A otimização de processos e a redução de custos são os dois principais fatores que sustentam a competitividade das indústrias atualmente. Diante deste cenário, buscou-se otimizar o processo de fabricação de barras trefiladas de aço mola SAE 9254, através da eliminação do recozimento anterior ao processo de trefilação, por intermédio de um resfriamento controlado no cooling conveyor, na laminação.. Para isso, a taxa de resfriamento do fio-máquina após a laminação foi variada a fim de garantir a homogeneização da dureza ao longo das espiras, característica essa essencial para o processamento na trefila. Além da redução de custos com o recozimento, se o objetivo fosse alcançado, poder-se-ia otimizar o processo de reaquecimento deste aço na laminação. Como resultado, seria possível melhorar a qualidade superficial do fio-máquina e, por conseqüência, aumentar o rendimento metálico do produto, sem que a descarbonetação máxima e média fossem prejudicadas. Os experimentos foram desenvolvidos com base no resfriamento do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Durante o processamento na laminação, foi realizada uma amostragem especial a fim de mapear a variação das propriedades ao longo das espiras. Os resultados apontaram que é possível a otimização do processo de fabricação do aço mola SAE 9254, principalmente para a condição de resfriamento na laminação quando utilizado um escalonamento na velocidade de transporte do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Este incremento nas velocidades de deslocamento do material, feita através do escalonamento da velocidade, propicia uma alteração nos “pontos quentes” das espiras, gerando uma uniformidade maior em seu resfriamento, garantindo assim, uma homogeneidade nas propriedades mecânicas. / The process optimization and cost reduction are the two main factors that gives sustainability for today industries competitiveness. For this reason, it was attempted to optimize the manufacturing process of cold draw bars of SAE 9254 spring steel by eliminating pre-annealing of wire drawing, through a controlled cooling on the cooling conveyor, in the rolling mill process. For this, the cooling rate of wire rod after rolling process was varied to ensure the homogeneity of hardness along the coil, the essential feature for wire drawing process. In addition to reducing costs annealing, if the purpose was reached, the reheating process would be optimized in the rolling mill. As a result, it would be possible to improve the surface quality of wire rod and, consequently, increase the metallic yield of the product, without the decarburization maximum and average were damaged. The experiments were developed based on wire rod cooling thermograph in the cooling conveyor. During rolling mill processing, special sampling was performed to map the variation of properties along the coils. The results showed that it is possible to optimize the manufacturing process of the SAE 9254 spring steel, mainly for the cooling condition in the rolling process when scaling speeds in wire rod transportation was used on the cooling conveyor. This speed increase of the material transportation, through the scaling speed, provides a change in "hot spots" of the coils, generating a greater uniformity in their cooling, thus ensuring uniformity in mechanical properties.

Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica) - Centro Universitário FEI, São Bernardo do Campo, 2016.

Two-component systems (TCSs) are highly conserved across bacteria and are used to rapidly sense and respond to changing environmental conditions. The human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus uses the S. aureus exoprotein expression (sae) TCS to sense host signals and activate transcription of virulence factors essential to pathogenesis. Despite its importance, the mechanism by which the sae sensor kinase SaeS recognizes specific host stimuli is unknown. This thesis describes topology and mutagenesis studies of the sensing domain of SaeS, including basal expression and inducer-dependent phenotypes. Meanwhile, investigation of the sae auxiliary protein SaeP has identified a novel DNA binding function for this surface expressed lipoprotein that may be involved in fine-tuning the activity of the sae system. Overall, these structure-function studies provide insight into the sae signal transduction mechanism and raise some new questions regarding the role the sae system plays in the larger regulatory network S. aureus uses to control expression of its secreted virulence factors.

The Staphylococcus aureus two component system (TCS) sae governs expression of numerous virulence factors, including Eap (extracellular adherence protein), which in turn among other functions also mediates invasion of host cells. The sae TCS is encoded by the saePQRS operon, with saeS coding for the sensor histidine kinase (SaeS) and saeR encoding the response regulator (SaeR). The saeRS system is preceded by two additional open reading frames (ORFs), saeP and saeQ, which are predicted to encode a lipoprotein (SaeP) and a membrane protein (SaeQ), respectively. Earlier, we have shown that SDS-containing subinhibitory concentrations of biocides (Perform®) and SDS alone activate sae transcription and increase cellular invasiveness in S. aureus strain Newman. The effect is associated with an amino acid exchange in the N-terminus of SaeS (L18P), specific to strain Newman. In this work, the role of whether the two additional genes, saePQ coding for the accessory proteins SaeP and SaeQ, respectively, are involved in SDS-mediated saeRS was investigated. It could demonstrated that the lack of the SaeP protein resulted in an increased saeRS transcription without SDS stress in both SaeSL/P variants, while the SDS effect was less pronounced on sae and eap expression compared to the Newman wildtype, suggesting that the SaeP protein represses the sae system. Also, SDS-mediated inductions of sae and eap transcription along with enhanced invasion were found to be dependent on presence of the SaeSP variant in Newman wildtype. On the other hand, the study also shows that the saePQ region of the sae operon is required for fully functional two-component system saeRS under normal growth conditions, but it is not involved in SDS-mediated activation of the saeS signaling and sae-target class I gene, eap. In the second approach, the study investigates whether SDS-induced sae expression and host cell invasion is common among S. aureus strains not carrying the (L18P) point mutation. To demonstrate this strain Newman, its isogenic saeS mutants, and various S. aureus isolates were analysed for sae, eap expression and cellular invasiveness. Among the strains tested, SDS exposure resulted only in an increase of sae transcription, Eap production and cellular invasiveness in strain Newman wild type and MRSA strain ST239-635/93R, the latter without an increase in Eap. Interestingly, the epidemic community-associated MRSA strain, USA300 LAC showed a biphasic response in sae transcription at different growth stages, which, however, was not accompanied by increased invasiveness. All other clinical isolates investigated displayed a decrease of the parameters tested. While in strain Newman the SDS effect was due to the saeSP allele, this was not the case in strain ST239-635/93R and the biphasic USA300 strains. Also, increased invasiveness of ST239-635/93R was found to be independent of Eap production. Furthermore, to investigate the global effect of SDS on sae target gene expression, strain Newman wild-type and Newman ∆sae were treated with SDS and analyzed for their transcription profiles of sae target genes using microarray assays. We could show that subinhibitory concentrations of SDS upregulate and downregulate gene expression of several signaling pathways involved in biosynthetic, metabolic pathways as well as virulence, host cell adherence, stress reponse and many hypothetical proteins. In summary, the study sheds light on the role of the upstream region saePQ in SDS-mediated saeRS and eap expression during S. aureus SDS stress. Most importantly, the study also shows that subinhibitory SDS concentrations have pronounced strain-dependent effects on sae transcription and subsequent host cell invasion in S. aureus, with the latter likely to be mediated in some strains by other factors than the known invasin Eap and FnBP proteins. Moreover, there seems to exist more than the saeSP-mediated mechanism for SDS-induced sae transcription in clinical S. aureus isolates. These results help to further understand and clarify virulence and pathogenesis mechanisms and their regulation in S. aureus. / Das Zwei Komponenten-Systems (TCS) Sae in S. aureus reguliert die Expression einer Vielzahl von Virulenzfaktoren, dazu gehört unter anderem das extrazelluläre Adhärenzprotein Eap, welches neben weiteren Funktionen, die Invasion in eukaryotische Wirtszellen vermittelt. Die Gene des sae TCS sind in einem Operon organisiert (saePQRS), wobei saeS für die sensorische Histidinkinase (SaeS) und saeR für den „Response Regulator“ (SaeR) kodieren. Diesen Genen sind zwei weitere Genabschnitte, saeP und saeQ, vorangestellt, wobei saeP vermutlich für ein Lipoprotein (SaeP) und saeQ für ein Membranprotein (RelQ) kodieren. In einer früheren Arbeit konnten wir zeigen, dass SDS-haltige Biozide (Perform©) unter sub- inhibitorischen Konzentrationen, sowie reines SDS, die sae Transkription aktiviert und dadurch zu einer erhöhten Invasion des S. aureus Stamms Newman in Wirtszellen führt. Dieser Effekt ist assoziiert mit einem spezifischen Aminosäureaustausch im N-terminus von SaeS (L18P) des Stamm Newman. In dieser Arbeit soll nun die Beteiligung der zwei zusätzlichen Gene, saeP und saeQ, an der SDS vermittelten transkriptionellen Induktion von saeR/S untersucht werden. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass ohne SaeP, die saeR/S Transkription in beiden SaeL/P Varianten erhöht war, wobei eine zusätzliche SDS Behandlung hierfür nicht notwendig war. Im Gegenteil, es zeigte sich, dass der SDS Effekt auf die sae und eap Expression in der saeP Mutante deutlich weniger ausgeprägt ist als im Wildtyp Stamm. Das läßt vermuten, dass das Lipoprotein SaeP repremierend auf das sae System einwirkt. Des Weiteren wurde festgestellt, dass die SDS vermittelte transkriptionelle Induktion von sae und eap, zusammen mit der erhöhten Invasion, abhängig vom vorhanden sein der SaeSP Variante im Newman Wildtyp Stamm ist. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass die saePQ Region wichtig ist für die vollständige Funktion des Zwei Komponenten Systems SaeRS unter normalen Wachstumsbedingungen. Jedoch ist diese Region nicht involviert in der Aktivierung von SaeS, mit SDS als Signalgeber, sowie der darauffolgenden Aktivierung des sae Zielgens eap. In einem zweiten Ansatz wurde untersucht, ob die SDS induzierte sae Expression und Wirtszellinvasion auch häufig in S. aureus Stämmen auftritt, welche keine (L18P) Punktmutation besitzen. Dafür wurde Stamm Newman, die isogene saeS Mutante und verschiedene S. aureus Klinikisolate auf ihre sae, eap Expression, sowie zelluläre Invasionsfähigkeit hin analysiert. Von den getesteten Stämmen reagiert nur Wildtyp Stamm Newman und ein MRSA Stamm ST239-635/93R mit gesteigerter sae Transkription, Eap Produktion und zellulärer Invasion. Der MRSA Stamm jedoch ohne erhöhte Eap Produktion. Interessanterweise zeigt der „community- associated“ MRSA Stamm USA300 LAC eine biphasische sae Transkription in verschiedenen Wachstumsphasen, welche jedoch nicht einhergeht mit erhöhter Invasion. Alle anderen Klinikisolate zeigten abnehmende Tendenzen in den getesteten Parametern. Während im Stamm Newman der SDS Effekt auf das saeSP Allel zurückzuführen ist, gilt dies nicht für den Stamm ST239-635/93R, sowie den biphasischen Stamm USA300. Außerdem konnte gezeigt werden, dass die erhöhte Invasion des Stamms ST239-635/93R unabhängig von seiner Eap Produktion ist. Des Weiteren zeigten wir den globalen Effekt von SDS auf die sae Zielgenexpression. Dafür behandelten wir Wildtyp Stamm Newman mit SDS und analysierten die Transkription der sae Zielgene mittels Microarray Analyse. Wir konnten zeigen, dass subinhibitorische SDS Konzentrationen, induzierende als auch repremierende Auswirkungen auf die Genexpression haben. Dabei sind Gene betroffen, die involviert sind in verschiedene Signalwege, Biosynthese/Metabolismus als auch in Virulenz, Wirtzelladhärenz und Stressantwort. Zusammenfassend gibt die Arbeit Aufschluss über die Rolle der „upstream“ Region saePQ hinsichtlich der SDS-abhängigen saeRS und eap Expression in S. aureus. Am wichtigsten ist hierbei die Erkenntnis, das subinhibitorische SDS Konzentrationen einen deutlichen stammabhängigen Effekt auf die sae Transkription und daraus folgernd auf die Wirtszellinvasion von S. aureus haben. Letzteres wird vermutlich in manchen Stämmen durch andere Faktoren als die bekannten Invasinproteine Eap und FnBP vermittelt. Außerdem scheint es in den klinischen S. aureus Isolaten mehr als nur den saeSP abhängigen Mechanismus der sae Induktion durch SDS zu geben. Diese Ergebnisse helfen uns die Virulenz und pathogenen Mechanismen als auch deren Regulation in S. aureus zu verstehen. Die Beobachtungen tragen zu unserem Verständnis bei, wie das sae System Signale der Umgebung detektieren kann. Dies ist bis jetzt eine Fragestellung mit vielen Unbekannten.

Agricultural education consists of three components: classroom instruction, FFA, and supervised agricultural experience (SAE). SAE is the experiential learning component in which students apply agricultural principles and concepts. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of Kentucky high school agriculture teachers toward the value of SAE, the quality components of SAE, and teacher satisfaction with SAE. A secondary purpose was to determine the status of SAE participation in Kentucky. This study concluded that Kentucky agriculture teachers perceive SAE as a valuable component of agricultural education. Moreover, teachers were in agreement with accepted quality standards for SAE programs, but the findings implied that other quality indicators may be valid. Furthermore, teachers were not satisfied with their SAE programs. A slight majority of students in Kentucky agricultural education programs have a SAE with the bulk of those SAEs categorized as either placement or entrepreneurship SAEs. Based on the conclusions, the author recommended that a SAE task force be created to address concerns related to SAE participation, student and teacher motivation to conduct SAE, state rewards for SAEs, and assessing the quality of SAE programs in Kentucky. KEYWORDS: Agricultural

The main purpose of this dissertation is to develop a process to improve actual policy-making procedures in terms of aviation environmental effects. This research work expands current practices with physics based publicly available models. The process herein proposed provides information regarding the interdependencies between the environmental effects of aircraft. These interdependencies are also tied to the actual physical parameters of the aircraft and the engine, making it more intuitive for decision-makers to understand the impacts to the vehicle due to different policy scenarios. These scenarios involve the use of fleet analysis tools in which the existing aircraft are used to predict the environmental effects of imposing new stringency levels. The aircraft used are reduced to a series of coefficients that represent their performance, in terms of flight characteristics, fuel burn, noise, and emissions. These coefficients are then utilized to model flight operations and calculate what the environmental impacts of those aircraft are. If a particular aircraft does not meet the stringency to be analyzed, a technology response is applied to it, in order to meet that stringency. Depending on the level of reduction needed, this technology response can have an effect on the fuel burn characteristic of the aircraft. The proposed alternative is to create a fleet of replacement aircraft to the current fleet that does not meet stringency. These replacement aircraft represent the achievable physical limits for state of the art systems. In addition, the replacement aircraft show the linkage between environmental effects and fundamental aircraft and engine characteristics, something that has been neglected in previous policy making procedures. Another aspect that has been ignored is the creation of the coefficients used for the fleet analyses. In current literature, a defined process for the creation of those coefficients does not exist, but this research work develops a process to do so and demonstrates that the characteristics of the aircraft can be propagated to the coefficients and to the fleet analysis tools.

A otimização de processos e a redução de custos são os dois principais fatores que sustentam a competitividade das indústrias atualmente. Diante deste cenário, buscou-se otimizar o processo de fabricação de barras trefiladas de aço mola SAE 9254, através da eliminação do recozimento anterior ao processo de trefilação, por intermédio de um resfriamento controlado no cooling conveyor, na laminação.. Para isso, a taxa de resfriamento do fio-máquina após a laminação foi variada a fim de garantir a homogeneização da dureza ao longo das espiras, característica essa essencial para o processamento na trefila. Além da redução de custos com o recozimento, se o objetivo fosse alcançado, poder-se-ia otimizar o processo de reaquecimento deste aço na laminação. Como resultado, seria possível melhorar a qualidade superficial do fio-máquina e, por conseqüência, aumentar o rendimento metálico do produto, sem que a descarbonetação máxima e média fossem prejudicadas. Os experimentos foram desenvolvidos com base no resfriamento do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Durante o processamento na laminação, foi realizada uma amostragem especial a fim de mapear a variação das propriedades ao longo das espiras. Os resultados apontaram que é possível a otimização do processo de fabricação do aço mola SAE 9254, principalmente para a condição de resfriamento na laminação quando utilizado um escalonamento na velocidade de transporte do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Este incremento nas velocidades de deslocamento do material, feita através do escalonamento da velocidade, propicia uma alteração nos “pontos quentes” das espiras, gerando uma uniformidade maior em seu resfriamento, garantindo assim, uma homogeneidade nas propriedades mecânicas. / The process optimization and cost reduction are the two main factors that gives sustainability for today industries competitiveness. For this reason, it was attempted to optimize the manufacturing process of cold draw bars of SAE 9254 spring steel by eliminating pre-annealing of wire drawing, through a controlled cooling on the cooling conveyor, in the rolling mill process. For this, the cooling rate of wire rod after rolling process was varied to ensure the homogeneity of hardness along the coil, the essential feature for wire drawing process. In addition to reducing costs annealing, if the purpose was reached, the reheating process would be optimized in the rolling mill. As a result, it would be possible to improve the surface quality of wire rod and, consequently, increase the metallic yield of the product, without the decarburization maximum and average were damaged. The experiments were developed based on wire rod cooling thermograph in the cooling conveyor. During rolling mill processing, special sampling was performed to map the variation of properties along the coils. The results showed that it is possible to optimize the manufacturing process of the SAE 9254 spring steel, mainly for the cooling condition in the rolling process when scaling speeds in wire rod transportation was used on the cooling conveyor. This speed increase of the material transportation, through the scaling speed, provides a change in "hot spots" of the coils, generating a greater uniformity in their cooling, thus ensuring uniformity in mechanical properties.

O protocolo de comunicação CAN destaca-se há mais de duas décadas como um dos protocolos de comunicação mais utilizados na indústria automotiva. Porém a demanda cada vez maior de novas tecnologias embarcadas e as limitações do padrão (máximo de 8 bytes por mensagem e velocidade de até 1 Mbps) provocam a elevação da taxa de ocupação do barramento de comunicação a ponto de comprometer a sua viabilidade em determinadas aplicações. Em situações como esta, a adoção de protocolos de comunicação de maior velocidade (como FlexRay por exemplo) pode causar impactos indesejados aos projetos, como elevação de custos e necessidade de redimensionamento completo de sistemas já existentes. Com o intuito de atender parte desta demanda, surge como proposta o protocolo CAN FD, uma evolução do CAN clássico desenvolvida pela empresa BOSCH no ano de 2012 e a ser definitivamente normatizada apenas no segundo semestre de 2016. O protocolo CAN FD mantém algumas características do CAN clássico e sua maior inovação está na manipulação do campo de dados da mensagem, de modo a oferecer maior velocidade de transmissão (até 10 Mbps) e maior quantidade de dados por mensagem (até 64 bytes). Por tratar-se de um protocolo novo, ainda não implementado em sistemas veiculares, propõe-se neste trabalho a realização de estudo para avaliação do desempenho do novo padrão CAN FD em substituição a um sistema CAN tradicional. O sistema a ser avaliado, neste caso, trata-se de uma rede de comunicação CAN de um caminhão fora-de-estrada, o qual possui duas redes de comunicação SAE J1939, uma para o chassi e outra para a carroceria, interligadas por uma interface de comunicação. Este trabalho apresentará estudo de caso para aplicação do CAN FD no sistema proposto, através da simulação de mensagens CAN e CAN FD e avaliação das taxas de ocupação das linhas de comunicação e avaliação de possíveis atrasos relacionados à transmissão das mensagens. / CAN communication protocol stands out for more than two decades as one of the communication protocols most commonly used in the automotive industry. But the increasing demand of new embedded technologies and the CAN limitations (maximum of 8 bytes per message and a baud rate of until 1 Mbps) cause the elevation of the bus load to the point of compromising its viability in certain applications. In these situations, the adoption of faster protocols (such as FlexRay for example) can cause unwanted impacts on projects, such as higher costs and the need of redesigning existing systems. In order to meet part of this demand comes the new CAN FD protocol, an evolution of the classic CAN, developed by BOSCH company in 2012 and to be definitely normalized only in the second semester of 2016. The CAN FD protocol maintains some characteristics of classic CAN and as a further innovation, the improvement of the message data field, in order to provide higher transmission rates (up to 10 Mbps) and greater amount of data per message (up to 64 bytes). Considering that CAN FD is a new protocol, not yet implemented in vehicular systems, it’s proposed in this work to perform a study to evaluate performance of the new CAN FD standard to replace the traditional CAN system. The system to be evaluated, in this case, is the CAN communication system of an off-road truck, which own two SAE J1939 communication networks, one for the chassis and one for the body, connected by communication interface. This report presents a case study for the application of CAN FD in the proposed system, by simulating CAN and CAN FD messages and evaluation of bus load and eventual delays related to the messages transmission.

A otimização de processos e a redução de custos são os dois principais fatores que sustentam a competitividade das indústrias atualmente. Diante deste cenário, buscou-se otimizar o processo de fabricação de barras trefiladas de aço mola SAE 9254, através da eliminação do recozimento anterior ao processo de trefilação, por intermédio de um resfriamento controlado no cooling conveyor, na laminação.. Para isso, a taxa de resfriamento do fio-máquina após a laminação foi variada a fim de garantir a homogeneização da dureza ao longo das espiras, característica essa essencial para o processamento na trefila. Além da redução de custos com o recozimento, se o objetivo fosse alcançado, poder-se-ia otimizar o processo de reaquecimento deste aço na laminação. Como resultado, seria possível melhorar a qualidade superficial do fio-máquina e, por conseqüência, aumentar o rendimento metálico do produto, sem que a descarbonetação máxima e média fossem prejudicadas. Os experimentos foram desenvolvidos com base no resfriamento do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Durante o processamento na laminação, foi realizada uma amostragem especial a fim de mapear a variação das propriedades ao longo das espiras. Os resultados apontaram que é possível a otimização do processo de fabricação do aço mola SAE 9254, principalmente para a condição de resfriamento na laminação quando utilizado um escalonamento na velocidade de transporte do fio-máquina no cooling conveyor. Este incremento nas velocidades de deslocamento do material, feita através do escalonamento da velocidade, propicia uma alteração nos “pontos quentes” das espiras, gerando uma uniformidade maior em seu resfriamento, garantindo assim, uma homogeneidade nas propriedades mecânicas. / The process optimization and cost reduction are the two main factors that gives sustainability for today industries competitiveness. For this reason, it was attempted to optimize the manufacturing process of cold draw bars of SAE 9254 spring steel by eliminating pre-annealing of wire drawing, through a controlled cooling on the cooling conveyor, in the rolling mill process. For this, the cooling rate of wire rod after rolling process was varied to ensure the homogeneity of hardness along the coil, the essential feature for wire drawing process. In addition to reducing costs annealing, if the purpose was reached, the reheating process would be optimized in the rolling mill. As a result, it would be possible to improve the surface quality of wire rod and, consequently, increase the metallic yield of the product, without the decarburization maximum and average were damaged. The experiments were developed based on wire rod cooling thermograph in the cooling conveyor. During rolling mill processing, special sampling was performed to map the variation of properties along the coils. The results showed that it is possible to optimize the manufacturing process of the SAE 9254 spring steel, mainly for the cooling condition in the rolling process when scaling speeds in wire rod transportation was used on the cooling conveyor. This speed increase of the material transportation, through the scaling speed, provides a change in "hot spots" of the coils, generating a greater uniformity in their cooling, thus ensuring uniformity in mechanical properties.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:53:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:09:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP