Modern Telemetry

Telemetry is based on knowledge of various disciplines like Electronics, Measurement, Control and Communication along with their combination. This fact leads to a need of studying and understanding of these principles before the usage of Telemetry on selected problem solving. Spending time is however many times returned in form of obtained data or knowledge which telemetry system can provide. Usage of telemetry can be found in many areas from military through biomedical to real medical applications. Modern way to create a wireless sensors remotely connected to central system with artificial intelligence provide many new, sometimes unusual ways to get a knowledge about remote objects behaviour. This book is intended to present some new up to date accesses to telemetry problems solving by use of new sensors conceptions, new wireless transfer or communication techniques, data collection or processing techniques as well as several real use case scenarios describing model examples. Most of book chapters deals with many real cases of telemetry issues which can be used as a cookbooks for your own telemetry related problems

Brain anatomy: investigations of the effects of aging, fitness, and arterial stiffness

This work explores the mechanisms and lifestyle modifiers of brain anatomy throughout the aging process. First, a thorough review of the mechanisms of fitness on brain anatomy is presented. Next, a study examining the effects of aging and fitness on cortical and subcortical brain anatomy in a group of older adults (55-87 years old) is presented. We examine the degree to which cortical, subcortical, and global volumes are sensitive to both age and fitness. Lastly, the effect of cerebrovascular stiffness on the anatomical difference between and within individual subjects is explored across the lifespan (18-75 years old)

Recent Advances and Future Trends in Nanophotonics

Nanophotonics has emerged as a multidisciplinary frontier of science and engineering. Due to its high potential to contribute to breakthroughs in many areas of technology, nanophotonics is capturing the interest of many researchers from different fields. This Special Issue of Applied Sciences on “Recent advances and future trends in nanophotonics” aims to give an overview on the latest developments in nanophotonics and its roles in different application domains. Topics of discussion include, but are not limited to, the exploration of new directions of nanophotonic science and technology that enable technological breakthroughs in high-impact areas mainly regarding diffraction elements, detection, imaging, spectroscopy, optical communications, and computing

Monitoring and characterization of yeasts behavior under fermentation processes using technometric approaches

Tese de doutoramento em Chemical and Biological EngineeringTechnometrics concerns on the development and use of statistical methods in different fields, such as biotechnological processes, in order to understand their multivariate and multidimensional complexity. Chemical changes occurring within these processes can be monitored using chemometric tools that combined with bioinformatic methodologies, can provide an enlarged overview of the process, enabling the unbiased study of metabolites and dynamic changes in response to the environmental conditions. For this purpose, different chemometric tools were used, namely relevant principal component analysis (RPCA), multi-way principal component analysis (MPCA), partial least squares logistic regression (PLSLOG) and unfolded partial least squares (U-PLS). Phenotypic and physiological behaviors of three different Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, a laboratorial S288c, and two industrials CA11 and PE-2, were evaluated under different stress conditions. Toxic and inhibitory conditions were induced by introducing 1.0% (v/v) ethanol, 1-butanol, isopropanol, tert-Amyl alcohol, 0.2% (v/v) furfural and 0.5% (v/v) 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) in batch fermentations with YPD as culture medium. MPCA and PLS-LOG allowed to evidence the different behavior of S288c comparing to PE-2 and CA11, and a higher impact caused by 1-butanol, furfural and 5-HMF in phenotypic and physiological profiles. PE-2 revealed to be the most robust strain, quickly adapting to the environmental conditions, even under the highest stress conditions. It was also observed a correlation between the flocculation profile inhibition under those conditions, with an increased production of intracellular glycerol. This relationship was confirmed by PLS-LOG where intracellular glycerol and trehalose, as well as extracellular acetic acid production showed to be linked to the inhibition of CA11 cells flocculation. Metabolic changes occurring within CA11 and PE-2 fermentations in the presence of 1-butanol, furfural and 5-HMF were also evaluated, using RPCA. CA11 fermentations enhanced the production of ethanol, isovaleric acid and isoamyl acetate, whereas PE-2 favored the production of more aromatic compounds, such as esters - phenylethyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate and ethyl dodecanoate. These results suggested that PE-2 is less susceptible to the stress effect of the three tested molecules. PLS-LOG models allowed the prediction (R2 =0.90) of the metabolic behavior of both strains during the fermentations: the presence of 1-butanol induced the production of esters ethyl acetate and isoamyl acetate (and its precursor, 3-methyl-1-butanol), as well as butyric acid (which encourages the use of both strains in bio-butanol production systems); CA11 and PE-2 synthesized furfuryl alcohol from furfural; the presence of furfural and 5-HMF induced the production and accumulation of fatty acids in the medium, to counterbalance the inhibitory effects. The impact of metabolic profile of S. cerevisiae PYCC 4653 on its antioxidant capacity, in synthetic grape juice supplemented with phenolics acids was assessed. A bioanalytical pipeline, combining electrochemical features with biochemical background was proposed, for biological systems fingerprinting and sample classification. The electrochemical profile, phenolic acids and the volatile fermentation fraction, were evaluated for 11 days, using cyclic voltammetry, target and non-target metabolic approaches, respectively. It was found that acetic acid, 2-phenylethanol and isoamyl acetate have a significative contribution for samples metabolic variability and the electrochemical features demonstrated redox-potential changes throughout the alcoholic fermentations, showing at the end, a similar pattern to normal wines. S. cerevisiae also showed the capacity of producing chlorogenic acid in the supplemented medium fermentation from simple precursors present in the minimal medium. The proposed bioanalytical pipeline proved to be a very efficient strategy for fingerprinting biological systems, by integration of the information from different chemical detectors. Finally, a non-targeted high-throughput metabolomics pipeline combining GC-MS data preprocessing with multivariate analysis, was developed and integrated in new “in-house” software, called XMetabolomics (developed during this thesis). The pipeline was built to enhance the identification of key metabolites involved in the process, through the exploration of the temporal relationships between interesting metabolites related to a chemical phenomenon. It was applied to a Port wine “forced aging” process under different oxygen saturation regimes. RPCA showed that the use of extreme oxygen saturation and high temperatures during Port wine aging induced the occurrence of chemical reactions undesirable for the aromatic profile, affecting the quality of the final product. Under those conditions an increased production of dioxane and dioxolane isomers and furfural was observed, leading to excessive degradation of the wine aromatic profile, color and taste. The production of dioxane isomer was highly correlated with the production of dioxolane isomer, benzaldehyde, sotolon, and many other metabolites whose identification could be of great interest for their contribution for the final aromatic profile of the Port wine. In sum, during this thesis, the potential of the use of chemometrics and bioinformatics approaches was explored in the characterization (by RPCA and MPCA), classification and prediction (by PLS-LOG and UPLS, respectively) of physiological, phenotypic and metabolic changes in bioprocesses as an adaptation response to environmental conditions. The joint effect of distinct variables (measured using HPLC, GCFID, GC-MS and cyclic voltammetry) in multivariate data analysis allowed enhancing the knowledge about chemical and biochemical dynamics in biotechnological processes.A tecnometria consiste no desenvolvimento e uso de métodos estatísticos em diferentes áreas, tais como processos biotecnológicos, de modo a compreender a sua complexidade multivariada e multidimensional. As alterações químicas que ocorrem nestes processos podem ser monitorizadas utilizando ferramentas de quimiometria que, associadas a métodos de bioinformática, podem proporcionar uma visão alargada do processo e logo, o estudo equitativo dos metabolitos e as alterações dinâmicas em resposta às condições ambientais. Ao longo deste trabalho, diferentes ferramentas de quimiometria foram utilizadas, nomeadamente, relevant principal component analysis (RPCA), multi-way principal component analysis (MPCA), partial least squares logistic regression (PLS-LOG) e unfolded partial least squares (U-PLS). Foi efetuado o estudo de comportamentos fenotípicos e fisiológicos de três estirpes diferentes de Saccharomyces cerevisiae, uma laboratorial, S288c, e duas industriais, CA11 e PE -2, sob diferentes condições de stress. Foram adicionadas moléculas tóxicas e inibitórias no meio YPD, nomeadamente, 1,0% (v/v) de etanol, 1-butanol, isopropanol e 2-metil-2-butanol, 0,2 % (v/v) de furfural e 0,5 % (v/v) de 5-hidroximetil- furfural (5-HMF). O MPCA e o PLS-LOG evidenciaram o diferente comportamento da estirpe S288c em relação à CA11 e PE-2, e um maior impacto causado pelo 1-butanol, furfural e 5-HMF nos perfis fenotípicos e fisiológicos. A PE-2 revelou ser a estirpe mais robusta e a que melhor se adaptou às condições ambientais impostas, mesmo sob as mais severas. Observou-se uma correlação entre a inibição do perfil de floculação nestas condições, com um aumento da produção de glicerol intracelular. Esta relação foi confirmada utilizando o PLS-LOG onde a produção de glicerol e trealose intracelulares, bem como de ácido acético extracelular mostraram estar associadas ao fenómeno de inibição da floculação das células da CA11. As alterações metabólicas que ocorrem nas fermentações utilizando a CA11 e PE- 2 na presença de 1- butanol, furfural e 5- HMF também foram avaliadas por RPCA. Enquanto a estirpe CA11 favoreceu a produção de etanol, ácido isovalérico e acetato de isoamilo, a PE-2 levou à produção de outros compostos aromáticos, tais como o acetato de feniletilo, etil hexanoato, octanoato e dodecanoato ao longo das fermentações. Estes resultados reforçam que a PE-2 é menos suscetível ao efeito stressante dessas moléculas. Os modelos PLS-LOG permitiram prever (R2 = 0,90) o comportamento metabólico de ambas as estirpes, durante as fermentações: a presença de 1-butanol induziu a produção de ésteres de acetato de etilo e acetato de isoamilo (e o seu precursor, 3-metil -1- butanol), bem como o ácido butírico (encorajando a utilização de ambas as estirpes em sistemas de produção de bio-butanol); as estirpes CA11 e PE-2 sintetizaram álcool furfurílico a partir de furfural; a presença de furfural e 5- HMF induziu a produção e acumulação de ácidos gordos, de forma a contrabalançar os efeitos inibitórios na obtenção de energia para as células, metabolizando ácidos gordos no meio. O impacto do perfil metabólico da S. cerevisiae PYCC 4653 sobre a capacidade antioxidante foi avaliado, em fermentações utilizando sumo de uva sintético suplementadas com ácidos fenólicos. Foi apresentada uma metodologia bio-analítica (combinando os perfis eletroquímico e bioquímico) para a caracterização do comportamento da levedura em resposta às perturbações impostas. O perfil eletroquímico, os ácidos fenólicos e a fração volátil das fermentações, foram avaliados durante 11 dias, utilizando a voltametria cíclica, e abordagens metabólicas supervisionadas e não supervisionadas. Verificou-se que o ácido acético, 2- feniletanol e o acetato de isoamilo têm uma contribuição significativa na variabilidade metabólica e as características electroquímicas revelaram as alterações do potencial redox durante as fermentações. O perfil eletroquímico da fermentação alcoólica mostrou, no final, um padrão semelhante ao dos vinhos reais. A S. cerevisiae também mostrou a capacidade de produzir ácido clorogénico, no meio de fermentação suplementado a partir de precursores simples, presentes no meio mínimo. A metodologia proposta provou ser uma estratégia eficiente na caracterização de fenómenos biológicos e químicos, através da integração da informação de vários detetores químicos. Por fim, uma metodologia de processamento metabólico não-direcionado e de alto-débito, combinando o pré-processamento dos dados de GC-MS com a análise multivariada, foi desenvolvida e integrada num novo software, denominado X-Metabolomics também desenvolvido no decorrer desta tese. A metodologia foi construída para melhorar a identificação dos metabolitos-chave envolvidos no processo biotecnológico, através da exploração das relações temporais entre os metabólitos interessantes relacionados ao mesmo fenómeno químico. Esta foi aplicada a um processo de “envelhecimento forçado” de vinho do Porto, sob diferentes regimes de saturação de oxigénio. O RPCA mostrou que a utilização da saturação extrema de oxigénio e de temperaturas elevadas durante o envelhecimento do vinho do Porto induziu a ocorrência de reações químicas indesejáveis para o perfil aromático, que afetam a qualidade do produto final. Nestas condições, foi observado um aumento da produção de isómeros de dioxano e dioxolano e furfural, que levaram a uma degradação excessiva do perfil aromático, cor e sabor do vinho. A produção do isómero de dioxano está altamente correlacionada com a produção de um isómero dioxolano, benzaldeído, sotolon, e muitos outros metabolitos, cuja identificação poderia ser de grande interesse pela sua contribuição para o perfil aromático final do vinho do Porto. Em suma, durante esta tese, foi explorado o potencial da utilização de abordagens de tecnometria, incluindo métodos de quimiometria e bioinformática, na caracterização (por RPCA e MPCA), classificação e previsão (por PLS-LOG e U-PLS respetivamente) das alterações fisiológicas, fenotípicas e metabólicas em bioprocessos, em resposta às condições ambientais. O efeito conjunto de distintas variáveis na análise multivariada, permitiu ampliar o conhecimento acerca das dinâmicas químicas e bioquímicas em processos biotecnológicos

Applications and Experiences of Quality Control

The rich palette of topics set out in this book provides a sufficiently broad overview of the developments in the field of quality control. By providing detailed information on various aspects of quality control, this book can serve as a basis for starting interdisciplinary cooperation, which has increasingly become an integral part of scientific and applied research

Nuclear Power

The world of the twenty first century is an energy consuming society. Due to increasing population and living standards, each year the world requires more energy and new efficient systems for delivering it. Furthermore, the new systems must be inherently safe and environmentally benign. These realities of today's world are among the reasons that lead to serious interest in deploying nuclear power as a sustainable energy source. Today's nuclear reactors are safe and highly efficient energy systems that offer electricity and a multitude of co-generation energy products ranging from potable water to heat for industrial applications. The goal of the book is to show the current state-of-the-art in the covered technical areas as well as to demonstrate how general engineering principles and methods can be applied to nuclear power systems

Model Order Reduction

An increasing complexity of models used to predict real-world systems leads to the need for algorithms to replace complex models with far simpler ones, while preserving the accuracy of the predictions. This three-volume handbook covers methods as well as applications. This third volume focuses on applications in engineering, biomedical engineering, computational physics and computer science