Climatic chambers are of great importance in research and development to conduct tests of components in closed environmentally controlled conditions. The growing demand from the industry to fulfill stricter international standards creates the necessity to ensure that the thermofluidic behavior of climatic chambers guarantees high-quality consistency in their interior domain. At present, scientific research on climatic chambers available in the literature is scarce and is mostly based on lumped modeling, hence not addressing the heterogeneities that arise in the interior of the chamber. In this work, an in-depth 3D model of the velocity and temperature fields that develops in the interior of climatic chambers was developed in computer fluid dynamics (CFD) and validated with the experimental data from a new prototype. The key objective of this research was to establish a validated framework for model-based design optimization of climatic chambers. The proposed model showed good agreement with the experimental data with a difference of 0.6 m/s and 9.65 °C in the velocity and temperature fields, respectively, thus validating its applicability to perform model-based design optimization of climatic chambers.

Com o início da pandemia de COVID-19, o distanciamento social foi adotado como medida para o controle da doença e a telessaúde, como uma das estratégias aplicadas para a continuidade do seguimento de pacientes com doenças crônicas nesse período. Nesse contexto, é proposta uma revisão sistemática objetivando analisar o uso da telessaúde como método de acompanhamento de pacientes com diabetes mellitus ou hipertensão arterial sistêmica durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Foi realizada busca nas bases CINAHL, Embase, LILACS, Pubmed e Web of Science, em março de 2022, sendo identificados 456 títulos. Dentre estes, foram incluídos na síntese de evidências, 13 trabalhos. Somente 1 (um) estudo completo encontrou resultados de superioridade de modalidades não presenciais para o cuidado convencional. Em 50% dos trabalhos já concluídos (n = 3) não foi encontrada diferença significativa para manutenção do cuidado, contudo, em dois estudos ficou evidente uma melhora na experiência do paciente com a utilização das práticas de telessaúde. Conclui-se que apesar das práticas de telessaúde não apresentarem diferenças significativas quando comparadas aos tratamentos presenciais e usuais, ainda há escassez de estudos que avaliem essa prática durante a pandemia. São necessários, portanto, mais trabalhos e evidências sobre a efetividade dessas práticas.

Climatic chambers are highly important in research and industrial applications and are used to examine manufactured samples, specimens, or components in controlled environment conditions. Despite the growing industrial demand for climatic chambers, only a few published studies have specifically concentrated on performance analysis and functional improvements through numerical and experimental studies. In this study, a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a climatic chamber was developed using Ansys Fluent to simulate the fluid flow, heat, and mass transfer to obtain the velocity, temperature, and relative humidity fields in the interior box of a 1200 L climatic chamber. The results were then validated with experimental data from a prototype. Finally, the heat losses of the surrounding components of the chamber were calculated, and the relationship between the inside temperature and the overall thermal loss was modelled. This validated numerical model provides the possibility of optimising the performance of climate chambers by reducing the thermal loss from the walls and modifying the air flow pattern inside the chamber.

Introduction: We report here a series of ten rare cases of work accidents that occurred in five Brazilian companies using the Computerized Evaluation of Work Readiness (FOCOS/Prontos System), aiming to assess the correlation between instrument performance and factors influencing the accidents. Materials and Methods: Before joining the company, employees access the system with a login and password, and in less than a minute, they perform the test, which consists of identifying pre-known figures as correct or incorrect. The test assesses impulse control (the ability to avoid errors by touching during the evaluation), attention (discriminating the figure that represents the correct stimulus in the test and reacting as quickly as possible by touching the screen every time it appears), and reaction time (speed to react to the correct stimulus by touching the screen). The test result is immediately released after its completion. The test result contributes to work clearance, referral for medical or psychological evaluation, or activity suspension. Results: The ten cases occurred in 2022 and early 2023, equally distributed across morning, afternoon, and night shifts. In the 300 readiness evaluations, 218 alterations associated with impulse control (66), attention (39), reaction time (40), concentration (27), and risk predictor (46) were identified. The average deviation level was 80.1±22.62%, ranging from 27% to 100%, with a median of 88.5%. The main reasons for reporting deviations were falls from heights (leading to death), improper activity performed in restricted areas (leading to death), collisions with heavy vehicles (6 cases), upper limb injuries (1), and fire (1). Two fatalities occurred. Conclusion: The Computerized Test for Readiness Evaluation (FOCOS/Prontos System) as a risk assessment tool identified alterations in readiness parameters in 100% of the workers involved in the analyzed cases, demonstrating its predictive capacity in identifying accident risks.