Implementation of the sludge biotic index in a petrochemical WWTP in Brazil: improving operational control with traditional methods.

Microbiological analysis of activated sludge is an important tool for monitoring wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The utilization of the sludge biotic index (SBI) provides helpful information in examining the quality of biological treatment process and has been tested for several different systems. Although its utilization has been increasing, it is still not widespread, especially in Brazil. Also, its applicability has been considered limited for some particular systems. Thus, it becomes important to evaluate the relations among operational and biological parameters of each WWTP in order to characterize the system and its variations. In this work, microscopic analysis were performed once a week for 1 year (n = 54) and the results were compared to the physicochemical, operational parameters and efficiency of the plant along the period. The four seasons were comprised and analyzed, as we cannot neglect the influence of environmental changes in this subtropical region. Not only had we found a strong influence of the evaluated parameters on the structure of the biological community but there is also a good correspondence of SBI with the performance of the WWTP. More importantly, including microscopic analysis in the operational routine made it possible to notice even the slightest changes in the biological community that were not enough to diminish the SBI classification of the sludge, but were satisfactorily informative to show in advance to operators when to take corrective actions about an increase of COD and BOD in the influent and when it was necessary to discard the exceeding sludge.

A inter-relação Dentística/Periodontia na buscada excelência estética: relato clínico / The relationship between Dentistry/Periodontology in search of excellence aesthetics: case report

Um belo sorriso é obtido por uma composição de fatores que levam à excelência estética.Além da cor, textura, posição e forma dos elementos dentais, a saúde gengival, assim comoseu adequado relacionamento com a estrutura dental é fundamental para a obtenção dessaestética. Quando há ausência de algum desses componentes, a associação entre diversasespecialidades da Odontologia pode ser realizada com o intuito de se conseguir umtratamento integral que satisfaça as expectativas do paciente. O presente trabalho relataum caso clínico em que existe a presença de coroas clínicas curtas dos dentes superiorese diastemas na região anterior do arco superior, no qual foi realizado a gengivoplastia e ofechamento dos diastemas com resina fotopolimerizável. A associação entre as especialidadesrevela as vantagens na obtenção de um resultado estético satisfatório.

A beautiful smile is obtained by a combination of factors that lead to aestheticexcellence. Besides color, texture, position and shape of dental elements, the gingivalhealth and periodontal components, as well as their proper relationship with thetooth structure, are key to achieving this aesthetic. When there is not any of thesecomponents, the association between many specialties of Odontology can be donein order to achieve a complete treatment that meets the expectations of the patient.This paper reports a case in which there is the presence of short clinical crowns ofthe upper teeth and anterior diastema in the maxillary arch, which underwent thegingivoplasty and closure of the diastema with light-cured resin. The associationbetween specialties shows the advantages in obtaining a satisfactory final result.

Audiometria de tronco cerebral em indivíduos normais acima de 50 anos: estudo do tempo de latência comparativo entre os sexos / Audiometry of brain stem in normal individuals above 50 years old: comparative study of latency time between the sexs

The effects of sex in the brain-stem auditory evoked potentials were studied in 80 healthy subjects with age ranging from 50 to 74 years, there were 40 males and 40 females. The latencies of peaks I to V and the interpeak latencies of I - III, III - V and I - V were shorter for the female group than male group without clincial significance. The authors concluded that there are not significant prolongation in the peak or interpeak latencies in the groups studied with differents sex