A Clustering Search metaheuristic for the Point-Feature Cartographic Label Placement Problem

The Point-Feature Cartographic Label Placement (PFCLP) problem consists of placing text labels to point features on a map avoiding overlaps to improve map visualization. This paper presents a Clustering Search (CS) metaheuristic as a new alternative to solve the PFCLP problem. Computational experiments were performed over sets of instances with up to 13,206 points. These instances are the same used in several recent and important researches about the PFCLP problem. The results enhance the potential of CS by finding optimal solutions (proven in previous works) and improving the best-known solutions for instances whose optimal solutions are unknown so far.     

In vitro evaluation of the schistosomicidal potential of Eremanthus erythropappus (DC) McLeisch (Asteraceae) extracts

Eremanthus erythropappus (DC) McLeisch, a plant popularly known as Candeia (Asteraceae), has high therapeutic potential. In this study, the in?vitro schistosomicidal potentials of the ethanolic, dichloromethane and hexane extract of branches were evaluated. Couples of worms obtained from the infected mice were cultured in RPMI supplemented with foetal bovine serum and antibiotics. Four pairs of adult worms were exposed to increasing concentrations of each extract and examined by light microscope. The extracts at 100 and 200?μg?mL(-1) had schistosomicidal activity, as demonstrated by the analysis of several aspects such as tegument darkening, absence of motility, incapacity of adhesion in culture plate and absence of egg in culture medium. At 50 and 75?μg?mL(-1), the dichloromethane and hexane extracts were highly effective. The results suggest that these extracts could be useful in the development of new schistosomicidal drugs.     

Working group report: Heavy-ion physics and quark-gluon plasma

This is the report of Heavy Ion Physics and Quark-Gluon Plasma at WHEPP-09 which was part of Working Group-4. Discussion and work on some aspects of quark-gluon plasma believed to have created in heavy-ion collisions and in early Universe are reported.     

Development of a certified reference material for cachaça: an effective material for quality assurance

Cachaça is the typical and genuine denomination for the sugar cane beverage produced in Brazil. It has an alcoholic content between 38 and 48 % by volume, at 20 °C, and is obtained from the distillation of fermented sugar cane juice with the possible addition of up to 6 g/L of sugar, expressed by sucrose. This paper aims to outline the approach taken for the certification of the mass fraction of individual alcohols and their associated uncertainties in a cachaça certified reference material (CRM) produced by the Organic Analysis Laboratory of the Chemical Metrology Division of Inmetro. The requirements of ISO Guide 31, ISO Guide 34 and ISO Guide 35 were followed for the certification. This included the assessment of the degree of homogeneity of the material, the short-term stability study to determine the transport conditions, the long-term stability study to establish the shelf life and storage conditions of the CRM and the characterization process. The certified values were determined by two analytical techniques: gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. In order to support the routine testing of cachaça, in helping analytical laboratories validate and standardize their methods, the certified reference material (CRM 02.1/10.003b) was developed and certified for the mass fractions of methanol (9.18 mg/100 g ± 0.82 mg/100 g), 2-butanol (4.15 mg/100 g ± 0.40 mg/100 g), 1-butanol (1.30 mg/100 g ± 0.18 mg/100 g), isobutanol (24.0 mg/100 g ± 1.0 mg/100 g) and 1-propanol (29.4 mg/100 g ± 1.3 mg/100 g) in a spiked cachaça.     

Water in Ras Superfamily Evolution

The Ras GTPase superfamily of proteins coordinates a diverse set of cellular outcomes, including cell morphology, vesicle transport, and cell proliferation. Primary amino acid sequence analysis has identified Specificity determinant positions (SDPs) that drive diversified functions specific to the Ras, Rho, Rab, and Arf subfamilies (Rojas et al. 2012, J Cell Biol 196 :189–201). The inclusion of water molecules in structural and functional adaptation is likely to be a major response to the selection pressures that drive evolution, yet hydration patterns are not included in phylogenetic analysis. This article shows that conserved crystallographic water molecules coevolved with SDP residues in the differentiation of proteins within the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. The patterns of water conservation between protein subfamilies parallel those of sequence-based evolutionary trees. Thus, hydration patterns have the potential to help elucidate functional significance in the evolution of amino acid residues observed in phylogenetic analysis of homologous proteins. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determination of trace impurities in aluminum nitride by direct solid sampling graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The trace impurities Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Sb and Zn were determined in powdered aluminum nitride by direct solid sampling graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry using a ZEEnit 60 atomic absorption spectrometer. This spectrometer features inverse Zeeman-effect background correction and a variable magnetic field enabling measurements in two sensitivity modes over a concentration range of three orders of magnitude. The measurement sensitivity can be adjusted to the analyte concentration in the sample. The use of chemical modifiers was not necessary. Calibration was carried out by means of calibration curves obtained with aqueous standard solutions. Accuracy was checked mainly by comparison of the results with those obtained by instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis whereby, excluding the results for potassium, no significant differences were found by carrying out the t-test at the significance level 0.05. The limits of detection were between 0.05 ng g⁻¹ (Zn) and 80 ng g⁻¹ (Fe) and the relative standard deviations below 11 %. With the proposed method, up to ten measurement cycles can be carried out in one hour.     

An ideal gas approach to classify countries using financial indices

Traditionally, countries’ development is classified based on several features that can be related to economic and social factors. However, this classification task is costly due to the difficulty of obtaining those features. We propose a method to classify countries based on financial indices using an ideal gas model. The probability density function (pdf) of the return series of the financial indices is used to characterize the fluctuation of a market. Based on the pdf, the volatility and the B$B$ coefficient, which describe the behavior of world markets, are estimated. The evaluation procedure uses 34 indices from developed and developing countries. The results show that the proposed method is an accurate, fast and low-cost computational alternative to the classifications provided by traditional organizations.     

Mathematics education and democracy

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between mathematics education and the notions of education for all/democracy. In order to proceed with our analysis, we present Marx’s concept of commodity and Jean Baudrillard’s concept of sign value as a theoretical reference in the discussion of how knowledge has become a universal need in today’s society and ideology. After, we engage in showing mathematics education’s historical and epistemological grip to this ideology. We claim that mathematics education appears in the time period that English becomes an international language and the notion of international seems to be a key constructor in the constitution of that ideology. Here, we draw from Derrida’s famous saying that “there is nothing beyond the text”. We conclude that a critique to modern society and education has been developed from an idealistic concept of democracy.     

Modelling the Damage Induced by Pressure Transients in Elasto-Plastic Pipes

This paper is concerned with the analysis of pressure transients in damageable elasto-plastic piping systems. The fluid dynamics and pipewall deformation are modelled by the classical water hammer theory, whereas pipewall mechanical behavior is described by an internal variable constitutive theory. The constitutive model coupling plasticity and damage used herein gives rise to a nonlinear hyperbolic problem in which the wavespeeds are altered by damage evolution. The problem is numerically approximated by means of a technique based on an additive decomposition together with the Glimm's method and a special Euler-type time integration scheme. Examples concerning the structural integrity analysis of a reservoir-pipe-valve installation, where hydraulic transients are generated by valve slam, are presented to illustrate the applicability of both theory and numerical method.