surface tectonics
No full textThis thesis research deals with the architectural project from an interdisciplinary point of view, integrating biomimetics, additive fabrication, computer vision, and robotics. The work focuses on the feedback interaction loop among robotic additive fabrication, a stigmergic agent-based system and the self-organizing properties of the material. The aim is to explore the morphological, constructive and expressive potentials generated by the mutual influence of computational design, construction behavioral rules, and physical material behavior (whose complexity exceeds current simulation capacity).The proposed approach leads to the creation of surface-based tectonics, enhanced with a fiberglass-coated dendritic ridge formation that integrates functional, ornamental and structural performances. The process can be extended to larger architectural scales with the creation of bespoke EPS molds via robotic hot wire cutting; the presented case study leverages the aforementioned process on ruled surfaces for the generation of translucent delimiters, used to create heterogeneous spatial organization
A Digital Twin for Directing People Flow in Preserved Heritage Buildings
No full textThis paper showcases a Digital Twin in the form of a simulation interacting with a BIM. As will be shown, such a combined can serve specific problems during building operation (here: directing people flow in preserved heritage buildings)
The Relation between Treated Maternal Urinary Tract Infection and Adverse Maternal, Prenatal Outcomes in Pregnant Women of Ardabil, Iran
Full text linkBackground and Objective: Urinary tract infection is one of the most common bacterial infections during pregnancy and has also been implicated as a risk factor for adverse maternal and prenatal outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine the relation between maternal urinary tract infection and adverse maternal, prenatal outcomes in pregnant women of Ardabil, Iran.
Material and Methods: This retrospective-case-control study was conducted on prenatal file records of pregnant women in Ardabil (2011). The pregnant women who had a positive urine culture in their prenatal files (N= 211) were considered as a case group and 232 ones without urinary tract infection as a control. Using a research- made questionnaire, the data related to present pregnancy and prenatal information was collected and analyzed by KrusKal Wallis, Chi- Square and Fisher statistical tests.
Results: Maternal age of under 25 (%61.6 vs. 56.5), body mass index of more than 30 (%18.3 vs. 15.6), primigravida (%55 vs. 48.8), hypertension (%2.4 vs. 1.3), hyperemesis Gravidarum (%14.8 vs. 12.6), frequency and dysuria (%1.9 vs. 0.9), low birth weight (%95.4 vs. 93.2), congenital malformation (%3.5 vs. 1.8), artificial milk feeding (%6.5 vs. 2.7), neonatal death (%0.9 vs. 0.0) are higher in urinary infection group, however the differences are not statistically significant. Other maternal and prenatal adverse outcomes such as diabetes, pre-eclampsia , hemoglobin level, prematurity, abortion and stillbirth have not significant relation with urinary infection.
Conclusion: Because of low level of adverse maternal or prenatal outcomes reported in our study, we conclude that screening and treatment of urinary tract infection in Ardabil health service is appropriate; therefore, no change is needed for present screening or treatment processes
Epidemiological interactions between urogenital and intestinal human schistosomiasis in the context of praziquantel treatment across three West African countries
Full text link© 2015 Knowles et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Speed of Deposition: Vehicle for structural and aesthetic expression in CAM
No full textThis paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development of a method that uses additive manufacturing technology as a generative agent in architectural design process. The primary technique is to variate speed of material deposition of a 3D printer in order to produce undetermined textural effects. These effects demonstrate local variation of material distribution, which is treated as a consequence of interaction between machining parameters and material properties. Current stage of inquiry is concerned with studying the impact of these textural artefacts on structure. Experiments demonstrate that manipulating distribution of matter locally results in more optimal structural performance, it solves printability issues of overhanging geometry without the need for additional supports and provides variation to the surface. The research suggests aesthetic and structural benefits of applying the developed method for mass-customized fabrication. It questions the linear thinking that is predominant in the field of 3D printing and provides an approach that articulates interaction between digital and material logics as it directs the formation of an object that is informed by both.Peer reviewe
Estudo qualitativo sobre educação em saúde bucal
Full text linkDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde. Programa de Pós-Graduação em OdontologiaAs ações de educação em saúde são fundamentais como direito de cidadania. Tradicionalmente têm se pautado na transmissão de conhecimento visando à mudança de hábitos. Busca-se superar este modelo com a educação popular em saúde, através do empoderamento da população e de ações de saúde integrais que requerem construção compartilhada do conhecimento, partindo do saber anterior do educando, ampliando a comunicação, a interação cultural e social. Um projeto brasileiro integrado leva música e educação em saúde bucal à população de cidades brasileiras desde 2003. Visando promover saúde são desenvolvidas ações educativas específicas a cada ciclo de vida e, ao anoitecer, acontecem concertos de piano com repertório de música clássica e erudita. A pesquisa objetiva compreender a percepção dos sujeitos e as ações envolvidas neste projeto integrado à luz do referencial teórico da educação popular e saúde. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo descritivo e exploratório, realizado em 04 municípios do estado de Santa Catarina que receberam o projeto no ano de 2010. A coleta de dados foi realizada através de grupos focais (GF) com número máximo de 10 participantes em cada escola, entre professores, diretores e secretários municipais. Os dados foram registrados em gravações de voz digital e as informações relevantes no diário de campo. Após a transcrição foram analisados pela técnica de Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin. Três categorias foram identificadas: 1. Percepções sobre o método utilizado, 2. Percepções sobre o conteúdo abordado e 3. Percepções sobre os sujeitos envolvidos. Com relação ao método, o planejamento conjunto e o aspecto lúdico foram percepções positivas. Como percepções acerca do conteúdo foram citados aqueles que enfocavam a promoção da saúde e a prevenção de doenças. Os sujeitos envolvidos reconheceram a necessidade de maior envolvimento dos pais no projeto e destacaram a participação das crianças e dos professores. Os relatos apontaram que a integração entre as atividades de saúde bucal e de música não foi percebida havendo destaque para o projeto de educação. Concluiu-se que o projeto estudado mostrou-se como uma oportunidade de construir conhecimento, compartilhar experiências e agregar valor ao trabalho pedagógico desenvolvido pelas escolas. Aponta caminhos para a prática de um modelo de educação em saúde bucal pautado no paradigma da educação popular em saúde.Actions of health education are fundamental for citizenship right. They have been traditionally based on transmission of knowledge in order to change habits. It aims to overcome this model by popular education in health through empowerment of the population and with integral health actions that require shared construction of knowledge, based on the student's previous knowledge, increasing communication, the cultural and social interaction. A Brazilian integrated project brings music and oral health education to the population of Brazilian cities since 2003. In order to promote health education actions specific to each life cycle are developed and in the evening piano concerts took place with a repertoire of classical music. The research aims to understand the subjects perceptions and actions developed in this integrated project by the light of the theoretical framework of popular education and health. This is a descriptive and exploratory qualitative study conducted in 04 municipalities in Santa Catarina state who received the project in 2010. Data collection was conducted through focus groups with maximum of 10 participants including teachers, principals and municipal secretaries. Data were registered in digital recordings and the relevant information were noted in the daily field. After transcription were analyzed using Content Analysis of Bardin. Three categories were identified: 1. Perceptions about the method used, 2. Perceptions about the content and 3. Perceptions about the subjects envolved. About the method, the joint planning, dynamism, dialogue and playful were positive percepcions. As perceptions about the content were cited those focused on health promotion and disease prevention. The subjects involved recognized the need for greater parental involvement in the project and emphasized the participation of children and teachers. The reports indicated that the integration of oral health activities and music it was not perceived emphasizing the education project. It was concluded that the project studied proved to be an opportunity to build knowledge, share experiences and add value to the educational work done by the schools. It shows ways to practice a model of oral health education guided by the paradigm of popular education in health
Procedimento obstétrico no parto e mortalidade nas regiões do Brasil no ano de 2002
Full text linkTrabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Curso de Medicina. Departamento de Saúde Pública
Computer-aided engineering and design of internal combustion engines to support operation on non-traditional fuels
Full text link2020 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Traditional fuels like gasoline and diesel make up ~37 % of the US energy production; because of that, they are rapidly depleting their finite resources. These traditional fuels are also primary contributors to greenhouse gases, global warming, and particulate matter, which are bad for the environment and human beings. For that reason, research in non-traditional fuels (e.g., Carbon neutral biofuels, low GHG emitting gaseous fuels including NG and hydrogen) that achieve greater if not similar efficiencies compared to traditional fuels is gaining traction. On top of that, emission requirements are becoming even more strenuous. Engineers must find new ways to investigate non-traditional fuels and their performance in internal combustion engines while permitting the engine-fuel system's low-cost design. This being the case, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and chemical kinetics solvers are being taken advantage of to assist in the research of these non-traditional fuel applications. This thesis describes the use of CONVERGE CFD to investigate two different non-traditional fuel applications, namely, the retrofitting of a premixed gasoline two-stroke spark-ignited (SI) engine to function with multiple injections of JP-8 fuel and to retrofit a diesel compression-ignited engine into a premixed anode tail-gas SI engine. The first application described herein uses a solid oxide fuel cell "Anode Tail-gas," which has similar syngas characteristics in a spark-ignited engine. Anode Tail-gas is a byproduct from an underutilized Metal Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (MS-SOFC) used in a high efficiency distributed power (~100 kWe) system. Gas turbines or reciprocating ICEs typically drive distributed power systems of this capacity because they can quickly react to change in demand but traditionally have lower thermal efficiencies than a large-scale Rankine cycle plant. However, with the MS-SOFC, it may be possible to design a 125 kWe system with 70 % efficiency while keeping the system cost-competitive (below $1000/kW). The system requires a ~14 kW engine that can operate at 35 % efficiency with the highly dilute (17.7% H2, 4.90 % CO, 0.40% CH4, 28.3 % CO2, 48.7 % H2O) Anode Tail-gas to meet these lofty targets. CAE approaches were developed and used to identify high-efficiency operation pathways with the highly diluted anode tail-gas fuel. The fuel was first tested and modeled in a Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine to investigate the anode tail gas's combustibility within an IC engine and to provide validation data with highly specified boundary conditions (Compression Ratio (CR), fuel compositions, intake temperature/pressure, and spark timing). A chemical mechanism was selected through CAE tools to represent the highly diluted fuel combustion best based on the CFR data. Five experimental test points were used to validate the CFD model, which all were within a maximum relative error of less than 8 % for IMEP and less than 4 crank angle degrees for CA10 and CA50. The knowledge gained from the CFR engine experiments and associated model validation helped direct the design of a retrofitted Kohler diesel engine to operate as a spark-ignited engine on the anode tail gas fuel. CFD Investigations into spark plug and piston bowl designs were performed to identify combustion chamber design improvements to boost the Kohler engine's efficiency. Studies revealed that piston designs incorporating small clearance heights, large squish areas, and deep bowl depths could enhance efficiency by 5.41 pts with additional efficiency gain possible through piston rotation. The second fuel investigation was a jet propellant fuel called "JP-8," which was deemed non-tradition when used in a two-stroke UAV engine to satisfy the military's single fuel policy requirements. The JP-8 fuel proved challenging in this application due to its significantly lower octane number and volatility than gasoline and experienced knock when used as a homogeneous premixed mixture within the simulated UAV platform. Although with CFD modeling, it was possible to reduce the severity of knock by using eight rapid direct injections of JP-8 at 20 µm diameter droplets. With further investigation, it might be possible to reduce further the severity of knock using CFD through more advanced injection strategies
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