Prototype of a sensor for simultaneous monitoring of water level and temperature of rivers in the Amazon using FBG.

This work proposes an optical fiber sensor capable of simultaneously determining the variation in the level and temperature of the waters of rivers in the Amazon using two in Fibers Bragg Grating (FBG) coupled to a metallic bellows structure, which was experimentally demonstrated in terms of the characterization of FBGs, where one of them is a temperature compensator. The system was simulated according to the Coupled Modes Theory (CMT) and the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) and experimentally the sensitivity of the sensors was analyzed from the wavelength displacement measurements, simultaneously varying the deformation and temperature. The experimental results show a sensitivity of 9.2 pm/cm and water level measurements up to the limit of 3.95 m with a wavelength variation of 3.69 nm for the strain sensor. The proposed sensor is simple and has enormous potential to be used to monitor the level of rivers in the Amazon in areas at risk of flooding.

Medicinal species with gastroprotective activity found in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Peptic and/or duodenal ulcers are characterized by diverse acute and chronic ulcerative lesions that commonly arise in any portion of the gastric mucosa that is exposed to the aggressive action of gastric acid. The pathophysiology of peptic ulcers has been attributed to an imbalance between aggressive and protective factors. In Brazil, medicinal plants are commonly used to treat this ailment. A country with great biodiversity, Brazil is considered a rich source of therapeutic products. There have been popular and pharmacological reports on the medicinal relevance of the Brazilian cerrado plant species, including Ananas ananassoides, Celtis iguanaea, Encholirium spectabile, Hymenaea stigonocarpa, Lafoensia pacari, Qualea grandiflora, Qualea parvifora, Mouriri pusa, Solanum lycocarpum, Solanum paniculatum, Serjania erecta, and Vochysia tucanorum, in the treatment of stomach disorders. The aim of the present review was to report on some of the Brazilian cerrado plants that are used in folk medicine because of their gastroprotective potential and to encourage novel studies in the search and preservation of plants with this therapeutic potential.