Fresh and hardened properties of self-compacting concrete modified with lightweight and recycled aggregates

A produção de concretos auto compactáveis de baixa massa específica tornou-se um grande desafio para a engenharia civil, principalmente quanto à dosagem e manutenção das resistências mecânicas. Nesse contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar concretos autoadensáveis (CAA) produzidos com agregados leves e reciclados. Fixou-se as dosagens de sílica ativa, pó de pedra, pedrisco, argila expandida e superplastificante, variando-se a porcentagem do resíduo de borracha em 5% e 10%, em substituição ao agregado miúdo. As amostras foram submetidas aos ensaios de espalhamento, viscosidade, habilidade passante, resistências à compressão e à tração por compressão diametral e, massa específica. Verificou-se que os CAA produzidos apresentaram coesão e trabalhabilidade adequados, bem como atendem as condições normativas para uso em peças pré-moldadas e estruturais1117684COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESsem informaçã

Quinolone resistance mutations in the faecal microbiota of Swedish travellers to India

Background: International travel contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria over the world. Most studies addressing travel-related changes in the faecal flora have focused on specific mobile resistance genes, or depended on culturing of individual bacterial isolates. Antibiotic resistance can, however, also spread via travellers colonized by bacteria carrying chromosomal antibiotic resistance mutations, but this has received little attention so far. Here we aimed at exploring the abundance of chromosomal quinolone resistance mutations in Escherichia communities residing in the gut of Swedish travellers, and to determine potential changes after visiting India. Sweden is a country with a comparably low degree of quinolone use and quinolone resistance, whereas the opposite is true for India. Methods: Massively parallel amplicon sequencing targeting the quinolone-resistance determining region of gyrA and parC was applied to total DNA extracted from faecal samples. Paired samples were collected from 12 Swedish medical students before and after a 4-15 week visit to India. Twelve Indian residents were included for additional comparisons. Methods known resistance mutations were common in Swedes before travel as well as in Indians, with a trend for all mutations to be more common in the Indian sub group. There was a significant increase in the abundance of the most common amino acid substitution in GyrA (S83L, from 44 to 72 %, p = 0.036) in the samples collected after return to Sweden. No other substitution, including others commonly associated with quinolone resistance (D87N in GyrA, S80I in ParC) changed significantly. The number of distinct genotypes encoded in each traveller was significantly reduced after their visit to India for both GyrA (p = 0.0020) and ParC (p = 0.0051), indicating a reduced genetic diversity, similar to that found in the Indians. Conclusions: International travel can alter the composition of the Escherichia communities in the faecal flora, favouring bacteria carrying certain resistance mutations, and, thereby, contributes to the global spread of antibiotic resistance. A high abundance of specific mutations in Swedish travellers before visiting India is consistent with the hypothesis that these mutation have no fitness cost even in the absence of an antibiotic selection pressure

Pretreatment of plastic waste: Removal of colorants from hdpe using biosolvents

UIDB/50011/2020 UIDP/50011/2020 CA18220, 2020.00647.CEECIND UIDB/50006/2020 UIDP/50006/2020Plastics recycling remains a challenge due to the relatively low quality of the recycled material, since most of the developed recycling processes cannot deal with the additives present in the plastic matrix, so the recycled products end up in lower-grade applications. The application of volatile organic solvents for additives removal is the preferred choice. In this study, pretreatment of plastic packaging waste to remove additives using biosolvents was investigated. The plastic waste used was high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with blue and orange colorants (pigment and/or dye). The first step was to identify the type of colorants present in the HDPE, and we found that both plastics presented only one colorant that was actually a pigment. Then, limonene, a renewable solvent, was used to solubilize HDPE. After HDPE dissolution, a wide range of alcohols (mono-, di-, and tri-alcohols) was evaluated as antisolvents in order to selectively precipitate the polymer and maximize its purity. The use of limonene as solvent for plastic dissolution, in combination with poly-alcohols with an intermediate alkyl chain length and a large number of hydroxyl (OH) groups, was found to work best as an antisolvent (1,2,3-propanetriol and 1,2,4-butanetriol), leading to a removal of up to 94% and 100% of the blue and orange pigments, respectively. Finally, three cycles of extraction were carried out, proving the capability of the solvent and antisolvent to be recovered and reused, ensuring the economic viability and sustainability of the process. This pretreatment provides a secondary source of raw materials and revenue for the recycling process, which may lead to an increase in the quality of recycled polymers, contributing to the development of an economical and sustainable recycling process.publishersversionpublishe

Inhibition of Intestinal Bile Acid Transporter Slc10a2 Improves Triglyceride Metabolism and Normalizes Elevated Plasma Glucose Levels in Mice

Interruption of the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids increases cholesterol catabolism, thereby stimulating hepatic cholesterol synthesis from acetate. We hypothesized that such treatment should lower the hepatic acetate pool which may alter triglyceride and glucose metabolism. We explored this using mice deficient of the ileal sodium-dependent BA transporter (Slc10a2) and ob/ob mice treated with a specific inhibitor of Slc10a2. Plasma TG levels were reduced in Slc10a2-deficient mice, and when challenged with a sucrose-rich diet, they displayed a reduced response in hepatic TG production as observed from the mRNA levels of several key enzymes in fatty acid synthesis. This effect was paralleled by a diminished induction of mature sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (Srebp1c). Unexpectedly, the SR-diet induced intestinal fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 15 mRNA and normalized bile acid synthesis in Slc10a2−/− mice. Pharmacologic inhibition of Slc10a2 in diabetic ob/ob mice reduced serum glucose, insulin and TGs, as well as hepatic mRNA levels of Srebp1c and its target genes. These responses are contrary to those reported following treatment of mice with a bile acid binding resin. Moreover, when key metabolic signal transduction pathways in the liver were investigated, those of Mek1/2 - Erk1/2 and Akt were blunted after treatment of ob/ob mice with the Slc10a2 inhibitor. It is concluded that abrogation of Slc10a2 reduces hepatic Srebp1c activity and serum TGs, and in the diabetic ob/ob model it also reduces glucose and insulin levels. Hence, targeting of Slc10a2 may be a promising strategy to treat hypertriglyceridemia and diabetes

Sustainable Irrigation Requirement Prediction Using Internet of Things and Transfer Learning

Irrigation systems are a crucial research area because it is essential to conserve fresh water and utilize it wisely. As a part of this study, the reliability of predicting the usage of water in the present and future is investigated in order to develop an effective prediction model to communicate demand. In order to improve prediction, we develop a prediction model and share the updated model with nearby farmers. In order to forecast the irrigation requirements, the recommended model utilizes the Internet of Things (IoT), k-nearest neighbours (KNN), cloud storage, long short-term memory (LSTM), and adaptive network fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) techniques. By collecting real-time environmental data, KNN identifies the closest water requirement from the roots and its surrounding. In order to predict short-term requirements, ANFIS is used. To transfer the new requirements for better prediction, transfer learning is used. Time-series-data updates are predicted using LSTM for future forecasting, and the integrated model is shared with other farmers using cloud environments to enhance forecasting and analysis. For implementation, a period of nine to ten months of data was collected from February to December 2021, and banana tree was used to implement the planned strategy. Four farms, with measurements, were considered at varying intervals to determine the minimum and maximum irrigation needs. The requirements of farms were collected over time and compared to the predictions. Future requirements at 8, 16, 24, 32, and 48 h were also anticipated. The results indicated were compared to manual water pouring, and, thus, the entire crop used less water, making our prediction model a real-world option for irrigation. The prediction model was evaluated using R2, MSLE and the average initial prediction value of R2 was 0.945. After using transfer learning, the prediction of the model of Farm-2, 3 and 4 were 0.951, 0.958 and 0.967, respectively

Autophagy is defective in collagen VI muscular dystrophies and its reactivation rescues myofiber degeneration

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Collagen VI myopathies: pathogenic mechanism and therapeutic strategies

Collagen (Col) VI is a major component of the extracellular matrix which, in skeletal muscle, is localized just outside the basement membrane. Deficiency of ColVI in humans due to mutations of COL6 genes gives rise to Bethlem Myopathy (BM), Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (UCMD), and Myosclerosis Myopathy. About 70 different COL6 gene  mutations have been associated to ColVI myopathies which, although present  a wide range of clinical features, share a common pathogenesis. This mechanism, initially identified in the Col6a1-/- model (Irwin et al., 2003), and then in cultures from BM and UCMD patients (Angelin et al., 2007), involves a mitochondrial dysfunction due to deregulation of the permeability transition pore (PTP). The pat hogenic role of PTP opening, causing the release of proapoptotic factors, has been confirmed by the normalizing effect of cyclosporine A (CsA) on  the mitochondrial defect and on the increased apoptotic rate in both the mouse model and in a selected group of patients (Merlini et al., 2008). We have recently demonstrated that the persistence of abnormal mitochondria and apoptosis are amplified by defective autophagy (Grumati et al., 2010). In fact, forced activation of autophagy by genetic, dietary and pharmacological approaches restore myofiber survival and ameliorate the dystrophic phenotype in mice. Since also muscle cells of BM and UCMD patients  present a defective activation of the autophagic machinery, it will be possible to restore this activity by using  a low protein diet or drugs capable to reactivate autophagy. To monitor the effects of therapies on ColVI-related myopathies highly invasive muscle/skin biopsies have been so far utilized. We have recently obtained evidence that ColVI expression in blood macrophages from BM and UCMD patients can be detected at levels comparable to those observed in muscle biopsies and cultured skin fibroblasts (Gualandi et al., 2011). These data support the suitability of peripheral blood macrophages as a reliable, minimally invasive tool for supplementing or replacing highly invasive biopsies in the diagnosis and monitoring of ColVI myopathies. 1. Irwin WA et al., Nat Genet 2003;35:267-71 2. Angelin A et al., PNAS USA 2007;104:991-6 3. Merlini L et al., PNAS USA 2008;105:5225-9 4. Gualandi F et al., Muscle Nerve 2011;44:80-

Biomassa de capim-piatã e feijão-guandu consorciados em um sistema integrado com árvores nativas.

Os sistemas de Integração Lavoura-Pecuária-Floresta (ILPF) são métodos de produção sustentável que integram árvores, pastagens e culturas agrícolas